"Come on poppet, you need to eat up! We've got a big day today!" Oliver was cooing at baby Yasmine, who was currently refusing to eat her baby food. "Come on, one more spoonful, for daddy?" She gave a small smile and said "Dada". That was the only word she knew, but they were working on it. She then knocked her bowl so Oliver got mushed apple all down him. "Yasmine! That wasn't very nice!" Yasmine gave a small giggle. Oliver sighed. This reminded him of meal times with Al and Matthew when they were younger (and occasionally now). Yasmine now had apple down her baby grow as well. "Let's get you cleaned up" and took her upstairs.
Oliver finished adjusting his bow-tie and checked his watch. They were running late. He looked down at Yasmine in her carrier, hugging flying chocolate bunny. She was wearing a dark pink ruffle skirt, with a pale pink shirt with a sparkly cupcake on it, along with pink and purple striped tights. He was pleased with her outfit. Today Yasmine was coming to the bakery with him, as he couldn't get anybody to watch her, not that he minded. He just hoped she would behave.
The walk to the bakery had been uneventful, apart from the odd person stopping and cooing over Yasmine, who'd fallen asleep. There were mainly commuters. Oliver was glad to step inside his sugar pink shop and get away from the bustle of the crowd. It was tucked away, down an alley, off the main road. He tied on his pink apron and turned to his daughter. "Okay poppet, today Daddy's going to make cupcakes!" Yasmine was ignoring her father; she was too busy taking in the colours, shapes and smells of Oliver's bakery. He gave her a smile, the placed her in the play pen in the corner. It was normally used by customers with young children, but today Yasmine would be staying there. He flipped the open sign on the door. "Get ready poppet, today you meet the outside world".
The first hour of business was calm. Nobody was really up yet. However, as lunchtime neared, things started to get busier. Some tourists came in and bought some Union Flag cupcakes, several people came in to pick up orders and Oliver took two phone calls about cupcake for weddings. However, Yasmine was now getting bored. She had an extremely active mind and blocks and teddies could keep her occupied for only so long. So she decided to try and get out of her play pen.
Surprisingly, it was an easy job. She didn't have to do anything. A lady with blonde hair walked into the shop, a business women. She placed her bag on the counter. "Hello, I'm here about placing an order of cupcakes for a business party" Oliver nodded from behind the counter. "Sounds fun. Tell me poppet, how many do you need and what flavour? Do they need a theme?" The lady shook her head. "There's no theme, just 50 chocolate and vanilla cupcakes: 25 chocolate and 25 vanilla, please"
"Icing?"
"Buttercream" Oliver nodded. "Okay, I just need to go a rack that total up with the till round the back. I'll be two ticks" and he was gone. Yasmine watched the lady pull out a microphone and start speaking into it from her play pen.
"Okay, I'm in the suspect's shop. What do you mean, is there anything suspicious? It looks like the set from a Katy Perry music video! It's all pink, with swirls of other neon colours. It hurts to look at! Oh, and there is a lot of cupcakes. It's in a weird location for a cupcake shop; it would make more sense to put it on the main road, where more people could see it, to get more customers. I wonder how he stops vandals." She caught sight of Yasmine, who reached out her bunny. "Hold on, there's a kid here! Well, a baby, in a pen. It could be his, but it looks nothing like him. Maybe it belonged to one of his victims? Crap, he's coming back" She shoved her phone into her bag.
"Here's your bill ma'am" Oliver flashed her a smile, eyes shining. "Also, some samples of our cupcakes."
"Oh um, thank you. The little honey in the pen is so cute! May I ask if she's yours?" Oliver nodded and picked Yasmine up, who had her arms outstretched. "Yes, Yasmine is. It's her first proper outing today, isn't it poppet?" Yasmine gave a giggle in response. "Dada" she cooed, wriggling. Oliver gave a laugh and kissed her forehead.
"So where's her mother?" Oliver stopped smiling. Technically, Yasmine actually had no biological mother. However, to humans that would be impossible. So the cover story that Oliver had devised was either that Yasmine's mother was dead, or that she'd left Yasmine with Oliver after she'd been born; whichever one fitted the situation best. "Yasmine's mum is… no longer here" Oliver avoided eye contact, occupying himself with Yasmine, who was still squirming. She was trying to reach the lady.
"May I ask what happened?"
