Reese sped toward Daytona Beach, Florida in anticipation of crossing another name off his list. As the big Harley ate up the miles, he let his mind drift back in time.
Sicily 1347
After Giovanni/Reese left Messenia, he headed toward the country side. Seeing the bodies that littered the streets no longer bothered him unless they somehow reminded him of his wife and children. The question that still nagged him was why he didn't get sick. As he traveled, he met others who hadn't gotten sick and were asking themselves the same question. The religiously devout proclaimed it god's will. Some of them felt that they were being punished somehow; but him? He didn't know if god had anything to do with it. Besides, some of the worst people he had ever known had survived further proving that what was happening was not divinely ordained.
Every so often if he was on the road in the evening he would see carriages rushing out of the city. As always, he wondered where they were going. On occasion, a pale, but otherwise healthy looking face would look at him with eyes filled with a look that he couldn't describe. Later, he would know what that look was: hunger.
After weeks of wandering, he decided to head in the direction of Sicily. His gut rebelled telling him to turn around, but he ignored it. Angelica, his wife had family there and it was his hope that he would find them alive. If that were the case, he would stay with them and try to start over.
He walked into the city unprepared for what he saw. The smell and number of dead bodies along the street was much worse than it had been in Messenia. The odor of decaying and burning human flesh was so strong that he gagged and almost fell to his knees. Again the feeling that he should leave hit him, but he continued on. He had come this far and it would be foolish to leave before he found out if any of Angelica's family was alive.
By the time Giovanni reached the house, he had become accustomed to the cloying, sickening sweet odor that filled the air. He reached the house just as the sun began its decent. He calculated that he had at most two hours before dark. He didn't have to go inside to know that everyone was dead. The yard and garden that was always so carefully tended was overrun by weeds telling him that they had died weeks before. He hoped that none of the bodies were still in the house. If they were it would be on him to give the body a proper burial. He glanced around and went into the house. His plan was to see if there was anything that he could use to help him in his travels. In his mind, he wasn't stealing- they were family and would have given him the things anyway.
He sat his makeshift satchel on the kitchen table, untied and opened it so that he could add things to it. Then he made a quick search of the house relieved when he found no bodies. After that he began to look for things that he could use. He found packets of dried herbs and salt that he threw onto the blanket. He also found some dried fruit and a few partially burnt candles. These he added to the herbs on the blanket. As he searched, he ate a few pieces of the fruit savoring the sweet taste.
He searched both bedrooms going into the bedroom that Angelica's uncle had shared with his wife last. He found nothing of real use except for clothes to replace the threadbare ones that he was wearing. He shook them out, stripped and put the new clothes on. They hung on him, but they were a big improvement over what he was wearing. As an afterthought, he took one of the thicker blankets and laid it on the table next to his satchel.
It was now dusk and too late to find another place to take shelter. Instead of lying on one of the cots, Giovanni/Reese made a bed on the floor in the corner of the room. Within minutes, he was asleep. He wasn't sure of what woke him from his sleep, but when he opened his eyes; a feeling of wrongness permeated the small house. His heart began to pound as he heard an intruder move through the house. He lay as still as he could and bit back a cry when he heard something fall from the dresser in the next room. There was a moment of silence. It was as if the intruder was thinking about his next move.
Giovanni/Reese trembled as an odor that was different than the ones that he had grown used to filled the bedroom. He knew that whoever this was- they meant to cause him harm. But it was more than that, the intruder radiated evil. Giovanni/Reese didn't know what evil felt like, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was in its presence.
"I know that you're here. You cannot hide from me," a soft tenor voice said. "I can hear the rapid beating of your heart and smell the stink of your fear. Come out now and I will not hurt you-much."
The intruder was now by the bedroom door of the room where Giovanni was hiding. Giovanni didn't reply in the hopes that the man would go away. But he didn't. He moved so that he stood between Giovanni and the door.
"Ahhh! There you are!" the intruder said as if he and Giovanni/Reese were playing a game of hide-go-seek. "Come out and I will not hurt you."
Giovanni/Reese startled. How had the intruder seen him? The room was so dark that he couldn't see his hand. With nothing to lose, he bolted from his resting place and tried to run past the intruder.
"Where do you think you're going?" the intruder asked in a voice filled with amusement.
**
When Giovanni/Reese woke up, he was in a strange place. His hair and body had been washed and he was wearing a clean night shirt. He looked around and tried to get up. It was then that he realized that he was tied down on a large bed.
"Help!" he yelled as he pulled on his restraints. "Help!"
"No one will hear you," a woman who looked old enough to be his grandmother said as she walked in carrying a tray.
