[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019e7cbe-43dc-713a-9c31-7e0fc5f6a725.webp[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=9174cb][I]Eve[/I][/color][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=9174cb][b]Death and all her Friends - IX[/b] [i]Volare[/i][/COLOR][/right][/sup][/indent][center][COLOR=dimgray][SUP][sub]_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][/center]

[indent][indent][color=silver]

Medaglia’s had never changed. 

[center][i]Let's fly way up to the clouds, away from the maddening crowds. We can sing in the glow of a star that I know.[/i][/center]

A family owned restaurant in the Italian district of Calder City. They continued to cook with the meat from the Italian butcher two doors down, made their soffrito with vegetables bought from the Italian grocery, and served biscotti baked by the same Italian deli. The same furniture had been giving the same little Italy aesthetic for twenty-five years, at least. The same paintings, the same flags, the same collages of photographs of a homeland none of the family had been to created the authentic heritage vibe that every Italian family in Calder City coveted, and that’s how the money kept turning through it.

[center][color=6b7653]ᵂᵉ'ᵛᵉ ᵃˡʳᵉᵃᵈʸ ᵇᵉᵉⁿ ʰᵉʳᵉ.[/color][/center]

It wasn’t the food; the menu hadn’t changed - still the same dishes, still the same chefs. New waiters tonight. Four new waiters and Eve had never seen them before, all young. Grey outfits. Shaved heads. One of them appeared teary eyed leaving the kitchen with a tray of plates. She watched as they collected glasses and remained in the register of service and yet their very being here had disturbed continuity. This had always been the same restaurant. Always the same table. Always the same seats. In attendance tonight, Silvio Raciti, four captains, a pitbull, and Luca. A circular table lit low with candles as Dean Martin crooned over and over, sometimes forwards, sometimes backwards. 

[center][i]Just like birds of a feather, a rainbow together we'll find.[/i][/center]

And Eve. Head of the table tonight, all eyes and no eyes on her. 

The captains and Silvio disappeared, leaving only Eve and Luca in the darkness; a feast spread across the table. He moved to her side and picked her up by her waist. He held her carefully at her chin like it were a cup and he could drink from her lips. He sat her down at the edge of the table and then pushed the food away and off of it. She’d been here before but not for some time and nor had a desire even been there to go again until now when the heat rose between them. The dishes all fell away but didn’t make a sound of landing. He laid her down on the table in the middle of Medaglia’s and brought his hand between her thighs and she opened to him with a sigh. [i]Your love has given me wings.[/i] Eve turned her face as Luca moved to kiss at her neck. Carravagio’s painting on the wall, the one she’d seen so many times. Judith Beheading Holofernes. It had darkened now and was different; the image of a man with half a face instead and no woman with a blade but a man with a gun and Eve remembered that this wasn’t real, but that the face had been someone once and then everything was different again. The scene reset itself and Eve wondered how many times it had. 

Luca sat once more beside Silvio and the captains either side of her and the food was back and the record continued. Luca refused to look at her now. He didn’t always come to dinner, but when he did, he’d opt for raw meat.

[color=6b7653]ᵂᵃᵏᵉ ᵘᵖ ᴱᵛᵉ[/color]

There was silence at the table, save for the music and the waiters moving in the background. She could focus on little else but them and through the dark, cut in the lines of light she watched them mouthing words at her. 

Silvio then began to choke and clutch his chest and Eve rushed to his side but found herself out of Medaglia’s and back in her own apartment like she had been there the whole time, staring at the fusebox as it smoked, a presence at her side speaking to her but she could find no face. [color=tomato]“This is a Lovecraftian horror beyond all human understanding. I think I just saw a tentacle in there, and it called out to me in ancient languages, heretofore unheard, trying to take me into its thrall…”[/color]

As she tugged at the fusebox the metal gave beneath her hand first and the latch softened to her. The wires inside seemed to pulse against her palms and as she pulled harder on it. Everything began to feel soft and warm in her hand and bundled cables thickened and twisted into corded muscle slick with blood and before she could understand it, both of her hands were deep in Silvio’s chest, her fingers tying up muscle to each screaming muscle like loose ends while everything else inside of him writhed and tore and moved. His ribs were cracked and opened like wings and his face contorted in agony. She did not know how she got here, only that she needed to put him back together again, somehow.

