Dante & The Dark Seed

by C. J. Pizzurro

  “I don’t know if you were conscious at the time, but as soon as we got on the scene, we cut through your shirt to find your chest in the state it is now, healed, with nothing more than a scar where the entry and exit wounds are. Never in all my years have I seen someone recuperate as you have. You had a pool of blood big enough for you to drown in, and, well, Janice and I—”

  Adel Jr. leaned forward to look up as Janice was taking her time driving, going the speed limit. She gave Adel Jr. a contrite and apologetic smile.

  “Well, we both saw your wounds, and I know I don’t have to tell you, but I think I speak for both of us when I say we have no idea how to handle a situation like this. We’ll code that your dad is dead on arrival, but you are proof that miracles exist, and you are probably going to be the reason I start going back to church.”

  Both Janice and Adel Jr. smirked.

  “But at this point, you certainly don’t need to be admitted to the hospital, and I can’t tell the truth. I just don’t want to lose my license if I say you healed miraculously.”

  “You could just say I was treated for slight lacerations. And won’t it affect the investigation that you removed the body from the scene? I thought crime scene investigators are supposed to look at the scene before the removal of the body.”

  “Honestly, kid, at first glance, I thought I was going to have a fighting chance to save him, but looking at him on the stretcher, he looked like he gave up the will to live. You know the guy who shot him, so that should hold up.”

  “All of us do.” Adel Jr. grabbed his father’s hand, interlacing their fingers. He was still warm to the touch. “So, which hospital are we heading to? I can tell my mom.”

  “Oh, no. It’s customary for local law enforcement to notify next of kin. So just sit tight.”

  Adel Jr. was sadder than he had ever been and yet more motivated than ever. He decided then and there that he would make the best out of this terrible situation, imagining the contents of the black notebook. Before today he was unsure about going through the lengths of becoming a lawyer, but he made a promise that day, sitting there squeezing his dad's hand as it began to cool.

  I’m damn sure not going to let this opportunity go to waste. No matter how long it takes, I will become a lawyer and bring my father’s killers to justice, and I’ll tear down everything they’ve built. I’m coming for you first, Rip.

  • • •

  Officer Bonner was in the office late that Saturday night, churning away before the phone rang.

  “Go for Bonner.”

  “I’m calling from Chatham Hospital, and we need you to notify next of kin that an Adel Saleh has been injured and is on the way to us now.”

  Doug Bonner’s jaw dropped.

  “Hello?”

  “Yeah, I’m here, and I heard you. I’ll take care of it, but is there any more info you can give me?”

  “Nope, it’s just my job to make this call.”

  Bonner hung up the phone and dialed the Saleh’s, but no one answered. So he tried again and again, but still, no one picked up. So he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed.

  • • •

  Brianna and Elaine had finished cleaning the Luciano household in hopes that their partners had been successful in keeping the children safe, but hours went by with no word from them, so Brianna became worried.

  “Adel’s done this sort of thing for years, this time feels different.” She picked up the last stray plate from atop the tower speaker, seeing it still had a big piece of unfinished lemon cake. “Kids these days.” Brianna sighed, walking it to the trash bin.

  Her cell phone buzzed, and she dropped the plate. As the cake plopped, frosting-first, onto the floor, Brianna yelled, “Damn it!”

  Seeing how flustered Brianna was, Elaine came to help. “Let me get that. Get that phone call.”

  Brianna stepped off to the side and flipped the phone open. “Hello.”

  “Brianna. It’s Doug.”

  Elaine watched as a look of terror entered Brianna’s eyes.

  “Doug, where’s Adel? Where is my husband?”

  “He’s on the way to Chatham Hospital. I’d give you more information, but it’s all the info I got. You want me to come get you?”

  “What happened to my husband, Doug?”

  “I don’t know, Brianna. The only thing they said was that he’s injured.”

  “He promised….”

  “And since when has that ever stopped him, Brianna? Where are ya? I can come getcha.”

