Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (60 page)

I thought about leaving him a note, but what would it say? My fingers gingerly ran over the bruise he caused yesterday,
and then with a final look back, I slipped out the door.

***

My eyes opened the minute the door closed behind her. She had left me, snuck out like a thief in the night. I lay there staring into the darkness, willing myself not to go after her. I knew I could bring her back; I only had to try. She would be sitting at the concierge desk waiting as they called her a taxi or arranged for her a rental car. All I had to do was go.

Are you just going to let her leave you?
No, I wasn’t going to let her leave me, but she needed this. I had been around my fair share of crying women. I had even seen her cry because of something I had said or done, yet none had ever affected me until tonight. Holding her, feeling her body tremble as she tried to muffle the sounds of her crying tonight had been too much for her. She needed time to reconcile her actions. I could give her a few days. Things would be better then.

“Don
’t go after her, Seth. Just let her go. Let her be free of you.”

I sat up
, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I looked directly into the eyes of the ghostly figure of a child standing before me. I knew she wasn’t real; she was dead. I’d killed her nineteen years ago. 

“Why now?”

“Because now you care. I’m here because you know what you’re doing is wrong. Let her go.”

“No. It
’s not wrong to want her. She belongs with me, and I won’t let her go.”

“Continuing means this will end badly for one of you. Can you live with that?”

“I said I won’t let her go!” I yelled to the empty room.

Taking a deep breath
, I rolled the tension out of my neck. She gave me a pleading look before fading away. I wasn’t letting Calida go; I couldn’t let her go. I needed her.

Chapter 41

Macy was still at Mitch’s when I got to the house, and I was glad for that. I didn’t want to face her. I couldn’t face her right now, not after all the times I’d defended him. Listening to her ‘I told you so’ talking wasn’t something I could handle. I locked the door behind me and headed straight to the bathroom. Stripping free of my clothes, I stepped into the shower, curled up on the tub floor, and let the water beat down on me.

I had left him. I needed to leave him, but that didn
’t make the ache in my heart hurt any less. The sun was bright and cheery at the start of the new day. I pulled closed my blinds then climbed into bed, praying it would hurt less when I woke up. My eyes closed, and his face appeared; the tears started.

I wasn
’t sure how long I’d slept, but I didn’t want to wake up. My phone was ringing, the annoying sound forcing its way into my consciousness. The thoughts about last night had finally given me peace, allowing sleep to overtake me. Waking now meant remembering, feeling, and I didn’t want that. The ringing finally stopped only to start up again.

“Ugh!” I groaned, throwing my pillow across the room.
Rolling out of bed, I scrambled to find the offending device. “Hello?” I snapped.

I froze for a second
, since in my haze, I didn’t check the caller ID and it could have been Seth on the other end.

“It
’s about time. I’ve been calling you all morning.”

“Dorian?
Aren’t you supposed to be out of my hair now?” I grumbled.

“What?”

“I’m tired, Dorian. What do you want now?”

“I should be on a plane heading to Paris, but instead
, I just had police leave my house because your ex decided to die at my wedding.”

I sat leaning back against my dresser
, still trying to wake from my haze.

“Hello
, did you hear me? Paul is dead.”

The fog cleared finally as her words sank in. “Wow. Dead? Wha..what happened?”

“I don
’t know. They have to autopsy or something, but the police want to interview guests so you have to go to the station.” 

He was dead, just like that and at her wedding. I had seen him twenty four hours prior, and now he was gone. I waited for a sense of loss to overcome me. We
’d spent four years together, and at one time I’d loved him. Yet, I felt nothing over the news of his death. I wondered if he suffered? I kinda hoped he’d suffered.
Was that wrong of me?
 

“Damn it, Calida
, are you still there? I swear you have a knack for messing up my life.”

I took the phone away from my ear
, staring at it in disbelief. Right now I wished Dorian would spontaneously drop dead. I covered my mouth to suppress the giggle that escaped at that thought.

“Calida!”

“Yes?”

“Police station.
You. Go. Can you comprehend?” she said in that well-known, belittling tone.

“I will call them. I am at home. And for the record he wouldn
’t have died at
your
wedding if you weren’t such a bitch. I didn’t invite him, you did, for the sole purpose of making me miserable. So…not…my…fault. Have a nice time on your honeymoon.” 

I ended the call before she could say anything else then decided
turning off my phone was better. I didn’t want to have it ringing all day. I buried myself back under my covers, hoping for sleep before I became too fully aware of the day and the pain that awaited me. The moment my eyes closed, his face appeared, and once again I cried myself to sleep.

***

I sat in my car waiting for Starla to exit the building. It was nearly four a.m. before I saw her walk out the back door. She stopped and took her pack of cigarettes out of her purse and lit one up before walking towards her car.

“You look like you had a rough night,” I said, keeping to the shadows.

She jumped at the sound of my voice, squinting her eyes to see who it was in the darkness.

“Lover boy?” she questioned as I let myself be seen. “Back again, three nights in a row. I must have left one helluva an impression,” she said, blowing a puff of smoke out the side of her mouth. “Where
’s your girlfriend?” she asked, looking around.

 
She held her bag tighter, and I smiled at her thinking being robbed was the worst that could happen to her.

