Chapter 62
Chapter 62 VERNERO POV
The night is dark and full of terrors!
I understood that saying more than anyone could ever fathom. I knew it intimately and felt its meaning in
and out. For I have lived it before. One time through my sad hateful life, I breathed in darkness and
breathed out terror. I ate darkness and dumped out terror. Darkness broke every ounce of humanity in
me, turned it into terror, and made sure it reined all over my body. It took everything from me until I was
but the darkness that had swallowed me whole.
Lorik Cattanio, the man whom I once looked up to as a father, the one whom I had dreamed of him being
my superhero, happened to be my worst nightmare. He was the darkness that took residence in me,
snipping every little fiber of my being and recing it all with maliciousness, remorselessness, the
emotionless devil that feasted on the pain and screams o f those I had trampled upon.
For the very first time since he turned me into this, the sparkle of hope and light had shimmered deep
inside me, deep within my rotten hardened core. I felt it sizzling daily and growing into bigger mes,
lighting up my world and ridding the darkness. And that was all t o Leigh’s arrival in my life. She was my
hope, she became the reason why I wanted to see the light, why I wanted to be a better man.
Watching her take that bullet had utterly distinguished the little me, letting darkness take full rein of my
soul yet again. The sight of her blood had made me lose myself in a way I never thought possible. Leigh-
Ari Montreal was my angel, and without her, I was going straight to hell and there wouldn’t be any
redemption. And if that’s what it was, then fuck it! What would be the point of living in a world where she
doesn’t exist?
My mind drifted to her. I loved that girl. Heavens I loved that soul with every fiber of my cursed, evil, and
unworthy of redemption being. I loved her so much I couldn’t imagine my days without having her in my
arms. I needed her, she was the factor that controlled my heart, she owned me. This broken, shattered
soul was all hers. A tremor shot through me at
the thought of herying in a pool of her blood. She had to live. Goodness, she had to live!
While I was busy maiming and dismembering the Judases here, Leigh-Ari was fighting for her life at the
hospital. I didn’t even know which hospital she was taken to. I feared for her because I was afraid she
might leave me. She might leave US. And if she did, there was no guarantee of what would happen to
me. To my brother! My poor brother, the center of my life and my citadel.
When the first light of the morning chased away the darkness that covered thend, I called Ciello down
and some of the guys to help me take the now incapacitated Raquel up. She was still alive, which was
rather shocking. I hadn’t expected that she would hold on this long, especially after drilling each limp off
her body. But then she was so strong, I’d give her that.
It’s a pity she had to betray me and hurt the only woman I’d burn the world for. If she hadn’t done that,
she was going to live her life like a queen. But again, she made her choice, didn’t she?
“Just kill me already! You can’t leave me hanging here like a fuckin’ bat for everyone to see. How dare
you humiliate me in front of these cowards?” Lorik barked struggling down the chains, causing them to
make a loud sound as they swung him around. The sight of him so bound and helpless was a frickin’
feast to my eyes. And they say the eyes are the windows to the soul, now just imagine how thrilled I was!
So dang happy!
“Not yet! You and I have a loooo00ooooot to talk about.” I called out dragging the chair next to his
suspended body and cing it under him. I sat down and watched him, then busted outughing when
he red at me angrily. I couldn’t believe this day had finallye. I was beginning to think there was
never going to be a time I got to experience such a beguiling
moment,
“The mighty Lorik Cattanio. Who would have thought?” I asked with a huge grin on my face.
‘I regret not killing you. You should’ve died that…”
“GIITTIITI!” I scrunched my nose, squinted my eyes, and raised my hand, fainting a small roar at him,
and thenughed again.
“You know, it’s funny how you still think you are in control. I kind of admire your mind. I mean no one
stays this delusional for so long. It’s impable. Truly amazing. Like, look at you, screaming and yelling
at me.” I said reclined back and watching as the air literally left his lungs. It was clear that he had never,
even in his wildest dreams, ever thought that he would be the one on suspended chains, head upside
down. I mean I didn’t go extra as he had done. with me, he ced a raging fire right beneath me. The
pain from the heated chains had been so intense that I passed out.
“I am your father you dicktard. And Imand you to get me out of these chains.” He said in a calmer
voice, but he still held that spite and I didn’t like it. It made me so sick I wanted to throw up the nothing in
my stomach!
“Oh no! That’s where you got it wrong. I am not your son.” I said leaning closer to him, “You remember
that time you left him out in the biting cold, for three damn nights without food or anything to cover his
body, that’s where you lost your son.” I corrected.
“Then who are you?” He asked with a serious face.
“I am the devil,” I said then got up from the seat andughed.
