«Okay, Giulia, you got this, you got this,» she said to herself as the doors opened, giving her access to the laboratory.
After seeing the creature the day before, she rushed to clean up as fast as she could, then she got the hell out of there, did her usual routine (trying not to think about it), and it worked.
When she got home, she talked to papa about anything to distract herself from that horrible image.
But now she was back, having to fulfill her job again.
She swallowed hard and rubbed her elbow before pushing the cart inside.
«Everything's fine, everything's fine,» she repeated, although it didn't help the fact that no one had heard from Ercole since yesterday...
Giulia shook her head and put the cart in position; the laboratory was still the same, only without any trace of blood as she had taken care of that.
She saw the pool with great terror; the waters looked calm, although there was a new detail she hadn't noticed; two chains that reached up to the wall.
«Two?! There are two of those things?!»
Without wanting to think about it anymore, she just took out her broom and dustpan, then she put her cell phone on top of one of the devices and select a song.
Before going to bed last night, she had created a new play-list for when she cleaned the laboratory; that way, she would have something to distract herself while working.
And also, maybe the sound could scare those things away.
She hit the play button immediately the melody began to play:
Quanta fretta! Ma dove corri? Dove vai?
Se ci ascolti per un momento, capirai
Lui è il gatto ed io la volpe, stiamo in società
Di noi ti puoi fidare
Upon hearing it, Giulia was immediately happy.
The good thing about the lab was that there were no security cameras.
Ciccio was too afraid that some of the footage could leak online, so Giulia had the freedom to dance and move around as she wanted, without fearing that a forty or more years pervert was watching her.
So she took her broom, turned on its axis, and began to sweep.
Puoi parlarci dei tuoi problemi, dei tuoi guai
I migliori in questo campo siamo noi
È una ditta specializzata, fai un contratto e vedrai
Che non ti pentirai
After picking up the garbage, she jumped back, and using one hand; she threw it into the can that was in the car; then she took out the bucket and went dancing to load it up to the sink, opened the tap, and continued swinging while it filled.
Noi scopriamo talenti e non sbagliamo mai
Noi sapremo sfruttare le tue qualità
Dacci solo quattro monete e ti iscriviamo al concorso
Per la celebrità
When it was ready, Giulia took it and turned around; the creature was looking at her. It had half of its face out, from its nostrils up. Giulia screamed and dropped the bucket; the monster also cried and dived again.
Giulia went backward, crashing into the wall to take great breaths of air, putting a hand on her chest, and began to calm down.
She would never get used to that.
Non vedi che è un vero affare, non perdere l'occasione
Se no poi te ne pentirai
She quickly ran to her cell phone and turned the music off; it was over as she would clean and then leave to tell Ciccio to find someone else to do the job, no money in the world was worth it.
"Please don't turn it off," said a male voice.
Giulia stopped and paid more attention to the sounds around her; had she just heard someone speaking? Or was the stress of work making her hallucinate?
"Please."
There it was again, and it was coming from the pool.
Giulia slowly turned around, preparing to see that thing again. The monster was watching her from the water, now she only saw its eyes, and they looked pleading.
"D...do...do you spoke?" she asked.
«Of course not; it is an animal.»
"I didn't mean to scare you," it answered.
Giulia opened her eyes and stepped back again; that thing could talk…
It was talking to her!
"I'm sorry," it said, lowering its eyes.
After a couple of breaths, Giulia's pulse returned to normal; she inclined her head a little more calmly. Now that she saw the monster with more clarity, it did not look menacing.
It looked humble.
The girl swallowed hard, taking short steps, and always with caution (just in case she had to go back), she approached the pool, the monster saw her and swam backward away from her; Giulia was surprised at that gesture.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
The creature paused and examined her with its eyes; Giulia stopped as the realization came in; it was scared of her.
It slowly approached, although both continued to maintain their distance.
"What was that?" it asked.
"What?"
It put out its whole face, and Giulia could see that he didn't have very aggressive features; it was kind of cute.
"That thing you heard...sounded good."
Giulia looked behind her, then at the creature, went for her phone, and returned with it.
"You mean this?"
Non capita tutti i giorni di avere due consulenti
Due impresari che si fanno in quattro per te
Its eyes lit up as it got a little closer, moving the fins of its head happily back and forth; Giulia couldn't help it and felt a hint of tenderness for that being.
"What is it?"
Giulia paused the song.
"We call it music."
"Music?"
She nodded; the creature turned its head and stared at the cell phone in amazement.
"From we're from, we don't have anything like that."
That got her attention.
"Where do you came from?"
The question seemed to take it by surprise, for it opened its mouth but closed it again and sank a little deeper.
"I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention..."
"Is fine but...Do you think you could leave the music? And I promise I won't spy on you anymore; I'll be underwater the whole time; please don't take it off.
It...he sounded sad and desperate, Giulia looked around and thought she understood, that laboratory was depressing, without a doubt that little song was like a ray of light in that darkness.
"Okay, I'm going to leave it… and you don't have to hide."
He looked at her with surprise.
"Thanks, lady!" he responded by rising a little higher, in that Giulia noticed the chain around his neck and she couldn't help feeling pain in her chest.
"No problem...and my name is Giulia."
He smiled and pulled a hand out of the water, extending it.
"Luca Paguro."
Giulia stood frozen, looking at that peculiar limb; Luca opened his eyes and saw his hand realizing what he was doing; he lowered it into the water.
"Sorry, it's the custom."
He was sad, and Giulia felt a little bad for him again; after all, that was a regular greeting among all, plus Luca didn't seem dangerous.
But those teeth and claws did.
«And he ripped Ercole's fingers.»
And yet, before she knew it, she was also holding out her hand.
Luca saw her and looked surprised, but then smiled and took her in his own; his grip was scaly, cold, and wet, which made her body shake, but the squeeze was soft and friendly, so she let it pass.
"Giulia Marcovaldo."
They let go as Luca went back to hiding but with his head afloat. Giulia smiled and played the song, then turned around and resumed her chores.
Avanti, non perder tempo, firma qua
È un normale contratto, è una formalitá
Tu ci cedi tutti i diritti e noi faremo di te
Un divo da hit parade
She constantly looked towards the pool to check on Luca; the boy (if she could call him that) had both arms on the corner, his eyes closed and swinging his head to the rhythm of the music; he enjoyed it.
Giulia smiled; it was like seeing a regular person, so she forgot about her worries and continued cleaning while dancing.
Non vedi che è un vero affare, non perdere l'occasione
Se no poi te ne pentirai
Non capita tutti i giorni di avere due consulenti
Due impresari che si fanno in quattro per te
Once she had finished, she approached him again. Luca loved the melody, so she just sat on one of the steps and let the song finish so that the boy could enjoy it to the fullest.
Quanta fretta! Ma dove corri? Dove vai?
Che fortuna che hai avuto ad incontrare noi
Lui è il gatto ed io la volpe, stiamo in società
Di noi ti puoi fidar, di noi ti puoi fidare, di noi ti puoi fidar
When it finished, Luca opened his eyes and saw her.
"Thank you," he nodded.
"You're welcome...but I have to go now."
"Oh, of course."
She grabbed her cell phone and prepared to flee but stopped midway and looked over her shoulder again.
"You know, I have to come back tomorrow; I could bring more songs."
Luca inclined his head.
"Songs?"
"Oh, you see, music is split into several areas, such as traditional, instrumental, and" then she realized Luca didn't understand a word. "What you heard is a song, and there are a million more like this one."
Now she had made him happy.
"Can you bring them all?"
"Well, not all of them, but some I can, and I think I already know which ones you would like."
Luca was so happy that he placed both hands on the shore and lifted his chest out of the water.
"Yes, please!" then he turned his shy gaze and went back to hiding, "Sorry, too much?"
Giulia laughed.
"Not at all."
Luca laughed at the trust that had seemed to form between them, and for the first time in a long time, Giulia was happy again, grabbed her car, and started pushing it out.
"See you tomorrow Luca."
"I won't go anywhere," he replied, not realizing the truth of his words.
Giulia felt something inside her break, but she decided to ignore it and instead go out; then she began to think about what kind of songs would be the best for Luca.
...
Luca watched her go feeling...
Happy.
That "music" had made him feel better about his whole situation as he had never heard anything like that, and he liked it; he couldn't wait to hear all the other songs.
That was until he felt hands over his shoulders that dragged him to the bottom.
He didn't have time to dispute; before knowing he was underwater, acknowledging what was coming, he turned around and met the angry look of his friend.
"Luca!"
"I'm sorry, Alberto; it's just I've never heard anything like that, didn't you listened?"
But Alberto's gaze didn't soften; he had both arms on his waist and showed his shark-like teeth.
A long ago, that technique would have served to intimidate Luca, but after years of knowing him, he knew Alberto would never hurt him; piranhas, he had received more punishment for him.
"Luca, I told you already, we can't get close to humans," and he pointed to the wound on his chest, "I remind you a human did that, and many more locked us in this pigsty."
"I know, I know, but she didn't seem that bad, Alberto," that gave him an idea, "Hey, we could ask her to..."
Now Alberto was looking at him like if he was crazy.
"Luca! A human will never see for us; they will be more focused on saving their skin, we are alone in this, and if we are going to escape, I need you with me, okay?"
Luca sighed.
"Fine."
Alberto seemed more relieved.
"Excellent, now help me break these chains."
Alberto turned around and began to chew his strings; Luca rolled his eyes; not even with the force of their jaws, they would be able to break them, but he did not want to discourage him, so he imitated.
"Faster! The big fish will soon be in the sky; it's our only chance to escape."
