*Lucia*
I didn’t expect Natasha to be so violent. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting her to be calm either. She bent down raising my head with the tip of her hands.
I shook her hands off. I didn’t bother to struggle as I knew it would be useless. Seeing that I didn’t allow her to touch my face, she grabbed it, pressing it tightly with her finger.
“You piece of trash you dare to talk back at me?” She asked, squeezing each word with anger out of her mouth. I didn’t bother fighting her to free my face, “the nerve of you,” she said pushing my face to the side. “I would see if you will still have such nerves after I’m done with you,” some of my hair covered my view for some moment.
“Do your worst, I am not afraid of you. I just hope you know some shame,” I paused hoping she understood what I was saying, “but it seems like you don’t,” I said, holding back a laugh. “I feel ashamed on your behalf. How can you keep throwing yourself at a man and fighting off your fellow woman, how much lower can you stoop?” I would like to know,” I said.
She smirked, “I don’t care if I have to roll on the floor and see no reason why you should care about that too,” she said. What response did I expect from such a brazier person? I wondered to myself.
“What do you think will happen after I am gone, do you think Bruno would want you?” I asked, trying to prolong our conversation. “He would certainly end your life,” I said, but it seemed she had thought about that and didn’t care.
“How lovely do you think it would be to die in the arms of the man you love?” She closed her eyes with one of her hands on her chest as she imagined it, “it is the best thing to ever happen to anyone. I love Bruno to the point where I would be glad to die in his hands,” she said.
Oh well, I guess there is a bit of similarity between the two. They both seem to want to die so badly.
I was out of it.
I was out of ideas. She didn’t seem to want to speak to me and I didn’t know what else to say, I had to buy time and keep her busy. She seemed like the type who would want to talk and mess up with their victims before killing them. My eyes moved from one man to the other before moving back to her.
There were about seven men there, “do you need this many men to kill me? What exactly do you plan to do with me?” I asked, trying to look scared. Or maybe I didn’t need to try as I was scared.
“Well, telling you might spoil the fun,” she says. She walked to one of the men and took hold of his dagger, “what are you doing?” I asked. She seemed more dangerous than Sarah.
“How do you think a novel would be like if it begins with the writer telling the readers about the end of the book, boring right?” She asks getting closer and closer with each step she takes.
“Well, that’s why we aren’t living between the pages,” I said.
“That’s for me to decide,” she said, walking to stand behind me. The next thing I felt was a sharp pain in my head and for a moment I thought I was going to die, thinking she had placed the knife on my head. But it was my hair she held.
She pulled it so hard that for a moment I thought my skill would fall off. I wanted to hold my head but my hands were held to the back. Suddenly she started cutting off my hair.
I struggled. I didn’t want my hair gone. It was the only memory I had of my mom who had taken her time to care for it when I was younger. “Don’t…” I shouted but she didn’t pay any attention to me and kept cutting it.
She cut it to my neck before walking away breathing hard as if she did strenuous work. She felt satisfied for some reason. Seeing my hair on the floor brought tears to my eyes but I had to contain it. Over the years I have learnt that it was better for your enemies to see your blood than your tears. I didn’t want to look weak in front of her.
“Of what use of cutting my hair is if I am going to die anyway,” I said trying to look nonchalant about it.
“Maybe I should get down to business,” she said.
She took a club from one of the men and hit me on my stomach. I groaned out of pain falling to the floor. She walked closer to me and continued hitting me. I groaned and clenched my fist as the club fell on me.
She threw the club to the side and started kicking me on my stomach. Everywhere seemed to be blurring. Each kick came with a sharp pain. It was almost unbearable but my will to be strong was stronger so I held everything in.
There were marks on my exposed skin.
It was as red as ever.
My breath heaved up and down. I tried to sit but I couldn’t.
She enjoyed seeing me like this. I pleased her so much to see me struggling on the floor. She took a dagger and walked to me. “I had a change of mind,” she said. She bent down to meet my level and pulled my hair roughly. My head already ached badly as a result of how she was pulling my hair but I tried not to scream.
“Maybe I shouldn’t kill you. I want you to leave Bruno alone. Or better, I’ll make him leave you,” my breath got heavier as I tried to keep my eyes on her. I tried to prevent it from falling.
“What would be better than giving you a perfect look that fits this hair?” She asked sarcastically before laughing hysterically like the mad woman she was. She held the dagger. I so wanted to take this dagger and run it through her stomach.
She kept speaking but I could no longer hear her.
