Chapter Text
Crusted over hazel creaked open, Andrea wiped the sleep out of his eyes to look over at the grandfather clock. The time currently read about ten in the morning. He had about thirty minutes to get ready, and then head into Turin. It was going to be a long trek of a journey, but the only thought he had in his head was Gigi Buffon. It played over and over in his head like a song that manifested itself deep in the core of his brain. Not even a happy go lucky song however, a song that quickly took an evil turn. Which so perfectly matched Gigi’s very being for how Andrea saw him.
“Honey, I know you can hear me up there, my angel. Today, I will get you the revenge you ultimately deserve.” He brought the rosary that hung around his neck and gave it a soft kiss. The rosary belonged to Sandro, it was the only thing Andrea had left of him. There was not a day that Andrea did not talk to Sandro. It was a shame, since their relationship was taboo, they were never able to get married, or even engaged at that.
Andrea dragged his rugged body from the cocoon he created from tossing and turning. His bruise, and cut infested hand came up to run through his matted bed head hair. Andrea headed to the washroom to deal with his hygiene necessities. Advanced vampiro hunters need to treat themselves too. The hunter then dressed up in his usual hunter uniform.
He had a hefty meal of a bagel with garlic cream cheese, and a tall glass of orange juice. When Andrea had a hunt like this it was almost impossible to get him to eat a proper meal at all. This was the most he has consumed in almost four days. He packed his things and went outside to grab his trench coat and his dirty leather boots. After everything was taken care of he headed out to his stables to prepare the matte black carriage he acquired recently from a town auction.
Andrea clicked his tongue to call the horses over “Darmien! Tilly! Come to papa. We have a long journey ahead of us.” The horses trotted over and nudged up against Andrea, which made him chuckle. The two horse were like his children. They belonged to both himself and Sandro which meant a whole lot to Andrea. Most people his height would probably have been terrified of the two horses towering over them like this, but Andrea knew they wouldn’t hurt their papa. He stroked the muzzles and cheeks of both horses affectionately, and set them up in the carriage, feeding them each a carrot, which they joyously consumed.
A few minutes after getting them all ready and strapped onto the carriage properly, they set off towards Turin. The mood had completely changed after some hours of riding; the once clear blue skies were now hazed over with dark storm clouds. Andrea was a little afraid that he would not get into Turin before the storm eventually hit. Luckily, the clouds started in the other direction than he was headed, allowing to escape the rain before it’d gotten too bad.
Flakes of mud flicked off with each step the horses made.Andrea focused on the ground to make sure there were zero loose patches for his horses to slip, or get stuck. The change of weather was so abrupt, the sun beat down on his face, and made Tilly and Darmien slow down. Andrea’s hand went up to guard the sun from his face so he could see, brows furrowing and forehead creasing against the sunlight that slipped between his fingers. Darmien was growing exhausted, showing just how reckless he was becoming with a few restless movements.
“Darmien, my sweet, you have to wait for me to grab the canteen”
Andrea mumbled, as he made his way from the carriage. He went over to the horses and stroked under Darmien’s chin, then down the side of his neck, and through his mane gently. As Andrea held the canteen out and tipped it so the horse could drink, he admired them both. He shifted the canteen over to Tilly so she could have her own turn to drink, as Darmien usually had a tendency on hogging the water. As she drank, he showed her the same affection he showed Darmien, stroking over her cheek, neck, and through her mane ever so tenderly. After Andrea made sure they got enough water, and were properly shown love and affection he opened up the carriage door to lay down on the carriage seats so his darling horses could have a much needed break from the what it seems like never ending journey.
After a couple of hours napping Andrea jolted awake. He blinked his eyes a few times and smiled when he realized that both Tilly and Darmien’s tails were moving back and forth in unison.
“My darlings, are we ready to start our journey back up just like before?”
Both horses whinnied in response to Andrea’s words. With that Andrea shut the door and they were right back on the trail once again. A few more hours passed, and they were nearing the completion of their journey. On the outskirts of Turin, Andrea had his horses stop once again to take another drink from the canteen that slung around his torso. Finally, reaching the main gates of the town, eyes were instantly on Andrea. The tiniest of chit chat made its way to Andrea’s ears, however this was very typical wherever he went; people talked about him and stared. That man that asked him to take this journey bounded up towards him with a smile.
“Amazing, You actually made it!” He sounded almost relieved.
“Of course. I’m a man of my word.” Andrea remarked, glancing down to the man standing off to the side of the carriage.
“I can show you to where you’ll be staying, if you’d like.” The man suggested, gesturing to the road before him.
Andrea nodded, and shifted over to his left so that the man could join him in the carriage and guide him along. The man did just that, pointing Andrea in the direction of a rather large looking hotel, however it seemed a little worse for wear - likely due to the clan of vampiri driving everyone away from Turin. The townsperson showed him to the stables where he could leave his horses, then walked him up to the hotel. They spoke to the hotel owner who stood at the front desk for a few moments, before Andrea was given his key, and made his way up to his room. The man still followed behind him, almost as though he were some sort of lost puppy, often trying to get a word in, as though he didn’t seem to notice Andrea wasn’t much of a talker.
Upon getting to the room, Andrea put his key in the door, however turned to face the townsperson behind him, before he opened the door.
“In the evening, I’ll go about examining the town. Start gathering some information on this clan. But, I won’t need your assistance any longer…” Andrea found himself trailing off, as he didn’t actually know the man’s name, and didn’t know how to refer to him.
He realized this, and quickly spoke up, almost too eagerly. “Matteo Rossi.” He extended a hand to the hunter.
“Rossi.” Andrea repeated, finishing what he was saying earlier. “I’ll find you should I need anything.”
The man nodded, seeming rather disheartened to hear that Pirlo was serious about not wanting any help with this. He was hoping the hunter would change his mind upon realizing just how distraught this town was; how these vampiri had left everything in ruins. But he didn’t seem phased in the slightest. He didn’t so much as blink an eye.
“In the meantime, where can I get something to eat?” The hunter added, glancing to the man before him, before turning back to the door.
Rossi told him the name of the nearest bar of sorts, and even went on to give him some directions, but Andrea had tuned him out upon hearing the name. He didn’t need anymore information than that. He dismissed Rossi again, before disappearing into the hotel room, shutting, and locking the door behind him - the cheap lock on a wooden door that was cheaper yet surely didn’t stand a chance against any vampiri that came knocking, but it was at least enough to keep out the unwanted townsperson.
The room looked as to be expected judging by the exterior of the hotel. It was rather bland, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls in some places, and the furniture was dusty and damaged in a few places. Luckily, Andrea wasn’t here for the interior decor. He planned on simply spending a few nights, taking out the clan, then heading back to Milano - no other clan had given him trouble, nor would this one, even if it was Gianluigi Buffon’s clan.
He dropped his bags of weapons and some spare clothing by the night table, before heading out to the bar Rossi had mentioned to him, without so much as another look over his shoulder.