Page 131 of Kept in the Dark
I’ve seen death before. I’ve even seen violent death before, but this was… cruel, and senseless. I’m reminded of my conversation with Dimitri onthe boat, which feels like years ago. I didn’t realize how much I believed what I said until this exact moment.
Not everyone deserves to die. Some people deserve to suffer.
I lean back against the arm bracing my back. “Give me your knife.”
Without so much as a questioning look, he takes a clean one from a holster in his belt and offers it up, letting it dangle by the circle cutout at the end of the handle. I grab it, careful of the sharp blade, and step around Dimitri. Kyle is still moving on the floor, though it’s clearly painful and taking a lot of effort. He’s bleeding freely from the stab wound in his stomach, and he can’t do anything about it with his hands skewered like that.
I feel a little thrill seeing the fear in Kyle’s eyes as I come into view.
“Will it kill him, where your knife went in?” I ask Dimitri, gesturing to the wound in Kyle’s stomach. I could check for myself, but I don’t want to get that close yet.
“Fuck you both!” Kyle screams. “I’m going to fucking kill you—my family will kill you and everyone you love! Let me go and fight me like a real fucking man—”
I can feel Dimitri’s presence at my back. “Eventually,” he says softly. Surprisingly, it’s easy to hear him despite Kyle’s screams. “I wanted his death to be slow and painful.”
The words make me shiver, but there’s no horror in my body’s response to the remorseless malice. I look at Kyle and feel only hatred. I tune out his vitriol as I approach and nearly smile when he shrinks away.
“Do not straddle his leg,” Dimitri coaches from behind me. “Do not hesitate, just strike—and use more force than you think you have to.”
I swallow, gripping the handle. My hand trembles. I want to stab him so badly. I want him to sit in the fear he inflicted on me. I want him to suffer the same helplessness and hopelessness he made me feel using violence and sexual threats.
Kyle curls in on himself, even as he shouts obscenities at me from the floor. I find my target, adjust my grip so the slippery, bloody handle of the knife won’t cause a problem, and strike. I use more force than I think I have to, and I’m met with a sickening resistance that gives way to a satisfying yielding of muscle and skin. His screams ramp up, higher and more fearful than they’ve been yet, then the noise cuts out. He’s passed out.
“Yes. She stabbed him in the cock,” I hear Dimitri say, and I know he’s not talking to me. There’s a deep chuckle, a surprisingly happy sound amid this macabre scene. “Wesley says that because we are a couple that stabs together, we should stay together. I like it.”
In my shock at the realities of how it felt to stab someone—the force, the smell of his blood, the sound of skin splitting—I released the handle of the knife. Now, I reach for it, jerk it upwards, and stare down at the spreading stain of blood in the crotch of his pants for an instant.
“We need to get out of here,” Dimitri says, laying a heavy, warm hand on my shoulder. Despite the blood soaking him, I can still smell his true scent. It stings my nose and feels like home. “What about Kyle?”
We stare down at Kyle. His chest is rising and falling, barely, and the blood has started soaking into the hardwood. I consider what Dimitri asked.
What about Kyle?
Will he die on his own? Should we leave him? I know Dimitri’s question is partially an offer to handle the situation for me. He might as well have asked,What part doyouwant to play, Nicole?
Well… what do I want to do?
I look up at my man. His eyes meet mine, fierce and proud, dipping to my swollen cheek and hardening in anger. That one brief look speaks volumes and lights me on fire from the inside.
I’m done with this shit—Kyle, the USB, all of it. I think I’d even like to kill him, but he might still have some value to us. Though I’m not sure it’s strictly necessary for him to be alive for this next idea…
“Let’s frame him for my kidnapping.”
His brows shoot up. “What?”
“We can… plant the drive on him. Anyone in his family that’s still alive will assume he took it, and it’ll be in police lockup before they realize the money was transferred away anyway, right? And that way, I have an excuse for where I’ve been all this time that has nothing to do with you. It’s a good idea, right? It protects all of you.” And maybe one day I can even rejoin the real world here in Ulysses.
He lifts his hand, rubbing the backs of his knuckles against my unmarred cheek. “Are you certain, Nicole? It will not be easy. Lying to the police is not simple, and you will have to face them alone—”
I reach for his hand and hug it to my chest. “It’ll be worth it to stay with you.”
42
Nicole
This time it’s me taking care of what’s mine.
I’m in the middle of the bench-style front seat of a rusted-out exterminator van. Dimitri’s leg is pressed against the length of mine, and his hand is tucked between my thighs, his thumb stroking circles against my pants as a comfort to both of us. Eleanor slumps against me on my other side, hugging me around the middle, careful of the area where I told her I was hit. The ride back is silent, and it feels excruciatingly slow, and when I look over at the speedometer, I can see why—Dimitri is driving exactly the speed limit. It makes me smile for some reason, despite the strangely tense, somber mood.
