SHINK, SHINK, SHINK, SHINK, SHINK, SHINK,
The sound echoed through the home as the knife went in and out of the woman's body. Again and again, and again the blade was driven into the woman's chest then pulled out it shone red in the afternoon light shining in from the nearby window. In the corner sat a young boy no older than five he watched in horror as this strange man repeatedly stabbed his mother. He watched as her blood splattered against the man's face coating it in red flecks though some of that blood was his own seeping out of a cut on his left temple. The man finished his attack on his mother and stood up, wiped the blood from his eyes, and turned his attention to the boy in the corner. The man made his way over to the boy who was too terrified to move from the spot, the man stopped right before him looking down at the child with cold blue eyes, he raised his hand, and the child screamed.
Dante shot up with a scream bursting from his mouth, after a moment he stopped hand gripping his chest, panting heavily. Dante's skin was slicked with sweat, shaking uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face. Climbing out of bed Dante made his way to his kitchen, opening the fridge Dante pulled out a bottle of wine. Dante struggled to open the bottle at first due to his shaking hands but eventually managed and quickly downed the contents.
"Ahh that's better," Dante stated tossing the empty bottle aside, he had calmed down considerably, his breathing and heart rate were once again under control, but he was still trembling albeit less so than before.
"Fifth night in a row," Dante muttered to himself he had been having this nightmare for a while now, where he relived the day, his parents were murdered. Dante's mind suddenly went back to that fateful day.
Dante was just a child then probably no older than five he remembered he was sitting on the floor playing with some toy a wooden horse if her recalled. As he played his father sat in a chair nearby reading a book, while his mother was cooking dinner for tonight. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, Dante's father opened the door when suddenly he let out a grunt of pain. Startled Dante turned his head and saw his father collapse to the floor, and standing above him in the doorway was a man holding a bloody knife. Dante remembered the man's appearance perfectly, he was about average height maybe a little bit above, he had black hair that was thinning in the front, and the lower half of his face was covered with a mask. What Dante remembered the most about this man was his eyes, his eyes were a deep blue, but they were empty, with no compassion, no kindness, all Dante saw was darkness pure and utter darkness.
Upon seeing the man standing in the doorway Dante screamed in terror hearing this his mother ran out of the kitchen to check on him and saw the man standing over her husband's body. She let out the most blood-curdling scream Dante had ever heard. The intruder stepped over his father's body and made his way towards his mother, running back into the kitchen his mom grabbed a knife and charged at the man. This caught the intruder off guard backing up he dodged the blade, she tried again but the intruder grabbed her wrist, she tried to hit him with her free hand, but he grabbed that too. The two struggled for several moments when suddenly Dante's mother kneed the man in the groin, keening over Dante's mother was able to get her knife hand free and proceeded to slash his left temple. The man let out a cry of pain which quickly turned into an angry yell, Dante's mom attempted another strike but the man was quicker and proceeded to stab her in the stomach.
"Aahh!" Dante shouted shaking the memory away he felt himself starting to panic again, moving towards his jacket hanging off a coat rack he reached into one of the pockets and pulled out an orange bottle.
Opening the bottle, Dante dumped out a handful of pills and quickly swallowed them. Sitting on the floor Dante waited as the pills kicked in and his shaking slowed and then finally stopped. Dante took a few deep breaths before finally getting up, returning to the kitchen Dante pulled out another bottle of wine and finished it just as quickly as the last. Looking at the clock on his oven he saw it was about two AM, he had work in five hours, and now he couldn't get back to sleep he never could after a nightmare, not without Rose by his side. Dante made his way over to a bookshelf and pulled out a book, Arabian Knights, good choice this should last him a couple of hours. Sitting on his couch Dante began reading from the very beginning.
Five hours later,
Dante was about three-fourths through the book when he heard the alarm in his bedroom go off. Realizing that Blitz and the others would arrive soon Dante put the book down and went about with his normal morning routine. Stepping out of the shower Dante grabbed a towel and began drying himself off, as he did, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked terrible he had dark circles under his eyes showcasing his utter lack of sleep from the previous night. Dante grabbed his comb and began styling his messy hair. As he got his hair back into its usual state Dante's mind quickly went back to the man who killed his parents.
Dante had no idea why that man did what he did, he suspected robbery, but Dante's family were poor peasants who didn't have much to steal. He wondered if one of his parents had done something to piss the guy off if he was a jilted lover, or perhaps a betrayed friend or partner. Maybe he was just some psychopath out for blood.
But if that was the case then why did he let me live? Dante thought to himself, he had been wondering that for years ever since that horrible day. Sometimes Dante wished he had just killed him too sent him to join his mother and father in the ground instead of leaving him cursed with those memories.
Dante jumped in place when he heard a sudden ringing but relaxed when he realized it was just his phone. Picking it up he saw it was a text from Loona, the van was here and they were waiting for him. Leaving the bathroom Dante got dressed quickly and headed out to the van, climbing in the back he buckled his seatbelt just as the van took off down the road to the office. As the van progressed Millie, who was on her phone at the time, looked up at Dante and did a double-take upon noticing his appearance.
"Dante sweety are you ok?" she asked, noticing Dante's worn-out look.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Dante questioned, turning towards his coworker.
"You just look worn out, what happened, rough night?" Millie asked sounding concerned, she'd seen Dante look rough before but not like this.
"I just had some trouble sleeping last night," Dante explained, Millie wasn't certain she believed him but didn't press the matter further, after what felt like forever the staff of IMP finally arrived at the office.
Dante immediately went to the breakroom and put on a cup of coffee. He waited patiently for the pot to finish, and upon finishing Dante immediately poured the pot into a mug followed by a healthy dose of Vodka. Dante slowly sipped from the cup letting out a satisfied moan. As he did he felt the coffee helping to restore him to life and the alcohol slowly melting his pain away. Quickly downing his mug Dante poured another one and like before filled it with vodka, he also poured a second vodka-free mug for Loona. Leaving the breakroom, Dante walked to his girlfriend's desk, handed the Hellhound her cup, and kissed her on the cheek. Smiling Loona took the mug with thanks and took a sip, suddenly her eyes went wide, and she immediately spat out the coffee right into Moxxie's face.
