When In Rome
Chapter 3
Miguel ran blindly through the forest, branches swatting him and tearing into his skin. He felt like he would explode at any minute, but he kept running. He was running so hard that he didn't notice that Tulio wasn't with him.
Finally Miguel stopped running and collapsed onto the ground. His heart pounded dangerously in his chest and it hurt to breathe. Splotches of colors danced across his eyes and the only sound he could hear was his own raspy breathing.
"I-.... I think we lost him Tulio.... Tulio?.... Tulio?!" Miguel yelled out into the woods, but no answer came. "TULIO!!!" He suddenly found himself running again, back to where they were. But the only thing he found was a dart. He picked it up and stared at it, tears falling down his face. "No.... Tulio."
* * * * *
****"Tulio, do you love me?"****
****"Of course I do. Why would you ask such a thing?"****
****"No reason. I just love hearing you say it."****
****"Really? Well, I love hearing you scream it."****
****"Oh, yes! Yes! Ye-"****
"Come on." said a raspy voice, trying it's best to be sweet and singsong. "Wake up.." Tulio slowly shook his head, a horrible pain filling his entire being. He could practically feel his whole body throbbing in agony, and it made him sick. With a great heave, he let out a stream of hot, burning vomit onto the floor. The voice began to laugh. "Yes, nausea is one of the dart's many side affects."
Tulio opened his eyes. He was in a dungeon with his hands shackled to the wall above his head and sitting on the cold stones floor. In front of him was the man that he and Miguel had been running from. He looked even huger and more menacing than before, but his face was still hidden.
"Remarkable little thing, isn't it?" the man said, twirling the dart around his thick fingers. "This is an African dart. I stayed with a tribe for a year in my youth, studying their culture and ways of survival. Yes.... This little thing has helped me capture many sinners in the past. The poison is strong enough to knock out a bull for hours."
"Where- where am I?" Tulio whispered.
"You are in an Italian prison. I know it's a little dirty, but as soon as I catch your lover I will be taking you back to Spain." The man seemed to cringe at the word "lover" but still sounded terrifying.
"Okay- and who, or what, the hell are you?" Tulio asked.
The man breathed in sharply and strode over to Tulio and slapped him hard. So hard, in fact, that the chains holding Tulio's wrists nearly ripped off the wall. Tulio gasped in pain and surprise. How could anyone hit that hard?
"Watch your tongue, filthy cock sucker. God is watching." He walked back over to the other wall and continued talking calmly. "I am Diego Onofre, but you might have heard of me by my nickname. El Sancho Feo?"
Tulio looked up, the color dripping from his face. "The Ugly Saint? The most feared and greatest bounty hunter that ever set foot in Spain?"
"In the world." Diego snarled.
"I've heard stories about you! They say you took down Francisco the Terrible seven years ago. Wasn't he the guy who raped and murdered all those woman and children?"
"I see my reputation succeeds me. Yes, I did. I watched him hang until the blood poured from his eyes and I saw them burn him afterwards. It was very entertaining. But he wasn't my biggest score. No.... I've had better. My first one actually.
"I've heard different variations of that story-"
"And all of them are wrong!.... I remember it like yesterday. August 17th, 1485. I was out in the courtyard of the church, writing, when all of a sudden I was knocked out and taken to the forest. When I woke up I saw that I had been kidnapped by an African slave. A cannibal. He had slit my throat open when I was unconscious so I couldn't scream out for help. He didn't kill me though. I think he was getting his revenge of our God and our supremacy, so he cut me up while I was still alive. Everyday he cut off a chuck of my body with a huge, rusty ax and ate it in front of me, grinning. Those horrible teeth, yellow and decaying, and those lifeless brown eyes. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
"When he had fallen asleep, I chewed off the ropes that held me and slowly crawled over to the beast. I gently tied the rope around his ankles and threw the slack over a branch. Then I pulled the little savage off the ground and tied it to the tree. I watched him scream as he tried to undo his feet, laughing. Then I picked up his ax and, with all of my might, sliced him in half from groin to neck. All of the blood, the bile, excrement, everything spilled out onto my robes and flesh. And I loved it. It made me feel alive. That's when I found my calling. I would right all the injustice in the world by punishing those who, in God's eyes, were not fit to live."
Tulio was sickened. "And wh-who is not fit in God's eyes?"
"Robbers, murderers, whores, liars, cheaters.... And cock suckers, like yourself."
Tulio felt his face grow hot with anger. "Wouldn't God let us do something that makes us happy? So what if I'm gay? I love my Miguel, and as long as I have faith in God, I shall fear no evil."
"Well spoken, cock sucker. I'm surprised to see a little sinner like you reads the word of God. Does it burn when you touch it?"
"Stop calling me cock sucker!!!" Tulio screamed, straining against his shackles. "Oh, and by the way, I think God isn't really to fond about perverted madmen like yourself!"
"Madman? Me?' Diego snarled, and he tugged the shawl away from his face.
Tulio screamed in horror. Underneath the cloth was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. The man had no nose, one eye missing, and no eyelids on his remaining eye. He practically had no cheeks, for they looked like they had been nearly scraped off, and his bottom lip was gone, showing bleached bone and veins.
"I think I have a reason to be mad, don't you think?"
< < Previous | Next > >
Back to the Tulio/Miguel Archives | Back to the Fiction Section
