Ch.9: Valentino
Ch.9: Valentino
Give Me Your Address (Please) (I Will Kill Myself if You Don't)
Valentino would have loved to stay unconscious for longer, to skip a few more minutes of that eternal pain throbbing and burning across his entire, wounded body. He would have preferred to sleep through the process of cleaning and stitching the countless cuts marring his skin.
But no.
The world loved to punish him for existing.
He drifted back into consciousness inside the ambulance, and the feeling of lying down on his back sent him into panic. It blinded him with fresh, vivid memories of a psychopath on top of him and a knife slicing him everywhere possible. So he fought against nothing, against no one, whimpering and crying and twisting his torso left and right.
Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone.
I don't want to choose, please I don't want to choose.
Many voices were trying to speak to him, but only one caught Valentino's attention even amidst his anguish.
Valentino stopped fighting. Someone made sure he didn't hit his head back against the surface he was lying on, but Valentino didn't care. He looked at the owner of the young, boyish voice that managed to pierce his trance. The one he'd heard before.
"Albert?" he mumbled.
Albert sat by his side, hunched over so that his head wouldn't bump against the roof of the ambulance. "Hey." His smile was sad and pitiful. "You're okay now. He can't hurt you anymore."
Valentino was still panting, exhausted. But he calmed down. He blinked at Albert, then reached for him, clenching the fabric at his knee as tightly as he could. Albert didn't protest, nor did he react. Valentino tried rolling over so he could face him better, but a few hands forced him to stay on his back.
And he didn't pass out again after that.
So he was wide awake when they arrived at the hospital. Wide awake when the nurses cleaned the blood and dirt and grime off his wounds with water and soap, which made the pain ten thousand times worse. He winced and cried and jerked away, only to be firmly told that he needed to stay as still as possible.
So he did, because he thought the nurse would hurt him if he didn't. He thought she would throw him to the floor and make him choose where he wanted her to cut him, which ear she should slice off first as punishment.
And this thought made him cry even more. Only this time, he didn't dare move. Tears trickled down his flushed cheeks. He didn't dare make a sound.
By the time they were injecting him with anaesthetics, he had completely tired himself out, so he didn't need to force himself not to react to the prick of needles. The doctor asked him if he was alright while she stitched all the wounds. No, he wasn't. He hated that tingling feeling where she was working, but at least the pain was gone.
After what felt like a blurry, hazy eternity, he was allowed to lie down on the bed. He stared at the white ceiling above him. The whole place smelled like disinfectant. Wincing at the pinching pain all over him, he struggled to roll onto his side again, hoping he'd find Albert.
The knob moved. The door inched open, and Sasha stepped in.
Valentino's breath picked up. His entire being tensed, every last muscle. His hands shook as he propped himself up and haphazardly shuffled back against the headboard.
"Valentino." Sasha walked up to the bed. Her voice was giddy, and when she bent closer to Valentino, he could see that sick, derisive smile she was trying to hide behind her hand. "Poor boy. I am... so sorry." She struggled to stifle back a laugh. "I'm so sorry this happened. I'm so sad they died."
Valentino only watched with fearful eyes as Sasha wrapped her arms around him. His skin crawled, and he didn't hug her back.
He felt so cold and lonely in her embrace.
"Careful," she whispered into Valentino's ear. Her low, calm voice sent goosebumps all across his arms. "If the doctors figure out you're a devil's child, they will feed you to the dogs. They will hurt you much worse than that man. They will cut you up piece by piece. They'll make you beg for mercy, but they won't give it to you. No one ever will. So just... be careful with what you tell them." She stroked his hair. "Don't cry, Valentino. It's okay. Don't cry." She pulled back and brushed his bangs away from his face. "I will take care of you from now on. I'm so sorry."
Valentino scooted away and gazed at his lap, trying his hardest to make his tears stop. Worse than what that crazy old man did? He looked at the hundreds of stitches spanning his chest and arms and stomach, holding together split skin and muscles, and nausea creeped up his throat.
No, no, no. He didn't want more of this. No more of those. No more pain.
"Lie down," Sasha said. "Have some rest for now." Under her breath, barely audibly, she added, "Since you're gonna have to start working soon, you know. Continue what your parents started."