  Nodding her head, she cried, knowing how right he was. “I’m at the Luciano’s with George’s girlfriend. I’ll ask if she can drive us and we’ll meet you there.”

  “Where do we need to go?” Elaine asked.

  “Chatham Hospital. We’ll meet you there, Doug.”

  “Copy that.”

  And with that, all three of them raced to the hospital.

  • • •

  Adel Jr. waited in the lobby to cut off his mother before she tried to barge her way through.

  As Brianna’s eye met her son’s walking through the automatic doors, she froze. Her eyes begged, pleaded, that her husband was still alive.

  Adel Jr. held his lips together, walking toward her, opening his arms for a hug, but she didn’t want a hug just yet. Looking into his eyes, her hands trembled as she reached for his. “Your father wouldn’t want you to sugarcoat things.”

  He knew that she knew, and her shaking hands began to get the best of him. His eyes began to glimmer. He took his hands away and threw them around her, pulling her in tight. He could still feel her tremble, and his lips followed suit.

  “He’s…he’s gone, Mom. He’s gone….”

  Brianna squeezed him tighter and sobbed.

  For another few moments, they grieved until Brianna stopped shaking. “I want to see him.”

  Adel Jr. walked everyone back, nodding to the woman working at the front desk. And when they made it to the frigid room, Adel was covered in a white sheet.

  Unfazed, Brianna pulled the covers from his face, smiling through her tears. “Now, if that’s not the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on….” She reached down and grabbed her husband’s hand.

  Bonner and Elaine stood there not saying a word, while Brianna looked at her husband like she had always looked at him, with adoration and love.

  “You better have gone out a hero, handsome. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I just didn’t want it to happen this soon.” Tears ran down her face as she kissed his forehead.

  “He did, Mom. He did.”

  • • •

  Dawayne was only a few minutes away from arriving back at the Luciano residence. No one spoke a word during the trip home, and Dante had fallen asleep laying his weary head on Anora’s shoulder.

  Pulling into the driveway, Anora whispered, “We made it home, time to wake up.”

  George looked confused to see Elaine’s car wasn’t still in the driveway. Perhaps she went to the store, George thought, but then it hit him. Brianna was here.

  Dante didn’t move an inch as Anora got up, leaning his head against the headrest. She cleared her throat and jostled him. “Dante, wake up.”

  George shook his head, muttering, “Not again.”

  “Seriously, Dante, remove yourself from my car so I can go home,” Dawayne said.

  Anora turned to George. “Does he ever just wake up on his own when he’s out like this?”

  “So I guess that’s a no?” Anora asked after hearing no response.

  Dawayne answered, seeing George overwhelmed, “No, the doctors customarily have been resorting to smelling salts. And the last time he was out for hours, they tried using an experimental drug, to no avail.”

  Try after try, they did their best to rouse Dante.

  George looked to Dawayne. “Can ya drive us to the hospital?”

  “Only for you.”

  They piled back in the car, heading toward the hospital, but Anora had one last idea
. She pressed her thumb against Dante’s forehead.

  Deep inside, Dante’s consciousness had receded to the darkest corners of itself where he could rest—no dreams to be had. With all her will, Anora hoped her thumb would do something, and it did. Her intention illuminated the intermediary place where his spirit and consciousness reposed, but still curled up and comfy, Dante was too tired to reach for it.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Where We Go One, We Go All

  There everyone was that Saturday night, gathered around Dante. Amy had remembered everything from her time in Hell, and even now, her nine-year-old brain knew that what Dante had gone through was no easy feat. Her eyes were still wide, with the events of the day running through her mind. Adrenaline coursed through her every capillary, so she remained upright with ease.

  Brianna couldn’t continue looking at her husband in the state he was in. “He wouldn’t want us to grovel, son. He’d want us to move on. If we sit and mope now, it would be disrespectful to his name.” Hearing about what happened with Dante, they waited until they could lend support.

  “Okay, Brianna, we can go up now,” Elaine said, checking her phone before they headed upstairs. When they made it to the long hallway, George, Amy, Anora, and Dawayne all stood, waiting.

