I still had no clue what Massimo was talking about back there, and I wasn't about to ask Ilaria about it. I was supposed to be the one who knows everything; I'm the one who teaches her and shows her what to do and how to do it. I had to be valuable to her somehow. After all…..
I still didn't know for sure how Ilaria felt about me.
Oh, she liked me as a person and friend- for sure! That was beyond obvious. But I wasn't sure if she had feelings for me beyond that. Humans aren't the most open of creatures; not like I wore my emotions on my sleeve either, but still. Ilaria was like this puzzle I had to keep trying to solve. Not that I minded! It's just that I wasn't always sure with her. She sure smiled a lot around me, and her laugh…. Don't get me started on her laugh. But I didn't know for certain. I couldn't know for certain. All I knew was that wherever she was, I would be too. I didn't need Ilaria to love me back- if she didn't, that is! I loved her enough for both of us. That was enough; I was content with that.
Or so I thought.
It was a warm summer evening out. Ilaria and I were out on a walk together through the quiet town, not that either of us noticed. We were too busy laughing and teasing each other. She'd laugh out loud, and I'd have to remember to breathe….. God, she's perfect. She'll never know how perfect she is. It's like she was specially made for me- just for me. I looked in her direction and automatically smiled. She looked to be thinking about something.
"Do you really think we're gonna win the race?" She asked me contemplatively. She may still have doubts, but me….. "Without a doubt! We got this in the bag, Ilaria." She paused here a moment, her gaze wandering out a bit. I noticed this colourful tint in them just then. "And then what? What will you do after the race?" Again? That's the same question Massimo asked me out on the boat earlier, right before he gave me his permission to do…. something- something unknown. Well, maybe not the exact same question but close enough. Why do they think I'll be going anywhere after the race is over? Where would I go? Back to my island? Ha, fat chance! I may go there every night to sleep, but during the day…..
"What do you mean what will I do?" I turned her question back at her, confused why her and her uncle would even ask me that. She hesitated a second. "I mean… are you going to stick around in Portorosso? Are you….. going to keep visiting me, I mean us?!" Well that's just a plain old stupid question; she should honestly know better by now. "Course I will. Why wouldn't I? You only live like a twenty-minute swim away from me. It's not that far to come," there, that should settle her nerves. But she was still hesitant for some reason. "But it's always you coming to me, which doesn't fair."
Ilaria said this and my heart immediately skipped a beat. I was inches away from grabbing her by the shoulders and ordering her to stay clear of the water by herself. She'd obey me if I told her that, wouldn't she? Or maybe I should lock her in her room. Anything to keep her out of the sea. I'm not going to lose her….. Not the only woman I've ever or likely will ever love. She's too damn precious to me.
Too precious.
But I decided against it; she wasn't used to being manhandled. Still, I had to set the record straight. "Hey! I told you- no more going out on that rickety rowboat by yourself," I half-yelled at her, only to then soften my voice. "Don't worry about it, I don't mind the swim. Not if I get to see you at the end of it," I added kindly. "Alberto," her head turned to me in awe. This made me smile at her…. Really smile. She's so precious…. How has she become so precious to me these past few months? "I want this. I just want you to be happy…. because you're the reason I'm so damn happy now," I confided in her. Ilaria's eyes widened. "Alberto….." I stopped walking her so to reach up to touch her face. My fingers tenderly wiped a tear forming under her eye away. I love her so much… I simply, endlessly, effortlessly love her. I love her in the most hopeful, most hopeless way.
"I didn't know I could be this happy…."
Ilaria giggled contentedly. "Me either." That was the thing either of us had a chance to say before all hell suddenly broke loose. All our happiness, all our bliss vanished in the blink of an eye and all it took was one sound. One single, horrible, disgusting sound. "Well, well, well- look who it is? The vagrant who can't follow basic orders," we blinked to see Ercole and his idiotic friends emerge from the shadows like the snakes they were.
My first primal instinct was to protect Ilaria. Protect Ilaria first; kill Ercole second. Without my brain registering what my body was doing, my arm shot out in front of Ilaria. Granted, it wasn't much of a barrier but it was better than nothing. Erco-lame's eyes immediately locked onto mine as we tossed around deadly glares. He made it apparent that he hated me in that instant just as much as I despised him. Fine by me! I'm not looking to be his friend.
"Something's fishy about you; I mean besides the smell. You're hiding something." How does he know?! Wait, I don't know if he means my true form or not. Don't lose face straight away, Alberto; don't give him the satisfaction of digging under your skin right off the bat. Act like a man and impress Ilaria while you're at it. I puffed out my chest a little in a show of false confidence, hoping Ilaria would buy it. "Is it that I'm smarter than you? I mean I'm not really hiding that. It's just kinda obvious," smooth, Alberto. Hit him where it hurts: his massively over-inflated ego.
