Thanatophobia | VICTOR ZSASZ [DISCONTINUED]

fourteen | beasts of prey

After eyeing the bar and the people that were sitting inside of it, Annabelle watched as Lidia walked towards behind the bar, while Oswald said to Lidia, "Good day, Lidia. Have you thought about my offer?"

Lidia replied, "I told you already, my place is not for sale."

Oswald said to her, "Please. I beg of you, think again. I will serve strictly as a silent partner. You will continue to run the day-to-day operations—"

Annabelle chuckled as Lidia muttered something in Italian before she hit her roller on the counter, while she yelled, "I told you already!"

Oswald said with his hands raised, "Madam, please, I-I meant no harm."

Gabriel took the roller from her, while he said, "Okay, Mama. You made your point."

Oswald said to Lidia, "Madam, I assure you, I have a sincere interest in your establishment. If money is not what you seek, surely there is something you want."

Lidia was silent for a moment before she told him, "My granddaughter, Antonia, she's beautiful, virtuous, an angel. And she has been seduced by a silver-tongued guitar player. Lucifer himself."

While he nodded his head, Oswald replied, "A tragedy."

Lidia told him, "You make her come home, leave this baboon, then I'll consider your offer."

While he leaned closer towards her, Oswald said, "Madam, she'll be home for Sunday Mass. You have my word."

Lidia nodded her head, which allowed Oswald to limp away from her with Gabriel close behind him, while Gabriel said to him, "This place is a dump. Real nickel-and-dime."

While Annabelle left the bar, Oswald told Gabriel, "It's worth far more than that, Gabe. You just don't see it yet."

Annabelle only eyed Oswald, while she wondered what he could possibly be planning, if he wanted to buy the bar off of Lidia so badly.

No matter the reason, she figured he had to have a secret plan going on that she wasn't aware of as of yet.

And if there was something else Annabelle hated, it was being the last to know about something.

* * *

Annabelle was silently following Oswald to where the guitar player was being held before she suddenly came to an abrupt halt when she heard a buzzing noise.

She quickly looked over at the sign that said 'Polk Gun Range' before she walked closer to the railing to see Bruce Wayne standing in front of the door and waiting for someone to open it.

After tilting her head and starting to wonder why a boy as young as him would be interested in a gun range, she shook her head and went back to following Oswald.

It was only when she heard the sound of a man whimpering that she sped past Oswald and into the building where the guitar player was being held and grinned at the sight of him struggling against the pillar he was tied to.

After glancing over at Annabelle as he limped past her and towards the guitar player, he asked Gabriel once he stopped in front of the guitar player, "So, are we in agreement?"

Gabriel told him with a shake of his head, "Not quite. Pagliacci says he still loves the girl. He won't leave her."

Annabelle chuckled, while she started to walk towards them and tilted her head to the side.

While choosing to ignore Annabelle's presence, the guitar player told Oswald, "Antonia and I are destined to be together. And nothing you can do will make me stop loving her."

Gabriel asked Oswald, "See what I mean? True love. You want me to put a slug in him? See if that loosens him up?"

Oswald shook his head as he said to Gabriel, "No. He's a guitar player. Lose the fingers."

Gabriel asked him, "You want me to shoot his fingers?"

While the guitar player glanced over at Annabelle as she chuckled to herself, Oswald told Gabriel, "Don't shoot them. Lose them."

After being given the pliers, Gabriel walked closer to the guitar player and cut off one of his fingers that had a ring on it before a scream was heard.

Annabelle closed her eyes and hummed to herself with a huge grin on her face, while she listened to the sound of the guitar player's screaming.

* * *

While he walked towards the room that Annabelle and Oswald were standing in, Gabriel said to Oswald, "I still don't get it."

Annabelle sighed as she whispered to herself, "Of course he doesn't."

While Oswald glanced over at Annabelle after hearing her words, Gabriel asked him, "Why all that trouble for this pile of bricks?"

Oswald told him, "This was never about money, Gabe."

Gabriel asked him, "Not about money? What else is there?"

Annabelle sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose before she muttered under her breath, "Bloody hell."

Oswald simply glanced at her before he said to Gabriel, "All kinds of things motivate people. Lust, ambition, envy."

Then Annabelle said, "Revenge."

Oswald nodded his head, while Gabriel asked him, "Okay, what motivated you? Why do you want this place so bad?"

Oswald told him, "It's simple. This is where I'm gonna kill Don Maroni."

While she stared at the photograph of Salvatore Maroni, Annabelle tilted her head as she started to imagine all the ways in which Oswald could have Salvatore killed.

And while she did just that, she couldn't help but let a wide grin make its way onto her face as she thought of the look he would have on his face before he was killed.

For Annabelle, imagining the look of how shocked or angry he would become and the scent of his blood that would linger in the air would be enticing.

Not to mention whatever last word he would say the moment he saw the very face of the one that would kill him.

The only thing she could hope was that she would be there to witness it herself.