[color=6b7653]ᵂᵃᵏᵉ ᵘᵖ ᴱᵛᵉ[/color]

And then a warmth slipped into the atmosphere and the darkness moved away as another man appeared. There was a steadiness to him that had long been missing from Eve’s life, she realised. Something swelled in her chest as she saw him. His smile curled slowly, like she’d earned it from him by being clever. She felt seven years old all over again. “Playing doctors, sweetheart?” he asked, kneeling beside her. “You’re doing a great job.”

[color=9174cb]“I’m trying to be like you,”[/color] she answered with a smile. It all felt so real, the slight silver to his hair was the same as she remembered it to the strand. [color=9174cb]“But I don’t know what I’m doing,”[/color] she added. She was up to her elbows in Silvio’s gutrope.

“Of course you do,” he replied with a soft laugh – his eyes sparkled with the confidence he was trying to inspire. “You always do.”

[color=9174cb]“But he’s dying,”[/color] she said.

“So you get to decide what happens to him.”

Eve smiled upwards. [color=9174cb]“I do?”[/color]

Before the figure could answer, there was a hand on her shoulder and something in the depths of the dream was beginning to tremble, Awareness becoming aware of itself and growing impatient.

[color=6b7653]ᵂᵃᵏᵉ ᵘᵖ ᴱᵛᵉ[/color]

[color=#6392FF]“[/color][color=#6796FD]W[/color][color=#6C9BFC]e[/color][color=#71A0FB]’[/color][color=#76A5FA]v[/color][color=#7BAAF8]e[/color] [color=#85B4F6]c[/color][color=#8AB9F5]o[/color][color=#8FBEF3]m[/color][color=#94C3F2]e[/color] [color=#9DCDF0]t[/color][color=#A2D2EF]o[/color] [color=#ACDCEC]g[/color][color=#B1E1EB]e[/color][color=#B6E6EA]t[/color] [color=#C0F0E7]y[/color][color=#C5F5E6]o[/color][color=#CAFAE5]u[/color] [color=#D1FCDB]o[/color][color=#D3F9D2]u[/color][color=#D5F7CA]t[/color] [color=#D9F1B8]o[/color][color=#DCEFB0]f[/color] [color=#E0E99E]h[/color][color=#E2E796]e[/color][color=#E4E48D]r[/color][color=#E7E285]e[/color] [color=#EBDC73]M[/color][color=#EDDA6B]i[/color][color=#EFD762]s[/color][color=#F1D459]s[/color] [color=#F6CF48]E[/color][color=#F8CC3F]v[/color][color=#FACA37]e[/color][color=#FCC72E].[/color][color=#FFC526]”[/color] Those four youths, lined up in size order like Von Trapps and the shortest of the bunch could not have been much older than fifteen. [color=#6392FF]“[/color][color=#6695FE]T[/color][color=#6998FD]h[/color][color=#6C9BFC]e[/color][color=#709FFB]s[/color][color=#73A2FA]e[/color] [color=#79A9F9]t[/color][color=#7DACF8]h[/color][color=#80AFF7]r[/color][color=#83B3F6]e[/color][color=#86B6F6]a[/color][color=#8AB9F5]d[/color][color=#8DBCF4]s[/color] [color=#94C3F2]a[/color][color=#97C6F1]r[/color][color=#9ACAF1]e[/color] [color=#A1D0EF]t[/color][color=#A4D4EE]o[/color][color=#A7D7ED]o[/color] [color=#AEDDEC]o[/color][color=#B1E1EB]l[/color][color=#B4E4EA]d[/color] [color=#BBEBE8]a[/color][color=#BEEEE8]n[/color][color=#C1F1E7]d[/color] [color=#C8F8E5]w[/color][color=#CBFBE4]e[/color] [color=#D0FDDE]d[/color][color=#D1FBD8]o[/color][color=#D3F9D2]n[/color][color=#D4F7CC]’[/color][color=#D6F6C7]t[/color] [color=#D9F2BB]w[/color][color=#DAF0B5]a[/color][color=#DCEFB0]n[/color][color=#DDEDAA]t[/color] [color=#E0E99E]y[/color][color=#E1E899]o[/color][color=#E3E693]u[/color] [color=#E6E287]t[/color][color=#E7E182]o[/color] [color=#EADD76]s[/color][color=#ECDB70]l[/color][color=#EDDA6B]i[/color][color=#EFD865]p[/color] [color=#F1D459]t[/color][color=#F3D354]o[/color][color=#F4D14E]o[/color] [color=#F7CD42]f[/color][color=#F9CC3D]a[/color][color=#FACA37]r[/color][color=#FCC831].[/color][color=#FDC62B]”[/color]

