Page 9

Chapter 9

Experience Teaches

Diable

Once she is secure in the car I start the engine. What the fuck am I doing? I take my mask off. There is no need for that, she knows what I look like. Little does she know who I am, but once she realizes she knows the face behind the stories. That makes her a loose end.

Her eyes pierce on mine and all I can do is stare back at her fucking face. Hope needs to be killed. I don’t give hope, I only give despair.

“I might have saved you from burning like the rest but know that I can just as easily take your life away. Don’t test me, da ?” The words come out in a menacing tone, low and dark. She barely knows anything, and yet she knows too much. Her pale face stares back at me. She nods as best as she can in her situation, with no hope. Just fear.

I drive. The familiarity of my Porsche brings me no joy. I don’t know where I am headed—just far away from here. I have not figured out what to do with her yet. I cannot bring her anywhere with me. I don’t want anyone to see I let her fucking live.

I need to get rid of her, but where? And how?

Her tiny body falls and rises next to me. She is falling asleep, but she fights against it. I don’t blame her. Sleeping next to a monster is never a good idea.

My hands grip the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles turn white. Her trying not to fall asleep has already taken half an hour now. After all, there seems to be a little fighter in her. She is scared I’m going to do something to her while she sleeps. But I will not if I was going to do something to her, I would look her in the eyes. I am not a coward.

She rubs her eyes with both hands, still cuffed. Comic how the tables have turned. So innocent. So innocent I might scratch her along the way. The very tired girl next to me almost makes me laugh. A small smile, but it is a smile. Again, her head falls and rises just as fast. Her tired eyes burn into the side of my face. I can feel her stare at the roses and thorns rising on my neck. With every minute she is next to me she knows more.

“You realize you’re destroying any chance you had of me ever letting you go.” She turns her face away from mine. But she knows it too, it is too late. She knows too much and has seen too much. I sigh, “Give into your sleep.”

Silence hangs heavy in the car. A dark, hollow laugh slips from my lips, the sound chilling. “Just tonight,” I add. It is a half-truth, a deceit wrapped in the guise of reassurance. I don’t want her to crumble, not yet, not before we reach our destination—which is going to be anything but pleasant.

After all, promises are nothing more than the sweetest lies, crafted to lull and betray.