Simone Valentino

~~~9~~~

"We're here." Val shook me awake, I quickly opened my eyes and looked towards his own.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." I said while yawning and stretching my arms out.

"Don't worry about it, I bet it's been a long day for you." Val's gaze lingered on my face then quickly shifted to the window, his eyes narrowed and mouth became tight. I questioned the sudden change in character and looked outside. A large, appointed house stood in the distance. Its beautiful stone walls were something I could gaze upon for hours. The beautiful oak doors can be seen for miles, carved in the Latin phrase Aut cum scuto aut in scuto.
"Either with shield or on shield." I whispered to myself.

"Very good." Val whispered to me. I felt it tingle in my ear but shook off the feeling.

I looked back at him in confusion.

"What does it mean?"

His eyes drifted to his hands which lay on the steering wheel, I had never seen a man so sorrowful.
"In Sparta," he paused for a breath, "mothers would tell their war-bread children to either come back carrying their shield or be carried on it."

He looked at me with saddened eyes.

"Shields were used to carry the victims of war." My eyes widened as he leaned his head up against the headrest, looking at the ceiling of the car.
"Don't surrender, never give up." He said, as if he were telling himself those very words.

I heard a creak in the front door and quickly faced the direction of the sound to see what was going on. Val pulled on the back of my dress and I slammed into his chest. His fist- full of fabric- was strong, I didn't dare try to escape from his grip.
"Don't speak unless spoken to." he whispered to me, his voice sending a shudder through my body.

He released his fist and I quickly leaned against the side of the car. I didn't dare look at him and chose to keep facing the open door. I watched as two young men dressed to the nines walked out of the open door, both laughing, one with a drink in their hand, the other a cigar. At first they didn't notice Val's car parked right in front of the house but once one pointed towards the vehicle, they were both on their way to say hello.
"Buonasera fratello!" yelled the one with the bottle.

As he got closer I could see his hair was jet black and curly. He was shorter than the other, but not by much. He wore a black and white tux with a black bowtie wrapped around his neck. He held his hands up to the air as he smiled a large smile that I felt was similar to Val's.

"Stay here." Val said sternly and exited the car.

"Giovanni!" I heard Val cry, "Come stai?!" I watched Val's silhouette raise his arms up in front of him.

The curly-haired stranger quickly walked over and took in Val's embrace. I couldn't understand what they were saying, I could only assume they were speaking in Italian. I watched as Val laughed and smiled at the man's comments. Every now and again pointing to the car, but not directly at me. I turned my attention to the other man who walked out of the large oak wood door. He puffed his cigar alone, not paying mind to Val and his friend. I watched him blow out clouds of smoke that dissipated as they travelled further into the air. He turned to face me, our eyes meeting. I quickly pulled away from his sharp gaze and turned to face the road in front of me.

"You can do this," I whispered to myself. "You can do this."

"Do what?" I gasped and quickly looked to the window, taken aback to see the smoker I met eyes with only moments before.

"You scared me." I said, giving him an accidental glare.

The man's expression did not change. His grey eyes, though the same shade of grey as Val's, gave off a completely different aura. I felt this man wanted to kill me.