Classified || 2 || ✔️ mature

14 | Lilac

MONTHS EARLIER

The rain bit into her skin like needles, clawing at the open wounds on her back.

She screamed, tears falling from dark eyes and glared up at the moon.

Blood puddled at her knees and the crack sounded again, the silence of her surroundings the only companion she trusted.

Nails cracked and bleeding, she clutched at the dirt. Desperate to find purchase, to find stability.

Her back arched as the whip hit again and her eyes found the ones staring back at her. The man smiled and walked forward, taking her chin in a gloved hand.

"Have you learnt your lesson yet, doll?"

Lilac trembled but remained silent, wilful stubbornness the only thing they couldn't take from her.

His whiskey hued eyes blinked, darkening at her show of disobedience. "Again."

The whips cracked and thunder roared, Lilacs arms buckling under her.

"That's enough for tonight." Jedrik said from beside his co-conspirator, his eyes looking over her shoulder at the man who held the whip.

Lilacs head turned, staring at the darkness around her before finding the man holding the whip, his gaze holding hers.

And she promised herself he would pay. They would all pay.

"Just one more, Alexei." The man beside Jedrik muttered.

The crack of lighting hit again and the whip tore down her spine.

• • •

Drops of rain slide in unbroken lines down the darkly tinted window, lightning crackling above the moving car, warning of what was to come.

I stare out of the window, the black coat tied tightly around my waist, the golden tan of my thigh peaking between the slit, high leather boots crawling up my thighs.

My finger drum a beat on my forearm, arms crossed in front of me as the driver travels through the winding suburban streets.

Three weeks have passed since my last kill, the need for vengeance sitting at the back of my mind, always watching, always waiting.

My red puckered lips blow a tendril of my blonde bangs out of my blue contact eyes, the lashes framing them weighing more than the gun on the inside of my coat.

The blonde wig sits in waves, brushing my collarbones like a lover's caress, but it itches the back of my neck as I move to glance out the window again after flashing a coy smile to my driver.

The cab pulls to a stop on the outskirts of a residential street, and I push the door open, my pointed heels exiting the car and landing on the ground one at a time. Reaching back, I wrap my hand around my duffel, dragging it with me.

Giving the cabbie his fare, I exit the car with a sway to my hips, shutting the door behind me and stepping on to the footpath.

I look down both sides of the street before strutting down the side walk leisurely till I reach my destination, turning and walking along the side of the house, keeping my movements slow and steady.

I reach the back door, hand stretching out to curl around the handle, pushing it open and slipping inside the house.

I finger the tie at my waist as I walk through the kitchen, my eyes on the couch and the man sitting on it, his eyes on the tv screen across from him.