Bound

Six

When he pounded so hard that the door began to bow, Clare backed away and considered the drop from her second floor balcony. Before she had time to act on that decision, however, her thoughts were interrupted by muted conversation in the hallway.

“Well, I don’t know,” said a concerned female voice. “I thought I heard her come home about 11:30 last night…and it sounded like she ran out for groceries this morning, but I can’t be sure.”

Another knock on the door, this one quite a bit gentler.

“Ms. Williams? Are you in there? You have a visitor.”

Mrs. Crawford, the widow from across the hall. Clare cast around the room, then hesitated. Somehow, she hadn’t managed to purchase her own handgun during this period of “liberal captivity” and she didn’t think it would be wise to greet her neighbor with a giant steak knife. Clare didn’t like going to the door armed with nothing but a smile, but she didn’t have any other options.

“Hello, Mrs. Crawford.” The young woman tried to make her smile look convincing.

“Hello, dear. I was just talking to…”

“My friend.” Clare shot her smile in Frank’s direction. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to the door sooner, I was…indisposed. Would you like to come in?”

“No time.” Frank’s tone was clipped, professional. “We’re going to be late for our appointment.”

“Oh. Right. Let me get my purse.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Clare saw him tell Mrs. Crawford how nice it was to meet her…without taking his gaze off his protégé.

“Shall we go?”

~*~

Frank was unusually silent and composed all the way back to the trailer.

“Are you going to fight me on this one?”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Certainly.” Frank paused by the door, smirking. “If you don’t do it, I’ll kill both of you.”

Ananke started up the steps, but he blocked her way.

“You know why I’m doing this, don’t you?”

“Of course. You’re a sick fuck.”

Frank reached out to slap her, but Ananke caught his wrist.

“Oh no. You’re not going to get ‘Master’ out of me anymore. I’m done licking your boots. You wanted a partner, you got a partner. Now shove off!”

Ananke pushed past him and slid inside, carefully averting her eyes from the table until she’d finished scrubbing in. Only when she was ready to slip on her gloves did she look down at her victim.

“I’m sorry, Cody,” she murmured. “I should have told you I was a serial killer’s apprentice.” The left glove snapped into place and she turned her eyes skyward. “And then I had to go and fall in love.”

On a whim, she kissed him on the forehead and reached for a newly-sharpened dagger. Cody whimpered, but Ananke’s eyes were on Frank.

“Small cuts,” he replied.

Without so much as flinching, Ananke reeled back and drove the dagger through her boyfriend’s heart. She paused long enough to make sure he had stopped breathing before withdrawing the blade and handing it to her master.

Frank smacked the dagger out of her fingers and threw her against the wall.

“You…insolent…”

“You said kill him,” Ananke snapped. “You didn’t say how.”

He reached for her again, but Ananke shoved him aside and retrieved the dagger.

“I’ve done your dirty work. Now leave me the hell alone!”