CH.0: Prologue
Paolo Buccellati's life was over. After almost ten long years of marriage his wife had grown tired of their small fishing village and wanted to see the world, seek fame and fortune, and amount to something more than just being the wife of a poor fisherman for the rest of her life. Hearing this from the woman he'd loved for over a decade had destroyed the man, but he couldn't find it in him to blame her. For the past couple of years he could see that his wife was becoming increasingly unhappy and distant to him, despite the love and affection she always showered their son Bruno in. He shouldn't have been surprised when she eventually confessed her intentions of divorcing him and leaving the village for good. Maybe if he had tried to talk to her, to see if he could find some way to make her happy they wouldn't have to separate, but Paolo was never the most sociable or charismatic man so he wasn't too certain it would've made much of a difference.
Paolo turned in his chair and glanced over to see his wife as she leaned down and came face to face with Bruno, no doubt preparing to deliver the news that mommy and daddy wouldn't be living together anymore, and that he'd have to choose which one he'd want to stay with. They'd both agreed to letting their son choose his guardian, but Paolo knew that it was no contest. He'd not been a bad father of course but he hadn't spent nearly as much time with the boy as his mother, nor had he been as affectionate due to his rather stoic nature. The most he'd ever done was take the boy out on fishing trips to prepare him when he eventually inherited the family business. But even on those trips there was little pleasantries between them, to the point where only the sounds of the waves and the cries of the black tailed gulls dominated the small fishing boat until inevitably one of them would say a short, curt sentence to the other before letting the silence overtake them once more.
As his soon-to-be ex-wife continued to make her case as to why Bruno should choose her, Paolo sank back into his chair and went back to staring at nothing before letting out a dry, humorless chuckle. 'If there's one good thing that'll come out of this, it's that at least Bruno will get the chance at a good future instead of being doomed to the life of a poor fisherman.' Paolo thought to himself. Even at seven years old he could see that the boy had a wealth of potential that would only grow as the boy aged. He could see that potential would be squandered here and had even considered sending him off to boarding school to try and get him a good education, but he barely earned enough to keep the lights on as it was so unfortunately that dream was crushed before it'd even left his head.
"So, Bruno, you'll come with me won't you?" As Bruno's mother finished her case Paolo sunk even deeper into his chair and braced himself for his son's inevitable choice that would leave him well and truly alone with almost nothing left to live for. There was a pause as Bruno looked from her pleading eyes, to his. "I'm staying with dad." Both of the young boy's parents had virtually the same reaction, complete and utter shock.
Paolo got up from his chair and stared at his son with wide eyes of disbelief at what he had just heard, while his mother grasped the boy's shoulders asking him if he was sure about what he'd just said. After reaffirming his choice to stay with his father, tears began rolling down his mother's face as she hugged her son tightly, seemingly devastated by his decision. Meanwhile Paolo just continued to stare at the boy, still not fully believing what he'd just heard. Bruno noticed his father's disbelieving gaze and gave the man a look of understanding along with a small, reassuring smile. Seeing this display of compassion from his son caused tears of his own to well up as he thanked God, Fate, and whoever or whatever else was listening for this second chance at life. 'I'll repay you for this Bruno,' Paolo thought as he wiped away his tears 'So far I haven't been the best father, but that'll change.' He wiped his other eye free of tears as he gave the boy a smile of his own 'I'll make sure you have the best life I can give you, no matter what.'
And the wheels of fate did continue to revolve.
It'd been over five whole years since that fateful day, and true to his promise, Paolo had spent the majority of it trying to get his son the best opportunities for life that he could give him. This unfortunately meant that he worked even more than he had previously, as instead of just being a fisherman he now offered to give rides to tourists, as well as renting out his boat and navigation skills to some of his fellow fisherman. This left the man with little free time, and worse, nowhere near enough time to spend with his son. Many nights the aging fisherman would stumble back to his house, overworked and on the verge of collapse, but instead of getting angry at the man for his lack of attention towards him, Bruno would instead make sure his father was well fed and comfortable by making late dinners for him, and throwing blankets over him when he inevitably passed out sitting in his chair. He knew that the only reason for his father's borderline neglect was the vow he took to try and get him a proper education, and a decent chance at a good life. Sometimes he would even prepare lunches for the fisherman to take out to sea, and it was in moments like those when Paolo questioned which one of them was the other's guardian. Nevertheless, both were truly grateful to have each other
This all changed on one fateful day, just before Paolo was about to set off on his daily voyage to his usual fishing spots, he heard footsteps thudding against the wood of the dock behind him. When he turned, he saw two unusual looking young men that looked more like common thugs then fishermen or tourists. "Hey, old guy." One of them spoke, flashing a rather sleazy and obviously fake smile"This your boat?" He said while eyeing over the dingy fishing boat that Paolo staked his livelihood on. the older man eyed them with a hint of suspicion but kept his face neutral. "Yes, it is, are you here for a ride?" the slimy looking man chuckled "Yeah, we need to go to the island about a kilometer north of here, planning on casting some lines out there." He gestured to the bag strapped to his shoulder that held his fishing pole. Paolo raised an eyebrow at this "That place isn't very good for fishing you know, if you want I can show you somewhere mu-" He was cut off by the other man, who responded in a harsh impatient manner "Look just shut up and take us man, we're the ones shelling out the cash, so you just shut the fuck up and take us where we want to go alright?" His companion gave him a harsh glare for a split second before looking back at Paolo and putting his fake smile back on again. "Forgive this guy, someone must've pissed in his tea this morning, but he has a point. We're paying out a fair chunk of change so where we want to go doesn't really matter does it pops?" Paolo was even more suspicious of them now, and was about to ask them to leave and find someone else to take them, when Bruno ran up to the boat from the beach.
