"Never let your enemies win, not even the ones inside your own head. Move forward, even if every step is brutal, still push. Then one back to regroup, then another, until eventually it gets lighter, until it settles into your bloodstream. Continue, no matter what kind of shit life throws at you."
I don’t comment on his words because there’s truth in them, and it’s hard not to agree that it’s probably the best strategy anyone can take, the only question is whether I have enough strength to deal with everything life has thrown at me.
I’m not a mafioso, I don’t have that soldier-like mindset Ennio carries so naturally, but… who knows. Maybe I could start building something like it in myself?
We slow down as we drive onto a side dirt road, deeper into the forest.
"What is this place?" I murmur.
"State forests," Ennio replies shortly.
I don’t ask anything else because there’s no point. Tension rises inside me.
We drive for a long stretch along the uneven track, with swampy terrain around us and huge puddles across the path.
The SUV rocks heavily, dusk already settling between the trees.
Finally, Ennio turns once more, this time driving across a completely raw, earthy, wooded area that barely qualifies as a road, and eventually we stop in what looks like a small clearing.
There’s an old shed standing there.
With calm movements, Ennio takes out a gun and then gets out of the car, so I follow him with nervous steps.
He unlocks the door and we step inside the shed.
I hear something muffled.
There’s a closed wooden crate against the wall.
My heart pounds in my chest as Ennio opens it with another key.
A choked sound reaches me, the kind someone furious might make if their mouth were gagged.
It’s Matt Hanson, tied up like the pig he is.
A feeling spreads through my whole body, like I just drank suffocatingly sweet liquor.
"Take the gag off his mouth," I say, feeling something cold as liquid nitrogen settle inside me, something free of fear, because I remember the events from Halloween far too well.
Ennio removes the gag from Matt’s mouth.
"You bastard!" Matt bursts out. "You have no idea what you’ve done, my whole family will come after you, and there are plenty of us!" he screams.
"What I plan to do is wipe out every member of your family who even slightly threatens me," I throw back, not recognizing my own voice, but there’s something new in it, something that matured over the past year since my childhood ended. The old Bay is gone, and staring at Matt, I feel something new crystallizing inside me.
"But you know… I’ll be more fair than you were," I say slowly.
"I’ll free you now. We’ll fight. The better one wins."
Ennio looks at me with slightly raised eyebrows.
"Are you sure, Bay? You don’t have developed glands yet, you don’t have the source to pull extra strength from," he says matter-of-factly.
I snort.
"My strength doesn’t come from that shit," I gesture to my neck, "I have… you could say another source," I answer coldly.
What’s astonishing is that Ennio doesn’t try to argue or convince me otherwise. He simply takes out his gun and stands by the wall with an indifferent expression.
