Luca had tried everything to open the doors in the cellar. Initially he was afraid that Ercole would come back soon. But after a while of waiting, Luca only felt safe enough to accomplish half hearted attempts of escape. He didn't want to hurt his elbow again, which forced him to come up with some creative ways of getting the doors down.
At first, he began kicking it. When he stubbed his toe, he decided to lay on his back in front of the door and kick both of his soles against the wood. Still it didn't budge. He tried twisting the doorknob, which escalated into violently shaking it. When that didn't work, he tried picking at the hinges. Nothing worked.
But the worst part was how exposed he felt. Luca had spent almost his entire life without having to wear a top, so Ercole having taken his shirt didn't bother him much. What did bother him were his bruises. He had a three inch long gash that ran down his right forearm. It had bled the night before but was now scabbing over. He had patches of scrapes, cuts, and bruises that could be found high and low. The dark purple bruise that wrapped around his torso was the worst. Any bit of pressure made his body ache painfully, which made trying to find a comfortable position to sit in nearly impossible.
But most of all he missed Giulia and Alberto. Luca was terrified of the idea that they were wasting all of their time looking for him. He hated the idea that Alberto was alone, and that Giulia thought that he left for good and didn't want to be friends. Luca wanted to cry. But he just felt too exhausted to try.
This led him to begin practicing on how to behave when Ercole came back. Luca didn't think he'd be able to withstand another beating, so he mentally thought out what he was going to say. Then the idea came back to him: he could 'strike a deal' with Ercole! If he could convince Ercole to let him out with the deal that Luca wouldn't tell anyone what happened, he could see Alberto again!
But if Ercole refused - then what? Ercole did say his parents were vacationing for the summer in Milan. But would Luca still be there by the time they came back? If he still was, he could scream for help. They'd hear him from the cellar, right?
But- what would Ercole do? Surely he couldn't be dumb enough to keep his hostage in his parent's basement when they're around. But what would he do to Luca if he didn't want to let him go? More importantly, what would happen if Ercole found out Luca was a sea monster?
Luca jumped as he heard the door slam behind him. He turned to see Ercole, his face red with fury. Luca felt that rush of panic once again as his breath began to increase. Ercole looked at him dangerously with sly eyes as Luca took a step back. He was more surprised than scared. Luca hadn't had enough time to process what was happening.
"E- Ercole," Luca stuttered, trying to wrack his mind for the words he had practiced earlier. "Do you- I mean would you-"
Luca couldn't finish. His voice got stuck in his throat as he began to hyperventilate, feeling his body crumble from the fear.
"My vespa," Ercole said, taking a step towards Luca. "Where is my vespa."
Luca's body began to shake as he realized how angry Ercole looked. "I never saw your vespa. . ."
Ercole began bawling up his shaking fists as he grinded his teeth in front of Luca.
"Liar!" Ercole shouted. He hurled himself towards Luca before Luca could react. Ercole used all his force as he lifted his leg and kicked Luca's stomach with all of his power. Luca screamed out, his echo filling the cellar as his head and back hit the wall behind him and his body slid down to the floor.
"This is all your fault!" Ercole continued. He picked Luca off of the ground, making sure to sink his fingernails into Luca's skin. Ercole threw Luca back to the stone with a slam as Luca shrieked in pain. He attempted to roll out of Ercole's way, but Ercole's had stepped onto Luca's chest, keeping him pinned beneath him.
"P- please," Luca begged, desperately grabbing for Ercole's leg. Luca's eyes were filled with tears, and he began coughing violently under Ercole's stance. His face quickly turned pale as he began choking on his own saliva. Ercole was forced to flip Luca over, and let the younger boy mend himself before his next beating.
Luca coughed onto the ground, almost gagging from his winded abdomen. Between chokes, Luca let out horrible wails of pain as he grabbed his throat. He turned up towards Ercole, his eyes begging for mercy.
"No- more," Luca stammered between coughs.
Ercole leaned in closer to Luca. "What was that? Say it again, Piccoletto."
"No- no more!" Luca cried as he began to find his voice. Ercole laughed maliciously.
"Louder boy! You want to live? Scream!"
"NO MORE!" Luca screeched, setting him into a fit of sobs as he collapsed onto the floor.
"That's more like it, Piccoletto!" Ercole shouted over Luca's trembling body. "But not loud enough!"
Luca groaned as Ercole dropped himself over Luca's body, flipping Luca back onto is back before pinning him to the floor.
"You dirty little liar!" Ercole bellowed, sending spit flying into Luca's face. "Say you did it! Say you did it!"
Luca could only sob. He was so winded he could barely breathe, and his cries made his lungs sting painfully through coughs and chokes. His temples were pounding from his head hitting the back of the wall. But still- he couldn't let Ercole win.
"I didn't," Luca mustered, shutting his eyes tightly. Ercole sat on Luca, waiting for another response as he screamed at the boy to answer him. But Luca defiantly shook his head no.
"I didn't take your vespa," Luca repeated, his voice bearing a more assertive tone. "I never saw it. How could I have taken it if I'm here?"
Ercole relaxed his grip on Luca's shoulders and looked down at Luca. Ercole would never admit it out loud, but Luca was right. And Ercole had known Luca was right even before he entered the cellar. He just wanted someone to blame. Or maybe someone to take out his anger on. But who else would be stupid enough to take a vespa without its keys?
