The moon set and the stars were sparse, and the long dark night passed. The next day Hermosa opens her heavy, sore eyelids at sunrise. There is a plain white ceiling, no childish wind chimes and no sleeping Elisa or Sesame Street dolls around. This was Brent's room. She had been with sir...... last night... The realisation brought Hermosa abruptly back to consciousness. Her face burned and she raised a hand to shield her eyes, but she couldn't stop the intermittent thoughts from flooding into the sea with the aching pain her body revived with. She hadn't been able to make him comfortable. Sir didn't want to fuck her, but he gave her his room anyway. How could her Sir be so nice ...... Guilt and emotion sent a tingle through Hermosa's nose. She turned and buried her face in the soft pillows, catching a whiff of slightly spicy vanilla with a light floral and citrus back note, aggressive yet gentle to the core. The smell of Brent. Hermosa is cautious at first, but the more she s
But to Hermosa's surprise, Brent didn't say anything more. He finished his meal and left, as he had every day before, but Hermosa did not stand up at the end of breakfast, as she always did, but sat for a long time at the table, lost in thought. Memories played through Hermosa's mind like faded film footage. A month or so ago, when Elisa had fallen ill and needed a large sum of money for treatment, and her father, who was an abusive gambler, had hounded her for money, Hermosa had no choice but to follow the man sent by Randolph and went back with him. Randolph asks Hermosa to find a way to get into the villa, as it contains a large amount of drugs and cash that his nemesis, Davis, the Detroit district boss, had scavenged during his lifetime. In Randolph's words, the villa is inhabited by a man who is dark, cranky and difficult to get close to. Before Hermosa, Randolph's men, disguised as couriers, salesmen and social workers, have failed to knock on his door. Frantic and scared, H
Brent had never seen such deep fear and despair in a child's eyes, let alone understand what on earth could make a child afraid to swallow and lick.No, he actually understood, he just didn't have the proof and didn't dare to think deeply in either direction, let alone think about how Hermosa with Elisa was struggling to survive. They'd made a living around Randolph before meeting Brent, Randolph is a known sexual pervert.Whether Elisa experienced Randolph's abuse herself, or saw what Randolph did to Hermosa ......Brent didn't want anything like that to ever really happen."Go to sleep, I'll go first and won't come in while you're asleep."It took a lot of effort for Brent to coax Elisa back to sleep. He said this before he left, not knowing if she understood the reassurance in adult language."Uncle Brent."Elisa called out to him instead, "I've been good, don't abandon us.""I won't do that."Brent wondered where she had gotten that idea. Had Hermosa been whispering it in her ea
The backyard of this villa is large, with hundreds of square feet. A tall balsam fir tree grows in the courtyard and the ornamental flowers that were originally planted have been overshadowed by vigorous weeds and wildflowers due to neglect. Yesterday, the garden was renovated and a few fuchsias were transplanted, giving it a unique flavour.A set of children's slides stands in the middle of the neatly manicured lawn, next to a small swing and a half-high chain bridge for children. These things are nothing for adults, but they are irresistible to children of a few years old.Elisa was carried to the slide by Brent and carefully jumped off his lap, looking up at the three differently shaped slides and back at him."What's wrong?" Brent asked."I ......" Elisa had only ever watched other children play with these things, she had never touched them herself. Standing somewhat hesitantly in place, her little feet rubbed mindlessly against the grass on the ground."Still scared? I told you I
The cottage had an underground garage, but when Brent moved in it became a basement and the entrance from the backyard was closed off. Yesterday Brent had someone come to clear the backyard of weeds, but he didn't ask them to do anything with the area because it was unnecessary.Even if a thief was going to steal something, he wouldn't choose this place to do it, let alone in broad daylight.So who could it be?Brent's eyes snapped open and he pressed '911' on the dialpad.His thumb hovered over the dial button and he steered his wheelchair as slowly as possible towards the spot. The slight rustle of the wheels over the weeds adds a certain tension to the quiet atmosphere around him.The knot in Brent's throat rolled, and the darkness in his eyes deepened the closer he got.That's it , until he saw a slender, familiar back in the patch of weeds that was over a man's height.The line on the back of his shoulders slackened and he locked his phone screen."What are you doing?""Sir?!"He
The lady in front of her was Brent's mother.It took Hermosa a few seconds to absorb this fact, but she didn't know what to do next. She stood in silence as she heard the woman say, "Don't be nervous, I've come to see you for nothing more than to have a chat. Just call me Auntie Simona, your name is Hermosa Pena, right?""Yes, you can call me Hermosa." Hermosa smiled a little reluctantly."You and Brent are friends?" Ms Simona's question was clearly purposeful. Jeffrey had had someone look into the person in front of him some time ago and had said that Hermosa had never been friends with Brent before, but nothing else was suspicious.But she and her husband were unsure. For one thing, her parents' instincts made them realise that Hermosa and Brent had an unusual relationship, but Hermosa was a single mother with a child. This was not an easy thing for either of the parents to accept.Jeffrey was always stammering, as if he was hiding something from them, and wouldn't tell them when
"I think you know what I'm going to say, don't you?" Ms Simona looked at Hermosa and said sincerely, "Perhaps you remember Brent getting a delivery on his birthday that was actually a gift we sent him.""He never accepted anything from us before, let alone contacted us. But now he's changed and he's even reaching out to friends and colleagues from the past, and the news has kept me awake for nights. You are his saviour as far as I'm concerned, Hermosa.""Hermosa, please, bring our son out of his despair. I will give you anything you want if Brent gets better."Simona's words were more earnest and more like a knife in Hermosa's heart than any other. She didn't respond to her request in the end, but Ms Simona no doubt took her silence as a tacit acknowledgement and left in relief.Hermosa watched her fading back, feeling nothing but numbness in her hands and feet and, with them, a numbing pain in her chest.Most of the world's events were like the mockery and irony of creation, but none
Both of them breathing became heavy.The bedroom, where the air conditioning was on full blast, but began to heat up uncontrollably, and the air was filled with a mixture of tension and apprehension.From the moment his fingers touched Hermosa's chest, Brent's sanity melted away as if he had been struck by some deadly compulsion. His eyes glowed red, his eyes only seeing Hermosa's smooth skin and panting red lips as he ran his large hands down the hem of Hermosa's loose shirt, caressing her slender waist and smooth spine, and sliding back to pinch the soft flesh of her breasts in front of him. His hands were icy, his fingers thick with hard calluses. They were calluses from the long hours he had spent holding scalpels and paintbrushes. He placed the cold palms of his hands completely over Hermosa's breasts. A shade of ecstasy from lust burned beneath his eyes. With one hand he kept rubbing the flesh of Hermosa's breasts. With his other hand he undid her blouse.Hermosa's upper body