Every single option zoomed through my mind in the blink of an eye. I repeatedly scanned my surroundings over for something- anything- I could use to escape this hellhole. It took a minute but my vision eventually rested on an axe on the opposite side of the barn. With zero time to waste, I ran over to snatch it. It was heavier that I'd imagined but I carried it back to the door. After quickly checking through the crack that there was no one on the other side I gripped the smooth wooden axe handle in both my hands. Raising a blade for the first time in my life, I brought it down as hard as I could onto the wooden door panel.
It was rather anti-climactic. Not surprising since I was a nearly eighteen-year-old girl who could barely lift thirty pounds. The first strike on the door hardly left an impact. It certainly didn't break any boards in any significant way. Rather than being deterred however, I simply brought the axe back up again and repeated the swing with equal intensity. Again, the impact was small. That wasn't going to stop me though! I swung again and again, my hands growing wet in the process. Initially I thought it was from sweat but when I later checked my grip on the handle I saw that my palms were bleeding. Not that I noticed nor cared. Back and forth the blade went until finally, after about ten to fifteen minutes of swinging, a sizable hole appeared in the wood.
Throwing the axe now stained with my blood down onto the ground, I rushed over and through the opening just big enough for me to squeeze through. It was still pouring out by the time I escaped; again, not like I cared. My bike was still laying on the ground where I crashed it earlier. Running as fast as I could, I scooped up my bicycle and continued to run with it in my hands to get a head start. Hopping onto the seat, my feet began to peddle as hard as they could down the way Alberto and the others disappeared to. My thought was that he may not have had time to make it back to the sea by himself before and so may be hiding right now.
As I peddled, I looked around frantically. "Alberto! Alberto!" I didn't worry about being quiet or discreet; the street was surprisingly vacant. The other racers were nowhere to be seen, including Ercole and his friends. If Alberto was going to hide, this would be the perfect place. "Alberto!" Oh god, please; please don't let me be too late! I turned the corner onto a road now facing the sea. If I continued this way I'd reach the ledge of the cliff soon.
"Alberto!" It didn't take long for a very frightened-looking Alberto to emerge from behind a building. He was still in his true sea creature form and seeming both shocked and elated to see me cycling over to him. "I-Ilaria?" "Alberto!" I cannot describe the overjoy pulsing through my body when I saw that he was alright. I knew it! I knew he'd hide from Ercole and most likely the other villagers instead of going back to the sea… He wouldn't leave me like that.
My bike didn't stop moving. As I drew closer to him, my arm extended and my bloody hand reached out. Sensing what I was about to do, Alberto ran towards me, also reaching out his hand. His grabbed hold of mine and just like that, he leapt onto the back of our bike. His arms instinctively coiled tightly around my waist. "Whoa! You really are crazy!" He gasped with a smile. "Learned it from you!" I replied also with a smile. Then I turned the wheel toward the road heading to the beach. "Let's get to the water!"
We got about another twenty feet before seeing a crowd forming in the distance. And you'll never guess who was leading it. "I say we kill the sea monster!" Both Alberto's and my eyes widen in horror. Ercole had a considerable procession of people behind him now. Thus, going this route was now out of the question. I turned a quick right as hard as I could before any of them could see us. Or so I thought.
"There it is! It's going that way!" Some guy, I didn't see who, announced. "Ilaria!" Alberto whispered, putting his hand on my shoulder. I knew he was afraid just like I was, but I was determined to get us to the sea. Unfortunately, that's not what the townsfolk had in mind. An old man on an edge higher above us suddenly ran out, spear-wielding and all. "Look! There is goes!" He pointed to Alberto and I suppose me. I didn't really care where we were riding to at this moment, but I just wanted to get Alberto somewhere safe. My heart started beating overtime at the sound of a crowd catching up behind us. "Come on! Come on!" I hissed through gritted teeth. "Ilaria, look out!" I only heard Alberto cry.
Before I knew what was happening- again- something struck our back wheel, probably a fishing spear. Alberto and I flew off the seat of the bike, landing harshly in different places. It didn't knock me out like last time but the impact was still considerable. When my eyes fluttered open I found myself underneath this sort of tent people put in front of their front doors on rainy days. Alberto was laying ten or so feet in front of me still out in the rain. We only had enough time to look at each other in sheer terror before the voices befell us.
"Alberto!" I was about to dash over to him but he stopped me by throwing up his hands. "No, stop! Just stay there… You're still ok. You'll be ok…" He said with tears in his eyes. "Alberto…" Tears formed in the corner of my eyes now too. No… No, I don't want this. I don't want this. If he's not ok, then I don't want to be ok. I'm only ok…. When he is too.
"Sea monster!" A villager shouted. His cry was followed by several others as we were soon surrounded. No one paid any attention to me, all instead gathering around Alberto menacingly. Ercole was there and glaring down Alberto with a look of pure hatred. "Ciccio! Bring me my spear!" Other fishermen also pulled out their spears, aiming them at my dearest one. "No! Leave him alone!" I screamed, leaping to my feet.
As if to do the exact opposite of what I'd just said, one man threw a fishing net over Alberto, causing him to trip and stumble onto the cobblestones. By now lots of men with spears in their hands were approaching the helpless Alberto. Watching this grotesque scene I felt sick… sick and full of rage. How dare they point those things at him? How dare they threaten Alberto?! My Alberto! No one hurts my man if I have anything to say about it. No one! Ercole and the others gripped their weapons, ready to strike. Before they did, Ercole's tongue rolled along his long teeth. "So long, sea monster."
