"So.. when did your paranoia begin?"
"Where did it begin..? Vee, well, it was my son, Lovino's, sixteenth birthday..."
xXx
It was mind numbing.
Slowly going through websites and finding false deal upon false deal, clicking from one eye stinging white page to another with pictures of busted cars matched with unreasonable prices and claims that it was the absolute best and worthy trade that any poor sucker might fall for in the dead of night with sleep weighting heavy on their poor minds.
Not to say that Feliciano Vargas wasn't one of these suckers but he has made the mistake of accepting the lie of trade, returning home to an angry wife and a confused tod with a car that was over priced and a pure con -seeing how it collapsed the next few months or so after the purchase- in tow.
He was determined that he won't make the same mistake. He would watch each deal carefully and call well enough was enough. What was too pricey and what seemed reasonable but he was quickly running out of options. Every single car website failed him in the dead of night when the moon was high and his hopes were dim. There was no way that he was going to give in and buy a car for his precious child that would collapse in the middle of the road. He didn't want his bambino left as free game to those monsters out on the concrete lane. Just the thought of one of his most important people in the world being stuck at random, slammed into by one of those metal monsters, probably be clipped on the side as he tries to stumble out, then some truck might come and run over his leg then he'll be stuck and a maybe one of those scary smart cars that are so small that come out of no where will go try for his little Lovino's head and squash it like a bug then-!
xXx
"Mr. Vargas!"
"Ah! Uh, s-si?"
"Please, calm down. Take a deep breath, then we'll continue."
"Vee..."
"...Are you okay to go on?"
"...Si."
xXx
"Vee..? What's this.. 'craigslist?'"
Maybe it was another con. An ugly lie wrapped in beautiful promises and false hopes like every other website that he stumbled across.
"'A terrific community website that started in San Francisco California and is run by a programmer named Craig Newmark. On Craigslist you can find a place to live, sell your car, find a job, rant & rave, find love, or just get laid. Craig has since set up sites for several major cities across the USA and a few major cities around the world.'"
Feliciano bit at his bottom lip. It sounded great. Amazing, actually. Get good deals on, well, anything. Of course he wasn't completely blind, he sees how shady this person made the website out to be and not at all subtle hints of human trafficking but.. he really needed a deal that his budget can handle and this seemed perfect.
Getting into the website was easier then he had first thought. There was no login that he needed and he wasn't even required to share his direct location which immediately made the website rise in his 'Book of Cool Thingys That I Don't Completely Understand' only 15 away from wonders of pasta, the fifth most beautiful mystery in the world.
After only an hour or so of hesitantly prodding his way through the website he found it. The perfect deal.
Only 35 hundred, low mileage, the car itself looked in great shape, this wasn't a deal it was a steal. "10 miles away.. Vee~ Monika will be so proud!"
xXx
"Monika? Is this your wife?"
"Mhm! Monika is kinda strong and intimidating but I really really love her!"
"Ah, I see. Please, continue."
xXx
Feliciano quickly stood from the warm metal chair and stretched. A few more hours in that and he would need to get the white flag out. Satisfying cracks and pops echoed loudly and the father groaned in pleasure. It was over. It was all finally over.
He contacted the man with the usually cheerful bring ups in this situation ("Vee~, ciao! I'm Feliciano!")and then he went down into the usual business talks ("Is it really only thirty-five hundred? ...Fantastico! Grazie!") then he hung up with a happy goodbye and snagged up his keys and bomber jacket (something that his cousin, Flavio's, husband, Allen, gifted him on his and Monika's wedding day) before skipping out to the dark red family car resting peacefully in the driveway.
Yanking the door open and sliding in, Feliciano hummed a soft Italian song to himself. Not wanting to disturb the calm and peaceful feeling of the night that draped over their street, the Northern Italian kept the radio off, cruising down the neighborhood calmly with a feeling of gentle accomplishment. This is what he loved about being a family man. The feeling of pure pride and love when you did something amazing for the people you would die for was intoxicating.
So he spent the drive thinking about his son and the smile on his face (or just that surprised and happy look in his eyes while he pouted, that's perfect too) and the gentle loving look his wife of eighteen years would give him. Maybe he'll get a kiss too.
Feliciano sighed in bliss. He loved Monika's kisses.
By the time he made it to his destination, the feeling of giddiness and fluff from his thoughts settled in his stomach. The small car slowed to stop across the street for the place he was told to meet the man over the phone, looking out of place and wrongly rested in even to Feliciano.
In front of him was a small wooden cottage surrounded by woodland area. The garage was open and full of car parts but..
xXx
"But..?"
"I.. I just.. vee, un momento, per favore."
"Oh. Well, take as long as you need. No one is forcing you to do this, you're in complete control."
"Grazie.."
xXx
...but there was no car. There was a beaten and bruised truck on the side of the small cute cottage but the car that he was promised was no where to be found.
The car hummed into a quiet submission when as it was turned off and it's source of it's function was yanked away. Feliciano stared at the house for a moment in silence. Where was the car? He did get the address right, didn't he?
