Daringly, I begin to allow my gaze to fall and I see the horror before me. My breathing becomes shallow as the amount of red begins to consume my vision. Blood, there’s so much blood, it’s everywhere. There’s too much blood. My mind whispers that word so quietly, I can hear the fear that is becoming all too overwhelming. There’s blood everywhere.
“Manuel,” I murmur and tears fall as I verbalize my own brother’s name. I move to help him, but both Enzo and Giovanni stop me. Enzo physically, but Giovanni takes a provoked step toward me.
“Don’t!” Giovanni says, taking another step toward me, the bloodied knife pointed directly at me. “I have lived months where this family has been falling apart member by member and now I’m here to rectify it! I’m here to get rid of the weakest.”
“He’s your brother,” Enzo opposes, pointing to Manuel as he lays consumed with pain. “He’s not a weak link; he’s our own flesh and blood!”
“My own flesh and blood have done nothing but let me down! We’re meant to be a united front, an army. We’re meant to be the Dio Lavoro, but we’ve never come close to it! Now, it’s time to show Papà who really deserves to be in this family!”
And there he is – our very own Lucifer. He’s cast himself into this world, given himself a righteous attitude that he is the salvation we needed. But he isn’t. He’s the devil and he’s living every single moment of it that he can. The worsening abuse, the drugs, the threats were all leading to this and we never believed one of our own would strike.
“Gio, this isn’t how you do it,” I whisper, pained beyond repair at what we’ve been driven to.
“L-Lia,” I hear my name softly spoken from the lips of my brother, and it’s my ultimate undoing.
When he calls out to me, I have to react. I can’t leave him to suffer anymore. I cannot deny him that comfort until we can get him some help. When my eyes look back at his, he sends me such a powerful plea without even saying a word, and my heart begins to constrict. The vice it’s trapped in tightens, and with it, my chest struggles to inhale air.
“Li-a,” he whispers, this time with a cough. Blood now lines his lips, and I realize this situation is only going to get increasingly more dire. There’s no solution as Manuel remains bleeding out. “H-help me.”
With that plea, I react. I cannot stand here and wait for Enzo to talk Giovanni from a devilish ledge. He’s already committed to being a devil’s advocate, but now he’s past saving. Manuel doesn’t have to be. Gradually, I reach into my pocket. I wrap my shaky fingers around the cell phone. I pull it out, unlocking it as I begin to take a slow step backwards.
“Don’t move!” Giovanni bellows, taking a step forward. The knife pointed straight at me, a warning sign of what’s to come, I assume.
“Okay!” Enzo demands control, stepping forward to place himself between Giovanni and me. “We won’t call for help. We’re family, we can work this out.”
“No!” Giovanni roars, spitting as rage consumes his every word. “Put the fucking phone down, Amelia!”
I shake my head, unable to just give up. “No, stop fighting this, Gio. Let us get help!
“Oh, This is no fight. This is a fucking massacre, Amelia!” he tells me gleefully. “You can’t stop what’s already in motion.”
“Giovanni, stop!” Enzo commands, his voice tight, stern, now verging on unhindered aggression. “This is something I can and will stop! You’ve proved a point by hurting Manuel. You’ve showed us that we need to change, so let us!”
I know it’s all a lie. Enzo is working his skill of negotiation to talk Giovanni down.
“Enz,” Manuel sputters as silence settles for a moment. He’s struggling to get our attention, but he’s trying with every dying breath.
I watch Enzo fight with himself at that.
“Gio, put the knife down,” Enzo urges. “We can get this sorted and get Manuel help.”
“Fat chance,” Giovanni yells, his gaze switching between Enzo and me. “You’ll never let me live this down.”
“Lia,” Manuel tries to get my attention, and it works.
I can’t leave my baby brother to suffer alone.
As I take my dive toward my dying brother, consumed by the sight of only him, I don’t react to Giovanni stepping to the side to block my motions. As Enzo’s hands come to tear me back, I feel a searing across my abdomen. Not once or twice, but four times. If any others are issued, they’re disrupted by the numbing haze that consumes me. It cuts through different areas of my stomach and before I know it, Enzo is screaming my name, shock forcing him to let me go, and I'm hitting the floor.
On impact, my eyes meet Manuel's striking blue ones as he reaches for me, but it takes too much to move. I try to fight against it, but as my breathing begins to get harder, Manuel whispers my name while Enzo screams at Giovanni behind me, the taste of copper hits the back of my throat, and the world around me hazes over until the black is just too addictive to ignore.
What a divine end to a perfect day.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN