Cheater

Beast

It wasn't supposed to be this way. From his laughter to her smile, I can't get them out of my head.

This ache in my chest whenever I'm not near them was never meant to happen. I wasn't even planning on seeing them. Yet, every time I'm outside of the house I fight myself not to go back.

"You will mess it up,"Mother reminds me in my head.

I shut my eyes as the reminder settles in my chest. My hand tightens on the steering wheel causing the leather of my gloves to squeak.

The moan in the back seat brings me out of my head. I glance in the rear-view mirror and adjust it so that I can see my passenger.

The next stop I made the night I met Summer was at the diner. Despite what the benefactor thinks, I did take some precautions that night. The diner didn't have a camera system, but the place across from it did. I deleted the footage of me and Summer walking in and out the restaurant that night. The only other place I had to delete footage from was the shop I bought the shoes and scarf from.

However, even though I deleted the footage of the diner, I didn't need it to track down everyone that was there that night. Apparently after we left, Henry Parks, the owner and cook from that night, called the police. The police took the statements of everyone there along with their name and information.

That's how I found Cody Hampton. The cheater from the diner.

He groans from the back seat of the car. The sedative I gave him is wearing off.

I found him out to eat with another woman that wasn't his wife. After cutting all the cameras in and around the restaurant, I slipped a pill in his whiskey sour before the waiter brought it to the table.

When he stumbled into the bathroom about fifteen minutes later, I snuck him out the back door and into my borrowed car. All without anyone noticing.

I pull the sedan into the garage at my apartment building. After turning off the car and hopping out of the driver's seat, I go around to the back door and lift him out. He puts up a weak fight.

Tossing him over my shoulder in a fireman carry, I walk into my kill room. Leaning him up against the wall, I chain his arms and legs to the cuffs bolted into the cement.

His head rolls around his shoulders, the dosage of meds I gave him were light. I made sure he would be awake for this part. When he looks up at me, he seems to focus a little.

"Who are you?"

I don't answer. Instead, I go over to my shelves and grab my tools for the night. A framing nail gun, a meat cleaver, a blow torch, a box of 16 gauge 1 ⒈／⒉ inch nails, and an ice pick. Once I'm done gathering my supplies. I roll the cart over toward Cody.

"Hey, do you hear me talking to you? Who the fuck are you?"

Once my cart is in place, I grab a metal folding chair on the other side of the room and carry it back to Cody.

"Wait," he says, when I'm in front of him again. "I know you. I've seen you before. The night at the diner. It was you."

"The adulterer remembers you,"Mother says. "The good book says the adulterer should be put to death."

Unfolding the chair, I place it down and then take a seat. I still haven't responded to his questions. My answers don't matter. He won't live past tonight.

I grab the nail gun off the cart along with the box of nails and load it up. The gun is rigged so that the safety is off. I don't have to press against anything to fire off a nail.

"What are you going to do with that?" Cody asks.

I glance up at him. His arms stretched out over his head and his legs are spread apart making him form an X shape against the wall.

I place the fully loaded nail gun down on my thigh before leaning back in my seat. I don't have to ask Cody any questions. He will tell me everything I need to know. He has no loyalty to anyone but himself. He will say and do whatever he needs to get out of this predicament. Torturing him would be pointless. I don't need to make him bleed to talk to me.

"Is this about what I told that Russian guy with the tattoos?"

See what I mean?

"Look, I only told him that I saw you in the diner. That's it."

"Did you mention the girl?"

His brow lifts. "You mean the strung-out prostitute?"

I hit the trigger of the gun, and a nail shoots out and hits him right in the thigh. He yells, tossing his head back as spittle flies out of his mouth.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He cries. His face is bright red.

"Did you mention the girl?" I ask again.

It takes him a minute to fight through his pain. His teeth are clenched and bared as he breathes through his nose.

"Did you mention—"

"Yes. Fuck. Yes, I mentioned the fucking girl." His anger quickly turns into tears. "I'm sorry." He sobs.

I didn't care for his apologies or his tears.

"What else did you tell him?"

"That's it. I didn't tell him anything else."

"He's lying, kid. I know you can read that bullshit from here,"Priest whispers in my thoughts.

I send another nail into his arm. He once again lets out a deafening scream. I send two more out, back-to-back, hitting his shin and his thigh again. He rattles the chains as his body thrashes against the pain.

The second nail in his thigh seems to be bleeding profusely. I lay the nail gun down and stand to my feet before grabbing the blow torch. After turning it on, I put the blue flame to the nail hole.