[color=9174cb]“You didn’t show me anything,”[/color] Eve said slowly, her eyes scanning each of their faces.

[color=FFC526]“We showed you enough.”[/color] One said, the shortest of them.

[color=#6392FF]“[/color][color=#6C9BFC]W[/color][color=#75A4FA]e[/color][color=#7EADF8]’[/color][color=#87B6F6]l[/color][color=#90BFF3]l[/color] [color=#A2D1EF]b[/color][color=#ABDAED]e[/color] [color=#BDECE8]o[/color][color=#C6F5E6]k[/color][color=#CFFFE4]a[/color][color=#D3FAD4]y[/color] [color=#DBF0B4]M[/color][color=#DFEBA4]i[/color][color=#E3E694]s[/color][color=#E7E284]s[/color] [color=#EFD865]E[/color][color=#F3D355]v[/color][color=#F7CE45]e[/color][color=#FBC935],[/color][color=#FFC525]”[/color] Then in the darkness, a trail appeared that was woven not of blood, but memory. [color=#6392FF]"[/color][color=#6C9BFC]W[/color][color=#75A4FA]e[/color] [color=#87B6F6]g[/color][color=#90BFF3]e[/color][color=#99C8F1]t[/color] [color=#ABDAED]t[/color][color=#B4E3EA]o[/color] [color=#C6F5E6]g[/color][color=#CFFFE4]o[/color] [color=#D7F5C4]h[/color][color=#DBF0B4]o[/color][color=#DFEBA4]m[/color][color=#E3E694]e[/color] [color=#EBDD75]n[/color][color=#EFD865]o[/color][color=#F3D355]w[/color][color=#F7CE45].[/color][color=#FBC935]"[/color] Quiet, glittering breadcrumbs were now lighting the way. Everything else was gone. Even her hands were clean but what remained was no less otherworldly; a glint of aureate shimmer. She looked down the pathway as everything else moved away. [color=#6392FF]"[/color][color=#6C9BFC]J[/color][color=#76A5FA]u[/color][color=#80AFF7]s[/color][color=#8AB9F5]t[/color] [color=#9DCDF0]d[/color][color=#A7D7ED]o[/color][color=#B1E1EB]n[/color][color=#BBEBE8]'[/color][color=#C5F5E6]t[/color] [color=#D3F9D2]l[/color][color=#D7F4C1]o[/color][color=#DCEFB0]o[/color][color=#E0E99E]k[/color] [color=#E9DF7C]b[/color][color=#EDDA6B]a[/color][color=#F1D459]c[/color][color=#F6CF48]k[/color][color=#FACA37].[/color][color=#FFC425]"[/color]

Her heart could not understand such a command. She knew what she was leaving behind here.