"No!" Everyone froze as, without any forewarning, I made a mad dash to block Alberto, effectively positioning my body in-between him and everyone else. My arms were spread out at my sides and my legs were in a power pose. My expression had never been more hard or serious in all my life. I glared at the men with more authority and determination than I even knew I had in me. None of them were expecting this, including Alberto. They were so stunned in fact, that I was the first one to break the alarmed silence moments later.
"If you want to kill him, then you'll have to kill me first!" I proclaimed very, very loudly. "Ilaria!" Alberto gasped in horror. "What are you doing?" One of the fishermen asked me. "Outta the way, girl," an older man tried to brush me aside. I shot him a vicious glare. "Don't touch me! I'm not going anywhere! If you insist on slaying him, then you'll have to go through me!" I yelled with even more resolve, if that were possible.
No one knew how to take this, glancing at one another in pure stun. I think Ercole thought he had the best chance of getting through to me. His raised up his free hand at me. "Now, tesorina; be reasonable. It's just a fish." "Stop calling me "tesorina"! My name is Ilaria- Ilaria Marcovaldo. And he's not just a "fish"! He's my friend, and I'm not about to stand by and watch you butcher him alive!"
Another shaken silence. Sensing their purpose begin to crumble, I wanted to make it clear that I was the one who was serious here. My feet sturdied themselves a bit. "Do it! Kill me and sacrifice an innocent human to your stupid, senseless hatred! It should be worth it to you I should think, since slaying sea monsters is this town's obsession," I added with a growl. Ricardo and Giovanni, who were both there, looked completely horrified. "Bambina, do you know what you are saying…?" Ricardo asked me worried. "Yes, I've never been so sure of anything in my life," Alberto's eyes sparkled a bit as I said this without any hesitation.
Everyone glanced to each other awkwardly. Seeing that I was serious and willing to die on behalf of a sea creature, none of them were willing to spear me through, or at least be the first one to do it. Some shouted at me while others simply stood there twiddling their shoes. But no one made any movements. Or that was until the one man missing from the scene, my uncle, finally arrived at the crowd. "Outta my way! Outta my way!" He pushed his way to the middle where he saw Alberto and I surrounded by an angry mob. You could see the fire instantly light up in his eyes.
"What is the meaning of this?" Uncle demanded in that low, terrifying tone of his. His broad hand was already balled up into an irate fist. "Uh, t-the sea monster ran this way, a-and your niece, uh…." One guy, I didn't know his name, stammered to explain. Uncle stomped his foot on the ground. "Why are you pointing those things at them?!" He referred to the copious amount of fishing spears aimed in our direction. The fishermen all flinched and withdrew their weapons at this. But Uncle wasn't done yet- oh no. Not by a long shot.
Uncle sent everyone in the crowd there a glare. "How dare you? That is my niece! My brother's only child! And him! That's Alberto Scorfano, dear friend of the Marcovaldo family. These two are my kids! And you dare to threaten them?! My niece and Alberto?!" Silence. Glorious, ashamed silence. None of the crowd dared to stop my uncle as he went to pull the net off also speechless Alberto, whom Uncle helped stand up after the net was off. Placing his hand on Alberto's shoulder, he sent the rest of the villagers a warning glare. "I don't care one inch that this boy is from the sea. He is very precious to me and Ilaria, and he is not to be harmed. Not now or ever. Is that understood?" "Yes…" Some of the townsfolk begrudgingly mumbled, not looking at Uncle as they did so. Uncle gave Alberto's shoulder a reassuring pat and he grinned down to him. "It's alright, you're safe now." "Uh… Uh…" Alberto really didn't know what to say to this. Uncle chuckled, then moved in such a way that Alberto was now facing me. With tears still streaming down my face, I merely smiled at him. I was smiling… because I believed my uncle. Alberto would be safe now; he'd make sure of it. And so would I… So would I.
Alberto walked over to me, his face full of confusion and a growing sense of relief. "W-Why… Why'd you do that?" He was referring to me putting my life on the line I'm sure. All I could do was widen my smile. What's to say to that? What's to say, but the truth? "Because I love you. I love you, Alberto…." The look on his face just then… Disbelief, joy, and ecstasy aren't enough to do it justice. He simply, merely, effortlessly smiled back at me, tears now also streaming down the sides of his cheeks. "I love you too, Ilaria…. So much."
Like we were reading one another's minds, our arms both extended out. Alberto and I caught each other in an embrace, properly hugging for the very first time. His tail wrapped around behind my legs, pulling me in close. Both our eyes were shut and we said nothing- there was nothing else to say. We just stood there, crying quietly and with profound happiness into each other's arms. Ercole looked horrified while some of the other villagers and Uncle sighed contentedly, like it was about time. "Wha-…..?! But I…!" Ercole tried to get out before Ciccio gave him a warning look. "Leave them alone," he threatened in a low voice. Huh, turns out helping him from that fish situation paid off.
While we didn't see it, I could hear Uncle and the rest talk all around us. "Speaking of that prize money, looks like there's good reason to award it to them, wouldn't you think?" Uncle asked the race lady. I didn't hear her reply, but I guess it was in the affirmative judging by what Uncle said next. "Now I suppose I better tell my brother to book a train ticket before the end of summer, now that there's an upcoming wedding to attend."