She raised the dagger. I was tired of struggling so I just raised my head staring deeply at her hands as she brought it down. It got closer and closer and closer.
When it was a few inches away, I closed my eyes, ready for the worst that could happen.
But then it didn’t come.
When I opened my eyes, I noticed her hand was hanging in the air and her eyes were fixed on the door. The warehouse suddenly became brighter.
Slowly she freed me before standing.
I was too tired to turn. Was Bruno here? I wondered.
When I felt someone pick me up from the ground, I immediately knew it was Bruno. I have never been so happy and relieved to see him. “Are you alright?” He asked and I managed a nod. His eyes moved to Natasha. Anger flashed through it.
“What have you done?” My eyes moved to Natasha who was too surprised to speak. She froze in one spot. She certainly didn’t expect Bruno to come to see her as she carried out her stupid plan.
“I… I was just,” she couldn’t form a coherent sentence.
Gently, Bruno placed me on the floor. He walked to Natasha and the next thing I heard was a loud slap which resounded in the entire warehouse. “You dare to lay your hands on her? I see you no longer need those filthy hands,” he said coldly.
“I.. I.. am,” she took in a deep breath.
“I knew I shouldn’t have let you leave with Lucia. I knew you were not to be trusted but I gave you the benefit of the doubt, I gave you a chance and you blew it, bringing her here and doing all this? You wanted to kill her? Did you want to kill my woman? You dared to lay our hands on her?” He sounded so angry but all I kept hearing was him calling me his woman.
I was his woman.
That word sounded so intimate in my ears. He has never used any word other than sweet girl on me and hearing him call me his woman only made me feel like I was truly his. Like he owned me. I should be angry at the fact that he owned me but I found myself smiling despite the pain I was in.
“How could I bear to see you with another woman? How could I give you up easily? I have known you for longer and have loved you for longer, so why her? Why did you choose Lucia, you barely know her. You’ve not known her for up to a year and you already feel like she is the one for you. You treat her with so much care, you’ve never shown even the tiniest care for me, but you do to her, why? What does she have that I don’t? I am more beautiful than her,”
“No, she is more beautiful. I see your mirror at home is very bad,” Bruno was quick to say. I liked it. I liked the way he was quick to defend my beauty.
I unconsciously touched my face. I knew it was filled with so much dirt right now but Bruno liked it. “She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire life so don’t even safely compare yourself,” he warned sternly.
“Why can’t you choose me?” She asked as if she hadn’t heard what he said. She lacks shame, I must say.
“Because Lucia is different.” He says and pauses. He turned to look at me and at that moment, I wished I wasn’t covered in dirt. I wished I was in a very beautiful attire, I wished I was looking neat and stunning. “Lucia is just Lucia. She is herself and still different,” he paused again.
“I don’t think I need to explain the rest.” He said. He took a deep breath. “And you dare to put her through so much pain. I can forgive you for being this stupid and comparing yourself to her, but I don’t think I can forgive you for hurting her” he said, emphasizing the meaning and weight each of his words carried.
“I can’t spare your life,” he says. At that moment, Rave walked in. He was panting like he had run all the way here, “what happened?” He asked. His eyes moved around and when he saw me, he rushed over, “What the hell happened here?” His eyes demanded an answer but I was too weak to give him any, too weak to speak.
“Bring Natasha and throw her in the dungeon,” Bruno said. He looked at the men who were already on their knees with their heads bowed to the ground, “you know what to do,” he said, “if any of you walk out of this place alive, then your family is going into the grace with you,” he says.
He walked to me and picked me up. He carried me in a bridal style. I was too weak to protest so I wrapped my hands around his neck.
Rave asked no questions and dragged Natasha out. Natasha kept pleading but Bruno paid no attention to her. He walked to his car and helped me into his front seat. He placed me gently. Be careful not to touch any of the bruces. He entered the car and made a U-turn quickly.
As we drove off, I could hear the sound of a gunshot resounding from the warehouse. I didn’t need anyone to tell me that all seven men had ended their lives with their hands at Bruno’s command.
How much power does this man hold?
I leaned into the seat.
My body felt sore all over. “What are you going to do with Natasha?” I asked him. He was silent for a while. The car speeds past a slowly moving truck.
His grip on the steering was firmer, and the air in the car suddenly became tense, “She doesn’t deserve to live. Why keep her alive?” He said as if he were speaking to a stranger. I was mad at Natasha for all she had made me go through but I wanted something more than death for her.
“No, don’t kill her,” I said. He turned to hold my eyes for the briefest second. “I’ll deal with her my own way”.