The Art of a Monster

CH. 17June/19/2009

"Valeria. Valeria?" Stefano said before he looked at his phone. He ran out the door into the busy street towards Valeria's house. He bumped into other people but didn't stop to apologize. It wasn't like he was going to see them again. Valeria however, he needed her. Seeing her was just as important as water to him. Stefano eventually reached her house. He was in shock. Her house was on fire. He knew Valeria was in there. He wasn't going to wait for help to come. He tried to open her door. It was locked. He managed to kick the door in before running into the cloud of smoke coughing. He felt a sharp pain in his knee with every step. But it didn't stop him.

"Valeria!" Stefano called out as he entered her art room. Valeria could hear his voice, but she couldn't see him.

"Stefano!" She yelled hoping that he could hear her. She wandered around blindly through the smoke.

"Stefano!" She yelled again before the thick smoke and hot flames started to become too much. She fell onto the floor coughing. She was scared. Scared that she and Stefano would die in her disintegrating house.

"Valeria!" Stefano yelled hoping that Valeria would reply again. She was silent. He feared the worst as he desperately looked for her.

"Valeria!" He yelled again. He then heard Valeria call his name faintly. He looked and saw her on the ground outside her room. He immediately ran towards her as he coughed uncontrollably.

"I got you Valeria. Just hold on." He said as he picked her up and started running down the long hallway. They made it out of the house before the roof started to collapse. Stefano felt a sudden weakness and fell onto his knees. He was getting dizzy as he subconsciously dropped Valeria before passing out onto the sidewalk. Valeria was safe. That's all that mattered to him.

Stefano opened his eyes to see a nurse. He realized he was in the hospital. He looked around but didn't see Valeria. He immediately sat up and started to get out of the bed.

"Sir you need to relax. You and Ms. Leone inhaled a lot of smoke." The nurse said as she gently pushed him back onto the bed.

"Valeria, is she ok?" Stefano asked. The nurse nodded her head.

"She will be leaving soon. Her ex is taking her to his place till she finds a place to move in." The nurse finished before she left. The thought of Valeria being forced to live with her abusive ex scared him. He quickly got out of the bed and opened the door.

"Sir, you need to rest. You can't leave yet." The nurse said as Stefano ran out of his room. He saw Jack practically dragging Valeria towards the door. She turned around and saw Stefano. She was scared. Jack then pulled her back to his side as Stefano ran after them. He wasn't going to let Jack take away Valeria. He ran past the desk before he was being held back by several doctors. Valeria looked back at him again. Stefano fought even harder to get to her as he watched Jack take away the woman he loves. The one that keeps the monster in him at bay.