No matter how hard he tried, Matthew could not rid his mind of the girl who had looked at him with fear and yet had acted as if she meant to challenge him with those big brown eyes and that long brown hair; Her green dress flowing around her as if it had been made for her specifically. He shook his head violently.
Matthew of course knew that that dress hadn't been made for her because he had chosen it himself. The girl that it had been made for died a long time ago and Master had been recycling it to save money.
It was strange, Matthew thought as he went to splash cold water on his face again trying to erase her face from memory-he couldn't-, that Master wanted his prisoners to look good before they died. Maybe it was more satisfying for him to watch the beautiful people of the world die rather than the ugly, which was a good way to describe Master: ugly.
Marlo.
Her name rang through his mind over and over again as if calling him. It was true that she was beautiful. Maybe that was why Master wanted her. Matthew had seen many a pretty face die here but none like hers. She also possessed such inner strength that it seemed to shine through her like a strengthening beacon, making her beautiful but deadly.
He sighed and gave one last attempt at pushing her from his mind and then gave up. It was hopeless. A girl like Marlo Hope was unforgettable.
What felt like several hours later Marlo was taken by three guards, each wearing much the same attire the green creature had been wearing at C is for Coffee, and they escorted her down several long corridors.
When they finally arrived at what Marlo suspected was the dining room the guards plopped her down in one of the red, upholstered chairs that was placed around the grand dining table. It was eerily quiet at this moment. For days Marlo had been hearing strange things all hours of the day and night. She thought of the screaming and pounding that was constantly filling her ears and slouched low in her chair.
Outside in the corridor a door closed -well more like slammed shut- and then she heard two people talking.
"William," a woman's voice said," for the ninth and final time, Marlo Hope has been exterminated. Master sent Matthew to do it himself, just this morning in fact," The woman sounded smug and pleased in knowing something that her companion apparently did not.
A man's voice this time, "Ha!" They both began to laugh.
At the mention of her apparent extermination Marlo had slumped even lower in her chair. The way that the woman had said her name was as if she were spitting out a piece of trash.
Matthew? Exterminate? Who the hell was this William fellow? How many followers does this Master guy have any way? Marlo's head was drowning in questions that would never be asked.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by another door closing. This time it was a small door that was set into the back wall of the dining room. Through the opening walked Matthew. He didn't even look at her. He just marched across the room and angrily sat down in a chair. Although all this was going on the one thing she notice was that he was wet, dripping wet. she wanted so badly to ask him why he was wet and angry about it but then remembered what she had just over heard about him being sent to exterminate her this morning and instead just glared at him.
Matthew looked up from the floor and grinned. It was an evil looking grin but it was beautiful like an avenging angel's smile right before they killed you. Marlo wanted to slap it off his face.
He looked at her for a moment as if he had never seen her before and then he cocked his head to the side and asked," Do you always look like that when you eat? If it is I think we will have a problem."
