"I don't think I understand." My voice is coming back strong. I watch him as he flexes his fingers, and I feel a sudden sting in my chest as I breathe. He wants to answer my questions. After he threw me on the ground thirty minutes ago? And I was the bipolar one.
"I'm clearing your doubts. Don't believe me?" I have no intention of believing him again, but I'm certainly not denying him now that he's here. He leans towards me, resting his arms on his legs.
"You make it hard to trust you." I squint my eyes as the sting gets harder, making it hard to breathe.
"Touché. I'm creative when it comes to gaining trust, and you are the best example." I sigh, and for a moment I couldn't feel my arms anymore, the ties stopping my blood from flowing normally.
"Am I going to be able to ask for anything I want or not?" I'm annoyed. I'm annoyed at how I showed myself to such a filthy creature. And I hate myself for feeling so easy after seeing him three times. And now, those three times become four, as his eyes have the same soul as when I looked at him differently. He is touching something in me, and I can't explain what It is. It makes my skin crawl
"I'm going to be your genie tonight." Oh, he loves to be so mysterious; I want to punch that enigma out of his body.
This just might be one hell of a night; why not make it for both of us? "Never thought Gabriele was into talking" His eye twitches. I can tell I've triggered something as his face goes cold, his heavy eyes staring at me, judging mine as he tries to find something in them, the spark that left the moment we kissed "Will I ever leave?"
He seems relieved when I jump out of that situation. "This question has two answers. The first one faces the explanation made by my brother." Okay, so I might die beforehand. "The second one is through a rope." I nod.
So I will leave against their will.
"What is going to happen to me?" He sighs, and right now I can feel that he regrets ever coming down to talk to me.
"Specify"
"Cover any possible situation" he looks down and thinks, and I cannot bear to look at him right now. I close my eyes and sigh, which echoes into the room's silence. I catch him looking at me, studying my movements as he tries to think about an answer, and when I catch him staring, he suddenly looks away and starts talking.
"In case you try to escape, not cooperate, or kill one of us, you will die, and based on the level of each, your death is going to be measured from most to least painful." Well, my plan is kind of predictable, then.
"Has anyone disrespected the first one?" He smiles at himself, and before continuing, he drops a soft 'not yet'.
"If you cooperate, you will unblock some slight privileges, and by that I mean essentials to live." I have prayed for a bed since I arrived here
"And lastly, if we discover some abilities in you, we might exploit them" seems pretty basic.
"And if I won't help?" I know what happens if I don't, but his voice is hinting at something. I feel how his tone quivers as he makes eye contact with me. I need to hear him talk more.
"Then we return to the first category of fates," I smile.
I meet his gaze, and we both look at each other in silence. I gently tilt my head to the side, and his eyes look slowly from the top of my head to my toes and back up, becoming serious. I softly smile and cross my legs, looking at how his eyes analyze my every movement.
Sometimes memories are the worst form of torture, but I'm grateful I'm not the only one getting tortured by them. "Why didn't you kidnap me the first time we saw each other?"
"Believe me, I wanted to, but the bartender mixed up another substance, and you didn't faint as you were supposed to." That's why I felt like shit, fuck. Why would he be honest now?
"Oh, but we hung out a second time, and on that beach, you could've killed me since no one was there." We were the only ones on that beach, and he didn't find out anything specific about me other than my zodiac sign and how I hated the cigarettes he smoked.
"Good point, I guess I was just having fun," fun "and when your kind soul invited me to that event, I already had the plan figured out." Then he smiles and continues, "Have you had another reason why in your mind?"
I laugh, "Behave; I'm the one questioning here." This situation became too comfortable.
"Touché" he likes that word "but you wouldn't mind doing it again, would you?" He's interested; I can tell by how intensely he looks at me.
" I wouldn't," I say, his eyes widening softly in surprise, and then proceeds to distract himself as he looks at the concrete. He doesn't feel bad; It's just a polite way of not facing what he himself did.
I still have a scar inside, a small flame, and I feel the need to vomit it out. I look at him, and even when he tries to look away, I don't. What is there that I haven't seen, that was so obvious he was lying all along? I can't stand him, but I don't want him to go just yet. I don't feel uncomfortable with him here, after all the shit he made me go through.
I ask the last question, which indifferently if it's verbal or non-verbal, anything is going to answer it.
"Did Gabriele ever exist?" Dropped the bomb, sir; evacuate the area. God, I'd love an action movie right now. I can still imagine it, or live it.
Jackpot.His eyes become strict, his smile fades away, and with my question and a hard sigh, he gets up and walks towards the door, murmuring "Our tarot session is over".