Erco-lame glared sharp daggers right at me, taking a step my way. "You know, people think I'm a nice guy; always joking around." I sincerely doubt that, I inwardly rolled my eyes. Ercole's foot inched closer to me. "But really, I'm not," he concluded by harshly shoving me in the shoulders. I stumbled backwards, losing my footing for a second. It didn't hurt but it did make me lose my balance a bit. Crony one and crony two instantly took hold of my arms, holding me in place so Ercole could tower over me, wearing a smug expression to say he was winning currently.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my girl, huh? Do you not understand the meaning of the word "mine"? She's mine! You have no right even breathing the same air that she does. But since you don't seem to get that little fact, let me make it clear to you." I'd never been punched before in my life. I thought it'd hurt like falling down onto the ground, but no. It felt hot, the place where Ercole slugged me. It made me hiss internally, and wince on the outside. I didn't mind being hit so much, but rather more so that he punched me in front of Ilaria. It wasn't even a pride thing at the moment either; my ego could recover. No, it's the fact that Ilaria doesn't do well with violence. Heh, if he "loved" her so much, Erco-lame would have known that. To be honest, I was more concerned for her than myself, despite being the one who was hurt. I didn't want her to see that….
She was too good to see anything like this.
But I forgot this fact the instant one of Ercole's creeps laid a hand on her. "Alberto!" She began to race over in my direction, only to be stopped by the big guy snatching her thin wrist in his fat hand. I saw this and I swear, my vision went completely red again for a sheer second. No. No…. You can beat me up all you want; punch me, kick me, I don't care. But don't touch her. Don't ever touch her! This was a brand-new type of rage- one I'd never experienced before. It was overwhelming, digging deep inside all of my cells. I entirely forgot Ercole's existence momentarily; I forgot him and my own pain. All that seemed to exist in the world was me and that man hurting Ilaria. The distance between him and me seemed surmountable, and I wanted to destroy him even more than I ever thought about crushing Ercole. Ercole made Ilaria's and my life miserable, but he never touched her. But this guy… He was touching her- he was hurting my girl. My girl! Yes, this was a sort of anger I'd never had before. It was new…..
And it was powerful.
My whole being shifted in his direction; my muscles so tense I thought they might burst out from my skin. "Don't you touch her!" Not now, or ever! I was about to tackle him to the ground before Ercole's fist made contact with my stomach. He threw me down, causing a cry to erupt from my lips. Tears flew from Ilaria's face. "No! Don't hurt him, Ercole!" She pleaded. I wanted to yell for her to run but couldn't get any words to come out of my mouth; my throat was cotton just then.
I didn't feel cronies one and two come over to drag me by my arms to the fountain, and it didn't register what they were about to do until it was too late. By then I was firmly in their surprisingly strong grip. "What are you doing?!" My body began to thrash about. Ercole sneered down at me. "Maybe a little bath will clear your head." "What?!" Now I may not know much about humans or their ways, but I knew crystal clear what he meant by that.
He was going to try and drown me.
Course I knew that was impossible, but what was even more terrifying was the prospect of me transforming to my true self in front of these assholes. That would effectively end everything. Ilaria was the only one to know my secret in the village, but the second anyone else found out…. It'd be over; everything we'd built together would come tumbling down. I'd lose it all…. I'd lose Ilaria in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps that's why I didn't resist when she interjected herself to stop Ercole.
"Ercole, stop! Please, Ercole; don't do this!" "Be with you in a moment, tesorina. I've got to teach this boy a lesson first," he dismissed her. But Ilaria wasn't done yet- not by a long shot. "Ercole, please, I'm begging you! Please stop! What can I do?! What do you want?! Just tell me what you want!" Oh no…. I winced my eyes shut, though I couldn't see either of them in the position his cronies were currently holding me. I'm sure Ercole had the sickest leer across his gross face right now.
"Hmmmmmm, what do I want? You mean you'll give me anything I want? Anything?" No, Ilaria! Don't do it! Even though we didn't really have a choice right now…. But still! I didn't like this; I didn't want this! I didn't want her to have to do anything for this jerk on my account. No! Just no! Ilaria….. I'm sure she was thinking the same thing when Ercole next opened his mouth to speak. "How about a kiss?" What?! My eyes shot wide open. A kiss?! He wants Ilaria to kiss him! I'll kill him! I'll destroy the very earth he walks upon!
Ilaria's tone said it all. "How dare you?! We're not even married!" Yeah, that's my girl! You tell him! Wait a minute…. We've technically hugged before, Ilaria and I. Is that ok? Does that break any of the quote, "marriage rules"? What can and can't you do before marriage? Once again, humans overcomplicate absolutely everything. Although in this case I didn't mind. If it meant that Ercole couldn't kiss Ilaria…..