"Gaah what the fuck did you put in here paint thinner!?" Loona asked looking at the mug, curious Dante took the mug from her hand and took a quick sip.
"Ohh whoops this one is mine here you go Loona," Dante said embarrassed handing her the correct mug.
Loona gave Dante a look of total surprise, Dante has been known to "spice" up his coffee before but never with anything that strong. Loona watched her boyfriend chug his Russian coffee in less than a minute.
Anxiety was beginning to build up in her stomach, she had seen Dante get like this before and it never turned out well. Getting up she made her way over to Dante and pulled him into a tight hug resting her chin on his head between his horns.
"Hey, are you alright?" the Hellhound asked gently.
"Yeah, I'm fine why do you ask?" Dante asked, cringing internally, as now that she noticed he was upset she wouldn't leave him alone.
"You just seem kinda out of it right now not only that but you're chugging vodka, normally you're a wine guy so what's up?" She asked holding him tighter, Dante grimaced he didn't want to talk about the dream he had or the man who murdered his parents, but he knew Loona wanted an answer.
"Look Loona it's-," Dante was cut off from his explanation when Blitz suddenly came out of his office.
"Alright everyone we got some new assignments, meet me in the conference room now!" he shouted gleefully heading to the conference room followed by Millie and Moxxie. Worming out of Loona's grasp Dante followed his coworkers with a worried Loona on his heels.
In the conference room,
"Alright, gang we have two targets today the first is a Middle Eastern oil tycoon and the second is some Italian hitman disguised as a priest," Blitz explained tossing two files on the table.
The mention of Italy got Dante's attention, grabbing the folder Dante opened it up and started reading. The target's name was Ignazio Carlevaro he was a mob hitman who got ordained as a priest to get close to targets. As Dante continued to read through the folder his eyes fell upon a picture of the target, the sight of it made Dante's blood run cold. Dante's face became pale and his fists tightened around the folder crumpling it from the pressure.
"Woah Dante, are you alright?" Loona asked concerned noticing her boyfriend's pale complexion. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Dante immediately shot up from his seat and headed to the bathroom.
Locking the door Dante slid down to the floor and put his head in his hands, he felt cold as if someone had replaced all the blood in his veins with ice water, his stomach was doing flips and he fought back the urge to vomit. Swallowing back bile Dante reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of pills. It took him a moment to open the bottle as his hands were shaking heavily, finally getting the lid off Dante dumped out five pills popped them in his mouth, and then downed them with the vodka he had in his flask. Taking a couple of deep breaths finally calmed down especially after the Vicodin started to kick in. Dante hated freaking out like that especially in front of the others, but he couldn't help it Ignazio he looks just like… him.
"He looks just like Him, the same thinning hair, the same fierce scowl, the same cold blue eyes, he even has the same scar," Dante muttered.
Dante knew Ignazio wasn't the man who murdered his parents he knew because he killed him himself. He was eleven or he thinks he was when it happened, he was sitting by the side of the road asking people for money, none were giving, as usual. As he watched the people passing by, he saw him, he recognized him by his cold eyes and the scar on his temple. When Dante noticed him, he snapped chased him into an alley and stabbed him to death repeatedly Dante still remembered the taste of his blood. Dante was pulled out of his flashback by a knock on the door.
"Yo Dante you alright buddy?" Loona asked through the door.
"Y-yeah I'm fine," Dante replied getting up he splashed some water on his face, flushed the toilet, and then left the bathroom. Pushing past Loona, he returned to the office where he snatched Ignazio's folder out of Millie's hands.
"I'm doing this job and I'm going alone," he stated his tone serious as he glared at the others.
The others, while surprised, quickly got over it this wasn't the first time Dante had demanded to do a mission by himself before, but typically Blitz didn't let him unless things were hectic.
"Look Dante for the fifth fucking time we here at IMP don't do solo-" Dante's hand clamped tightly around Blitz's neck, he then proceeded to lift Blitz and slam him into the wall leaving deep cracks in the conference room whiteboard.
"Like I said before I'm doing this job and I'm doing it alone," Dante said calmly his voice taking on a deeper octave, not only that but his eyes had begun to glow, and his horns grew an inch or two.
"Dante stop!" Moxxie shouted rushing over to his younger coworker and trying to pry him off, Blitz.
"Dante calm down!" Millie shouted, joining in her husband's efforts.
"Dante!" Loona yelled putting her hands on Dante's arm. Taking a deep breath Dante relaxed and released Blitz from his grip.
"I'm so sorry Blitz," Dante said ashamed at his loss of control.
"What the fuck was that about!?" Loona demanded she'd seen him have outbursts before but never like this.
"It's… it's nothing alright I just… I need to do this job and I need to do it alone ok, so please just let me work just for this job?" Dante begged, getting up Blitz rubbed his throat and looked at Dante perplexed.
"Fine alright if you're so damned determined to kill this fucker then go ahead me, Millie, and Moxx can handle the other douche," Blitz stated mad but deciding not to push it for now.
"I'm coming too," Loona stated putting her hand on Dante's shoulder.
"What no Loona I want to do this-"
"Don't you fucking dare give me that you've been acting like a nutcase all day I have no idea why this case is making you so upset but I'm coming with you end of discussion," Loona started getting up in Dante's face as she did so.
"Alright fine, I guess I could use your nose to help find the guy," Dante acquiesced realizing that there was no arguing with her.
The two prepared for the mission Dante made sure he had enough ammo and that his knives and dagger were perfectly sharpened. Loona like Dante was preparing as well grabbed a pistol which she holstered at her side and hid with a black leather jacket Dante bought her specifically for fieldwork. Normally Loona preferred to use her physical strength to fight but couldn't do that in her human form, so Blitz and Dante convinced her to carry a pistol as well.
