Dirty Laundry

‘‘You can look''

he said after a while. In what felt like hours of sitting in silence I took the soft silky satin from my face and looked around. We were driving down a long narrow road and just ahead in view was a house. Surrounded by trees I knew I might not be in north Carolina anymore..Maybe Virginia? ‘‘Are we still in North Carolina?'' I asked looking around at the trees. He said nothing. ‘‘You live alone'' it wasn’t a question. But again he said nothing. I finally looked over to him to realize that he wasn’t wearing his mask and that the material I was holding was the mask.

whoa! ow baby the man was fine! Eyes as blue as the sky but as cold as ice. Skin lightly tanned with muscles honed in from possibly hours and hours of training. I could see the bulge of his muscles through his black shirt since he'd pulled his coat off. Hair as light as gold framed a face chiseled out of stone. The man was a god!

But he was probably way, way too old for me. He almost looked like he was in his thirties..Twenty five at least. ‘‘Would it matter if I knew where we are? I came willingly. You didn't kidnap me''

I said lightly. He looked over to pin me with cold calculating eyes then back at the road before him. ‘‘We’re in Virginia'' ''..And?'' ''..And what?'' ‘‘I don’t know maybe a town or something'' ''in the country'' ''..I can see that'' ''that’s all you need to know'' he shrugged. ‘‘How old are you?'' I asked lightly. He looked at me with a raised brow ''what kind of question is that?'' ''..one of curiosity..'' I shrugged in a duh! statement.

''don’t get smart with me'' he grumbled. ''oo..I’m scared'' I rolled my eyes. ‘‘You should be'' ''why? You’re my worst nightmare? So cliché. My father taught me all I needed to know about guys like you..I’m not afraid of anything..Well except spiders'' ''..What kind of man was your father?'' he asked as he parked in front of the massive house. ‘‘He’s retired air force...he made sure to raise me and my sister to be ready for anything. But Sasha has thrown it all out the window. I’m the only one who lives by the way he trained us'' ''trained?'' ''..He’s raised me in martial arts and survival tactics.. But I stopped training in martial arts. I practice what I know and I know it can keep me alive to an extent when an attacker comes at me but I knew it'd be useless with you'' I shrugged as I took in the height of the house.

Two stories made of brick. But I also noticed the windows. All covered up. ‘‘Paranoid?'' I asked. ‘‘When you are me your life is always in danger'' ''then why live that way?''
''Survival'' ''ah..I see'' I nodded as I opened the door and stepped out. I looked up at the square windows. The only wall sized window seemed to show a living room but was half closed by giant curtains. ‘‘Let me guess bullet proof?'' I asked as I looked around the house once more. I looked out to the forest. Not a road in miles. All I could see was trees trees and more trees.

‘‘And let me guess you live out in the middle of nowhere..Where the nearest town is a bit of a drive away..Paranoid isn’t the word is it?'' I turned to smirk at him. ‘‘Like you said..I’m an assassin..I live alone and I like it that way'' ''then why let me live?'' ''lapse of judgment'' ''then kill me now'' I shrugged ''you have a week'' ''very well'' ''I’ll show you to your room'' he opened the garage and led me inside through the garage door.

I followed him into the Spartan home. Bare and spacious it seemed like no one lived here. Empty and lifeless. The garage door led out into a small hallway where I could see the large living room. The giant windows let the night of the forest in. I jumped when I heard a growling to the side of me ''shut up Cerberus'' Smith growled back at the dog. The large mastiff came up to me sniffing me. ''Cerberus?'' I asked with a raised brow. He shrugged. The dog did look a bit demonic.

I looked around again and let my gaze drift over to the hallways where a shimmer caught my eye. An ancient Grecian spear was on the wall with a bronze shield with medusa etched into the center. I looked down in the hallway to find a statue. I walked down to it and examined Ares the Greek god of war. Cerberus..A spear and shield..And a statue of Ares.

‘‘You like Greek things don’t you'' I asked myself as I looked up at the angry god in the throes of battle. ‘‘Not really..They were gifts'' he said behind me making me jump ten feet in the air. ''Jesus Christ'' I breathed a calming breath ''follow me'' he ordered walking down the hall. He led me up the stairs finally he stopped in front of the last door down the hall

''This is your room'' he opened the door to let me in. I looked at the room and raised a brow. Black was in vogue. ‘‘Bathroom is the door across the hall'' he pointed behind me ''my room is next door'' he pointed to the only door beside my room. I stepped inside and he stepped out. I looked around the room and nodded. I could get used to this. The king sized bed was gigantic and the bed spread was a flat black yet very modern and stylish.

That’s when I sighed feeling dumb..Should have at least brought a bag of clothes. Oh well..I doubt he'll ever let me go home. I turned back to the room and sighed..I’ll have to lighten this place up. Cerberus brushed against my hip and I patted his head. ‘‘Now that you’re not growling your adorable'' I knelt down to smile at him as I scratched his head. ''I’ll be downstairs'' Smith said gruffly walking out closing the door. ‘‘He’s a grouch'' I grumbled as Cerberus licked my cheek. I stood up and looked down at my jeans and a t-shirt. My bare feet felt the biting chill of the cold wooden floors. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my iPod and phone. Ten missed calls. Dare I even call my mom? Would I be able to? I looked at my phone for service and had plenty. I checked my missed calls..All were from my mom or Sasha. I erased them all sighing and sent a text message to Sasha. 'I’m fine..don’t try to contact me..I’ll contact you when I can but right now I don’t think is the time' I texted her and put the phone under the pillow on the bed making sure it was locked and kept on silent.

