In particular, the night of the alleged crime was very still in the city of Palermo. It was a shocking experience to walk around and find that at least the streets used at night though with very limited activities were deserted as one gets a natural feeling that the whole world is at a standstill. The underworld though was not a dead world as people tend to perceive it. Little did everybody know that the last episode of the kingdom of Vincenzo "Vince" Barone was slowly being penned in the dim hours of an inconspicuous night.
In a dark, cold warehouse in the outskirts of the city Vince had been left surrounded by the very men he once had faith in. Perhaps his eyesight was failing him due to old age, but he looked intensely at the faces of his companions in arms, compatriots in arms who have been with him for a very long time. His closest confidant, Luca, stood by his side, his expression impassive. The others, some of them lieutenants and capos from the inner circles of his criminal empire, was silence, gulp down their saliva and exchange glances.
Vince, on his part, could get a feeling that there was something wrong. It was a tense situation, though he failed to understand exactly what seemed to have caused it. His simple animal fears that helped him survive in the mafia world for decades told him to be alert and move. Yet he hesitated.
At one point in his life, he would never have considered such a hesitation. He had once been the king of the underworld; his name evoked fear in every alley and the street, the town and the country far and near. None of the business transactions occurred without the green light from him, and no life was lost without his approval. He was the head of mafia and nothing could be changed around him.
Yet now, in 1966 at the age of 67, the acuity that had once been so dependable had dimmed. With his empire in the making, he has made it weak instead of strong. Thus his competitors of the rivaling families and other young men who wanted to establish themselves as significant started whispering behind him. They continued to murmur louder, threatening to act but Vince had laughed them off as more mere threats. And you know that none of them would have the audacity to cross the very man who has helped them rise from nowhere.
Who indeed... Vince looked at Luca while thinking bitterly and gripping his cane handle more firmly. This man had been part of his life for many years, trusted with confidential information that could possibly undo empires. He had been similar to a son for Vince. In spite of all, Luca had a look in his eyes tonight that made his stomach tighten in fear.
"It has been a lengthy trip, hasn't it, boss?" Although Luca's tone was steady, almost friendly, an obvious deadly undertone was implied.
Vince raised an eyebrow. "The document seems too lengthy some times," he replied calmly. "What's this about, Luca?"
Luca could not reply, for at that moment a figure emerged from the darkness; and he was alone, and in darkness. Vince's heart skipped a beat. It would hardly be possible to single out this person but the way he/she was coming across seemed very suspicious in fact.
The others shifted uneasily in their seats as the figure approached and then stopped a foot behind Luca.
"Who is this?" The aggravating discomfort in his chest didn't prevent Vince from saying it firmly.
Luca smiled but did not respond to the statement. I could not make out the face of the figure that was slightly blurred and it remained without saying anything just staring. Then the reality struck Vince and he shivered as he looked at Amber. This was something atypical of a betrayal. There were great underlying forces, a much greater danger than ambition.
"Luca, do not be an idiot," Vince criticised him verbally and his lips were twisted in anger. 'You actually think you can take what is rightfully mine.' After all I've done for you?"
Luca's expression hardened. "You had your time, Vince. The world was different; they did not need kings like me anymore, jealous of everything I have.
Luca was faster On noticing this Vince could not move as Luca immediately pulled out a gun pointing it straight at Vince. It was the thought that came into Vince's head and when he could sense the lift in his chest, there was also this feeling of animal ranting in his person. He has been in many stand offs, swerving life bullets for the entire of his life, but this one shook him to the core of his being: to be let down by his most trusted companion and to be left facing the wrong end of a gun.
A shot rang out.
Although the hook was that it landed shock Vince like a freight train and it caught him in a way he did not anticipate. He stepped backward, a hand gripping his chest, covering the growing pool of blood that was spreading from his wound. He knelt down on his legs and he fell down on the ground unconsciously. Landing on the cold floor, hard concrete, of the building, he could not stand the pain any longer.
Forcing open burning eyes, Vince's vision moved to Luca who still had the smoking gun in his hand. The rest just stood there and gawked at the ceiling, pale but their eyes burned with resolve. And in the far corner of the stage there was something like pure anticipation, that was quickly transformed into active mezzoforte, when the tempo for virtual specter, as well as the yet to be produced play, was set.
"Who... who are you?" Vince opened his mouth to speak, and he sound as if he had lost all his breath, stammering out the words, "You…"
It stepped forward but was still concealed by the darkness so that we could not see the figure's face. No answer came. In fact the silence that followed the assertion by Cindy was more oppressive than the pain Vince felt in his chest. He's breath is faint, the room spinning – The next thing he knows, he is waking up to Rad, what seems to be a new normal. Was this really how it ended? Felled by his own men, abandoned by the people he created?
Thanks to this Vince started to develop tremendous hatred towards his captor and the man was preventing Vince from living – from seeing. Not only for Luca and not only for the men who betrayed him and with the unknown man that he would not know who he was. His empire, his heritage, all was falling apart.
However, in the last breath, one couldn't fathom that she harbored any feeling of regret. Only rage.
The world went dark.