The Trident

The Loss of a Soul

"So, how's it going with Vanessa, boss?" Johnny asked as Donnie ordered them all some beers. The three of them had just gotten to the bar, with Paul's black sports car parked outside. When he heard the question, Leader instantly lowered his head.

"Not good, Johnny." He said as he stared at the empty glass in front of him. He knew right from the start using the house would most likely end his relationship with Vanessa. But what truly did happen, he would have never expected.

"That's too bad. But, you must have seen it coming, no? I mean, I know the house was the perfect place to draw them out, but still, that poor girl." Donnie said as he let out a nervous chuckle.

"She hasn't left the house in a week. She hasn't said a fucking word to me in a week. I don't even know if she's been sleeping. I knew she was gonna take it bad, but I never guessed it would be like this." Donnie could tell Leader was hurt.

"I'm sorry for ya, boss." Donnie stated before chugging his beer. Johnny looked down in surprise; he had just put the glass down in front of Donnie, and it was quite expensive. "Still, ya gotta go have a talk with her. Get into her head, try to motivate her a little." Johnny agreed.

Leader continued to appear deep in thought. He realized he hadn't really even tried to talk to her in person, he had just assumed she didn't want to talk. "Yeah, you're right. You know what, I'm gonna go make things right now. " He got up from his chair and looked at the two bodyguards. Both had rosy cheeks and a red nose. "Do you guys... Need me to call you a car?" Leader asked, holding back laughter.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Johnny said. Leader hadn't realized they had already gone through three beers at this point; he had a very high tolerance for alcohol. Johnny on the other hand, did not.

Leader agreed with whatever Johnny was saying, and then left, calling them both a car anyways. He walked out and entered the black Chevrolet they took from Pauls men, entering and pulling out of the parking lot laughing at the odd decorations around the car.

He returned to his house, and saw the lights off except for one that he had left on before he went to work. He realized she most likely still hadn't gotten out of bed if the light was still on at 2 in the afternoon. He turned off the car and opened the door.

As he walked in, he heard faint sounds coming from upstairs. There was a mess on the floor, which scared him, and he noticed the kitchen light was on. He took off his large black trench coat and left his mask on the bench beside the door. Francesco continued to walk through the mess, calling out her name. He entered the kitchen, and was shocked.

As he walked over to the large marble island in the middle of the kitchen, with the sun glaring into the room, shining into his eyes from the reflection of the glass on the drawers and glass on the table in front of the large windows peering into the backyard. He was still able to clearly see the pictures on the table. There were four. One was the blueprint of her house, which he saw had wet marks on it. The next was a picture of her brother, who had died in a car accident a year earlier, that she never really recovered from. The next was of her mother, who was killed in a bank robbery gone wrong the year before her brother's death. In the next image was a picture of Francesco and her, but Francesco's face had an X over it in a black marker. He was scared, and he continued to call for her. As he walked up the stairs, he felt the same fear Paul did when he entered Leader's office. He traveled up the stairs and saw less of a mess in the home office and spare bedrooms, but he did see the mirror in the first washroom was smashed. Horrified now of what had happened, he ran to the bedroom, where the door was half closed.

Leader entered the room. He heard nothing. He walked down the corridor, passing the closet, then the washroom, and finally reaching the bed. There, he saw what he had been fearing the entire time.