Guillermo Lorca Garcia H, La Cama Inglesa, 2016.
"Hades: 'Tell them that you weren't hungry, tell them you followed the pomegranates seeds because they tasted like blood, like love.' " - Pauline Albanese.
Trigger Warning (TW): Explicit content on assault, obsession, sexual imagery.
"If I didn't follow her, things would be way worse." Jacob smirks while watching Alice silently fume. "My instincts are never wrong-"
"You could have taken her back to her place," Alice grunts back," Why did you bring her here?"
Because it's where she belongs.
"You don't even have to say it because I know what you're thinking. You can't just do shit like this."
"Watch your mouth, Alice," Jacob warns," From what I remember, I can do what I want because who will stop me?"
They stare at each other, Jacob's eyes darkly persuading Alice to oppose it. Alice doesn't speak and begrudgingly looks down at the floor.
"Someone could have seen you."
"And we would take care of that."
"...We could prevent that with other productive ways-"
"I think you're not understanding me well, Alice." He steps away from the desk and comes face to face with the blonde, eyes domineering and threatening.
"I didn't shoot and fight my way to the top so I could be afraid of whoever would have the audacity to stop me," Alice tenses up at Jacob's words," There's no one in this whole world who would go against me. There's no one that can. "
He places a hand on Alice's shoulder who flinches.
"Also," Jacob begins to speak in Russian," We're the cleaners. If we can't clean up our own mess, then how can we call ourselves what we are? "
"The police don't even bother to investigate when they know we're behind it. All of them on our side: the elites, the politicians, the lobbyists, the banks, everyone. I can enter their houses and put five bullets in them before the security alarms can go off. They can't stop me and soon, they will work for me. For us."
"And I'm saying this for Veronica's sake," cold eyes set on Jacob's," Leave her out of this as much as possible. "
"You must know me better than that," Jacob walks back to the desk in the study and sits in his chair, leaning in," As long as I'm alive, she's safe."
"And you think she's safe here?"
"I know she is."
Alice shakes his head and diverts his eyes away from Jacobs. He knows he's completely serious in his own wicked way. For years, Alice had been trying to keep Veronica away from Jacob. He told Lizzy all about Jacob's killings, including mentioning his own assignments so she would warn Veronica. He was so angry with her when he found out she was withholding information from the poor girl. He mentioned to her how psychotic he was in boarding school and how Alice feared every night he wouldn't wake up in the morning with Jacob as a roommate. When Alice found him covered in blood after massacring their old teacher and classmates.
He shuts his eyes to calm himself. It was easier when Jacob's parents were alive, they had a better hold on him than Alice ever could. Unfortunately, when Jacob murdered them, Alice felt like he became his hostage and guardian all at once. His relationship with Lizzy was never the same when she found out Jacob had been at Veronica's house that night. There was only so much he could do to protect Veronica, Lizzy, and himself by preventing further chaos because of this infatuation , but he felt like a failure for how they all turned out now. Jacob was home and he was worse. Things seemed to get worse, especially with the way Jacob was handling his assignments now. The gruesomeness of it disgusted Alice to no end.
"You know that's not true, "his breath is shallow," You know that's not what she wants. Your selfishness is not justifiable this time."
"I don't care." Jacob sneers.
"Veronica doesn't want to see you. She's traumatized."
She'll never want you.
He pulls out a cigarette and mutters," I don't care if she hates me with every cell in her body."
Jacob pulls out a lighter and he inhales as the flames hit his cigarette.
"It's doesn't matter to me if she wants me anymore because...I'll make her," the smoke escapes his nose," I'll make her want me. I'll make her need me. I'll break her limbs if I have to to make her need me. I'll keep her on this property-"
"This isn't about her safety-"
"It's not," Jacob says roughly and inhales," but I can promise you I'll keep her safe. Stop trying to stop me."
"Look, I know this is some of that love-of-your-life bullshit but-"
"Not even close to what she is to me," he scoffs and looks Alice in the eye," She is life. Without her, my existence means nothing...everything means nothing."