  Brianna noticed the bruises on George’s face. “You’re going to have to tell me what happened, George. You have to tell me what happened to my husband.”

  “I know, but you may think I’m crazy,” George said.

  Adel Jr. felt his scar through his shirt. “It can’t be crazier than getting my memories back.”

  A silence came over the hallway.

  “Well, your story would most certainly make good testimony,” Dawayne said.

  “Not necessarily. I’d have to look it up,” Adel Jr. retorted.

  “And why didn’t you tell your mother?” Brianna asked.

  “Didn’t seem like a good time, Mom.”

  “Well, you can tell me later.”

  Brianna looked to George, asking once more, “What happened?”

  George wasn’t sure how much to withhold. They witnessed beings that George had trepidation to even begin explaining. “Anora and Dawayne can vouch for me, since what I’m about to tell you sounds a little crazy.”

  George walked into the room, shutting the door after everyone was inside.

  “So, obviously you know where we went, the Devil’s Tramping Ground….”

  Bonner shook his head, not liking where this was going.

  George told them everything. “And there was one other thing.” He stopped, fumbling over his tongue, remembering his wife and Adel saying the same thing before they transitioned. “Ah, never mind. It was nothing.”

  Everyone pondered in silence for a brief second while Anora and Dawayne looked on, not certain as to how they’d respond.

  “Well, the rest of your story certainly wasn’t nothing. It was crazy, George,” Brianna said.

  Anora grabbed Brianna by the hand, looking her in the eyes. “It was crazy, and it happened. How do you think we felt seeing this stuff happen?”

  “Figures Adel somehow got wrapped up in all this—always sticking his nose in people's business got him killed.”

  George wanted to say something, but Anora looked at him with a look of assuredness. “We wouldn’t be alive if it weren't for your husband. He’s a hero, and just look at your son's chest. We saw him die, and now look at him. We don’t know why it happened, but it did, Mrs. Saleh. It really did.”

  Brianna wrapped her arms around Anora, hugging her, while Dawayne observed, learning more about emotion and loss. His mask remained intact as his friend remained unconscious.

  The minutes turned into hours, and at the stroke of midnight, Dante began to stir.

  “C’mon, buddy,” Dawayne demanded.

  Anora leaned forward and whispered into his ear, causing his leg to jerk.

  “I love you, big brother. Wake up, please,” Amy pleaded.

  He cracked open his eyes as much as he could, but only long enough to see Amy standing at the end of his bed before his eyelids grew heavy once more and closed.

  Everyone echoed their disappointment.

  Amy couldn’t yet put it into words, but she, too, knew how he felt, fading in and out of consciousness in the arms of her father. Earlier that night, George had asked their neighbor to keep an eye on his Little Love, confident she’d sleep better there than on the floor of the hospital. He owed her that much after their ordeal.

  “Little miss, you ready to go see Mrs. Bess?”

  Amy wiped her eyes, nodding.

  “I think we should head out too. My son and I can take a cab so we’re not an inconvenience,” Brianna said.

  “Nonsense! I’ll take you two,” Bonner exclaimed, rising to his feet, helping Brianna up.

  “I’ll come back in the morning,” Adel Jr. said to Anora and Dawayne.

  “And I can take you and the little one, George, so you don’t have to ask Dawayne to borrow his car,” Elaine stated.

  “You assume I would have let him borrow it,” Dawayne joked, but no one was even close to being in the mood to laugh.

  Dawayne and Anora began making preparations to make themselves as comfortable as they could.

  Anora eyed the bed Dante laid on, looking at the sliver of cushion between him and the rails, deeming it to be far better than the chairs in the room. Nudging Dante over a little bit, she snuggled next to him using her coat as a pillow. Dawayne sat in the chair, leaning his head against the wall.

  In no time, Elaine and George got back. Their steps alone were enough to stir both Anora and Dawayne. George had brought a tiny sleeping bag and there was one chair left. Inviting Elaine to take it, George curled up on the cold tile floor.

