CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 40

PRIEST ROSSI

THAT WAS LIKE A BOMB for Gianfrancesco Rossi, finally he was face-to-face with his ghost of all these years.

— Daughter... I...

— Don't ever call me daughter... do you understand, you useless old man? — I accepted you here to find out if you regretted leaving me in an orphanage, for being the most scoundrel priest in the United States... but no, he always was and always will be a fearful egoist who loves to wait for people to do his thing. dirty service. For many years I had forgotten his ugly face, I wish it had stayed that way, but now....

Father Rossi knew that everything his daughter was saying was the absolute truth, he was a fraud, he was a lazy old man who was used to everyone doing his thing, he had never been ashamed of himself and cleaned a pew., everything was done by the kind ladies who went faithfully to his masses, and then helped him to take care of everything.

He knew better than anyone that as a human being he was someone who was not worth what he ate, he ran away from the woman he loved for fear of what people would think, he entered the seminary so that his family would have a good name among the Italian families of New York, her parents lied to everyone that Alicia and her mother were relatives who were staying at their house for a while, but the same society they were trying to make a good impression on, was the same society that threw Alicia into an orphanage, that took her to the world of prostitution, which forced her to be the best she could for a little status and which had now taken everything she owned.

The old priest remembered all the Roman parties he attended with Donald and Halguraisco, his soul was more perverted than he imagined...

The priest tried to argue, but Alicia ran away with her bag on her back without looking back.

AS SOON AS THEY LEFT the building, Alicia took out her revolver and pointed it at Enrico.

— Where did you put the car?

Enrico pointed to the main avenue and they ran towards it.

As soon as they saw the car Alicia said:

— See how your worthless problem is solved.

Enrico froze watching Alicia approach the car when the car exploded.

For a moment, Enrico was terrified of losing her — after all, who would defend him? He alone was too weak — but she slowly got to her feet and came back to his side.

— But how? — She said trying to understand the moment — did you see that? What a crazy thing.

But before they could catch their breath and start coming up with a new escape plan, the apartment they were in also exploded.

At the same moment Enrico remembered that the priest was still there.

— Father Rossi... — he said in a whisper.

— It's too late… — Alicia said with a sarcastic and sadistic smile on her face — let's go, we don't have time to waste, we need to see where we're going now.

When Alicia turned around and saw the barrel of Carlos Ortiega's revolver, he lowered his head and the only thing she saw was his blood red eyes, coincidentally that was also the last thing he saw.

He squeezed the trigger.

ENRICO DID NOT SEE ANYTHING IN THE FIRST INSTANT, he only saw that it was Carlos Ortiega when Alicia's body fell to the ground lifeless, he looked at Enrico and said:

— I finally found you, kid, let's see if you're smooth now...

Ortiega smirked at Enrico — pointing his Magnum at him.

Enrico didn't believe that the only time he wouldn't escape someone would be the same situation he would die in, but as always, Enrico knew he always had a miracle waiting for him.

A police car pulled up behind Ortiega, and when the policemen had come out screaming for Ortiega to drop his weapon, he turned and fired two single shots that silenced those policemen.

When Ortiega turned around, Enrico was gone.

— One day the soap runs out, Enrico Fuerte — Carlos Ortiega said to himself without showing any emotion — and that day I'll be there waiting for you with open arms to take you to hell.

Ortiega passed a blind beggar, got very close to his face and lowered the beggar's sunglasses and said:

— I love to smell fear in people, but I only kill if I see fear in their eyes, unfortunately you're a blind bastard who was born dead, you won't be that lucky, I'll let nature take care of you...

***

WHEN ORTIEGA ARRIVED at Donald Dunhill's office, Carlos Ortiega sat in the chair opposite his master and placed his feet on the table and said:

— The girl and the priest are dead, but the Fuerte managed to escape.

Donald Dunhill grabbed Ortiega by the neck and lifted him into the air.

— You incompetent, I ask you to kill a miserable Puerto Rican and you can't even do that?

Dunhill threw Ortiega against the wall and he nearly fainted from his master's strength.

— There's no way this kid could be that miraculous, that's all — Donald Dunhill said, looking out of his office window.

Ortiega smiled mischievously and said:

— Since when does God exist? This can only be a joke isn't it master?

Donald Dunhill looked at Ortiega with pity for him and said:

— Only an ignorant like you, a commanding little dog, could say such nonsense, Carlos.

Ortiega knelt before Dunhill, still trying to recover from the blow, but Donald slapped him that made Ortiega pass out.

— It can only be God...— Dunhill said to himself. — It can only... damn it...

CARLOS ORTIEGA WAKE UP and Dunhill was no longer there. Didn't know he'd been out for more than three hours.

Ortiega looked out the window and for the first time since meeting the master he regretted the decisions he had made since that fateful day, thirty years ago.

ORTIEGA WAS THE SON OF A COUPLE of very successful businessmen who participated in a satanic sect that prepared the coming of the antichrist.

At first, they thought that the great lucky one would be their son, after all, they were the priests who guided that immense community and, nothing fairer than being presented with such grace.

The ritual was performed through human sacrifices.

One of the first memories Ortiega had was the sacrifice of his sister — Caroline –, every month they sacrificed a child, he lived in the expectation that he would be one of those children one day.

As incredible as it may seem, little Carlos Ortiega was not afraid of sacrifices, that excited him, the blood that flowed from the altar lit up his soul, he knew he had an alliance with all that, his life was intimately linked to death.

