Viper

36

Campeggio Castellani, Pompeii A shrill scream scythed through the woods. It flew, unseen, like a bat in the blackness of the winter night. Then it thudded to its death against the misted windows of Filippo's father's car.

'Ma che cazzo e? What the fuck was that?' Rosa pushed Filippo away.

They froze. Stared silently at each other. Afraid to move. Then another chilling cry ripped the night apart.

'It's a woman screa-'

Filippo never finished. The next noise was even more distinct and terrifying.

It was a bullet.

Gunfire.

Filippo slid naked into the driver's seat and turned on the engine and the lights. Whatever was going down was happening close, real close. Too close.

The car's wheels spun on the soft wet grass. There was no traction. Mud sprayed as the old Fiat lurched forward. The wheels wallowed in the earth as he tried to make a full U-turn. Tried desperately to head back the way they'd come. The car carried on drifting. He straightened her up and turned the beams on full.

Right ahead he could see something. A light of some sort. Safety!

Another gunshot rang out.

A God-awful loud bark. So loud it seemed to bite a lump out of the sky.

It had come from near the light, now less than twenty metres ahead of them.

Filippo slammed on the brakes. The car went into an uncontrollable slide.

'Fuuck! ' shouted Rosa as she was thrown against the back of the driver's seat.

He wanted to reach out and help, but he couldn't. The car was skidding towards a deep dip in the field. Sliding into a pit filled with fire.

Filippo jerked the handbrake up as hard as he could. Rosa crashed into a rear window. He twisted the steering wheel as far as it would go. The skid seemed to last an eternity.

Finally, the old car rocked to a stop. They were less than a metre from the edge of the pit.

'You okay?' He put his hand on his girlfriend's naked shoulder.

Rosa rubbed her head. She'd have an ugly lump there in the morning. 'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Let's get out of here. I'm scared.'

Filippo nodded. The car had stalled. He jammed it into neutral and quickly turned the key. The engine chugged but didn't catch. 'Flooded. I'll try again.' Clutch in, foot flat on the accelerator. He did everything he'd seen his father do. Turned the key again and prayed.

The roar was loud. Rosa thought the engine had exploded. Must have been a backfire.

Then she saw the blood. Filippo's blood. All over the passenger seat and the window.

And then she saw him.

His face in the broken window.

The gun in his hand.

That look in his eyes.

And he saw her too. Saw her beauty and her vulnerability.

Rosa was terrified.

She felt transparent, like a puddle that someone was about to stamp in.

'Buon sonno,' he said politely.

'Don't hurt me. Please, don't hurt me.' She covered her naked breasts with her arms and pressed her knees together.

His eyes vacuumed her skin. Hurt. A wonderful word. So short, yet covering a multitude of possibilities.

Rosa saw his teeth flash. He was smiling.

She could see the gun even more clearly now. See it and even smell it. It had the acrid stink of death. Filippo's. She glanced at his slumped body, blood pouring down his side, half of his beautiful face torn away by the bullet.

Fear choked her as she tried to speak again.

She started to cry. 'Please, don't. Oh, God no, please, don't.' She pulled her knees up in a foetal position.

He watched her for a second, thrilled by her growing fear, excited by her suffering. Then he levelled his gun at her forehead.

'Oh, God. No, no, no!'

'BANG!' he shouted.

Rosa screamed.

He laughed. 'BANG! BANG!'

This time she didn't move. The warped trick no longer worked.

She stared straight into his eyes.

Cold.

Cold as ice.

He pulled the trigger.

He knew what the shot would do. Knew it would spread her face and brains all over the inside of the car. He didn't want to be covered in the mess. He stepped back just before the hammer fell.

Live and learn, he told himself. Less mess means less trouble.

He looked back into the car.

The windows were streaked in a fatty grey and cherry red.

The top of the girl's skull was gone.

There was no need for a second bullet.