Here there are no good byes

6

As soon as Romina left, Jacopo stared at me and put his hand near his gun.

"You and I need to talk," he said.

Dawn was about an hour away. I didn't have much time, so I made a decision.

"I don't owe you an explanation! I don't owe you anything!" I screamed, showing a side of me he didn't know.

He stayed quiet.

"You came because you wanted to. It is not my fault that you can't handle this!" I said again, challenging him.

He remained quiet still. He started to drive me crazy. But I stayed strong. I held my ground.

Until he caved.

"Let's go. We both need some sleep," he said in a friendly manner that made me feel good inside.

And we walked outside. I still needed to do my greatest trick and separate myself from him with no explanation. We couldn't go to the same place. I had won a battle; I didn't have to tell him my secret yet. I still needed to win another one.

"I'm going home, Jacopo. I'll see you tomorrow," I exclaimed, hoping these soft words would do.

"I understand," and they did. He only added:

"I hope to see you tomorrow," he said, submissive.

"You will," I said quickly and left his side.

I went to do my cave, my home, my everyday darkness.

------

The next day, I saw an exodus of people leaving Grand Harbour and going to small towns around the island. They were afraid, and rightly so. I was happy this was happening. They were acting alone, in reason and understanding of what was happening.

"Where are you guys going?" I asked a beautiful family packing their car to the fullest before leaving.

"Lija. You?" said the man of the family, expecting some answer.

"Oh no, I am staying put. But Lija sounds like a great place to go. You will be safe there; congratulations!" I exclaimed, happy and in a good mood.

"You are not leaving this place? It's going to get dangerous. Don't you have a place to go? We can make room for you if you want to. Only you'd have to go to Lija yourself. We don't have room in our small car, as you can see," repeated the man, and as he did, his dog kept barking at me. Angry.

"I understand. I'll think about it, and if necessary, I'll see you guys in Lija. I am sure I'll find you, it is a small place. Although, I don't think your dog welcomes me," I said, half joking.

"This is so strange. He is the sweetest, most friendly dog in the world," said the daughter, genuinely concerned.

"Dogs hate me, always have been," I answered honestly. They could smell our essence. If only they could talk.

I left the sweet family behind and went to Jacopo. He deserved better. I saw him as an ally, a friend, and perhaps something else.

As I walked towards his house, I had doubts myself. Would he understand? Would he betray me? Was it too much for him?

Screw it, it was war, a profound, powerful war we were waging. I needed him.

"Federica, you came back!" said Jacopo as soon as he saw me.

"Of course, I did, my dear!" I exclaimed, happy and afraid to see him.

"Let me buy you coffee!" he told me, in all strangeness.

"Coffee? Don't we need to talk? Isn't it super late to drink coffee?" I said, caught completely off guard.

"We will talk. But for now, we will drink good coffee. We are here, and that's good enough for me", he said, in a bizarre good mood.