Francesco Costello
The world was uninterested when the virus was first discovered. There were already too many tragedies, wars and injustices for the average human to contend with. Globally, almost every system of society was suffering and destabilising. Life was gruelling for most ordinary people and horror stories of a mysterious virus were just more background noise. Unfortunately, it could not be ignored for long.
It was a profoundly virulent disease. It was transmitted by air, bodily fluids, or touch. It could be passed in infected food or water, it was resilient to environmental extremes, and lay dormant for months before reemerging stronger and with terrifying mutation. It affected Asia first and swept across the globe with terrifying speed.
It was a virus which attacked females. It infected women’s reproductive systems and led rapidly to death. Initially it was a vicious illness; fever and delusion, vomiting and diarrhea, leading to an ugly, cruel death. As it mutated it showed fewer and fewer symptoms, until most weren’t aware they were infected. Vast numbers of women and young girls died within the first 6 months. Populations in every country around the globe were devastated and society collapsed.
Several decades of turmoil and social disorder descended on the world. Women became rare and women in poorer societies or without males to protect them became extremely vulnerable. Prostitution and sex trafficking were rampant and a sprawling brothel culture grew, controlled by organised crime families.
As the birth rate plummeted to almost zero, a fertile woman became the most precious resource on Earth. They were hunted and exploited, captured and forced into prostitution. It was not safe to be a woman alone in the world. She needed the protection of a man or life was intolerable.
The most powerful brothel owner in the world was Francesco Costello. His family had been involved in drug and ammunition trafficking for more than a century. His father Aldo had been one of the most feared men in the world and had trained Francesco his whole life to take over the family business. Francesco had learned the trade well and was a shrewd, intuitive leader.
After the virus Francesco had spotted a niche that he swiftly dominated. Immediately, access to women for sex was difficult, if not impossible. From the chaotic lawlessness that followed the virus emerged Francesco’s Brothels, commonly known as “Frankie’s”..
He created places where women could feel safe and men could pay for sex. He provided security and doctors to treat medical complaints. His places were clean and orderly and the women had spacious, comfortable rooms. There were shifts to work and time off in between. There was a strict vetting policy and no man or woman may enter without testing virus free.
Men preferred his establishments to other, more unpredictable arrangements. Women in vulnerable situations, searching for stability, dreamed of working for him. He behaved respectfully and with integrity in everything he did. He was held in the highest regard by all who dealt with him. He completely dominated the industry within a short time and his power only grew with each year. He seemed invincible.
Francesco’s wife had been taken by the virus early on. But he had 6 children, including 4 daughters, who he had kept safe and now secluded in a heavily guarded compound. After losing his wife, his children were the most precious thing Francesco had. His girls were beautiful and graceful creatures, his pride and joy. His youngest, Bianca, at 12, was the light of his life.
The girls, Rosa, Marta, Sofia and Bianca, and one younger son, Paolo, lived, played and grew exclusively inside the family compound. They were safe from the virus there and so Francesco found no reason for them to leave. Everything they needed was provided and they grew up in total seclusion.
His eldest son Giuseppe had trained at his side since he was a boy. Giuseppe was nearly 20 and growing into his manhood. He had always been a serious, thoughtful boy and had grown into a grave and focussed young man. He was swarthy and chiselled with dark, lightly curled hair and a closed expression.
Giuseppe was devastatingly attractive but there were no women in his world. There were no free, pure women anywhere anymore, and he would never touch the prostitutes in his fathers brothels. They may be free from infection but he knew not to ever try it. This was his business and he would never sample the merchandise. His father would never allow it anyway.
Giuseppe paid careful attention to every lesson his father passed on and proved to have a natural talent for observation. He instinctively analysed the crew and the subtle nuances among them. His powers of observation were unmatched and his father noted his uncanny knack for it when he was just a boy. He proved to be an accurate predictor of behaviour and earned the respect of his fathers crew at a young age.
Francesco had arranged a marriage for Giuseppe five years earlier. Lucia was the youngest daughter of an old, old friend and associate; a beautiful girl, pure and protected, descended from a family line of fertile women. Giuseppe had little interest in the marriage. While he was 20, she was only 5 and a tiny child. He didn’t care about women, had had little opportunity to even meet a female of his own age, and certainly had no interest in children.
But the future of his family depended on his producing heirs, more than one. He needed sons and daughters and lots of them. The expectation to reproduce was unspoken but absolutely unavoidable. He would marry this girl and bring as many children as he was able to his family to protect the future, whether he wanted to or not.
The careful order that Francesco had spent decades building was dismantled in just 20 minutes one rainy evening.
