Colour Me Red

Chapter 26: Dune

Chapter 26: Dune

I was grinning like crazy. Ellie was currently straddling me, my back pressed firmly against the cool grass, the sun setting behind her head and setting her golden hair alight. She spread her small, dainty hands across my firm chest in attempt to hold me down, and my smile widened further.

“Now,” I said softly, trying to contain my laughter at the fearsome look she was trying to portray. “Knock me out.” Her eyebrows furrowed and she pulled back a little to look at me.

“What?” she said dumbfounded.

“Too slow,” I replied, pulling my arms out from beneath her and flipping us over in one swift motion. A small gasp escaped her lips and I smirked down at her surprised expression.

“If I were anybody else, you’d be dead right now,” I said, smoothly and calmly.

She groaned from under me and tried to shove me off.

“You didn’t seriously expect me to knock you unconscious, did you?” she asked incredulously.

I grinned.

“I thought you might’ve at least tried,” I responded, lacing mock disappointment into my voice. She rolled her eyes and tried to shove me off once more.

“You’re like a dead weight,” she complained, wriggling beneath me.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Calling me fat isn’t going to get you out of this situation any faster,” I clarified, blowing a stray lock of hair out of my eyes. She stopped flailing and glared up at me.

“How is this teaching me self defence?” she argued, poking me in the chest.

“It’s not. It’s teaching you how easy it is for someone to dominate and potentially kill you,” I explained. She rolled her eyes and I allowed her to push me away as I rolled back onto my heels, holding out a hand for her to take.

“Nobody’s trying to kill me just yet,” she said pointedly, taking my hand and permitting me to pull her to her feet. I smirked.

We spent another hour training before the sun set and we were forced to retreat back into the cottage. I’d started Ellie off with some basic self defence moves and was planning to slowly build her up to move complicated manoeuvres. She was getting fitter day by day because of how hard I’d been working her and I no longer had any worries about the antidote her father had given her. She’d shown no signs of it affecting her physically in any way, so I had no reason to worry.

We stepped into the cottage and Ellie immediately headed for the bathroom. “I’m just going to take a shower,” she called, wandering off.

I nodded in response even though she couldn’t see me and headed into the lounge where Marc was looking over the file my father had given to me about our next target.

“Henric Beathaven,” he read upon hearing me enter the room. “Age thirty seven.”

I grabbed a towel from my sports bag and took a seat next to him on the couch, scrubbing at the back of my neck.

“October 3rd, 1997. Three bodies were found disembowelled in a public shopping centre, all resembling the work of the Black Jack killer. None of the victims held any relation to one other, apart from the signature etched onto the wrists of each of them, seemingly with a fine needle. Nobody saw, nor heard, anything, despite the unlikely location.

There was no trace of the murderer at the scene of the crime. Not a single fingerprint was lifted from the dead bodies and what little evidence was discovered was later discarded as insignificant.

November 29th. Two bodies found mutilated, both dumped in a public water fountain and left to bleed out; one male and one female with no relation to each other in any way, both with a signature scrawled across the skin of their wrists. Very little evidence was found at the scene of the crime . . . blah blah blah, this goes on for ages,” Marc finished, blowing out a heavy breath.

“And you’re sure it’s him?” he asked, pointing to the picture of Henric that was clipped to the paper file. I shook my head.

“Not yet. That’s why we’re going to do a little digging first,” I explained.

My father made clear to me that Henric was the murderer; even though whenever he’d been questioned at the police station he’d argued that he was being framed. The fact that his signature was printed onto tens of dead bodies told me that he was the killer. He was boasting; he wanted to be recognised for his work.

But I couldn’t be too careful - if he wasn’t the right guy then I’d suffer the consequences.

Marc nodded in response and I took the file off him, stuffing it into my sports bag.

“Ellie can’t know about this,” I said quietly.

“Why not?” Marc asked with a furrowed brow.

“She’s not ready to be involved yet, but I know she’ll want to help,” I explained with sincerity.

Marc nodded in understanding before heading into the kitchen.

“I’ll get started with dinner,” he said.

I made my way into the bedroom to grab some clean clothes and found Ellie towel drying her hair. She was wearing a pair of pyjama shorts and a button up pyjama top. Her long legs were smooth and flawless and I made my way over to her as she turned to face me with a smirk.

“See something you like?” she teased, watching as I admired her.

I grinned and snatched the towel she was holding out of her hands and wound it around her waist, using it as a lasso to pull her closer. She looked up at me beneath her dark lashes and swiped her tongue over her lips. I leaned in to capture her mouth with mine, but she held up a single finger and pressed it against my smirk.

“You should shower,” she murmured, her mouth shifting into a sensuous curve of the lips.

I grinned at her.

“Desperate to get me naked, huh?”

She rolled her eyes and pushed me away.

“You’re too cocky,” she laughed, heading for the kitchen and following the scent of roast beef.

“I’ll shout you when dinner’s ready!” she called.

I grinned and stepped into the bathroom.

I was so whipped.

A/N: Short, but the good news is that I only have one exam left before I can spend my whole summer writing for you guys! Dedicated to @MGswagg as a birthday present and I can only apologise for it being so short! Happy Birthday!