Chapter 6 - Satellite Heart
-So pretty, so smart
What a waste of a young heart
"Ciao, Gianna!"
The middle-aged deliveryman winked as he approached his favorite customer's highly polished, overly organized desk. For as long as he had been delivering food to Gianna, she was always at her desk whenever he entered the building. Sometimes he had brought her lunch, sometimes dinner. For the past several months, he had made it a secret game of his to try and pop in, catching her away from the piece of furniture she seemed chained to. However, she had not needed his service for the past several weeks…
"Saluti, Rinaldo!" She couldn't help smiling back, his genuine happiness was infectious.
"Ah, Gianna, your smile brightens the perpetual darkness that lingers in this place day after day. A woman of your beauty belongs in the sun, not hidden away in here."
His tone was sincere. As flirtatious as the middle-aged man could be, he was harmless and she knew he always had her best interest at heart.
"Grazie, Rinaldo. As usual, you are too kind."
He set the brown bag containing lunch on Gianna's desk while she pulled her purse out of the bottom drawer of her desk.
"How much do I owe you for the food and your cheerful service?"
Rinaldo didn't respond. Instead he picked up the bag and held it as if measuring its weight.
"Not your usual order…who has the pleasure of dining with my bel fiore?" He wagged his thick, bushy eyebrows up and down.
Gianna blushed.
Getting the response he was hoping for, he inquired further… "Is he a hard-worker? Is he a good man, Gianna? Treats you well, yes?"
"Rinaldo! You assume too much!" she chided ducking her head and fumbling in her purse. "Now, what's the total I owe you?"
"This one is on me. Buon appetito…e buona fortuna…"
He leaned over the desk and patted Gianna's hand warmly before turning and whistling an upbeat tune as he left.
Silly Rinaldo, Gianna thought, he thinks he sees love around every corner. Rinaldo was blinded by the light.
As soon as he disappeared out the door, Gianna rushed to lock it and hung the "out to lunch" sign. Snagging the bag off her desk on the return trip, she hurried to Dominic's workshop.
But instead of seeing his hulking form moving about the shop, it was empty.
"Dominic?" she called, moving cautiously deeper into the room. Something stirred in her gut warning her to take it slow. Maybe it was her dealings with humans who weren't what they seemed to be as well as not-so-mythical monsters…
The only thing out of place in was the cracked and broken glass panel. "Oh, Domenico," she sighed, crouching to touch the piece he had worked on so hard. She remembered the pride showing on his face as it neared completion. Concluding he must have stepped outside to cool off after his work's untimely destruction, Gianna headed hastily to the outside door.
As she did, she stepped into a field of rags strewn across the tile floor. Dropping the lunch bag on one of the workbenches, Gianna compulsively began to clean up, collecting the rags in her arms. It wasn't until she caught sight of a pair of shoes among the scattered cloths did she hesitate, processing the whole scattered scene into one broad picture.
Slowly she raised the tatters to her nose…and inhaled. The smell of his aftershave was unmistakable.
"Dominic!"
Something inside Gianna snapped. Without thought, she released the rags, kicked off her heels, and ran out the workshop door onto the street. Featureless faces turned toward her as she continued to run down the narrow street, her mind too distracted to register their expressions.
It had happened! She was sure of it. But where had he gone – and in what form?
Lord Aro had explained to her that Dominic would take the shape of very large wolf – as tall as a horse! The thought of something like that running wild down the streets of Volterra filled her with dread.
However, it was also this thought that gave her reason to pause. She began to slow, eventually coming to a complete stop. She took in the faces of the people around her. Other than a few who continued to eye her questioningly, everything and everyone looked normal. No shocked expressions, no one cowering in fear. She was the only thing out of place. If he had been here, it must have been in regular Dominic form.
Gianna felt some relief, though her feet started to throb from pounding on the rough pavement. Still, she began to run again – now filled with hope she would find Dominic in his apartment, his secret safe from the public. When she reached his door, raw energy coursed through and she beat on it with more ferocity than she intended.
"Dominic! Apri la porta! Dominic?"
When he failed to answer, she tried the door, but found it locked. No one locks their door in Volterra she fumed.
