Page 9 of Silent Snowfall

“It’s not nothing!” I hissed. “What is going on?”

Taking a deep breath, my grandmother grabbed both my hands. “It’s Christmas magic, dolcezza mia. Don’t pull back the curtain looking for reason. Enjoy the wonder of the season.”

Well…my nonna didn’t know the first thing about me if she thought I wasn’t going to figure this out.

Chapter 4 – Rosetta

The fiber-rich dinner Nonna made had me up at midnight with stomach rumbles. Ladies weren’t supposed to toot, but the beans in the pasta made elegance absolutely impossible. Mercifully, the boys were sound asleep, so there would be no flatulent jokes at my expense. I decided to embrace my rooty-tooty booty, while I was alone. But just to be safe, I hunted in the bathroom medicine cabinet for Pepto-Bismol. This situation needed to be resolved before breakfast.

There wasn’t any up here.

Creeping downstairs to the kitchen, I filled a glass of water from the sink. Most of the older homes like Nonna’s still had well water. I wondered if any of the town had modernized to city water, or if they just used jugs imported by trucks. It was nice not to worry about things like chlorine or fluoride, even if the tap tasted a bit strange with all the natural, earthy minerals.

I was just about to turn on the light above the sink and dig around the vitamin cabinet for the little pink chalk pills when something in the distance clicked. My mom ears picked up on the sound immediately. I froze. It sounded like the deadbolt.

I waited a moment, holding my breath and praying I was wrong.

The front door was mostly silent, but the draft of cold air promised I wasn’t hearing things. The confirmation came a second later when door latched closed.

A shaky exhale left my lungs as my body began to tremble.

Someone was here.

Grabbing the stainless-steel pan from the stove, I crept to the arch that separated the kitchen from the hall. My ears strained to catch the faint sounds. Socks whispered over the hardwood floors.

Why didn’t I grab a knife?!

It was too late!

The moment the shadows shifted, I swung. The pan clapped hard against a solid mass. A muted grunt that sounded more annoyed than pained huffed from the dark.

My arms pulled back, ready to bludgeon the monster.

But a hand shot out to pluck the pan, and a deep, husky bass growled, “That was uncalled for.”

A strangled scream clawed out my throat as I struggled to maintain a hold on my weapon.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, the specter ripped the pan away.

I stumbled backward, brain screaming at me to go for the knife block.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” the intruder hissed.

The words were meaningless. Motherly instinct roared to the surface, and I made a last-ditch effort to scramble for a more lethal weapon. My mistake was putting my back to the darkness.

A thick forearm that might as well have been a steel bar wrapped around my middle. The intruder used my own momentum to catch me on the L of the counter. The pan clattered beside me, and before I could unleash a scream of warning, a gloved hand clapped over my mouth.

“Will you stop that?” the gravelly voice demanded, words hot against my ear as his body folded over mine.

I thrashed. Legs kicked. An elbow clipped his ribs.

“Rosetta!” he snapped. “Calm the fuck down, carina.”

Tears pooled in my eyes. I’d been so careful living in the big city. I hadn’t even had my pockets picked, let alone mugged or raped. But of course, now fate thought it was funny that I should be attacked in a small town. In my grandmother’s own house!

“Mannaggia la miseria! I did not sign up for this.”

The brute shook me.