Her voice became cold again, and Valentino knew better than to protest. He did as told, setting his head onto the pillow. His tears trickled along the corner of his eyes and dropped onto the pillow, until he could feel it turn wet against the edge of his ear.
After a while, Sasha left to do something. Valentino wasn't sure what; she never bothered to explain. Nurses came and left frequently to check on him. He heard the door click open one more time, and tried to guess whether it would be another nurse or Sasha.
Neither.
It was Albert.
Valentino's eyes widened.
He sat upright so fast that he felt the stitches on his back pull. He winced, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Oh my God. Easy," Albert said as hurried closer. His hand hovered near Valentino, like he wanted to hold his shoulder to help him lie back down, but with the stitches everywhere, he changed his mind and lowered his arm again. "Hey there, little guy."
Guilt. So much guilt in his eyes, so much guilt in his voice.
Valentino didn't understand why; he was the only one who shouldn't be feeling guilty.
Everything was so backwards in this world.
Grabbing Albert's clothes, Valentino tugged him urgently closer. Albert leaned over.
Valentino cupped his hands around Albert's ear and whispered, "What's your address?"
Albert was silent for a second. Then he pulled back and watched Valentino with confused eyes. He held back a chuckle, and Valentino frowned.
What was funny about this?
Valentino tugged him closer once more. "Where do you live? What's your number?"
"I'm from around here," Albert said. "I'll visit you again. Is that what you want?"
Valentino nodded, relaxing at the thought of Albert living here too. "But give me your number and address too."
Albert pursed his lips as he patted Valentino's hand. "Bud, I don't think you'd want to come to my place. My family's pretty annoying. I'll come over. Promise."
Before Valentino could insist, Sasha returned. She studied Albert carefully, asked who he was, then thanked him for saving Valentino. Albert sat beside Valentino for a while, and the entire time, Sasha's expression was cold and welcoming.
• • •
Valentino spent his time in the hospital crying silently into his pillow and wiping his tears off as soon as someone noticed.
Sasha did not look particularly happy to know that Valentino's parents had left a last will and testament, appointing his grandmother as his legal guardian in case of their deaths.
Valentino had expected Sasha to fight for his custody, to take the case to court, but for some reason she didn't, despite looking visibly annoyed.
It was a good thing, though.
Because Sasha was too observant. Too controlling.
And if she had taken his custody, she wouldn't have let Albert visit Valentino. She disliked the guy, for some reason. She would've insisted he leave the way she did in the hospital. She wouldn't have let him visit Valentino at home, after he had gotten discharged from the hospital.
Albert only passed by for a few minutes every once in a while, checked on Valentino, and then left again.
It wasn't enough.
A few times every once in a while for a few minutes wasn't enough.
Valentino asked him again and again for his address, but Albert insisted that going to his place wasn't a good idea. Valentino couldn't comprehend why. He wanted to see him more often; he wanted that strange feeling of safety to last longer, and being around Albert was the only way to do that.
Which left him with no other choice but to secretly follow Albert home.
So he did.
It worked.
He found Albert's house, and he watched him enter late at night.
The next day, Valentino came back early in the morning and hid behind trees and bushes as he waited for Albert to leave. Then he followed him all the way across town to a more rural area with large houses and vast gardens. There, he peeked at Albert between thick, thorny foliage curled around fences, observing the way he watered and pruned plants, sharpened tools, and dug and shovelled into the soil.
And Valentino thought he was being sneaky about it.
He thought Albert didn't notice.
Until Albert, crouched by a flowerbed, leaned back on his heels and wiped the sweat from his brow. His eyes caught Valentino directly across from him. Valentino gasped and hid behind the post of the fence, then slowly peeked at Albert again.
Albert tilted his head. "Hey."
Valentino tried to pretend Albert didn't just catch him stalking him.
"Hi."
"Shouldn't you be at home, kid?" Albert asked, and even though his tone was berating, his eyes were fond.
And it was this fond look in his eyes that gave Valentino the confidence to shake his head and say, "No."
• • •
Next chapter will continue from here but from Albert's pov!!
Btw more about why Valentino is getting obsessed with being around Albert will be explained later! I hope it still makes sense for now tho :)
Thank you so much for reading/voting/commenting! I hope you enjoyed it <3 <3 Let me know your thoughts if you have any :)
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