Chapter 256: They Want Us Out Of Their Way
Chapter 256: They Want Us Out Of Their Way
Camilla
So much had happened that I was simply unaware about and knowing that all of this was out of my control had my throat tightening. It was making me feel like I did back at The Safe and it made me want to run.
"No prints were found on the film and neither was any stereotypical stalker writing that could be used to easily distinguish who sent it." Domenico stepped in, walking into my view to go beside his brother Gregorio.
This was why they had kept so many secrets from me over a year ago because whether I wanted to see it or not, the world they lived in was composed of every vile dark thing I could imagine. I still had the right to know but their concerns were placed in the right spots nonetheless. Seeing these images made me want to cave to the panic clawing at me from the inside out but I wouldn't. The truth is all I ever asked for and I was getting it now. The good, the ugly and everything in between.
"Remember that Ofomata person we were telling you about?" Domenico asked, pinning me with his observant gaze in a way that was almost comforting.
He waited a few seconds after I nodded as though he were trying to figure out the words to soften the blow but I think we both knew there was no way of doing that right now. Ofomata was the man or woman that wanted me and had to have been powerful to manage something like this.
"We don't know who it is or what their reasons are but they like you, Camilla." He said, something burning in his gaze like the mere thoughts of someone else wanting me to kill him.
"When we went to the location the twins sent us to take care of the man in the first picture, he was alive but someone had gotten to him first."
My eyes widened at that as Adriano stepped closer to me, his body stiff and waiting as a pause of silence passed over us.
"What makes you say that?" I dared to ask, my throat going dry.
I jumped at Adriano's touch against my arms, both of his hands smoothing down my skin and then back up, the coolness is his rings brushing along as he went. He was trying to offer me comfort and something told me that I should take it as Domenico began to speak again.
"We weren't the ones who castrated him." He said, his tone laced with acid.
"We would have but he has already screaming when we found him. Everything else was left untouched apart from that and the letter O that was carved into his forehead."
My hand reached out against my will as I gripped onto Adriano's arm at this information, his hands shifting to wrap around me in case I passed out. I wanted to push him away, to tell him I was fine and that I wasn't startled by a few pictures but that would all be a lie. I didn't know how I was supposed to handle this information and it felt like the wind would be strong enough to knock me over at this moment.
"Why would they do that?" I shuddered, forcing my voice to be steady despite the fear that threatened to invade it.
"If this Ofomata wanted me so badly, then why would they kill the very person they hired before I could even be taken?"
Strategically, it wouldn't make sense to do something like that and this person had to be at least somewhat smart ro be able to get into the property unnoticed. I shivered as Adriano wrapped his arms tighter around me, my eyes moving over to the same window that picture would have been taken from. It has been getting dark last night but they would have been right where I was looking now. If all of our attention had not been on each other, we could have seen them.
"Because," Gregorio started, running a hand through his hair and following my sight towards the window.
"Whoever wants you isn't doing this for business or revenge." He paused as our eyes came back together, meeting as one in both understanding and uncertainty.
"They want you for themselves and the polaroid, it at least tells us one clue about the person who wielded the camera."
"And what is that?" I asked, terrified of knowing the answer.
It is Domenico who speaks this time in response and the second the words left his mouth, a part of my question falls into places, a part that I didn't like to think about at all. A part I don't even want to consider.
"We were in their way of getting to you which means they want us out of the way."
Suddenly the chosen damage of the polaroid made sense. Ofomata wanted them out of the picture just like the burn marks that had been carved into the film. I had almost no time to shove away from Adriano before I was running, barely managing to make it to their bathroom before the content of what I had eaten last night came up.
"Shit," I heard someone curse in the background before two hands were tugging carefully at my hair, pulling it back for me as my hands gripped the edge of the toilet seat.
For once, I accepted their help gratefully as my body heaved, my skin growing hot from both embarrassment and nausea. After a few seconds, I was able to realize it was Domenico who had made it to me quickest, the other two at the door but still giving me privacy until I was able to slump back against the wall, wiping my mouth with a folded piece of toilet paper.
"Sorry," I groaned as I tossed it in before the sound of the flush went off, bringing my knees up to my chest like it would hide me.
I thought getting out of The Safe would have been able to grant me even the slightest bit of reprieve from my constant anxiety but I was now coming to terms with the fact that I was solely wrong. My eyes fluttered close as the back of Domenico's hand pressed gently against my forehead, only pulling away once he was sure I wasn't about to hurl again.
"No apology necessary, Camilla." He whispered under his breath, dropping out of his crotch so he could take a seat beside me, moving into the exact same position as I was.
I knew because I felt his arm brush against mine, the heat of his body warming me despite how cold I suddenly became.
"This feeling okay?" He asked in the same quiet tone as my eyes open slowly, seeing that he was looking down at where Adriano's bullet had gotten me just about a week ago.
The stitches were completely out now but it didn't stop me from shivering as Domenico's finger brushed ever so careful against my skin, the touch almost apologetic and concerned.
"It is healing," I responded, my eyes not averting from him yet traveling to the red spots that were now blooming across the left side of his face.
I was to blame for that. I had managed to get him good during my anger earlier in the kitchen and while I felt a little bad right now, I still held very little regret for my actions overall.
"I am so sorry for snapping you." I tried anyway, wanting to offer him a small smile even though all I could think about was the polaroid that was responsible for my sickness in the first place.
"No, you are not." He said as a smirk tugs in his lips, an expression that told me he wasn't mad yet could see through my bullshit all the same. It caused me to smile genuinely in return, my chest lightening enough that the tension in my muscles dissolved to the point of partial relaxation.
I was here now and that was a fact I found comfort in. Whoever Ofomata was, they couldn't get to any of us right now. As if Domenico knew where my thoughts went, the playfulness of his grin dropped back into the same reserved seriousness from before. It was then I realized that Adriano and Gregorio must have left at some point, leaving us to ourselves despite our conversation as a group being long from over.
I hadn't forgotten about Jacob in the midst of all of this chaos and I knew I needed to get back to the apartment sooner rather than later before someone started worrying about my whereabouts.
"Come," Domenico said as he offered his hand to me, standing up from the ground and waiting to see if I would accept his help.
"There are a few options we have been considering in relation to everything and we want to talk to you about it whenever you are ready, of course." He said, clearly still worried I was about to throw up again or pass out.
Once I was sure I wasn't going to do it either, I reached out and tried not to think about the feeling of warmth that spread through me as his one large hand engulfed mine.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