"Even morality means nothing. Morality becomes empty and you don't care why or how. Something tells you to walk and you walk. Something tells you to eat, you eat and to live, you live. When something tells you to kill you...It's just you in this void possessed by God...by Death himself. And they punish you for it and demonize you so you can go to hell. "
Alice watches the ashes of the cigarette fall on Jacob's hand, yet Jacob doesn't even blink at it. His heart sinks and anxiety strangles his body but he can't help the bit of empathy he gains. In a way, Alice relates because his parents, too, are the most disgusting people alive he could ever meet. But Jacob's parents did something to him that Alice feared Veronica would capture the burden of it. But what was he supposed to do when someone like Jacob, a prodigy without any foundation of ethics, has more power than his own parents' a billion times over?
"She came when I first decided I wanted to end my life. I prayed for something to take away the shittiest...this fucked up feeling I can't get away from. She takes it away just by being across the street from me. She takes it away, all of the past and only leaves this calm that feels like the ocean."
" It's addicting. She's my moon with the power to create and erase the destruction in me while being so fucking bright but accepting. I don't know why that feels good to me... It's too good for me and I don't deserve it, but it's mine."
Jacobs grins but it doesn't reach his hungry eyes.
"I don't mind if she's traumatized," lightheartedly," Because I'll take care of it. I'll take care of her because she needs me. I can make it all go away. I'll keep her safe, soft, sweet and if you-anybody or the world tries to stop me...."
Alice stands up straighter. "...What happens if I stop it?"
All the light from his eyes is removed and with each word cutting, he says," Then I'll fucking kill you. I'll kill you and if it's the world...I'll light it on fire, bright as a Christmas tree."
Without a beat, Jacob laughs bitterly with his adam's apple bobbing slowly. Alice's nose flares but he doesn't move. He's angry and petrified but still believes in every word Jacob is saying. There was no possibility that Veronica was safe with Jacob. Unfortunately, whether by Jacob's choice or hers, they were like water and fire, harder to keep one away from the other than it seemed.
"Thank you for handling things when I was gone and watching over everything," Jacob taps his cigarette against the ashtray," But I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere. Don't overstep your position again."
Alice curses under his breath as his stomach begins to churn heavily at the words.
Suddenly, Jacob's phone vibrates and his heart races when he sees it's from an unknown number. He puts down his cigarette to unlock the phone.
Hello?
Hello. He pauses for a moment and realizes this is the first time they greeted each other formally. How are you feeling?
I'm doing okay...Where am I?
You are in my family's greenhouse.
Oh...okay.
Jacob's feelings show in his tremoring hands as he tries to think of what else to say.
"Who is it?" Alice speaks up watching him suspiciously.
Are you hungry? He remembers she didn't eat yesterday so she must be exhausted.
Who are you?
Jacob inhales and clutches the phone. Should he tell her? He wants to so badly but, despite telling him differently, Alice's words roam in his head like his parents. He looks at his gold cigarette case that has an obsidian skull etched in and licks his lips.
I'm trapping myself in a bathroom. I had looked in the mirror but when I saw me: pale, tired lines, distant eyes, and shaggy raven hair, I saw me. I saw God. I saw Death.
My name is Kozak. I found you last night in the woods on the floor ground. Are you sure you're okay?
Veronica doesn't reply for a while, and it makes Jacob worry. He leaves the study, ignoring Alice's calls and heads down the hall towards the surveillance room. It's a space his parents built to have all eyes all over the estate, including the greenhouse. There's even some in the forest which he had no knowledge of until he came back from Moscow. At first he was enraged by it, realizing his parents knew everything because they consistently kept track of his whereabouts, granting little access to privacy as possible even when he begged for it. Liars. Liars and thieves that tried to take his soul. However, remembering their deaths always soothes the bitterness he has for them quickly.
