Control, Enkindle

Oh well. That'll be up to the professionals.

"What did you say to him anyway?" I asked, deciding to change the topic.

She didn't immediately respond, giving me a glance before looking down.

"You'll have to order me to tell you," she mumbled.

I just shrugged. "I don't really care. Just curious," I said. "Two left, by the way."

She scowled at her lap, nodding.

No more was said until we drew near to the villa. I parked a little ways away, in a secluded spot in a parking area behind some trees. The place was void of any people and would be the perfect spot for what we needed to do.

"You got it?" I asked while stepping out of the car.

She nodded, getting out on her side, stopping to open the back door to grab something.

"Is this really real?" she asked, holding up a small plastic bottle with thick red liquid in it.

"As real as you and me," I said, taking it. "Human? No. I didn't really stop to ask but I would assume it's either pig or cow, maybe sheep."

"Yuck," she said and frowned at the bottle of animal blood. I had procured it earlier that day from a local butcher and had told Miss Sofie to do the same for the video.

I raised an eyebrow. "More yuck than what you got on your leg? That, I remind you, is human."

She looked down at her knee and tentatively wiped at the drying blood. Then she stood straight and shrugged. "Whatever."

Melinda was a little shorter than me. To give her a better angle I got down on my knees.

"Try not to enjoy this too much," I said.

She grinned and cracker her knuckles. "Hell no."

I just shook my head before steeling myself.

"Fine. Go ahead. Only once-" That's how far I got before her fist connected with my face, just above my left eye. She was surprisingly strong and I reeled back, reaching up to grab my face on instinct.

"Fuck..." I let out, teeth grit.

"Wimp," she said, grinning. "I barely touched you."

Tentative I let my fingers feel where she had hit me. It was sore, yes, but not too bad. Slow and deliberate I moved my hands to my back, holding onto one wrist with the other.

"I think you can do better, princess. Again," I said and I had barely finished the sentence before another punch hit me, roughly on the same spot.

This time I was ready though, hissing but otherwise not reacting.

"Again." That time she actually grunted from the force of the punch.

"Once more." She hit me right over the eye and for a second I felt like I would topple over.

"Fuck... okay... that's enough," I said even as she raised her fist for another.

"You sure? This is pretty fun," she said but lowered her hand.

"Bitch," I said and stood, feeling around my eye. It felt really sore but she had not managed to break skin. Oh well.

Her punches might have hurt but they were nothing compared what was coming next.

"This is gonna hurt like a motherfucker," I said, pulling out a foldable knife from my pocket.

"Want me to do it?" she asked, big grin on her face.

I ignored her and tried to focus all my energy on not crying out. A deep, stabling breath, that was all I allowed myself.

Then I plunged the knife into my shoulder.

The pain was blinding, but only for a second. Then it became numb. It was only an inch deep but that wasn't the hardest part. My vision actually blurred from the pain when I began twisting the blade, digging it a little deeper. It was so bad I actually had to lean against the car.

"Wow. That does look painful," I heard Melinda say.

Gritting my teeth I pulled the blade out, unleashing a steady stream of crimson blood, soaking into my white shirt. I clamped my hand over it, trying to slow down the bleed. It wouldn't do if I lost enough to pass out.

"Just... get in the car," I sighed, hissing as I leaned over to grab the bottle of pigs blood.

She did as I told her, massaging her knuckles as she did.

Without hesitation or even a moments thought I opened the bottle and poured it all over my shirt, smearing some of my face too, especially around where Melinda had hit me. I had no doubt that I now looked gruesome enough.

"Time to pull off some award winning acting," I said as I slammed the door shut. The seats got bloodied as soon as I came in contact with them but I didn't really care.

"Why though?" she asked. "What's the point? You can just zap them, right?"

"I could," I said, nodding. Turning to give her what I assumed in my current state to be a quite bloody and horrifying grin, I added, "But it's not as fun."

-o-o-o-o-o-

The fireworks didn't start right away. I didn't expect them to but still, I made sure to start acting even before we got out of the car, just in case someone was watching from a window.

Groaning I slumped over the wheel, waiting for a frantic Melinda to come around and rip open my door. The girl was pretty good, I had to give her that. She half carried, half dragged me across the limestone gravel towards the house, leaving a steady trail of dripping blood as we went. Still no one had noticed us.

