Michael woke up with a raging headache, before he opened his eyes he tried to get an idea of what the hell was going on. He remembered a bizarre massacre and a beautiful little monster causing it, the last image in his head was her delicate face staring back at him and then nothing. Running his hands on the surface below him felt soft cotton and a new mattress.
Opening his eyes he saw a brightly lit room with antique furniture and soft yellow wallpaper, gathering enough strength to get off the bed and scan his surroundings he saw a large window that was hermetically shut, there had to be another way out. Outside the bright, cozy bedroom he found a large kitchen where the little monster from last night was cooking breakfast.
-"How's your head?"- She asked casually
Only then he noticed the large bandage over the stinging pain on the side of his forehead.
-"Quite well considering you hit me"- He answered lightly, whatever twisted game she had on her mind he had to follow it until he could escape
-"Oh I didn't hit you; the guy you fought first and stole the gun from struck you from behind. You see that's why I kill them all so they can't kill you back. I took care of him though"- She smiled at the bloody and cherished moment when she strangled the life out of that twerp, putting that memory aside she gave Michael a mug filled with coffee and a few aspirins. The dark liquid smelled heavenly, Michael thought that if she wanted him dead or poisoned he wouldn't be awake and walking right now so he sipped feeling the underlying taste of vanilla and cinnamon.
-"Sit down and I'll serve you breakfast, eggs and bacon all right?"- She said sweetly, if he hadn't seen her slay a group of gangsters you could swear she was the pupil of Martha Stuart.
You can tell a lot of someone's personality by looking at their homes; hers was decored in a way that looked like it came out of a fairy tale. It seemed cozy and relaxed but Michael could see the signs of neurosis and madness below it. Everything was too clean and perfectly in place, so much it did feel more like a stage than an actual home, he shuddered at the thoughts of how many skeletons she might have on her closet.
Michael learned long ago to gather strength at the first opportunity available. If you can sleep, go to sleep; even if it is in a cave under enemy fire, and if a psychopath gives you food that you have a reasonable certainty it's not poisoned; eat it because it will give you the strength you will need to fight later on. She was a very talented cook at that, if only she worked as a chef instead of a killing machine.
She acted so calm and casual, if seem from outside they could be good friends having a lovely breakfast. To make things worse the 27 year old psychopath was clad in plain jeans and a t shirt that made her look 17. His foolishness got him in this awkward situation but he was smart enough not to fall in this illusion. Finishing his plate and politely offering to wash the dishes he asked her
-"Why am I alive? You killed the rest of the gangsters."- He tried to sound as non-threatening as possible, the entrance door was unlocked and taunted him to run away, as soon as he got close enough he'll be out of here.
-"I think it's rude to kill someone who tried to help you. Besides you're not a gangster"- she said petting a large cat, the furry Persian purred in delight
-"How did you know?"-
-"Your phone, I heard it ring after I killed the guy that hit you. Those idiots had I phones and that kinda stuff, you had a very basic one so either you were broke or you didn't feel you had anything to prove, that's not gangsta'. Besides I've seen those fight moves before, you were trained in the military am I right?"- She tapped the large, buttery soft couch she sat on, inviting him to sit next to her.
Michael was about to run away when she added
-"Speaking of phones I talked to your girlfriend, she sounds lovely"- And with that comment she took a large brown envelope and gave it to him. Inside he found photos of Fiona, Sam and Jesse from the window of his loft, they seemed worried staring at a bunch of papers, they had been taken recently.
Reluctantly he sat by her side and smiled, she had him.
-"What did you girls talked about?"- he feigned cheerfulness, Fiona had to know he was in trouble, but if Delilah had a spy on them she could not get close enough before that monster knew it. Michael hoped he could escape from her before his friends found them, as skilled as they were there was a chance they might not win in a confrontation against her.
-"Not much, I told her you'll stay the night and that tomorrow I'll send you back in one piece… well I might send you back in one piece. That depends on a couple of things"-
-"Such as…"- Michael said as clam as he could
-"First of all wipe that fake smile off your face I hate it when people lie or perform as something different than they are, and then tell me, what was a good military trained boy scout hanging out with those jerks?"-
-"I wanted to see how it was to be a bad boy, and who knows I could make new friends"- He said evasive, dodging direct questions was a skill he had perfected over the years. Sadly it didn't work today, Delilah grabbed a small dagger from under the cushions of the couch and in a nanosecond the sharp edge rested against the tender skin of his neck, millimeters away from his jugular.
-"I'm sorry I couldn't hear you with all that bullshit coming out from your mouth, you were saying?"- She said sweetly, the insanity lighting her eyes again
Realizing he couldn't lie to her Michael told her the truth about their job and how things had gone wrong, she listened with her full attention and whenever the burnt spy tried to deviate or hide the information she would read him like a polygraph and threatened to kill him.
By the end of his story she had a dreamy evil glint in her eyes, not much different than Fiona's right before a large explosive was set and lots of properties were damaged.
-"This is the deal, you lead me to Maldonado and I get to have my fun with the guy, after you help me dispose the body I'll let you go home. If you interfere in some way or even consider ratting me out to the police I'll go after all your friends and turn their brains into a work of abstract art over the ceiling of your home, and I could do that because I have a mayor in modern art. And I could not even describe what I would do to your mom or your little brother and his family"-
At that last statement his jaw tensed, yelling at her to leave them alone would not only be a cliché but also a way to lose his temper and show her she was in control. If she wanted Maldonado fine by him, one of them would be dead and the world would be a better place, or they could kill each other and turn this mess in a very good day. If he played his cards right he could eliminate a psycho and a drug lord at the same time and leave his friends out of the line of fire.
-"Sure when do we start?"- The spy grinned.
-"Right now, oh wait there's a thing I have to do before we leave I have to give my babies their treat"- She said heading towards the large garden outside.
-"Babies?"- He followed her
The state surrounding the spacious one store house had several acres making it look quite small in comparison, out of nowhere came three large Rottweilers wagging their tales at her.
-"These are my babies, the one in the left is Pumpkin, the one in the middle is Cupcake and the one in the right is Muffin"- She said patting the heads of the large guard dogs, Michael was grateful for not running out into the garden earlier, the three large beasts would have shredded him into pieces.
Then she went to the garage and asked him to carry something out of her car, in the back seat of her large sedan there was a dead body wrapped in a plastic bag, it belonged to the skinny punk who knocked him out. He expected her to tell him to dispose the body somewhere else but instead she just asked him to throw the body (sans plastic bag) into the yard. The muscular dogs rushed at him and he thought better to get the hell out of there, the animals feasted on the corpse, soon there would be nothing left.
He fought the urge to throw up at the gruesome sight before him and played his best poker face, even after she asked him to get in the same car that now reeked of death.
-"Awww look how happy they look"- She said staring fondly at her pets, it's not like she didn't feed them because in fact she paid for the best brand of dog food, but her babies did love some fresh meat. When she came home she would find a few scattered bones at best, nothing her favorite woodchopper couldn't handle; besides the extra calcium did wonders for her orchids. That's the main reason they rarely find the body of her victims and why she never got caught.
-"Let's go"- Michael said somber, his skin a few shades paler and his features frozen like stone, he had a plan already.