Chiara In my humble opinion, there is nothing worse than a slow song when you’re a stripper like me. Pair that up with a young obviously inexperienced man wanting a lap dance and that's basically my hell loop. Pretending to enjoy it as the song dragged on. Slapping greedy sweaty hands away from my thighs. Getting paid cheap for arching my back all night. All packaged in an awful tune. The blue and pink neon lights flash on my blonde wig as I push my young client onto a chair, sliding the twenty euros that he just paid into the hem of my lingerie. I flash him a polite smile as he tries to touch my butt, waiting for the damn song to finish. It just has to be another jazz number. The owner of this club Monamour, a portly woman named Heidi, claims that she loves to make things feel classy. Sophisticated. That’s why she prided her club as some kind of gentleman's cove, a tasteful place to explore desires. I have to call bullshit on that. There’s nothing classy about bored women trying
Chiara The words swim in my head until I feel faint. I grab the door of my locker, feeling like I just got punched in the gut. After a while, the words start to sink in, and I manage to find my voice again. “A . . . scholarship?” I echo. “But how?” Dad laughs louder on the other end, and I feel even more thrown. “Is this a prank?” I ask him suspiciously. “Dad, I swear to God, if you got on drugs again, I will--” “Darling, no.” His smile is very apparent even from this side of the phone call. “I met someone at the . . . casino,” he mumbles. “His name is Alessio de Marco. He, uh, has some connections in the University of Catania, so I tried to hook you up over a game of cards. He talked to his supervisor, and they need one more beneficiary for their program. You’re going back to college!” My eyes go wide in surprise. "Is this true? Is this really happening?" "Yes, my love." His voice softens. "I know I haven't been great to you, but I didn't forget what you want. And now I can fin
Chiara "So this is his daughter?" "Yes, Master. She went home because of her father's request." "Perfect. Did you search her belongings?" “We did. But we didn’t find anything other than costumes and wigs, Master.” The two male voices talking in whispers pull me out of unconsciousness. My eyelids feel sticky. My limbs feel like they're a hundred pounds heavier. I try to get up, but then I feel a strip of cold leather strapping me down. I realize that I'm bound to something hard and cold, like a steel bed, through my neck, wrists, and ankles. I blink repeatedly, trying to get rid of the haze in my vision. Slowly, the room I am in starts to loom into view. Dark red walls. Bare, except for the array of weapons that are displayed in cases. Knives, swords, axes . . . even what looks like teeth. Sharp, big, animal teeth. Chills run down my spine. I try to move but I'm plastered in place. I want to scream, but something is slapped right in my mouth, preventing me from making a single
Alessio I slam Chiara down on the metal bed, grabbing her hand that she somehow managed to slip out of the strap. I look around for my knife, but I realize that she managed to swipe it away from my grasp and it fell on the floor. I twist her wrist and slip it back inside the strap, tightening it and making her cry out. I stare at her in anger, breathing hard because of what almost transpired. She shouldn’t have attempted to touch my mask. No one knows who I am and what I am, and it should stay that way. I’ve been protecting myself for far too long and I won’t let some rat’s child get in the way of that. Anyone who crosses me must die. And now, she’s staring at me with her black hair all over her face, her brown eyes wide and crazy, saying something that her muffled mouth won’t let her. That doesn’t make me happy at all. I pull the gag down from the girl’s mouth. Immediately, a scream erupts in the room. High pitched and reedy, like a little girl’s. I almost want to bring the gag
Chiara The man whispers something under his breath, glaring at me. Then his head snaps up and calls to someone in the distance. “Get her out of here and take her to one of the bedrooms upstairs.” The words seem to echo in my head as soon as the masked man says them. I try to look up but that moment of surprise seems to make me forget that I still have a strip of leather binding me to the metal bed, because I end up gasping for breath. The man named Gio shuffles in his spot. “Are you sure, Master?” “I’m sure,” the masked man says in a low voice. “Meanwhile, tell the others to keep an eye on Lazaro. I’m sure he would reveal eventually where he put the money.” “So it’s not with the girl?” “No, it’s not. She’s innocent.” That’s music to my ears. He spared me. He actually spared me. “Are you going to let me go?” I ask, my breath still caught in my throat. “Will I be free to leave?” The masked man faces me again, and I’m once again struck by his eyes. They’re piercing from behind t
Chiara “I’m sorry,” I stammer. “I got scared and I thought I should go out and--” “You mean you want to intrude,” the man interrupts, his voice low and raspy. “I do not take kindly to intrusions, Chiara.” “I really don’t know what’s happening here.” I swallow hard and shake my head. “I heard noises and they woke me up. I was so scared.” There’s a pause in the air. A very charged one, almost like I said something that I shouldn’t have. I clamp my lips together, not realizing how much I’m shaking until I take a step back. But as though to make things worse for me, he takes a step forward to erase the distance I tried to put between us. “Noises, you say?” he asks. “What noises? Tell me.” “Howls,” I whisper. “Growls and roars. From monsters.” “Monsters,” he repeats, then he lets out a low, rumbling laugh. “How did you know there were many of them? What if . . . there’s just one?” I open my mouth to answer, but the man suddenly lunges toward me. A shrill scream escapes my lips and
Alessio “Tell the servants to leave,” I tell Gio, massaging my temples as I draw the curtains closed over the darkening sky. “I need them out of the mansion before the sun sets completely.” He nods, but he doesn’t leave the study immediately. “And how about the prisoner, Master?” I pause. That very nearly slipped my mind, but I can’t say I blame myself since it has been a busy day trying to find Lazaro and capturing his daughter Chiara. It’s supposed to be the full moon tonight, and I nearly forgot to make preparations for what will inevitably happen. I can already feel the pull of the moon, calling to the other side of me that I want to drown. “Just keep her there, don’t move her anywhere else,” I say, slumping onto my seat. “I don’t think she will be roaming around tonight.” “Of course, Master,” Gio replies. I expect him to leave and get at it, but he stays in his spot. I arch a brow. “Is there anything you need?” “No, Master.” He bows deeply. “I just want to know if I shoul
ChiaraAlessio . . . So that's his name. Sounds harmless and innocent, but the person is the opposite. Panic seizes my heart like a fist, but I force a smile and turn to Marie and Kana with a smile. "Of course."They both smile as though this is the answer they're waiting for, but I can't shake off the feeling that I didn't have a choice either way and their invitation is just for formality.I get up, expecting them to drop the things they got and leave me alone, but they just point at the door in the corner that I didn't notice the night before."Here, Miss Chiara," Kana says happily. "We shall prepare you for the Master.""What do you mean prepare?" I linger by the door while Marie opens it, revealing a beautiful bathroom with tile mosaics and a claw-foot bathtub. "You can just leave these things and wait for me outside. . . .""Master's orders, Miss Chiara. We are to assist you."The sudden firm tone in Marie's voice makes me stop. It feels like these women are mandated to follow v