Malice

Three

Kes had always thought it strange how people never learnt to kill, if they did kill that is. They just sort of, knew. People could be ruthless, and heartless, and completely and utterly merciless if they wanted to be.

Kes was nice enough, if you were introduced to her by a friend, you'd think she was the sweetest, most polite girl in the world. She would smile her perfectly practiced smile, bearing her pearly white teeth and politely laugh at people's jokes even if they weren't the slightest bit funny. 'Kes is an angel' people would say, 'she wouldn't hurt a fly' they'd say as if she was some dog people were intimided by, but 'needn't be'.

Most people judge others far too quick. Slut. Bitch. Sweetheart. Idiot. Lovely. That's what people thought of Kes. They thought she was lovely.

Kes had judged Oskar far too quick. She had judged him as an idiot, a stupid, pretentious idiot. However, Oskar Bansinski was far from idiotic, he was intelligent and selfless, and cared about people. If somebody was upset, Oskar would be the first to try and cheer them up.

The ironic thing was, when people first met Oskar, they would think he was a cocky dickhead. And yet he was the complete opposite.

Kes slept in a ditch that night. A ditch near a hedge just by a wheat field. The wheat was almost ready to be used for bread, and the smell was comforting to Kes, though she wasn't sure why. She wasn't too cold when she slept, she had brought a small blanket with her in her backpack, just in case, but she didn't need it, it was warm and there was a refreshing, gentle breeze that made her feel so relaxed, sleep came a lot easier than she had first anticipated.

The next day, when she woke up, she went straight into the village center and went into the food shop to buy some essentials and water. She had taken all of the money from both her mum and her dad's purse and wallet, so she had more than enough to buy things. When she had finishing shopping, she was just about to walk out of the shop when she bumped into someone.

'Hey there!' Oskar said, clearly mocking Kes about the fact that she was a bit dull the first time they had met.

'Oh, hi.'

'What's up?' Oskar said brightly, blocking her path with his tall, strong physique. He was stood close to her so that she could feel his breath on her skin, he smelled of roses and damp compost and she saw that in his inviting chocolate eyes there were a few tiny specks of gold in a small ring around his iris. His eyelashes were long and dark, and around his nose, the tiny freckles had become more obvious in the hot weather. Kes felt a strange urge to hold on to Oskar tightly and never let go, but she couldn't, she had only just met him, she didn't even know his last name. Or where he lived. Or anything besides the fact that he was called Oskar.

'Leave. Me. Alone.'

'Good nights sleep?'

'No. Go away.'

'You slept in that ditch by the wheat field didn't you?'

'Did you follow me or something?' Scowled Kes, barging past him, but he ran beside her and blocked her path again.

He grinned at her.

'No. You can see the wheat field from my bedroom window and I saw someone in the ditch wearing a blood stained white t-shirt. And it just so happens tht yesterday you were wearing a blood stained white t-shirt... And you're wearing it today too.'

Kes frowned at him and kicked a stone with her foot, causing particles of dust to rise up around their legs.

People from the village were going in and out the shop, saying hello to one another as they did so, laughing too loudly at a joke they'd just told. When one lady strutted out of the shop, she got her tiny dog by the lead that was wrapped around a lamp post, and brushed past Kes and Oskar. When she did so, she suddenly stopped, turned around and stared at Kes's back, her mouth was in a huge 'O' shape. She clearly hadn't expected to see a filthy girl with blood stains on her t-shirt. Especially not at 10 o'clock in the morning on a Monday.