I sat on the bed and sighed as I looked down at my bare feet with my black toenails. ‘‘Welcome to hell'' I whispered to myself. ''I’ve literally made a deal with the devil'' I sighed as I scratched the top of Cerberus’s head. ‘‘Family over dignity death before dishonor'' it was something my father taught me. In life we have choices..It’s our job to pick the right ones and even if we pick the wrong ones we always have the choice to make them right again. This was a right choice. I may not be living with my family but at least none of us are dead. I may not have a future but my sibling do. Then again I’ve never really cared about myself. I always thought of myself as the odd ball for what my father trained me as. He never even thought of calling it raising me.

Every time I talk to him he says 'I’ve trained you right' or 'I trained you better than that' never 'I raised you right' or 'I raised you better than that'. And with the skills that he trained me I will survive. As condemned as my life feels right now I promise that I’ll try to make something out of it while I’m here. I’ve already insured my family's life for one more night. As Euripides said 'no one can confidently say that he will be living tomorrow' well then let life live on. I just hope this sacrifice was worth it.

At least the bed was comfy. I bounced a few times and smiled down at Cerberus..He seemed to be such a sweet heart. He climbed on the bed and laid on one of the pillows. I’ve always wanted a dog but my step dad, Neil, never allowed me to have one. I think he secretly hated me but I’d hate me too if I were him. With all the times I’ve threatened him and held a knife to him because I was annoyed. And it was his own fault because he purposely sought to annoy me and anger me. Fucking masochist. Oh well at least I’m away from him now.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable I stood off the bed and went to the door. I poked my head out in the hall. The house was dead silent almost eerie as if I was in some horror movie. I stepped out slowly on the balls of my feet to minimize my footfalls and tiptoed across the hall to the bathroom. I was a bit surprised when I walked into the bathroom. There was absolutely nothing in it save for a lonely hamper, a sink, a toilet, and a shower. No bathroom rug, no toothbrush holders or soap dispensers..Nothing personal. He must have a bathroom in his room. I walked over to the cabinet under the sink and opened it to find two toothbrushes laid plainly on the bottom of the sink. unopened they seemed safe enough so I grabbed one and blew the dust off of the case.

I opened it and shrugged deciding it was good enough seeing as I didn’t have one. I looked around for towels but didn’t find any. I really didn’t want to face Smith..He was a bit, well, grumpy and a bit intimidating.

I sighed going back out to his room door. I knocked lightly. I waited and heard his footsteps then the door unlock and open to reveal him. He raised an eyebrow ''what?'' ''..Where are the towels?'' ‘‘One minute'' he turned and went to his laptop on his bed and shut it off. He walked past me and walked down the stairs. I followed quietly and he led me down to the kitchen where a door was and opened it to reveal a laundry room. ‘‘Thank you'' I whispered as he walked away without a word. I grabbed one of the towels in the basket and smelled them. They smelled clean and fresh but none were folded. Typical for a man living alone. So I folded them then took my towel upstairs. I went back to the bathroom and took a quick shower humming a small childhood song.

The clear shower door fogged up and I drew flowers boarding the top. I was very artistic and creative. I loved to paint and draw and sing and dance. I wonder if Smith will restrict me from anything. I stepped out of the shower and dried off, I didn’t have a hair brush so I ran my fingers through my wet hair and tucked it behind my ear. I was one of the luckier ones in my family.

I didn’t have thick course unruly curly hair..I had soft airy thin ringlets. I hated my hair though. It was too curly and I hated being called goldilocks. So I died my hair black and left it chaotically messy. Ok I might look like a loon sometimes but there were times when I didn’t purposely mess it up and brushed it out to look nice. It wasn’t like I made an afro or something I just let my hair curl crazily. Anyway I tucked my hair behind my ears and parted it as best I could and braided it. My hair was short a little past my shoulders. I had dyed it naturally black because that’s what my mother's hair color was and most people didn't believe I was her daughter when I had my naturally sandy blond mixed with dark brown hair..Besides it was just too weird a hair color to be considered real and it was just easier to have black hair..I liked it that way. I sighed feeling dumb again for not bringing a bag of clothes so I washed my underwear in the sink and hung it to dry. I pulled my shirt on thankful it was a long biker t-shirt my dad got me from Sturgis. I usually used it to sleep in anyway so it was fine.

I kept tugging at my shirt to keep it down as I walked to my room. I hung up the towel on the closet door and plopped in bed beside Cerberus. Not quite able to sleep I looked around my new room. I was used to adapting to places, I was used to moving. It was the life of a military kid. And it wasn't that bad, this room was actually very nice. Maybe a little boring because of the entire monochromatic decor..Hell what am I saying there is no decor here. It was just monochromatic furniture.

One wall caught my attention. Covered in large heavy black drapes it was the length of the whole wall. I stood up and walked to the drapes and pulled back a little. A smile crept over my face as I realized my room had a wall sized window. I pulled more of the drapes back all the way to reveal the night forest.

I stood there in awe at the view. Moss covered rocks lined a small creek about a foot wide. Raccoons crossed over fallen trees and deer grazed and drank water. I could here an owl or two in the distance and for some reason I felt at home. I don’t know what it was about the forest that made me so comfortable but now I wished I had some paints and canvas it'd make such a perfect painting, especially to post on deviantart.

I crossed my arms as the air conditioner kicked in and practically froze me. I liked the cold but this was too cold. I went back to my bed and bunkered down for the night snuggling up under the covers thankful that Cerberus was so warm and drifted off into a light sleep.