Piccoletto

A Past Between Enemies

Ercole stood in the open doorway of his cellar, surrounded by broken planks of wood as he looked out into the night. They had escaped. He had failed. Luca had actually escaped. Well, Alberto technically did it for him, but still. They were gone. Except for one. Ercole turned around slowly as he analyzed the sight in front of him.

Giulia was sitting up against the stone wall, trying to catch her breath with her eyes tightly shut. She had abandoned the idea of trying to stop the blood running from her nostrils. Ercole watched as it spilled down in streams over her shirt. He clenched his fists as he watched her fight back her cries as she hiccuped, trying to control her breathing. She looked just like Luca did, before Ercole had gotten too violent. But something was different between the two. Although he had beaten Luca with no remorse, Ercole didn't feel in his right mind to even think about laying a hand on Giulia. It was. . . bizarre. He had known and quarreled with her for years. Ever since they were kids, he'd do everything to get on Giulia's nerves, whether it was purposefully tripping her when she was learning to walk or stealing her lira when her father had given her some. He had known Giulia basically since she moved in for the summers with her parents. He knew her before they had gotten divorced, and had even given her lira back when she was crying at that time. Their summers had been full of arguing and competition. But he couldn't look at her the same way as he could towards Luca.

Giulia succumbed to the pain as she let out a soft wail as she shakily lifted a hand to gently wipe the blood from under her nose. Her eyes fluttered open as she realized there was no stopping the blood that ran down her wrist.

Ercole quickly approached her, shaking. What was he going to do? Where were Luca and Alberto going? Who were they going to tell? What could he do with Giulia, even? If her father came searching for her, she'd be his proof that he had taken her and Luca hostage. But letting her go would only confirm his greatest fears. Could. . . could he go to jail?

"Giulia. . .," Ercole said softly as he crouched by her. "Are you. . . are you ok?"

"Don't you dare to talk to me!" Giulia spat, sending droplets of blood flying towards Ercole's face. "I can't. . . I can not believe you, Ercole! What you did to him! Don't you realize how sick you are? Don't you?"

Ercole fell backwards onto his palm as he watched Giulia shake in anger, the violent sight of her blood making this seem all like a twisted nightmare. He had never seen Giulia so furious before. In his entire life.

"You are a criminal," Giulia said shakily, trying to be assertive. "You almost killed him. You might have, even. How do you feel? That you killed an innocent boy? How do you feel, Ercole?"

Ercole just gazed at her with no response. His glossy eyes hinted that he was lost in thought as the weight of what he had had done was crashing down over him and he realized that if any adult saw what he had done to Luca, he wouldn't have a future. That Luca wouldn't have a future. But would they tell? Ercole turned towards Giulia in a panic.

"Are you going to tell someone?"

Giulia looked at Ercole with complete shock. Her fists began to shake again as she struggled to get to her feet. Ercole watched and put a hand out to help her, but Giulia slapped his hand away.

"What the hell are you doing!" Giulia screamed, stumbling back away from Ercole's grasp. "Are you actually helping me? What, you think that helping me get up is magically going to make everything you've done go away?"

Ercole was surprised. He didn't know how to respond.

"Giulia, I- I didn't mean to punch you, I was just so. . ."

"It doesn't matter!" Giulia shouted back, her voice plagued with fury. "You think you're some untouchable god or something? That you can do anything you want and no one cares? Well, you do! But not anymore, not after what you've done to Luca! How do you think he'll survive after this? He'll never be in his right mind from what you did to him!"

Ercole just looked at her, unable to fathom the truth as she continued.

"What are you going to do to me now? Hit me? Choke me? Drug me so you can beat me and take away everything I have, and for what? For being a threat to you in a children's competition?"

Ercole angrily shook his head. "I'd never do that to you! I know we've had our. . . differences, but I'd never-"

"Then why did you do it to Luca?"

Giulia had screamed out with such force she had grabbed her throat with her hand to recover as she panted. Tears dripped down her cheek as she doubled over, breaking her contact with Ercole. Ercole realized the full severity of not only the trauma he'd left on Luca, but Giulia too.

"I didn't exactly hurt him as much as first," Ercole confessed. "But I did try to help! I tried to give him food, and stop his bleeding! I did!"

Giulia shook her head, unable to process the information. She looked up at Ercole with a cold look.

"You messed up. And now you're going to pay for it."

Ercole watched in complete disbelief as she began to stumble towards the open doorway and out into the night. He was gone for. Alberto and Luca were sure to attract attention in the night, especially since they were riding Ercole's vespa. What would they say? If Luca really was a runaway, he wouldn't want his parents to come looking for him, would he? Maybe that would keep them from telling anyone! But if Alberto didn't say something, Giulia would.

Ercole couldn't get caught, he just couldn't. The only way to do that was to make sure all three of them were under his rule, but that was impossible. Alberto and Luca had most definitely reached Portorosso by now. Where would they be?

Then, Ercole realized. Wherever Giulia was, Alberto and Luca would be there too. If he kept Giulia with him, he could threaten Alberto and Luca into being silent, and even coming back! Then, he could stitch Luca up and make them promise to not tell a soul. It was a stretch but that was all Ercole could do now.

Ercole looked up and watched a figure in the distance get farther and farther away into the night. It was undoubtedly Giulia. Ercole got up and ran up the stairs feeling the cold air whistle as he ran towards the smaller figure.

Giulia was trudging along on a limp, grabbing her knee painfully from the impact it had when the vespa had collided with the door what seemed like hours before. She grunted with each step, letting out the occasional cry of pain. That's when she heard muffled steps from behind her get louder and louder. She turned around to see a taller figure in the distance, and realized what it was running for. Her.

She had never believed Ercole was capable of doing what he had to Luca. But now that she had seen it, what stopped her from thinking he would do it to her too? Giulia took off at a limped sprint, desperately trying to get away from Ercole.

Maybe she'd be luckier than Luca.