57. Zola

Chapter 57

Zola

I came to in pain and complete blackness. The absence of any light was terrifying.

But it was the incredible cold that got me. It seemed to have infiltrated my very bones and turned them to ice. My teeth were chattering and my body shivered uncontrollably. I didn’t think I was tied up, but it didn’t matter because I couldn’t move. I knew I couldn’t survive this much longer.

The smell of something meaty in the frozen air and the hum of a motor made me think I was in some kind of walk-in freezer.

In the haze of pain, cold, and despair, Dante’s face when I had stayed too long underwater in his pool came into my head.

I remembered the vulnerability I had seen in his eyes. It had been poignant then, but now I realized if I was unable to survive this he would be left alone. I felt my throat close up with emotion at the very real probability I might die. My great sacrifice had come to nothing.

All I had done was disappoint him.

My head ached and it hurt even to cry, but I closed my eyes and felt the hot tears cool as they rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t tell how much time passed. I was so cold I felt myself losing consciousness. I knew then I was dying in a freezer with slabs of meat.

I tried to fight the darkness that was descending, but it was getting harder and harder. The darkness seemed soft and welcoming. An escape from the merciless cold. My eyes fluttered and closed.

In the distance, I could hear some faint voices, but it was impossible to make out what they were saying. But it seemed as if they were calling to me. Then I heard my father’s loving voice say, “No. It’s not time yet, bella mia .”

A sound so loud, it was like thunder, filled the air, and a shaft of piercing bright light hit me and burned my eyes. I screamed. Someone had opened the door. A wave of warmth blew over my frozen body. I heard gruff men’s voices. They were speaking Italian. Why did my father never teach me to speak it? I wished he had. My eyes became more accustomed to the light. I squinted and saw metal drums on the floor and huge pig carcasses stripped of skin hanging from ceiling hooks.

I wondered what was in the metal drums and felt so disgusted I felt the urge to puke. The stench seemed unbearable now that my brain registered what it was.

Rough hands picked me up and carried me away. I tried to speak, but no words would come out. I was still shivering uncontrollably. There was laughter and then I was deposited into the back of a large truck. The doors were closed behind me.

The engine roared into life and the truck began to move.

Flattening my hands against the floor I tried to pull myself up. After exerting such an excruciating effort, I was able to slightly lift up my upper body. Unfortunately, the vehicle came to a stop and I lost my balance and fell back to the floor.

Then we were moving again and I wondered where I was being taken to.