“She
’s not here. Not as much of a partier as I’d hoped. Not like you.” A smile spread across my lips in an attempt to put her at ease. “I feel bad that I cut things short with you last night because of her. Let me make it up to you. I’d love to buy you breakfast.” 

She glanced around again while she took another drag of her cigarette before meeting my gaze.

“Yeah, sure. I know a great place, you can follow me there.”

I smiled again. She had some smarts about her; this would be more fun than I thought.
This is what you’ve been missing. This is what you need.

“I must insist you allow me to be a proper gentleman and drive you for our breakfast date.”
 

She let out a hoarse laugh while blowing more smoke out of the side of her mouth. Smoking was a disgusting habit
, even more so when women did it. 

“Date huh? I ain
’t been on one of those in a while. Why not? Lead the way, Lover boy.” 

She dropped her cigarette on
the ground, putting it out with her shoe. I held my hand out, which she took eagerly, and we walked back to my car. She slid onto the leather seat and flashed me an eager smile which I returned. I glanced around the parking lot as I walked over to the driver’s side. A few patrons exiting, but no one really paying attention, this was too easy.

“Have a drink,” I said, motioning to the bottle of water in the cup holder.

I watched as she opened the bottle and took a long drink nearly draining the whole thing in one go. 

“Thanks, I was real thirsty,” she said, dabbing her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Where to?” I asked, turning on the GPS.

“Oh um...115 East Carson Street.”
 

I punched in the address then pulled out of the parking lot. We were about five minutes down the road when I saw her start to fidget with the buttons on the door. She tried to roll down the window for some air. She kept shaking her head; I could tell the drugs were starting to take effect.

“Can you turn on the air? I’m gettin’ a little warm,” she asked, finishing off the rest of the water.

I turned and smil
ed at her. Her head bobbed and the bottle fell from her hands, rolling onto the floorboard. I turned off the GPS and met the wide-eyed look of fear on her face. 

“
Wat’d ya do to meh?” Her words slurred, and she attempted to lift her hand to the door handle.

I reached over and placed it back
in her lap patting it lightly. “Just sit back and relax. Enjoy the car ride, it’s quite peaceful.”

When we got to my house, I carried her limp body down to the cellar, taking her directly into the playroom. Her purpose was much different. She wasn
’t for keeping, not like that. I stripped her, and secured her to the old hospital bed, then waited.

I got up from my position on the floor when she started to come around. It took longer than I thought; she was out for almost twenty-four hours. I
’d feared I had given her too much, but now the fun could really start. She let out a low moan as she tried to sit up only to be stopped by the restraints. 

“What the hell? Where am I?” She started to struggle against her bonds
, looking around the room, attempting to get her bearings, but stopped when she saw me. “What is this? What’s going on?” she asked, the panic evident in her voice.

“She left me because of you,” I said
as I calmly cleared the hair from her face.

“What? Who? What are you talking about?” she asked, again fighting against her bonds.

“My girlfriend, as you call her. That is such a juvenile term considering we are adults. Very high schoolish, but I digress.”

“Let me go! Help! Someone
help me!” she screamed as she fought harder. “Let me go!” 

I stood watching as her breasts jiggled while she thrashed around
, fighting in vain for a freedom that would never come. 

“You can scream all you want. T
he only thing it will accomplish is me cutting out your tongue sooner.”

Her eyes got wide, but her lips clamped shut.

“Thank you.”

Slowly, I approached her
, letting my fingertips leisurely run up the length of her leg. I laughed at her attempts to get away from my touch.

“You
’re a fuckin’ crazy motherfucker! No wonder she left you!" she screamed.

The metal chains clinked against the bed as she continued to jerk about. I pondered over her words as I casually looked over my utensils
, deciding on the best one to start with.

“A crazy motherfucker.
Is that really the wisest choice of words to say to a man that has you strapped naked to a bed?” I asked, making sure she caught glimpse of the knife in my hand. 

The dim light reflected off the metal, and she began once again fighting hard, pulling at her chains. I walked back to the bed, grabbing her leg to keep it still. I pressed the tip of the knife into her thigh
, applying just enough pressure to break the skin.

“I
’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I’m sor....” Her words were cut off by the scream that rippled from her throat. I made a rough, jagged cut along the inside of her thigh, and then waited for her scream to subside before I continued.

“As I was saying, she left me because of you, and that is unacceptable.”

“I...I didn’t, I didn’t do anything,” she cried. “You invited me, you bastard!” I yanked at her other leg, stabbing the knife in and roughly slicing her leg open.

She arched her back
and writhed in pain, screaming out for me to stop.

“You have a very foul mouth. I
’m tempted to cut out your tongue now so I don’t have to listen to you talk, but then you couldn’t properly scream.” I walked closer, leaning over her face so she could see me clearly. “And you will scream.” 

Her breathing was labored from the fighting and tears
rolled down the side of her face. She couldn’t live, not knowing how upset Calida was with her presence. Calida left me because of this woman, so she was the one who had to pay.
It should really be her on the table. She walked out on you.
 

“No!” I hissed under my breath
, shaking my head. 

It was her, t
his woman. She wanted my Calida. She enjoyed being with her, touching her, and she had to pay for making her leave. I rolled the tension out of my neck and smiled down at Starla who lay crying softly on the bed.