Page 9 of Grit & Glamour

Chapter Six

The warm aroma of bitter coffee tickles my nose, and I wriggle under the covers as I unconsciously turn towards the scent. The smell of coffee, any coffee, seems to soothe my soul. The scent triggers pleasant thoughts and memories for me whenever I breathe it in.

“Morning, Scarlett. If you get up, I'll give you the coffee,” a strange voice entices me to awaken further. I breathe in the smell and debate the offer. The blankets are warm and soft, but the promise of coffee wins out. As I open my eyes, I'm faced with a masked man. A scream catches in my throat, and I choke, staring at him with bug eyes. “You forgot for a minute, huh?” he asks, and I focus in on the only part of his face I can see, his brown eyes through the slits in his mask. I wonder which of the twins this is?

“Yeah, I did,” I grumble, gaining some composure as I sit up. I look down at the covers I’m now underneath of. I must have crawled underneath them half-asleep during the night. The taller man has thankfully vacated the bed, leaving me alone with the brown-eyed killer presenting coffee. I take the offered coffee nervously, as I'm worried refusing will offend him. I stare at it, my scepticism causing an internal debate. Would he really go to the effort of poisoning me when a gun to the head would be much quicker and more efficient?

“It's okay, it happens,” he remarks.

The taller man strides into the room, still masked as he approaches. “Why didn't you tell me Scarlett was awake?” he asks, directing the question at his accomplice.

“She's only just woken up, and it's not like you've made a decision yet anyway,” the brown-eyed one retorts, not seeming overly concerned with the other man's frustration.

“You called me Scarlett. Both of you.” The realisation hits me a little late. “What happened to not naming your chickens?” I demand, turning to look up and glare directly at the taller man while awaiting his answer, not that an answer actually comes from him.

“If we don't name our chickens, we certainly don't share a bed with them,” the brown-eyed man answers instead, taking us both by surprise as we turn to him. “Come on, as if you'd be considerate enough to get on the floor and let her have the bed.” He turns in the direction of his cohort. “Please tell me you snuggled?” he asks in a sarcastic tone.

“Don’t be ridiculous. But you’re right, we’re not killing her—for now, at least.” He turns to me, and even through the mask on his face, I can feel the intensity of his stare. “You get a name, for now.”

“Thanks,” I mutter sarcastically, not sure what else to say. Although not getting killed sounds pretty great. The ‘for now’ part however we’re going to need to work on.

“Your brother is still sleeping, so we figured we’d leave him to rest while you and I talk,” the taller man begins. “I want—

“Is he okay?” I interrupt, not caring what he wants. “I want to see him. I need to make sure… just make sure he’s okay,” I ramble, scrambling up, coffee still in hand. With the news that they’re not planning to kill me still fresh in my mind, I take a sip of the coffee, which thankfully isn’t as bitter as it smells. It could use a shot of vanilla though.

“He’s perfectly fine. You can see him as soon as we’re done talking,” he counters in a strict tone.

“I want to see him now,” I insist without hesitation. He wants something, but what I want from him is far more important to me. Keeping my brother safe is all that matters.

“Not happening. Not a chance.”

“Well, either that happens, or you’re going to be listening to a whole lot of silence, so why don’t you decide,” I snap.

“You can lose your name just as easily as you got it, Scarlett.” He pauses before adding, “Please don’t make that the last time I use it.”

We stare at each other, both determined to stick to our guns. The absolute resolution in his gaze makes me want to look away, but I’ve stared down worse than this man and lived. True evil hides in homes, and my home is where evil loves to throw its most lavish affairs.

“What if,” begins the brown-eyed man, who’d remained oddly quiet until now.

“If we’re not done in an hour, you can check in on your brother before we continue. He’s sleeping right now anyway. Give him an extra hour to rest, answer our questions, and then you’ll get to see your well-rested brother soon.”

I pause, thinking over his suggestion as I watch for the taller man’s reaction to his accomplice’s intervention into our discussion. His reaction is a little underwhelming, considering if he has any, he doesn’t show it outwardly. Smart. It’s probably best not to let your captive know if there is disagreement amongst you all.

“Do you agree to that?” I ask the taller man, raising a sceptical eyebrow in his direction as I try to bait a reaction out of him.

“Of course,” he answers evenly, not biting.

“Well, I want something else, too,” I demand on a whim.

“What do you want now?” he questions through gritted teeth.

“Names. Three of them. For all of you. I don’t care if they’re real or not, but I need something to call you all, as Killer A, B, and C, doesn’t sound right,” I answer, straight faced as ever.

“Names,” he echoes in utter disbelief.

“Names,” I agree with what I hope to be a truly annoying smile.

“One, Two, and Three work better than ABC,” the brown-eyed man interrupts again.

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