Page 325 of Marcello

“There you are,” I murmured.

She was at the far end of the tunnel, crouching behind a wooden beam, trying to hide –

But nobody could hide from me.

I saw everything.

“There you aaaaare,” I said as I started towards her.

She had nowhere to go. Her back was against another wall, but there weren’t any more holes to crawl through.

“There you aaaaare!” I yelled as I sprinted towards her.

She started screaming.

I slowed down as I got close to her.

She looked like a witch – all covered in dirt and dust, and her hair was full of cobwebs. She wore a tiny little nightgown that had probably been white, but was brown from all the dust.

But you could tell she was pretty.

I bet if I cleaned her up, she’d be real pretty.

“You’re coming with me,” I said as I grabbed her wrist.

Now everybody else would see I wasn’t crazy.

They all thought I was, but I wasn’t.

I’d strip her down and wash her off…

And then we’d have some fun.

Maybe I wouldn’t even wash her off, because if I did, all the other guys would want some…

But not till I was finished.

And I was going to take a long time to finish.

I just had to get her out of the tunnel first.

112

Giulietta

The man who had been digging finally broke through the wall –

And I was terrified out of my mind.

I couldn’t see him because he was behind the flashlight beam, which blinded me in the darkness –

But I could hear his creepy, high-pitched voice:

“There you aaaaare.”

Then he started coming towards me.

I began to scream. I couldn’t help myself.