BLADE (√)

●Chapter Twelve●

A/N funny thing is I wrote this chapter so many months ago, but it has never been as relatable as it is now. Tell me thoughts below and I'll see you next week.

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'Can I have one of those please?' The cashier looked at me as if I hadn't just asked him for a pack of cigarettes. 'What?'

'Nothing...' the boy said. 'You don't look like the type.'

'Well there's a first for everything, isn't there?'

As I handed him the cash to pay for the packet of chips, a soda and the cigarettes I had just requested I turned my attention to the TV on the corner. 'Suicide at local club' the screen read. A part deep inside me wanted to smile but the image made me furious. I did not regret killing the guy; he was a perfect, unsuspecting challenge. I had no real motive for killing him. I just did, and it felt good.

'Sad right?' Almost did it myself once.' The boy over the counter said. I wondered why he'd tell me that he had thought of killing himself at one point in his life. I smiled at him and walked out of the store. From here onward it was an open road for the next 5km.

As I crossed the street and opened the bottle of soda, I remembered a time when Jacobs took me too his home, they had this type of soda in the fridge. He introduced me to his wife, father and his sixteen year old son. I was eighteen at the time. Clyde, his son, looked at me in the most sick of ways. He'd smile at me and place his finger in his mouth while he undressed me with his eyes. That was the first time I had ever felt so insecure in front of a guy.

That night we had supper together. I sat next to Clyde, and grandpa sat opposite me. Jacobs and his wife sat and opposite ends of the table, smiling constantly at each other. Prior to this meeting, I had been sent on missions that had me sit down with families. They'd ask me about myself, find common ground and try to make the evening as comfortable as the evening could be. That night, no one asked me where my parents were, where I had gone to school, if I had gone to school. Mrs Jacobs didn't ask if I had plans for my life, or if I could cook. The old man didn't speak at all. He just sat there across from me and squinted his eyes trying to look into my soul. Finally he said;

'Are you born again Amanda dear?'

'Dad don't!' Jacobs had warned.

'Well is she?'

'What??' I replied.

'Born again, as in are you Christian?' Clyde pitched in.

'Right. Uhm, no I'm not big on religion. I don't think the big guy up there is happy with me.'

I made an attempt to smile and Jacobs chuckled. The rest of the night went on with the family telling me stories about themselves. Most of them were about Clyde and a little about the old man. Nothing was said about Jacobs except his 'talent to always make problems go away' and his wife didn't say much about herself either unless it related to how good a mother she was to Clyde. All his went on while I tried to hide the fact that Clyde's leg kept going up my maxi skirt and when he succeeded pulling it all the way up he proceeded to placing his hand on my thigh. The touch startled me and I pushed my chair back and asked to be excused.

I headed to the bathroom where I washed my face and straighten the skirt. Because of my absence, supper had been deemed over and we all were told to retreat to the sitting room. Jacobs excused himself shortly after his wife had begged me to stay the night. I and agreed because I had no other plans anyway. Grandpa had decided to rest for the day. I stayed seated in the sitting room where I began looking at family photos stuck up on the wall. Not once did I wonder where Clyde had gone. That was my mistake. The perverted boy snuck up behind me and pushed me against the wall. I almost screamed but bit my tongue. I grabbed his hands and twisted them over his head.