Only Time Will Tell (A Luberto Story)

Chapter 17- Ercole's Mistake

Luca stood there in awe as he realized the horrifying reality that he was facing. Ercole had returned, and this time, there was nobody there to protect him.

"W-what are you doing here?!" Luca asked frightened

Ercole laughed, "I see you haven't changed a bit! Still the same loser you were last summer haha!"

Luca tried to stand up for himself but was too startled to say anything.

"You still can't even get a word out, hm?" Ercole teased. He moved closer to Luca and grabbed him by the collar. "You don't have your little friend to protect you this time, do you?"

Luca tried to escape Ercole's grip, but Ercole was too strong. "Let go of me!" Luca yelled.

"Hmm, let me think about that... No!" Ercole laughed maniacally.

Suddenly, Luca heard someone running towards him somewhere behind him. The footsteps got louder and louder, with Luca being pulled tighter by Ercole by the second.

"Hey Luca!" Giulia shouted. "I have the flowers for you!" As Giulia neared Luca, she realized he was being lifted into the air by someone.

"Hey, what's going on..." Giulia frowned as she walked towards the figure holding up Luca.

"Don't come any closer, Spewlia." Ercole growled.

Giulia instantly recognized the voice that was talking to her. "E-Ercole?!"

"That's right, Spewlia." Ercole smiled eerily.

Giulia attempted to free Luca but was instead shoved to the ground. She winced in pain after hitting the ground, getting a large scratch on her knee. "Let go of him!"

Giulia attempted to stand up again but was shoved to the ground once more by Ercole. Giulia noticed a large scratch on both of her knees. She felt a stinging sensation as she tried to stand up.

"Let go of him! You're choking him!" Giulia yelled angrily.

Ercole hated to admit it, but Giulia was right. He didn't even want to hurt Luca too much, but if he didn't intimidate them, what else could he do? Ercole always felt the need to seem better and superior compared to everyone else. Picking on someone like Luca was easy, and it gave him the sense of power that he so desperately craved.

"Fine, have it your way." Ercole mumbled. He dropped Luca down on the ground, and Luca took in a huge breath as he hit the floor. Giulia ran over to the coughing boy to make sure he was okay, until Ercole noticed something in Giulia's back pocket.

"Oh- well what do we have here?" Ercole asked with an evil grin. "A bouquet of flowers, hm? I think these would look nice in a vase." Ercole quickly grabbed the flowers from Giulia as she was tending to Luca.

"Hey, you can't just take those! They belong to Luca!" Giulia screamed.

Ercole laughed, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I admired them, would you Piccoletto?"

Luca had finally managed to recover from the choking and could talk normally. "Please, just don't take those. They're... important."

"I do not care," Ercole said bluntly. "I like them so I'll have them now."

Luca watched as Ercole harshly threw the flowers to the ground and stepped on them with a ton of force. Luca tried to stop him, but it was too late. Ercole raised his foot, revealing the crumpled up flowers that were beautiful seconds ago. Now, they were ruined, with the petals completely torn off and the stems mangled up and torn. He wouldn't be able to give them to Alberto, after all he had done for Luca..