  Before they knew it, dawn’s light began peering through the window, touching Anora’s face with its warm light, her arm and leg draped over Dante.

  “Uhh,” Anora groaned as she stretched.

  “I don’t wanna hear it. The floor isn’t forgiving at all. I’ve been up for hours,” George said, sounding like he had a frog in his throat.

  “Well, so much for the idea of sleeping in. I grew quite fond of this chair,” Dawayne added.

  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me?” Elaine asked, cracking her neck.

  “Well, that was an attempt at humor.”

  George couldn’t help but laugh, but as he sat up and looked to his son, his smile faded.

  C’mon, son, we need you…. I need you to pull through.

  “They should be serving breakfast by now,” Elaine said, helping George from the floor.

  “Ahh, my favorite, hospital food,” Dawayne joked.

  Anora fixed her hair that had frizzed up, matting it back down while Dawayne and the others made their way down the hall. They didn’t see many nurses or doctors walking through the halls on their way to the ground floor, but Dawayne followed his nose to soon find where the staff had gathered.

  He saw muffins, bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, and waffles adorning the trays of those in the cafeteria. He grabbed a little bit of everything, paying no mind to the age-old axiom, ladies first. With blinders on, he scourged through the line, making his way to the cash register.

  On the other hand, Anora adhered to the other age-old maxim, age before beauty, insisting Elaine get in line before her.

  Grabbing nothing more than an assortment of fruit, Anora got enough to share with Dante, whenever he woke. Everyone had faith that he’d wake soon even though this had been the longest he’d been out during a coma. But none the less, they took their time eating.

  Adel Jr. kept his word, coming in and sitting down before anyone lifted their heads from their food.

  “Oh, hey, Adel Jr. Thanks for coming,” George said with a sad smile.

  “Wipe that frown off your face, Mr. Luciano. My dad wouldn’t want your pity, and I don’t want it either. There’s bigger fish to fry.”

  “That perspective will take you a
long way,” George said, shaking his finger in the air.

  “I know. There were just a few things my dad wrote in his notebook that put things in perspective.”

  George breathed easier than he had in many hours, all thanks to Adel Jr, but he also remembered what Adel told him about the notebook. “Care to share anything from the notebook?”

  “Just one thing. It’s a quote.”

  Adel Jr. cleared his throat. “Where we go one, we go all.”

  “Wow, I like that. Never heard of it,” Anora chimed.

  “And what do you think it means?” Elaine asked.

  “Well, when I first read it, I imagined seeing my dad with a candle or light, lighting up the way for us. And in the act of him spelunking through these dark corners alone, he realized he was never alone. The very act of him doing what was right was pushing us all forward, all of us. Where we go one, we go all.”

  Chills ran down Adel Jr.’s arms, feeling more connected to his father than he had even when he was still amongst them. To be picking up where his father left off was nothing short of an honor.

  “That’s quite touching. I have a feeling that Dante is going to wake soon,” Dawayne said after finishing his plate. Floating high on Adel Jr.’s words and the idea that Dante would soon wake, everyone made their way back up to the third floor.

  Anora rounded the halls and, upon looking into the room, she saw Dante upright, staring out the window with a smile on his face.

  “Yay, so you’re awake!” Anora hollered.

  “Lucky guess, and just in time for breakfast,” Dawayne joked as Anora handed her beloved a banana.

  Dante smiled, looking to Adel Jr. “Oh wow, that wasn’t a dream.”

  “Nope, I’m here,” Adel Jr. said, smiling.

  “So that means…he’s gone.”

  “But not forgotten,” Adel Jr. quipped.

  “We all saw you get shot in the chest.”

  Adel Jr. looked around before lifting his shirt, revealing the tiny but healed scar. “The EMT said it was nothing short of a miracle.”

  Just then, there was a knock at the door. A tall man with long, brown hair, wearing white scrubs, stood at the entryway. Everyone turned to him and, for a moment, they were in awe of his size. His muscles were popping through his shirt.