1/ Unconditional Love
“You probably never knew me” she whispered. He stood in front of her, his back facing her front; his mumbled gasps the only sound in the room. He rocked from side to side, in search of escape, but his feats proved pointless.
“Stop fucking moving or we WILL do this the hard way” she snarled, grasping a handful of his hair. His body trembled in front of her, he, 6 foot 3, shaking, petrified. She walked in front of him and raised her balaclava. His eyes tearful, screaming in silence. His masculine exterior eclipsed by his frail and frightened demeanour. He was on his knees, hands tied, mouth gagged, naked.
The light that hung from the ceiling swung perfect pendulum motions, oscillating beams of light and casting darkness in its absence. He shook his head and expended muffled screams and desperate attempts at a pardon, but she was not interested. She just stared. A long and thoughtful stare, at him, his eyes.
“Love” she said, her voice slightly strained. “Love...” she said it again, her face becoming tense, her lips pursed. “Love...” slightly louder. “LOVE!” she screamed. The words fought their way from her lips, leaving behind a trail of saliva and acrid taste in the back in of her throat. She looked at him, from head to knee, this weak, timid, boy of a man. Her mind wandered back to the day she had realised she loved him, truly loved him. The dinner they shared, the looks they exchanged, the love they made. Rage grew in her. Her face trembled and her eyes became tearful.
She reached into the hip of her trousers and felt it, the cold, steel machine of justice. She drew it out and pointed it, at him. His muffled cried turned to yelps. He rocked with panic and was overcome with fear, so much so that he toppled over, and the intermittent beams of light exposed his full nakedness and the pool of urine he had made. She grabbed him by the hair again. “Knees!” she barked. “Get on your knees NOW!” He motioned himself back onto his knees.
How did it come this far? She asked herself. To this. She stood there, holding justice in between his eyes and hate in her heart. Her mind was racing, on them, on him, on love, on lust, on dates, on sex, on arguments, on him, on her, on cold nights, on moments shared, on smiles, on him, on them....on HER! She couldn’t take it. Being able to see him and him being able to see her was throwing her off balance. Despite everything, he was still HIM and she was still HER. She was sure of her feelings, but seeing him, like this, was beginning to strain her concentration and drive the fibres of her determination to breaking point. She took a deep breath, and lowered justice and her head to the ground.
“Love...” she started, “true love is the most amazing thing we humans have to offer. It’s what separates us...” she began to pace, slowly, from side to side, the length of his body “...from the beasts. But unconditional love”...she stopped her pacing, right in front of the squeamish and frightful man, her voice becoming colder and lower in tone, “unconditional love, the love I gave...I am learning, is a love reserved for parents and morons.” She raised her head and stared at him. She watched him squirm, a helpless and pathetic being. She pulled down her balaclava, leaving her lips and her eyes exposed. “...and I...am no...moron.”
She raised the steely object in her hand and aimed it at his forehead. His muffled cries of woe became louder, and louder until...BANG!
Her eyes followed his body as it slumped to the floor. She stood over the body and watched as he lay there, truly at peace. As the light swung back and forth, she saw the ever increasing pool of blood forming around him and placed the gun back inside her trousers. The warm nozzle tickled her inner thigh. That sensation, it was nothing short of a commendation, a salute from comrades, knowing that you had met your objectives.
She stood motionless. Nausea ravaged her stomach and confusion fed on her soul. She had no idea it would be so easy yet so difficult to do it. She brushed away such distractions and let out a sigh of relief. “I love you...” she whispered, and with those words, marched away from the body and towards the door, her mind and her heart empty.
