"I’m gonna kill myself," I say flatly. "I’m done with this," I force out, my voice ripping and shaking.
Ennio’s eyes, black as tar, lock on my face.
Then he leans toward me slowly and speaks, each word said with strong emphasis.
"You can rise from anything, Bay, trust me, I know what I’m talking about."
"You don’t understand anything, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me," I spit out through clenched teeth, my body literally fighting against me, my emotions threatening to explode inside my skull.
Ennio rolls his eyes a little, as if my words did not impress him in the slightest.
"You can come back from anything, kid, I promise you that. And I know it firsthand."
For a moment I do not know what to answer, I study his face with intent focus, and Ennio gives a faint nod, as if he is confirming some unspoken assumption hanging between us, and suddenly it hits me.
"You went through something like this?"
"I’d say something worse, but you know what the best way is to pull yourself together after something like that?"
I keep staring at him, his pale face with its beautiful but sharp features tightening slightly.
"You get yourself a goal. You focus on it."
"What kind of goal?"
He leans even closer, I catch the scent of soap, a faint note of green tea, maybe some citrus, and then he says, separating every word.
"To. Kill. All. Of. Them."
He leans back again and lets out a short, sharp laugh with absolutely no trace of genuine amusement before sinking into the seat.
"And then instead of feeling like a victim, you become a slayer. A punisher. You take your strength back and take your fate into your own hands."
In a strange way his words bring me a kind of almost sweet relief. I look at him, he does not radiate the vibe of a broken man, he really radiates the energy of someone who took control of his life and annihilated the people who tried to destroy him.
"You just have to do it smart, so no one ever finds out, so they don’t get on your trail, never connect the dots."
"I’m barely sixteen," I throw out, doubt dripping from my voice, "how am I supposed to pull something like that off without bringing every cop in the area down on me?"
Ennio’s still face does not change, he slowly takes a vape from his pocket, turns it on, and without caring that we are in a closed space, he takes a drag. The blue tip glows against his pale, flawless, and somehow terrifying face.
"I’m not gonna do all your dirty work for you, but maybe I could give you a few pointers," he says, drawing out the words slightly.
He tilts his head as he watches me through a soft ribbon of smoke drifting just above his jaw.
"So? You like that idea?"
"Killing them?" I laugh, bitter and sharp. "I dream of nothing else after what happened today, I want their corpses."
Yes, I say it, something dark has opened wide inside me and it has no intention of closing again, hungry and furious. I clench my teeth, I clench my fists.
Ennio nods, almost approving.
"But you know you’ll owe me if I help you," he says in that calm tone, "and I never forget favors like that."
"I know. If I ever can, I’ll try to pay it back."
Ennio’s fingers twist the vape with a soft, almost delicate motion, but there is a precision to it, some strange intentionality. His black eyes follow the trail of smoke rising toward the ceiling, he seems thoughtful, immersed in some philosophical mood.