The heavy double doors slamming open though, I was pretty sure someone would notice that. If not, well, then Melinda's terrified scream for help certainly would.

"Hey! Someone! Help!" she called, frantic and terrified sounding, straining to pull me through the doors.

For my part I just groaned and tried my best to not put all my weight on her while not making it obvious.

Anastasia, it turned out, was the first one to find us, appearing at the top of the stairs, freezing as she saw what I could only assume was a rather gruesome scene.

"Wha-" she cried out. That's when Melinda's strength 'gave out' and we toppled to the floor.

"Help me!" she cried, rolling me on my back and off of her. Another groan escaped me, a real one, because falling to the floor, even when acting, isn't the most pleasurable thing.

"Wha- what happened?" a frantic Anastasia said as she rushed up next to me, getting on her knees.

"They- they... oh god," Melinda began, hysterical, before leaning to the side and making retching sounds.

"He's- you're... you're bleeding," Anastasia stammered and began moving her hands in the air over me. It was obvious that she was freaking out and didn't know what to do.

That's when the shrill screech of Allie resounded in the large hall, making everyone jump, even me. She knew what was going to happen but I had not told her about this part, exactly for this reason. I wanted her reaction to be genuine, and it was.

She came storming down the stairs, letting out another screech as she did, roughly pushing Anastasia away and taking her spot. She was also hysterical, I could see that, but she also had medical training, which kicked in despite her state.

In less than ten seconds she had assessed my damage, confirming that it wasn't as bad as it looked. She pressed down hard on the deliberate flesh wound in my shoulder. It was still bleeding but not nearly as much. I guess it was hard to tell, what with all the animal blood too.

"First aid kit, now!" she yelled at the paralyzed Anastasia. At first she didn't move, just looking terrified, frozen. "Move now!" Allie repeated, snapping her out of her trance like state, scrambling to get to her feet and rushing in the direction of the kitchen.

"Mr Jason! What happened? This wasn't part-" she began but I cut her off by grabbing her wrist.

"... I'm okay sweetie..." I said, acting weak in case Anastasia would see.

"But... what happened..." she said, confused and still terrified.

Turning my head around just to check that Anastasia or Cassandra wasn't near, I whispered, "Exactly what was planned. I'm fine, really sweetie."

She still looked confused, her eyes jumping back and forth, searching my face. That's when Anastasia made her return though, first aid kit in hand, stopping her from asking more questions.

"Angel..." I croaked out, reaching for her hand even as Allie began to rummage around the kit.

"Yes," she quickly said, grasping my hand. "I'm here."

I coughed for effect, my body shaking. "They... they... they took him. Marcus... I tried... oh god..."

She went white as a sheet.

"W-who...?" she stammered.

Allie ripped my shirt then, sending buttons in every direction, clattering on the marble flooring.

"You... you kno-" I had to let out a hiss as Allie poured cleaning alcohol on my shoulder, stinging real bad. "You know who," I finished, searching for her eyes above me.

That's when Cassandras face appeared next to Anastasia. I hadn't noticed her arriving. I blinked in surprise, seeing the bruised and black eye on her face. Had Marcus...? He must have. It made sense. He must've thought it wouldn't matter, taking my comment to heart.

"What happened?" she quickly asked, sane enough to help Allie with the first aid kit.

"It's papa..." Anastasia said, her voice cracking.

"They... they ambushed us," I said, grunting as Allie pressed an alcohol drenched gauze pad to my wound. "They grabbed him... we barely... got away..."

She blinked, unable to really understand what I was saying. Something seemed to click though as she moved to stand. "I'll call the police."

Quickly I let go of Anastasia's hand and grabbed Cassandra's wrist, prompting the woman to pause and look at me.

"If you value your own and Ana's life... don't..." I said.

She drew in a shaky breath and I felt her wrist tremble. "... why?" she asked, voice strained.

"They're... they're-"

"It's the mafia, mama!" Anastasia cried out. She was on the verge of a breakdown, I could tell. "He's been... he's been working with them."

Her eyes went wide as she stared at her daughter.

"We need to leave... now," I croaked out, attempting to sit up, immediately being pushed back down by Allie.

