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Giovanni
PLAYLIST: ? WHEN IT’S COLD I’D LIKE TO DIE - MOBY & MIMI GOESE ?
A month ago in Portofino…
The blast isunlike anything I’ve felt before. It’s like the entire earth is spinning in a torrent of blazing fire. I’m yanked off my feet and sent flying backwards. My body whips through the air among the wreckage. Parts of the yacht have been blown into pieces and spin upward alongside me. I don’t realize I’m screaming until I hit the water and choke on a mouthful.
The only sound is my rapidly beating heart.
Thump, thump, thump.
Painful in my ears, threatening to bust an eardrum. My body is burning. The smack into the water was like breaking through glass. Now the shards are stuck into my skin. Head to toe, they’ve pierced me and left me in agonizing, prickling pain. As I sink deeper beneath the surface, the light above is a distorted blur. I can’t let myself go down any farther, so I kick my legs and stroke my arms.
I don’t know how long I’m flailing toward the light, but eventually I break the surface. The first gulp of air hurts my lungs. All at once, sound returns, swooping in on full blast. Flames crackle and water swishes. Distant, screaming voices fill the afternoon air.
Every part of me still burns. Even moving my limbs feels like a daunting task. I don’t know where the injuries begin or end, but I know I’m fucked up. I can sense it in how my body moves, how disjointed my limbs feel. That doesn’t stop me from trying. I put up a damn good fight, swimming against the current.
I swallow down copius amounts of water. Mouthfuls as I push back against the waves. The salty taste churns in my stomach and ushers in nausea, but I don’t let that stop me either. Warm blood trickles down the side of my face before it’s washed away by more water. I know because I taste that too—the disgusting, metallic taste on my tongue.
The current only seems to grow stronger. No matter how hard I stroke my arms, the farther I seem to drift. The burning wreckage grows smaller and land shrinks away. Everything feels like it’s still spinning and the sunlight is too blinding. Or maybe I’m too fucked up to save myself.
My limbs ache and muscles go raw. Pathetic when I’m normally a powerful man capable of bashing faces in. I should have enough strength to make it to shore.
I’m fighting a losing battle against the tide. My body goes out and gives up. More salty water splashes down my throat and I sputter trying to suck in more air. For the first time, I notice the water around me is tinged red. I’m bleeding more than I thought. From where I don’t know.
The tide pulls me under. I sink beneath the surface and all sound goes away again. Only now my vision’s going along with it. My lids start to lower as my mind grows murkier. There’s no more sense to my thoughts. It’s a random stream of everything from the bastards who did this to what injuries I’ve sustained.
But Falynn floats to the front. Her beautiful face and melodic laugh. Maybe her tears once she finds out what’s happened. I didn’t get to ask her to marry me. I didn’t even get a fucking goodbye.
The last thing on my mind as I slip away…
I wake from a sleep that feels like death. Heavy shadows surround me. Deafening silence presses down on me. When I go to move my body, nothing happens. I lay still, forced to stare into the dark abyss.
Don’t close your eyes.
Drowsiness settles in, trying to claim me again. Put me under. Take me away to the dreamless, lifeless sleep I’ve been in for…however long.
I put every ounce of focus on keeping my eyes open. Staying awake. Keeping my brain active.
But it’s difficult when nothing but shadows surround you.
I can feel myself slipping. My lids lowering. My mind powering off.
No!
A strange grunt sound emits into the stark silence. It takes another second before it dawns on me it’s my own. Some desperate, strangled, primitive grunt from my chest as I fight to hold on.
Where am I? What the hell’s happened?
When I strain my memory for more, I draw blanks. My brain’s too jumbled to make sense of anything. I can barely recognize I’m awake, and I need to stay that way.
Out of a dark corner, a figure looms closer. Their form is indistinct and warped, a willowy shadow that almost blends into the background. They drift closer as a sudden coldness in the room freezes my lungs.
I open my mouth and attempt to make the same grunting noise.
No sound comes out.
The figure hangs over me now, a dark shadow descending on me.
