Rina ZanteHours earlier…The wall should be wondering if I was dead or alive. It'd looked away from my unflinching gaze only to turn back and still be met with it. Psycho, it'd concluded. And right now, it cried. Its head was to the heavens as it prayed for a savior to come rescue it from my frightening eyes. If it'd had the power, it would have marched close and pressed the life I might have had left, away. All this had gone through its mind in the course of seven hours. Ever since I’d woken up from a thirty-two minute nightmarish nap. Poor wall. I understood its discomfort: having the spotlight shifted to you when your whole life had been lived in obscurity. Funny, because while we lived with no one aware of our existence, we yearned for attention not knowing the cost. The alarm rang, joining the birds outside to liven the place. It was that way for some time before partial silence returned—the birds alone made a noise. I shut my eyes; soon after, the corners of my eyes weigh
Vincenzo MorenoThe present.Fourteen minutes gone and I was worse than ever. I hadn't stopped regretting my actions and scolding myself. My greatest wish was to alter the course of time and go back to the night of January 18th. Then, bash in Alessio's head before finding Rina and making her understand she belonged to me without forcing her to bed. "What have I done?" I didn't recognise the voice. It was frightful. True, Rina had done me bad by allowing that stupid marking happen. True also, she'd locked lips with my archenemy; but that didn't mean I should have done what I'd done. Rape?Fuck. A geyser of bile burst within me, coating my insides with bitterness. I'd done the very thing that'd nearly driven me to suicide. A knock sounded, tearing my eyes open. I ushered in Lucia whom I'd summoned. I wanted to know what truly had happened. Only then would I be able to begin the search. "How did it happen?"Lucia let out some breath, hinting at a very big revelation. I didn't know
Rina Zante The last piece of patience shredded off when I saw the time on my phone. I slapped the gadget on the bench—gasping when I realized myself. Fortunately, however, damage hadn’t been done. The screen was good as new.A frown squeezed my brows as another bout of realization struck. Why bother if the phone cracked or not? Why blow a sigh? Didn’t it all end today? In a few minutes?I had an inward chuckle at my silliness, and looked straight ahead. All at once, nervousness descended on me, freezing up my hands and tickling my stomach. The darkening weather didn't help matters either.As my nerves grew in size, I fixed my gaze at a specific area in front. I'd told myself that there was no going back. There was no sense in going back.I shut my eyes and opened them to get an itch. That was all there was to prove the hours spent crying. I'd told Papà I was truly and extremely sorry for the pain Mammà would feel; then I'd gone on to feel useless; and stared at the moon goddess sta
Vincenzo MorenoI hate you! I hate you much more than you do to me. I hate you. She'd said the word thrice. Clearly and with a conviction that tensed her neck. Her teeth had been gritted, showing that truly, she meant what she'd said. I was a puzzled mess and a furious tiger. Two personalities resulting from the drama that'd occurred some minutes ago. Rina had spoken back at me. She'd talked back without missing a beat. She had matched gazes with me and had said those words. Apart from being thrown off-guard, I had been overtaken by anger. I seethed from the remnant of that anger. That explained my unrelenting squeeze at the steering, my hot gaze at the windshield and my flaring nose. The anger planted seeds of tears on my eyelids as well. I wasn't just pissed because of Rina's brazenness, but also at my inability to act like the man I was. I shut my eyes, my teeth grinding. I hated the tight situation I'd found myself in. Since being my normal self would drive Rina away, I'd h
Rina ZanteI stared at the cut on my arm which had a hand in keeping me awake throughout the night. It burned still, but not as bad as before. I could trace a finger across it, and even the densely packed rashes. Same went for my wrist and thigh. The injuries brought in yesterday's events. The utter confusion and strangeness that had existed. I'd long known Vincenzo was abnormal. However, the true extent of his problem had been lost to me until yesterday. That guy… He was sick. Mentally disturbed, and here I was in the center of it all.I don't just get it. He hated me, right? He'd called me all manner of names, humiliated me in front of everyone, looked at me like I was some rotten garbage; so, why then wouldn't he let me be? I'd done what he’d demanded. I had left, I'd walked out of his life, so why?Why come looking for me?He made me sound like a broken record because this would be the zillionth time I asked myself that. I'd simply wanted to go. I'd simply wanted to end it.I b
UNKNOWN POVBlank. That was all I saw. All I heard. All I felt. And I knew not what I painted; I wasn't frustrated either. The last bit sounded good since I hated being like everyone else. I wasn't like other artists.I selected some pigments and stroked them across the canvas, wallowing in the void I'd found myself. One would think that after all my hard work, I'd be happier than a king for finally achieving my goal. I had thought so, in fact. Uncle Emiliano too. Zia. But here I was. Worse than an average person. Life taster blander water. And I honestly didn't know why. Initially, I'd thought it was remorse. My fright at that point was nothing I'd felt before. And my relief upon learning remorse wasn't the case couldn't be measured. It wasn't remorse because I still thought about Father and gnash my teeth. I thought about him and battled with the urge to destroy his remains. Now that I knew I didn't have any atom of remorse in me, what then could explain this empty feeling?
Vincenzo MorenoEveryone had their definition for peace. Mine was the ultimate peace. I didn't speak out of pride or cockiness; it rather was pure fact. My idea of the concept overthrew that of the dictionary, and by extension, that of nature. Or natural law. One could only be said to have peace when he resided in a building—sea front—with the love of his life. When he woke up every morning to the angelic face she had. I had been watching her since I woke up. Nothing less than five minutes. Her face held more interest than a slasher movie or anything at all one fancied. She was beautiful. Her features, so many, I couldn't begin to mention. My ears received the soft snores leaving her throat. My side got caressed by her breath. I stared at her lashes. The spiky ends that always impaled me with a breathless feeling. I couldn't think of anything but her. As if reading my mind, she blinked. Creamy brown eyes met me, bringing forth a smile that melted my heart. "Buon ginorata," I sa
Vincenzo MorenoI grabbed a glove and slid my fist into it. Teeth clenched to bottle in the hurt, I wrapped the glove straps around my wrist; then headed straight to the ring.“Signore, you forgot the second glove.” I blocked out the voice and continued till I reached the ring. I waited for my opponent to show up. I would heap my frustration on that motherfucker . The murderous desire stacked up with every passing nanosecond. It was a great deal keeping still. After several agonizing minutes, the dick emerged. My icy eyes followed him from the locker room opposite to some feet away from the ring. He stomped closer. His gait, and in fact, his entire person irked me. I didn’t wait till he fully got in before rendering a blow across his cheek. Having caught him off guard, I dragged him across the ropes, and into the ring. Just then, he came around. Body going rigid, he sent a fist my way. I dodged, more pissed than ever that he’d challenged me. I dealt a merciless blow to his stoma