"Alright, Dad. I finished reapplying the nets, are we ready t-" He stopped when he saw the other men on the dock. "Oh, sorry I didn't realize we had customers." The impatient man that snapped at him earlier raised an eyebrow at Bruno's sudden appearance. "Oi, we ain't taking the brat along with us are we?" The insult earned the man a light jab to the arm by his companion, but Paolo was too focused on his son to notice. He still sported that same bob cut he'd had since he was a toddler, but he'd grown over a foot taller in the half decade since he'd decided to stay with his father. He was nearly a teenager now, and with that milestone so close, Paolo was beginning to realize one thing. He was running out of time. If he didn't earn enough money by the time Bruno graduated high-school, then he'd probably be condemned to the same fate of poverty and toil as he had been. And as his body got less and less capable over the years he doubted he'd still have it in him to earn enough by the time his son came of age. Fingers snapping in his face dragged him out of his thoughts as the man repeated his question. "Hey! old guy! Are you ditching the kid, or are we gonna have to find another boatman?" On some level, Paolo still wanted to trust his gut and tell them both to shove off, but he needed all the money he could get, including theirs. He sighed "Give me a minute to talk to him, you guys can load up your gear and then we'll head out." The two shady men shared a smirk before boarding the chartered boat, while Paolo lowered himself off the dock and crouched down to be eye level with Bruno.
He could see apprehension and worry in Bruno's eyes as he watched the two men unload there things, so Paolo gave his son a reassuring smile. A rarity for the usually stoic fisherman. "I know they're not exactly a very trustworthy pair, but it'll only be for an hour or two. I'll be back before you've even notice, and we'll probably never see those two again." His words seemed to alleviate most of his son's worries, but he still gave his father a look of concern and uncertainty. "How about I make us a nice, big feast when I get back. Would that make you feel better?" He asked, hoping to take his mind off the situation. Bruno held his hand up to his chin, gesturing as if he were deep in thought. "Hmm, I don't know... Last time you tried cooking you nearly burned the house down." Paolo let out a rumbling chuckle "Well then you can help me. Make sure I don't destroy the kitchen this time." He said while ruffling his son's hair as a smile began to finally grow on Bruno's face. One of the men called out to him from the dock, asking when they were gonna get this show on the road. Paolo gave Bruno one reassuring look before climbing up on the dock, boarding his ship, and setting out to sea. While his son watched their small fishing boat disappear over the horizon, he hoped his fathers words rang true, and that the sinking feeling in his gut was proven wrong.
Paolo stared up at the clouds, watching them chug along as they lazily made their way across the sky. The only sound he heard besides the crashing of the waves against the small rocky island was the tapping of his own foot against the boards of his ship. They'd made landfall a little over an hour ago, and he hadn't seen his passengers since they'd gotten off the ship. Each passing minute they were out of his sight had made him antsier and antsier, and at one point he had even considered taking the boat and leaving them stranded on the island, but that idea went out the window when he realized that they hadn't payed him yet. So he waited, staring at the clouds and the ocean to keep his mind preoccupied. After a few more minutes of this, he noticed something odd. One of the men had left their fishing poles laying on the boat. "Amateurs..." He mumbled to himself as he picked up the cheap rod. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that if those two really were fishing, there was no way in hell they wouldn't have noticed that they'd left something as essential as a fishing pole behind. So that begged the question, what where they really doing? The whole affair reeked of foul play, and a smarter, more cautious man would've cut their losses and drove on out of there never looking back. But Paolo's curiosity got the better of him as he made his way to the other side of the island, pole in hand. Hoping to give it back to it's owner, and receive some answers in return. As he rounded the other side of the island, and the men had begun to come into view, his worst fears were confirmed. Besides the two passengers he'd ferried, there were two other equally shady looking men with them as well as a bag filled to the brim with white powder and a briefcase containing stacks upon stacks of cash. Paolo had stumbled into a drug deal, and before he could slink off back to the boat and pretend this never happened, one of the men noticed his presence. "Why's he carrying your fishing rod you stupid piece of shit!?" One of his original passengers said to the other after a moment of silence between the fisherman and the dealers. One of the other criminals put his palm over his face before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Why does this happen every time with you two punks eh?!" He looked over at Paolo his eyes hidden behind dark shades. "I'm always the one that has to clean up your messes..." He said with a cold menacing voice as he reached for something holstered in his belt. The last thing Paolo saw before he dropped the fishing rod and tried to book it back to his boat was the sheen of black gunmetal, and the last thing he heard before slipping into unconsciousness was the loud bangs of a handgun being fired.
