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The Target.
She lifted the hood of the trunk, bracing herself for the horror that would come. Her face turned white as the hoarse voice whispered,
“Just let me explain.”
Recovering swiftly from the moment of terror, Ayanda’s sculpted eyebrows furrowed into a frown as she looked at the pathetic man currently curled in front of her. “Nicolas, what the fuck?”
The blond winced at her tone. He opened his mouth to continue his desperate plea, but Ayanda cut him off,
“You promised the body would be in here. Where the fuck has it gone, Nicolas? This really isn’t the time for your stupid games.”
Her cold words made Nicolas’ jaw snap shut. Ayanda tried her best to ignore the hurt flashing across her associate’s face. Okay, maybe she’d been a bit harsh, but honestly? She had valid reasons to be pissed off in this moment.
Ayanda stepped away from the trunk, still facing Nicolas, and watched with barely-contained amusement as he shuffled slowly into a seated position. His arms had been skillfully bound to his body with a series of secure knots made with bright red cord. By the time he was upright, Ayanda had more than enough time to process and appreciate the… difficult situation he’d found himself in. The unimpressed expression on Nicolas’ face as he registered her own rising mirth made a giggle slip from the brunette’s lips.
“Kinky.”
Now entirely unable to restrain her laughter, Ayanda grasped her sides tightly as her chuckles rang loudly around the empty forest surrounding the lone car. Her purpose for driving off-road to such an isolated spot was temporarily forgotten as she revelled in this schadenfreude.
“In a different situation, certainly. In this one, though? Not so much,” Nicolas grumbled. “They could’ve been a bit more creative with the knots. Ernst would know,” he added softly - almost as an afterthought.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Ayanda smirked as the last of the laughter faded to a stop. She walked up to the man she’d known since they were kids in fourth grade, and began the long process of untying the knots restraining him.
The pair fell into a slightly tense silence as Ayanda worked.
Finally unable to ignore the urge to mend the hurt her words had caused, Ayanda spoke, “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I was just - I had to do so much work to get in the right headspace for this today, and instead of seeing the corpse I was expecting, there you were…”
She frowned as a thought occurred to her, “How did you become the one tied up in my trunk? Alive, no less?”
Now free from his constraints, Nicolas flexed his limbs to slowly wake them up. He took a moment to focus on this soothing movement before he replied,
“Well, before you so RUDELY cut me off earlier, I was about to explain.”
Ayanda rolled her eyes upon seeing the pointed glare sent her way from her associate.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m a monster. How rude. I’m the worst person in the world, yada yada…”
“No need to get so dramatic,” Nicolas huffed.
Ayanda raised her eyebrow in his direction. The two communicated silently before Nicolas relented, throwing his arms in the air with a louder huff and crossing his arms petulantly.
“Fucking fine, I’ll get on with it.”
Ayanda felt the playful mood of the conversation drop into uncomfortable darkness as Nicolas exhaled and ran a hand over his face. She waited patiently, eyes trained on the dark circles beneath the man’s usually boisterous hazel eyes, as he started to speak softly.
“When I arrived at the first location, everything seemed to be going to plan. The staff we were told would be there, were there. I set myself up and started just… waiting for the target…” Nicolas’ voice trailed off as he stared intensely at the ground, seeing something that didn’t exist.
Ah, yes, ‘The Target.’ Ayanda and Nicolas’ superiors had been cautiously vague about exactly WHO the target was. They only knew their name, and the list of their crimes.
“Do - do you ever wonder whether we’re the bad guys, ‘Yanda?” Nicolas’ voice was tentative.
Ayanda jolted as his bright hazel eyes finally met hers. She was surprised to note that they were welling with tears. This completely unnerved Ayanda. In the five years they’d been working together, she’d never seen Nicolas cry. Well, not from sorrow.
“Nicolas, what - what happened?”
He broke eye contact again.
“The target was a fucking kid, ‘Yanda. A little boy.”
Ayanda felt the chilling grip of fear and dread seep from her stomach to the rest of her body.
“He - he couldn’t have been more than ten years old. And it was definitely him.”
Nicolas sank to the muddy ground. His hands tore frantically through his hair in a failing attempt to soothe. In perfect contrast to her associate’s frantic energy, Ayanda remained frozen in her standing position.
There was no way that Nicolas would lie about something like this. But accepting this as truth would mean that they had been knowingly hired to exterminate a child. It would explain why their superiors had been so secretive, but, holy fuck…
“And I, I had to make a decision, Ayanda. We were both sitting there in the cafe. At opposite sides, and at separate tables, but together nonetheless. I sat there motionless until I saw him get up to go outside,” Nicolas turned his head away and clenched his eyes closed tightly.
“I followed him.”
The silence was deafening.
