AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There is no ransom. I...” I nearly added that I’d told her before there wasn’t one, but caught myself in time. “I was paid to find and liberate you, I’ve done both. My work is done.”
“How do I get home?” she asked, her voice lowered to a near whisper.
“You don’t want to go home, remember?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t have a fucking choice, do I? I can’t be left here. I don’t even know where I am.”
“The little princess really didn’t have a plan, did she?”
She frowned at me and shook her head gently. “I don’t know what I’ve done to you, personally, but I’m sorry that you dislike me.”
I took a step towards her. “You aren’t much different to your father, Revenge. You step on people in your quest to climb to the top. You’re rude, ruthless even. You don’t care who you hurt.”
“You don’t know me at all,” she said, squaring her shoulders.
It was time to give Revenge some facts. “When you were in school, do you remember Diana? The geeky girl that loved maths? You tormented her, locked her in a bathroom, and kissed her boyfriend even though you didn’t want him. Remember bullying her? She slit her wrists. Or, how about Georgio? When you were in college you wanted to lose your virginity. You teased him, tempted him, and when he took your virginity, you told everyone he had assaulted you. He’s dead. Or how about the time—”
“Stop! What are you doing?”
“I’m letting you see, Revenge, that for all your poor choices, for all your jealousy of others because you had a poor childhood, there are repercussions. There are consequences. You have a choice. You’re at a point in your life where you can change or you can carry on using people and becoming more bitter and miserable.”
“Diana killed herself?” she asked after a moment of silence while my words sunk in.
“Yes. Her mother found her. Not only did you cause the death of Diana but her mother who died of a broken heart not long after. Death and destruction follows you, and you don’t even see it, do you?”
For the first time, I saw the real Revenge. The one that had been abused by her father because of her mother’s actions.
I saw the Revenge that was desperate for love but had no idea how to get it.
I saw the Revenge that had no idea how her actions had affected others.
“I loved you once, you spurned me. That’s okay, I was older than you and I didn’t expect any different. Not every woman falls at my feet.” I chuckled at the thought. “But you didn’t leave it there. You spent years laughing at me. I was the poor kid whose parents were dead. I was the one that you’d throw a jumper at in the middle of winter when I was cold. That jumper fell to the floor and you laughed as I bent down to pick it up, grateful for the meagre offering.”
I slowly pulled the hood over my head and watched as her eyes widened.
“Angelo?” she asked, quietly.
“Yes, Angelo. I didn’t want to take on the job your father offered, and it will be up to you if you tell him who he actually contracted. I ask you not to, of course. I’m banking, Revenge, that this experience might make you look at your life. I’m hoping that the ugliness in your heart starts to fade. Your mother was a wonderful woman, according to my father. Perhaps you need to remember her kindness and compassion. You’re an adult, you can leave, but you don’t because the money is more important than your freedom.”
I turned and opened the rear door. She took a few paces and slid back into the car. I shut the door and climbed behind the steering wheel.
“Can you take me home?” she asked.
“I can.”
I drove the rest of the way in silence. Occasionally, I’d glance at her in the rear view mirror. Mostly she cried quietly while keeping her attention on the outside.
“Thank you, Angelo. I promise you, I didn’t know about Diana. I didn’t know about Georgio.” She sighed deeply. “Can I get out here?” We had come close to the local cemetery. “I need some time before I confront my father.”
I pulled the vehicle to a halt and said nothing as she opened the door and left the car. She paused just the once before she walked through the gates of the cemetery.
She looked over her shoulder. “I was wrong. So very wrong, especially about you, Angelo. I never believed I was good enough, I never believed anyone could love me, want me… I was wrong.”
With that she walked away. I sat for a moment and reflected. I hoped I hadn’t just witnessed Revenge the actress. I prayed that the experience had given her something to think about.
Now it was time to work on myself. To lose the hatred I’d harboured for her and her family. It was done; I had spent way too many years thinking about revenge. I laughed.
Revenge. A name so apt.
