What was strange was how quickly everything faded.
It was as though she had only just laid down the bouquet in mourning, folded her hands, and prayed for Irene to rest in peace. Then, in the very next moment, someone had produced a pair of scissors and, with a sharp snip, severed every lingering attachment she still held for that person.
Sophie found herself questioning why she had spent a hundred euros to come all this way in the first place.
Beneath the cliff, a man dressed in black stood concealed within the tangled shadows cast by the overlapping branches.
From the moment the girl stepped out of the car and approached the broken section of the guardrail, Fabio had recognized her as the human who had chased them to the Palazzo dei Priori the previous day before escaping by sheer accident. Seeing her pursue the matter all the way to the crash site today was, in his eyes, only natural.
His partner, Chelsea, whose gift allowed her to alter interpersonal bonds, had already severed every banquet victim's connection to their families. All of the tourists had come from overseas. Once those bonds were broken, their grieving relatives became unwilling to spend enormous sums transporting charred remains back to their home countries.
Instead, they accepted the compensation in sorrow and left the Volturi to dispose of the bodies. Afterward, Chelsea systematically cut away every remaining relationship they had, one after another, until no one in the world cared about them anymore.
The bodies had already been removed that morning.
Fabio remained behind at the crash site until the wreckage of the bus had been hauled away, completing the final stages of the cleanup. The limitations of his gift, Memory Compression, were severe. If he wished to remain within the Volturi and keep his position as a guard, he had to continually prove his worth to his superior, Jane. Up until now, every cleanup assignment entrusted to him had been executed flawlessly.
Based on years of experience, Fabio immediately realized that allowing this relentlessly inquisitive human girl to leave alive posed a genuine threat to the Volturi.
She had not yet violated the laws of the vampire world, but those laws applied only to vampires.
Humans...
Were not one of their own.
To protect the safety of their species, sacrificing a handful of overly curious humans was nothing more than routine work.
In less than a second, Fabio devised a plan to eliminate her. He understood humans exceptionally well. Even without relying on his supernatural gift, a vampire's extraordinary hearing, smell, and vision were more than enough for him to determine exactly where the girl was going and what she intended to do.
Removing her was simply another part of the cleanup operation. For that reason, Fabio had no intention of dirtying his own hands. Instead, he would exploit humanity's own flaws, manipulating other humans into killing her. That way, her death would have an obvious, perfectly convincing, and entirely human explanation.
The branches overhead rustled softly.
When the leaves settled again, Fabio had vanished from the shadows.
Scaling the cliff face with effortless agility, he went in search of the most suitable puppet to carry out his plan.
After dropping the young girl off, the yellow-toothed driver smoked even more freely than before.
Despite his rough appearance, he was actually rather considerate toward women and children. The girl had obviously disliked the smell of cigarettes, so he had restrained himself while she was in the car. Otherwise, someone as delicate as her might have become carsick and vomited from the smoke.
If that happened, he'd have to spend part of today's fare getting the car cleaned.
The tunnel entrance was just ahead.
The yellow-toothed driver flicked his nearly finished cigarette out the window.
"Is there someone up ahead?" the bespectacled man in the back seat asked. "Looks like he wants a ride."
The mention of another potential fare immediately caught the driver's attention. He slowed the car and, sure enough, spotted a man dressed entirely in black standing in the tunnel's shadow.
"Dressed head to toe in black like that? No wonder girls won't give you a second look."
He mocked the stranger's choice of clothing even as his foot honestly eased onto the brake pedal.
Business was business.
The car rolled into the darkness at the tunnel entrance, and the driver leaned out of the window with a grin.
"Hey, brother! Need a lift? We've got one seat left. It's practically been reserved just for you."
The man dressed in black returned the greeting with a warm smile. He was remarkably handsome. Friendly and open, he extended his hand through the window to shake the driver's.
"I'm heading back to Volterra. Will you be returning there later?"
The route wasn't on their way. The yellow-toothed driver clicked his tongue in disappointment before explaining where they were headed.
"If we're lucky, I'll pick you up on my way back. I'll even give you a discount."
The man in black released the driver's hand, his warm smile never fading. He even reached into the back seat to shake hands with the two men there, exchanging a few friendly words before they parted on pleasant terms.
The car started moving again and disappeared deeper into the tunnel.
Instinctively, the yellow-toothed driver tried to memorize the handsome stranger's face so he could recognize him on the return trip.
Strangely...
He couldn't remember a single distinguishing feature.
Instead, one image kept surfacing in his mind over and over again.
A wallet.
A wallet stuffed with cash.
Filled with banknotes.
Filled with bank cards.
Right now, it was waiting for him alongside that ignorant little girl.
The yellow-toothed driver fought desperately against the urge to turn the car around.
His hands continued steering almost entirely by instinct.
Money...
So much money...
And those bank cards...
That stupid little girl even wrote down her PIN.
Once I drop these two off...
I'll go back alone and take everything that should be mine.
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