July 26, 2009. On this day a couple welcomed a baby boy in a local hospital in El Paso. This boy was named Giovanni Delgado.
“Gio, do you want to play catch?”
The father, Rafael called out to his son, a 5year old Giovanni, who was sitting in front of tv.
“Gio?”
He got no response from his son and walked up to him. He stood before him and blocked the tv. Even so, his son didn’t react. Giovanni only stared in space with a blank expression.
“He’s doing it again.”
Rafael sighed and gently shook Giovanni.
“….Huh?”
It was only then did he reacted. Rafael showed him a ball in his hand.
“Do you want to play catch?”
“Yeah!”
Giovanni’s expressionless face lit up as he sprung to his feet. He grabbed the ball and ran outside.
“…He’s zoning out more often now. There are also times he goes days without showing any emotions as if he’s on autopilot.”
Rafael frowned.
“Should I have him checked out?”
The early years of Giovanni’s life were pretty normal and peaceful. This was because of parents upbringing and the fact he was an obedient child.
“Gio, come inside. It’s time for dinner.”
Leticia Delgado called for her 5-year-old son. She went to the backyard in search of him and found him with his back turned and stooping down. She quietly approached him, curious as to what he was doing.
“Gio—?!”
She swallowed her words with a gasp. Before her, was the sight of her son looking down on nearly a dozen limbless lizards. The lizards wiggled in pain as Giovanni observed them.
“……..”
He silently picked up a lizard and started to twist its head.
“No!”
Leticia slapped the lizard out of his hand causing Giovanni to look up at her. Her horrified face reflected in his dull green eyes.
“Giovanni, did you do this to these lizards?”
She spoke with a trembling voice.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I was wondering if lizards can scream like us. Looks like these ones can’t.”
“Just for that?”
Giovanni nodded.
“Then why were you twisting the head?”
“Because I was done with it. Also, it looked like it was in pain, so I wanted to help it.”
Leticia stared at Giovanni in shock for a while only to mumble-
“Is this how a 5-year-old should act?”
Giovanni was later scolded by his parents whenever he did something similar. However, other than that he had a peaceful life. That changed one night when he was 8. He went to sleep and woke to a gun pointing in his face.
“……..”
Whether it was shock or because he was still half-asleep, Giovanni showed no reaction to the gun.
“Get up.”
The owner of the gun was a man wearing a ski mask. Giovanni silently did as he was told. After standing up, the man grabbed his arm and dragged him out of his room. Giovanni was dragged downstairs where he saw his mother kneeling in the living room.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Giovanni!”
She cried for him while forced to kneel between two men wearing ski masks.
“Calm down, Mrs. Delgado.”
In front of her was a man sitting on a chair with his legs spread. The man was the only one not wearing a mask. He looked at Gio and smiled.
“Gio, don’t be scared and sit with Mama.”
The man holding him pulled Giovanni and forced him to the ground. His mother immediately wrapped her arms around him and glared at the man sitting in front of them.
“I know you. You’re Gustav Fernandez.”
“Oh? So Rafael shares information about me with his wife? I’m sure that’s breaking some kind of federal law.”
The man, Gustav laughed.
“Well, since you know who I am then I’m certain you’ll be able to guess why I’m here.”
Leticia didn’t say anything and just held Giovanni tighter.
“Won’t answer? You’re much fun, huh? I wonder what Rafael sees in you.”
Gustav looked at Giovanni.
“You see, Gio. Your father and I are, we go way back. Me as a member of the Ramirez Cartel and him as a federal agent. As all friends do, we try to kill each other from time to time. As the years go by, we move up in our respective organizations. Now, I’m one of the top executives of the gang and he’s a renowned agent.”
He smirked.
“We’re both too good at our jobs, so I need to throw him off his game.”
Gustav stood up.
“Rafael Delgado is a very dedicated man who never weavers. However, he’s a man all the same.”
One of the masked men handed him a gun. Leticia immediately hid Giovanni behind her.
“If I killed you, Rafael will become a demon set on revenge, however, that will make him easier to manipulate and predict. Even if he kills me, it will create the chance for my brothers to take him out. I’m more afraid of my brothers dying than dying myself, so I don’t mind becoming bait.”
