The Art of a Monster

Prologue

Stefano looked at his new piece and sighed. It was flawless, but it wasn't perfect. He felt no inspiration for the past couple weeks. Stefano never found it so hard to think of new artistic ideas before. He picked it up and walked to the other end of his house to hang it up.

"Hello?" A voice shouted from the front door. Stefano was quiet hoping that they would go away.

"Mr. Valentini, I know you're home. Open the door." The voice said. Stefano rolled his eyes as he hung the picture and grabbed his knife. He reached the door and looked through the hole. There was a man with a briefcase and two other men that appeared to be bodyguards. Stefano reluctantly put away his knife before he opened the door.

"What do you want? I'm a little busy right now." Stefano said as calmly as possible.

"Well, I would like to come in for a start." The man replied. Stefano looked at the bodyguards for a second before letting the man in. The man set his case down before looking around.

"You have a very nice home Mr. Valentini." He said before looking at Stefano.

"Why are you here?" Stefano asked as the man started to open his briefcase.

"I'm here to talk to you about a place we call Union." The man said as he gave Stefano a small paper. Stefano grabbed it and studied the pictures.

"How would you like to be in a world where you, as an artist, can shape it?" The man said. Stefano looked up from the paper in curiosity yet doubt. A place like Union seems almost impossible and fake, but astounding at the same time. This could be his chance.

"I'm listening." Stefano said as he gave the paper back.

"The company I work for is doing a simulation where your mind is in another world like this one, except it lasts forever. What we need is an artist to shape its appearance. Are you interested?" He asked. Stefano looked at the briefcase for a second before he looked back at the man. There wasn't much information to go on, but it was enough.

"How do I get in?" Stefano asked as the man sat down.

"We have a form that needs to be filed out. We have taken care of most of it. We only need you to answer a few questions to get you accepted. Just a few." The man said as he took out a pen. Stefano sat down across from him and waited patiently for the first question.

"First and last name?" The man said as he clicked his pen.

"Stefano Valentini." Stefano answered.

"Age, date and location of birth?" The man asked before Stefano took a deep breath.

"Thirty-two, December/22/1985, Florence Italy." Stefano replied blankly. The man was silent for a bit as he scribbled across the paper.

"We already know about your occupation, so we're just gonna go to the last question.                          Do you have any nearby family or friends? Anyone you are close to?" He asked. Stefano was quiet as he tried to hide his emotions.

"No. Not anymore." Stefano replied. The man finished filling the form before standing up.

"We'll send a car to pick you up tomorrow at five after this information is downloaded into our computer." He said as he walked towards the door. He stopped as his hand rested on the doorknob.

"I noticed the picture on the wall in your room. What happened to her?" He asked as he looked back at Stefano. Stefano took a shaky breath as he covered his right eye to hide his tears.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Stefano said as calmly as possible. The man was quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry Mr. Valentini. I truly am." He said before he left. Stefano sighed as he removed his hand. It was covered in blood. He grabbed a white cloth and wiped the blood off before throwing it to the side.

"Dam you Stefano." He said under his breath as he gripped his hair tightly. He wished that he could turn back time. There was so much that he wanted to do and create while she was still around. So much that he wanted to change.