Vincent Ricci was a fairly experienced detective, he'd been on the force for most of his adult life and had seen his fair share of crazy shit, but this was one of the more unbelievable cases he'd ever been assigned to. When he arrived at the hospital to assess the condition of the victim/witness of a drug-related shooting that'd happened just hours earlier he'd been extremely surprised when a nurse informed him that the witness had been shot seven times, and even more shocked when told that he was most likely going to live. Vincent chuckled to himself 'Maybe this is one of those miracles my priest told me in Sunday school.' he quickly finished up his conversation with the nurse and moved on towards questioning his secondary witness, the twelve-year-old boy. He didn't think he'd get much information as the boy hadn't been on the ship when the shooting took place, but he had been the last one to see his father before the shooting, and any bit of info would be a tremendous asset.
He made his way over towards the boy, who was sitting on the bench right next to the doors that lead to the operating room with his head in his hands and a distraught look in his eyes. 'Poor kid,' Vince thought 'probably been sitting there for at least an hour or two uncertain whether or not his dad's gonna pull through.' The detective cleared his throat and the boy looked wearily up at him. "Good evening, are you Bruno?" The kid nodded weakly "Your father apparently witnessed a drug deal, we found this at the scene." He held out a small bag filled with an illicit white powder. "Whoever did this to him probably thought he would go to the police and tried to silence him so he wouldn't talk." The boy's eyes widened a bit at the sight of the powder before narrowing into a cold, sharp, metallic glare and finally reverting to their bleak state. The detective gave the boy a wary look as a drip of cold sweat made its way down the side of his face. 'That look in his eyes… it was only there for a second but I've been in this business long enough to know a murderous look when I see it.' "Is my dad going to make it?" Bruno asked, snapping the man out of his thoughts "Y-yes, he's expected to pull through. Your father got real lucky kid, doctors say the ship that found him had the medical supplies needed to stabilize him before he got to the hospital." The detective answered. The boy's face brightened a bit at the news, and he went back to staring at the emergency room doors while the detective excused himself, giving Bruno a wary look before leaving him to his devices. 'He's not even a teenager yet, but I can already tell that kid's dangerous.' Vince thought to himself 'Frankly, if whatever two-bit drug pusher did this crossed paths with that kid,' the detective let out a dry chuckle, 'my moneys on the kid.' "Now..." Vince said, after letting the kid take in the information he'd given him, "...What can you tell me about the men your father went to sea with?"
That night, two figures made there way over the fence that separated the decently sized hospital from the rest of the small town, and silently stalked along the building's side. Checking each and every window they came across, looking for their prey. "Dammit," one of the figures mumbled quietly "Can't believe that bastard's still kicking after Emilio put seven rounds right into his back." His partner hissed back at him "Shut the fuck up, we wouldn't even need to be here if you hadn't been a dumbass and left your fishing pole behind." The other figure diverted his eyes in shame, and there was a lull in the conversation before he spoke up again. "Man, after this I'm gonna head down to the bar and get a drink..." His partner aimed another scowl his way, "No way, we're flat broke after you fucked up that deal. So the only booze you're gonna be drinking is that glorified piss-water that's still in the fridge till we find another buyer. Kapeesh?" The other figure was about to let out a protest when he was shushed by his companion. He pointed a finger towards the window he'd just looked into before both of the men shared a deadly, satisfied smirk. They'd finally found their prey.
