2

Three weeks prior

The sound of the t.v. changing channels was the only thing to be heard in the apartment as Anthony and his wife, Victoria, sat on the couch, trying to find something to watch. Once Anthony got to the end of the channels, he turned the t.v. off and put down the remote. “There’s never anything on anymore. What happened to all the good shows?”

            Victoria shook her head, her midnight hair flourishing as her head moved. “There were plenty of good shows on, Tony. You just passed them all up.” She gave him a swift kiss on the cheek before getting up and heading towards the kitchen. She opened up the fridge in hopes of finding some food, but there was no such luck. “Tony, there’s no food in here. How are we supposed to live without food?”

            Anthony got up off the couch and grabbed his keys from the table next to the couch. “It’s called going out and buying groceries.” He said sarcastically, giving Victoria a kiss before heading out the door.

            Outside, the streets were busy as they always were but this wasn’t a problem for Anthony seeing as he didn’t own a car. The sidewalks were also a bit crowded as well and that was what bothered Anthony more. He didn’t care much for being surrounded by people he didn’t know or trust especially since he knew the mob was out to get him. Anthony wasn’t sure when it would happen but they would approach him at some point in time, that he was sure of.

            Anthony started to walk down the sidewalk, keeping his eyes peeled for any suspicious people milling about. Occasionally he would look behind him to make sure no one was following him but every time he looked, there were no familiar faces around him. Maybe the mob wasn’t ready to make its move on Anthony just yet, which was good since Victoria didn’t know about his relations with the mob, or even that it exists. Anthony wasn’t prepared to tell her that they needed to move without letting her know about what he did. Instead he was going to try and play it off as it came.

            Anthony successfully made it to the store without finding any threat to his life along the way. He walked down each aisle of the store picking up whatever groceries he thought were necessary. All the while he still kept searching all the people that were there, looking for anyone who could be part of the mob out to get him. Surely they were keeping tabs on his movements but they couldn’t be doing it so well that he didn’t see anybody watching him. Anthony finished picking out his groceries and moved over to the cash registers to pay for his food.

            “Seventy-three ninety five. Paper or plastic?” The cashier said as she finished ringing up all the groceries. Anthony told the girl he wanted paper as he brought his wallet out of his pocket. There he had a large amount of cash so that he rarely had to use his credit card. He didn’t like leaving a trail to be tracked by using his credit card. Anthony handed the girl a hundred dollar bill and took his change before leaving the building and heading home.

            Anthony adjusted his hold on the grocery bags as he started up the stone steps in front of his apartment building. He placed the bags on the railing so that he could grab the keys from his pocket. As the door opened, Anthony held it open with his foot while he grabbed his bags and moved inside, letting the door swing closed behind him. As he arrived at his apartment door, he put his bags down again to unlock his door but before he put the key into the lock, he stopped. Anthony noticed that the wood frame was splintered and broken around the lock. He put his keys away and drew out the knife that he had hidden in his belt. Anthony slowly opened the door and peered inside to see that the apartment was trashed. Tables had been broken, lamps knocked over and shattered. Then Anthony saw the most horrific sight of all. In the middle of the living room lied Victoria, face down in a pool of crimson blood.

            Anthony dropped to his knees at the sight of his dead wife. He slowly moved forward, shuffling his knees across the floor until he reached Victoria. A tear rolled down his face as he looked around the room for the attackers but all he found was writing that was carved into the wall. He rose to his feet and walked over to the wall and read: You should have known better. This enraged Anthony greatly. He closed his hand into a fist and pounded it against the wall so hard that he nearly broke through the drywall.

            Anthony turned around and walked over to Victoria’s side and looked down at her. He couldn’t bear to see what they had done to her so he left her as she was and he spoke only these words: “You will be avenged.”

Author's Note

I know it's still a bit short. But it is a short novel and I haven't done any writing in a while.