Once the two were done with their preparations Loona grabbed the book and used it to open a portal for Blitz and M&M, then turned to her boyfriend.
"So where to for us?" Loona asked, Dante opened up the targets folder and looked through it.
"Rome," Dante said a strained smirk on his face.
"vivamente è Roma," Dante muttered under his breath, Loona noted his voice sounded pained.
"Everything alright?" Loona asked curiously.
"Yeah, fine it's just the saying "all roads lead to Rome" really is true," Dante explained with a forced laugh, Loona looked at him confused she wanted to ask more questions, but Dante grabbed the book from her and used it to open a portal.
The two stepped through a portal and ended up in a small alley, stepping out onto the street the two demons looked out onto the street. The streets were busy with people walking about, and cars driving up and down the narrow road. Most of the buildings were average size about four or five levels, most were made with bricks with flat roofs, most in soft yellow and orange colors.
"Alright, so where to first Dante… Dante?" Loona looked back and saw Dante looking at the buildings drinking in the sights, looking closer Loona saw Dante's eyes were starting to water.
"Dante babe you, okay?" Loona asked concerned, not used to seeing her boyfriend like this. Dante shook his head and then looked at Loona, eyes still filled with tears.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine just the fumes from the cars you know," Dante explained wiping his eyes on his sleeves Loona didn't buy it.
"Well, this guy is a priest so if we want to find his location we should probably talk to his supervisors and I think I know where to find them," Dante explained heading down the road Loona followed quickly behind.
"Benvenuto a casa," Dante muttered to himself.
The two demons walked through the streets of Rome, and Loona followed Dante she was surprised he moved through the streets as if he had been here before. He never stopped to consider where he was going or stopped to check if he was heading in the right direction, it was as if he had the whole city memorized.
Loona followed behind her boyfriend until she heard someone call out to her.
"Ciao Bella," Loona turned around and saw a guy leaning against a building, didn't know what he was saying but knew he was talking to her.
"ehi ragazza sexy, perché io e te non ci divertiamo un po'?" he said a smug grin on his face, Loona was going to respond when suddenly Dante pulled her close giving her ass a good squeeze.
"scusa amico, lei è mia," Dante yelled back in fluent Italian before moving along with Loona.
"What did that guy want?" Loona asked looking back at the douche.
"He wanted to bone your perfect ass," Dante replied giving Loona a pat on the rump. Loona looked back at the guy and glared.
"Hey, ignore him, he's Italian we're, I mean they're all flirts," Dante explained nervously, Loona noticed his slip-up but didn't press it.
"So, when did you learn Italian?" Loona asked curiously.
"It was the first language I learned," Dante stated.
"Wait really?" Loona asked, surprised but super surprised, while most demons in Hell spoke English, she knew some communities spoke Italian and Spanish.
"Yep, then I learned Spanish, then French, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, then German, and then I learned English," Dante explained, Loona looked at him perplexed she figured he would have learned English alongside Italian, but he didn't learn it till way later.
"Why did you learn so many languages before English?" she asked, confused at why it took him so long to learn Hell's main language.
"Because I was never around any English speakers," Dante replied, he noticed Loona's confused look, so he elaborated.
"I lived with Humans remember Giovanni spoke Italian I also regularly interacted with Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, Frenchmen, Arabs, and Turks, no one in my area spoke English," he explained Loona still looked confused but Dante decided they didn't have time for more explanations, so he grabbed Loona and kept going.
St. Peter's Square
Dante and Loona both stood underneath a ginormous obelisk topped with a large metal cross, Loona looked up at the massive obelisk she had seen several others before, but this one was more impressive. Pulling out her phone Loona took a picture; Dante didn't seem to care for it he just looked it over smirked then turned away.
"So, you gonna tell me what we're doing here?" Loona asked her boyfriend.
"Well, the target is a priest so I figured if we're going to find him, we need to talk to his superiors and the best place to find them would be here in Il Vaticano!" Dante explained spreading out his arms to encompass the surrounding area.
"Wait this is the Vatican?" Loona asked looking around at the various buildings and structures.
"Yep, where right at the edge of Vatican City where we need to go is right there," Dante explained pointing at a large building with columns and a domed roof.
"Basilica Sancti Petri, or in English St Peter's Basilica," Dante stated with a smile, Loona's eyes went wide at the mention of the name.
"Wait, wait, the capital of Christianity, the home of the Pope himself?" Loona asked her voice tense.
"Yep, but it's not where the Pope lives it's just where he conducts most of his sermons," Dante explained.
"Whatever… why the fuck are we here?" Loona asked why Dante thought it would be a good idea to go to one of the most sacred places in Christendom.
"Because like I said Ignazio's priestly superiors are inside and if we want to find him, we have to ask them," Dante explained rolling his eyes.
"Are you fucking insane we can't go in there step one foot inside and we'll burst into flames!" Loona explained yelling loudly, drawing passersby's attention before quickly lowering her voice.
"We can't be here we'll die," she said her voice filled with concern.
"Hey, don't worry il mio piccolo lupo, I have a way to get inside, there's a cafe down the road why don't you wait there while I get the info," Dante explained caressing her cheek.
"How the fuck do you plan to get in there?" she asked, not believing that he had a way to get in without dying.
"I have my ways alright just wait by the cafe," Dante explained turning to leave but Loona grabbed his arm.
"Fuck that I'm not letting you in alone I'm coming with you," Loona said sternly, Dante yanked his arm free and shook his head.
"No, no, no, no, no you are not coming with me," Dante stated bluntly, Loona glared down at him.
"And why not?" Loona asked, starting to get angry.
"Because my method wouldn't be enough to protect you, plus they wouldn't let you in with what you're wearing," Dante explained gesturing to Loona's attire.
"What the fuck is wrong with my attire?" Loona asked glaring at Dante.
