Imperatrix

chapter 5

Flashback to Costa Rica.

It was the second week of her three-week vacation. And she was spending it where she always spent it, the only home she had ever known, Atenas, Costa Rica. Jack was twelve at the time.

Whenever it was time for her holiday, she boarded a commercial plane with her instructor for that year and went home to Atenas where Dominic and Lucas were already waiting for her. They both lived in LA but came to Atenas to be with her because it was the only time in a year she got to see them.

She had always wondered why her papa did not take her to live with him and Lucas, but she never asked. It did not matter to her since she at least got to see them. Jack had had to grow up at an incredibly young age. She knew that everything she learned was far more advanced for children her age. But she sucked it up and did what had to be done.

She had just finished training with her instructor and could play till it was time for dinner. The mansion was surrounded by woods, and she liked playing there, so she went behind the house. She could have stayed in and played with Lucas, but he was with his video game, and he became partially deaf whenever he was with it.

She didn't want to play with him anyway, he was a dick to her. He got angry when she won, and she cried when he won because then he had the chance to taunt her and make her life miserable for the rest of the day.

She walked into the woods and closed her eyes. The forest there was nice, and the trees were tall and had thick branches and a lot of leaves which provided a shade in the afternoons. There were a lot of animals in the woods. She made sure she did not go far into the woods so she could hear if she were being called.

She took her switch blade and marked a spot in the tree, then she moved a few feet back and began throwing knives, aiming for the spot she had marked. And anytime she hit the spot, she did a little dance and drew a line on the tree to mark her progress.
Jack kept on with her game, but at one point, the knife left range and mistakenly pinned a squirrel by its tail to the tree. She gasped and ran over to meet it.

It was just a baby, and it was crying in pain. Its high-pitched noise was like that of a bird. She gently removed the knife and ran back to the house with the squirrel cradled gently in her hands. She took it to her room and placed it on the counter in her bathroom. Quickly, she cleaned up the wound and patched it up using a band aid.

It fell asleep on her counter. She ran down to the kitchen. A fruit basket sat on the counter. She gently removed the apples in it, but they rolled down to the floor. She grabbed the basket and ran.

"Hey!" the cook complained.

"Sorry," she yelled as she ran back all the way to her room.

Once there, she placed the basket on her reading table and folded a thick napkin to form a bed. Then she gently cradled the squirrel in her hands and placed it in the makeshift bed. She smiled softly as it slept, "I think I'll name you...fluffy, cause your tail is so soft and fluffy," she said as she gently rubbed the hair on its tail, she was careful to avoid the injured area.

The next day, her instructor gave her a small pistol and explained to her how it was used. She nodded in understanding. Then he gave her the gun to shoot a given target a few feet away. She shot and staggered back from the force of it. When she looked, she saw that her aim was a few miles off target. Her instructor told her not to worry. Not every person learned how to shoot the first time.

Jack spent the rest of her holiday learning to shoot and secretly playing Fluffy. She had partially mastered the art by the end of her holiday. Her favorite gun was the Glock. Two days to the end of her holiday, Dominic called her out to the woods. He held her hand, and she followed him quietly, wondering what he could possibly want in the woods.

Her papa rarely ever left his study, and when he did it was to either have a meal, train them, or torture someone in the cells.
But then she saw fluffy in a cage on a table and attempted to run to it, but Dominic stopped her. He gave her a pistol, and she already knew without being told what he wanted her to do.

"Papa no. Please do not make me do this, please papa," she cried and begged and cajoled. She spoke in Spanish but he just looked at her with a blank expression. She made all kinds of promises, but he did not budge. Instead, he took a foldable seat and sat down waiting like he had all the time in the world. She continued to beg, but when she saw that he was not going to change his mind, she reluctantly pointed the gun at the squirrel. She glanced at Dominic one last time, but he just stared back.

"You can use your knife if you don't want to use the gun," he said.

"No. the gun is okay," she said in a small voice and looked at him still hoping that he would change his mind, but he didn't. She held it with both hands and closed her eyes as she said a quick prayer for its soul. Then she shot it and fell to her knees crying.

Dominic squatted down next to her and pulled her into his arms, not caring that she was staining his white shirt with tears and snot. She buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her little arms around his neck. He pulled a napkin from his pocket and wiped her tears with it.

"It had to be done pequeno," he said softly, but then his voice turned hard, "Never form an attachment with anything. They will only cause you pain when they leave."

He let her cry some more then gave her the napkin. He ruffled her hair and left her still crying. She leaned her back against a tree and kept on crying till it was afternoon. Jack only got up when she became hungry. She took the dead squirrel and placed it in a shoe box and she added some of the nuts it liked. Then she dug a hole herself, though it was shallow cause she had used a spoon.

Jack buried it beneath the tree she had found it. She also used a rope to tie two small sticks together to form a cross which she stuck in the freshly dug earth. She clasped her hands together and prayed that the guards protecting heaven would allow it to enter.

Dominic came home the next day with two Doberman pinscher puppies for her. A male and a female. They were black with little brown patches underneath their tummies. She named them Sugar and Pablo. He told her they were a special breed.

"They are not pets for you to play with, they are guard dogs and it's your job to train them well."

"Of course father," Jack said with a smile and took the box. She dropped it and they both jumped out. The male immediately tried to bite her and she jumped back laughing.

Lucas frowned, "So where is my present?" he asked.

Dominic looked at him and said, "You already have so many things. I don't think you need more."

He left and Jack burst out laughing. Lucas frowned and stomped away.

She was overjoyed with her gifts, but she was careful not to form an attachment with them so she wouldn't have to kill them.

What do you guys think of Dominic?
Remember that he made her kill one pet, but then he bought her two to replace it.
So, do you guys like or dislike Dominic? Personally I love him...

Please don't forget to vote and comment lovelies....Share with your friends if you like this story.