"What is this place?" Giovanni/ Reese asked, "Why am I here?"
"That isn't for me to tell," the woman replied. "I am only a servant."
She sat the tray that she had been carrying on a small table, poured water into a bowl and dipped a cloth into it. She sat on the edge of the bed and reached over with the wet cloth to wash Giovanni's face. When he turned his face away, she took hold of it with a strength that she shouldn't have had for one so old and turned it back toward her.
"It would be better for you if you learned to obey," she said as she wiped his face.
"Who are you?" Giovanni/Reese asked.
"I told you, I am nothing more than a servant doing my master's bidding. He is right, you are much too thin, you need to be fed and fattened up."
"I won't eat-"
"Yes you will," the woman interrupted. "Even if I have to have you held while I force it down your throat."
Giovanni/Reese weighed his options and decided to cooperate for the time being. He had to figure out where he was before he could think about escaping.
"Good," the woman crooned. "I'm glad that you have decided to see reason."
She left the bed and returned with a bowl of something whose smell made Giovanni/Reese's stomach rumble. The woman gave him a spoonful of a thick stew that contained something that he hadn't had in weeks: meat.
He couldn't help it. He moaned with pleasure as the first spoonful of the warmed stew hit his tongue. He took his time in chewing the meat savoring the taste and texture of it. When the bowl was empty, the woman gave him a drink of water, followed by a cup of sweet wine and then another drink of water.
"Please, may I use the pot? You have my word that I won't try to escape."
After a moment's deliberation, the woman untied the ropes and stood back.
"Thank you grandmother," Giovanni/Reese said as he stood on wobbly legs. He didn't see the woman's eyes mist over at being called grandmother. He used the pot and as promised didn't try to escape. It wasn't the time. He had to know where he was and get stronger. The way that the old woman had moved his head was evidence of that.
He lay on the bed, put his arms and legs in position so that they could be retied. The woman gave him an almost shocked look, but restrained him. This time, he wasn't tied down so tightly. He spent the day in bed shifting his body to find a more comfortable position. Lying on his back wasn't natural to him and he decided to ask the woman if he could sleep unrestrained.
When she came in with the evening meal, Giovanni/Reese asked her again where he was and why he was there. The answer was the same as before.
"I am only a servant," and she said no more.
Once again his face was washed and he was spoon-fed the thick stew that contained meat. He accepted it without question relishing the textures of the meat and vegetables. When he was through, he was allowed to use the pot and to walk around the room for a few minutes. He noticed that the old woman stood by the door as if guarding it. He gave her a curious look wondering how she was going to be able to stop him if he decided to make a run for it.
"Don't think about it," she said as if reading his mind. "Even if you got past me, you wouldn't make it out of the house. Even if you did, there are things in the woods that would tear you apart as soon as they sensed you."
"Will you at least not tell me your name?" Giovanni/Reese asked.
"You may continue to call me grandmother," the woman replied tersely.
Giovanni realized that if he played his cards right, he had an ally. He also saw the light in the woman's brown eyes when he obliged her and called her grandmother. He then understood that she didn't want to be there any more than he did.
"Grandmother, if I give you my word that I won't try to escape, could you leave me untied? I do not usually sleep on my back."
"I will discuss it with my master," she replied. "Now back to bed, I have things to do."
Giovanni/Reese complied without argument.
"I appreciate all that you have been doing for me," he said as he lay on the bed.
The woman didn't answer him as she checked the restraints.
Moments later he was restrained, but they weren't tied as tightly. He still couldn't turn on his side, but he could move around more easily. It wasn't long before he was fast asleep warm and with a full belly. The same sense of wrongness that he felt at Angelica's uncle's house woke him. He strained to see in the darkness. The only thing that he knew for sure was that it wasn't the same person that took him from the house.
He didn't know how he knew that, but he did. Later he would know that it was the smell that was different. The smell of the person currently in the room with him belonged to a female.
"Who's there?" he called out still staining to see.
He struggled against his restraints when a woman took a step into the room. He froze when she came even closer.
"Grandmother? Is that you?"
He knew that it wasn't. The old woman didn't stink and he felt some semblance of safety with her.
The woman stopped in the middle of the room, cocked her head and gave Giovanni/Reese a look that he couldn't see in the darkness. If he had seen it, he would have recognized it even if he didn't have a name for it. Suddenly he was alone again. The scent that came with the woman was gone as well. He slowly relaxed and against his better judgment, fell back to sleep.
The next morning, the old woman was there with his breakfast.
"I have good news," she said with a smile. "Master says that you may sleep unshackled since there is no place for you to go. But... if you try to escape, not only will you die, I will as well. I am asking for your word that you won't attempt to run away."