"Nothing it's just that the Vatican has strict dress codes no exposed shoulders, no exposed midriffs, and no exposed legs, so unless you want to go and buy a long dress or pants just wait by the cafe," Dante explained, Loona cringed it was already over ninety degrees here and she was already hot and didn't want to get any hotter.
"Ok fine I'll wait by the cafe just promise me you'll be careful?" Loona finally relented, giving Dante puppy dog eyes.
"I promise now go," he said kissing Loona before heading towards not the basilica, instead he followed behind a priest walking down an alleyway.
Getting close to the priest Dante grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it, the priest gave a jolt and then collapsed to the ground. Lifting the unconscious man, he carried him into a public restroom, after paying a euro, of course.
"Have to pay to take a piss what cazzate is that" Dante grumbled to himself as he dragged the priest into a stall.
Coming out of the bathroom in the priest's robes Dante headed toward the Basilica walking up to the Swiss Guard he showed him his pass.
"Padre," the guard said in his accented Italian.
"Excuse me my son but I am looking for an old colleague he's here in the city but can't find his address do you know who I might ask to help me find him?" Dante asked in fluent Italian, he had to admit it was nice to use Italian again, he missed it, he never really cared for English and always saw it as a trash language.
"Hmm," the guard thought for a moment before he came to an idea.
"I'd say that would be Deacon Giuseppe he usually handles paperwork for priests coming in and out of Il Vaticano if anyone has an idea, I'd say it's him," he explained.
"Mille Grazie," Dante replied before heading into the basilica as he did, he pulled out his crucifix and muttered a prayer.
"Ave, o Maria, piena di grazia, il Signore è con te," the cross glowed briefly before going out, smiling Dante looked through a directory by the wall and made his way to Giuseppe's office
Giuseppe's office
Giuseppe sat back in his desk chair and rubbed his eyes, spending hours doing paperwork took a toll on one's eyesight. The young Deacon stretched feeling something in his back pop, he sighed in relief. Giuseppe was about to get back to his work when there was a knock at his door.
"è aperto," he said, the door opened, and in stepped a young priest probably in his mid-twenties with long black hair, olive skin, and a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes.
"How may I help you?" he asked the young priest.
"Salve my name is Antonio Carrare, I am looking for a friend of mine his name is Ignazio Carlevaro, do you recognize him?" Dante asked, holding out a picture of the target, Giuseppe took the picture and examined it.
"Hmm yes, I recognize him," Giuseppe stated handing the photo back to Antonio.
"Good to know now where is he?" the young priest asked, more demanded his voice sounding strained.
"Is everything alright Amico?" Giuseppe asked startled by Antonio's intensity.
"Yes, I just have something vital to deliver to him and I need to find him quickly," Antonio explained collecting himself.
"Give me a moment," the Deacon said typing on his computer.
"Let's… see… ah here he is," Giuseppe exclaimed pulling out a pen and notepad and quickly writing down the address. Handing the note to Antonio, the priest took it read it over quickly then stuck it in his pocket.
"Grazie," Turning to leave the priest walked out of Giuseppe's office and slammed the door with more force than necessary causing a photo of the Pope to fall to the ground and shatter.
"Jesu Cristo," Giuseppe sputtered taken aback by Antonio's strength.
In the Hall,
Dante walked down the hall towards the exit, he had gotten what he needed Ignazio was at 237 Via Del Lupo apartment 2B, which Dante knew was only two blocks away.
"So close," Dante muttered, reaching back into his pocket he pulled out the photo of the target and looked it over one more time.
Dante's grip on the photo tightened until the photo was crumpled into a ball, feeling a surge of pain in his temple Dante pulled out his flask and downed a third of its contents. Suddenly Dante felt his stomach lurch, putting a hand over his mouth Dante ran to the nearest bathroom went into an empty stall, and puked. Once he finished Dante wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Heading towards the sink he turned it on and scooped up handfuls of water. Taking the handful in his mouth Dante swished it around before spitting it out into the sink. Washing away the bile and small traces of blood, he then removed his sunglasses and proceeded to splash water on his face. Looking up at his reflection Dante looked into his own eyes, he saw darkness in them nothing but anger, hatred, and rage, just like His. Dante yelled and punched the mirror causing it to crack with several shards falling to the floor. Dante rubbed his forehead, he needed to stay calm he couldn't get worked up like this, turning to leave the bathroom he took one more look in the mirror and his black and gold eyes… wait what? Dante rushed to the nearest unbroken mirror and took another look, his eyes were still black and red, not black and gold.
Must have been a trick of the light, Dante thought to himself, stepping out of the restroom Dante put his glasses back on and then turned to leave. As he did, he saw a portrait of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary looked at him with disappointment and sadness.
"What are you looking at?" he asked the pictures his voice thick with anger before walking away the eyes of the portraits following as he did.
At the cafe,
Loona sat inside the cafe a latte in hand and scrolled through her phone, she took a sip of her drink and smiled, the stuff here in Italy was better than what she got in Pride but that wasn't saying much as most of the things in Hell sucked ass.
"It's better than the coffee I got in LA," she muttered, taking another drink.
As she scrolled through her phone, she looked over some of the pictures she'd taken of that large temple Dante said it was called Pantheon but also called it the Basilica of St Mary and the Martyrs. Then there was that huge fountain, the Fontana di Trevi as Dante called it, she had a pic of Dante tossing a coin. Then there's that huge arena Dante said it's called the Colosseo it reminded Loona of the Bloodbath Arena in Wrath. Loona was honestly surprised by Dante's knowledge of all these buildings and how he knew where to go, he walked around the city as if he had been there before. Suddenly Dante entered the cafe with a stern expression and made his way to her.
"ehi Loona, ho le informazioni che ci servivano, muoviamoci," Dante said once he got to her table.
"The fuck was that?" Loona asked confused not understanding what Dante just said. Dante looked annoyed but cleared his throat.
"Sorry I said I have the info we need let's move," Dante reiterated Loona noted he still looked unhappy.