He pointed the gun at Letica.
“As long as he dies with me, then nothing else matters.”
Peeking out from behind his mother, Giovanni saw the moment Gustav pulled the trigger. He saw a flash and then everything became dark.
“……..”
When he opened his eyes again everything was blurry. His body felt numb and heavy. He turned to his side to witness his mother’s tear-stained eyes staring into his soul. These eyes had no signs of life but they were locked on him, as if they were afraid he would stray from them. Giovanni slowly lost the strength to keep him conscious and his mind faded into the dark.
“……..”
The next time he woke up, he was staring at a white ceiling. He stared blankly at the ceiling until someone called out to him.
“Gio.”
He turned his head. His father was at his side. However, the look on his face was new to Giovanni.
“Gio, your mother is dead and you need to help me get back at the people responsible.”
There was no concern or delight in his voice after his son woke up. Only tears ran down their cheeks as his gentle expression was replaced by a demon’s.
(Dead…)
Giovanni thought of all the animals and insects he’d killed and experimented on over the years. The image of his mother overlapped them.
As with those insects, Giovanni Delgado's first thoughts regarding his mother’s death were—
“She was finally at peace.”
He shed no tears or showed any signs of sadness. That’s when Rafael Delgado confirmed something about his son; the concept of empathy was foreign to Giovanni.
He gritted his teeth and spoke with bloodshot eyes.
“Even better! I’ll use that lack of compassion and create the perfect weapon to kill you, Gustav!”
Over the next couple of years, Rafael trained Giovanni in everything he knew about warfare and killing. No, he went even further and hired former criminals to teach Giovanni everything they knew. He then changed his diet and fed him the latest supplements to create a strong body.
At 8 Giovanni fired his first gun, he went on to shoot a hundred targets a day. He was taught how to disarm an opponent and kill them with their own weapon. Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Sambo, Eskrima, Systema, Kalaripayattu, etc. Giovanni was taught some of the most lethal martial arts in the world. Rafael did everything he could to create the ultimate killing machine.
“Giovanni, I want you to kill this man.”
When he was 11, Rafael threw a half-dead man at his feet.
“This man is a member of a gang who burned down a house and killed two children years ago. He was released on a plea bargain and living his life guilt-free.”
Rafael’s face twisted with disgust as looked down at the man.
“Scum like him don’t deserve second chances. So I want you to kill him.”
“……..”
“What? You don’t want to?”
“How do you want me to kill him?”
Rafael’s eyes widened for a bit before he put on a stone face.
“Do whatever you want.”
Giovanni nodded. With one swift motion, he pulled a knife from his waist and stabbed the man in the throat. He pulled his knife out and looked down at the man as he choked on his blood.
“…No hesitant, huh?”
Rafael mumbled. His eyes slowly widened as he looked at Giovanni’s face. There was a huge smile stretching from ear to ear. This smile sent a shiver down Rafael’s spine. From that day, he never made Giovanni kill again.
(It’s good if he’s cold and apathetic because that will make him a perfect soldier, however, if he ever discovers the joys of killing, I won’t be able to control him.)
He started teaching Giovanni to only kill when necessary. He taught him how to function as a person. Ironically, in the process, he started to regain his own humanity.
(What have I been doing to my son?!)
One day, Rafael had a mental breakdown in front of Giovanni, screaming and kicking while calling his wife’s name. After observing him for a while, Giovanni called one of his father’s colleagues. This colleague came and was shocked to find out what was happening. He helped Rafael come back to his senses over time by being there to help him organize his thoughts. As for Giovanni, his training was stopped when he was 12. Rafael later voluntarily checked into a mental facility and Giovanni was left in the care of his colleague, Ryder Shaw.
“Gio, I know you’ve been through a lot, but I want you to know you can always open up to me and rely on me for anything.”
This was first thing Ryder told him when he took him in. This was the beginning to his recovery.
At least it should’ve been.
“The funny thing about recovery is that it’s meaningless if the so-called victim didn’t want to be saved.”
Giovanni said this as he walked into military school.
At the age of 15, Giovanni Delgado entered military school where he would cease to exist.