Luna
I open my eyes, and the first thing I see is dark wood, it’s old and weathered, and looks like something you’d see in a scary movie. The second thing I notice is a ringing in my ears. I dig my finger around, trying to get that persistent ringing to stop, when I hear a voice.
I pause, listening, the ringing gone, the sound of thunder booms above, and light fills the room in a flash. I clutch my chest, and where there should be a pearl necklace, it’s not there.
“What do you mean the waters are rough? I don’t give a fuck! The brothers are dead, Johnny is gonna come after me, so you'd better get here now! She’s going to wake up soon, too, and the stupid necklace broke after one use.”
Greg.
I sit up, my jaw aching, but I move quickly to hide. Greg’s voice is coming from the room over. I survey my surroundings, and it looks like I’m in an old house. Creaky floorboards will be a dead giveaway, but I smile because I already put Vera in this situation.
Move when the thunder booms and the lightning cracks, move as your life depends on it. Move with a purpose—the purpose to kill.
I ready myself, perched on my feet. The crack of lightning comes, and I tiptoe on the balls of my feet towards the door.
I stand flush against the door; it’s not shut, but I’ll have to move it to get through.
I wait again, the seconds feel like hours, but he’s still arguing on the phone.
Lightening cracks again, and I push the door open, quickly making my way down a hallway to the stairs that open to a wide living area.
“Where are you!” Greg shouts.
My heart quickens, and I quietly creep down the steps, picking up a fire poker from the nearby abandoned fireplace. There’s a closet to my left, and I throw open the doors, tucking myself in, hearing his footsteps coming down the steps.
I cover my hand over my mouth to stop my loud breathing.
“You can’t hide from me, Elena. I will always find you!
” Greg shouts, and I stop myself from screaming.
“No matter if you change your name, no matter if you move across the world, I’ll be there waiting to take you back home—but when I find you, you’re going to beg me to stop, and I won’t, not this time.
” Greg comes into view from the cracks in the closet door.
It’s like I never left. Trapped in the closet once again, waiting for him to find me and beat me, but not this time. My mind transports me back to the night I left. I’m standing over him as he sleeps in the chair. I wanted to do it then; the darkness I feel now called to me, but I ran, scared.
This time, he dies.
I tighten my hold around the fire poker, aligning the sharp iron hook to face outward toward the door. “I found you, Elena, always hiding,” Greg says, standing in front of the closet.
I kick hard against the door, and Greg goes flying back. He’s stunned, but I don’t let it deter me from the goal.
Kill him. Kill. Kill. KILL.
I scream as I hoist the iron and swing it down—deep red blood sprays all over my face, matching the rage in my vision.
I dislodge the iron, gurgling moans fill the roon.
I look down, the metal hook is punctured into Greg's skull, blood pouring out of the wound, and he stares at me, his hands reaching out for me, but they have no strength left as he tries to claw at my legs. “Who’s weak now?” I stand over Greg, looking down with nothing but pure hatred for him.
Kill him, finish it.
I hoist the iron again, swinging down, another crunch of his skull, and wet moans, but I don’t relent, I swing another, and another. I keep swinging, my lungs burning, and my arms feel like they’re on fire, blood soaking me from head to toe.
“Angel, that’s enough.”
A voice breaks my trance, and I snap my head up to find green eyes looking back at me from the doorway in front of me. I drop the fire poker, and it clatters to the ground. “Dante?”
I run to him, and we crash into each other in a rough embrace. “Oh, my angel, I’m so sorry,” Dante whispers into my neck.
He’s here. He’s here, and he’ll make it better now.
A sob rips from my chest, and I collapse into him. “Dante, I–I,”
“Shhh, it’s okay, angel. You did what you had to do to survive. I’m sorry I didn’t come fast enough. I tried, angel,” Dante says, lifting my chin to meet his gaze. “But you protected yourself, and I’m so proud of you, angel.”
I thrust my hands in his hair and pull myself up to meet his mouth, kissing him hard. Dante returns the kiss, picking me up, throwing my legs around his waist, and pinning me against the wall. His grip on me is so tight, like he’s afraid I’ll float away if he lets go, and fresh tears start to fall.
Dante pulls away, resting his forehead against mine, smoothing his thumb over my face, brushing away a tear.
“I need to call Alex, and then we will get out of here, okay?” I nod as he gently sets me down, pulling out his phone.
“I got her. Send someone up to collect the body in the abandoned house on the island before Johnny finds him. We need him for leverage.”
