The sound of the second arrow sailing through the wind drowned out the noise of his screams and pinned his other shoulder, leaving him hanging on the wall until I took out his two knees, pinning them too against the wall. I rolled and got into second position as lookout. The scent of gasoline carried on the wind while below two figures entered the palazzo.
Palazzo De Ricci
“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ.”
“Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” The two covered figures walked in tangent, repeating the rosary one after the other, shielding their candles from the wind that came through the open windows.
Alonzo called out from his place on the wall, his pain forgotten for a split second in the face of this unexpected parody. “Who goes there?” Blinded by pain and skating close to madness, he tried peering beneath the hoods the two figures wore but saw nothing.
Sofia was the first to lower her hood and stare at the man she’d hated for more than half her life. Behind her, Natalia continued the rosary as she fought to hold on until the end, to see it through. Sofia had always thought that if this moment ever came, she’d be filled with rage and hate, but in fact, what she felt was distaste and disgust.
The realization that she’d almost lost her beloved son to this was more than enough to put things in perspective for her. She’d come so close to losing everything, to letting him win in the end. But it was only now, as she stood facing the monster, that she realized he was nothing but a weak man, with a weak mind and even weaker morals. And her poor son, who was worth ten of him or more, could’ve lost his life, his very essence because of her.
“You, Sofia.” Alonzo gritted out through the pain. “You did this to me?”
Sofia felt the sick fear that had been lying in her stomach all day disappear as she looked at the man who’d almost destroyed her life and now her son’s as well these many years later.
As she thought of all she could’ve lost because of him, she grew annoyed with herself. She’d built him up in her mind for so long that now looking at him pinned to the wall like a slug was a bit of a letdown.
She’d had so much to say, but now, there was nothing, no words she wanted to give him, no satisfaction in knowing that he’d plagued her life. And then she realized that he hadn’t. He’d taken something from her, sure, but she’d gained so much more. She’d overcome while he remained the same. She’d grown, found love and family, whilst he’d ended up here, in this shameful demise.
Alonzo didn’t understand the secret little smile that played across her face. He expected her to rail at him, to accuse him, to yell and scream. He flinched his eyes closed when she splashed the liquid in his face and down his chest before she turned to the other figure and asked the question, “are you ready?”
It was then he recognized his daughter’s voice when she spoke. The two started the rosary over again before walking out of the room. Too late, he noticed the trail of liquid following behind them, and the fumes of the liquid she’d splashed all over him tickled his nose.
Sofia and Natalia didn’t look back as they dropped their candles, still repeating the Apostle’s Creed. The loud whoosh of the first flames almost drowned out Alonzo’s screams as the trail of gasoline caught fire and raced towards him, where he was pinned, helpless.
By the time the five women met up a few hundred feet away where they’d left the getaway car, the gasoline they’d surrounded the palazzo with had caught flames, and the whole place was engulfed in minutes. They stood only for a few seconds more, watching the blaze as the older ones surrounded the young girl who cried pitiably for the loss of the father she'd loved and hated and the end of her innocence. “Let’s go. The men aren’t going to buy that shopping trip lie for much longer.”
GABRIEL
I sat at my desk while my family slept, staring at the computer screen where I’d been following the continuing conversations between the women since that first day. I’m still amazed, blown away more like it, at what had transpired in the days since.
At first, I had no idea what was going on. I thought I’d just picked up a conversation between the women here in this room, but then it stopped making sense until I saw the name Kat and recognized it as the name of Lyon’s wife. I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure from their first conversation what was going on because there was a lot of talk about kids and the island, pretty tame stuff, and nothing to ring any alarm bells.