CHAPTER 3: DEATH’S PROMISE

Michael and Alba looked at all the files that Alba had sent Michael before she left his office in the afternoon, and only then did she realize that her friend was telling the truth.

“Why didn’t I notice that?” She whispered to herself.

Michael Mezzaluna was someone who had a very dark past, and he was very vocal to Alba and Daniel ever since the three of them developed a family bond as trained assassins for Alba’s mafia boss father. Being in the mafia meant that they all had secrets, but Michael’s story was a bit more brutal than most.

“Boss, I think we need to see if they really are similar,” Alba suggested as both of their gazes never left the photo on the screen of Michael's laptop. It was now three in the morning, and the two of them stayed up in Michael’s room with both of them in their pajamas.

Alba asked Michael to recheck his tattoo, and as he took off his shirt, his red crescent tattoo about two inches by two inches big was shown. He had a great body, but no matter how hard Alba tried, she could only see the man as a brother, and for that, she was very thankful. As they both looked closer, the tattoo on Michael’s chest was obviously the same as the one on the body of the dead man. The tattoo was just a crescent moon, but what made it special was the word LUNA written inside the moon in a specific way that made it look like swirls. It was an intricate design, since every swirl formed a letter, and the words VENI VIDI VICI could be formed near the outline of the word LUNA.

Michael remembers that the tattoo was already on his body ever since he was a little boy. He thought it was a birthmark until his brother explained the meaning of it to him. He recalled his brother explaining to him that the moment their mother died of childbirth, Gabriel Mezzaluna decided to tattoo the baby boy when he would reached the age of six months old. His brother Gabriel explained to him that he did it because their mother had the same tattoo on the same spot, and he knew that the baby wouldn’t remember the pain of the tattoo, so it was better. His brother told him that it was a tattoo that reminded him of their mother, and it was a tattoo that would remind Michael of who he was. At that time, Michael accepted every explanation from his brother. However, now that the dead body was in front of him, he began to doubt the truth that his brother had explained to him years ago.

Michale focused on the tattoo that was visible in the photograph, and he took a deep breath to calm his nerves down. He didn’t want a clouded mind to solve this kind of problem.  The both of them then realized that the dead man was not one of their men. The man with the similar tattoo was also not familiar to him, nor to Alba.

“I don’t think that the guy is from the Mondragon family, Alba,” he said as he stood straight and paced back and forth near the sofa.

“Yeah, you're right. He doesn’t have the same mark as the Mondragon mafia family as well,” she said as she tried to zoom in on the smol of his back, just above the man’s lower back. There was no dragon tattoo, which meant the man was not a member of the Mondragon family.

“Boss, what if this guy is just a hired assassin or spy that the Mondragons sent to infiltrate our house in Venice?” Alba said skeptically, and Michael half nodded.

“That can be the case,” he said as he walked back beside her and looked at the image again, “then again, the Mondragon family would never do that, unless the one who gave the command was Ardende and not Don Mondragon himself. The Don would never be caught dead using a hired assassin. To him, it would be like admitting that his men are incapable of doing the job right.”

Michael was not in the mood to solve this case without further evidence or data. He knew that the man with the same tattoo as him has something to do with what happened to his brother. However, ever since he became a part of the mafia world, he tried his best to find the men responsible for what had happened to his brother in the past. Every time he tried to look for clues, he would always find a dead end. Even after he became a boss, there was still no progress in his goal to give his brother the justice he extremely deserved. Michael clenched his fists as he recalled that he was given a longer life, therefore, he knows he needs to give justice to his beloved brother, and get to the bottom of it.

“Alba,” he said after a few seconds of silence between them, “find out everything you can. If this man is connected to the Mondragon or to my brother more than two decades ago, then I want to know everything that you can find. I don’t care what you do. Make sure you get what can be used. This might be a new clue for us to get the justice that me and my brother deserve.” Alba nodded.