“I - I followed him outside. I was going to do it, ‘Yanda. I was going to go through with it. And that’s going to haunt me the rest of my days,” Nicolas sighed. “But I - I couldn’t,” tears dripped down his face and onto the ground below.
“Ernst and I want to adopt together one day. We both know what it’s like to be abandoned by the people who should’ve loved you. We both know what it’s like to be scared to exist. And we want to share all of our unending paternal love and dad-jokes with our own created family,” Nicolas faced Ayanda with a watery smile.
“I couldn’t do it. Even if this kid really did all those things, he’s still just a fucking kid. So there we were, standing outside in the deserted car park. He finally saw me. I turned to leave, and instead ran into a few gnarly guys… Next thing I know, you’re opening the hood of your trunk.”
Ayanda didn’t know what to say. She was glad Nicolas hadn’t followed through, but she feared what the consequence would be for the two of them. This was an important assignment.
Nicolas seemed to interpret her continued silence as disapproval, for he scrambled to backtrack, “Look, I’m - I’m sorry, Ayanda. I didn’t mean to fuck this up so royally. I know this is probably going to negatively impact you, too, and I’m so sorry.”
The blond visibly deflated. “I just - I COULDN’T do it, Ayanda! We’ve done some dubious missions, but nothing this graphic. And to have the target be a fucking KID? I had to draw the line somewhere. And personally, I think drawing the line at murdering a child is quite understandable.”
Desperate to stop the rising tone of hysteria in Nicolas’ voice, Ayanda finally shook herself from her stupor and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“I think it’s an understandable line to draw, too.”
They shared a small smile. Ayanda was glad to see relief in Nicolas’ eyes.
“We are definitely in trouble, now, though. And maybe wanted criminals. Who knows what they’re going to do when they find out we let the target go?” the brunette shuddered. “I don’t want to know what consequences await us from people who want to kill a child.”
Nicolas toed the ground. “So, what do we do now?”
Ayanda shrugged, “Well, let’s start by grabbing Ernst. We can hit the road. I’m curious about his road-trip conversation skills. I hear he’s apparently skilled with knots?”
Nicolas blushed and shoved Ayanda’s shoulder playfully.
“I didn’t think you heard that… You can’t ask him that! He can’t know that you know! I’ll be in so much trouble!”
Ayanda grinned as she twirled the car keys around her fingers. She opened the driver’s car door and chuckled, “Kinky!”
Nicolas’ replying screech made her smile even wider as she ducked inside the vehicle to avoid the sneaker tossed in her direction.
© O.M.A
#shortstory #lgbtq #friendship #fiction #writco #writcoapp #stories #storytelling #humour #Love&love
“Just let me explain.”
Recovering swiftly from the moment of terror, Ayanda’s sculpted eyebrows furrowed into a frown as she looked at the pathetic man currently curled in front of her. “Nicolas, what the fuck?”
The blond winced at her tone. He opened his mouth to continue his desperate plea, but Ayanda cut him off,
“You promised the body would be in here. Where the fuck has it gone, Nicolas? This really isn’t the time for your stupid games.”
Her cold words made Nicolas’ jaw snap shut. Ayanda tried her best to ignore the hurt flashing across her associate’s face. Okay, maybe she’d been a bit harsh, but honestly? She had valid reasons to be pissed off in this moment.
Ayanda stepped away from the trunk, still facing Nicolas, and watched with barely-contained amusement as he shuffled slowly into a seated position. His arms had been skillfully bound to his body with a series of secure knots made with bright red cord. By the time he was upright, Ayanda had more than enough time to process and appreciate the… difficult situation he’d found himself in. The unimpressed expression on Nicolas’ face as he registered her own rising mirth made a giggle slip from the brunette’s lips.
“Kinky.”
Now entirely unable to restrain her laughter, Ayanda grasped her sides tightly as her chuckles rang loudly around the empty forest surrounding the lone car. Her purpose for driving off-road to such an isolated spot was temporarily forgotten as she revelled in this schadenfreude.
“In a different situation, certainly. In this one, though? Not so much,” Nicolas grumbled. “They could’ve been a bit more creative with the knots. Ernst would know,” he added softly - almost as an afterthought.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Ayanda smirked as the last of the laughter faded to a stop. She walked up to the man she’d known since they were kids in fourth grade, and began the long process of untying the knots restraining him.
The pair fell into a slightly tense silence as Ayanda worked.
Finally unable to ignore the urge to mend the hurt her words had caused, Ayanda spoke, “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I was just - I had to do so much work to get in the right headspace for this today, and instead of seeing the corpse I was expecting, there you were…”
She frowned as a thought occurred to her, “How did you become the one tied up in my trunk? Alive, no less?”
Now free from his constraints, Nicolas flexed his limbs to slowly wake them up. He took a moment to focus on this soothing movement before he replied,
“Well, before you so RUDELY cut me off earlier, I was about to explain.”
