Page 38 of Inescapable Ties
“I’ll get you lots of views. Watch.”
Without waiting for a response, Martina took a determined stride to the middle of the cavernous room, neck craning upwards as she surveyed the stairwell that stretched high above us. I watched her, my grip tightening around the video camera.
She took a deep breath and sang towards the high ceiling. Her voice echoed around the stairway and began to fill every crevice. Martina’s voice was flawless, and it sounded as if an angel were serenading us.
I loved my little sister, but I couldn’t deny that I was sometimes jealous of her. It must be nice to be as perfect as she was.
“Ta-da!” she said. “Tons of views, right?”
She was right. That would probably go viral on my TikTok account.
“Yeah, yeah. Congratulations on being the first face posted to my social media.”
“I accept payment in cash or Bitcoin.”
“Bitcoin?” I asked. “Wait, I never said anything about paying you!”
“I’m just kidding.” She lightly pushed on my shoulder as we ascended the first flight of stairs.
“So what’s it like being married to,” she paused, and almost lowered her voice to a whisper. “The Butcher.”
I almost laughed. The world wasn’t privy to Emilio’s true personality. Obnoxious, funny, and thoughtful. And, as I had started to figure out, kind. They only saw a small sliver - the menacing look on his face and blood splatters on his shirt.
“I followed him after Valentina Alto’s funeral,” she admitted. “Dad looked like he was going to shit himself when he confronted him.”
“Well, he’s in the Mafia. He knows how to be scary.”
“Yeah,” she paused for a few moments, and I thought she was going to drop the subject of my marriage. “He doesn’t like, throw you around or force you to have sex, right?”
I almost choked on my spit. How could she have the audacity to even consider asking such a thing? My mind raced, desperately searching for a way to respond without losing my composure.
Also, Short Dino was walking three feet behind us. He could clearly hear every word of our conversation. I didn’t want to mention anything about our nonexistent sex life in front of him.
“That’s not exactly something you should ask someone,” I said.
Martina stopped in her tracks, her face panicked. “You didn’t say no. Does that mean-”
“No! Jesus, Martina. Look,” I said. “Emilio is fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Ok,” she said hesitantly.
Martina’s lips parted as if she was about to speak, but her words were cut short by a sudden scream. Her eyes widened in terror as they landed on a small spider on the railing near her hand.
Laughing, I reached over to the railing and brushed the spider away. It scurried into the darkness, disappearing between the old bricks. I was also grateful that the distraction had shifted the conversation away from Emilio.
“It’s just a spider,” I said.
“You know I hate them!”
We exited on the first floor of the apartment building. What I saw made me feel like someone punched me in the lungs. It was the same symbol I had seen in my previous exploration. The circle with a V cut out in the upper left-hand corner, with the two dots on the bottom right.
Only this time, it was everywhere. The person had painted multiple on the floor, walls, and even some on the ceiling.
“What the fuck?” Short Dino said. It was a rare moment when there was any sort of emotion in his voice.
“Yeah, I’m not sure if I like this,” Alessio said. “I think we should head out.”
“It’s fine,” I interjected. “Probably was just a junkie on a trip.”
