Tainted by You | ✔️

chapter 8

I wake up and immediately feel someone's hands on my shoulders, attempting to shake me awake.

"Scottie, hon, wake UP!" Mitch yells into my ear. One of my eyes open, peering at his smile playing on his lips as he laughs at me. I start to mimic his laugh and he laughs even harder, and god, I could hear his laugh for the rest of my life!

Everything about him just always manages to be perfect.

I sit up, and Mitch already has clothes for me to wear, which are all black.

"Uh.. Mitch? I thought today we had nothing planned." I ask.

"Right. There's something I need to tell you." He says. His laugh has diminished and now he looks completely serious.

He's even cute when he's serious.

"Mike has told me to tell you we have all been assigned to a.. project. Well, I'm not sure how to word this, but we've been hired as hitmen."

"Are you serious?" I yell. "I didn't know you all also got assigned to murder! I could never do that! Are you expecting me to shoot someone? I could never do that after watching my mother killed right before me!" My voice cracks. Please keep back the tears. Just this once. Mitch sits on the bed next to me and hugs me, but he still seems tense. I know he's keeping something from me. Maybe it's just not my business.

"Come on, baby. We aren't expecting you to do that. Tell me about your mother, please? Tell me about her." Again with the nick names. They make my heart flutter.

"She was my everything. My father left us a few years back, and she did everything she could to make enough money to keep food on the table. She was the kindest, funniest, most caring person I've ever known. We were out on a walk one night, and she was shot by a group of assholes, no that's not enough to describe them. She was killed that night. I'll never forgive whoever it was. I was forced to live with my father, and when I was kidnapped last week I had been running away from him." Wow. I didn't expect that much to come out. I was like a faucet with a broken handle. It felt good to talk about it, though.

I look to my left and notice tears rolling down Mitch's cheeks.

"I'm so sorry." He whispers. "You didn't deserve any of this. These past months must've been.." He's choking back tears now. "These past months must have been hell."

"Shh, shh. If anything, I'm glad I got out of my father's house."

"Why?" Mitch mutters. He pulls me to his chest, and I practically melt in the embrace.

"Well." I state. This is hard to talk about. The marks on my back have just faded. I decide to pull off my shirt to show him, and I swear I see his eyes catch on my bare chest before I turn around. He sees the dimmed marks and gasps, his eyes wide. He turns me back around and hugs me tighter, and now it's my turn to cry. So much emotion in twenty minutes, my god.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He whispers, running his hand through my hair.

"I know you are, now get out of here so I can change!" I joke, and he manages a laugh as he trots out of the room.

"Maybe one day, I can tell you about myself for a change." He calls back. "I know so much about you, it's only fair if you get to know me." I can hear the smile in his voice as I pull on my clothes.

I feel so accomplished, I've become closer to Mitch and it seems like he's stopped avoiding me. I almost feel happy for the first time in a long time. But then I remember-

We'll be murdering someone today.

Thanks for reading! FYI, there's a reason Mitch had been acting so weird around Scott, you'll just have to stick around to find out. ;). The only thing is that I don't know anything about gangs or drug deals or murder, so I'm sorry if there's anything completely unrealistic or untrue about any of those three topics. Anyway, stay f'cute!

~Cassie :)