The Withered Flower of Silence

WOLFGANG P.O.V.

The sky is overcast with gray clouds, at any moment it's going to rain, the perfect excuse to advance the slaughter I've planned for years. The last funeral event I attended was 20 years ago. 10 years ago I decided not to attend my father's. But the late Andrea Bianchi is a different dead man, he is the younger brother of Aldo Bianchi, a Cosa Nostra Don, one of the most feared men in Sicily, and my lifelong enemy, even if he didn't even know I existed. 

It wasn't important that he didn't know my true identity, soon he was going to know the whole last nameKrüger, and in the process make him wish he hadn't touched a single hair of my mother's or grandmother's.

My name is Wolfgang Krüger, and my soul was forged in the flames of revenge. I am the Don of the German mob, a feared and ruthless figure in the dark corners of crime they call Wolf. But my story began long before I reached that position of power.

After my innocent family was the victim of a Don from the Italian mafia, I should have completely distanced myself from everything that has to do with the mafia, but it took a couple of years for me to decide that I no longer wanted to feel like a victim, I wanted to have power and control, and most of all, I wanted revenge.

I learned the rules of the game, plunged into darkness, and became a heartless man. Revenge became my life purpose and the German mafia was my instrument to achieve it. I made a name for myself, sowing terror with every step I took. It was not an easy road. I faced betrayals, spilled blood and sold souls. But each obstacle was a springboard for my ascent. I surrounded myself with loyal followers, men willing to follow me to hell. I built my empire from the ground up, rising to the pinnacle of power.

19 years later I have managed to associate myself with Aldo Bianchi, and I deceived him in such a ridiculously easy way that I am disappointed. However, when I met Aldo I was not surprised that my father could not have done anything to defend us against him, we were just a family of German/Italian businessmen who refused to be threatened by Aldo. Yes, we were only minor in Aldo's eyes, but not anymore.

My thirst for revenge is still not quenched. I am missing one last move to complete my torture masterpiece. I decided to kidnap Aldo Bianchi's only niece, an innocent young woman who would pay the price for her family sins. She would take her into my world of darkness and torture her until she was just an empty shell, that Aldo would feel the pain he had inflicted on my family.

When it started to rain I took out my black umbrella as well as everyone around the urn. I look at the old woman crying inconsolably in the middle of Aldo and the tool of my revenge, Chiara Bianchi. Aldo's niece, and the most affected in this event, since Andrea was her father.

Ever since I first saw Chiara on a business visit to the mansion with Aldo, I was obsessed. However, like all my life, I have held back and controlled myself ever since. I wasn't going to throw away years of hard work for a woman. Luckily, this was only the second time I'd seen Chiara, since Aldo has kept her well hidden and taken care of since we killed Andrea. It's how I know that stealing Chiara from me will hurt Aldo.

Why did idiot Aldo invite me to come to his only brother's funeral when I was the one who killed Andrea? Because Aldo doesn't know that I killed his brother. Aldo is a proud man, but pride without intelligence and ability is a ridiculous joke.

Although I know perfectly well the purpose I have for Chiara, I was allowing myself to appreciate her dazzling beauty. I've never heard her voice, but it's enough to look at hers, her turquoise eyes to attract me dangerously. She has unruly curly dark hair that falls to her mid-back, but glowing snowy skin. She also has a small upturned nose, thin lips, long eyelashes, delicate face and angelic gaze. What was a girl like her doing, being born as a mafia princess? And even worse, being born as the only niece of Aldo Bianchi, she is like a perfect target.

“Klaus says that the show starts in 10 minutes”, reminds me Gunther who is standing next to me, he is one of my 4 trusted men. “The jet awaits you at the starting point. You can go now."

No, I'm not like the typical gangster who puts his life at risk to kill cockroaches like Aldo, I know perfectly well the potential and thirst for blood of my men, they won't let me down. I take one last look at the angel by Andrea Bianchi's grave. It's not a farewell, it's a see you later. In the process I meet Aldo's gaze, to whom I naturally and nonchalantly nod.