CHAPTER NINETEEN
AYA
Panting hard, my throat burned and my lips cracked from how chapped they were. My bare feet slapped against the pavement, and I only slowed to gasp for air. The sun had set, casting the streets in shadows as hopelessness crept up from the bowels of my being. Looking around wildly, my eyes widened as I struggled to figure out where I was.
This city was too big, too winding, but the pads of my feet still scraped against the pavement. Stumbling over a crack in the sidewalk, I flailed automatically only to lose sensations in my fingertips.
My heart beat too fast, too hard, and blood couldn’t flow properly.
“Oh no- no- no- no!” I’m lost… The urge to scream was overwhelming, and my vision blurred as I stared down at my shaking hands. In the quiet darkness of the city, my cries were loud and echoing. Turning my gaze to the huge buildings, I spun in frenzied circles trying to recognize anything.
Anything that would lead me to Luciano’s little, one room apartment.
Carrying me deeper into the city, my feet ached, and sweat trickled down the nape of my neck. Each street I turned to looked just like the last, and panic squeezed my lungs.
The orange door. My wide eyes nearly boggled from their sockets as I stared across the small, full parking lot. The energy seeped from my body, and I fell to my knees in relief. Light streamed from the clouded windows, my own personal opening of the Heavens. A hymn floated down from the glass panes that had been flipped open, the grunts, groans, and smacks of punches being thrown.
Tears streamed down my face, and shivers raked down my spine as I stared at the door. Under a faded, yellow light bulb it was the most glorious thing I’d ever seen.
Stumbling towards the familiar hunk of metal, I struggled to breathe through the tightening of my throat. With each successful step the corners of my lips picked up higher until I finally wrapped my hands around the handle. Grunting with the effort it took my weakened body to push open the door, I squeezed my eyelids shut. A blast of heat wrapped around me, threatening to scorch my face as it dried the thick layers of sweat that coated my skin.
Slowly I blinked, my muscles going rigid in preparation for what I’d see. Panting harshly, I trembled under the weight of a dozen pairs of eyes before falling back onto my butt. A hysteric giggle bubbled up from my throat, and I couldn’t control the harsh laughter that replaced my breaths.
“What the fuck…?”
I couldn’t breathe, my laughter growing in intensity until it was nothing more than noiseless wheezing. The confused murmurs that reached me became white static in the background of my mind, and I clutched my chest. Rocking back and forth, tears of relief, of happiness, trailed down my face to dangle off my chin.
“Shit- she’s gunna suffocate herself… Sarah! Sarah- get some alcohol! What the fuck happened to your feet?” Dylan’s voice cut through my raging emotions, and I gasped for air to fill my starving lungs. Hard, unfamiliar hands ran down my legs, lifting my feet up off the floor and sending me onto my back. “Fuck- Aya, what the Hell… did you run here all by yourself?”
“L- Luc-ciano-o…” Rasping, my weak voice scraped against the back of my throat. Staring at the ceiling, the beams were so high I couldn’t see them through my haze of tears.
“Tell me what happened. Where’s Luciano, Aya?” I didn’t answer; I couldn’t bring myself to speak and stop my heaving, desperate breaths. “Shit… Just relax. I’m going to pour this on your feet- it’s gunna hurt.”
“He’s not answering his cell phone, Dylan.” Blinking hard, my tears fell towards my ears before Sarah came into view. Her hands gently pushed away hair that stuck to my forehead, and for once I was glad to see her. Frown lines added to the light wrinkles on her face, concern raining down from her brown eyes.
“Keep calling until he answers, baby.” Pulling the phone up to her ear, Sarah pursed her lips and thumbed my cheek. “It’s the adrenaline- she probably can’t feel much. That’s good.”
“Aya, honey, where’s Luciano? Why are you alone?” My eyelids popped when Sarah said my name, her worry bleeding into her voice. For a moment I stared, trying to process her questions over the swell of fog that settled heavily on me.
“D- don’t trust Sylvi… don’t trust Sylvi… No- no-” Shaking my head, I struggled to keep my eyes open. Running for so long made me numb, and I watched through blurring vision as Sarah hit a button on the phone before returning it to her ear.
“Hey- hey… sh-h… stay awake. Stay awake so you can talk to Luciano when he picks up, Aya.” A hiccup jerked my chest, and I whimpered weakly while Sarah repeated her action a third time. The past few hours seemed to catch up to me- first the car ride, then the boutique, and Sylvi’s traitorous whispers. Running; I had run too hard, too far.
But it was going to pay off. Now, I could get to Luciano. We could go to a place where Sylvi couldn’t reach us.
“Luciano! Oh my God- you need to get to the gym right now! Aya- she ran all the way here. Her feet are mang-” Shooting up, my fingers scratched Sarah’s hand heavily before wrenching the phone away from her. Luciano’s gruff, hoarse voice boomed through the receiver, and my throat clogged with tears. Staring at the device as it shook from my trembling palm, I couldn’t hold my sobs back; I had no energy.
I squeezed the bulky phone with white knuckles, my arm failing me to bring it to my chest.
“Aya! Fanculo! Non piangere, mia Aya. Sto venendo per te.” Tires squealed in the background of the call, and harsh, rasping breaths scraped against my throat. The lump that had formed morphed into a cackling sound; it echoed around the room, distorting into something I didn’t recognize came from me.
He’s coming… for me. For me… for me… for me.
“Me- me- me… me… me… me…” My eyes widened, and I pulled the phone up to my face. “Me! Me! Sylvi- Sylvi lied! Liar! He’s a liar! Never- never- never! Luciano! Luciano, he-! He- I betrayed you! No! Never! Never, ever, ever!”
Screaming into the phone, I choked on air before it suddenly sailed across the concrete floor. The device burst instantly, and I tensed from the deafening silence. It landed far, too far for me to see it properly even as I realized what had just happened.
I lost him again. Luciano was gone.
Luciano was gone.
“No…” My jaw ached, and a strange sound tickled my ears. Reaching for the phone pieces, I struggled to kick my feet free even as more hands wrapped around my shoulders. “No! No! No!”
“Get the fuck out of my way!” The roar bordered on inhuman, and I stilled completely as it rocked the concrete beneath me. Tearing my eyes off the phone, they ached taking in Luciano running at me. His soulful, blackened orbs were red rimmed, face contorted and muscles bunched up tightly. With each massive step he took the veins bulging from his arms and neck became more clear.
“L- Luciano…” My crackling whisper made me wince, and Luciano dropped to his knees to pull me to him. Crushing me against his hard chest, he rocked back on his heels to draw me into his lap. Shell shocked, I didn’t even try to breathe as his warmth enveloped me in safety.
“Aya.” Luciano’s hoarse groan was so pained it brought on fresh, heavy tears, and I gripped his bare sides. Anchoring my fingernails in his thick flesh, a cry tore from my depths, and against my chest his heart raced in tandem with my own.