“Don’t worry, Michael, leave it all to me,” she said and then gave him a pat on the back before she excused herself and went back into her room.

Michael was glad that they all lived in the family’s main house. He felt secured knowing that every single person inside of the house are the main members of the Mezzaluna Mafia Family. Each of the people here have shed blood with Michale, and they would all die for the sake of the family. It was a blessing for Michael to know that half of the men that he had were people he grew up with on the streets, in the mafia life while he was still a teenage assassin, and a few of them were people he helped while he did his missions. It would always amaze Michael how many people still treated him as family despite having killed hundreds of people throughout the years. It helps to remind himself that he only took on missions that involved killing people who deserved death. He would always leave the innocent, and it was a principle that Alba and Daniel shared with him.

Mezzaluna was spared by the guy who killed his brother on that boat, and he made sure that he used his extra life to get justice. He went back to bed when he saw that it was nearly four in the morning, he still had an hour to sleep, and so he slept. He knew that he needed it for the things he’ll be doing in the office that day. As he slept, he recalled what had happened, and as he slept for an hour and a few minutes more, his dreams returned.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the baby Mezzaluna,” the big buff man spoke as he slowly approached a trembling Michael under the pile of garbage on their boat.

“I knew that you were somewhere around here, you little bastard,” the man said as he laughed and grabbed the little boy from his ankle and dangled him in front of him.

Michael, as small as he was at the time, used his free right leg and kicked the man’s head. He caught it to the little boy’s dismay, and he grabbed the boy’s collar and lifted him up off the ground. Now, his legs were the ones dangling and not his head. It made him feel sick to the stomach, because now, he got a full view of his brother’s unidentifiable corpse on the ground.

“What’s the matter kid? Can’t stomach the sight of your traitor brother? Huh?” he questioned as Michael tried his best to meet the man’s eyes and avoid the sight of his brother in fear of fainting in front of the killers.

“If you become a good boy, we might just take you inn and raise you to be a better bastard than your good for nothing brother,” he said as all the other men laughed along with him at the little boy’s expense.

“G-g-get a-away from me!” The little boy tried to kick and scratch the man’s arms, and what the boy did made all of the men laugh.

“You’ve got more guts more than your pathetic brother, kid, I’d give you that,” the man said as he grabbed a knife from his side.

“I’ll stab you, and I expect you to live, do you understand?” He said to the trembling little boy, “I know you’ll die, but I’m very willing to wait until you try and kill me and my man. I don’t care if you kill us through haunting, or if you miraculously survive. Either way,” he stabbed Michael on his left bicep, and the little boy screamed in pain, “Make sure you never forget my face.” he said as he dropped the bleeding boy on the deck and gestured for his men to leave.

All five of the acquaintances of the buff man started to go to the boat that they used to escape. The buff man held a lighter and they it at the corpse of Gabriel Mezzaluna, and his hand was pierced with his own knife as he screamed and dropped to one knee. He looked up and saw that the little boy was now looking at him face to face with a determined look on his eyes. The boy’s hand was bleeding, but it was tied using a piece of cloth that looked like it was torn from the little boy’s shirt. The kid’s eyes glowed as the fire grew and ate Gabriel Mezzaluna’s clothes along with his dismembered body.

“I’ll live,” the boy said, as he spat on the eye of the buff man. 

“Brave words, kid. I like you,” he said as he punched the kid and went in the boat with his men. He grabbed the knife and threw it to the kid as the boat where the body and the boy was began to explode in the distance.

Michael woke up in a cold sweat, but this time, he recalled how he was able to find the plastic emergency boat that his brother taught him how to use, and inside, there was a bag and everything that he needed to stay alive while in the ocean. He recalled all the training his brother gave him, because Gabriel Mezzaluna would always tell his little brother that as orphans, they must always be prepared. 

“I’ll find them, and I’ll kill them, fratello,” he whispered as he began to get ready for the day, “I’ll get the justice we both deserve, and no one can stop me.”