"Yet, my sweet; you mean "we're not married yet"," Erco-lame had the gull to "correct" her. What an asshole! As if Ilaria will be that crap! The jerk! You could almost taste the bitterness in her tone next. She spoke in that "lady-like" way of hers; the way I didn't understand. "Sir, a lady only engages intimately with her husband after she's married. I would never dream of committing such an act! To even suggest it is an insult to my character!" It is? Sure, let's go with that. Wait, does that mean Ercole just insulted Ilaria?! Oh, now he's extra-dead!
You could hear the wheels in Ercole's head turn. "Oh, forgive me; you're so right, tesorina. I would never want to do anything to disgrace your character." What? Like talking to her or looking in her direction? I inwardly sneered at my own joke. But this was no laughing matter! Ercole had Ilaria in a very compromising position, and he knew it. "Buuuuuuuuut…. It is alright for engaged couples to partake in some intimates," oh no….. "Say a kiss on the check?" Oh no! We're back to kissing?! Didn't he just hear a word she said?! Kissing before marriage is an insult to her character, or something like that. It's not good, let's say that! He really didn't care at all about her, did he? That can't be obvious to just me, can it?!
I didn't see it; I didn't hear it. But judging by how quiet it suddenly got I'd say Ilaria was complying to his demand. I had to shut my eyes and try not to vomit in my mouth. Just the idea that the lovely Ilaria was pressing her lips against Ercole's crawling skin… Gag! It's enough to make anyone sick. I closed my eyes tightly, waiting for a sound, a sign, anything. Anything…..
As I waited however, something came over me. This weird, tingling sensation in my legs and arms. I couldn't feel my mid-section. All feeling was concentrated in my head. I didn't want to imagine Ilaria kissing Ercole's cheek, so I didn't. But I couldn't help but imagine her kissing something. In that instance I pictured what it would be like to be Ercole, for Ilaria to touch me…. For her lips to come close to my cheek….. How soft they would feel against my skin. How sweet the smell of her would be….. My eyes gently fluttered open as my lips parted a sliver. This was also a new sensation for me- one I wasn't sure about, if it was good or bad. I pictured the two of them together just then…. And I wanted to be in Ercole's place.
I was jealous of Ercole.
"Ahhhhh, that's the good stuff. You see that, boys? That's the sweetest nectar man can ever hope to taste," oh, I guess the kiss was over now. That took a total of about three seconds; world's quickest peck, I'm sure. "And it's mine- all mine!" Ercole mistakenly announced. His friends finally let me go, allowing me to drop onto the cobblestones. I immediately looked at the revolted Ilaria and very smug Ercole, who was glaring back my way. "Like I said, it's all mine. Stay away from her cause next time, you won't be so lucky." Ha! Fat chance of that! I didn't move as the three morons took off. A fit of coughs erupted from my lips, and I was too busy coughing when Ilaria ran over to my side.
She knelt down on the ground with me. "Alberto! Alberto, are you alright?!" Me?! She just was forced to kiss that total creep and she's worried about me?! I looked at her incredulous. "Am I alright? Are you alright?! That jerk made you kiss him!" She shook her head. "Oh, I don't care about that, as long as you're ok." Awe, I grinned at her. She's so sweet! "I had to stop them before they put your head in the fountain." "I know, and thanks. I don't know what would have happened back there if you didn't stop them when you did. Thank you, Ilaria; I owe you."
Ilaria mirrored my smile. "Heh, well now we're even- sort of. You save my life and I save yours…. Metaphorically speaking." I didn't reply, instead gently grabbing her head so to examine it. I wanted to make sure her kissing Erco-lame didn't infect or harm her in some way. You never know with creeps like him; they may have infectious diseases or something that pass on through physical contact. But she looked alright to me. I stood up, helping her stand in the process.
We both gazed forward after some much-needed inhales. "What a night," Ilaria breathed. "Yeah. Hope we don't have another one like it anytime soon," I don't think my nerves could handle it. "Maybe Ercole's ego will finally take a hit when we beat him in the race." The race….. Yeah, we definitely need to win it now. All Ercole does it hurt Ilaria; this can't go on for much longer. I need to cream him, one way or another. "Someone needs to put that creep in his place," I spat viciously. Being mad at Ercole was one thing but being jealous of him…. That was a step too far. There shouldn't be a reason to be jealous of Ercole. "You think it'll be enough?" Ilaria asked me. My eyes narrowed out in front of me. My hands balled into tight fists. "It better be. Ercole's going down….. cause now it's personal."
Really personal.