comfortable in her bed, but I decided to hold her while Anna started to get the card game ready.
Even after the game was over and we went upstairs to watch a movie, I felt more secure with her in the room with me.
Mamma and Anna both fell asleep in our bed. I laughed quietly, noticing that mamma had stuck a gummy candy to Anna’s forehead. She had fallen asleep first.
My laughter did not last long. Soon, the quietness of the house closed in, and the heaviness in my heart weighed on my mind. I turned away from mamma and Anna, staring at the candle beside the bed. I put my palm over it, watching the flame waver when I moved it back and forth.
My eyes must have closed for a minute or two, and my heart raced when I realized I had left the candle lit.
A shadow moved across the wall, stealing my attention, the soft light highlighting the shape of a person.
“Mamma?” I whispered.
I put my hand behind me. She was still there, between Anna and me. I sat up some, checking on Ele, who was at the foot of the bed in her own bed. I looked to my right. Anna was still asleep. Her hand was on her forehead, the candy squished between.
My heart sped up even more, and it felt like it had lodged in my throat as I went to rush to the bottom of the bed to grab my baby. A hand wrapped around my mouth and flung my head back. It hit the pillow, but my entire body went to move forward again, to fight him off.
Whoever it was stunk like garbage. His eyes were wide in the glow of the candle. “I’m not here to hurt you,” he said, pressing a gun to my temple. “I want your husband. If you be quiet, I’ll take my hand from your mouth.”
I said nothing, staring at him. After a few seconds had gone by, he released my mouth tentatively, to see if I was going to scream. I didn’t make a sound.
“Good girl,” he whispered. He tucked the gun behind his back. “Now tell me where your husband—”
Before he could finish his sentence, I took the candle from beside the bed and flung the hot wax in his face. He put his hands up to shield himself, but it was too late. He growled when the wax clung and stuck.
“What is—”
“Correre, Mamma!”
It only took her a second, but she got to the end of the bed and snatched Ele, while Anna, out of nowhere, flung herself on his back. He slammed her against the wall, pinning her against it, and the crack of it made me stop. I was making sure mamma and Ele got into the safe room. Corrado had showed them the same thing he had showed me. They each had a room of their own.
“Help her!” Mamma shouted, while she ducked into the fireplace.
“Close it!” I screamed. Ele started to wail, and my breasts tightened and started to leak.
Mamma didn’t know what to do.
“Close it!” I said again, this time more forcefully.
She nodded and the door closed. The crying stopped immediately and all went quiet.
I took slow steps toward the fireplace, my eyes darting to my sister, who was on the floor. A dark pool of blood started to form around her head, spreading on the wood.
“Why did you have to go and do that?” He took his gun out, pointing it at me. His face was covered in hardened wax. “I told you. I want your husband, not you.” He shot past me, a whizzing sound coming from the gun, hitting the mirror behind my head. It shattered all over the floor. “Stop right where you are. I’ve heard stories about you, woman. You’re a fucking witch. You’ll make a man’s balls disappear.”
I cleared my throat, hoping it would come out even when I spoke. “My husband is not home,” I said.
He waved the gun. “Put your hands up. I want to see them at all times.”
I did, and took a small step back.
He narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t come here to hurt you, but I fucking will. I said don’t move.”
I did not trust a word coming out of his mouth. If he had the balls to come into this house, he was not going to waste the opportunity and leave empty-handed, if my husband was not home.
As if he could read my mind, he grinned and pulled a