Animalistic Desires

AHaCaS Part 26

(I do not own any of the images in these stories.)
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"Vincent Salvatore!" Gabriel exclaimed. "May father's original right hand man? The same man that mentored Anton? I thought you were dead!"

"No." The old man replied. "That's just what you Father told everyone. He didn't want anyone to know the truth."

"What truth?" Gabriel asked feeling extremely confused. "I don't understand."

"The truth of my ultimate betrayal." The old man replied. "In his eyes I did much worse than embezzle $10 million from him. That alone would have been humiliating for him, if that had become well known. After all I was his right hand man.  But I left his organization. I had sworn an oath on my life, to him, and to the Esposito family. My leaving the family organization was my true betrayal. But I did it for Cali. I had to make it right. I had taken her parent from her, It was my fault that she was left with nothing."

"Did my father order their execution?" Gabriel asked. Although the truth was, he already knew the answer, but he was still afraid to hear it. The thought that his own father, being the reason for his songbird's misfortune all these years, caused his heart to sink.

"Yes." The old man answered him, as he solemnly looked towards the floor.

"Why?" Gabriel growled as eyes began to fill up with tears.

"Cali's parent were apparently vacationing in Palermo." The old man's told him. The were some American couple on a second honeymoon, I guess. I really don't know. Anyway, they had been walking along the beach, and close to the docks. They basically went somewhere they weren't supposed to go. It was a storage facility where your father kept some--merchandise. Your father and I were the only ones there. Besides you and Rosy, Anton, your father's doctors, and myself, no one else was allowed to know what you father really was."

"You mean a gargoyle." Gabriel sighed. "Like me."

"Yes." Replied the old man. "And as you know, it is a secret that you only want a few people to know. Anyone who found out, who was not authorized to know, had to be eliminated. The couple, Alex and Janine Russo, had accidentally witnessed you father transform into a gargoyle. It frightened the couple, and they ran away. Your father had me go after them, but they gave me the slip. He told me to find them, and get rid of them, even if I had to follow them into the very depths of hell itself. It took six months, but I eventually found the couple in New York."

"Did you know about Cali?" Gabriel asked. "When you went looking for them?"

"No." The old man sighed. "The truth is I had been a in the mafia for years, a trained killer that swore an oath to your father. After a while, one just became numb to the killing. Taking a human life, was just part of my job. I had no remorse whenever I killed someone. It was who I was, and it was what I did. I was a body guard, and a skilled assassin.  But when I killed her parent, and I saw the look in her eyes, I was never the same after that."

"But you left her there, alone." Said Gabriel. "And you served my father for another eight years."

"I had used a gun silencer." Said the old man. "But all the screaming must have alerted the neighbors. Because while I was considering grabbing her, and taking off, I heard police sirens. Then I dawned on me. What was I going to do with her?  I couldn't raise her as my own, in my world. And how would I explain her to your father. I as afraid if he found out about her that he would have killed, or sold to some sick pedophile.  So I told her I was sorry, and just left her there. I thought maybe she might have some family, but I was wrong."

"When did you decide to save her?" Gabriel asked.

"Her teary eyes always haunted me." The old man replied. "I never forgot about her, but I continued to do my job. Then one night, I had a strange dream. I dreamt that she needed me, I dreamt that she was begging me to save her. I honestly don't think she was actually calling out to me. If anything, I think my guilt had just manifested itself inside my unconscious mind. But I had to find out what happened to her. So little by little by I started embezzling from your father. I started to keep track of her. I was horrified to find out about how she was being mistreated, in all of the different foster homes that she had lived in. There were several reports of abuse, and neglect."