"Marcello?" Assisi calls my name, noticing I'm awake.
"I'm fine." I croak, my throat dry.
"What happened?" Her brows are drawn together in a frown as she looks at my leg. I don't answer. What can I tell her? How despicable I am? She probably suspects anyway.
A nurse stops by to check on the IV, and she mentions how lucky I'd been that my sister had called the ambulance on time because I'd lost a lot of blood. Eyes blank, I stare into nothingness, an empty void forming inside my chest.
I'm alive—again. And she's gone—again.
The nurse keeps talking, but I register nothing. It's only when she reaches for my wound, probably to redress it, that I snap out of it.
"Don't touch me." I yell, flinching away.
"Marcello?" Sisi intervenes before apologizing to the nurse.
"Mr. Lastra, I need to check your wound." The nurse adds, and I just shake my head.
Disoriented, I search for a way out. I can't stay here.
Using my left hand, I rip the IV from my arm. There's a small prickling pain as I jump out of bed. The nurse gasps, and Assisi calls out my name, but I keep going.
Ignoring everyone, I rush towards the exit, my only thoughts centered on escaping. I know I'm not thinking clearly, but that doesn't stop me from stumbling around, shouting at people not to touch me as they try to help.
I vaguely realize that someone is calling for security, and then I see Vlad.
Raising an eyebrow at me, he shakes his head. My feet give out, and I succumb to my knees, wetness dripping down my thigh. Vlad's eyes twitch for e moment, but he puts out his palm to a form a stop sign.
"Kill me, please." I rasp out, the agony in my chest building to in an unstoppable crescendo.
"Now, Marcello, what did I tell you before?" He drops to one knee in front of me. He looks over my shoulder and nods.
"Please," I continue, wanting out. Out of my skin and away from this Tartarian torment of my own making. I'd known the moment I married her that she would despise me if she ever found out. I knew, and yet I continued, a selfishness spurned by my sinful nature. For once, I wanted something for myself, aware of the price I'd pay at the end. And here it is—the reckoning; and like a coward, I can't even withstand the inferno I myself sparked.
"If you ever die, it won't be by my hand." He snaps his fingers in front of me, trying to get my attention. I frown at him, my comprehension lagging.
"Pl..." I'm about to say when someone sticks a needle in my neck. The effect is almost immediate, as my limbs become light.
I'm still conscious though as hands grab at my body.
"How come you're here?" Sisi asks.
"Let's just say I heard through the grapevine that someone was in trouble." Vlad remarks.
Their voices become a mere echo as I finally lose consciousness.
A WEEK LATER
"Nice to see you all chipper." Vlad slides into the seat next to me. "Did you rent out this whole church, or what?" He says as he scans the empty rows.
"Hello to you too, traitor." I reply tensely, closing my fist over the rosary I was holding.
I'd barely got myself out of the hospital and managed to dissuade the doctors from committing me. Instead, I'd agreed to have weekly therapy sessions. No matter how much I'd tried to tell them, they hadn't believed that it wasn't a suicide attempt.
Just yesterday I'd had my first appointment, and it had gone as well as it could, all things considered. I'd merely scratched the surface in what I'd told the therapist. At the end of the session, the doctor had point-blank asked me if I even wanted help, because my deflection wasn't helping anyone. On my way out, I'd told her that if I was any more truthful, then I'd have to kill her.
She'd laughed.
I wasn't joking. Not really. I'd had several therapists over the years and just when I opened up a little more, they had to report me to the authorities. Good thing I wasn't too trusting to begin with, and I'd been able to take control of the situation before it came to blows.
But now I am to be monitored by close family, Assisi being the one tasked with making sure I don't harm myself further.
Funny, because if I'd been just a little more selfish, I would have taken the plunge. But I know what awaits my sisters should that happen. Or Lina... There's still someone out there gunning for me, and by extension anyone who means something to me. Even if she continues to hate me for the rest of her life, I'll still protect her.
The incident with the glass had been... well, a slight lapse in judgement. I'd just wanted the high I know I can get every time pain floods my senses. For the first time, I might have taken it too far.
"You should thank me instead of whining." Vlad says, raising his legs and propping his feet on the row of benches in front of him.
"Stop it! It's a church." I grit. Even if no one's inside, it's disrespectful.
"Don't get your feathers ruffled, Marcello. I didn't come here to commit sacrilege, or God forbid, sin." He shudders visibly as he utters the word God, and I roll my eyes at him.
"So why did you come?"
"Your sister's worried about you. She says you don't come out of your office for days on end."
"I won't kill myself, don't worry." I purse my lips. "Since when do you talk to my sister?" I narrow my eyes at him.
"Since she's the only adult in that house." He fires back, and I hold back a retort.
"Well, as you see, I'm doing fine."
"There's another reason I stepped inside this..." His mouth curls up in disgust. "dump." He motions to the church. I raise an eyebrow at him, but he continues. "Hastings's been working on our copycat's case. He's been going over every single crime scene again."
"And?" Seeing how thorough this Chimera has been so far, I doubt Adrian found anything.
"He found something." Vlad says and I whip my head around to look at him.
"What?"
"A partial fingerprint. It's not much but..."
"How partial are we talking about?"
"We might get a match if we have something to compare it to. Which is why I'm here. I need you to make a list of everyone you suspect."
"What if it's intentional? Throw us off?" It's not that I don't trust Adrian's work, since I've worked for years with the man and I know how thorough he is. But this copycat killer... everything is intentional.
"Might be." Vlad shrugs. "Still worth a look."
"There aren't that many people that could have done that. I would say there's a few in the famiglia who would be capable of doing it. But motive? That's what throws me off." I sigh. It's not as if I hadn't wrecked my brains thinking who could have been, my uncle and his cronies being at the top of the list. But why?
"What have you heard from Enzo's side?" I ask after a pause. Enzo still hadn't realized his office had been bugged, and that Vlad is privy to all the confidential information coming out of there. I still don't know why he did that, but now I'm grateful for it.
"Enzo antagonized you further. She thinks you were behind everything so you could comfort her afterwards. On the bright side, the young one's missing you."