He enters the room, and, with one switch, everything turns on: the lights, the computers, and the huge screen revealing the whereabouts of 100 different locations outside and within the estate. The quality is about 10 years outdated with a slight fuzz, so Jacob makes a mental note to himself to have Alice update the entire system. He goes over to the table and searches for the camera in the greenhouse. From what he can see, Veronica sits on the bed staring at the phone. She's still for several moments until she lifts her head up with her hands covering her face.
Veronica doesn't want to see you. She's traumatized.
Jacob watches her cry and it makes his chest heavy with remorse. He realizes he's been so oblivious to his own accountability in Veronica's suffering. He remembered how furious he was with himself the last time he thought he was the source of her pain. Despite he knew she had a history of bullying and harassment, he rarely considered how his own thoughtless actions influenced her. Jacob didn't mean it when he said he didn't care. On the contrary, he cares too much for her with his desire blazing but what underlines it is fear. Beneath the pleading for her warmth and love is the awful dread he feels just by the thought of losing her.
He watches her pick up the phone again. I'm okay. My legs and arms are sore.
Eat something. There is a coat for you to grab. When you are ready, come to the main house.
Jacob decides he will stay in the surveillance room to hide if she ever decides to enter the estate itself. Quickly, after he sends the text, the phone vibrates.
Still facing the screens, Jacob answers the call and mutters, "Speak."
"We're here." George's quiet voice enters his ears.
Jacob unlocks the door to the house from his phone then hangs up before his eyes can scan the cameras again. She wasn't moving and it's justified because, by Jacob's guess, she's weary.
Take your time. Things will be explained to you once you decide to come in.
He continues to stare with millions of doubts running behind his eyes. Will she leave instead? Will she come in? What if she knows? He's the most afraid of her knowing it's him all over the estate, the greenhouse, and everything else. Can she feel him through the walls? The imagined scenarios chase after the doubts, leaving him wondering if his plans for them will have to occur sooner than later. Yet, Veronica rises from the bed and moves towards the tree.
Jacob bites his lip, and a glossy adoration claims his face from watching her observe the pomegranates. Suddenly, as she tries to grab one, a pomegranate falls to the floor and splits open. He intensely watches her pick up one half and hitches in his breath. He moves his mouse and with a click, pieces of Veronica's face are on the screens to create a larger portrait of herself. He can see her now. He can see pomegranate juices run over her mouth and fingers like wine. He can see how swollen her lips are against the fruit; charmingly pouty, gorged, and ready. It makes him go red, but this is different.
I want her.
He doesn't even try to alleviate the strain in his pants. He drowns in the red but it's different, it's not crimson or bitter. It's the hot and cold, it's the scarlet sea that sweetens his eyes and growing erection. He runs his thumb over his lips, breath quickening as his amber eyes melt honey from watching Veronica spit the seeds out.
Fuck, I love you.
Jacob wasn't a virgin, but nothing could ever satiate his immense hunger. He fucked to fuck, 99% of the time his mind and emotions would be in a different world whereas porn was never close to bringing him pleasure. He would rather kill because it he gained more satisfaction. But Veronica -with her springy hair and euphoric expression all over his screen, can create restlessness, yearning, frustration, patience-all of it inside him throbbing. All of it morphing into a love that's so painful as it is pleasurable.
Fuck.
The shivers hit his bodies in waves as his dick rubs against the inside of his pleated pants. He grips his bulge firmly.
I want you. I want to...
He can feel his dick pulsating through his pants. When Veronica brings her slender fingers to her mouth, proceeding to suck off the juice one by one slowly, a groan escapes Jacob's lips.
"Ah, fuck-"
Suddenly, his phone vibrates inside his pocket stopping his heavy breaths.
"What?" He hisses into the phone, eyes lit up in spite from being interrupted. "The door is unlocked-"
"Er...," He hears George's hesitation causing him to clutch the phone tighter," He's in the trunk...Alive."
Jacob's eyes narrow in confusion then it's all replaced with a sinful grin. Seth.
"Put him in the basement," Jacob watches Veronica exit the greenhouse," Also, there's something else..."