"You alright you seem kinda… tense?" Loona asked standing up and approached her boyfriend.
"Yeah yeah, I... I'm fine just let's get moving," Dante stated taking Loona's hand he led her out of the coffee shop and down the road.
"So where is this asshole?" Loona asked as she followed her boyfriend.
"The target has an apartment at 237 Via de Lupo, I know the road is two blocks down, hopefully, we'll catch him before he heads off," Dante explained.
"Wait how the hell do you know where that place is?" she asked, perplexed by her boyfriend's encyclopedic knowledge of this city.
"Oh, uh when I was younger, I was super into geography and cities so I studied maps of different cities here in Italia," Dante explained Loona thought she detected a hint of nervousness.
"Really?" Loona asked inquisitively.
"Yep, I know pretty much every city in Italia, Firenze, Venezia, Roma, Milano, e Siracusa, all like the back of my hand," Dante explained sounding proud of this accomplishment.
"Wow never took you for a nerd," Loona said jokingly, Dante rolled his eyes but sent the Hellhound a smirk.
later,
The two demons stood infront of Ingazio's apartment building it was a small building nothing too fancy but not crummy either. It was four stories high and had about five apartments on each floor.
"So which floor is this fucker on Dante?" Loona asked but when she got no response she turned to face him.
"Dante?" she asked again as she saw him looking down at the ground, his hands balled into fists, and his breath rate increasing rapidly.
"Yo Dante you alright buddy?" Loona asked her boyfriend concerned, putting her hand on his shoulder. The contact shocked Dante out of his stupor and he jerked back in surprise.
"Are you ok?" Loona asked her worry growing.
"Yes, I'm fine, I'm just… tired," he explained pulling out his flask and taking a deep gulp of its contents. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he looked at the apartment building with grim determination.
"Let's get this over with," he said, checking the door and seeing it wasn't locked, then went inside.
Making their way up to the second floor they found Ignazio's door motioning with his hand Loona stood to the right of the door while Dante stood to the left. Reaching out Dante knocked on the door, they waited for several minutes, Dante knocked again still nothing. Growing frustrated Loona pulled out her pistol and then kicked the door in. Dante drew his gun and walked in Loona followed gun raised, walking through the apartment the looked around for any sign of the target. Not seeing him in the living room or kitchen, the two demons made their way to the bedroom finding it locked Dante kicked the door in and saw the target standing by his bed. Both Dante and Loona raised their guns at him, the priest raised his hands but had a calm look on his face, the sight of which caused anger to bubble up in his chest.
"tu sei Ignazio Carlevaro corretto?" Dante asked the priest, trying to keep his anger in check.
"Si," he replied, his voice deep and monotone. Dante aimed his pistol right at Ignazio's head but before he could pull the trigger Ingazio pulled a small red ball out of the sleeve and threw it down on the floor.
BANG! A loud bang echoed through the apartment followed by a bright flash of light followed by the distinct smell of fireworks. Both Dante and Loona covered their eyes by the time the smoke had cleared the two demons could see again Ignazio was gone.
"MERDA!" Dante shouted, looking around for how he could have escaped the young demon spotted an open window.
Looking out he saw it was connected to a fire escape, stepping out onto the balcony Dante looked around and spotted Ignazio on the ground tampering with a pile of junk. Pulling out his pistol Dante fired at him unfortunately he missed, Ingazio replied in kind pulling out a gun and firing Dante ducked a bullet barely missing his head. Pulling a moped out from the junk pile Ignazio got on and took off down the road.
"Cazzo! Loona get you sweet ass out here!" Dante yelled Loona complied crawling out the window and following her boyfriend down the fire escape and made their way to the road.
Seeing a guy on a moped, Dante immediately stopped him, pushed him off, and gestured for Loona to climb on. Dante sped down the road weaving between cars and occasionally driving onto the sidewalk narrowly hitting civilians.
"Fuck Dante don't you know how to drive?!" Loona asked tightening her grip around her boyfriend's torso.
"This is Italy Loona, NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE!" Dante shouted with a smile as he continued to weave through traffic, finally catching up with Ignazio.
"There he is!" Dante said gleefully pulling out his gun and and taking aim. Ignazio looked behind him and upon seeing Dante aiming swiftly changed lanes going into the left lane right into oncoming traffic.
"Wait Dante don't-," Loona couldn't finish her statement as Dante immediately followed Ignazio.
Dante continued to chase after the target, dodging cars and barely avoiding getting hit by a truck. Dante and Loona were within a centimeter of the target. Dante was about to pull out his pistol when Ignazio suddenly veered down an alley, Dante cursed and followed after him. As they drove through the alley, they both spotted a flatbed truck raising its bed preparing to tow a car onto itself. Speeding up Ignazio headed straight for the flat bed with Dante following behind.
"No, no, no, Dante please don't-," suddenly Ignazio's scooter raced straight up the flatbed and shot through the air with Dante following right behind Loona screamed as the moped shot through the air.
Dante grabbed the edge of Ignazio's sash as they got closer and ripped off a piece just as their mopeds collided. The impact force caused both vehicles to shoot in opposite directions with Dante's going left and Ignazio's going right. Realizing they were going to crash, Dante yelled to Loona to hold on tight, then grabbed a nearby lamppost. Gripping the post for dear life the moped flew out from under Dante and Loona and slammed into the ground skidding across the street before slamming into a car and bursting into flames.
Ignazio, like Dante bailed from his ride landing ruffly on some topiary in front of a small shop, getting up he limped away while his assailants were distracted. Letting go of the lamppost Dante fell to the ground and landed squarely on his feet before realizing that Loona was still clinging to him tightly.
"We're good now Loona you can let go now," Dante stated but the Hellhound didn't budge, so the Imp resorted to prying her off it was difficult, but he eventually got her off. Falling to the pavement Loona shook her head and immediately grabbed her boyfriend by the collar of his jacket.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" she asked, frothing at the mouth her eyes filled with fire.
