Page 67 of The Cleaner

I rock her against me, her tears soaking through my skin as I try to soothe her. My rage is boiling just beneath the surface. That fucking bitch. God, I can’t even put it into words how much I hate her. I swear I’m going to kill her and relish every single second of it.

“I just wanted everything to be quiet,” she sobs. “I took the pills, hoping to find some peace in sleep,” she confesses.

I close my eyes and press a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “It’s okay, baby,” I whisper soothingly.

“I got help,” she cries, clinging to me desperately. “I went to an in-care psychiatric facility and was able to work through the pain. I was healing, I was getting better, but she wouldn't let me,” she sobs, her hands clawing at my arms.

“What did she do, baby?” I ask, my voice rough and raw with emotion.

“She handed me a rope,” she whispers, her body trembling. “She wouldn’t stop. She kept telling me how awful I was. She wanted me dead. I didn’t want to do it but I had no choice.” She breaks down again, her sobs shaking her entire body.

"I'm so sorry, Lisa," I whisper against her head. “So fucking sorry that you went through that. What about your dad? Where was he? Did he know?”

Lisa continues to cry, her body shuddering in my arms. I stroke her hair, trying to provide some small comfort in this nightmarish situation. "Yes, he knew. I think he did anyway. It doesn’t matter. He left me in the hospital and I didn’t see him again until the day he showed up at my home," she cries.

“None of them will hurt you again,” I promise her, my voice laced with anger.

She continues to cry against me and I feel helpless, unable to help her right now. All I can do is offer her comfort and promise her that she’s going to be okay.

Tomorrow, I’ll be able to end some of her suffering. That motherfucking dad of hers is finally going to meet his demise. I’ve held him for five months now, tortured him mercilessly, and yet it’s not enough. He abandoned the woman I love when she needed him the most, and now I know the truth, nothing will hold me back from killing him.

Lisa’s breathing evens out and I lay her down on the bed and pull her against me. I’m not wanting to let her go, not now, not after I know the truth about what happened to her. We’ve still got a lot to talk about, but she’s opening up to me. We’re finally getting there.

I close my eyes, listening to her soft breathing. It takes a while before I’m able to find sleep, and when I do, my dreams are filled with images of Lisa with a rope around her neck, hanging.

I stareat the man who was supposed to protect and love Lisa. The man who was to care for her and ensure her safety. He failed her. Fuck, he failed her miserably and fucked up her life due to his selfishness.

The burn marks on his feet are ugly and blistered. I smile at the sight. I caused that, along with the jagged, raised scars along his chest and arms. Every inch of them are deserved.

The man, now cowering in fear, glances up at me with wide, terrified eyes. He knows what's coming next. I can see it in his expression; the realisation that this is his last moment reflects in the depths of his eyes.

"Lisa... she... she’s my daughter. Please don’t do this," he begs, stammering his words.

I scoff. “Since when did you care about her? I mean, wasn’t it you who left her alone when she needed you? Or better yet, wasn’t it you who let that fucking bitch give her the rope that she used to try and hang herself?”

“Tanya—” he begins, his body trembling. “She made a mistake.”

My laughter is cruel as it fills the room. "A mistake?" I repeat. "A mistake? Leaving your own daughter to be manipulated when she was at her most vulnerable by a psychopathic bitch is a mistake? Letting her try to take her own life because that cunt called her worthless is a mistake? No, you piece of shit, that was a calculated decision, one you made to save your own pathetic self from facing the mess you created!" I’m breathing heavily, my anger coming to the forefront. “You did this. You fucked up and continued to do so by putting that fucking cunt ahead of your own daughter.”

“Please,” he begs. “Don’t do this.”

“Why?” I ask. “Why shouldn’t I do this?”

He doesn’t answer, because the truth of the matter is, he hasn’t got an answer. He made his bed years ago and now he’s going to lie in it.

“I’ll be sure to let Lisa know just how much of a useless fucking asshole you are. She’s better off without you.”

The man's eyes fill with tears as he continues to plead for his life. But I won't let him live. He doesn't deserve to. "No," he whispers, shaking his head as I reach down and pick up the sledgehammer, feeling the weight of it in my hands. The satisfaction of seeing the terror in his eyes is almost enough to make the adrenaline rush worth it.

I stalk toward him, a sadistic grin on my face. "This is for Lisa," I say, before bringing the hammer down with all my force onto his chest. The crack of the blow echoes through the room, and I can feel the satisfaction of my revenge coursing through my veins.

As I continue to take my time in inflicting every last bit of pain on him that he deserves, memories surface of Lisa struggling to breathe as she relived that awful night when that cunt tried to have her kill herself. I remember how she clung to me while she sobbed as she relived the pain this cunt and his bitch of a wife caused her.

I unleash every ounce of rage that I have. Lisa will never have to see him again. She'll be free from his neglect. She can start to heal without the shadow of her father looming over her. I know it’ll be tough for her to know I'm the one who killed her father, but I can't let her continue to suffer because of his actions.

Tanya is next on my list. I’m not going to let her get away with what she’s done to Lisa. When it’s finally her turn, I will slowly peel back her skin until her body is nothing more than a bloody, agonising mess. She’s not going to get off lightly just because she’s a female. Fuck no.

As each blow lands on his broken, trembling body, I can feel the rage inside me dissipating. It’s almost over. I’d do it over and over again if I needed to. All that matters is keeping Lisa safe and this fucker couldn’t do that. In fact, he did the opposite and put her in danger.

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