Chapter Two

"Shut your mouth!" He tells me and reaches to pull my hair. He holds a huge chunk of it between his fist. "Or I'll blow your brains out right here." He points the gun at my neck and I have no choice but to remain quiet. I think of mother and Lia. Where are they? Who is this man? Is he a burglar? We don't have anything valuable here. My mother doesn't own a single ring. She sold her wedding ring to pay bills. We don't have anything. What could he possibly want from us?

He drags me out of my room and ahead of me, I see another strange man dragging Lia. I scream her name and the man pulls harder on my hair. "Last warning, bitch." Despair overtakes me. No, this can't be happening. Who are these people? What do they want? I’ve never been sworn at before, not like this.

Mother is already in the living room. She's on her knees, and a third man has a gun pointed right at her face.

"No!" I shout. "Leave my mother alone!"

The man taps the gun against my head, but I am beyond caring. This is my family. They're the entire world to me. I won't allow any harm to come to them.

I manage to turn and I throw a kick to the man's shin. He loosens his grip for a split second and I escape from his grasp. I crawl to the front door, where I know the axe I left earlier is. I grab the handle and I swing it around just as I feel the man's hands on me. I miss him by an inch and he throws a punch at my face. I drop the axe and my vision blurs for a second. He grabs my hair again and drags me back to our original position. Mother is shouting still, but for a moment I can't hear what she's saying. The left side of my face is on fire.

Lia sobs as the man shoves her next to our mother harshly. She instantly latches onto her. "Stop, please stop." The man makes me get on my knees in front of him. Lia looks at me in a way I'm sure I'll never forget. It rips my heart to shreds. I want to reach out to her and touch her, but the man holds me back. My scalp is burning and I feel something warm trickle down the back of my neck.

Mother is glaring fiercely at the man in front of her. "Leave my girls alone, do you hear me? They have nothing to do with this."

"Vivia, you know as well as I do that I'm not in charge. I'm following orders. Giotto wants your head on a silver platter." He pauses and scratches his beard, and momentarily I wonder how he knows my madre's name. "He's been looking for you for nearly two decades. Surely you can imagine how furious he is. If you had given yourself up, he would've spared your girls. Raised them as his own. But you never listen, neither did Frediano, which is why we're here right now. Don't think I'm happy with this. I knew your family well."

"You betrayed us,” Mother spits. "You betrayed my family! You exterminated them like they were pests. I ask you now, Aurelio, I beg of you. Keep them out of this. Your debt was with Frediano and me. If his blood wasn't enough, spill mine, but I beg of you, keep my daughters out of this. They were not even born when it all happened. They have nothing to do with this. You know it. They will not seek revenge. They know nothing of our world." I have never seen her like this. Her hair is cascading down her back and she has her hands clasped together. What is she talking about? I'm trying hard to concentrate, but the pain is blinding. I feel the barrel of the gun pressed to my head. I'm certain this man will kill me if I dare to move an inch.

I can only ask, "Mother, you know this man?" She called him Aurelio. She knows this man. How does she know him? What does father have to do with any of this? He died long ago of a stroke.

"Keep quiet!" She yells at me. This is the first time my mother has ever raised her voice. The man she calls Aurelio lowers the gun. He kneels next to her and caresses her face. On instinct, I lunge towards them. The man groans and wraps his arm around my neck. He squeezes and I gasp for air.

"I'll squeeze the life out of you, stupid girl. Don't think I won't."

The man caressing my mother speaks in a soft, warm voice. "Vivia, I cannot defy him. You know the consequences. Your husband defied him and paid a terrible price. Giotto will not be satisfied until all the Giaccobbes are dead. You and your daughters are the last ones left. If I could help you, I would. But you know how he works. If I defy him, I'll sleep with the fish in record time." He passes to take a breath. "He has one condition, and one condition only. He wants one of your daughters alive. Don't ask me what for, I don't have a clue. You have to choose. It's your choice now, Vivia. Which one of them do you want me to spare?"

Mother shakes her head and screams.

"Leave us alone!" Lia yells, and tries to slap the man. "Get out of our house!"

