Storm and Sea - Book 1

Chapter 9

TW in the description
Art provided by InkEndz on Instagram!

Alberto POV

Before long, two weeks had passed in Portorosso. And Alberto hadn't had a good night's sleep since the accident. Every night he tried, and every night he was visited by the same nightmare.

Luca captured.

Luca torn by steel nets.

Luca being struck by harpoons until he was a mangled mass of flesh and bone.

Alberto woke up panting and sweating, adrenaline coursing through his body in panic. He spent almost every night outside of Luca's room. He had to. Just to be safe. At first, he slept in the hall, but after one morning, when Giulia had stepped on him, he decided to change locations. Now he spent every night in the Hideout outside of Luca's window. But even then - sleep was hard to reach.

Giulia had taken up Alberto's work at the Pisceria while Alberto healed and tended to Luca. To everyone's relief, Luca was off the crutches, but he still had a visible limp. Alberto noticed that when they swam, Luca avoided using his right leg too much. He hoped that there wasn't permanent damage.

The police patrols around the harbor saw the Mercenary ships on two separate occasions in the two weeks. Luckily the Mercenaries didn't dare approach and disappeared into the horizon. They hadn't been back in five days, but the people remained vigilant. More Sireni were coming from the sea to take refuge in the town. It was becoming crowded, but nobody complained. Everyone just wanted to get through this safely.

"Hey, guys," Giulia said, carrying a giant armful of newspaper.

"Hey," Both Alberto and Luca called in unison from the living room. They were watching TV, which is something they did a lot while Luca healed.

"Hey Al, can you grab this other stack of paper? Papa is going through fish like crazy down there." She said, nodding to another big pile.

"Yeah, sure." He stood, grabbing the papers, and left the house.

Massimo used the papers to wrap fish when he sold them. But lately, they were selling out of fish faster than they could catch them. Half of the town's fishermen were losing their boats. Alberto knew that despite taking losses, Massimo had been quietly handing out free fish to feed struggling families.

"Grazie," Massimo said as a customer paid for her fish and walked away. Alberto set the papers down beside him.

"Are you sure you don't need me down here?" Alberto asked, eyeing the long line to the Pisceria.

"No, no, you are needed at home. Luca needs you right now. Family is most important. " Massimo said, already wrapping another bundle of fish.

Alberto stopped mid-step at his father's words. Did he already consider Luca family? It made sense; both Alberto and Luca had entered Massimo's life at the same time. Giulia caught his eye and coaxed him over.

"What?" Alberto said.

"Papa is too nice to ask, but we do need a little favor." She whispered. "Even the stack we have here won't last. Can you run to the post office and see if they will donate their old papers?" Giulia asked, pointing to the dwindling pile of newspaper. "If I go, Papa will get swamped over here."

"Sure, no problem. I'll be back in a few." Alberto said, waving and leaving through the Pisceria doors. The bell dinged as he walked out.

The old post office was more than happy to donate their outdated papers when Alberto asked.