Cara “I can and I will.” Falcone nodded toward Father’s captor, who punched him in the stomach, causing him to sputter and cough. Falcone opened his arms. “You have been a good soldier and deserve a reward.” He gestured toward me, and I thought my world was collapsing.
I could see my life crumbling right before my eyes. But then everything became much worse. Falcone’s finger moved from me to my sister. Growl’s eyes darted toward her. “It’s your choice.” “No,” I shouted, tearing myself away from my guard. My newfound freedom was short-lived, however, as his hands grabbed my arms, injuring me. I winced at the pain piercing my body. Thalia was paralyzed with fear and shock. “Please,” Father said, his hands joined in a pleading gesture. “They are innocent.
Punish me but don’t hurt them.” Falcone barely cast him a glance. “Oh, I will punish you, don’t worry. But it won’t be that easy.” It was obvious he was having the time of his life. This room was full of monsters, but I had a feeling he was the worst . “It’s your choice, Growl. Take whoever you want. I’m sure you’ll have fun with both of us,” Falcone said with a wicked smile. I wanted nothing more than to wipe it off his face, to take the heavy marble sculpture of a naked Greek god that my mother loved so much and slam it against Falcone’s ugly face. I didn’t know where those brutal ideas came from.
I had never been the violent type, but I supposed anyone could be pushed to the worst in a situation like this.
Growl’s eyes rested on my face. I would have thought he would control my body, but his gaze never left my face. I almost wished it were different. His eyes were like amber lakes of nothingness. I did not want to discover the horrible secrets they hid in their depths.
“Oh, I think the choice is made,” Falcone said with a laugh .
Growl nodded slightly. “Her,” he grumbled, his eyes still glued to me.
Horror, fear, despair washed over me. There should also have been relief. Relief, because T alia had been spared, but even though I did not want my sister in my place, I could not feel relief when my life was collapsing right before my eyes.
“Very well then,” Falcone said in a patronizing tone.
“It’s yours.”
“You can’t do that,” roared my father. I didn’t expect him to have so much power left.
“Take me. She’s just a child,” my mother pleaded, trying to pull away from her captor once more.
Falcone laughed again, a threatening sound. “Who would want an old plum when they can have a juicy peach?”
“Now watch your mouth,” hissed my father. Perhaps I would have admired his sudden courage more if he had not been the reason for our demise. “I’m not going to stand by and watch you insult my wife and give my daughter to that…” He cast a look of disgust at Growl. “That monster.”
Falcone nodded, “You’re right. You shouldn’t be watching this.” Before either of us could react, he pointed the gun at his father and pulled the trigger. This time it was not for show. The bullet pierced father’s temple. His head turned back violently, his eyes widened in shock. After a second, his body fell backward. His legs remained wedged under his back in an awkward angle.
A scream came from my throat. I could not understand what had happened. It seemed too surreal, like something from a movie, something that couldn’t happen right in front of my eyes.
“No,” shrieked the mother. This time she managed to break away from her captor. She threw herself at her father and fell to her knees. She patted his chest helplessly, as if that would wake him up. He almost seemed to be reaching for his wallet, and for one horrible moment something like laughter wanted to come out of me, but at the same time my throat felt so tight that it seemed almost impossible to get enough oxygen into my lungs, and perhaps that would not have been the worst thing at that moment. Mother cradled Father’s head in her lap, but when she withdrew her hands, they were covered with blood and something white.
My vision blurred and bile rose in my throat. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to keep my face between the horrible creatures that surrounded me and my family. For some reason, I lowered my gaze to my hands as if they too might be covered in blood. They weren’t, and after a moment of relief, I couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel if Falcone’s blood covered my hands, how it would feel to end his life as it had ended Dad’s. I suspected it would be wonderful, and I was even frightened to have thought those thoughts.
“Your work here is done, Growl. Mike and Mimo will take care of the rest. Take your reward home and enjoy it. I’m sure it will keep you busy for a while.”
It took a moment before I realized he was talking about me. Before I could react, Growl appeared in front of me, huge and tall. My gaze landed on his face, but the ‘expression in his eyes made me flinch and stare at his chest . He grabbed my arm. His grip was tight, almost painful, but I did not retreat. Behind him, my mother was still kneeling beside my father, with a horrible, blank expression on her face that I had never seen before. Growl pushed me toward the door, and when I didn’t react, he began to drag me with him. Growl’s tear-filled eyes met mine. I tried to break free from Growl’s grip, but it was as if he wasn’t even human. He hardly seemed to notice my resistance. I was an annoying fly attacking a lion.
“Wait!” I shouted, and to my surprise Growl stopped, with an incomprehensible expression on his face. I turned until I could see Falcone again. “What about my sister and my mother? What will happen to them?”
“None of your business,” he said with that mischievous smile. Then he looked at Growl. “Get her out of my sight. I’m getting tired of her.”
Growl tightened his grip and dragged me away despite my protests. Talia tried to run toward me but was stopped by another of Falcone’s men. Mother was out of our reach, trapped in her sadness.
“Darling!” cried Talia, her eyes begging me to do something, to help her. But how?
Growl opened the door and then we were outside.
Talia screamed again but her words were unintelligible.
The door closed between us and Talia’s terrified screams died down. I walked on autopilot mode. Not that anything would have changed if my legs had given out. Talia would have simply dragged me away. Eventually I looked away from my house. I could not bear to look at her a moment longer knowing that I might never see her again. As my gaze rested on the tall man dragging me toward a huge black Hummer that was all too fitting, fear for my sister and mother faded into the background as my fate registered. Falcone had handed me over to his cruelest fighter. Had I survived today, would I still have wanted to live? Perhaps death would have seemed the sweetest mercy after Growl was done with me.