LETHAL BRIDE
EPISODE 2 (Reminiscence)
BY BARBRA AUSTIN
The admiration for her beauty in the mirror was distracted by a familiar scent, she turned round to see his face, he looked a little older than when she met him eight years back. He always had an intimidating aura but she got over it and became comfortable in his presence.
“You were magical back there, a goddess I must say. You wrapped everyone in your embrace and didn’t let go until you finished”. She saw a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke.
“Thank you and I’m sure you clapped the loudest” she smiled.
He threw his hands “Of course who would have clapped the loudest if not me?”
“Oh yea, I could hear your distinct clap, a different rhythm from the way others jammed their palms together.”
They both laughed. “Come here my darling”, his arms outstretched, she walked towards him like a little school girl. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ears “I am
proud of you”. He freed her and k!ssed her forehead
“I want you to help me to something”
“What is it? I am always ready.”
He looked deep into her eyes, “there is only one man wearing a white jacket in there. I want you to go back there and take his breath away”
She tilted her head and pressed her lips together.
“How is that going to happen without raising dust?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and brought a little bottle and handed it over to her, she tightened her lips as she opened the bottle, she saw red pills, closed it back and looked at him “how?”,
“Just slip it into anything he is drinking”. She nodded, he faced the exit then he turned
to look at her “I trust you to do the job well, no mistakes” she nodded and watched him
disappear.
She braced up and took quick deep breathes. She was already used to erasing people
for him.
******************
At eighteen she had her first kill. She was really
scared but felt she owed him a huge debt for remolding her life. He dropped her off in front of a house.
“He lives alone. Go in there and take him out. And remember your target practice. No
mistakes, I will be waiting here”.
She got down from the car and counted her steps until she got to the door. She could feel the hardness of the weapon around the waist line of her trouser. She rang the door bell and she heard sluggish footsteps. The door opened. His sight frightened her, he towered her, and had a disgusting odour around him.
Her breathe seized.
“What can I do for you young lady?” He was tipsy and looked disheveled. “I came to take you out”. She spoke boldly, shielding her tremendous fear.
“Oh no honey, I am not going anywhere with anybody, so scurry off and find a man of your size, I’m too old for you miss”.
“I don’t mean that”, she reached out for the pistol given to her by Easton, “I mean this”. He smacked his palm against his forehead,
“What did I ever do to you?”
“You did nothing”, and wasted no time in releasing the bullet. It wasn’t loud, it had a mild sound but it took a life. She met for it to hit his head, but it went through his neck. His eyes widened, he touched his neck and looked at his palm, it was all bloody.
He looked at her, his eyes wide with shock. “Why did you kill me?” He touched her face and fell, life went out of him.
************
She remembered standing there looking at her first victim, shaky and guilty. She smelt the blood on her face.
Her grip eased on the gun. She didn’t hear the sound of the gun fall, then she realized
Easton was beside her. “I killed him” she said weakly.
“Yes, because I asked you. He was a threat to me, so I had to kill him”.
“No you made me do it”.
He sighed and pulled her close. He pushed the body back into the house and shut the door. He
held her hands and felt the coldness.
She remembered having nightmares of the man’s face, she couldn’t sleep properly, she was scared his ghost would haunt her.
She rolled and tossed on the bed for hours until dawn.
*****************
She put the pills into her purse, took one last look at her appearance in the mirror, then walked out majestically, taking each step with poise.
She got into where the people were gathered and the scanned for the man on white jacket. She spotted a man with the description, chatting with people around him, laughing heartily, unaware of what was coming for him, she rested her eyes on him for few seconds before taking steps to her mission. Half way
from reaching him, she spotted another man on white, sitting alone and sipping slowly from a glass, lost in his own thoughts. She stopped, confused.
She looked at both men and wondered who is more of a target to Easton looked. She decided the man sitting alone was his target. She walked towards him; and hoped she made the
right decision. She got stares of admiration from people.
She slipped beside him and touched his arm. “Hey”, he looked at her in amusement and smiled.
“I must be in heaven, the elegant and beautiful Crystal is sitting beside me, I don’t deserve this.”
She smiled flashing her beautiful set of teeth.
“I’m flattered. Why are you alone”,
“I am not, you are here now, can I get you a drink?”
“No, I would share with you” she already had a pill between the index and middle fingers.
He handed her his glass, she took it and sipped. “So how did you start singing”, he tried
to engage her in a conversation.
As she answered him, her fingers released the pill into his drink and waited for it to dissolve. She handed the glass back to him. “I need to go now.”
She stood up, but he held her wrist. “everybody knows your name here, but you don’t know theirs’, can I tell you mine?”
“Sure,” she replied.
“I am Dickson”, “it’s a pleasure meeting you Dickson,” she walked away without turning back.
In no time the pill started taking effect. He began to sweat profusely, his hands shook, he didn’t understand what was happening to him, he went into the rest room, turned on the tap and sprinkled water on his face. He felt something trickle down his nose, he touched it and saw blood, he gasped, he started turned pale, fell down and convulsed to his death.
******************
She got into her dressing room, and met Easton holding a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. He smiled as she got closer.
“Were you successful?” “Of course, I have never missed a target”.
“What did the brute say his name was?”
“Dickson”,
“Wait! What!” “He said his name was Dickson”, she repeated, she went further to say he was with no one and sat alone, but she did see another man on white crowded with people and really lousy and didn’t see that kind of person as a target. The bottle dropped from his hand, along with the glasses.
“You got the wrong man on white Crystal, His name is Hector and he is lousy”.
She got irritated.
“You should have told me about his attributes, instead of just pushing me out there without proper briefing”.
He frowned. “this is no time for throwing blame, go back there and take him out now”,
his voice slightly raised, he took out a gun from his pocket “use it if you must”.
She took it from him and went away with a determination of not missing her target again.
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