April moved the mop over the bright ground, avoiding the stares of the two men sitting to a nearby table to her body. She saw her colleague, Marcus standing behind the marble island arranging the glasses and bottles of different drinks and sighed. He was a few years older than her, but he's been working here for more than five years, and he was her neighbor.
When her mother died a few weeks ago, she became alone. He asked her to work with him at the diner and bar he's working in. She refused at first. She was twenty two, but she was still virgin. Her Jewish mother raised her strictly after her father died when she was a baby. This is why she couldn't accept the idea of working among drunk men to late night. But she was running out of money. Her mother was a poor tailor and was making only enough money to survive with her only daughter. So, eventually she decided to accept the job in the bar as a cleaning servant, not a waitress. Although this didn't protect her from the bold looks of Matias, the diner owner, who was sitting now with his friend, Manuel, watching her body curves and bare legs as she leaned during her work.
She ignored their rude eyes and moved the bucket back to the bathroom. When she came back she found a new customer. His eyes met hers for a moment as he took the glass of beer from Marcus. She wiped her hands in her short skirt and moved to stand beside her colleague wondering about the new customer. It was obvious he was a stranger. She's never seen him in the town, and he didn't look like a native citizen. She didn't know she was staring at him, until he raised his eyes to her, and she swallowed before moving her eyes to Matias as he spoke to the new guy. She couldn't hear what they were saying as she thought about that young man. He had the most beautiful and hypnotic eyes she's ever seen. Their bluish coloration was extremely adorable. His brown hair was not less.
She moved to help Marcus cleaning the counter, when the stranger held his beer and moved to join Matias and his friend at their table. She watched them as they talked and hit their glasses together, before the three of them froze momentarily, the stranger's mouth holding a big grin. From her place behind the island, she could see the man turning his forearm so the numbers meet their gazes. She froze herself realizing what those numbers mean and how her employer had dealt with people having that mark. She held her breath when she saw Matias taking a silver dagger from his belt trying to hit the stranger, who twisted his hand and took the dagger from him. She gasped panicked when she saw him pinning Matias' hand into the table using the dagger, causing him to scream in pain. She stepped back putting her hands on her mouth, when she saw Marcus pointing a gun to the stranger and threatening him.
The stranger looked calmly at Marcus, and held his gaze on the gun, which moved to point towards Manuel, and she saw the trigger pulled alone and shotting him. She screamed as she saw the man falling dead and the dagger fly from the stranger's hand to dig deeply into her neighbor's chest draining the soul out of him, then flying back to the man, who dig it again into Matias' hand causing him to scream again. The tears ran down April's face in fear and sadness, while the stranger never paid her any attention as if she was air. He took another sip of his beer and Matias asked him, "Who are you?"
The man had a deep breath and replied in a freezing tone, "Let's say, I'm Frankenstein's monster."
Her body shivered when he got up and walked to her. She whimpered in horror as he approached staring at the photo on the wall behind her continuing, "And I'm looking for my creator."
She gasped again when the gun flied from dead Marcus' hand to the stranger's hand, before he pulls the trigger killing her employer. She cried silently to watch all that violence and blood, and to know she must be next.
When the stranger turned to look at her, she shook her head whispering, "Please, don't kill me."
He looked at her shaking body, and threw the gun away, before he walks to the door and leaves. She looked around her for a moment staring at the three dead bodies, then ran out of the diner as fast as she could. She was praying no one heard the two shots and no one meets her. She ran heading to her home between the trees, avoiding the main road to not to meet anyone. But not all our wishes come true. As she ran looking around her, she cried when she hit someone. She raised her eyes to meet the same blue eyes that she saw adorable a few minutes ago. She stepped back in horror and begged, "Please, don't hurt me."
He walked slowly towards her, "Why are you running as if the devil is chasing you?"
She noticed his English had an accent, but she replied with shaking voice, "I have to leave?"
He asked amazed, "Leave?!"
