THE PAST
CAILY GALILEO
I should have believed it when the others said it. I should have listened when I was told that Pietro was a monster. I should have chosen to be friends with the others and stick by their bullying instead of believing for a second that Pietro was human.
He wasn’t human. He was the farthest thing from being human.
The tears rolled down non stop and I had given up on brushing those tears away. They wouldn’t stop anyway, no matter how many times I did so.
I only needed the image of that monster stabbing my father to appear in my head and the tears would start pouring all over again.
“It’s alright, Caily. Wipe your tears.” Mr. Giacometti’s voice filled my ears and I sat up, adjusting myself on the couch.
“I have called for your Aunt and she will be here to pick you up soon.” He added as he walked up to me and handed a cup of hot chocolate to me.
“I have gotten to know from watching Pietro buy loads of chocolates that you fancy chocolates a lot” he said and I almost burst into fresh tears.
How could he say that in this situation? His son had just killed my father and my father’s body was probably still lying in there, in my room battered and he was talking about chocolates.
More tears filled my eyes up and my heart ached even worse. In that moment that I had run away from Pietro, I knew I had nowhere to run to but I knew I had to be away from him, away from that monster.
I had ran towards the main gates, wanting nothing but to be out of this place but I had not been let out.
The guards had stopped me from stepping out. Wet, cold, crying with blood staining my cheeks, it would have been a bigger wonder if I have been let out of the gates but I had desperately wanted to leave.
I had screamed, cried and scratched as one of the men picked me up effortlessly and carried me into the security house. He had tried to get me to talk about what had happened but I had been unable to say anything.
How could I explain that Pietro had killed my father? How could I tell it to them when I knew that they would not do anything against Pietro anyways? His father was the owner of this mansion and I knew very well how powerful Pietro’s father was.
I might not know a lot of things but I knew that the world belonged to the powerful and the wealthy. The Giacometti’s family was both. Powerful and wealthy.
Eventually, I had been brought in here to face Mr. Giacometti himself and while walking in here, I had had no idea what to expect but he had been cool about the entire situation.
So cool that it scared me so much at first. It still did.
“You know.” he started and I hated his voice instantly. I only just realized how much Pietro sounded like him.
My grip around my cup of hot chocolate tightened and the grit of my teeth turned harsher while my eyes brimmed with more tears at his casual tone.
“Pietro walked in here, covered in blood and on other days, he would probably have just walked past me as he always does. But he stopped in front of me and told me he just killed your father. He told me he stabbed him at least 41 times…”
My lips parted with a shaky sob at those words.
Forty one times. Pietro had stabbed my father forty one times.
“And he told me if he had another chance, he’d do it again, even worse but not in front of you. He told me you now hate him and you do not want to see him at all.” Mr. Giacometti continued with his words, not minding my broken sobs as my tears dropped into the hot chocolate.
“But you know how Pietro is…” he leaned back casually and threw a leg over the other.
“You know that boy is quite obsessed with you, right? And before he left for his room to lock himself up, he told me something. He told me not to let you go”
My body stiffened and at the first time I felt a shiver run down my spine. My fingers trembled around the mug in my hands as I raised my head up slightly to meet with the gaze of Mr. Giacometti who was now staring at me intently.
“He told me you could do anything and everything but leaving him was not allowed. Pietro hasn’t asked me for any favour in years. Not sure the brat has ever asked me for one favour in fact. This is the first I can recall so of course, I’d want to do it for him.”
Tears rolled out of my unblinking eyes as I continued staring at him.
“But…” his voice was loud and firm as he eased his legs back and leaned forward.
“I’d be willing to let you go, Caily. You are a very nice girl and I think you should be free from Pietro.”
For the first time since I had been in the same airspace with Mr. Giacometti, I was glad about the words that left his mouth.
I looked back down at the mug in my hands, my lips quivering as I pictured Pietro walking in and talking to his father, asking him not to let me leave here.
What more did he want from me? To kill me too eventually?
“Oh, and look who we have here.” Mr. Giacometti’s voice shook me out of my sobs.
My Aunt Mandy was here.
I got up so fast that I dropped the mug but I didn’t care about it crashing, I just ran to my Aunt and sent myself into her arms.
She embraced me warmly, her hands patting my chest as I broke into fresh tears in her arms.
“It’s fine. It’s fine, I am here now.” she whispered to me, rubbing my back but I was far from being fine.
“I would like to talk to you Aunt about a few things, Caily. Would that be possible?” Mr. Giacometti’s voice made my Aunt pull away from me.
“Sit back on the couch and wait for me, okay? I would be back in a few seconds.” she said to me, her gaze warm and loving even through her bloodshot eyes.
I nodded and moved back to the couch while I watched her disappear to a corner with Mr. Giacometti.
For the next few minutes, everywhere was silent and I was starting to get worried. Was he harming my Aunt too? If Pietro could kill my father then his father could kill my Aunt Mandy?
I shot up to my feet but that was the moment I heard my Aunt’s voice.
“We don’t! We don’t need your filthy money!” Her voice was high pitched and I felt my heart breaking even more.
They were trying to cover this up with money? It wasn’t like we could ever win if we tried to seek justice for my father’s death so what point was there in giving us money? Keeping their reputation spotless?
The next second, my Aunt was barging into the living room with a look of rage on her face.
“Let’s leave, Caily” she said to me and grabbed me by the wrist.
I trudged after her, moving my foot against the hard floor for a few seconds before turning back. Mr. Giacometti was standing there with a lazy expression on his face and in that moment, I felt hatred for him too.
The entire Giacometti family.
Stepping outside the huge mansion of a house that I once saw to be paradise, my Aunt stopped and turned to me.
She cupped my face in her hands and gave me the sweetest smile even with tears in her eyes.
“Are you… are you okay?” She asked but I could not give any response to her.
“It’s okay. It’s fine, you will be okay with me” she flashed me a smile.
“But I’d need you to forget this nightmare. I’d need you to let go… to let go of what… of what my brother did to you and what… what that boy did to my brother. I’d need you to let go of everything and start life afresh with me. Is that okay?” She asked and I just nodded tearfully.
“Good. Good girl” she patted my hair as she said the words.
She straightened up and pointed towards the main gate.
“Once we step out of there, this nightmare is all over, is that alright?” She asked and again my response was just a nod with plenty of snifflings.
“Good” she smiled again, trying not to let her face contort into a cry.
“I want to hear you promise me you’d forget everything” she demanded and that was hard for me to do.
It was hard for me to promise her that. It was hard to even get a word out of my mouth at all.
“I… I promise…” she brushed tears off my cheeks.
“I promise to forget everything” I managed to let it out in one rough breath before breaking down one more time.
Aunt Mandy pulled me close immediately, my face in her chest as I sobbed.
I had promised to forget everything and as per my promise, I’d try my best to let go of these pains, of everything but one thing I knew I would never forget was my hatred for Pietro Giacometti.
I’d never forget how he was there, stabbing my father over and over again. I’d never forget how he rushed to me and cupped my face, telling me how much he loved me.
I’d never forget Pietro Giacometti. I’d always remember him for who he was. A Monster.