A few seconds later the window leading into Paolo Buccellati's room ever so slowly began to creak open. Once it'd opened wide enough, the two shadowy figures crept in, their knives glinting in the pale moonlight. One figure nodded at the other before moving to the bed where the wounded man slept, while his partner stood guard by the window, searching for anyone who might've witnessed their breaking and entering. The figure making it's way towards the bed mumbled obscenities to its-self, lamenting the fact that it had to sneak through a hospital in the middle of the night and likely wouldn't get any sleep until the asscrack of dawn all to put down a fisherman who didn't seem to know how to just fucking lay down and die. Just before he was about to plunge his knife deep into the throat of the unconscious man, as if responding to his own, a knife shot out from under the bed and stopped just short of his own neck. The figure looked down in shock and met the gaze of a boy, the same boy he'd seen at the dock, who looked up at him with a calm face, and murder in his eyes.
Bruno stared up at the man who dared try to murder his father not once, but twice. He pushed his knife deeper into his throat and the man jumped back a bit in shock before stuttering out a sentence "W-What the fuck!? The hell's a fucking kid doing here!?" Bruno slowly crept out of the bed, keeping his knife firmly pressed to the man's throat, even drawing out a thin line of blood from where the point touched skin. "The hell are you doing?! Just take the knife from him already!" His partner let out. The man at knife point gave his colleague a glare and would've replied had Bruno not taken advantage of the distraction and swiftly climbed onto his back before plunging his dagger deep into his chest and cutting up all the way to his throat before the man could even choke out a word. As the man's lifeless body fell to the floor his partner just stared at Bruno. Paralyzed by shock and fear, barely reacting as the boy sprinted over to him and stabbed his knife deep into his eye, going all the way down to the handle and no doubt plunging deep into the recesses of his brain. Bruno left his knife in its new sheath as the man's body also fell to the floor lifelessly.
Bruno took a deep breath as he processed what had just happened and what he just did, before a voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "B-Bruno?" His eyes widened as he looked over to his father, and saw him shakily rise to his feet, staring in horror at the bodies that now occupied his room. "Dad!" Bruno shouted as he ran to his father, "You should be resting," Bruno pushed him back down onto the hospital bed. "don't worry, I'll protect you." Paolo stared at his son in disbelief before quietly speaking "Bruno, what did you do?" Bruno flinched at the potent but quiet anger that seeped out of his father's words and into him. His father had been stern with him a couple of times in the past, but never to this extent. "I was jus-" "I can see what you did," Paolo interrupted "but do you know what you just did?" Bruno looked a bit confused, and at that Paolo's malice softened as it seemed that his son genuinely didn't understand the gravity of his actions. "These men were not just random thugs, with the type of gear and material they worked with they almost certainly were part of some gang." Paolo explained. "And now that we've killed two of their own, they'll most likely hunt us down and kill us in exchange." Realization dawned on Bruno's face and he started trembling slightly as he realized what he'd just gotten them into. "I-I was just... I couldn't let them..." Paolo sighed, "I know son, I know."
After a minute or two of silence, Bruno spoke up "What do we do now?" Paolo shook his head, "I don't know." 'All these years, all the work we've done, all the money we've saved up, all of it is meaningless now' he thought in despair as he cradled his head in his hands. 'Unless…' Paolo head shot up, and slowly a plan began formulating that might just be enough to get them out of this with there lives. It would cost them all their funds, require them to drastically change everything about their lives, and after all that it might not even work, but it was the only thing that Paolo could think of. With that, he rose up from the bed, and headed to the door. His newly closed gunshot wounds ached and threatened to reopen as he did so, but he pushed past them with a newfound resolve. "Dad! Where are you going?" Bruno said with a mix of concern and panic for his half dead father "Your wounds haven't healed yet!" Paolo grunted "That doesn't matter, we don't have time to wait for them to heal, we need to leave now." "Where are we going? Home?" Bruno asked as he followed his father out the door and into the hallway. "That's not our home anymore Bruno, we're going someplace else." Bruno looked up at him, more confused than ever before "But where?!" Bruno asked. "Someplace far, far away from here." His father replied, as he looked down at his boy 'You're still going to have the best life I can give you Bruno...' His eyes looked forward, filled with fire and a tiny bit of hope '...No matter what.'
AN: Alright so that's the prologue out of the way. I've had the idea for this story kicking around in my head for a good long while now, but it's really nice to get it started properly. This is the first thing I've written something publicly in a long ass time so I might not be at the top of my game but personally I think I did alright. Of course if you have any questions, comments, criticisms, or just want to say you like it I encourage you to leave a review as this story will primarily serve as something to hone my writing and give me experience before I try and get anything published so any and all reviews are appreciated. I'll try to keep the chapters under 10,000 words long because it'd probably be a bit daunting for both me and the reader if every chapter was the size of a small novella but sometimes when I get in the "Zone" I might have to break that promise. I'll also try to update at least once every month or so, though depending on RL situations I might not make that deadline every time, but that's generally the schedule I'll try and keep. Anyway, that about does it for this chapter and I'll see you all next time.