Page 18 of Lilies from Hell

Then I open the app that connects to the cameras I installed throughout her house a few days ago, taking another drag on my cigarette with my free hand. She’s talking to someone on the phone, but since the volume is low, I can’t hear what she’s saying or who the hell she’s talking to.

“Very helpful. Thanks,” Denis replies before picking up one of the small crystal glasses encrusted with rubies. “Why did you call me? You only ask me to come when you’re really screwed or need something.” He takes a sip from his glass. “Judging by your face, I’d say it’s the first one.” I put out my cigarette somewhere on the table and lock my phone screen.

“Do you know someone named Romina?” I push the name out of my lips. Since she enjoys hugging so much, I could send her to hug her dead boyfriend in hell.

“Yes, she’s an old friend,” he murmurs with a sly smile, pouring himself another glass. “Why?”

“I fucked up,” I say, moving the piercing on my tongue. Why the hell would she lie to me?

“What have you done?” he asks, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

“She lied to me.” My frown is just another sign of my anger, but I can’t really be mad with her. That pisses me off even more.

“She, who? I don’t understand.”

“Forget it.”

“You’re acting weird,” he says, moving his whiskey glass without taking his eyes off me. He knows I won’t tell him a fucking thing, so he changes the subject. “Don’t you have a shipment or something for me? This week is fucking boring.”

Before I can answer, my phone vibrates with an incoming call from my father.

“What?” I spit. On the other end of the line, my father coughs roughly.

“I told you to scare him, not fillet him!”

“I got carried away,” I murmur with little interest in the subject.

“Because of you, now it’s all over the news. That’s what you wanted?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t like the photos. I would have used a better angle. The man’s face looked terrible. Well. What was left of it.”

“Don’t fuck with me and fix this whole mess before it goes any further,” he said before hanging up the phone without waiting for a response.

I slam the phone down on the desk and settle back into the armchair, putting a new cigarette between my lips. She’s definitely going to give me more trouble than I expected.

Ten years ago, in Toronto

Age 13

I was so busy thinking about Ana’s words that I forgot to stop by my father’s office this morning. At another time, that minor mistake would have bothered me more, but now I was thinking of ways to get rid of the stupid butterflies in my stomach that Babush mentioned. I would burn them and then step on their ashes. I just had to figure out how.

When I opened the door, I found a man who looked a lot like my father. It was my uncle.

“Where’s Kristoff?” I asked, not hiding my dislike for him. The sight of him made me sick.

“He’s busy with something. But don’t worry, I can do what he does,” he said, taking a step forward and narrowing his eyes at me.

My attempt to leave came too late. The door was locked, and in a matter of seconds he had caught me easily, which was not surprising considering the difference in size.

“If you touch me, you’ll regret it!” I shouted, struggling almost wildly in his arms. “This time I’ll tell Kristoff.” I clung to anything I could find so that he would let go of me, but from his laughter I knew it hadn’t worked.

“Do you think he doesn’t know?” he said, throwing me onto the sofa with bitter irony. His foul breath hit me instantly. He stared with hungry eyes, twisting my insides with a feeling different from the one the red-haired girl made me feel. “Just because he’s not here doesn’t mean he enjoys it any less. Stupid boy.”

His words echoed in my head unpleasantly. I kept struggling to pull my body away from his, but he always brought me back with sharp jerks.

He hit me, ripped my shirt and squeezed my nipples. He then tore my pants off, breaking a button. My left cheek throbbed from the swelling and my body was paralyzed with fear, but I still managed to kick him in the stomach.

My eyes filled with tears of helplessness, and this time, before it happened, I knew I had reached my limit.