~
"Che cazzo ti è passato per la testa? Se ti scoprono ti fanno scrivere il tuo testamento col sangue delle tue palle" What the fuck went through that head of yours? [If they find out, they're going to make you write your last will with your balls blood.]
A feminine voice wakes me up, and with it, a horrible back ache from the wall I slept on. I open my eyes to see a blonde girl looking at me. Her features loaded slowly, going from her big blue eyes to her wine-red lips and purple laced braces, and then, after completely opening my eyes, I see her slim, pale silhouette, ruining my fucking day.
"Rise and shine, dear," she says, and her companion waves his hand. "Bhe almeno hai la fortuna che lei sia figa cazzo" [well, at least you're lucky she's hot, damn] Then she giggles. I have no idea what she said, but her laugh didn't help.
"Got caught?" I say, yawning soon after. I couldn't catch what she said, but I could tell she was making fun of him by her full laugh, which makes me giggle as it starts getting contagious. I observe how he is fighting down his laugh, half failing as a small smile appears, disappearing soon after he catches me staring.
"Happy to meet the famous thief this house's been so engaged about, Antaura." She extends her hand, and I sign towards my tied hands. "Even after the duck tape and dust, you managed to keep these acrylics on, lucky one." I giggle, but the fact that they woke me up and started to talk to me this early in the morning is making some veins pop in me. She takes a cutter from her pocket and frees me. Now I don't feel like judging the fact that everyone has a weapon in their pocket. I don't dislike this girl.
"This is not the time to chitchat; we came here to discuss something," he broke into our one sided conversation, both of us facing him. "Ant, you'll prepare her to not look suspicious while we're out of here; just wash and..."
"I cannot do that. I have a very healthy and loyal relationship with Luna; why not call her a maiden?" Antaura starts frantically making her way out of this, but everything is still processed at the speed of 3 words per minute.
"Because we don't have maidens?" He looks at her, confused
"Right, but why?" good question.
"Because we have a normal house? not to mention who we are." That's why the whole house looked like a mess.
"But you're rich" doesn't look like it
"And you're lazy."
"True"
"I'm going outside?" I don't follow their conversation, but after they mentioned going outside, I completely ignored the following messy conversation they had, including their agility in hand gestures.
"Just if she does what I asked her to do."
"I'm not looking at other women, naked"
"You just have to cover up her bruises and find some goddamn clothes to cover her up, including the future ties on her hands" She looks at him baffled, then with a sigh of relief, she finally agrees, "Oh, okay then."
Finally they stop, and after a bunch of days, I can clean myself up. I get a moment of privacy and my usual ritual starts up.
I get under boiling water.
My scars are now scattered of red dots, getting puffy from the harsh water. I slap my mouth shut from screaming, and I turn the water cold.
I get out and wrap myself up.
Antaura covers my eyebags and my green bruises under the cheekbone, and she brushes my hair. When she got to my back, I took two steps back, and she seems to not want to mention it again. I finally look normal, and when I put on the dark green sweater they gave me and the short pants, I gasp at the comfort.
She explains that the shorts were to save me from melting in the hot July weather, and the big sweater was to cover the cuffs. The blonde man and Angelo sit in the front seats of the car, silent as always, as I am handcuffed and led there. As I watch the sun rise over the high hills, the vehicle abruptly stops moving. Angelo is seen stepping out of the car, heading to my side, and opening the door.
"Forgot to tie your eyes." Ah, well, fuck the beautiful sunrise then.
~
My eyes are free, and we begin to go through the streets of a desolate city where every building is terribly gray and the people strolling along its streets are even more depressed. I am brought into a building by the blonde, and as I turn around and see several police officers, I start to feel uneasy. My fear fades away as soon as I see them shaking hands and leading us into another dim room with an odd machine in the center
A Truth Machine
I start giggling at the sight of it but suddenly stop after I see the death stares from everyone around me. I get seated, and a cop puts on my now free arm a bunch of sticky things attached to some cables from the machine itself. After I see Iuliano sitting in front of me, I understand that the circus has started
"Let's first try a basic question: what's your name?" he says, looking at the lines that the machine is drawing.
"Maverine Bellaux," he nods, whispering 'truth'.
"Now answer with a false response: how old are you?"
"30." It makes wider lines, and another whisper is heard from Iuliano, 'false'.
"Let's get to the point: do you and your people have what we want?" I smile at him, but his facade doesn't break down.
"Yes"
The machine buzzes, and Iuliano suddenly gets up. I hear Angelo murmuring, 'I fucking knew it,' but the blonde shuts him up by raising his finger. Other lines are created, and their faces turn blank as the walls of the room.
"False"
My turn to smile.