She looked behind her and begged again, "Please, let me go. I swear I won't tell anyone. I'm leaving the town. No one will ever know what happened."
He held her arm firmly and her body shook as he talked, "Why are you afraid of them? What are you hiding? What did you do?"
She shook her head violently, "I did nothing. I swear. But I have to go. They will think I did that. They will think I killed them."
He wondered, "Why would they think so?"
She looked behind her again as she heard voices away from them, "Please. Let's get away from her. They will hurt me. Please."
He looked at her not understanding for a moment, then pulled her with him, "This way."
She followed him as he pulled her running away from the voices, till they reached a car parking in a side road. He pushed her inside the car and moved to sit behind the steering wheel. He drove so fast that she held onto the door afraid of falling of the seat. He saw it by the corner of his eye and grinned amused. She noticed it, so she sat back slowly gazing him with a hostile eye.
For more than an hour he drove silently out of the town, till she asked, "Where are you going?"
He didn't reply for a moment, then answered, "I have a room in a motel not far from your town. We will have to stay there till we decide what to do with you."
She stared at him panicked, "What do you mean to do with me? Are you killing me? If you're going to kill me, why don't you just kill me here and leave as you did with them?"
His gaze hardened and focused on the road. She scanned him then asked with shaking words, "You are going to rape me then kill me, right? All men are alike. You are just like Matias and his friend."
He gave her a side gaze, "Who's Matias?"
Her tears fell in pain and fear, "He's one of the guys you've just killed. The last one. He was the diner owner."
He didn't reply as he parked the car in front of a small motel on the highway and got out of it. She hesitated, so he moved to open the door for her and asked, "Are you coming?"
She swallowed, "Will you..."
He cut her off, "I'm not going to rape you, if that's what you are worried about."
She sighed and got down walking with him to his room.
In there, he took off his jacket and turned to ask her, "I didn't know your name."
She replied, "April, April Brandon."
He gave her a hand to shake, "I'm Erik. Erik Lehnsherr."
She gave him her hand slowly watching his face trying to figure out what were his intentions. He let her hand and moved to a small refrigerator, "Are you hungry?"
She shook her head and he asked, "A drink maybe?"
She whispered, "Thank you."
He got a bottle of beer and sat on the edge of his bed. She didn't move a muscle and her eyes followed him in expectancy. He waved to her to use the armchair by the door. She sat down slowly and had a deep breath, "Why did you kill them?"
He stared at her for a moment, then his eyes started to scan her body starting with her brown curls that she held in a ponytail, to her hazelnut eyes, small lips, thin body that was not lacking feminine curves. Her shirt failed to hide her not-small breasts. And her tight skirt reached her knee level showing the tanned skin of her legs. His eyes raised to meet hers as he talked, "I don't think you feel much sorry for them, April."
She swallowed, "I do feel sorry for Marcus. He was my colleague and my neighbor. He brought me that job after my mum has died."
He shrugged, "But he never tried to protect you from your employer, did he? I don't know if you should feel grateful for him to bring you such a job, or grateful for me to kill him for that."
She shook her head, "I never needed his protection."
Erik chuckled, "What? You could protect yourself from that man and other drunk men? You want to tell me no one of them never touched you or sexually harassed you?"
She got up and asked him angrily, "What do you want from me? Why are you asking these questions? If you think you have the right to insult me just because you helped me, then you're totally wrong. Thank you for your help, but I'm not allowing anyone to hurt me anymore."
She moved to the door to open it, but she gasped, when she heard it locking alone. She turned to him panicked and asked, "How did you do that? How did the knife and the gun jumped into your hand back there in the bar?"
He smirked and moved his fingers in the air, "I use my hands well, very well."
She looked at his hands in fear and heard him, "Sit down, April. I'm not going to hurt you. And I apologize for my words. I didn't mean to insult you."
She sighed and moved to take the beer from his hand and gulping a big amount, then sitting down beside him, "I don't know what to do. I haven't known what to do since my mum died. I'm lost. I should die. I've no one to live for. No one will miss me. No one will care if I died."
