10. Juliette
Juliette
B randon Dole.
He was the only reason I’d come to New York after Kian passed on his whereabouts, and I couldn’t believe the fucker was in my father’s city all along. Kian was godsent. The best recommendation I had ever gotten. The fact that I could hire him incognito worked perfectly.
After I had a mediocre late lunch with Brandon—my soon-to-be victim—I took a cab and went home.
Supposedly.
Brandon had no way of knowing that my phone synced up his information, allowing me to track him from that moment forward. When I showed up at his building, it was dark. He lived in the shitty part of the city, the one you never saw on postcards.
I’d already checked the cameras on this block. There were none—aside from traffic cameras. I kept my face down and stuck to the shadows as I made my way down the alley, then up the fire escape.
Clank. Clank.
Each step made a clunking noise, but every apartment window I passed looked empty. Everyone was used to city racket and didn’t spare me a single glance. It was fine by me.
Once I made it to the top floor, I peered through the window into a shitty apartment. Old, worn-out furniture. Yellowing walls. Broken chairs. It was dirty and disgusting.
I checked my knife holster. My gun tucked in the back of my pants. My taser. All there.
With that I slid through the open window, landing softly on my feet and shutting it behind me. It was risky. I could be shutting my way out.
My eyes drifted around the living room. This guy was a pig. There were dirty dishes everywhere. Open cans. The stench of rotten food.
I’d need a long, hot scrub in my own shower—with bleach—to clean off after this.
Speaking of showers, the sound of running water registered. I could kill him in the shower . It’d be cleaner than waiting for him to come out… but I didn’t want to be cornered in a small space.
I decided to wait.
Reluctant to sit down on any of the surfaces in this pigsty, I opted to lean against the wall so he wouldn’t see me until he was well into the living room.
My heart thundered. There wasn’t any fear drifting through my veins, but there was no shortage of adrenaline. It might have been wrong, but the idea of punishing him had been the only thing on my mind for such a long time.
And it was finally here.
The shower cut off. I tensed slightly, reaching for my taser in my pocket. Just in time. He walked through the door with a towel around his waist. My taser at the highest setting, I pushed it to the back of his neck and a yelp pierced my ears.
He fell to the floor, his body jerking against the filthy linoleum. The towel flopped off his body, exposing his disgusting naked skin. He looked like a stiff, scaley cockroach trying to move. Comical.
My lips curved into a sadistic smile.
“Hello, Brandon.”
He opened his mouth but no sound came out. I guessed the taser worked on the tongue too. Good to know.
“What’s the matter?” I taunted quietly, eerily. “Lost your voice?” I squatted down, pulling the knife out of the holster strapped to my ankle. “Don’t worry. You’ll be screaming by the time I’m done with you.”
I glanced around. If he screamed, somebody could call the cops. It was the last thing I needed. Ah, there it was. A stereo. I headed for it, turned to the first music station. Opera. How fucking appropriate. I pushed the volume button to its highest number.
Pavarotti’s aria “Nessun dorma” came on. “Thank fuck it’s not Andrea Bocelli,” I muttered. I actually liked Bocelli and didn’t want to associate him with this asshole, rolling all over the ground. I returned to the fucker on the ground, my blade fisted in my palm.
I put the end of the blade to his naked back and sliced him. Slowly. Painfully. From the back of his neck, down his spine and all the way down to his tailbone.
This time, a sound did leave his lips. Piercing. Pained. And so fucking delicious, it had me feeling high.
I smiled darkly, pushing the tip of the blade against his tailbone. I should really shove it up his ass. There was time for that.
“I’ll give you a hint,” I said, watching his fear with delight. “That fourteen-year-old girl survived. But you won’t.”
His death didn’t come swiftly. His pain and sins would paint these walls crimson.
And there’d be no mercy coming from me.
I learned two things by the end of the night. It was way too easy to kill. And there was something so fucking sweet about the revenge I dished out.
Brandon Dole robbed me of my innocence. I robbed him of his life. He became my first kill.