"What?" Dante asked, not sure what the deal was.
"You drove like a fucking maniac, not even Blitz drives that nuts then you proceeded to almost kill us by driving up that fucking truck!" she explained, her voice still filled with fury.
"I was trying to catch the target, and now he's gone but luckily I got this," he explained holding up a piece of red cloth.
"Now sniff," Dante demanded holding the red cloth up to her.
"Are you fucking serious!" Loona asked eye twitching Dante pushed the rag closer to her.
"What the fuck is wrong with you you've never been this reckless before why are you so determined to catch this guy!?" the Hellhound asked smacking Dante's hand away. Dante went silent, he didn't say anything he just stood there looking down at the ground his hands tightening into fists so tight his nails started slicing into his palms.
"Dante… are you okay?" Loona asked reaching out to touch him, but Dante slapped her hand away he looked up at her a pained expression on his face.
"Look this, I don't want to talk about… just… just please sniff the rag so we can find this fucker and kill him, please," Dante begged holding up the rag once again for Loona to smell. Sighing Loona took a whiff of the rag and then took a deep breath.
"He's that way," Loona said pointing down the road.
fifteen minutes later,
The two demons arrived at a large warehouse on the city's outskirts near the Tiber River. Loona had a difficult time tracking the scent near the river as the stench threw her off, Dante on the other hand didn't seem to mind whatsoever he seemed to like it.
"profuma di vecchi tempi," he muttered to himself.
"What?" Loona asked confused.
"Nothing, have you found him yet?" Dante asked, starting to get frustrated. Loona rolled her eyes and then took another sniff of the cloth, and then took a deep breath turning her head she walked around the warehouse until she came across a small door where the smell was strongest. Sniffing around the door Loona found what looked like a smear of blood on the handle.
"He's in here," Loona stated gesturing to the warehouse.
"You sure?" Dante asked, looking at the door.
"Positive," Loona replied gesturing to the blood stains. Suddenly a dark look overtook Dante's face.
"Good, wait here, if he tries to escape kill him," Dante ordered his voice turning cold and stern. Loona flinched she'd seen Dante get like this once or twice, it scared her, it reminded her of how he got when she rescued him from those government cunts.
"You sure he might be tricky?" Loona asked her voice filled with concern.
"Yes, I'm sure," he said his voice filled with determination, reaching out Dante opened the door and walked into the building. Loona stared at the door and gulped this behavior was scaring her she was worried that he would have another breakdown.
Inside the warehouse,
Ignazio sat on an old crate, his jacket was off, and he currently had a first aid kit on his lap. The crash had given him several lacerations, most were small and not serious, but he had one on his right arm and side that was deep and bleeding heavily. Quickly he stitched up his wounds and then covered them in bandages, it wasn't a permanent solution, but it would do for the time being till he got to a doctor. Once Ignazio finished, he stood up and nearly fell as a sharp pain shot through his left leg, the crash hurt his leg badly it wasn't broken as far as Ignazio could tell but whatever happened made it hard to walk on. Taking a deep breath Ignazio gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain, grabbing his jacket, he put it back on and pulled out his phone. He saw that his contact had gotten his message, and a getaway car was waiting just a block away. Ignazio was about to head for the exit when he suddenly heard footsteps coming up behind him, turning around Ignazio saw a young man likely in his twenties slowly making his way toward him. The man had long black hair, and a swarthy complexion, and wore a long black trenchcoat, and wore a pair of dark sunglasses, it was the same man who stormed into his apartment he was sure of it.
Hm, a fellow Italian, Ignazio fought to himself as he took in the man's appearance.
"Ciao Ignazio, I've been looking all over the city for you," the young man stated his voice taking on a dark tone.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you my son but I am too busy to do confessions at the moment," Ignazio replied slowly reaching into his jacket for his gun.
"Ohh but my sins are not the reason I'm here it's yours," Dante replied menacingly.
"Is that so?" Ignazio asked before pulling out his gun and firing three rounds, Dante quickly ducked out of the way barely avoiding the bullets then charged straight for the hitman and tackled him to the ground.
The two rolled along the floor Dante was trying to pull the gun out of Ignazio's hand but the hitman's grip was strong, and Dante was having trouble getting the weapon free. As the two continued to struggle Dante was finally able to get the pistol out of Ignazio's hands but before he could turn the weapon on the man Ignazio grabbed a broken bottle lying on the floor. Swinging the bottle at Dante the jagged end sliced into Dante's left cheek leaving a long deep cut.
"Ahhh!" Dante shouted in pain as he clutched his wounded face. Seeing an opportunity Ignazio was able to slip out from under Dante and punched him in the side of the head further disorienting the demon.
Seeing that Dante was incapacitated, Ignazio made his way for the back door ignoring the pain in his leg. Unbeknownst to Ignazio Dante was as incapacitated as he thought scowling at the hitman Dante looked around and saw a rusty old pipe picking it up, he threw it with all his might at Ignazio hitting him square in the back. Screaming in pain, Ignazio fell to the floor he tried to get up but he felt someone grabbing his leg looking over his shoulder he saw Dante holding his right leg and with a swift twist broke it.
"Ahhh Madre di Dio!" he shouted in agony grabbing at his broken leg before suddenly finding Dante's full weight slamming down on his knocking the wind from him. Looking up he saw Dante looking down on him black blood dripping from his wound and a psychotic look of anger across his face.
"Look I don't know who you're working for but how about we work out a deal I have money and powerful friends they can-" Ignazio was cut off when Dante wrapped his hands around his throat.
"You think money can erase what you did you Bastardo?" Dante asked, his hands tightening around Ignazio's throat, Ignazio grabbed at the demon's hands and tried to pry them off, but his grip was like iron.
"After everything you took from me, you think you can just buy your way out of this?" Dante asked, his grip loosening slightly, allowing Ignazio to breathe.
