As I left the thicket of vines, I looked back over my shoulder.


    The western wing of the mansion was 200 feet behind me, and the house stretched far beyond that to the east.


    I turned and ran.


    It was just as Filomena had said: a field, then a patch of forest.


    I stumbled through the trees until I reached a stone wall at least 10 feet high.


    There was no way I could get over it  and then I remembered what she had told me:


    Go left.


    I did as she said until I found a break in the stones: a huge gap like an earthquake had cracked the wall apart.


    The breach was easy enough to squeeze through, and I found myself on a hill overlooking a tiny vige.


    Careful of snakes like the one I had encountered the other day, I made my way down the barren hillside until I reached the deserted cobblestone streets of the vige.


    It was an old ce  and far smaller than Mensano, which only had 200 inhabitants.


    If I had to guess, I would say fewer than 50 people lived here. It was a dying vige popted by old folks who refused to leave their homes.


    There were only a handful of stone buildings, but one of them was a church. It towered above me, a relic from centuries past.


    I looked all around, but there was no one to be seen in the streets…


    So I opened the wooden door of the church and went inside.


    The interior was rustic, with a giant vaulted ceiling. Unlike the chapel in the mansion, it felt cold and impersonal. There was no art adorning the walls here  only bare stone.


    “Hello?” I called out timidly.


    Dozens of wooden pews surrounded me on all sides, and I slowly walked down the center aisle. Everything was quiet around me.


    “Hello?” I said, louder this time. “Is anyone there?”


    “Yes?” a man’s voice answered from the rear of the church, startling me.


    A priest in a ck robe appeared out of the gloom. His face was thin with hollow cheeks, his wispy grey hair unkempt. He walked with a cane, and he looked up into the air as though searching the rafters for something.


    I realized he was blind.


    “Is someone there?” he called out.


    I quickly moved closer to him. “I need your help.”


    His nk eyes gravitated towards my voice as he smiled. “Yes, my child?”


    I felt uneasy. There was something unsettling about the way his eyes roved over me.


    But he was a priest. I was finally safe.


    “I need to call my father,” I said. “He lives near Mensano.”


    “You’re quite a ways from home. What are you doing here? Did your car break down?”


    “No  the Rosolinis were holding me prisoner. I just now escaped.”


    “The Rosolinis!” he eximed, and his face suddenly darkened.


    “Yes.”


    “And you escaped, you say?”


    “Yes.”


    “Are you alright?”


    “Yes, Father.”


    “They did not take advantage of you?”


    “No.”


    “They did not… sully you?”


    The way he said it was disturbing…


    Like he was imagining me being touched  or worse


    And he almost seemed to enjoy it.


    “No, they didn’t do anything,” I said with a frown. “But I need to call my father to let him know I’m alright.”


    “I’m afraid I don’t have a telephone, my dear.”


    “None?” I asked in astonishment.


    He held out his arms and gestured to the church around him. “As you can see, there is not much here. This is an old vige and an even older church.”


    My heart filled with despair. “Well, someone in the vige must have a phone, yes?”


    “Probably, but  you escaped from the Rosolinis, you said?”


    “Yes. Is there someone I could ask for in the vige, someone with a phone?”


    “How did you escape?”


    “There was a passageway out the back,” I said hurriedly. “I really need to contact my father  thank you, but I should go.”


    I turned to leave


    “Wait,” he said. “I forgot  I have a cell phone. For emergencies.”


    I frowned. “I thought you didn’t have a phone?”


    “I use it so seldom,” he said with a smile as he peered up sightlessly into the sky. “It slipped my mind. Come e, I can let you use it.”


    He began to tap tap tap his cane towards the back of the church.


    “Come e, my child. Come with me.”


    I was afraid… but I followed him as he made his way into the shadows.


    There was a room in the back of the church. Not exactly living quarters, but it contained a table and cabs. The rest of the space was taken up with storage.


    The priest closed the door to the church behind us. I noticed another smaller door, presumably an exit, off to my right.


    “Sit, sit,” he said as he felt his way along the cabs lining the walls. “I’m sure my phone is here somewhere  I just have to find it.”


    I sat in one of the chairs and tried to suppress my rising panic.


    I only had a limited amount of time before Dario and the others discovered I was gone. It might be hours… or it could be 30 minutes.


    What would happen when they realized I was no longer on the grounds?


    Would they figure out where I had gone?


    “You said you escaped from the Rosolinis?” the old man asked as his hands rummaged through open drawers.


    “Yes.”


    “You said they were holding you prisoner?”


    “Yes.”


    “Why, exactly?”


    “I… there was a murder in my father’s cafe. I saw who did it.”


    The priest whirled around. “My child! Are you alright?”


    “Yes, Father.”


    “That’s so horrible… I am so sorry you had to witness that…”


    “Thank you, Father.”


    He walked over to the table, sat down, and reached out for my hands. “Give me your hand. Please.”


    I reluctantly put my hand in his.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024.


    His skin felt leathery, his fingers bony.


    “I’m d you’re alright,” he said as he patted my skin.


    “Can you find the phone, please?” I asked, trying to hurry him up. “I really need to call my father.”


    “Of course, of course,” he said soothingly as his eyes roved along the ceiling. “I just want you to know that you’re safe here.”


    “Thank you,” I said, not convinced at all.


    “How did you say you escaped?”


    “There was a passageway.”


    “And where was it, exactly?”


    I frowned. “What does it matter?”


    A sound came from behind the door to the church.


    I whirled around.


    The door was still closed.


    “Is there someone else here?” I asked, frightened.


    “No, of course not,” the priest said. “This is a very old building… it makes sounds sometimes.”


    I stared at the door… but I heard nothing else.


    “I need to call my father,” I repeated.