[color=9174cb]“You’re sure you’ll be okay?”[/color]

They nodded. [color=#6392FF]“[/color][color=#6796FD]Y[/color][color=#6C9BFC]o[/color][color=#71A0FB]u[/color] [color=#7AA9F9]h[/color][color=#7FAEF7]a[/color][color=#83B3F6]v[/color][color=#88B7F5]e[/color] [color=#91C1F3]m[/color][color=#96C6F2]i[/color][color=#9BCAF0]l[/color][color=#A0CFEF]e[/color][color=#A4D4EE]s[/color] [color=#AEDDEC]t[/color][color=#B2E2EB]o[/color] [color=#BCECE8]g[/color][color=#C0F0E7]o[/color] [color=#CAFAE5]a[/color][color=#CEFEE4]n[/color][color=#D1FCDB]d[/color] [color=#D5F7CB]a[/color] [color=#D9F2BA]m[/color][color=#DBEFB2]o[/color][color=#DDEDAA]u[/color][color=#DFEAA1]n[/color][color=#E1E899]t[/color][color=#E3E591]a[/color][color=#E5E389]i[/color][color=#E8E080]n[/color] [color=#ECDB70]t[/color][color=#EED968]o[/color] [color=#F2D457]c[/color][color=#F4D14F]l[/color][color=#F6CF47]i[/color][color=#F8CC3E]m[/color][color=#FACA36]b[/color][color=#FCC72E].[/color][color=#FEC426]”[/color]

[color=6b7653]ᵂᵃᵏᵉ ᵘᵖ ᴱᵛᵉ[/color]

She fell forward – returning like a swimmer breaking water as the possession let her out of its grasp, voices and images and strange lights drew off into the far distance. She coughed and wheezed, rising up through her spine again – that same puppeteer's string pulling her back upright so that her bones could settle back into her own flesh. She was back to the waking world once more. Every limb was trembling and shaking; the worst of it was the abominable taste in her mouth and the intense feeling that she may never be clean again.

She opened her eyes and saw Silvio in front of her.
[hr]
The evening had become soft at last, and the sun was a streak of gold and waiting as Eve returned to her apartment. She’d ran hard up every step of the building up and away from Silvio; not even closing the passenger side door in her escape. He had not followed. She was slick with the sweat of it, her throat ached and bruises had formed across her hands and surely they were now running down her spine too. There were marks she could not explain and her body was keeping the evidence of what had happened.

There was so much energy in her chest left unexpended. Bright and screaming and squirming and homeless. An anxiety that was pressed to her chest and the two of them were well acquainted already but here it was once again to skip through foreplay and get straight to fucking everything up. It whispered and whispered at her as she placed a hand against her wall-mounted television, feeling the pressure rise and gather under her skin. This sudden storm hadn’t blown in from a strange place. It was in her, it was just her. It was always her. Her arm tightened and her fingers curled behind the frame and the bracket groaned but the wall could only resist for so long until the whole thing came apart with a violence. As she watched the screen shatter against the corner of the coffee table, her breaths came quicker and all of a sudden everything was a target and her vision either darkened or turned red; her future self would surely not remember but the present Eve knew exactly what she wanted to do. She lunged at a shelving unit – all topped with pointless and useless glass knick-knacks and she slammed her forearms down and swept them away and sent them to the floor to shatter. Bright bones rose up and fell; falling and falling. Next she went for the photographs on the wall.

Family photographs, only they were all of her with Silvio. With Ralph and Joey. With Silvio and Ralph and Joey, a picnic photo with Uncle Mikey. They became ripped from the walls and tumbling down. Faces she loved and faces she feared and faces she didn’t see herself in. The rage that called her name had her running headfirst to it. Lastly, she found that damned portrait. Her ballet photo, and she held it until her knuckles blanched white. Her jaw was so tense that it rang blinding pains up into and beyond the fillings in her teeth. Not only did she toss it to the floor, she stamped and stamped on it until the photograph was pulled away from the broken glass and fluttered over and away in the room.

Eve stood then, breathing hard and the apartment was a quiet chaos, but what had been built and bottled inside of her, for the time being, was silent.

[/color][/indent][/indent]