Page 13 of Lilies from Hell

Denis handed me the rifle and injected something into his arm, a stimulant that brought him back to reality in less than the blink of an eye. I nodded my head, signaling him to spread his ass cheeks and keep his anus open for me so I could push the muzzle inside. His screams were like nothing I had ever heard before, not even at my father’s fucking military academy.

Blood soon gushed onto the sheets, leaving small rivers of blood, but that was only the beginning. I thrust the barrel and pushed it further in, struggling with the surrounding flesh that fought against the weapon’s intrusion. When the weapon slid in and out more easily, Denis released his grip, grabbed a knife, and stabbed him in the back. Then he started laughing, drowning out the cries of pain. With each stab, he sounded more hysterical and deranged, while I just focused on forcing the wire-wrapped rifle into his ass.

The barrel hit a wall of resistance, but I shoved past it with brutality, tearing into the obstruction. Then I yanked the rifle out with a jerk. The pipe was now slick with clear fluid, blood, and brown filth. His entrails were about to spill out of the gaping hole next to his swollen, mangled anus.

I shoved Denis away, turned the semi-conscious body over, and took the knife. I plunged it into his torso, sliding it down to expose his organs, which were torn by barbed wire. I exhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of iron as I pulled out part of his stomach.

“We should make him swallow his own stomach… But then he wouldn’t be able to digest it, because he doesn’t have a stomach. Shit. Where would it go?” I ignored Denis’ ramblings and reached into his guts.

That time I went deeper until I touched a hard surface. I had to pull aside the organs that were in my way so I could cut the arteries and get what I wanted. His heart. I didn’t bother cleaning it up. I just left it on the floor and took a seat beside it while I lit another cigarette. My mind wandered among the many memories engraved on my skin, which is why I had barely said a word.

Denis sat down next to me, and I offered him the cigarette I had just lit seconds ago. A gesture that aimed to reflect what my lips have not yet said to him: thank you.

“It was fun. Besides, I owed you one.” I shook my head slightly, downplaying the favor I did for him. “Now what?” he asked, exhaling smoke. His eyes looked at me expectantly. I glanced at him sideways before taking a photo and placing it in front of us. “We’re heading back to Canada.”

My mind flashed back to the day I was forced to leave her because of my father's plans.

“Pack your things. On Wednesday morning, you’re going back to Moscow. You’ll finish your studies there. I need you to be strong, especially strong here,” my father had said as soon as I stepped into his office, pointing to his temple. “Soon you’ll start helping me, and that school is only distracting you from your real priorities.”

I knew full well what he had in store for me in Moscow. My father ran several military academies throughout Russia, if you could call them that, where he trained his soldiers. He planned to turn me into one of them, into a killing machine.

I was only thirteen, and that place was the only thing that terrified me more than my father. From what I had heard from the men who survived and started working for us, only the best survived, and if they did, they were never the same again. They became wild animals, demons without a shred of soul or humanity.

“For how long?” I asked, a lump forming in my throat. “Until you come of age. Maybe a little longer.” His words hit me like a punch in the stomach. I had no choice.

I never had a choice in anything, but she was the first one I made on my own. I would never rest until I had her in my arms, and with the monster my father was creating, that promise would be stained with blood.

06

“She was fuming.” Romina bursts out laughing, copying me, until I choke on my caramel frappe and start coughing. “Are you okay?” She leans over the table and pats me on the back twice. I nod.

“Have you heard anything from your boyfriend?” I ask, my lips wrapped around the plastic straw. She shakes her head.

“Not even a single message, but this time I will not let it go.”

“Well. I believe you deserve more.”

“Yeah.”

Seeing the blonde girl from the beach again, I searched for him in vain, but I was certain he was present. He’s like a damn ghost, always in the same places I am without really being there.

I try to distract myself by talking to Romina about anything, but my mind is still wondering if he came with her, or maybe not. I fix my gaze on that girl again as she walks past us. She’s holding two drinks in her hands as she walks outside, where there’s a black SUV with tinted windows. The spot is close to where we’re sitting, so when she opens the door to get in, I can see him. He’s wearing sunglasses, but I know for sure that our eyes meet for a few moments before the car starts and disappears from view.

A long sigh escapes my lips as a bitter uneasiness settles in my stomach, and I grip the coffee cup tighter than necessary. Why are they leaving together? And who is she?

“What? Are you lovesick too?” she asks with palpable amusement in her eyes.

“No. No,” I say. I wouldn’t dream of admitting my strange attraction to him. It’s embarrassing enough that Grace knows about it. “It’s just boiling hot here. We have a pool at home. Want to come over?”

“To your house?” she asks, and I nod slowly.

“You’ve been there before. What difference does it make?”

I have to inform the butler about my visitors. It’s one of those unwritten rules. Before going to the pool, we have to go through the kitchen to get to the back garden. But something distracts her in the middle of the living room.

“What are you doing?” I ask from behind her. She keeps a safe distance from the door, dragging me along with her.

“I did not know your father got along with the Novikov family.” She’s not supposed to know that. No one is.