Shadow of punishment

Chapter 1 - 2

Rita Visentini, an eccentric and sprightly old lady, lived in one of the apartments on the third floor. Everyone in the building knew her well because of her habits. She loved to gossip about everybody. More than once they had found her eaves dropping outside her neighbors' doors, peeking through the windows into other peoples' lives, furtively spying on the ordinary lives of the residents.

She had just gone to bed when all of a sudden, a thunderous noise coming from the streets woke her up again. Curious, she got up and looked out the window. The luminescent color of a car caught her eye, even before the door of the vehicle suddenly opened. The man behind the wheel rushed inside the building and the fact he hadn't parked the car properly, despite the many available spots, intrigued her even more. So she ran to the entrance, to discover what the man was so urgently doing. She approached with her ear to the door, and remained there listening, but all was silent. A few seconds later, she heard a sequence of bangs, along with some screams, coming from the lower floor. Getting even more interested, Rita wriggled out of her house. She bent forward, trying to find out who the rude man was. But the obscurity only allowed her to discern a shape who, agitating in the shadows, kicked and punched at her neighbor's door. Then the door opened, lighting up the shape, but it closed again a moment later, swallowing him inside the apartment. Not enough time to identify him.

Disappointed by her failure, Rita returned home, resigned. But as soon as she got back, she heard screams coming from the floor below. So she ran to the kitchen window that Miss Fogliani used to leave open until late at night. She thought from there she'd be able to follow the events with no rush. Unfortunately, the voices were still far away. The two people must have stopped at the entrance. Or in the living room, which was on the other side of the building. Trying to decipher at least part of the conversation, she bent out the window as much as she could, but it was useless.

Regardless, she remained in that unpleasant position, hoping things would soon change.

When it happened, things seemed to turn unexpectedly. Rita recognized Miss Fogliani's ex-partner in the mysterious man's voice. She was puzzled. After all, he had always seemed like a kind and polite man. She tried to understand what the terrible focus of their argument was, but in all that yelling not a single word was understandable. So she pulled her head back and was about to close the window when a sudden echo came from the lower floor. Instinctively, she bent forward again, and she got the impression that in the house below objects were flying from one side to another. She heard something shattering, a mirror or a shelf. Also, something must have hit the ceiling, because she heard a bang coming up from the floor. The screams became sharper and more violent and Rita began to feel overwhelmed by the fear of what was happening. Unsure about whether to call the police or not, she picked up the telephone with her trembling hand. She held the receiver aloft for a few moments, wondering if that was the right thing to do. Finally, when she decided to dial the number, the screams stopped all of a sudden and she hung up, relieved.

Then she looked at her watch. It was July12th, and it was a little after ten thirty. The following morning she had to get up early because her daughter had invited her to spend a few days at her place. Surely, Rita didn't want to miss her train because of those two. She had had enough of emotions. So she closed the window like nothing had happened and went back to bed.

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