𝐑 𝐄 𝐙 𝐀 𝐑

6

- I killed someone - I tell her as she enters the bathroom. I'm sitting in the bathtub, something that reminds of my far away home. My mother. If my agent hasn't called her yet, she's about to have the biggest heart attack. They probably think I got kidnapped, or died in a ditch. 

- So did I - her answer is off the shoulder. She sits down beside me, and puts a plastic back into her lap. As if we're talking about average things like a salad recipe. I'm hungry. 

- I can't do this. He didn't deserve it. Who am I to end another beings life? - tears start streaking down my face, they burn me. I've thought about this in the car, but Karina kept me busy. In the beginning I felt no remorse, no regret, just fucking relief. But time keeps passing and the gravity of my action sets on my soul. 

- You killed one man, but saved at least two other women's lives.

Anyone could get away with murder with that logic, no?

And the burning in my cheek is back again, but this time it's from the impact of her hand hitting my face. 

We stay in silence after the sound of the slap. It takes me a few seconds to realize and come back to my senses. I want to blame the late hours for my mood. 

- What's in the bag? 

- Drugs. 

- What? 

- Micellar water and makeup. And some wine - She takes the bottle and opens it. We take turns drinking - I think it's not worth crying over. If someone dies at your doing, it's because God wanted them to die begging for your mercy. Everyone has their time, and if it's your job to stop the clock for someone else, then it is. It's destiny or fate or whatever you want to call it. 

The drink is sweet and sparkly, like I am on the runway. I always get dresses full of glitter, and I shine while giving a show to the crowd. 

- So you think I shouldn't eat myself up over literally shooting someone. 

- I mean... he started it, didn't he? 

- How'd you know? 

- You don't look like the type to kill for no reason.   

- I've been wanting to ask... - but my sentence gets cut in half, as the door of our hotel room slowly opens. In the short time between someone entering and the door being opened, Karina, out of reflex I guess, is already on her feet. She turns off the bathroom light. 

- Stay here and do not move - her voice is barely a whisper, I get what she says from reading her lips. 

Two maids. They're dressed in the hotel's signature colors and uniform. One pushes a trolley full of cleaning supplies. I feel relief, but Karina is on edge. 

It's late at night, they aren't supposed to be cleaning now. They probably saw Karina leave, and didn't see her come back, because instead of using their towels they start carefully rummaging through the cupboards and drawers. 

Karina's gears are working in her head, she's concentrating. 

The gun is in the drawer. 

It's a split second as Karina sprints to the drawer, while the maids have their backs turned to us. She almost has the gun, but one of them notices. In the next moment, they're fighting on the ground, hitting, gripping, spitting blood. The second maid takes the gun, and points it at Karina, as my blond friend chokes the first maid. She's trapped. 

They speak Italian. They yell in Italian. 

My feet move on their own, and in the millisecond they don't pay attention to their surroundings, I hit the second maid on the side of her neck with the bottle of wine. It shatters, and her neck gets stained maroon. 

She, now dying, falls back, onto me. I drop her to the ground. She's still drowning in her own spit and blood. 

Karina chokes the first maid. The girl looks terrified. Frantically scratching the skin on Karina's forearms she tries to breath. 

Karina's eyes widen at that, it makes her mad so she tightens her grip, lifts the maid up and hits her head into the floor. Her neck stays like that and in that second I see her soul leave her body. She's dead. Karina repeats the motion, the sound of the now unfunctional skull hitting the floor, scaring me. It's a kind of thud I've never heard before, and my brain won't forget. 

- I told you to stay in the bathroom! - her breathing is ragged. She makes short inhales between every word,  sounding unhinged. 

- She was about to shoot you!

- The сука couldn't even hold the gun properly, she would've barely gotten my ear. You could've been hurt! 

She stands up and throws the second maid onto the first one. Then she starts closing all the opened furniture and cleaning. She doesn't look at the bodies, she's acting normal. 

- Now you killed two people Ximena.