One
Enzo
I saton the edge of the cloister wall as rain cleansed the blood from my hands.
Look at me, conserving water and using natural resources. Someone award me a fucking Nobel Prize.
Thunder rumbled through the night, and I inhaled the cool, damp smell of aged stone as my legs dangled over the wall’s ledge.
I’d started coming here during my first year at Saint Vale University. Now, four years later, I’d made it a ritual to return after I took a life.
A cruel smirk spread over my face as my mind drifted back to Marv and how he’d pleaded for his life in the warehouse. The agony in his screams was a symphony to my ears as I severed his fingers cleanly at the knuckles. Each lie he told me cost him another digit. When I ran out of fingers, I took his entire hand.
Mental note: Have Nico mail the hand to Marv’s family tomorrow. That way, Marv can always be there to lend a helping hand.
Bright headlights cutting through the storm stole my attention. I brushed raindrops from my face as a Rolls-Royce drove around the fountain at the university’s entrance. The carscreeched to a halt at the limestone steps that led to the entrance doors.
Saint Vale University was difficult to access. You had a better chance of gaining clearance to the White House. The university restricted public access and prohibited students from going out after curfew. Headmaster Arisono was strict about that shit.
Strict about it with other students, that was.
The rules never applied to me. Never applied to us.
Annoyed by the late-night visitor disturbing my peace, I drew my knife from my pocket. I had come here for silence, and they’d ruined that.
A scrawny man sporting an ivy cap exited the car, popped the trunk, and hauled out a suitcase. He dumped the luggage on the bottom step like trash, ignoring the downpour.
I spun the knife in my hand when the car’s back door opened. A foot emerged, then another, and seconds passed.
She stepped out into the open, and I stopped spinning my knife. I tightened my grip on the handle, wanting to slit the moon apart so all its light would fall on her.
I blinked, mentally scanning through the faces I knew here. She wasn’t one of them.
When I’d first arrived at Saint Vale, I’d learned everything about the students. Blood types. Social Security numbers. Every skeleton hidden in their closets.
She adjusted her skirt, and I dragged the blade across my palm when she slammed the door shut. Pathetic thing just stood there, all wet, but the rain didn’t seem to affect her.
She looked so innocent.
So lost, like a stray animal.
Lifting my knife, I lined it up with her head but held back. I bit into my lower lip, and a new thrill replaced the echo of Marv’s screams in my head.
Hunting her like a Fawn.
I flashed a smile like the devil I was.
She stepped toward the man, but he walked past her as if shewere a ghost. My smile deepened when her shoulders drooped at his rejection. He climbed into the Rolls-Royce and sped off. The tires ripped through a puddle, sending a sheet of water over her.
With a shriek, she stumbled back.
I scoffed and lowered the knife. I’d gut a rat bastard if he ever tried that shit on me.
My gaze stayed locked on her as she grabbed the luggage handle and lifted it, looking utterly pitiful.
If I were a gentleman, I’d help her.
I wasn’t.