Cody screams so loud it rings my ears making it uncomfortable. Once I was sure I had stopped the bleeding, I place the torch back down on the cart.

"You lied to me."

Cody's head lulls around his shoulders, his body is limp against the chains holding him up. However, I know he isn't dead.

"What else did you tell him?"

"I told him about the guys that came into the diner and how you protected her." The words fall from his lips slowly. His energy is waning.

"He's weak and an adulterer. He won't last long. Do what you are called to do,"Mother says impatiently.

"What did the Russian look like?"

It takes him a moment to get the energy to answer me. "Tall. Tally mark tattoos on his arm. That's all I know."

I don't believe him. "Nothing else stood out? What was he wearing, what color were his hair and eyes?" All details mattered. Anything about the benefactor could lead me to finding him.

"I don't know," Cody shouts as saliva dribbles down his chin.

I allow a minute for his tantrum to pass before speaking again.

"I have over four thousand of these nails and nothing else to do." I prop the nail gun up on my knee aiming it at his crotch. "If I were you, I'd start remembering."

"Okay. Alright," he cries. "His hair was dark, almost black."

"What was he wearing? What color were his eyes?"

"He was wearing a white button up and dress pants. I don't know the color of his eyes because he wore shades. Now please let me go."

Once again, I'm reminded of how close the benefactor got to Summer and Gabe. Even after questioning two people, I still don't have any real way to pick him out in a crowd. But I can't be mad at anyone but myself. I allowed someone to get this close. It's because of me that he was able to get the information that he did. The thought sends fury through me causing that red haze to rise up in my mind like fire.

"Cleanse him of his sins. Send his soul to hell." I allow Mother's words to guide me.

Walking over to Cody, I hold the gun directly in front of his right eye.

"Please," he pleads. "Don't do this. I'm sorry," he begs and cries.

It's no use, Mother has me now. There is no remorse nor sympathy when she takes control.

"Feed,"she whispers. I pull the trigger.

***

Hours passed before mother was sated and the red haze lifted. By the time I'm finished, Cody is unrecognizable. Instead of incinerating his remains, I dump him where he will be found. I need the benefactor to know I'm cleaning up and getting closer to him. My hope is that it lures him out of hiding. I shower in my small apartment near the house before heading back to Summer's.

As I push the back sliding glass door open, my heart races in my chest. Excitement. That's what my studies tell me the feeling is.

I drop my bag near the back door and head into the living room where the television is giving off a dim light. Only, I don't walk in on a smiling Summer that's making sure I'm not coming back still in the midst of my haze. No, I stumble onto a sleeping Summer, tucked in my black hoodie.

My shoulders slump at the sight of her sleeping. However, my heart still races knowing that she tried to wait up for me.

I pick up the remote and cut the tv off, before turning to the couch. I lift her up in my arms. She turns toward my chest and buries her face in my neck.

Even though she has gained more weight since the last time I saw her, she is still so light and frail in my arms.

"You're going to break her. The whore is too fragile," Mother warns.

I ignore her words as I carry Summer up the stairs to her bedroom. I kick the door open with the toe of my boots and use my elbow to turn on the light. I then carry her over to the bed. After pulling the covers back, I place her down gently.

"You're late," she says in a groggy voice.

"I got a little caught up tonight."

She cracks one eye open and looks me over. "You meant you were having too much fun."

A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. "Maybe."

She slides back and lifts the covers. "Lay with me."

Immediately the relaxed state I was in disappears and my body stiffens.

"Fornication is a sin,"Mother warns. "You will burn in hell."

"I don't think that's a good idea," I tell Summer.

"Oh, okay," she says, lowering the blanket. Her face falls a little. "I understand."

"Kid, if you don't get your ass in that bed, I swear I will beat the shit out of you,"Priest growls.

Sitting on the side of the bed, I untie my boots and pull them off. I then undo my pants and kick out of them. Next comes my zip up hoodie. I fold my clothes and place them—along with my boots—in the chair beside the bed. I'm left in nothing but my boxers and shirt.

I walk over to the door and turn the light off before making my way back to the bed. Lifting the covers, I slide in beside her. The smile on her face is worth every bit of restraint I will need to endure this without touching her. I lift her up and flip her over me to the other side of the bed.

"What was that for," she asks with a giggle.

"I have to be able to see the door," I explain.

I hope my odd ways don't make her change her mind about lying with me. Trying to sit with my back facing a door is the equivalent to having my skin peeled off.

