The Hitman's Last Job(2)
situation hit her… he would never hurt her again! But who hurt him?
As if her
thoughts were mysteriously read a floorboard creaked behind her and she spun round in the dark to see a figure so tall it towered over her. The demonic shadow loomed in closer and Anna began to shake.
Then a hand as strong as a vice spun her back around. Her arms were violently and expertly pulled behind her back.
CHAPTER 2
She screamed an animalistic cry for help but was soon silenced by the cold steel of a gun against her temple. Anna assumed death would come in a second and she began to pray but it never arrived. The murderer in her house appeared to be hesitating or was he just playing with her, trying to make her last few seconds on earth as terrifying as possible? She felt his hot breath on the back off her neck and the clean smell of his aftershave. She wanted to see his face and put a name to her father’s killer but the tight grip on her never wavered.
Meanwhile the killer was looking at her intently. She’s a pretty one, he thought. Real pretty... He looked over every inch of her body as he held the gun to her head. She was shaking in her underwear. He could smell the fear coming off her. Wondering what to do with her, he looked her up and down again. He killed the men easily. That was what he was paid to do. But the women? He never got involved with them, but this time he had no choice. She was a witness after all wasn’t she? But she didn’t see his face. Still… she’d complicate things. She’d have to die too.
But something was stopping him pulling the trigger. He’d never killed a girl before, and he found himself not being able to even contemplate it. But his boss specified, ordered even, to kill everyone and that meant the girl too. He looked her over once again and saw the fragility of her body, the coyness in her face and the sheer terror in her eyes. He couldn’t do it, instead he felt the deep compulsion to wrap his arms around her and tell her he’d save her. It was an odd thought to have considering he had just put a bullet hole in her father. He hesitated for a moment longer and then an idea flashed in his head.
“Come with me,” he spoke gruffly and let her arms go. “But don’t say a word or I’ll kill you.”
The killer walked briskly and silently through the house and, noticing one of Anna’s coats hanging in the hallway, tossed it to her.
“Wrap up warm, there’s no heat where we’re going,” he said rather enigmatically.
What the hell does that mean! A thousand thoughts a second were flying through Anna’s mind. Why didn’t he kill me? What’s he going to do instead? She was too scared to resist, and so dutifully followed him out of the house and onto the street. A black SUV stood proudly amongst the battered, second hand cars of the neighbours. She looked to see where her father’s van was and was surprised to see it wasn’t in its usual parking space.
“Hurry,” the killer whispered through the frosty darkness. “In the car…” he pulled open the passenger door. “Come on… get in quickly,”
Anna’s freezing bare feet ran quickly on the cold tarmac as she hurried to the vehicle. She jumped in the passenger side and he slammed the door behind her. As he moved round and sat in the driver’s seat the soft light from the street lamps showed his features and Anna saw him clearly for the first time. She was immediately struck by how handsome he was. Square jawed and blonde, young and athletic… he wasn’t what she expected him to be. He looked so normal and respectable, the kind of guy you proudly took home to your parents.
He started the ignition and softly pulled away from the curb, driving gently away down the street, gliding silently like a ghost. No one would have noticed a thing… except for the gunshot, but in this neighbourhood people heard them often and knew not to stick their neck out by calling the cops. For a long while they drove silently through the streets of Chicago with nothing but the sound of silence and Anna’s rapid breathing. Anna was desperate to ask who he was, where they were going and what he was going to do with her but she couldn’t get the words out. She just watched him, trying to figure out what was going on in his head by the expression on his face, but there wasn’t one. He was a true professional, strong and silent, foreboding and solemn.
He said nothing until they reached a depressing looking motel that stood rickety and old off the side of the freeway. It would have looked abandoned if it wasn’t for the neon sign that flickered red in the night. It flashed the words “Sleep Eazy.”
“You know, I always wondered why they bothered with the second ‘E’ and the ‘P’.” The man commented dryly, turning to Anna, and smiling at her confused expression. “If you co-operate, you won’t get hurt. Now get out the car.”
She was lead roughly to a room at the end of the building. Far away from everyone else and containing nothing but a bed, a wicker chair, a lamp and an ancient television. It was only slightly dirtier than the house she had been taken from.
“Sit there,” he said flatly and pointed to the bed.
She did as she was told and shook nervously under her coat. She pulled it tighter around her and began to cry.
“Stop crying,” he said angrily. “It won’t bring your father back,”
“I wouldn’t want it to,” her words hung mysteriously in the air.
The killer looked to her face and saw her delicate features accentuated perfectly in the auburn lamplight. He wondered how someone so dainty and perfect could have sprouted from the cesspit of her neighbourhood. He felt himself soften to her but wished that he wouldn’t. Straightening himself in his chair he tried to make his body look more masculine, erect… strong. Anna responded by shrinking inside her coat even more. He felt guilty for scaring her but at the same time wanted to keep the upper hand. He stood up and walked over to her.