"Eight
Nine
Ten!" The virtual instructor yelled encouraging shouts at us, while still executing every single exercise perfectly.
I heard a loud thud next to me and some panting, but kept focussing on the small screen in front of me. "Oh my fucking God. You are out of your mind!" That last comment was directed towards me. Rachel had let herself fall to the floor of the small gym in the hotel, attracting the attention of a few other people around us.
My laugh because of her dramatic utterances turned into a groan when I too hit the floor after my last ten push-ups.
"Excellent work out guys!" The instructor said as soon as the music ended. This hell was finally over and slowly but surely my breathing started to get back to normal. That woman looked like she still had to begin at her workout. There was not even a drop of sweat on her forehead, while I lay on the floor panting for air. The hair I once neatly tucked into a ponytail now sticked up in all directions and my face was probably as red as a tomato.
Normally I wouldn't say something like this about my friends, but Rachel looked even worse than I did to be honest.
I burst out laughing when I saw the murderous look in Rachel's eyes. If looks could kill I'd be six feet underground now.
"I'm never doing this shit again. In one fell swoop all my interest in getting a slim and toned body is completely gone." She picked up her bottle of water and drank the whole thing in one gulp. "What's your secret? How do you not quit?" Rachel said, disbelief dripping from her tone.
"I'm not sure actually." I shrugged. "It takes some time to get used to, but it just became a habit I guess. Don't think it was easy for me when I began and it still isn't. I mean, look at my face." I pointed at myself, making Rachel chuckle.
We grabbed our stuff and took the elevator to our hotel room. I tried persuading Rachel to take the stairs, but she murmured something about being crippled and pulled me towards the elevators with all the strength she'd left.
Unfortunately it was our last night in Rome. The hotel was beautiful and the view even more so. I dreaded leaving this place, but the most important part of this journey had yet come to pass. Naples was our last stop and I'd looked forward to going there for a long time.
Before going out for dinner one last time in Rome, we took a refreshing swim to reduce the sourness in our muscles. Despite Rachel's protests at first, we decided not to go out tonight, so we could leave first thing in the morning.
~*~
"Quick, quick! Out!" The old man ushered all the passengers out of the bus, barely intelligible because of his strong Italian accent.
New tourists, on their way from Naples to Rome, forced their way into the bus, accidentally shoving each other and us. Rachel and I quickly made our way out and walked past our bus driver, who was now in a heated discussion with another bus driver.
I silently chuckled at their exaggerated gestures. I loved Italy. The sentiment in this country was amazing, the temperature perfect and the food delicious. Sadly culture wasn't Rachel's area of interest. She liked tanning, shopping, partying and most importantly men.
I stretched my sore muscles and picked up my suitcase. The nauseating air inside the buss had taken its toll on me and Rachel. After the first hour in that hell hole we agreed to never ever take the bus again. I yawned and dragged my suitcase through the crowd of people in a half-sleeping state.
As I breathed in the fresh air, I felt so much better than before. The bus dropped us off at the port of Naples, so there was a light ocean breeze that ran through my hair. The city was located halfway between two volcanic areas, which where clearly visible now. On the outskirts of Naples green hills began. A lot of locals went there if they wanted to escape from the busy city life.
It was very busy actually. Immediately we were surrounded by locals, offering 'designer' bags, sunglasses and a whole lot of other shady stuff. There was a lot of criminality in Naples because of poverty. I already felt sorry for the few uninformed tourists among us that would surely be scammed in no time.
When I was little we went to Napoli every single holiday, so my father always warned me about pickpockets and crooks, stealing whatever they could get their hands on.
Although my father was Italian, I inherited my mothers creamy skin and red hair, so I didn't look like a local at all and neither did Rachel. She looked like the ideal woman according to many men, blonde with blue eyes, a slender body, a graduate degree and a pretty face to top it all off.
In short, the crooks thought we were two ignorant white girls, totally unaware of their scams, and still tried to rip us off. They stood on every corner of the street, asking you for some change or offering to help you carry your suitcases.
Rachel and I politely declined every offer and went looking for a cab that would bring us to the apartment we'd rented for the remainder of this holiday.
I'd arranged everything in advance for us. We didn't have to worry about money or sleeping accommodations, so we could focus on more important things.
I'd never known much about how my parents died, but I was going to do something about that.
My nonna passed away just before my twentieth birthday and from the moment my parents were murdered, until she herself passed away, my nonna didn't let out anything about their deaths.
When they died there was a small memorial service with some relatives and friends, but even their bodies couldn't be flown in so we could see them one last time and mourn.
At the time my nonna told me a vague story about a robbery that had gotten out of hand, but it had always stayed a questionable story for me. Because of that I'd never been able to fully deal with their deaths. I mean, my father was absolutely flawless in self defense and knew which neighborhoods to avoid seeing he grew up there. As I grew up it started to make less and less sense to me.
"What are you thinking about Sofia? You look troubled." Rachel gave me a penetrating look and sighed. "Please stop thinking about your parents. I'm sure you'll find out their resting place and be able to visit it." She gave an encouraging squeeze in my hand and started unpacking her clothes. Seeing the amount of clothes she brought, it would be quite a challenge.
I opened up the curtains of my bedroom, letting the bright sunlight in. I sighed deeply and drank in the spectacular view.
"You're completely right. We should make the best of our time here and concentrate on having fun." I forced a smile, but luckily she didn't notice.
What she didn't know was that I didn't want to 'just' visit their graves and afterwards go out and party in Naples, I wanted to find out more about their deaths. I was a journalism major. Researching until I knew every single fact was just in my blood. Especially when it came to such important things as the death of my parents.
"Fuck!" Rachel suddenly cursed, as she walked out of her large bedroom. I laughed when I saw what she was holding up. There was a tiny red spot on her light blue jeans, indicating her period had begun. "I have to go find a drugstore to buy some pads. I'll be back soon."
"Wear something black when you go there!" I reminded her as she walked out of the room.
She turned around and rolled her eyes. "What do you take me for, an idiot?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by the slamming of our door. I laughed as I shook my head at her actions. She had always been a bit of a drama queen.
My laughter died away and slowly my thoughts drifted back to my parents.
I picked up my notebook and started writing down the facts that I knew.
- My father was born and raised in Naples
- He had a lot of family and friends here
- He went on many business trips to Italy
- My parents were shot on 20 November 2009. It happened that Friday night around 8 o'clock.
-They both died in the ColliMonaldi hospital in Naples.
It wasn't much, but it was a start. From now on every single detail could be important, so I'd have to pay very close attention.
With great difficulty I'd arranged an appointment at the hospital my parents died, before I went on holiday. They kept asking me over and over again why I wanted to look into their autopsy reports and after reassuring them it was solely because I needed it for closure they let me. Of course convincing them came with a prize. Nothing was free here.
I wasn't sure of what I'd come across tomorrow but I was prepared for the worst.
~*~
FINALLY! lol
I wrote this chapter in my own language first, but the translating took much more time than I expected. So there's not much action in the first chapters yet, but I assure you, it's worth the wait (I hope).
As you've probably noticed Emma Stone stars as Sofia Verde, and now I will reveal Vincezo...
So what do you guys think? enjoy ;)