"Makes sense," she says before moving in closer to me placing her head on the pillow designated for me. Her warm breath brushes against my face. Her cold feet wrap around my legs.

"You're so warm," she coos as she tosses an arm over my side.

"And your feet are like ice blocks."

She laughs. "We make a perfect pair. I'm cold and you're hot."

I don't comment on that. Instead, I relax into the darkness of the room. Finding solace in the gentle sound of her breathing.

"Can I ask you something?" Her voice is light, hesitant almost.

"Yes."

She pauses for a moment before she speaks again. "When you were away for those five years, did you… you know?"

I rack my brain trying to figure out what I'm supposed to know. Is she asking if I killed during our time away? I did. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to. I've always known she didn't like what I did, but I didn't realize she never wanted me to do it.

"Did you not want me too?"

She sighs. "I mean, I guess that would be absurd, right?" she chuckles but it isn't like her usual laughs. "Five years is a long time to wait."

"It's hard to refrain from it, Summer."

She gasps leaning up. I immediately miss her warmth. "Yeah, but I thought I was special."

The sadness in her voice bothers me. It has the same effect that not facing a door does.

"No matter how important you are, I can't hold back. It's part of my job."

She's quiet for a moment. My sight has adjusted to the dark so I can just make out the confused way her brows are dipped.

"What are you talking about?" She asks.

"Killing. What are you talking about?"

Because now I have this odd inkling that I did not make the right assumption about what I was supposed to know. Her boisterous laughter makes me believe I am correct in my musings.

"Sex, Gabriel. I'm asking you if you've slept with someone else since we were together?"

This time I frown. Why would she want to know if I've slept with someone else.

"No. I haven't been with anyone."

Her laughter dies down and she goes back to lying peacefully beside me.

"So, you just didn't think about it at all?" She asks once she's regained her position.

"I thought about it."

I don't tell her how much I thought about it. How it kept me sane when those walls started to cave in on me. I don't tell her that I closed my eyes and imagined her scent, her moans, the tightness of her pussy and the warm wet heat it emitted. I don't confess to those things.

"Well, what kept you from doing it? I mean, other than the whole mom in your head thing, you're a great catch for anyone."

I smile at her joke and at the fact that she thinks I'm a catch.

"They don't usually let prisoners make nunnery requests and all my guards were men."

"Oh so you did not succumb to the ‘any hole will do' thing?" She laughs, but I have no idea what she's talking about.

"What about you?" I ask and her laughter immediately dies down.

"I thought about it."

"Is that why you have a drawer full of penis shaped silicone toys?"

She lifts up and hits me on the chest. "Gabriel, are you snooping in my room."

"Yes," I confirm, grabbing her and pulling her back down in front of me. She snuggles into me more.

"I'm going to start locking my door."

I don't tell her that it wouldn't make a difference. After studying Priest for so long I can break into any lock she could put on her door.

However, it does lead me to ask another question. "Are the penises in your drawer the only ones you've used?"

She snorts, and her body shakes with her laughter. "Real smooth."

I wait for her to finish laughing to answer my question.

"If I tell you that they aren't, would you be mad?"

I think over her words for a moment. I have no ownership of Summers's body. When I left her that night, I left her with no promises of commitment or agreements of fidelity. She had every right in the five years we were apart to take on another partner.

"No," I say confidently. "But just for my research, I need their names and addresses."

She tosses her head back and laughs as if I was telling a joke. I'm not. I did not require her to be faithful to me in our time apart. However, it does not mean that I will allow another man to live after he has shared the heaven that is between Summer's legs.

Not even Andrew gets a pass. As much as I hate the idea of her dating him, I can't argue. She's right, she is single. But the day he touches her body will be his last. I'm understanding of her feelings and need to date, but not that fucking understanding.

"You know what," she says cuddling back into me. "I'm not even sure if you're joking. But you can relax. There wasn't anyone else."

My body softens. I didn't even realize I had gotten tense.

"Hard to believe. If not for your horribly timed humor, you'd be a catch."

She punches me in the stomach. "You get on my nerves." She laughs before it turns into a big yawn.

I grab her hand and place it back over my side before placing my hand over hers.

"Go to sleep, Summer."

She buries her face in my chest, sliding her body even closer to me.

"Goodnight, Gabriel. And don't be trying to take advantage of me while I'm sleep," she says jokingly.

"If I remember correctly, you took advantage of me that night."

Once again, she tosses her head back and laughs.

For the first night ever, I slept peacefully in a bed.