The Playboy's Assassin

A Stormy Night: Vanessa.

"Vanessa!" my mum called out to me but I didn't answer her. Instead, I ran around the garden.

"I'm going to get you." She laughed and I squealed as she chased me.

"You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread girl," I said.

Hands grabbed me from behind and I squealed. "You caught me!"

I turned but it wasn't my mum. His eyes gleamed with lust as he gripped my shoulders tightly. "I've got you now." He smiled.

"No. Let me go," I whispered.

He unbuckled his belt and took off his pants. "Be a good girl, Vanessa." He caressed my face.

"No. Uncle, please," I cried. His hands roamed on my skin as he played with the edge of my nightdress.

"Be a good girl and I'll give you a gift. Don't scream." He warned. But all I wanted was my mum.

"I want my mummy," I screamed. His face contorted and he growled at me. He raised his hand and I felt the first lash of the belt.

********

My eyes opened blearily and I shook. I was wracked with pain and fever. My body was slick with sweat. There was a duvet covering me. Someone wiped my temple with a wet cloth and I sighed at the cool relief it brought me. I could hear the storm raging outside. My head ached, my throat was dry.

“Please open the window, Mum,” I said. I felt a weight lift off the bed and the sound of the shutters opening. A cool breeze followed as the sound of the rain intensified.

“How do you feel?” Enrique held my hand and wiped my brows.

“Enrique?”

“I’m right here, Scarlett. You’re going to be alright.”

“Who’s Scarlett?” I asked. Right. I’m Scarlett. It didn’t feel good to hear that name. I wanted to tell him my name was Vanessa, not Scarlett. However, I hummed in my throat and my eyes closed.

*******

"Be a good girl, Vanessa," my uncle whispered in my ear as he bent me on the bed. I lied still as tears fell down my face. His hands roamed on my backside before slipping his fingers in my panties. I knew the pain that was to follow his action and I braced myself for it.

I bit down on my bottom lip as he moved and grunted on top of me. He pressed my face down to the bed and it hurt but I didn't say a word. I didn't want him to use his belt because that would be even more painful.

He got off me and got dressed. I fixed my panties and my uniform and wiped my face.

"Vanessa." He bent in front of me and cleaned my face with a handkerchief. Then he pressed a twenty dollar note in my palm.

"Tell me what you'll do when you get to school today."

"I'll be a good girl and focus on my studies and I won't say a word to anyone about this."

"Good." He smiled. He pulled my face close to his and placed a kiss on my lips.

*******

Warm liquid poured down my throat and I gulped it down. It tasted horrible but it made me feel better. I rested my head on the wet pillow and closed my eyes.

“You’re going to be fine,” Enrique said. I didn’t know if I would ever be fine but I knew I didn’t want to sleep. It hurt too much to fall asleep.

“Don’t let me fall asleep,” I pleaded.

“You need to sleep, Scarlett. You need to build up your energy.”

I could still hear the rain falling outside and it didn’t sound like it was going to end anytime soon. “How long have I been here?” I asked.

“Two days,” he answered. “Don’t worry. The storm would soon be over and I’ll take you to a hospital.”

My eyes were closing again. I grabbed his hand and held it as tightly as I could so he could sense my urgency. “Don’t let me fall asleep. I beg you.”

I couldn’t see his reaction to my plea. My muscles felt lax and I let go of him. I closed my eyes. “Please don’t let me fall asleep.”

ENRIQUE.

Her eyes were tormented. She was suffering not from the physical pain but something else. I watched as her eyes closed despite how hard she tried to stay awake and I pulled down the duvet so her body could cool down. Her shirt was sticking to her skin from sweat and blood. I had changed her bandage earlier but the blood flow hasn’t stopped. I took off the shirt and stared at her.

She was naked and despite how pale she looked, she was still beautiful. I took out some cotton wool and another bandage from her bag. They were the last of the medical supplies she had. I sighed and opened the bandage. I gulped and almost retched at the sight of her wound. It looked so much worse now. I cleaned off the blood and covered it with a fresh bandage.

I stared at her face. She looked so innocent as she slept. I thought about the things she had done and how much hell she was able to unleash and smiled. Seeing her like this, she looked young. Way younger than when we’d first met. I wiped the sweat on her face and packed the tendrils of hair stuck on her skin aside.

“You can’t die on me now, Scarlett.” Her body was really hot yet she looked cold as ice. The colour was gone from her lips. She’d lost so much blood, I didn’t think she would make it through the night. She shivered and whimpered. Her brows pulled together in pain and she winced. It was starting again.

“I'll be a good girl,” she muttered and I sighed. Sometimes she would scream out in pain and cry and no matter how hard I tried to wake her up, she never did. I felt her pain and I wished I knew what she was going through.