Trust Me

“Relax,” the blonde coaxes her best friend. “This will be easy, trust me.”

The best friend snorts. “Easy for you, serial.”

Rachel slams a hand over Maria’s mouth. “Shut up,” she hisses, and points to the man in the living room window. He’s pacing. He looks nervous. At least, Maria thinks he is. He stops momentarily, looking out the window as though he can sense two just-turned-twenty girls hiding in the bushes in his backyard. Fortunately, he turns around and makes his way upstairs. It’s time.

“Let’s go.” Rachel tugs on Maria’s hand and they climb out of the bushes quietly, making their way inside the man’s house as they have once before. The sliding door is open, taking little to no effort for the girls to enter undetected. After a quick survey of the premises, it’s clear that the man is the only person in the house. Maria finds her way to the kitchen and opens the drawers above the stove. Whoever thought to store a gun above a stove is beyond her, but she’s not here to question the man’s hiding spots.

A high-pitched scream travels its way downstairs. Maria groans. Rachel has started without her. She runs up the stairs, taking two steps at a time where she sees the man subdued, lying on the ground with his eyes closed and body unmoving.

“Why do you insist on starting without me?” Maria complains. “It’s rude.”

Rachel shrugs. “You took too long.” She looks at the gun Maria is holding. “Hand it over, Thing 2.”

Maria rolls her eyes. “Do you want me to hold him up?”

“Nah.” Rachel shakes her head. “Check the rooms. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was hiding one.”

Maria nods. “Wait ‘til I come back?”

“Of course.”

Maria smiles at her best friend before leaving the room. Main bedroom, clear. Bathrooms, clear. Maria takes a moment to admire her reflection in the mirror. If only she had chosen a job that allowed her to show off her beauty rather than hide it.

“Maria!” A stern, male voice fills her ears. She’s forgotten that she’s being watched. “You’re hot. We get it. Keep looking.”

She smirks. “Sorry chief.”

Maria enters the oldest girl’s bedroom. It’s blue and bare of possessions. It’s also clear. She exits the room and enters the youngest girl’s bedroom. It’s pink with dreamcatchers strewn across the room. Maria feels a pang of sadness for the girl. A quick survey shows the room is bare, but Maria knows there’s at least one person hiding somewhere. A short intake of breath tells Maria someone is hiding in the closet.

Maria opens the closet gently and sees the older girl protecting her younger sister in her arms. The younger sister’s head is buried in her older sister. She looks determined not to be scared.

“I know I look scary, but I promise I’m not here to hurt you.” Maria sticks her hand out, and even though she’ll get told off by her boss, she pulls off her balaclava. Her long, brunette hair falls out around her. “We have to go.”

“Where?” The older girl asks, not moving.

“Somewhere where your dad won’t hurt you again.”

The older girl’s eyes widen and she doesn’t know what causes her to trust the brunette, but she removes her sister from her arms and allows herself to be pulled up by Maria.

“C’mon Lacey,” she tells her younger sister. “We’re going away.”

Maria smiles. “You don’t mind if I put this back on, do you? My boss is going to murder me.”

The older sister shakes her head.

“Grab some personal belongings,” Maria instructs. “Don’t bother calling or telling anyone what’s happening, the electricity’s cut. If you decide to say anything, don’t. No one will believe you. Got it?”

The girls nod and scramble to get their belongings.

Meanwhile, Rachel waits impatiently for the man to come to his senses again. She wants him to be awake when she pulls the gun on him. Annoyed, Rachel slaps the man hard across his face and almost comically, he opens his eyes that widen when he sees a beautiful girl standing over him with a gun pointing between his eyes.

“Jeez, you took your time,” says the pretty blonde. “I knocked you out, not killed you.” She snorts. “Yet.”

“Thing 1,” Maria calls, stepping into the attic. She’s with two girls. “The daughters. Gonna send them down.”

The girls spot their father on the ground, and then the blonde with the gun in her hands. “Wait,” the older sister starts. “Can I?” She points to the gun.

Maria smiles kindly at her. “Though I don’t doubt it’ll be immensely satisfying, it’ll seriously fuck you up. You may hit him, though. He won’t fight back.”

“Since do we let victims hit their abuser?” Rachel starts, but Maria gives her a look and she shuts up. The sisters make their way cautiously towards their father. He’s awake, but he doesn’t move. He knows what he’s done isn’t right, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to save himself. He tries to sit up, but Rachel pushes him hard onto the floor. “Don’t even, bud.”

Rachel and Maria watch quietly as the two sisters’ peer at their father. Lacey is picked up by her older sister, Tyler. Tyler points to her father’s pants. She angles Lacey in front of her father and Lacey swings her leg forward, kicking her father in his pants so hard that tears form in his eyes.

“Nice,” Maria comments.

Another body appears in the doorway. Shit. “Are they here?” He’s tall, handsome and he’s been sent in to help Rachel and Maria, since they’re taking way too long with their job.

Maria nods her head towards the direction of the sisters. “This is Jeremy. He’s going to take you guys.”

“Where are we going?” Lacey asks her older sister.

“Where we talked about,” Tyler tells her comfortingly. “You trust me, yeah?”

Lacey nods.

“Go with Jeremy. He’ll give you a blanket and a teddy and you’ll be safe. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

Lacey nods again and after a moment of hesitation, she hugs her older sister before taking Jeremy’s outstretched hand.

Tyler turns to Rachel and Maria. “With all due respect, I’m the one who called you guys to do the job, and I’m already fucked up, so hand the gun over.”

“You’re going to kill your father?” The old man croaks.

Impressed by Tyler’s strength, Maria takes off her glove and gives it to Tyler. She puts it on and is handed the gun by Rachel.

“Between the eyes for a quick death. Off centred from the chest is good too if you want to make him bleed out slowly. Or you could shoot anywhere and I’ll be happy to finish him off.”

“Rachel!” Maria doesn’t bother using aliases, now that Tyler is going to join. “It’s her first. Let her do it.”

Rachel pouts. “Fine.”

Tyler snorts. “I’ve dreamed about doing this since the old man started touching me.” Her dark eyes flicker towards the man who’s been terrorising her for years. “You’ve never been my father. Fathers don’t touch their little girls.” And with that, Tyler presses the gun to her father’s forehead. “Any last words?”

The father opens his mouth to speak, but Tyler beats him to it. “Just kidding. Have a shit one.” With a pull of the trigger, the bullet shoots into the father’s skull, killing him. Tyler, Rachel and Maria peer over the father’s body, watching the life drain from his eyes.

“I know you said this would fuck me up, but I found this immensely satisfying,” Tyler comments. “So, what’s next for me?”

Rachel and Maria exchange a glance. They’ve never had such a willing participant before.

“Welcome to the club,” Rachel says dryly. “We get hired to kill assholes like your dad. Make a nice living out of it too. Only problem is, you never get to lead a normal life and if you get caught, you’re fucked.”

Tyler snorts and hands the gun back to Rachel. “I hired assassins to kill my old man. And now I’m going to become an assassin myself. I don’t think I’ll ever be normal.”

“Good,” Maria tells her, after she’s recovered from the fact that the old man’s beautiful daughter ordered her father to be killed. “Normal’s overrated, trust me.”