Quickly she moved to the narrow alley separating Dominic's building from the one adjacent to it. Despite the early wintery temperatures hovering in the 50's, she found Dominic had left a window open. Glancing around to be sure there were no witnesses, she tugged the screen out of the window and peered in. The scene inside his apartment looked the same as they had left it earlier in the day.
Situated too high for her to step into, Gianna concluded she had to make a less than graceful headfirst entry through the window. She landed on the floor, tearing the side seam of her skirt during her attempt to get to her feet quickly.
The main room was indeed empty. Gianna scurried to the bathroom, calling out Dominic's name.
Nothing. It too was empty.
Fear now gripped her. Not fear for where Dominic had gone or what had happened to him, but for what she would report to Lord Aro. She had lost the linchpin in his plan!
She began to pace and her hand flew to her neck, feeling the noose tightening. The reward for her success in this mission was offered, but the consequence of her failure was never discussed. It didn't need to be.
She knew she had sold her soul to the devil several years ago when she learned the truth of Marcus's identity but chose to ignore all the atrocities they committed against humanity in the hope of gaining immortality for herself. But now that goal was secondary to keeping her human head attached.
In a panic, Gianna ran out the door of the apartment, sputtering as if she were being choked by reality itself. She needed more air to breathe!
For hours she walked the darkening streets of Volterra – barefoot and shivering.
What had she done? What would she do now? Where could she go? Knowing she had no car, no money of her own, and no friends to offer shelter, she finally admitted to herself that the Volturi owned her. Just like her stepfather had, and heroin after that. Her fate wasn't her own. There was no salvation from the hell she had willingly walked into.
Resigned to the bleak truth of her existence – or nonexistence - Gianna felt an unavoidable pull to the compound.
Night had come, and the grounds around the compound were pitch-black, the preferred setting for its inhabitants. The soulless always dwelled in the darkness…
As Gianna approached the workshop door, she caught sight of quick, fluid movement in the shadows. Did they know? Was her final death to be swift and merciful? She froze knowing it would serve no purpose to run or scream.
Felix's gargantuan form oozed out in front of her as if the darkness itself had come alive. She swallowed hard.
"Looking for your lost dog?" he sneered.
Gianna considered briefly offering a lie, but opted for vagueness instead. "What do you mean?"
From his towering vantage point, he eyed her up and down. He needn't say more. She knew how she appeared – shoeless, ripped skirt, mussed hair and goose-fleshed. Obviously, she was not on a leisurely evening stroll about the grounds.
"Do you know where he is?" she blurted, too wrung out to play his games.
Felix grinned at her admission, and moved closer and closer, leaning into her personal space. She could hear him sucking in air. She clenched her teeth in preparation for the snake's strike.
"Yes, I know where he is," Felix hissed cold air into her ear making her shiver reflexively.
By the time Gianna opened her eyes, Felix was holding the door of the workshop open before her. "Join us," he instructed.
Wordlessly, Gianna complied. Inside the shop was dark and she again froze, afraid of stumbling into or over something.
"What do you want of me, Felix?"
However, it was not Felix, but Demetri's voice answering her from within the blackness of the shop.
"We were assigned to watch over it. That reeking coward! And I'm to believe it has the power to destroy a vampire? I think I can make it fall over dead by simply glaring at it."
"Dominic? He's…here? Been here the whole time?" Gianna muttered, no longer considering the two pissed off vampires as a threat to her safety. They were actually assigned to keep Dominic safe. Well, hidden from view to be fully used in Aro's plan was probably more accurate. Nevertheless, it was enough to keep both of them alive…for now.
"He's holed up in the old coal storage area whining like a pup without a teat to suckle on. Aro won't let us near him to shut him up. Only you get that privilege."
Gianna gathered what inner strength she could find. "Get me some light. I'm going to get him."
The narrow beam from the flashlight sliced like a sword through the dense darkness leading to the storage, but it lit nothing that wasn't directly within its thin path. This part of the compound was never wired for electricity, there was never a need. Gianna struggled to breathe and maintain control as the murk threatened to swallow her whole.
Internally she battled with either shining the light at her feet to illuminate her path or to point it ahead of her to view what may be lying in wait…
She wondered if she found Dominic, would he recognize her? Would he attack her, gutting her in seconds? Vivid images of all the possibilities, alternately hopeful and macabre, crowded through her mind.
