CHAPTER 2

“Where’s Shane?”.

This is the first thing Dante asks stepping inside our house. He acts calm, cool and relaxed, as usual, but something in his demeanor suggests urgency and tension, and I find myself clasping my hands together involuntarily.

“Uh… She’s in bed…”, I stutter, “…Yeah, she’s… she’s still in bed”.

Dante fixes his eyes into mine and clenches his jaw. His hands rest on his hips.

“What’s going on Dante?”, I ask in a thin, trembling voice.

He seems to notice my pleading eyes and sighs, moving a step toward me and placing his hands on my shoulders, gently.

“Carmen…”, he says in his low voice, leaning his head towards me, “…I need you to call Shane. I need the both of you out of here immediately”.

I grow pale and his grip on my shoulders tightens.

“Don’t worry”, he says, “Just call Shane. Tell her to wait outside with you. Okay? I need to be alone in this house for a while”.

“But… Dante, can you please tell me –“.

“Not now. Do you trust me, Carmen?”.

I sigh heavily, swallowing a lump in my throat.

“Yes I do. Why shouldn’t I?”.

He gives me a lopsided, quick smile and exhales slowly.

“Call Shane”, he repeats, calmly, removing his hands from my shoulders.

I run towards the bedroom and open the door abruptly.
Shane is still laying on the bed, her head resting under the pillow.
I grab her jeans and a t-shirt and throw them to her.

“Babe, you need to get up”, I say, doing my best to make my voice sound as calm as possible.

“Mmm?”, she mumbles sleepily.

“Shane, please, get up. We need to get out”, I repeat firmly, “Dante wants us out of here immediately”.

Her head lifts abruptly, her eyes are half-open now. And surprised.

“What? Dante? Is Dante here?”, she murmurs confused, sitting up on the bed and scratching her head.

“Yeah”, I reply putting the t-shirt right into her hands, “Come on, get dressed. We need to get out of here”.

“What the fuck –“.

“Shane”, I state, stopping in the middle of the room, “Get fucking dressed, now”.

Shane’s jaw clenches and I catch a glimpse of sudden fear into her green eyes. Wordlessly, she gets up and puts her jeans and shirt on as I do the same. I grab her hand and drag her out of the room.
Dante lifts his head as soon as we reappear. He smiles briefly, his hands still firmly placed on his hips.