A choice. They're making her choose which one of us stays alive. What kind of people are they? Why is this happening to us? This feels like a never-ending nightmare. Maybe I'm dreaming. Maybe I'll wake up from this, and I'll head to the kitchen for some water and stare at the garden until my heart stops racing. Then I'll tell mother and Lia of my dream in the morning and perhaps we will laugh about how utterly ridiculous it is. Then I'll tell Fabio and he'll try to decipher what my subconscious is trying to tell me, like he normally does. The man squeezes my throat again and I'm forced back to this morbid reality, the one that should be a dream, but definitely isn't. I try to move, but my captor pulls me back. Tears spill down mother's cheeks and down mine.

She chokes the words out. "How can you ask this of me? How?"

I grab the man's hand and push it away from my throat. "Mother, what's happening? How do you know these people? Tell me what's happening! Why are they here?" I'm shouting and the man's grip on my hair makes my eyes water. His hand returns to my neck and this time, I can't breathe.

Aurelio looks my way. His eyes are almost black and there's a scar down the side of his face. He's older than the man holding me, approximately around my mother's age. My mother knows him well. There's undeniable intimacy between them. Who is he? I've never seen him before in my life. He wants to kill us? Why? What does my father have to do with any of this? He was a farmer's son. And my mother's family were merchants. This can't be real.

He turns back to my mother. "Choose, Vivia. Choose, or I'll have to make it for you."

She lowers her head and wails. I can't help but cry as well. I can't believe this is happening. I want to go to them and hold them. I start scratching at the man's hands and he releases me with a curse. I crawl over to her and I shake her shoulders. Lia reaches over and grabs my arm. Her eyes are wild and red and filled with despair. I want to hold her and comfort her, but there is no way we can ignore this.

My throat hurts when I speak, but I ignore the pain. "Mother, who are these people? What do they want?" This is all I want to know. At this point, fighting is pointless. There is no escape from this. They are armed and they have the advantage. All I want to know before I die is why this is all happening. I have to know.

"Blood," the man who was dragging my sister says calmly. "We want blood." He says it like the word doesn't faze him. It probably doesn't.

Mother takes a hold of my face. "There's much I've kept from you, Chiara, Lia. I didn't want you to know. I didn't think they would find us here of all places. I was wrong. I didn't try hard enough. I failed."

"What are you talking about?" Lia asks. "How do you know these people?"

"It doesn't matter, girl. The past stays in the past, and it's best if you don't know. Vivia, have you made your choice?" Aurelio asks, running the barrel of the gun up and down his scar. How is he so calm about this? Doesn't he realize what he's asking of her? Are these people so cold-blooded?

I turn to him and I spit at him. "Go to hell! You devil! Your piece of shit!"

He wipes my spit away from his face calmly. "I can tell you won't make a choice. So I'll make one for you. I'll spare the youngest."

He grabs Lia’s arm and pushes her into the arms of another man. Lia won't stop screaming and my mind is a haze. The man stands and points the gun at Mother and I. Mother is pushing me away from her, screaming in my ear. Her tears stain my shirt.

My attacker is sitting on my favorite armchair and sharpening a knife. I can't bare to think of what he will do with it. I stare at Aurelio, at the barrel of the gun placed right between my eyes. I can almost feel the bullet pierce through my skin and end my existence. I close my eyes.

"Aurelio, stop."

I look to my left. A fourth man I hadn't noticed steps out of the shadows. He's wearing a hat and his hands are gloved. He lowers the gun and the room falls silent. Lia stops sobbing and my mother turns to look at him.

"What is it, Enzo?"Aurelio asks.

He steps into the light and I see his face clearly. He's taller and younger than the other men here. He fixes his eyes on me. Mother's grip on me tightens. I don't know why he's looking at me this way. It terrifies me even more. The man takes his time to speak and he won't take his eyes off me. For the first time tonight, I am genuinely afraid. It's crippling, this fear. I can't even breathe.

He looks back at Aurelio. "Spare this one." He points at me. "She's a better asset for the family."

He nods curtly. "As you wish."

Then, the pandemonium begins again. Lia starts screaming and mother does, too. My head starts spinning and everything happens in slow motion. The man who was sharpening the knife stands and grabs me. He's dragging me out the house. I can't move any of my limbs. It's like I'm paralyzed. Mother calls my name and tries to crawl to get to me. Aurelio grabs her clothes and pulls her back. Lia falls to her knees and her face crumples. Aurelio points the gun at them. The man closes the door behind him and I hear gunshots. Two, three, four, five, six. Six shots and then there's absolute silence. I fall to my knees and vomit.

A sound of disgust leaves his lips and he kicks my side. I hit my head. My vision goes black.