Her heart pounded in her throat, and in the silence, she could hear the whoosh of her coursing blood in her ears.
She questioned if Felix or Demetri lurked unseen around her – would they protect her if Dominic attacked?
Gianna tried to call to him, but her traitorous throat had seized up.
Calm down. She ran the words through her head and stilled her feet to take a few deep breaths before continuing.
(*~*)
Some distance ahead of her, Dominic lay curled in on himself. The darkness so complete, he couldn't see anything. Not the bushy tail, the thick, cloudy gray fur that darkened until it became black at the tips, or the massive paws - but he knew they were there.
What the hell was going on? What normal person changes into a freaking one-ton wolf! Certain he had lost touch with reality, or even lost his mind completely, he had mentally spiraled out of control. In his despair, he had begun to sob, though he tried to hide the high-pitched sound coming from his throat that could result in his discovery.
Questions and fear had tore through his mind at breakneck speed, only to confound him more by looping over and over again.
What has happened?
Will I ever be me again?
What's to become of me now?
Why?
How?
Over and over they plagued him and his panic multiplied. He tried to become smaller, disappear in the space obviously long forgotten once coal was no longer used as a heat source.
After several hours of torment, Dominic's brain began to slow, exhausted. He realized disbelief and denial were getting him nowhere. He finally began to search for the answers as logically as he could…
How? Genetic mutation? Radioactive insect? Toxic waste? Damn, that's superhero/villain shit. He admitted he had no idea how.
Methodically moved to the next question: why?
Why here? Why now?
Why a wolf?
The last question dislodged something in the back of his brain. It was like a trickling leak, annoying enough to investigate where it was coming from.
He chased it around his memory, this clue that was evading him. It was an old memory, he knew that. Vague, but evoking strong feelings…but not his emotions…something he had witnessed in someone else...
Who? When? I need more!
He closed his eyes and gave in to the fluidity of the thought the transformation had given him, but until then, he had rejected as foreign.
Embracing the ability, he caught up to the frayed tail of the clue, pulling and reeling it in as one would a rope in a game of tug-of-war. The more he gathered, the clearer it became…
A voice, heavy and booming.
A man's voice.
Angry, disappointed, proud…
"Stop reading that fairy tale garbage, Dominic. It's all wrong!"
Dominic raised and tilted his large head to listen to this voice from his past speaking within his mind.
"Big bad wolf – eating children and destroying. It's all trash. Trash!"
"But Daddy! No! Don't!" A small boy's voice whined as he watched his father shred his beloved book of fairy tales right before his eyes.
The man's voice was stern, but not angry. "No buts, boy! If you want to hear a tale about wolves, I'll tell you one. A real story about a noble people, descendants of the great wolf, a proud creature – smart and cunning against its enemies yet caring and protective of family. Willing to sacrifice for those closest to him – no matter what the personal cost..."
Sadness crossed the man's eyes briefly before an epic tale of a village and people threatened by beasts of a different nature. There were many references to blood…
Dominic remembered it was all the talk about creepy blood that kept him from ever asking his father to tell him another tale. That one was frightening enough.
Unfortunately, that's where the trail ended. There was nothing else at the end of the rope.
Reflecting on it, Dominic wondered if he has found an answer. His father had always been an enigma, real yet somehow not real. Faded in his memory so much, the man he knew as his father could barely be recalled. Dominic dragged out the pieces he remembered about the intense man, larger than life. Though he couldn't conjure up a face, he remembered the feel of his father's presence. And the lessons he tried to teach Dominic: respect all that surrounds you, draw from inner strength, and trust only your family…and yourself.
An image suddenly projected itself onto Dominic's mind – two creatures, their teeth bared, their claws up enclosed in a circle etched into a leather band around his father's wrist…his smile whenever he caught Dominic staring at it.
"You'll understand it someday, son. Be proud of what you are."
Too bad that understanding never came. The towering man with the fiery temper left one day without a trace. Trisha wouldn't speak of him when Dominic, entering his curious teen years, would inquire about his father. She'd always respond: "He loved you, Dominic, but obviously, he must have loved something more. He's gone, so we must move on. Besides, who you are comes from within your heart, not your genes!"
