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Birds called each other, but stopped as he approached. A dog barked in the distance. It was unseasonably warm and sunny today, a brief pause on winter before it snapped back into bright bitter cold again. It was the perfect day to do this. An unassuming happy day for Mina’s biggest tormentor.
Brian set the bag on the ground and knocked. No answer. He rang the bell. Still no answer. He pressed his finger on the button again, holding it down until the door was ripped open.
“What!” a man on the other end barked.
“Hello. I’m Brian Sloan. I’m here on behalf of Mina Calloway.”
The man laughed and shook his head. “Cute. You must be the heroic new boyfriend.”
“No. This is a different story.”
“Yeah, okay, hero. Did she cry to you about how mean I was to her? She consented to all of it. Little whore tops from the bottom. But you probably know that by now. Tell that cunt when I told her to get out, I didn’t mean send her newest fuck to beat me up.”
Keep talking, asshole.
Jason started to shut the door in his face, but Brian’s boot stopped it from closing.
“I’m happy to say I’m not here to beat you up.” He picked up the bag and forced his way inside, slamming and locking the door behind him.
Outside, the birds resumed their conversation.
* * *
Mina had just made it to the top of the stairs when she heard shouting in the main entry hall.
“What the fuck is all this?” Lindsay shouted.
She moved down the hallway and peered around the corner into the entryway. Brian stood surrounded by several bags he’d hauled inside. He was covered in blood.
“It’s trash,” Brian replied coolly.
“Who?” Lindsay said. “We agreed we’d manage this and that you wouldn’t just go off…”
“We agreed to nothing. I said it’s trash. It needs to be burned. If you’ll excuse me.”
“Brian…”
He rounded on the doctor. “You use me. You’ve always used me. Do you think I don’t know that? You used me. You used Mina. It’s all about you getting what you want, what helps your bank account. I’m not the fucking idiot you seem to think I am!”
Mina rushed down the hall and back down the stairs to the room at the end of the corridor. She should have closed the door and stayed hidden inside with the Chopin still playing on repeat. But she watched through the crack as Brian brought the bags down and took them to the hidden door behind the stairs.
When he emerged again, he was naked—his clothes and shoes likely burning with the rest of the evidence. The look in his eyes was like nothing she’d ever seen. Nothing she wanted to ever see again.
She backed up when he opened their door. He looked wild. Savage. As if he’d ripped some animal apart with his bare hands and teeth. No. As if he were the animal.
“I need to get cleaned up.”
The CD ended and went back to the first nocturne.
“Who?” she said, echoing Lindsay’s question upstairs.
“Jason. The rest will be taken care of. Don’t worry.”
Her breath hitched. Jason was gone. Like God just erased his mistake.
She didn’t know what to feel. She didn’t know what she was supposed to feel. Yes, Jason had abused her, but she’d consented to… she’d agreed to… It wasn’t as if he’d kidnapped her or held her against her will. She’d chosen… and now…
The bathroom door shut and the shower came on.