Ercole looked up from a struggling Luca as he realized who it could have been. Giulia and Alberto. Did they know Ercole had Luca? Ercole hoped so, as half the reason for taking Luca in the first place was to destroy Alberto's heart. But Ercole wasn't too worried. Who could they tell? Alberto didn't even seem to have family around. And Giulia- well, Ercole was sure she wouldn't outright blame him without evidence. And anyways, who would actually believe Ercole had kidnapped Luca? People saw him as a talented, and handsome seventeen-year-old. He was safe. For now. He just needed to make sure that Luca was kept secret.
Ercole stepped off of Luca and watched as the weaker boy took a deep breath of air with Ercole's weight off of him. Luca tried to prop himself up and scoot his back against the wall as Ercole turned around and headed for the door.
"Don't move," Ercole said, as he opened the door leading to inside the house with his keys.
Luca looked back up, grabbing his stomach in pain as he sniffed. He wanted to talk to Ercole about his idea of letting him go, but he was too nervous to bring it up after Ercole had been so furious. But it wouldn't matter because Ercole had already turned to go up the stairs.
But one thing had changed. Ercole had left the door wide open. Luca couldn't see much more than the orange tile stone that led up to the ground floor, but that wouldn't matter. How come Ercole had left the door open? Did he just forget to close it? That didn't seem likely. Was this all a trap? Did Ercole want Luca to go up the stairs, only to beat him as a punishment?
Ercole had told Luca not to move. But what if Luca did? If by some miracle Luca escaped the house, what would he do? Would Ercole catch up to him if he ran? What if Ercole didn't notice? What if Ercole would already be outside, waiting to catch Luca?
Luca's thoughts were shut down as Ercole came back down the stairs. Luca tightly shut his eyes, waiting to be beaten, but it never came.
"Open your eyes," Ercole said, more irritated than angry. Luca opened his eyes and saw that Ercole was holding out a plate for him. It was filled with lettuce and a pile of what looked like little yellow dots. Was Ercole giving Luca food? He wasn't sure what Ercole wanted him to do.
"Take it," Ercole said, stepping closer and holding out the plate. Luca realized he hadn't eaten since lunch the day before with Giulia and Alberto. His stomach growled painfully at the sight of the food, but he didn't want to give Ercole an excuse to be kind to him.
"I don't want it-"
"Eat!" Ercole bellowed. Luca gulped fearfully and he reached out to take the plate. Ercole handed him a strange silver contraption that Massimo would give Luca for food as well. But Luca didn't know what it was meant for.
"Oh, before I forget," Ercole said, digging into his pocket. Luca watched as he pulled out two little tablets, both white.
"Eat your food before I break the plate over your head," Ercole ordered, keeping the tablets in his hand. Luca had no other choice. He looked at the metal contraption and slowly placed it on the ground, looking for a reaction from Ercole. None came, so he assumed he was safe to eat the way he always had. With his hands.
"What are you doing, you disgusting boy?" remarked Ercole as Luca took a handful of the lettuce and took a bite of it from his palm. "Have you never seen a fork before?"
Ercole crouched down and picked up the fork and shoved it into Luca's hand. He then firmly grasped Luca's wrist and made Luca scoop up some of the food onto the fork and then made Luca shove it into his mouth.
"Don't make a mess with the couscous," Ercole said, letting go of Luca's wrist and wiping his palm on his shirt. "And eat all of your food, you're going to need the energy."
Ercole dropped to his knees in front of Luca and began to watch him eat. Luca was very uncomfortable with the atmosphere in the cellar. Ercole was watching his every move, and Luca barely had an appetite to begin with. He ate the "couscous" as Ercole had called it and was delightfully surprised when it didn't taste as bad as he had first imagined. But still, the bland meal was hard to swallow in front of his predator. When Luca finished, he held out the plate for Ercole.
"Now take this, Piccoletto," Ercole said, holding out the pills for Luca as he took the plate.
Luca took the two little tablets and studied them in his palm. "What are they?"
Ercole scoffed. "It's magic, Piccoletto. Now swallow them."
Luca looked at the little white tablets and back up at Ercole before shaking his head. He didn't like the sound of these "magic" things and didn't want to put anything foreign Ercole gave him into his body.
"I'm not hungry anymore, thank you," Luca said, handing out his hand.
Ercole didn't like the sound of this. "I'm not asking you to take it, Piccoletto. I'm telling you."
Luca opened his mouth and carefully placed the pills inside. As soon as his mouth closed, he managed to get the pills under his tongue. Ercole watched Luca with dangerous eyes and he stood up.
"You didn't swallow them," Ercole said, towering over Luca. "I thought I told you to swallow them."
Luca's heart began to pound outside of his rib cage as he felt tears start to flood his eyes again.
"I- I'm sorry, I'll swallow them," Luca stammered. With a bit of difficulty, he was able to swallow both the pills at the same time and looked up at Ercole.
Ercole snickered before stepping backwards towards the doorway. "Sleep well, Piccoletto."
Luca's breath got caught in his throat. His body stiffened and a flood of panic triggered his adrenaline.
"W- what?" Luca stuttered, trying his best to stand up. "What was that? That wasn't- that wasn't magic!"
Ercole put his hand on the doorknob. "No, it wasn't. It was to keep you quiet."
Ercole slammed the door shut as Luca rushed towards it, his palms slamming against the wood as he begged to be let out.
Luca stepped back, newly terrified of what those tablets would do. More importantly, what Ercole would do once Luca was out. He felt dizzy and weak, but he didn't know if it was the tablets or just pure fear.
Luca staggered towards the wall, trying to find his balance. His world began to tilt, and fighting against his center of gravity only made him feel worse. His world began to spin as dark spots covered his already flurry vision.
With one last step, Luca collapsed on the ground.