The duo stopped in front of the elevator, and waited for Valentina who was trying to capture the trail of white walls.
"Thank God we followed the other wing. Someone would definitely have spotted us, and reported to carpo," Marcello whispered to Elio.
But he was so distracted from watching Valentina walk over, he didn't hear a word said to him.
Marcello lifted his elbow, and jabbed him from the side.
"Marce!" He cursed, just as Valentina got to them.
"I'm so sorry guys. I just needed to capture all of that. So what's next?" She cheesed hard as she looked from one to the other.
"We're going to get into that elevator, and it'll lead us up to the car that'll take us to L'arenaNera," Elio explained.
"Uhmm, why up?"
The boy's gaze met, as they communicated with their eyes- if answering her question could be classified as breaking any rules.
Elio nodded when Marcello nudged his head for him to go on.
After all, if he got in trouble, they both got in trouble.
"Neravalle is underground, hence why you have to go up."
"No way! That makes it actually cool in my eyes now." She turned her head around, and observed in awe.
"Yeah, about the elevator—"
Her eyes snapped back to him. "Yeah?"
"It's really dark inside."
Valentina subconsciously took a step back. "I'll pass," she blurted.
Elio's eyes squinted as he caught the very brief fear that flashed through her eyes.
He didn't take Valentina as someone who was afraid of anything.
She had not panicked in the presence of Luce. She had not even flinched when Daniela went on verbal attack against her.
The idea that she was afraid of the dark, had his mind spinning.
"You could close your eyes. It doesn't take long to go up, I promise," Elio assured her.
"It's true. Just like this–" Marcello snapped his finger. "And you're up."
Valentina tried to keep a straight face. But deep inside of her, she panicked.
Anything could go wrong. What if the dark elevator got stuck? Or something compelled her to open her eyes before it reached the top, only to be met with darkness?
In the dark, demons danced. Odd shapes watched. The eye of the devil followed her, taunting her with the horrors of her past, and the promise of a worse future.
"I don't want to," she said in a soft voice, failing to hide her concern as the skin of her forehead wrinkled.
The boys looked at themselves again. This time, even Marcello has noticed.
"Valentina, I don't mean to be forward, but are you afraid of the dark?" Marcello asked.
"I don't like it," she replied honestly, and in a heartbeat.
"Oh," he nodded in understanding.
"Val baby, here's a trick Luce taught me when I was much younger, and was just as afraid of the dark." Elio called her attention.
She stared at him with a mask in her face, hiding the hope in her eyes.
"Cover your eyes with your hand. Or maybe with your cap. And think of something pleasant. Could you try that now? I promise we'll be right there with you."
She looked at his intense eyes, deciding if they were trusting enough. Then she shifted her gaze to Marcello's.
"You'll be there?" She asked again, just to confirm.
"We'll both be there," Marcello said.
"Alright," She took a deep breath. "Let's do it."
Valentina was in the middle of both guys, with her hands covering her face, as they shielded her from the dark, whilst in the elevator.
It went up fast, but in her mind it took forever.
However, when the temperature of the air finally shifted, she knew she had made it through the horrors.
The elevator stopped moving, and then the doors slid open.
"You can open your eyes, Val," Elio said.
Valentina expected to see a hallway, but as she opened her eyes, and stepped out of the elevator, she saw she was completely out in the open.
The scenery was the very first thing to hit her hard.
It was blue, and clear, and smelled crisp with mint and eucalyptus.
She reached for her camera around her neck immediately, and took a picture.
"What do you think about the landscape of Aurivilla so far, Val?" Elio asked.
She turned to him, and he saw the twinkle in her eyes.
"It is stunning!" She said in a breathless voice.
And it really was.
A photographer's paradise. She clicked the camera three more times, taking different angles of the clear sky.
"Wait until the sun starts to set. It shifts from this wonderful clear blue, to a bit of warm green. Like your eyes. Luce did well with this location for his city, didn't he?"
She was about to respond, when her mind revisited the words of the gypsy.
On a day where the sky is clearer than any you've ever encountered, and there's no sadness denting the air, everything will change.
She shuddered at those ominous words, now more than ever, regretting she had allowed Natalia to talk her into entering the weird woman's tent.
None of it was real. No one could predict or read anyone's future.
"Get out of my head!" She screamed internally.
Her attention was instantly drawn from her thoughts when Marcello whistled.
"You brought out the beetle? Damn Elio!"
Valentina's eyes searched, and was immediately rewarded with an answer.
The car Marcello was raving about was indeed stunning. Very interesting too, because it looked vintage.
"Val baby, would you believe it if I tell you this car has been in existence for over fifty years?"
"Really?" She moved closer, and took a picture of it. "It's beautiful," she said.
"It was Luce's very first car in his teens. He handed it over to me when I turned eighteen. It has been in my collection ever since. But I only take it out on special occasions," he laughed infectiously.
Valentina couldn't help but to take a picture of him at that moment.
He wasn't the boy lusting after her. He was one showing genuine gratitude.
Clearly, he idolised Luciano a lot.
She had tried her hardest to distance her thoughts from him, but Elio wouldn't stop mentioning his name.
Regardless of how it made her feel, she couldn't blame him for being thankful to the man who obviously had a lot of impact on him.
"Okay you two, pose in front of the car so I can take your picture," she said.
Elio quickly formed a gun with his fingers, and kissed them. Marcelo tilted his head to the side in a model pose.
Click!
Valentina laughed after taking the picture.
"Who came out best, Val? Me right?" Elio asked.
"Uhmmm," she twisted her lips. "Marcello, you should consider modelling. You have a pretty face. Photographers would absolutely love you."
"Huh?!" Elio scrunched his nose.
"You think so, Bella? Do you like pretty boys?" Marcello took the opportunity and ran with it.
Elio remembered the answer to that question, and quickly quenched the fire before it even began to burn.
"Hop in guys, we're late!"
Valentina chuckled, as she spotted the scowl Marcello threw at him..
She took one last picture, before hopping into the passenger seat, Marcello insisted she sat in.
"Do you mind some music, Val baby?" Elio asked, as he drove.
Her eyes lit up. "I don't mind music at all. Put it in the highest volume!" She encouraged him.
"That's my girl!"
She moved her head to the window, as he turned on the stereo.
An Italian song began to blast. The boys screamed in sync.
Valentina took their reaction to mean it was a song they really loved.
The language wasn't understood by her, but still, her body moved to the rhythm.
She took more pictures, as the boys sang at the top of their voices.
Click!
She captured the moment a red deer ran across one end of the bush to the other.
And when you see the creature of the forest run, know that it is the day your future truly begins.
"No! Leave me alone!" She screamed in her head, and closed her eyes tightly to wade off the voices.