Finally, I stand back and examine it critically. It is without doubt my best work. He is beautiful, from his flawless skin to his sensuous red mouth, and yet somehow, I have managed to capture the loneliness and despair I sometimes see in his eyes.
I put my brush down, and see a spider, small and transparent hanging from a silver thread from the table with my painting equipment. I walk to the bar and pick up a glass, then I walk to the table and pick up a piece of paper. First, I trap the spider under the glass, then I slide the paper under the glass and pick them up together so that the spider is inside the glass with the paper as a lid. I walk to the window and open it. The sun has risen and a new day has started. Time to wake Rocco up.
Carefully, I set the spider free on the window ledge. “Be safe, little one.”
Fresh, morning air hardly warmed by the sun, blows into the room as I stand watching the spider crawl away. Go have a good life, little man. My good deed for the day, I look up into the superbly manicured gardens. To my astonishment, I see a baby deer caught in the branches of a bush at the edge of the garden. I look around and see no sign of its mother.
Instinct takes over. My legs start moving. I have only one thought to free the poor animal. I run from the library and out of the front door. I sprint as fast as I can around the side of the house, then loop around towards the tall hedges of the garden, and under their cover head towards the trapped animal. I don’t want to scare the helpless little thing. It is caught fast and fighting valiantly to escape.
As I get to it, I suddenly realize, to my amazement and confusion, that one of the fawn’s front legs has been tied to the branches of the bushes. I fall to my knees, next to the struggling, frightened animal, and quickly begin to work at the ropes. The knot is not too complicated, and I’m pretty sure I can undo it.
Suddenly, a shadow falls over me.
I whirl my head around and see a man looming over me. He is big with a tanned, grim face and bottomless black eyes. Too late I remember Rocco telling me, I must never leave the house. He pulls a syringe out of his jacket pocket.
I gasp in shock and try to stand, but before I can even begin to rise, he grabs my arm and plunges the needle into it. I try to open my mouth and call out for help, but my tongue feels heavy and my body starts to lean sideways.
Then blackness descends.
Chapter 64
Rocco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCYaALgW80c
-Stay-
Autumn!
My eyes snap open. I vault out of bed and stand, couched, tense, and listening. Everything is quiet and still. Ordinary. But I know…
She is in danger.
I close my eyes, and taking a deep breath, try to lock into her energy signature. I can still feel her, but only faintly. Something sluggish and strange about it. There is not a second to waste. Buck naked, I open my eyes and run through my bedroom, into hers, and towards the window facing the front of the house. My eyes scan the grounds and I see the man. He has her slung over his shoulder and he is running towards a waiting car.
My face twists.
I take a few steps back, and with a roar of fury, I run forward, straight into the window. The ancient glass on the window smashes into smithereens as I crash through it. I feel the air rush against my naked skin as I jump from the first floor. I land feet first on the ground and I roll once, before I right myself. Then I begin to run. The man is almost to the car. The sun is already in the sky, and I can see that soon I will be outside the shadow cast by the house.
The car door opens from inside and the man throws her in, turns back to look at me, then jumps into the front passenger seat. The car shoots forward. I know I can still reach her. I can run faster than they can drive down the mountain.
I reach the end of the shadow cast by the house, and run directly into the morning sun’s deadly rays.
Instantly, my skin begins to blister, where my skin is cut, my blood actually bubbles as it is boiling. The pain is indescribable, but I can’t stop. I keep running even as my flesh fries.
I try to run, but the damage has now started to cook my muscles. Every step is agony. My knees give away and I drop to the ground. My shoulders and back feel as if they are on fire and my eyes feel as if acid has spilled on them.