Now he seriously wondered if she was completely wrong on that point…
In fact, Dominic was now convinced the man whose blood ran through his veins had the answer. The image leather band ever present around his father's wrist bore the likeness of...two wolves! The pieces were rapidly falling into place and it was no coincidence the animals were wolves….
Anger again fueled Dominic.
Had this happened to him!
Did that bastard know!
Dominic's head swam. Not only did his father know, he was proud of it. He wore it like a badge of honor that defined him.
He ran away without ever explaining the curse he bestowed upon me! He was a coward! How was this something to be proud of!
The anger Dominic barely had contained boiled over and a feral howl escaped his jaws. He was on his feet – all four of them – and felt every hair standing on end as if each one was charged with an electrical current.
The sound hit Gianna with the force of a shockwave as it ripped through and echoed off the stone walls amplifying its angry, mournful intensity. It cut to her bones and she struggled to hold on to the light as her hands attempted fruitlessly to shield her ears from the piercing howl. She began to shake as it filled her soul with the combined sound and pain of all the human cries she had heard over the years. How they had screamed with their last dying breaths to a God that would not be saving them.
"D-D-D-Dominic? Is that you?" Gianna's voice broke through the shroud of darkness as the wail ceased.
Dominic crouched, bewildered. His brain processed that he recognized the voice, but it felt different in his transformed ears.
It calmed him. It welcomed him home like a warm embrace after a long absence.
He instinctively inched toward it feeling its source within him … Gianna.
She in turn groped with arms outstretched in front of her toward the source of the howl, but it had seemed to be everywhere around her, all at once.
"Dominic? Are you here? I'm…afraid. Where are you?"
At the sound of her plea, all anger drained from him and he was conflicted. Impulse roared from within him to go to her, protect her, sacrifice for her.
Yet another side, equally as strong, insisted he hide what he was – a freak of nature. Something to be feared, contained, caged. She wouldn't understand. Hell, he didn't even understand it! His father's eyes blazed like hot coals in Dominic's mind. "Trust only yourself."
She called to him again, "Dominic. Please come out."
She was growing more frightened by the second, but she knew he was scared too – she had heard it in his cry.
But there was nothing but dead silence from the darkness.
Suddenly shuffling sounds grazed past her in the darkness. Gianna wildly searched the room with her flashlight, shooting beams of light in various directions.
"Where are you?" she pleaded.
Finally, a voice whispered in a low voice, "Gianna."
"Who's…who's there…Dominic?"
"I'm over here," the hushed voice beckoned.
She took several quick steps toward the sound of the voice – it seemed so near. She reached out, grasping in the blackness.
"Where?" Gianna inched forward, straining her ears to hear anything… "Where are you?"
"Here!" From behind her a hand clamped down on her shoulder with such force, her knees buckled and a bloody scream tore from her throat. The room plunged into complete darkness as Gianna lost grip of the flashlight and it blinked out after striking the hard floor.
"Dominic! Dominic!" she cried out in complete chaotic fear, unclear if she was calling to him or in fear of him.
"Hush, woman! Or you'll provoke a mob of vampires into a feeding frenzy. You know how thirsty a distressed victim makes us…"
"Felix! Goddamn you!" Gianna shrieked in anger masking her inner confusion and fright.
His deep laugh resonated within the cold space. "Yes, yes, He did."
"Come." His laughter stopped abruptly and he grabbed Gianna by the wrist. She had no choice but to follow behind him, blind in the dark and stumbling like a captive in chains trailing behind the victor.
"Where are we going?"
"The situation has changed. Lord Aro needs to be…informed."
Gianna began to pray silently. Maybe God would hear her before she had scream out to Him with her last breath…
AN: Thank you so much for reading another chapter! I enjoyed writing this chapter and I'd love to hear what you think so far. No, really, let me know...please *clasps hands together and blinks large puppy-dog eyes*
Translations:
Saluti Greetings
Grazie Thanks
Bel fiore Beautiful Flower
Apri la porta Open the door
Buon appetito…e buona fortuna Enjoy your meal...and good luck
Stop by the Future Imperfect blog for pictures of Dominic and Gianna, a graphic of the tattoo from Dominic's memory, and teasers! www.(dot)twiliteaddict(dot)tumblr(dot)com (or use the link on my profile)
