𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞

75. Hell And Horses

We walked across the landscape looking at all the different horses. James had made sure that we would go for a long walk with the horses. It was amazing how hypnotic a horse's ears could be as they bobbed slowly in front of me, stretching forwards and back rhythmically. Going for a ride on a horse was a heady combination of adventure, exhilaration and deep relaxation.

My mind wandered as I explored country lanes, woods, bridle paths and cinder tracks. I went at my own pace. The overwhelming feeling was one of freedom. Who would of thought that a man like James would take me to a farm with horses, it was unexpected. After riding on horses James lead me to a small house up in the mountains.

His house grew up out of the pale green hills as if it had always been part of the scenery. The house itself was a beautiful brick, the colours being the hues of the land herself, rustic brown striations on grey rock. Upon the rolling fields grew many flowers and vegetables. The house was cozy, warmed by a fireplace, and the kitchen had the aroma of baked cake.

"Welcome to my heaven." James smiled and nodded towards his house.

"I must admit that it's pretty impressive, I didn't take you for a guy that likes horses and small cozy houses." I said shocked.

"There are many things you don't know about me but we have all the time in the world." he looked at me deep in the eyes.

His eyes were the hue of the new spring growth, bright and soft all at once. There were flecks of strength, of the kind of green that came only as summer advanced. They say the soul and the eyes are ageless, and to me, so was he.

"Your eyes." I whispered, "They match the grass...exactly. They even have flecks the same colour as the bare patches of soil."

"That was meant to be a compliment for my eyes?" he smirked. "I liked it."

"And for a moment I thought men were supposed to make compliments to women." I teased.

"Is it beyond me to give you a compliment, because whatever I say would be too small compared to your beauty." he bowed down to me and laughed.

How could someone be two people at the same time? It was as if James had a second James inside of him, or maybe it was all an act, although he seemed kind of honest to me. He was tall, thin, sometimes when I looked at him all I saw was pale skin as the full moon. He was lurking in the shadows, staring like a cobra seeking it's prey. His eyes were wide and appeared black as inky pools even thought they were green. He had that evil glint in his eyes, he turned on his charm and threw bright false smiles around.

"Many have said compliments like yours, a few really meant them." I replied and walked towards the living room in his house.

"Would you like to stay? Just for one or two days." he seemed as if he begged me.

"Sure." I said without thinking, everything was part of our plan, Derange would literally die. "Just let me make a phone call to my brother in case he calls to my hotel."

James gave me his phone and I called my hotel, I couldn't call Derange's number and risk getting caught. The hotel linked me with our room and it was time for me to talk.

"Hey...bro." I said reluctantly.

"James is there...what happened?" he asked me worried.

"I will stay for one or two days with a friend of mine and I will not come back to my hotel. I just wanted to tell you in case you get worried."

"What? Are you serious? You will stay some days with that man? Where are you? You had to take your earpiece...you must be kidding me.." he yelled at me.

"Yes yes I will say hi from you to my friend." I said and smiled at James.

"Yeah don't forget to say hi from me to that b..." Derange snapped.

"I have to go now, we will talk tomorrow..." I said trying to close the phone. "I love you bro." I whispered.

"What?"

And with that I closed the phone and returned to the living room with James. I had to stay for at least three days with James without my earpiece, without the help of Derange and without...my sleeping pills. As I was picturing myself with him alone in the house it all sounded so easy, I could just kill him and dump his body in the mountains, nobody would ever find him.

I could burn his body and his house, get rid of him once and for all. What if someone had seen me coming up here with James...what if his house had security cameras, probably it had. Hell. That was the fierce word, the word to threaten children if they were too bad, the word to send shivers down a spine. The fiery demons whose barbed tails coiled and snapped, their whips sharp, their horns like mighty rocks thrusting from their heads, wings reaching far and wide to swallow anyone that dared stand before them. Hell is where I would go, all this hatred was messing with my mind, I was able to imagine James lifeless body and me on top of him with my gun.

Hell was not for ordinary sins. It was not for the parents who lost their tempers in frustration whilst struggling under the stresses of life. It was not for the mentally ill or those too damaged to know right from wrong. Hell was reserved for those who knew their actions were wrong and did them regardless, enjoying the anguish of others and taking what was not rightfully theirs.  I would enjoy killing James even though it would be wrong. Actually, who said what is wrong and what is right to do? He deserved it.

The only thing left for me was a chair to sit on, myself and a journal with a pen. If I had to write about my life, the pain I would knowingly inflict to other people would travel up the pen and into my nervous system. I would drop my pen only for another to appear. There was no way out of here, I had to do it.

Kill him.