---
Veronica writes on the table: Who's Kozak?
George blinks and tries to think of something clever, believable, and simple to say but he can't. To be honest, he doesn't want to do this in the first place. It was awkward and felt like a nuisance.
Unfortunately, he would be lying if he said he didn't grow a soft spot for Veronica over the years he's been guarding her. But George didn't understand why Jacob was keen on always having her supervised. To him, Jacob didn't seem like the person to care about people, much less wanting them alive. So why was she so special when their history showed she would call the police on him within moments if she had the chance?
They did share one thing in common: he didn't know Veronica was so quiet. George didn't even hear the front doors open. When she walked in, he had been on the phone with Jacob going over what answers he would give to her in case she was curios. However, George found this all to be difficult and tiresome. He felt like a telephone and wondered if this was how Alice felt most days. After he asked Veronica to sit down, she wastes no time to get to the root of things.
"I'm George and Kozak is the who owns this place," he sticks his tongue out slightly in contemplation," His parents- "
"Stop. "He flinches as Jacob's words pierce through his ear. The earpiece feels like nothing, and the quality comes through so well it's as if Jacob in the same room as them.
"My parents will not be mentioned in this. Change your response. "
He watches Veronica give him a puzzled side-eye, tapping her fingers softly but impatiently against the table. Again, she draws on the table: WHO is he?
Brown eyes hold George's blue ones in place revealing nerve-wracking suspicions. George breaks contact but allows his gaze to linger on the rest of her face.
He's only ever seen her far away due to Jacob's instructions, along with only watching her through past video recordings. In this moment, he slightly understands why Jacob wants to keep an eye on her: Veronica was too timid, too fearful, and too weak. Despite she's completely defenseless against the world, even in this room she wasn't safe, he knew she would try to fight. George has seen that tiny bit of fire come out and protect her however needed. It was like she fought to preserve everything left in her from the world the best way she could. The soft spot he had for her came from a sense of duty.
In person, he notices she has eyes like that of a sleepy deer, large lips-stained burgundy with a bit of rogue in the center. Out of curiosity, George brings his thumb up to her lips wondering if the color would rub off on him until he can hear Jacob's voice in his ear.
"Don't." His jaw tightens and he quickly retreats his hand back to his side.
"Let this be your only and final warning: Do not touch her. Do what I told you to do."
George closes his eyes slowly, calming himself so Veronica doesn't see how nervous he is. He wants to do everything right by Jacob, purely out of terror and safety. Yet, he can't help but be distracted by Veronica's gaze.
"Answer her question, now."
Veronica tilts her head to the side making George give her a soft smile.
"Kozak is someone who doesn't visit his home regularly because he is a very busy man. He manages an agency known for its engineering, logistics, construction-"
He stops to watch what she's writing on the table: Such as...?
"Computers."
George blinks. Well...he's not completely lying. That's one of the many businesses Jacob has that focuses on computer engineering.
"Computer engineering." Veronica looks around and nods her head, seeming to accept his reply because of the estate itself.
"Now...," George leans closer to her but not too much to set Jacob off," ...do you remember anything from last night?"
He can't help but admit to himself he's concerned for her. George's guilt grows as he begins to believe it's his fault for what happened last night sense he's been like a bodyguard to her over the years. He grips the edge of the table tighter the more he looks at her bruised cheek. Veronica, at his reply, nods slowly but the vacant expression on her face grows.
"I just want to know so I can prove you can trust Kozak and I. "
She lowers her head, lip quivering while she tries to divert her eyes from him then her shoulders start to shake. George prepares himself for her sobs but, with one inhale, she snaps her head back up at him and, even with tears welling up, she nods firmly. The action makes George taken aback but he continues.
"Good. I don't know how much you do remember but on his night jog, Kozak heard you screaming in the forest by the city. He told the assholes that attacked you that he was calling the police before he found you."
Veronica nods.
"It was good enough for them to leave, and- because he didn't know where you lived, he took you here. Your phone was locked so we couldn't call anyone you knew and it was late in the night. He thought you would at least like to get some rest before you had to deal with the cops. Is it okay?"