"Her mother died in an… accident" The lady was suspicious. Why was he avoiding eye contact? Did he have something to do with the accident? Just then, Yasmine gave a whimper. Oliver quickly put her onto the counter. "Oh, sh poppet, daddy's got a customer!" Yasmine just pushed the lady's bag onto the floor; its contents going everywhere. The lady gasped. "Yasmine! I'm so sorry, she's normally extremely well behaved!" Oliver began helping her pick up her things. "Hang on, what's this?" In his hands was a small microphone. Crackling through it, a man's voice could be heard calling. "Hello, Cassy? Are you there?"
"Well well, it looks someone's been spying on us" He snapped it, then crushed it with his foot. Oliver picked up Yasmine who, now satisfied with her work, snuggled down. "Well done, poppet" he whispered. Just then there was a clicking noise and Oliver turned back to Cassy. She had a pistol pointing at his head. "Careful dear, you could hurt someone with that." She shook a strand of hair from her face. "Mr Kirkland, you are in no position for being cocky. You are a mass kidnap and serial killer suspect." Oliver just smiled, his blue eyes slowly clouding with pink swirls. "Am I now? That's a surprise" Cassy flinched under his gaze; it was really unsettling.
"You are believed to be behind the disappearances of over twenty people. And kidnap of a child" She motioned at Yasmine. Oliver looked offended. "I beg your pardon, but I've told you the truth. This child is mine." His eyes were almost completely pink now, they only had the odd swirl of blue. Cassy snorted. "Of course she is. And the other victims? What did you do to their kids? Drop them off at the care home?" She didn't expect an answer.
"They had no families. Or friends. That's why I chose them." She looked at him. Was he confessing? "That's not the point." Oliver just gave her an infuriating smile. "Maybe, but it was fun. Besides, I need ingredients" Cassy paled. "You sick f*cked up bastard." Then Oliver snapped off his Cheshire cat smile. "Swear jar. Really Miss Cassy, you shouldn't swear in front of children." What kind of serial killer was this?
"You are responsible for a very long list of deaths and disappearances" Oliver nodded.
"Yes, I suppose I am. And you're name's going to be joining the list very soon" Cassy gripped her gun tighter. "No, it's not. You, however, will be going behind bars." Oliver cocked his head, more focused on the baby in his arms than the girl with the gun. "And the kid will go to a safe place; somewhere better than having a serial killer for her dad". Now Oliver was really offended. And slightly bored.
"Really Miss Cassy? It's been fun talking to you, but you're making accusations with no proof, and you're refusing to acknowledge the truth, which you already know. You're not walking out of this bakery alive."
"You're wrong-"
"Nope. It's rather sweet, your determination, but your time is ticking away. In a few more seconds your life will be fading away"
"How many times do I need to tell you, I'm not letting you kill-"
Cassy coughed. Blood. Her body felt like it was on fire, like there was acid in her veins. It felt like someone was twisting her stomach and guts into crazy, painful knots. Her head was pounding and she felt light-headed, and she realised it was becoming harder to breathe. She fell to the floor. Cassy could feel her heart get slower and slower. Jesus, it was painful. Oliver walked over to her, smiling like the Cheshire cat. "You know, you shouldn't accept food from strangers, poppet." Cassy's eyes wandered to the samples. Oliver kept talking. "I told you you'd be joining that list". Cassy could only cough up blood.
Yasmine however started to cry at the sight. Oliver sighed. "It looks like you're scaring my baby girl. Well, we can't have that now". He put Yasmine back in her pen, with flying chocolate bunny and grabbed Cassy by the wrists and dragged her to the door behind the counter. She tried to scream, but her voice wouldn't work. She was paralysed. They were in the kitchen, which was spotless. Was he going to bake her or something? Oliver pressed one of the tiles on the wall, and a door swung open. The basement. Cassy looked in horror at the knives on the wall as Oliver strapped her down onto a wooden table. He locked the door.
"Now poppet, this is where the fun begins."
The rest of the day was uneventful. It was late in the evening when the last customer walked in. Oliver didn't bother to look up from the playpen at the man. "Romano, how are you and your brother?" Romano pulled off his designer glasses and smiled. "How you do that Oliver amazes me. We're both fine". Oliver gave him a hug. "Oh, so this must be the famous Yasmine! Una ragazza dolce!" Oliver smiled as Romano held Yasmine, who was fascinated with his scarf. "So Romano, what brings you to the shop?"
"My brother and I are holding a birthday party for Grandpa, and Veneziano would like to place an order for some… special cupcakes." Oliver's face broke into a huge grin. "Excellent! I haven't had an order for special cupcakes in a while! You're in luck, I've got some fresh ingredients in the basement!"
The blood on his bowtie proved it.
Una ragazza dolce – a sweet girl