He sighed and stared at the door in front of them, "I know how it feels to be alone. I know how it feels to lose your mother. But that never means you should die. You should survive. You should be strong."
She shook her head and her voice lowered, "You don't know how it feels to be a lonely girl, a Jewish girl that lives alone. Everyone looks at you as a prey. They see you of a lower rank. You are cheap in their eyes, you are available for everyone. You should be taken by all men in the town. All men look at you as a ripe fruit that should be eaten. Their looks at me, their words, their movements. You will never understand that."
He moved his hand to hold her cold small hand and rubbed it, "I'm sorry, April."
She wipe a tear that escaped her eye and continued, "I've been living here since I was born. My father died when I was three. Mother had never married after his death. They never accepted her since she came here, because of her religion. She raised me on her religion and I went to a Christian school. My friends never accepted me as well. But as I grew up, I could see how they looked at me, at my body. But they never had the courage to be my real friends. Marcus was Christian, but he was our neighbor since I was born. He was kind. And I suffered after my mum's died. This is why he offered me that low job, a servant in a bar. No one would ever hire me for a better job anyway, so I had to take it, to live, to survive, to not to starve."
Erik was listening to her with his eyebrows furrowed, then got up and approached the window, "So, after that miserable life in that fucking place, what do you intend to do, Brandon? Will you go back? Or will you just leave?"
She followed him and watched the sun settings, "If I stayed, they would think I killed Matias. They know he used to annoy me with his words and..."
She paused for a moment to have a deep breath, then went on, "They see me as a freak. Although most of them wanted to..."
She paused again and he scanned her pained face, then asked, "You want to have vengeance? We can hurt them as they hurt you all those years."
She shook her head and locked her eyes to his, "No, I just want to be left alone as I always was. I don't wish to hurt them, and wish they don't hurt me either. I want to leave."
He turned to face her, "If you would like, I can help you get out of here."
She asked interested, "Where are you going?"
He sighed and moved to get a big picture and put it on the wall using pushing pins, "I'm going to Miami."
She approached the wall staring at the man in the picture, before turning to him, "This man, he knew Matias and Manuel. He was in a picture with them back there in the bar."
Erik didn't move his eyes away as he whispered, "This man killed my parents."
She frowned, "What? Why?"
He sighed and turned to look at her, "It's a long story. I can tell you all of it in our way out of here."
She looked worried, "But I need to go to my house. I need to bring money and clothes. And some other stuff. Matias people could be waiting for me their. They must be sure I did it now after running away."
He nodded, "I understand. We can go late in the evening. I'll come with you."
She asked, "What about my neighbors? What if someone saw us?"
He held her shoulder, "I'll protect you."
She looked into his sincere eyes, and didn't know if she should thank him or be mad at him for what he's done. At last she sighed and moved away from him, "Okay, then. But I need to eat first. I haven't eaten since my breakfast. We need to have dinner, then I'll make a list of my essential needs from home then we go."
He nodded and headed to the refrigerator smiling, "That sounds like a good plan."
""""""""""""""""""""""""
Late that night, Erik stopped the motor bike he stole and got off it with April a few meters away from her house. They couldn't see anyone around, so they sneaked into it, and April moved immediately to her bedroom to get some clothes and some papers. She had already decided before what to bring, so it took only a few minutes, before she got back to Erik, who was waiting out of the room watching the photos of her family that were scattered across the walls. Before they walk to the door, he held her arm and moved his index finger to his mouth warning her to keep silent. Her eyes opened wide, when she heard the slow steps at her front door. She looked at him scared and he pressed his fingers gently around her arm. He whispered, "Do you have another exit?"
She shook her head, so he grabbed the door handle slowly, "Then, it's war."