Ciello and the rest of the guys entered at that moment in a long queue,
“I brought you a new shirt, boss,” Ciello informed motioning to a small tee draped on his shoulder. I
looked at my bloodied self and winced at the sight of the blood that had covered m y whole front. If Leigh
was here, she was going to kill me, like literally, she was going to kill m e and bury me with her own
hands.
I nodded to Ciello and the guys pulled Raquel up, then followed me out the dungeons. The walk into
Dark Woods was silent, filled with the sound of our feet against the drying leaves. The mines had done a
good number on the trees here, but despite the great destruction, one tree caught my eye.
It was lean, so sharp with no branches on the log. It was dry, nicely perched for what came next! I
pointed it and the guys bunched Raquel on it, tying her with the ropes that had taken a
good soak in the gasoline, then dried up to absorb the gasoline into its fibers.
Ciello hurriedly tore the sulfur pack open and covered Raquel all over, leaving her eyes out so that she
could watch. I squatted in front of her and intensely looked at her. I felt for her. She had exined why
she had done that! And I truly felt for her. It’s a pity her love was the cause of her doom.
*1…am… s-sorry.” She whispered with her head hanging between her shoulders. I squinted m y eyes
and then nodded.
‘I am too!” I truly was, but not for what I did. I was sorry that she fell in love with the wrong person. And
what had gotten to me was that Lorik didn’t even say anything to her, didn’t console her while she was
going through the torture. Lorik was a heartless monster, Raquel deserved better. Maybe in her next life,
she won’t stumble upon a creature like Lorik. 1
I got up and took a matchbox from one of my guys, lit it, and then tossed the burning matchstick on the
lime-yellowish powder. The powder weed the me and quickly roared, spreading so fast and licking
every inch of her body. Her lungs tore open as the ear shattering scream erupted from the inside, filling
the early morning sky with her pained cry. The scent of the burned fleshed polluted the air, making it so
unbearable to the hearts of the innocent. I was not innocent, and that word didn’t exist in my world. And
to prove that, her cry soothed me, calmed me in a way I couldn’t tell.
N?velDrama.Org ? 2024.
I turned my back and started to walk away, leaving the fire to take care of the one who had gone against
me. I went straight to the west wing and got into Leigh’s room, the sight of her blood marring the whole
ce leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. There were sses all over, the whole ce was a battlefield. It
looks like she went down fighting, and a good sense of relief tugged at my heart, making me smile. She
was my tigress, and I knew she was still fighting even now. She wouldn’t just leave us. She loved us, she
said that. Through that haze o f seeing her covered in blood, I heard her when she told us she loved us.
And she wouldn’t dare die. If she did, I would resurrect her, kiss her and hold her, then kill her yet again.
And then do that for at least a hundred times until she runs out of life.
I picked up her favorite ne and ced it on her bed, then went into the bathroom where I stood
under the shower heads and let the water wash away the dried blood of my body. Once I was through, I
climbed in my car and left for the hospital, thanks to Ciello for getting the information beforehand. I
needed to see her. I needed to be with my brother. My head felt like it was going to explode from so
much bottled in vendetta. It was a dang ruckusi n my mind and I knew only my brother could keep it
down.
Upon arriving, I was escorted up to the fourth floor into the recovering room. The scent of antiseptics, the
nauseating bitterness in the air, and the lingering smell of fragrances made m y stomach churn painfully.
The metal scent of blood was also heady and I tried to figure out whether it was because I had bathed in
blood for the whole night, or because I was in a damn hospital where there’s blood all over. The little
nurses in scrubs and doctors made my mind drift to Leigh. I so wanted to see how she looked when she
saved a life. I needed to watch her.
The elevator dinged open and I took a step out. The nurse walked on hurried steps in front of me and my
heart dropped with every footstep I took towards the room where she was kept. W
e stopped in front of a door written VIP and she bowed before turning back and leaving. I stood outside
for a good minute before pushing the door open.
The first thing I was a huge ass bed with Leighying there with her eyes closed. My heart skipped a
beat or two as I saw her beautiful face. Even whenying on death bed, Leigh-Ari managed to be the
most beautiful woman in the world and that was really unfair. There were at least a million tubes that
were connected to her body and then stretched to the machines that were making the most annoying
beeping sounds ever. I took a step a little further and closed the door behind me.
A loud thud sounded from somewhere on the couches, I quickly whisked my gun and jumped to find
Enzo groaning. I didn’t know whether I shouldugh or help him up. He got up, very slowly and so
unsteady, and straightened up. His eyesnded on me and he came straight to me and pulled me in a
long hug. I let him share my burden, let him calm the storm inside me. We stayed locked for a long
minute, with him just holding me, and me being weak in his arms. “She did it. Our woman survived.”