"Don't move yet," she said. Her voice was focused, sharp and not hysteric anymore. She must have realized I wasn't really in any danger.

"They might... be coming here next," I said, searching for Anastasia's eyes again. There were tears in them now.

Nobody moved or said anything.

"Come on!" I yelled. "We need to go. Now!"

That's when they sprang into motion, seemingly realizing the implied gravity of the situation.

Of course, Melinda's, Allies and my own bags were already packed, taking but a moment to get out into the car. I was surprised to find that Cassandra, too, had a bag already packed and ready. It seemed that Marcus's little stunt had made her reconsider things. The only reason she hadn't left yet, I assumed, was because of Anastasia.

Less than fifteen minutes later we were all packed into Marcus's SUV, Cassandra in the driver seat with Melinda in the passenger. Me and Allie were in the back, her examining the bruises on my face. Anastasia sat silent and stoic next to us, silent tears running down her face.

"Where should we go?" Cassandra asked once we were out on the road.

"Airport," I said, still pretending to be weak. "Take big roads with lots of traffic. We need to get as far away as we can and Marcus already had a plane ready."

No one seemed to question exactly why he had one ready.

"I still think we should call the police," Cassandra said, meeting my eyes in the rear view mirror. "If they have Marcus-"

"Mama..." Anastasia interrupted, voice tear filled. "He's gone... there's nothing..." She couldn't continue, breaking down into quiet sobs.

"She's right," I said. "These people... they don't fuck around. I didn't see it happen but..." Shaking my head I let my voice crack as I continued, "There was so much going on... shooting... screaming..."

I could see her eyes begin to well up in the mirror, even her bruised one. Then she blinked them away, shaking her head furiously. It wasn't the time and she knew it.

She was a strong woman.

I had managed to clean up some before we left, changed shirt and wiped most of the blood away, so getting through the airport checkpoint wasn't an issue. The guard did look a bit uncertain though as he scanned around the insides, looking at each of us in turn using a flashlight, pausing for a moment at the silently crying Anastasia. In the end though they let us pass. Mostly, I would assume, thanks to it being a private jet.

They had questions, of course they had, and once we got in the air I answered as much as I 'could', which under the circumstances wasn't very much. I did let on to Cassandra, without going into exact details, that what Marcus worked with hadn't exactly been legal. She didn't seem overly surprised. I wasn't either by the fact. She was a smart woman, after all.

In fact, she seemed strangely emotionless overall. It could be shock but it was hard to tell. She had been about to get emotional in the car so it was plausible she was just keeping a lid on it. It could be for Anastasia though, the girl not being as restrained with her own emotions. She wasn't bawling her eyes out by any means but she was crying.

Understandable, I suppose.

Still slightly annoying.

I disappeared pretty early to one of the bedrooms in the back. It didn't come off as very strange as I had a valid reason, being gravely wounded and all. Allie came with me under the pretense of making sure I was alright. Mostly I just wanted someone to snuggle with, not at all interested in being around the two grieving women. I figured they would take the other bedroom once they were tired enough.

It would be a long trip back to the states. Sleep seemed like a good idea. Well, after apologizing to Allie for scaring her earlier. It took a bit of snuggling but eventually she forgave me. I didn't even have to tell her to do it.

Life, all in all, was pretty fucking good.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Well. That about sums it up, I think.

This was the story about how it all began. Of course, there is a lot more, but I figured I'd get to that later. There's really no rush for me.

I believe a quick tally is in order.

Allie Sutter. Sweet sweet Allie. Shonda Preston. Mrs University Bitch. Melinda Grimes. Fuck it if I know what to make of her. Miss Sofie. Special Agent Annoying. Thomas Harding. Rich fuckboy. Gabrielle LeGrand. The golden ticket to the chocolate factory. Sarah Palmer. Don't know, don't care. Jordan Sarah-Antoinette Emerson. Don't know, don't care.

And that's it, I think. A rather small list to be honest. Here's an even smaller one.

Marcus Ellwood. The dog.

Summary:

The number of people under my control: 8 The number of people confirmed dead because of me: 1

Important numbers for sure. Looking back, they seem so small now. Cute almost.

Well, until next time.

Yours truly, Jason Scovil.