A Promessa

Frenesia

Sharks and blood don't mix.

—*—

When he moved into Bianca's home shortly after their marriage, Alessio was admittedly mesmerized by her small rose garden. Said flowers were a pale pink matching Bianca's shawl, creating a lovely sight whenever his wife was outside tending to her plants. He'd join her occasionally and found himself learning the basics of gardening. It proved useful when he began tending to the garden by himself during Bianca's first pregnancy. Once she passed away, it became his hobby to keep Bianca's beloved flowers healthy and 'happy'. She would have wanted that.

In a way, it made him feel closer to her. Sometimes he'd turn around, half-expecting to see his wife next to him, humming a lively tune as she placed banana peels on the roots to act as fertilizer. Instead, he saw Pietro spreading out said banana peels and Giulia plucking ugly petals from the flowers.

The sight still made him smile a bit.

"Be careful with the thorns, bambina." he reminded her as he resumed his task of deadheading his bush.

"Why do we place banana peels, papa?" Pietro inquired curiously.

"The flowers need to eat, figlio. That's what fertilizer is for."

"Banana peels are fertilizer?"

"Sort of. They got lots of nutrients that roses like."

"Where did you get that many banana peels, anyway?"

Alessio chuckled. "Well, let's say one of my colleagues has so many that he didn't know what to do with them."

It's an understatement, really. Stu's uncle passed away and left him a lifetime supply of bananas. He still hadn't figured out what he'd do with all that fruit, but he did gladly hand some over to Alessio every now and then to use as fertilizer.

A low, almost inaudible gasp caught his attention—others might have dismissed it as a figment of their imagination, but Alessio knew well the few sounds his daughter could make. The faint but familiar scent of blood confirmed his suspicions.

"Are you okay, Giulia?"

Giulia was clutching her finger as she approached him. A tiny drop of blood was seeping out of a barely noticeable wound.

Alessio warily turned towards Pietro. His son was looking at Giulia with a seemingly blank expression, but he knew what was going on. He had gone through that many times himself.

The consigliere put himself between his two children in anticipation of what was going to happen.

"Giulia, get inside the house. Now!"

It happened too fast. Pietro lunged forward with bared teeth just as Giulia ran into the house. Alessio caught him in his arms and pulled him against his chest. Pietro savagely flailed and tried to squirm his way out of his father's hold; at some point, he bit Alessio's shoulder and arm a few times in an attempt to get him to loosen his grip, but to no avail.

Alessio winced a bit at the sensation of his son's teeth digging into him. Thankfully, Pietro was just a pup, and his teeth were not strong enough to cause significant damage yet. But it still drew some blood, which further agitated the young shark.

"Pietro!" Alessio growled, grabbing a nearby rag to gag the pup and stop him from using his teeth. "Get a hold of yourself, figlio! Calm down!"

After half an hour of trashing and muffled snarling, Pietro's movements began to cease as the frenzy came to an abrupt end. The pup blinked a few times, taking in his surroundings.

"Pietro?" Alessio warily removed the rag from his son's mouth.

"Papa...?" Pietro rubbed his head. "What happened...? Where did Giulia go?"

"She pricked her finger with a thorn, and you went into a frenzy, figlio."

"Frenzy?"

Sighing, Alessio let go of Pietro and had him sit on his lap. "It's a thing our kind has to deal with, Pietro. We're sharks, and as such, we're very sensitive to the smell of blood. It awakens our predatory instincts, and we... lose ourselves to some extent. We stop reasoning and attack everything in sight."

"Why didn't you go into a frenzy, then?" Pietro inquired, to which his father chuckled.

"I've had years to learn how to handle it, figlio. It takes a long time, blood, and sweat, but it is possible to use your frenzy to your advantage, such as tracking down an injured foe. In my case, you'd need more than a little drop of blood to send me into a frenzied state."

Pietro's eyes widened. "Did I...? I didn't hurt Giulia, did I?" he whispered, arms wrapping around himself.

"Don't worry, she's okay. She's probably just a little frightened, that's all." Alessio got to his feet. "Well, we better go check on her, just to be sure."

As they arrived at the nursery door, Alessio told his son to let him talk to Giulia first, just in case. He knocked on the door and warily stepped inside.

"Giulia?" His daughter peeked from under the bed. Once she saw it was him, she crawled out and ran straight into his arms. "There, there. Everything's okay, bambina." Alessio reassured her as he sat on the edge of the bed. He realized Giulia was staring at the door, hands gripping his shirt. "You're still scared, aren't you?"

Giulia nodded. Alessio sighed.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, bambina. Pietro didn't mean to scare you. He just went into his first frenzy, and he didn't know what he was doing." He smiled and lifted his daughter's chin. "You know your brother would never hurt you, don't you? Is it okay if he comes in? He's worried about you."

Giulia's delay in replying with a very slight nod let him know she was still somewhat frightened. Alessio pulled her closer and told Pietro he could come inside. Giulia stiffened a bit as he poked his head from the doorway.

"Hey, Giulia..." he started, taking some tentative steps forward. "Are you okay...? Papa said I gave you a fright... Sorry about that, I didn't mean to... Well, do that. I had no control over it, it's shark stuff and all that..." Alessio looked down at Giulia. She was starting to relax, and her grip on his shirt loosened a little. "Can you forgive me?"

A tense moment of silence later, Giulia got off her father's lap and went to hug her brother, smiling. Pietro gladly returned the gesture. They were soon joined in by their father, who likewise smiled at the sight.

"Well, now that everything's settled, how about we go get some ice cream?"