Dark Tales #11

Prologue

MASON

Just a little routine clean-up, Mason. There’s nothing you’ve gotta worry yourself about, alright, old son? My employer had said those words to me.

Those vowels, consonants, and syllables have haunted my every waking moment since I started this mission. In this game, a routine clean-up is simple; it’s getting rid of someone who’s stepped on too many toes.

For me? It’s a paycheck. I don’t ask questions; I get the job done.

That’s all this was supposed to be; a job. Get rid of Daniel Mercer and move on before anyone saw me.

Why couldn’t it have been that easy?

I know why, of course. It’s that girl, Skylar Summers; an unaccounted-for oddity in my mission.

From the second I first set eyes on her, she’s haunted my brain and filled my heart with…

feeling. Men like me? We don’t get the luxury of having a heart, let alone feeling any emotion.

We’re meant to stay in control and to kill or be killed.

We’re not meant to worry about what might happen to a goddamn angel.

I hate the way she makes me feel.

Especially now that I’m standing outside her kitchen, looking through the window.

The way her tits bounce in that loose grey shirt when she walks, her ass firm in those tight shorts.

The way she giggles and smiles at something someone says.

Her chestnut hair is tied up in a messy ponytail, and I’ve only ever gotten one clear glimpse of her deep ocean-blue eyes.

My cock hardens instantly at the sight of her, straining against my tight black pants. Every part of me wants to touch myself and come, while watching Skylar, but I have to stop myself. I have to stay in control. She doesn’t even know I exist, and she’s already got me in the palm of her hand.

How pathetic.

It’s a cold night; there’s no moon in the sky, which means there’s no chance of light catching me standing in Daniel Mercer’s garden.

His residence, an eight-bedroom mansion in Colorado, is on a piece of property that’s big enough to hold at least three separate farms. They say it might snow soon, and I don’t hate the idea of it.

The cold doesn’t help with the thoughts of Skylar, though. I imagine her body against mine, keeping me warm, while I wrap my strong arms around her. I can see, just by looking at her, that she’d fit against me perfectly. As if our bodies were made to be close; my cock buried deep inside of her—

Focus on the mission, I tell myself, but I can’t tear my eyes away from Skylar, no matter how hard I try.

When she walks from the kitchen back into the living room, I follow through the garden, almost getting so close to the window that the light catches my face.

She drops back into the sofa next to her friend, Mercer’s daughter, with two cans of soda.

I forget the daughter’s name, but when I look at Skylar, I forget most of the world.

From the second I first saw her face, a few nights ago, I was hooked.

I almost slipped up on more than one occasion, scouting out this place.

But, tonight, it all ends, and maybe, if I’m lucky, Daniel’s death will be enough for me to put my thoughts of Skylar to bed.

But I know it won’t. I’ll only want Skylar more, knowing she’s reeling from a loss that I can fix.

***

I deal with the Mercers quietly. If it was up to me, I’d have let Lory Mercer live.

She had no part in Daniel’s dealings and she didn’t deserve to meet her end that night.

However, I rarely have a say in what has to happen, and it’d be damn near impossible to kill him without her waking up and seeing me hovering over them.

After I complete my mission, I take a little detour through the elaborate estate.

I’m not much of one for stealing, although I could’ve been ultra-wealthy if I were.

Tonight, I don’t want to run out of this place and disappear back to my safe house.

I’ve got no interest in hiding away, and running from my problems.

All I want to do is see her. Skylar Summers.

Just one more time, I tell myself, and then it’ll all be okay. Then this will have been worth it. This mission won’t have just been another senseless killing, but something far more profound. Skylar is special, and if I don’t see her this one last time, I will regret it for the rest of my life.

I walk through the house, staying close to the wall and moving carefully with every step.

My eyes have adjusted to the dark, and I can make out the shapes around me in my path.

From one wing of bedrooms to the next, I first pass the Mercer daughter’s room.

The lights are off, but I can hear her giggling inside.

Two rooms over, with a bathroom splitting them, is Skylar’s door. It’s slightly ajar. There’s a lamp on, and I swallow down my nerves, and stop right outside. I remind myself I should go, but something forces me to stand there still, and then to reach forward and push the door open.

With every inch it opens further, my heart pounds faster in my chest. What the hell am I doing?

I’m risking my mission; fuck, I’m risking my whole life.

I can’t stop myself, though, not until the door’s completely open and I see Skylar.

She’s lying on top of the sheets, already sleeping, with the lamp left on beside her.

The oversized grey t-shirt has rolled and bunched up, just below her breasts, giving me a full view of her smooth, silky skin.

What I’d give to be there with Skylar, now; lying down with her in my arms. There’s something dangerously exciting about it, so much so that I can’t stop my feet from walking into the room.

I don’t stop until I’m standing next to the bed. I reach out to touch her.

I pause, only inches from her skin. My cock aches painfully for her. My unsteady breathing is only amplified by the fact that she could wake up, see me here, and know what I’ve done.

As I look down at her, asleep, I know everything I told myself is a lie. That this wasn’t going to be the last time I saw Skylar. Without her knowing it, she has ensnared me in her trap.

I am hers, forever.