"What- what the fuck are you talking about?" the hitman squeaked out giving Dante both a look of confusion and terror.
"What am I talking about… what am I talking about? I'm talking about the time you murdered my family!" Dante shouted, his grip once again becoming tight as iron.
"You took them from me and ended their lives, right before my eyes leaving me all alone," Dante explained to the hitman, Ignazio suddenly felt something warm and wet dripping down on him, and he saw that Dante had begun to cry.
"You took their lives, two innocent people who did nothing wrong and in turn ruined my life, and for that, you will pay for your crimes, I will make you suffer," Dante stated his voice growing deeper, his human disguise fading away to reveal his demonic form much to Ignazio's horror.
"Like I suffered!" Dante shouted before releasing his grip and beating away at his helpless victim.
Twenty minutes later,
Loona checked the time on her phone Dante had been in there for nearly half an hour already and she was starting to get nervous.
What if he's hurt, what if the fucker's captured him, oh Satan, Loona thought to herself biting her nails.
"Oh, fuck this!" Loona shouted, storming into the warehouse.
The Hellhound walked through the warehouse it was dark and dusty and wreaked of mildew and piss. Pulling out her gun she made several slow careful steps when she nearly tripped over something. Looking down she saw what she had tripped over and to her shock, it was a severed arm.
Looking around she saw several drops of blood, following the trail Loona came upon a sight that chilled her to her core. She saw Dante sitting atop the body of their target, Ignazio's corpse was torn to shreds, and both his arms had been torn off and tossed about randomly. His chest cavity was ripped open, his ribcage pulled aside looking like an open cage. His heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and other organs were splayed around his corpse which was surrounded by a large pool of blood. Ignazio's face was a swollen lump of bruises, his nose was smashed to bits and his eyes had been gouged out. In the center of this gore was Dante who was covered in blood and breathing heavily.
"Dante," Loona called out, but he didn't respond.
"Dante!" Loona said again, raising her voice.
"WHAT!" Dante shouted in anger, turning to face Loona the expression on his face reminding her of how he was when she and Millie saved him from those government agents. Dante's expression softened when he realized he was yelling at Loona.
"oh cavolo, merda, mi dispiace Loona," Dante said getting up and going to his girlfriend.
"What?" Loona asked genuinely confused.
"Oh right English," Dante muttered under his breath,
"I'm Sorry Loona," Dante translated for the Hellhound.
"It's- it's fine Dante are you ok, you seem kinda…," she trailed off gesturing to Dante's blood-covered appearance.
"Huh yeah I'm good I just got a little carried away," Dante explained, reaching into his jacket Dante pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and Loona noticed his hands trembling. Dante attempted to light one, but his trembling hands made it difficult, so Loona lit it for him.
"Thanks," Dante said taking a deep drag, it was at that moment Loona noticed the deep gash on the side of his face.
"Fuck what happened?!" Loona asked grabbing Dante's face and taking a closer look at the wound.
"The Bastardo hit me with a bottle but don't worry it's not that bad," Dante explained as blood oozed down his face.
"Are you serious this thing is gushing blood, why do you always brush off these serious injuries?" Loona asked annoyed.
"Because I was hurt way worse than this before," Dante replied breaking out of his girlfriend's grip.
"Seriously like how?" Loona asked curiously.
"When I was seven, I stole some food from a vendor and he and his buddies beat the crap out of me," Dante explained.
"Really?" Loona asked sounding horrified.
"Yep, cracked my skull open and nearly killed me," Dante stated hands tightening into fists, Loona looked even more horrified.
Dante and Loona quickly left the warehouse and found a public bathroom there Dante washed the blood off himself, and Loona patched up the wound on his face. Once they were done Loona opened a portal to Hell, she offered Dante the chance to walk through first but he declined.
"You head back Loona I think I'm gonna stay here for a little bit," Dante stated.
"What why do you want to stay here in this shithole?" Loona asked confused, Dante got angry at Loona but stopped and calmed himself.
"I- I just want to be alone for a minute," Dante explained trying to hide his annoyance.
"But why here?" Loona asked still not getting why he wanted to stay here on Earth instead of returning to Hell.
"Because I do alright," Dante replied, realizing she wasn't gonna get an answer Loona shrugged and walked through the portal. Once the portal was closed, Dante dawned his human disguise and removed the bandage from his cheek which was now free of injuries, and headed out of the bathroom back onto the city streets.
Epilogue
Inside a bar,
Dante sat at the bar with a glass of red wine in his hand, he took a long sip and then put the now half-empty glass down on the counter. Dante sighed, the shaking and the jitters had passed but that cold empty feeling was still there, and no amount of fine Italian or French wine could make it go away. The cold Dante felt wasn't from the air, it was a fairly warm day in Rome, this cold came from within from the deepest reaches of his core, like having ice in his heart. Dante had felt this cold once before when he was eleven and had just murdered the man who killed his family. When he killed him, he let out all of his pent-up anger, rage, and sadness, and when he was done his fury subsided Dante felt the cold spread through his body. Shuddering Dante finished the glass, refilled it to near overflowing, and finished it almost immediately then filled it to the rim again.
"Doing alright friend?" startled Dante looked to his right and saw someone sitting next to him. This man had Dark skin and long curly black hair, a thick beard, and eyes that if Dante wasn't mistaken almost looked gold.
"Fuck off," Dante replied taking a sip from his overflowing glass.
"Come on friend, don't be like that what wrong?" he asked undeterred, his voice filled with concern.
"Why the fuck do you care?" Dante asked confused as to why this stranger was prying into his business.
"Mainly because you've been here for five minutes and have already polished off a whole bottle of wine," he replied picking up the empty bottle. Dante rolled his eyes and looked down at the counter, he was tempted to tell the guy to fuck off but, in the end, decided against it, it might have been the alcohol but Dante felt like he could trust this guy.
"Do you ever feel empty?" Dante asked the man.
"What do you mean?" the man asked in return.
