Control

Chapter 10.

     His arms were stained with dry blood up to his elbows. It had splattered over his clothes and there were streaks of it across his face where he had smudged it up his cheek. The smell was vile and it seeped into the air around us. Jack coughed and it sounded as though something was stuck in his throat as he spluttered on each breath as if it were his last.

     He turned to look at me. For a moment his expression was blank as if I were not even there. Until something in his eyes changed. His cracked lips curled into an unnaturally wide smile, his yellowed teeth bared for me to see.

     "You... this is for you," he said with a smile, lifting his knife in front of him and placing it beside his collar bone.

     "Jack," I said, "Don't do this. Put the knife down. I can help you."

     The smiling expression on his face contorted into a menacing glare and his words were spat like venom from his mouth. "Help him? You can't even help yourself. You're the same. A murderer. You killed him. You wanted to and you did. You enjoyed watching him drown."

     My throat closed and I could not breathe. How did he know? Who was he? My eyes stung and I could feel my resolve breaking. I squeezed the stones tighter. I willed myself not to cry.

     "You're wrong," I said, "It was self defense."

     "From what?" he asked, his mangled voice choking on his words, "You wanted it to happen. You wanted it and then you killed him."

     "You're wrong!" I screamed and I could feel the air around me buzzing with energy. "I never wanted that! I never wanted any of it!"

     Dark clouds overhead began to cluster together and I could smell the rain in the air. Jack was laughing, his face full of sadistic glee until it morphed into pure agony and torment. Fat tears spilled out of his sore, swollen eyes and the mixture of blood and tears ran into his mouth as he screeched and sobbed. His body snapped to the side unnaturally and he moved the knife to his neck. The evil in his eyes was gone, replaced with fear as the knife began to cut through his flesh.

     "Stop it," I begged, my own tears rolling down my cheeks. "Stop it!"

     A sheet of rain began to pour, the droplets pounding on the ground around us. I was losing it. I was completely out of control. The water was washing over him, mixing with the blood and the wind had begun to roar through the air, shaking the car. He continued to slice at his throat and I cried.

     "Jack, stop it! I'll do whatever you want! Please stop it!" I ran forward and launched the stones into his eyes as hard as I could, in the hope it would distract him enough so I could grab the knife, even if it was a death wish. It did not. He did not even flinch.

     Jack stared at me, bloodshot eyes full of unshed tears. "It was all for you," he mewled, and cut straight through his jugular veins. I screamed as his eyes stilled, becoming vacant as his limp body fell to the floor and the blood spurted out of his neck on to the concrete.

     "Oh no, oh no, oh no." I panicked, running over to his lifeless body despite that there was nothing I could do.

     The putrid smell overwhelmed my nostrils and I finally found the source. Lay in pieces, the rotting body of a blonde woman was piled into the boot. She had been decapitated and her limbs were sprawled amongst her torso and her head.

     I ran a few metres away from the car and doubled over to vomit. I collapsed to the ground, hugging my knees and sobbing. The rain became heavier and I could hear the rumbling of the nearing thunder but I did not care. I was terrified and disturbed.

     I was there for what felt like hours. It did not matter how much rain flowed, it would never wash the smell or the image away from my memory.

     A hand touched my shoulder and I lashed out, a gust of wind following my action and I heard a grunt sound from the impact. I rose to my feet and spun around to see Dimitri crumpled on the floor a near the taxi. His eyes were wide and he raised his hands in surrender.

     "Calm, moró. It's only me." he said softly as he lifted himself up and began to walk towards me, "It's only me. Just focus on me."

     I flinched as he got closer. "Don't come near me. I could hurt you."

     "I know," he said.

     "Then stay where you are! Are you crazy?"

     He ignored me, continuing his path my way. "I am not afraid of you, Frances. Let me help you."

     I glanced at the bodies and back to Dimitri. "I didn't hurt them. I swear."

     "I never thought you did," he said, stopping an arms length away from me.

     In that moment, something inside of me needed someone. No. I needed him. I needed him to take it all away—just as he had before. Dimitri took another step and I closed the gap. His large arms embraced me tightly and I wrapped mine around his waist. The fear that consumed me began to fade away, replaced by the warmth of his body heat seeping into mine. He stroked my hair gently, whispering soothing words of his native tongue into my ear as the police sirens approached in the distance.