My eyes drift from Dante over to where Greg’s body lies lifeless—lightning flashes again, illuminating his corpse. The front part of his skull is completely caved in, his eyes are smashed into his face, and his mouth hangs open, blood still spilling from it.
I feel nothing. Maybe it’s just the adrenaline, but I feel nothing looking at the mutilated body that was my abusive ex. He got what he deserved, and I caused it. I was the one to cause fear this time.
He didn’t even have time to beg.
The thought makes me chuckle, for him to die so quickly, and unimportant, and in fear.
A shit stain on the earth has officially been wiped clean. Now that’s funny.
A hand softly touches my face, Dante’s hand, tearing my gaze away from Greg. “Come on, angel. I need to get you somewhere safe.” My gaze tries to slide back to Greg’s body, but Dante holds my chin firm, “No more looking, angel. It’s done.”
Dante takes me by the hand, leading us out of the house. The storm has slowed outside, and we’re able to make it back to the pier. There’s a boat waiting there, and Dante helps me get on first, sitting me down on the bench, and then starts to untie the lines on the dock.
“What about your friend?” I ask, curious.
“He’s got someone coming for him. I’m only worried about you right now, angel.” The boat's engine roars to life, and Dante pulls back on the throttle, speeding off back towards the shoreline of Boston.
I wrap my arms around myself to keep the biting cold sea air from freezing me to my core. I don’t need to go hypothermic right now; that would suck.
Killing my ex only to die of being cold? Loser behavior.
Twenty minutes later, we arrive under a bridge.
Dante ties the boat's lines to the concrete pillar, helps me stand, and lifts me out of the boat onto the concrete landing. Dante notices I’m barefoot and picks me up once he’s out, cradling me against his chest, and I’m thankful for the slight warmth.
He carries me over to a car in the farthest, darkest corner of the parking lot, setting me down next to it.
He walks around the truck, swiping his hand under the lip, and it unlocks.
He pulls out clothes and shuts the trunk again. “Here, put these on.”
I take the hoodie and sweat pants from him, and turn to start slipping my wet dress off. At least it’s dark over here, but I don’t care; he’s seen me naked before. I need to get warm now.
I pull the hoodie on first, slip the dress off, and pull the hoodie over my ass at the same time. I kick my dress aside and slip the pants on; my body immediately relaxes into the newfound warmth.
Dante grabs my hand and walks me around the passenger side, opening the door for me to get in. I settle into the passenger seat as he rounds his side and gets in, turning the car on and taking off into the night.
I don’t care where we go, as long as I’m with him, everything will be okay.
It’s a long drive out of the city, with winding roads and nothing but trees to look at, but we soon arrive at a gate. Dante rolls his window down next to a call box with a number pad. He reaches out, pressing the numbers, and the gate opens.
The driveway is long, but opens into a clearing, and the most beautiful modern cabin sits at the end. It looks as if it’s two stories: the front of the house has stone accents, while the rest of the house is wrapped in dark logs.
Dante pulls into the open garage, shutting the car off, and the silence threatens to swallow me up.
Dante doesn’t say a word as he gets out of the car, rounding my side, and helping me out, not even as he takes me into the house, takes me up the stairs to a bathroom, and wordlessly turns on the shower and starts to undress.
The bathroom starts to fill with steam, and he comes over to me, standing in front of me, stark naked. “You need to shower, and then you’ll go lie in the bed and fall asleep, okay?”
I am exhausted, and I feel the ache in my bones starting to settle in as my body comes down from survival mode. I nod, and lift the hoodie off myself, Dante helping me take off my pants, and I step into the shower.
Rivers of pink contrast against the white tiles of the shower floor.
Not my blood. The blood of someone I killed.
Blood of my ex-boyfriend, who beat me.
Another vermin of the streets is gone for good.
Yes. Just like Vera said. The vermin need to be terminated.
Dante stands behind me as he takes a washcloth, squeezes some soap on it, and starts gently rubbing it all over my body.
He scrubs every spot thoroughly, making sure not to miss a single place.
I watch quietly as he grabs another bottle, squeezing it into his hands, and starts massaging my scalp.
I whimper as his fingers work into my hairline.
After the massage, the rest of it is a blur.
I don’t remember getting out, but as I lie in the strange bed, I look up at Dante as he climbs into bed with me.
His face is gaunt, and he looks at me as if I’m about to disappear any second.
He reaches out, stroking my face. “Rest now. You’ll be safe here. ”
My eyes flutter closed at his command, no longer able to fight off my exhaustion.