Nobody imagined that those great politicians and businessmen were behind it. They were respectable men throughout society, and everyone knew that the end would soon come, that's why it was so important to prepare for the coming of the antichrist.

Ortiega first saw Donald Dunhill at one of these services. Donald was a child who had been abandoned by his parents in an orphanage, he had gotten lost that night through the city running away from the orphanage.

When the boy was about to be sacrificed, fire began to spread throughout the temple and the priests — Ortiega's parents — stabbed themselves to death.

Donald Dunhill — who at the time was called Juan Luis Aguero — stood up completely naked, his eyes blazing and raised his arms to the crowd, everyone kneeled before the boy — except Ortiega who was frustrated that he was not the chosen one and to see your parents being killed in front of you.

Dunhill came close to Ortiega and gave him a kiss on the mouth, suddenly Ortiega's whole body started to catch fire, he thought he was going to die, but when he woke up — three days later — Ortiega realized that he had been chosen to guard the life of his new master.

All the entrepreneurs who participated in that cult took care of the chosen one, they knew that by doing that, they would be highly successful entrepreneurs and would never die in misery, that's what everyone thought.

DONALD DUNHILL Gradually was killing them one by one and taking care of the business of every businessman involved in that sect, the only one who was still alive was Ortiega, but he was feeling that his time was running out.

Dunhill studied at the best schools and married Gwen's mother at the age of twenty-one, in a religious ceremony presided over by Bishop Amiathan Farewell — one of the favorites to be the next pope at the time of the wedding.

Anabelle Burns Dunhill — Dunhill's wife — never imagined that her husband was the antichrist or that he participated in satanic sects, for her, Donald was the perfect man, he was always polite, affectionate, he gave her the queen life she always dreamed of, she just didn't imagine that he would kill her himself right after Gwen's accident.

In addition to the responsibility of preparing the world to rule, his life was his daughter — Gwen — he did everything for her, unfortunately a tragedy happened when Gwen was seven years old. She was completely disfigured, and not even after sixty-seven plastic surgeries with the best surgeons in the world could she get her back to normal.

Ortiega never forgave himself for leaving little Gwen alone for a few minutes, but he never told Donald it was his fault either.

***

ENRICO ESCAPE JUMPING into an open manhole that had signs around it indicating that men were working there.

He hid in a hole, sat down and began to cry desperately.

I don't know if God exists, but... if there is, give me strength, go...

Without realizing it, Enrico missed his wife Gwen, he didn't know how to fix things, maybe it was too late for him, but now that the whole world was behind his back, it was easier to admit his stupid mistakes.

Enrico remembered all the good times he had spent with Gwen, all the trips, all the daily caresses she made. Enrico didn't know where he got that story about liking Alicia...

It was all a grand illusion...

She was always rude to him, was always in a bad mood, took out all her worries on him, was unbalanced, and kept having sex with judges and prosecutors to win countless cases.

Enrico was crying because he felt like the worst man in the world. Nothing in the world would spur him to stand up and face what he had to face.

SOMEONE SAT DOWN BESIDE HIM, but Enrico didn't have the courage to look, for him it was Ortiega, and the last image that Enrico wanted to have of his miserable life was not of an executioner, he wanted to die dreaming of his beloved wife, embracing her in the same paradise that said goodbye to her.

— Cut it out, Ortiega, I surrender — he said with no concern in his voice, just looking down.

— God has forgiven your sins, my son — Father Rossi said with a smile on his face — rest your heart in peace, you are a good man Enrico my son.

The two embraced like a father embraces a son, suddenly Enrico smells a strange smell in the air.

— What's that shit smell, Father?

The priest blushed and replied:

— I'm sorry son, when I was leaving, I saw Ortiega coming after you, my clothes were so old when I escaped the explosion that he thought I was a beggar, I just pretended to be blind and escaped, but I still smeared my pants from so much fear.

Enrico burst out laughing, the priest didn't find it so funny.

AFTER BUYING NEW CLOTHES for him and the priest, Enrico threw away the chip and decided to walk peacefully on the streets, no one dared to approach them — even full of low — voiced comments.

Enrico saw Ortiega leaning against his Harley— Davidson, smoking his Cuban cigar.

Ortiega lowered his sunglasses and smiled, Enrico waved at him, and Ortiega waved back.

The two walked quietly to an abandoned asylum and slept there, they knew it was useless to run away, they decided to surrender their lives in God's hands, if they were going to die, at least they would die with dignity, like men.

Enrico had a strange dream.

ENRICO WAS TRYING to commit suicide on top of the San Francisco bridge, when the beautiful man who claimed to be Jesus approached him and said:

— You don't need that, Enrico... Gwen has forgiven you, she understands that you've had a hard life and that, in a way, it wasn't your fault, but that you were man enough to recognize your mistakes and learn from them, you were. man enough to turn the other cheek to knock, you've proven yourself worthy to be called my brother...

Enrico hugged Jesus and continued to cry, they both knew that moment was special. Both Jesus and Enrico wanted that hug to never end.

Jesus smiled and said:

— For someone who has lied to himself all his life, it's easy to see the truth when someone tells it, isn't it? — What's it like to look inside yourself and see that you're a real man, Enrico?

— It's like I'm a new man.

Jesus smiled.

— For God there are no ex-drugs, ex-prostitutes, ex-bankrupts, etc. For God there are new creatures, you are part of the club now, Enrico, don't forget that I will always be by your side, regardless of the situation...

Enrico wiped away his tears and realized that the light was dazzling his eyes.

At that moment, a new wave of shock occurred like that day when he had lost Gwen, and everything became absolute darkness.