She sends him a meek smile combined with the most angelic expression he's ever seen. Gratitude radiates from her with tenderness and it sends jolts through George's stomach.
Please tell him 'Thank you' for saving me. He watches her chew at the skin on her lip with dark eyes then analyzes her from head to toe. Veronica, oblivious, begins to move her index finger again.
Are we close to the city?
"Bout' 45 minutes to an hour away. We have your shoes in the kitchen, by the way. They were dirtier than the rest of your clothes, so Kozak got them cleaned. I'll bring them to you."
George walks to the kitchen swing door and grabs her sneakers next to the island counter but when he turns around to head back, he finds Jacob standing next to the door. The immediate shift in energy, from heavenly to hell, is so apparent it makes him inhale sharply. Jacob continues to observe him with eerie concentration and fuming hostility.
Cautiously, George walks to the door, watching Jacob watching him, with his shoulders tensed because the way Jacob stares is more than unsettling. It was always like that since Moscow, but instead of giving chills, his eyes empty out the soul. This time, it's heavier with a touch of revulsion. George knows he's angry with him but he's too afraid to interact because Veronica is just on the other side. As he tries to walk past him, Jacob snatches George's jaw and holds it in place then shoves him into the side wall.
Jacob hovers over and leans in close to his ear so only George hears. Then, he whispers venomously ," You're testing my patience. Keep your eyes to yourself or I'll carve them out of your fucking sockets. Do you understand me?"
Before George could nod, Jacob lets go of his face with a spiteful flick and watches him go through the doors.
"Here you go," George, shaking, exclaims while rubbing his jaw and hands her the shoes.
"Ask her if she's staying for breakfast."
As she's putting them on, he repeats nervously," If you're not doing anything this morning, would you like to stay for breakfast?"
Her head snaps back up and she shakes it vigorously but a bit distracted as if something she forgotten came back to her.
I need to go now.
"Okay," he senses her urgency," We'll give you a ride if that's okay? Faster than a Lyft, you know?"
She nods hesitantly grabbing her bag but stops to look at him. She points to the jacket.
"Tell her to keep it."
"Keep it. Your jacket was too torn to wear so we threw it away. You can wait outside while I get the driver."
As Veronica walks to the front door, Jacob, with lightning speed but muted, comes from the kitchen and stalks behind her until she leaves the house. Jacob can smell his greenhouse, pomegranates, and rain on her as the mole on her neck stares at him. Seeing her in his jacket makes him feel more than elated. When she walks out the door, he leans his back against it then feels his phone buzzing.
Thank you so much for saving me. I told George to thank you for me, but I remember we texted earlier. It really could have been worse so if there's anyway I can repay you, please let me know.
Stay.
Are you going back to your job?
I think so.
I think you shouldn't. It doesn't seem safe.
I'm not sure, I need this job. I need the money.
Then work here. Jacobs grips the phone. I inherited it from my parents recently, but it's rare that I'll be home often. I need someone to house sit for me while I'm away.
Many moments pass without her reply making him worry and wonder if he was being too foreceful. In a panic, he texts:
It won't look like this by the end of the week. I'm having a party for my 25 so maybe you can come this weekend and decide then?
I'm sorry, I have something else to do this weekend with my friends. Thank you for the offer though but please let me know if there's anything else I can do.
Stay. Please stay and never leave.
Okay, I'll let you know. Have a safe trip back and sorry we didn't get to meet face to face.
It's okay. I don't have to see you to know I can trust you. Thank you again.
He hears tires and after several moments, he sprints out and watches the range rover disappear from the driveway down the dirt road.
Veronica, looking up from her phone in the front seat, sees movement from her sideview mirror. She sees a tall figure with long dark hair and black clothing. Her gaze retreats to the road in front of her but when she looks at the mirror again, the figure is gone. She grows confused as a familiar feeling sits in her stomach and spreads a particular warmth throughout her body.