Part Three – Rome – 1667

   Loud wails and sobs fill the air, puncturing my ears as I fall behind the procession of mourners walking the streets of Rome to one of the many cemeteries outside the city.

  Despite being a politician, the type of person normally hated by every day citizens, hundreds of people turned out for Alfonso Allegretti’s funeral.

  I stood at the back of the church for the entire service, conducted by one of Rome’s illustrious bishops, and slipped unnoticed out the back doors as soon as it was finished.

  Interacting with humans with Lucrezia Allegretti’s death threat hanging over my head is most certainly not the smartest thing I’ve ever done in the past millennia or so.

  After a day of deliberation, the only course of action I was able to decide on was to pop in for a little visit with the Allegretti family. Alfonso’s burial is proving to be so crowded I have no doubt that no one will see me, even if I do linger longer than necessary.

  At the top of the procession I immediately notice the unmistakable figure and blonde, curled hair belonging to Lucrezia. She’s dressed in a black dress, an arm around a much shorter woman wearing the same raiment, who is obviously sobbing by the shaking of her shoulders.

  I have never been too particularly fond of funerals. Partially because seeing people crying makes me feel itchy, partially because I happen to be the cause of death.

  I can’t imagine that Lucrezia will be pleased to see me, but I have to speak with her.

Despite the fact that I am Death itself, I cannot find it in myself to end this woman’s life. I barely know her, yet she has this…hold on me; a vice like grip over my reason that I haven’t been able to remove.  Never in my existence have I ever come across a person who could stand up to me and even try to wound me

  I have to do something about this, and killing her to rid myself of it is my last resort.

The procession stops halfway up the side of a hill covered in dying grass, in front of the Allegretti family crypt. Two guards push away the marble slab covering the entrance.

 As four men begin to carry Alfonso’s body encased in silk inside the crypt, I hear a strong, very beautiful voice begin to sing – a hymn in Latin normally sung by a men’s choir.

 I much prefer this version.

I move to a spot situated above the crypt to better see who’s singing, to catch better sight of the burial. Of course it’s Lucrezia who is singing, honoring her father’s memory.

 Fifteen minutes pass before Alfonso Allegretti is properly buried and the crowd of mourners begins to dissipate.

 A man dressed in regal, purple clothing leads the woman I presume to be Alfonso’s widow away from the crypt, speaking to her in comforting tones.

Lucrezia remains standing in front of the crypt long after everyone has left. My curiosity is piqued when I see that she is not crying. No mournful, saddened expression dons her face. She’s just simply standing there.

 “I would have thought a proper young lady like yourself would know how dangerous it is to be out and alone in the city at night.”

  Lucrezia whips her head up and a look of pure loathing crosses her face as I drop from the top of the crypt and land in the grass in front of her.

 “You!” A hand flashes into her cape and then a dagger is being pointed at me, right where my heart would be if I had one. “I might’ve known you would make an appearance again.”

 “What can I say?” I shrug a shoulder. “I suppose I just couldn’t stay away from you.”

This might be a partial truth, but Lucrezia certainly does not need to be aware of this.

 “Funny,” Lucrezia snaps. “But I don’t find your brand of humor very amusing.”

“How unfortunate for me,” I say.

 “What are you doing here?” She steps closer to me, brandishing the dagger, looking perfectly capable of stabbing me right here and now. “Have you come to kill me as well?”

 “You are mistaken, milady. I have not the slightest intention of killing you.”

 “Somehow, I really cannot believe that,” Lucrezia says angrily. “Why else return if not to finish me off like my father?”

 I bite back a heavy sigh, feeling the smallest amount of guilt rising in my stomach.

“If you knew the whole truth, Lucrezia, you would not be making assumptions, I assure you.”

“Then tell me the truth!”

Her voice is sharp, loud, echoing around us in the falling dusk.

 When I remain silent for a moment, seriously debating on actually telling her the truth, she lunges forward without further ado and thrusts the dagger into my chest.

 I could have stopped the attack, make no mistake.

There’s just a small portion of my mind, though, that is under the impression that if she gets whatever this anger is out of her system she’ll give up and move on.

  But, then again, I have not been able to accurately judge Lucrezia Allegretti from the beginning. Nobody can say whether or not she’ll try and decapitate me the next time.

 If there is a next time.

“Ouch.”

Lucrezia’s eyes widen in horror as I pull the dagger out of my chest, no trace of blood anywhere, and tuck it inside my cape. She quickly stumbles back away from me, her breath coming in quick gasps.

  “You can’t kill me, Lucrezia Allegretti, so you should probably listen to what I have to say,” I tell her, my voice low and calm. “If you desire to keep your life, that is.”

  “I’m afraid…” She clears her throat, tries to speak with more enthusiasm. “I’m afraid I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re referring to.”

 “Good.” I take several steps forward to her, bend down to her level until we’re nose-to-nose. “I’d like to keep it that way.”

  “But you – “

“If you value your life even in the smallest kind you’ll return home this instant, gather your possessions, leave and not look back.”

  “I don’t understand, I – “

“Do you want to die?”

    “You just – “

I grip Lucrezia’s shoulders, pull her close, give her a firm shake.

 “I am trying to save your life. What part of that is difficult for you to understand?”

For the first time a glimmer of fear crosses Lucrezia’s face, her cheeks draining of color.

 “Why?” She swallows hard, averting her eyes from mine.

“Because I am the one that got you into this mess in the first place. And call it a weakness on my part, but I need to make sure you do not die.”

  “But why?”

Her wide blue eyes are boring straight into my very being, fright evident in her features.

  Right in that moment it’s as if something long since buried inside myself finally frees itself.

   And I am not even able to comprehend what’s passing before my hands are pulling Lucrezia even closer to me and my lips cover hers.

She is fire beneath my touch, full of life, a rose and its thorn in one. Her scent of honeysuckle and spring invades my senses until she is the only thing I am aware of.

   I don’t even realize she is returning the pressure of my lips against hers, her fingers clutching the front of my shirt, until I jerk away from her, short of breath with my mind whirling.  

Time stops.

 “What…” Her fingers press against her lips, a dazed look on her face as she stares at me. “You…”

  “Leave,” I force myself to say, putting as much distance between us as possible. “I don’t wish to return and find you still here.”

I can’t see you again, for the fear of putting us both in even more danger.

  I disappear before Lucrezia has a chance to say anything.

The last thing I see of her is the expression on her face – one of confusion, shock, and something I’ve never seen even with my thousands of years.

  God in Heaven, I think desperately. That woman will be the reason if I Fall.

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I'm so sorry it took me so long to update!! Hopefully this is worth it!! :)