Falling for Deceit || WATTYS 2017

16

As you can imagine, there were no words uttered during the rest of that journey. In fact, the coldness which encompassed all three of us in that car could have frozen the heat of July to ice. It was a whole, tedious and silent hour later that we arrived at our destination. We had left the crescendo of city life and the cluster of towering sky scrapers approximately half an hour ago and had been driving down winding roads through - as much as I hated to admit it - a beautiful scenery. It seemed to be a wide forest that we had been going through, one that separated the buildings and business district from the more peaceful and open-aired acreage of New York. The tight clusters of green-leafed trees on either side of the road gradually became fewer and far between, and soon we were driving down a straight-laned road. I shifted in my seat and craned my neck to look out the window when I perceived a sort of structure in the distance. It was merely a spot in the marigold hues of nature, but the vehicle ate up the miles fairly quickly and, soon, it presented itself as being a huge estate. Vincent stopped the car in front of the imposing iron gates that rose high into the sky. You couldn't see directly through them, but beautiful carvings had been etched into the smooth, dark gray surface, thereby insinuating the proprietor's obvious wealth. Walls made of white, clear-cut stones extended from both sides of the gates and seemed to go on for an eternity, before taking a sharp bend inwards and disappearing from my line of sight. They obviously enclosed the estate within. 

I froze in my seat when Vincent exited the car and approached the left side of the gates. He pressed some sort of button, and soon, they opened up slightly, only to let out an unfamiliar man. He was dressed in the black suit and fedora that I saw everywhere, but the way that his right hand was hitched into his jacket clearly suggested a hidden weapon and one that he would not hesitate to use. A few words were exchanged and then the man directed his stoic gaze to the car. I  looked to my left instinctively, but Marco kept his eyes to the front, completely disregarding my presence. Then, the armed man disappeared back inside the gates. Vincent hurried back to the car and had just slid in and shut the door when the iron gates started opening up, slowly, but then more surely in the end. They stopped just before banging into the walls at their sides, and the wide entrance was marked by a neat road of cobblestone that cut through the short grass. The grass itself was yellowing under the scorching summer sun, but there seemed to be no concern for wasting water because tints of green were still visible in the mass. The car inched forwards and I looked back to see the gates immediately closing again. When I settled back, I caught Marco's eye glancing at me from its corner, but when I looked at him he swiftly turned it back to the front. I made nothing of it and wrung my hands together as we made our progress towards the rising mansion. An imposing waterfall presented itself at the front of the estate, and water sprung from the - ahem - private part of a male cherub, flowing into several bowls before hitting the bottom of the crystal-clear basin. But then, the fountain quickly fell away from my mind as my eyes eagerly drank in the beauty that presented itself before us. As the car rounded the fountain and stopped in front of the place, I didn't wait for either of the men to open the car for me. I hurried out and stood with a hand on the open car door, staring up at the towering building with wide eyes and lips parted in wonder. 

"Sweet baby Jesus," I whispered, hearing the men's doors shut behind them as they exited the vehicle as well. I hardly heard what one of them said to me as I took in all of the splendor in front of me. The honey-coloured, brick mansion elevated itself in at least three floors, and two separate wings extended from both sides of the main part in the middle. Several trees lined its walls and cast shadows of shade onto the ground, and well-kept flower beds blossomed all along the bottom. The windows that were fixed into every floor of the mansion were elegant and wide, most likely offering a splendid view over the forest once you looked through them from inside. What caught my eye next as I shut the door without looking back and took a step forward was the slab that was inserted into the brick above the impressive double front doors. I tilted my head up to look at it more closely and took in the elegant carvings. Famiglia Beretti.