He opened the door suddenly to find one man holding a baseball bat and swinging it to Erik's head. Abril gasped , but soon a heavy shovel from the garden was hitting the man's head. Erik didn't wait to see how bad the guy was hurt. He pulled Abril and ran towards the bike hidden between trees. He jumped and April followed him holding onto his waist tightly with her backpack on her shoulder. When they got far enough and April realized no one was following them, she let the breath she didn't know she was holding, and rested her cheek between Erik's shoulder blades closing her eyes in relief.
He felt her body shaking against his back, so he asked, "Hey, are you okay back there?"
She moved her head so she was resting her forehead on his back now with eyes still closed, "That was Armando, Marcus' brother."
He stopped the motor bike as they approach his car, "Don't worry. I didn't hit him hard."
She sighed and got off the bike to get into the car with him. He drove silently for another hour till they reached their motel. They walked into the room and he took off his jacket, "I need a shower. We have another four hours before we get out of here. I suggest you get some rest."
She looked at him as he moved into the bathroom without even waiting for an answer. She took off her sneakers and got a brown nightie, before she decides to have a shower herself after that two big adventures of her day. She knocked on the bathroom and yelled so he can hear her, "Hey, Erik."
She heard him, "Hmm?"
She replied, "Would you save some hot water for me?"
He didn't answer, so she moved to sit on the armchair waiting for him. Her eyes scanned the small room wondering where she would have that rest he talked about. There was only one bed in the room with small dining table and a couple of chairs other than the armchair she's occupying. Where would she sleep after that tiring day? Will she sleep sitting in the chair? Will she lie in the bed with him? The idea of sharing one bed with him brought her goosebumps and a cramp in her lower belly. She startled when she heard the bathroom door opening and him stepping into the room in a black fluffy cotton robe. She swallowed and felt her cheeks burning as his bluish grey eyes met hers. He scanned her for a moment before walking to the dresser to comb his hair, "I usually shower with cold water."
She swallowed again and whispered, "Thank you."
He nodded and watched her reflection in the mirror as she stepped into the bathroom. She was thin with curvy waist and cylindrical legs that the skirt failed to hide. He closed his eyes thinking about those legs when they were very naked and close to his, when they were on the bike. He remembered the heat of her body as she stick to his back. He groaned when he felt the hardening in his groin again. He needed that cold shower badly, otherwise he would take her in that filthy room. And he didn't want that. He didn't want to be like those men who hurt her. Like those men she hated and he's just killed. He sighed and moved to his bag pulling a big map and started putting his next step of his plan.
When she came back, he was sitting on the bed. She looked at him embarrassed and talked, "I used your shampoo. I forgot to bring mine."
He nodded silently trying to overcome the wave of arousal that crushed him at seeing her in that nightie. Her arms were exposed to his hungry eyes as well as her neck, down to the cleavage between her breasts. She noticed how he looked at her and cleared her throat, "Where would I sleep?"
He smirked, "Well, I don't see you have plenty of options here. You can use the bed, unless you prefer to sleep on the ground."
She twisted her mouth, before moving around the bed to lie down on the far end of the bed away from him. He sighed and moved the covers over her bare legs to cover her body. She held the cover at the level of her waist and murmured, "Thank you."
He nodded and moved backwards to rest his back on the headboard keeping his gaze on the man's picture on the wall facing him. She watched him moving a coin in the air between his fingers without even blinking, before it flies to penetrate the wall between the man's eyes. She gasped and sat up terrified. His stare never moved away and she scanned his cruel features for a moment before moving her hand to touch the numbers on his forearm lightly. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, before turning his face to look at her. She raised her hand to touch his cheek hesitated. She couldn't know if she was feeling sorry for him, or grateful for him. But she definitely felt attracted to him. His eyes had a strong magnet that was pulling her to him. Seeing his bare chest from the robe turned her on as well. She was confused to feel like this for the first time in her life. No boy or man had ever made her feel like this. They all made her feel scared and hated. This man, though he was very cruel and dangerous, he was kind to her and made her feel safe.
Their eyes met and she whispered, "Talk to me, Erik. Let me help you as you helped me."