    “Of course, of course,” he said soothingly. “I’ll get up and find the phone in a moment. I just wanted to make sure you’re alright. The Rosolinis are monsters  I’m sure it was terrifying being held there against your will.”


    “It’s fine. Nothing happened.”


    “Of course, of course. You’re safe now. That’s all that matters.”


    He still held my hand in his, which felt creepy… but I couldn’t very well yank it away from him.


    Suddenly there was another sound behind the door, like shoes scuffing on stone.


    “Father, are you sure there’s no one else here?!” I asked in a panic.


    “I promise you, my child, we are alone.”


    I listened intently


    But I heard nothing else.


    The priest chuckled. “If anyone could hear an intruder, it would be me  would you not agree?”


    I looked at his blind eyes searching the air above me. “I guess…”


    “Now, the passageway you mentioned  the one from the Rosolini’s mansion  ”


    “Why do you care?!” I eximed, then desperately cried out, “I need to call my father! If you’ll just tell me where the phone is, I’ll find it on my own!”


    I tried to pull my hand away


    But the priest held me tightly by the wrist.


    I stared at him in horror


    Then struggled to pull away.


    He held me even tighter, his hands like a vise.


    “You must tell me how you escaped,” he hissed. “If there is a passageway into the house  ”


    “Let go of me!” I cried out.


    Suddenly I heard another sound behind the door, like it was creaking open


    And my terror gave me the strength to break away from the priest.


    “STOP!” he yelled as I stumbled for the small door on the opposite side of the room.


    I ignored him and exploded through the door into the daylight.


    I looked around wildly.


    I was in an alleyway between a stone wall and the church.


    To my left was a dead end.


    The street was 60 feet away to my right.


    I started to run


    When the door burst open behind me, and a heavy body tackled me to the cobblestones.


    I tried to scream, but a hand that stank of nicotine closed over my mouth.


    “Quiet,” a man’s voice hissed in my ear, “or I’ll gut you like a fish.”


    Strong hands flipped me roughly onto my back, and I found myself staring up at a stranger with brown hair and a scraggly beard. He wore a cheap suit and he smelled of cigarette smoke and sweat.


    I heard the priest behind him. “Did you get her?”


    “Yes,” the stranger snarled. “Now get back inside.”


    The priest immediately mmed the door shut, leaving me at the mercy of my attacker.


    The stranger turned back to me, malice in his eyes. “Now, you and I are going to have a little talk  ”


    That was when I bit down on his hand.


    The taste of smoke and dirt was disgusting  but not as bad as the copper taste of blood.


    “AAAAH!” he screamed, then pped me. “You BITCH  you’ll PAY for that!”


    He pressed my face to the cobblestones with one hand, and I heard him fumble with his belt with the other. There was the metallic clink of his buckle and the sound of the leather strap.


    “NO!” I screamed.


    He cackled. “You’re going to pay me back for what you  ”


    He was interrupted by the growl of a powerful engine  far away at first, then rapidly getting closer.


    The man froze on top of me and listened as the engine roared ever louder.


    Tires squealed in the street, a car door opened


    And Dario’s voice yelled, “ALESSANDRA!”


    The stranger tried to cover my mouth, but I jerked my head free and screamed, “DARIO!”


    The stranger pped me in retribution, then stumbled to his feet.


    I looked over. Dario was running down the alleyway towards us, murder in his eyes.


    The stranger reached inside his suit jacket and pulled something out.


    At first I was afraid it was a gun


    And then I heard the click! of a switchde opening.


    Dario stopped abruptly.


    The man lunged at him


    Dario jumped back


    And then the man swiped again.


    Dario caught the stranger’s arm and brought his knee up against the man’s elbow, breaking it backwards with a CRACK.”AAAAAH!” the stranger screamed as he fell to his knees.


    Dario pried the knife from the man’s hand, let it tter to the cobblestones, and kicked it away.


    Then he went absolutely insane.


    He mmed his fist into the man’s face


    Again


    And again


    And again.


    Blood spattered across the stones


    And still Dario pummeled the stranger’s face.


    Finally he stopped and let the man fall limply to the ground.


    When he finally turned towards me, Dario looked like a demon. His face was the personification of murder.


    I thought for sure he would kill me in his fury.


    As he reached down to me, I scrabbled backwards in the dirt


    But all he said was, “Are you alright?”


    I stopped, trembling, and nodded yes.


    “He didn’t hurt you?” Dario asked.


    I shook my head no. “He tried, but… you got here in time.”


    Dario’s expression got even darker, if that was possible.


    He turned back towards the stranger. I thought for a second that he was going to tear the man limb from limb


    When another engine roared up to the church.


    Tires screeched, doors opened, and Adriano and Massimo ran into the alleyway.


    “What the hell happened?!” Adriano shouted.


    “Search the church!” Dario yelled, then turned to me. “Was there anyone else?”


    “A p-priest,” I stuttered.


    “You heard her  GO!” Dario raged.


    Adriano ran for the front of the church. Massimo opened the door I hade out of and disappeared inside.


    Dario knelt beside me and put his powerful hands on my shoulders.


    I thought he might shake me or strike me


    But all he did was stare into my eyes.


    “…are you sure you’re alright?” he asked, his voice quiet.


    I tried to nod yes


    But my eyes welled up and I burst into tears.


    He got down on the ground next to me and cradled me in his arms.


    “Shhh… it’s over… you’re safe,” he whispered in my ear. “You’re safe.”


    He held me until my sobs subsided  and then I heard shouting from the front of the church.


    “Get your hands off me!” howled a familiar old man’s voice.


    “Come on,” Dario said as he lifted me effortlessly to my feet.


    He put his arm around me and supported me as we walked to the front of the church.


    A ck Mercedes idled in the deserted street beside the midnight blue Bugatti.