His thoughts raced through his mind in flashes, too fast for him to grasp but slow enough for him to recognize the feeling of confusion and growing fear that accompanied them. Pulling out the slip of paper with the address scrawled on with shaking excited writing and reread the numbers five times, going back and forth between the paper and the raised numbers on the wall next to the door.
He gulped and shakily knocked on the door. "Vee.. u-uh, scusami? It's Feliciano! F-From the call!" A nervous grin worked onto his face and he waited in an uneasy silence.
Three minutes passed with not even a sound from inside.
Feliciano relaxed a bit and started to become a bit annoyed. He stayed up for hours on end to find a car for his bambino and now he needs to wait on someone that promised to be ready for him to come over? How rude.
Grumbling angry 'vee's under his breath, the man stepped off the make-shift porch to the window. Trying to look through the blinds gave him nothing, no matter how far he opened his eyes. The only things inside was a regular dining set, some glasses set out hap-hazardously, chairs somewhat askew, and some blotches of wine placed here on the wood. Something that caught the attention of his golden brown hues though, was the back door. The silhouette of a young man stood, looking out to the woods stiffly.
Feliciano sighed in relief. "Oi! Sig, it's Feliciano from the phone call," He knocked on the glass with the back of his knuckles. "Do you hear me? I, uh, I'm having some trouble finding the car, is it out back?" The man didn't even move a muscle. Feliciano's small tilt of the lips dropped into a nervous frown at the blunt disrespect and the apathetic attitude to someone that he himself invited to his own house.
The Italian father walked around the wooden cottage and to the back. "Vee.. Sir do I have the wrong address..?" The man still didn't move and when Feliciano got closer to talk to the man face to face he saw it.
He froze in terror. It was a man, it was human, it was just.. it was dead. Lifeless. The skin was gray-ish and looked rough and on it's last legs. The eyes were carved out of it's head and pale pink lips with pulled back into a tight lipped smile as it faced out too the trees. Feliciano's heart fluttered in his chest then started to slam against his rib cage in a desperate attempt to run for it. Stumbling backwards he gasped, his brain finally understanding what was in front of it. Stuffed, dressed, carved-
It was a dead human being, displayed out as common sport from a proud hunter.
xXx
"Would you like a break? You're looking a bit pale.."
"No. No, I need to go through with this. I need to get over this for my health and if not for me then for my wife and kids. I have a family to be a model for."
"That's a strong view you have."
"Vee~, it is? Yay! I don't get that often!"
"Do you always see things that way? That you're the role model and you need to do your best to present what good is to your family?"
"Si. That's just what a good father does, right?"
"..Yes. Yes, that is what a good father does. Continue."
xXx
He did the only smart thing that anyone in this situation would do. He turned heel and sprinted for his small car. There was a murderer near. There was no car, just a sick monster waiting for his next gullible victim to show face so they can cut them open with some kind of sick joyous smile at their screams of pain and terror. Feeling glee at the red that would coat his hands, drip to the floor and infect the crisp clean air of the woods with the heavy nauseating stench of death and cooper.
Feliciano frantically jammed his key into the lock of his car, faintly hearing the sound of his own panting and ragged gasping mixed with sobs of fear and choked prayers in thick Italian. Once the door finally opened and he was finally inside the car, he locked it immediately. His body shuddered and shaked with the force of his own sobs. For some reason, he looked back to the house. Back to catch a glimpse of the horrors that he saw from earlier to show himself that it was real. He didn't make it up. He wasn't crazy, people were just sick.
From the window next to the door, just a bit above where Feliciano gazed in were crazed calm eyes, watching in amusement as he's mouth opened in a silent scream. His foot slammed the peddle to the floor and he got home as fast as he could, scared to look behind him, scared to focus fully in front of him, scared to close his eyes knowing that all that he'll see is the image of a human victimized to a monster's taxidermy acts.
xXx
"...I see.."
"..."
"This is quite the story."
"..."
"When did the night terrors start?"
"...I think a week or so after..? Vee, Monika didn't tell me.. she said that she just assumed it was a few bad nights."
"When did you tell her about what happened?"
"After I called the police of course!"
"What did the police say?"
"...They, uh.. they said that there was no signs of life that could have been in that house for three years, vee.. I didn't want to say anything mean, I respect and, he's scary, but I know what I saw. I still see it. I still pray for that poor soul."
"...I see. Well , I think we're done for the day."
"Okay. Grazie."
"Remember your medication and have a good day."
"You to Mr.Väinämöinen! I'll see you tomorrow, ciao!"
Hi! So, this is my first one shot, I hope the people that stumble across it like it and well, I stayed up too late one night and found this story that happened to this father looking for a car for his son. Unable to get the image out of my head no matter how many times I told it, I wrote it out instead. If you find any mistakes, tell me and I'll get right to it. Thanks kinglettes and stay safe.
Ha! Trying to edit this (I'm surprised how many errors occurred during the transfer) and now I just need a nap, that took longer then I expected-