"I mean do you ever feel like you have nothing do you ever feel that your existence has no meaning that you have nothing to live for nothing to drive you?" Dante replied, taking a drink from his glass.
"I can't say that I have, do you?" the stranger asked, his voice filled with sympathy.
"Yes, I do sometimes it's all I feel, ever since…," Dante trailed off finishing off his glass and asking for another bottle.
"Ever since what?" the stranger asked, putting a hand on Dante's arm Dante pulled away and thought he saw a large scar on the man's hand.
"Ever since I got revenge," Dante stated, the stranger looked startled.
"Revenge?" he asked confused.
"Yes, you see my family was murdered when I was a child, but I eventually found him and I made him pay," Dante explained his voice filling with anger, the stranger looked stunned understanding the implications of Dante's statement.
"But, ever since then, I have felt… empty I was hoping for revenge, for justice for my family but when I got it, I felt hollow, as if my soul had been ripped from my body," Dante explained gripping his heart which felt like a lump of ice.
"That's because you became obsessed with vengeance," the stranger replied, Dante turned to the stranger sending him a fierce glare.
"Do I not have the right to avenge the ones I love?" Dante asked grip tightening around his glass causing it to shatter.
"You do, this man hurt you and your loved ones, you had every right to seek justice for them, but you let yourself be consumed with a lust for revenge it's all you sought and when you got it you had nothing left you feeling empty," he explained not bothered in the slightest by Dante's anger.
Dante felt his rage boiling over the cold in his heart being replaced with heat, but Dante wasn't mad because what this man said was wrong, he was mad because he knew he was right. All Dante wanted was to get revenge on the man who ruined his life it's all he ever thought about and once Dante killed him and made him suffer for his crimes Dante felt he had lost something. Getting up Dante made to leave the bar, but the man grabbed his arm.
"Got a death wish pal?" Dante asked menacingly, but the stranger was unaffected.
"Listen friend if you want this pain to end if you want the emptiness in your heart to fade you must move on from your lust for revenge and find solace in others your friends, your family," the man explained Dante growled, yanked his arm free, grabbed the wine bottle, and left the bar.
Dante walked through the streets with a bottle of red wine in his right hand, taking a swig Dante wanted to forget the annoying man from the bar so thought back to his murder of Ignazio. The fact that Ignazio looked so much like the man who killed his family just drove him nuts, for years and years Dante had been thinking about him and all the shit he wanted to do to him, and well he got carried away. First Dante beat him, beat him until his face was a swollen pulp, then he gouged out his eyes; he couldn't stand looking at them. Then he ripped off his arms, he remembered the way he screamed in pain, Dante remembered how those screams made him smile. Then Dante tore open his chest, ripped out his heart, and crushed it to a pulp. Dante clutched his head in pain and took a drink from his bottle, but it was empty, and angry Dante tossed the bottle away and then sat down against a wall. There he sat for about twenty minutes, head in his hands tears running down his face until suddenly he heard what sounded like footsteps coming towards him. Looking up Dante saw an older woman; she was an older woman with a swarthy complexion and black hair with streaks of gray.
"Are you alright Tesoro?" she asked him gently, her voice carrying a Semitic accent, an immigrant obviously from Lebanon or Jordan or somewhere in that region.
"Yes, I'm fine signora," Dante replied wiping his eyes.
"You sure about that?" she asked, her voice inquisitive but gentle. Dante wanted to reply that he was but something about her made him want to tell the truth maybe it was her gentle voice, or maybe because there was something familiar about her, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
"Honestly no I'm not alright signora, I- I've been having a horrible day," Dante admitted wiping his eyes on his sleeve.
"What happened Tesoro?" she asked putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I… I was reminded… a bad time in my past, the day I lost my family," Dante explained looking down at the ground. Suddenly the woman reached out and pulled Dante into a hug, normally Dante would have hated being hugged by a stranger but for some reason, he didn't mind this time.
"I know what you've been through," the woman said her voice filled with empathy.
"You- you do?" Dante asked curiously.
"Yes, like you I've lost someone close to me, I know how it hurts, I know the pain of losing someone you love especially when it's before their time," she said empathetically, pulling away she sent Dante a warm smile Dante noticed her eyes were an odd gold color.
"I know the pain can be overwhelming, but you can't let it control your life, you must find peace and move on from this agony to find peace," she explained, sending Dante a look full of compassion and love.
"It's not that easy I can't just forget what happened I can't just move one," Dante replied.
"I know it's not easy and moving on is hard but trust me it will be worth the effort, you don't have to forget what happened nor should you, but you must learn to let go of this pain as it is a shackle that will keep you trapped in that day," the older woman explained.
Dante felt his eyes watering and quickly turned away not wanting this woman to see him cry.
"Thank you for the motivational words signora I-" Dante turned back to the woman and saw she was gone. Stunned Dante looked around but for his life, he could not find her all he found was a small picture of the Virgin Mary sitting where the woman once was.
"Ok weird," Dante muttered to himself. Getting up, Dante was about to pull out his phone and was about to call Loona when he realized there was something else, he needed to do.
A field outside Rome,
Dante sat before an old grave, the tombstone was in the shape of a cross and made of worn marble, and the surface of it was covered in moss obscuring most of the writing on the front. Reaching out, Dante scraped away most of the moss allowing him to see what was written.
Rose Carrare, devoted wife, sister, and friend
Suddenly Dante's phone rang, pulling it out of his pocket he saw it was Loona and answered.
"Hey Loona, what's up," he waited for Loona to respond.
"Yeah yeah, I'm… I'm ready to go," Dante replied telling Loona his location. Hanging up the phone, Dante turned back to the grave, kissed the tips of his index and middle finger, and then touched the grave.
"Addio amore mio," he said sadly just as the portal opened Dante gave one last look at the grave before walking through the portal.
END
Another chapter down thank you all for sticking with me and my story I hope all of you enjoy this chapter, don't be afraid to comment and tell me what you think, thanks again!