Aquila Manse

EXCERPT FROM AQUILA MANSE

"Time: 10:55am

Location: Grand Hotel Sabatini

The hotel was situated on Via Goldoni in the centro storico of the once wealthy town. The town was once the largest and wealthiest in the region. It is still the largest but the pressure from surrounding towns has left it in a poor condition. The Catholic Church and the government have tried to save the town from being turned into a rich man's summer house, whilst the rest of Italy has turned into what it is today.

Today, the streets of the town were desolate, barren of all the Christmas decorations and decorations of the festive season. Even the minority celebrations had faded. It was a town that never kept to the calendar, forgetting to mark its heritage - the last of its traditions. A town that often lacked its townsfolk, thus always reminded that the town was empty. Twenty years ago, the town had a population of over 60,000 but now there was little to no evidence of life.

Today, the only activity on the street was from the traffic. The only inhabitants were the old residents and the beggars. In the hotel, the staff could be heard for their chatter, even at the still time of the day.

This town was where my life began and ended.This was where I first met my mother, where she held me during the first minutes of my life and the first five years of my life, where she first met my father. This was the place where my mother got depressed, where she let my father seduce her and where she let him use her. This was where my life began to end, this was where I met my mother's killer."