the sweetly scented killer

not in heaven anymore

seth

I finally plop down in bed next to Flora. I didn't even shower, though I probably should have. I just took off my shirt and pants and dropped onto the covers in my boxers.

Flora sits next to me handling flowers as usual. I didn't pay attention to what she was doing with them, but I really don't care. I just wait for sleep to consume me.

"You smell like fire," Flora says quietly.

I decide whether or not to respond. I don't lift my head from the pillow, and I don't move an inch. My voice comes out flat, and muffled. "I know."

After a few minutes of silence, I think she's going to let me sleep, but then she speaks again. "Seth?"

I groan internally. All her damn questions.

"Flora," I respond in the same dead tone.

"Why do you have this...profane tattoo on your hands that suggests the dismissal of life if we are not technically living?" One of my hands is under my head. The other is on the other side of the pillow. I'm too tired to remember if she's looking at the "profane" side or the "life" side.

"Our existence is close enough to life to be considered living."

"So...you don't want to live?"

I lift my head off of the pillow and look at her. The flowers in her hands have dropped to her lap as her interest is on me at the moment. I lay on my side to face her.

A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. "What?" Flora frowns.

I drag a hand over my face with exhaustion while raising my eyebrows. "You ask a lot of questions, little flower."

"I like to know a lot of things," she smiles.

"So, would you ever get a tattoo?"

"Goodness, no," Flora laughs. "In heaven, we don't engage in things that could make our bodies impure." I can think of a billion ways to make your body "impure", Flora. "Tattoos, alcohol, substances..." And then she looks past me. "And...and more." She says it as if she's realizing for the first time.

"Sounds a bit smothering." I'm surprised to see her nod in agreement.

"There are a lot of things we can't do in heaven." Her eyes find their way to me.

I raise an eyebrow. If I didn't know any better, I would think that my pure, innocent, angel for a wife Flora was making a sexual reference.

I slowly sit up and move her closer to me by placing my hand on her hip. I leave it there and she doesn't say anything. She just stares at my lips, unable to pry her eyes from them.

Her shallow breath touches my skin as we get closer. I brush my thumb over her bottom lip.

"Good thing you're not in heaven anymore," I whisper.

After she doesn't respond, I listen for her thoughts. She's nervous. Nervous I'm going to want to take her virginity tonight. I don't think she wants me to. And she's scared for when I do.

For some reason, knowing I'm going to be the first to give her that kind of pleasure turns me on. Something animalistic ignites inside me, and I suddenly want to take her over and over. Something that drowns out my mother's side. Something demonic that tells me to ignore Flora's thoughts and show her that she's right to be scared for when I fuck her.

I ignore the fear in her eyes and lean in.

***

"You know, when I thought about hell," Francesca starts. "I didn't think there'd be so many damn lines to wait in."

"We have a system, okay?" I frown, looking down at her. God, humans are short. I pull my phone out of my pocket as it rings. "We're not animals." She rolls her eyes. "What?" I answer the phone.

"Son, I wanted to let you know that the theme of the ball is black," father says matter-of-factly.

"Since when are you having a ball?" I frown.

"Since three weeks ago when I told you we're having a ball for my anniversary with your mother."

"Well I'm not going."

Father sighs. "It's cute you think you have choice. Be there by ten." He ends the call. I roll my eyes.

"Trouble in paradise?" Francesca asks. I give her an unimpressed glare.

"There's always trouble. We're in hell."

"I know that, but I was just trying to--"

"Stop talking."

"Okay."

I'm Francesca's supervisor, so I'm supposed to be in the room while she's being tortured. But I just can't do it. We only have two more rounds before she's sent to receive her "eternal fate". How dramatic. It's just some kind of eternal suffering bullshit that humans are assigned after they have five rounds of torture in hell. When they're barely hanging onto consciousness.

There are plenty of humans I would gladly take to their eternal fate and throw a fucking party if it's suffering for the rest of eternity. But Francesca? She's just not like them. She's...a good person.

And I'll be damned if she suffers for the rest of her existence.

***

Flora stands on the other side of the bedroom door when I open it. She can barely contain her excitement. She's fidgeting with her dress and shifting her weight from one foot to another. I smile a little and roll my eyes as I walk past her.

I take off my suit jacket, then drape it over my desk chair. I unbutton my suit while still facing an elated Flora.

"Yes?" I draw out while raising my eyebrows.

"I can visit my family!" she bursts, jumping up and down. She throws her arms around me and talks excitedly about all the things she's going to do with them.

"You have three seconds to stop touching me," I turn my head away from her. She doesn't comply, so I pry her off and continue what I was doing as Flora talks a mile a minute. I listen to most of it (which surprises me because I usually don't care about half the things that come out of her mouth) and she mostly mentions things she wants to do with Fauna and their mother.

After hearing how awfully they've treated her, I'm surprised she wants to spend thirty seconds with those women. But also, they're her family. And she misses her family.

I should be her family and I know it. I should be her rock, her protecter, her shoulder to cry on, and all that other bullshit father lectures me on.

And then, we'll have a family of our own. The thought of having children with Flora hasn't phased me yet. It just doesn't feel real. We were supposed to consummate our marriage on the first night. It's not a rule, more like a guideline.

So that in an ideal world, Flora is already about five months pregnant. I just don't get how we're supposed to love a child of our own when we don't even love each other.

How would that affect the child? How would that affect us?

I was disappointed then, but I'm glad we didn't have sex that night.

And no, we didn't have sex last night either. I kissed her on the cheek, and we went to bed. I would never do that to her if she didn't want it. I might have been raised in hell, but I'm not a monster. Well, not really.

Flora is allowed to stay in heaven for five days, in a wing in their house separate from her family. I said that was bullshit, but she was too excited to scold me for my language.

If I had it my way, she would never see those people again. They take advantage of her goodnatured heart and push her out because they know she won't see it.

But I'm glad I don't have it my way. Because for some goddamn reason, they bring Flora immense happiness that I never want to see taken away from her.