Ayanda rolled her eyes upon seeing the pointed glare sent her way from her associate.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m a monster. How rude. I’m the worst person in the world, yada yada…”
“No need to get so dramatic,” Nicolas huffed.
Ayanda raised her eyebrow in his direction. The two communicated silently before Nicolas relented, throwing his arms in the air with a louder huff and crossing his arms petulantly.
“Fucking fine, I’ll get on with it.”
Ayanda felt the playful mood of the conversation drop into uncomfortable darkness as Nicolas exhaled and ran a hand over his face. She waited patiently, eyes trained on the dark circles beneath the man’s usually boisterous hazel eyes, as he started to speak softly.
“When I arrived at the first location, everything seemed to be going to plan. The staff we were told would be there, were there. I set myself up and started just… waiting for the target…” Nicolas’ voice trailed off as he stared intensely at the ground, seeing something that didn’t exist.
Ah, yes, ‘The Target.’ Ayanda and Nicolas’ superiors had been cautiously vague about exactly WHO the target was. They only knew their name, and the list of their crimes.
“Do - do you ever wonder whether we’re the bad guys, ‘Yanda?” Nicolas’ voice was tentative.
Ayanda jolted as his bright hazel eyes finally met hers. She was surprised to note that they were welling with tears. This completely unnerved Ayanda. In the five years they’d been working together, she’d never seen Nicolas cry. Well, not from sorrow.
“Nicolas, what - what happened?”
He broke eye contact again.
“The target was a fucking kid, ‘Yanda. A little boy.”
Ayanda felt the chilling grip of fear and dread seep from her stomach to the rest of her body.
“He - he couldn’t have been more than ten years old. And it was definitely him.”
Nicolas sank to the muddy ground. His hands tore frantically through his hair in a failing attempt to soothe. In perfect contrast to her associate’s frantic energy, Ayanda remained frozen in her standing position.
There was no way that Nicolas would lie about something like this. But accepting this as truth would mean that they had been knowingly hired to exterminate a child. It would explain why their superiors had been so secretive, but, holy fuck…
“And I, I had to make a decision, Ayanda. We were both sitting there in the cafe. At opposite sides, and at separate tables, but together nonetheless. I sat there motionless until I saw him get up to go outside,” Nicolas turned his head away and clenched his eyes closed tightly.
“I followed him.”
The silence was deafening.
“I - I followed him outside. I was going to do it, ‘Yanda. I was going to go through with it. And that’s going to haunt me the rest of my days,” Nicolas sighed. “But I - I couldn’t,” tears dripped down his face and onto the ground below.
“Ernst and I want to adopt together one day. We both know what it’s like to be abandoned by the people who should’ve loved you. We both know what it’s like to be scared to exist. And we want to share all of our unending paternal love and dad-jokes with our own created family,” Nicolas faced Ayanda with a watery smile.
“I couldn’t do it. Even if this kid really did all those things, he’s still just a fucking kid. So there we were, standing outside in the deserted car park. He finally saw me. I turned to leave, and instead ran into a few gnarly guys… Next thing I know, you’re opening the hood of your trunk.”
Ayanda didn’t know what to say. She was glad Nicolas hadn’t followed through, but she feared what the consequence would be for the two of them. This was an important assignment.
Nicolas seemed to interpret her continued silence as disapproval, for he scrambled to backtrack, “Look, I’m - I’m sorry, Ayanda. I didn’t mean to fuck this up so royally. I know this is probably going to negatively impact you, too, and I’m so sorry.”
The blond visibly deflated. “I just - I COULDN’T do it, Ayanda! We’ve done some dubious missions, but nothing this graphic. And to have the target be a fucking KID? I had to draw the line somewhere. And personally, I think drawing the line at murdering a child is quite understandable.”
Desperate to stop the rising tone of hysteria in Nicolas’ voice, Ayanda finally shook herself from her stupor and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“I think it’s an understandable line to draw, too.”
They shared a small smile. Ayanda was glad to see relief in Nicolas’ eyes.
“We are definitely in trouble, now, though. And maybe wanted criminals. Who knows what they’re going to do when they find out we let the target go?” the brunette shuddered. “I don’t want to know what consequences await us from people who want to kill a child.”
Nicolas toed the ground. “So, what do we do now?”
Ayanda shrugged, “Well, let’s start by grabbing Ernst. We can hit the road. I’m curious about his road-trip conversation skills. I hear he’s apparently skilled with knots?”
Nicolas blushed and shoved Ayanda’s shoulder playfully.
“I didn’t think you heard that… You can’t ask him that! He can’t know that you know! I’ll be in so much trouble!”
Ayanda grinned as she twirled the car keys around her fingers. She opened the driver’s car door and chuckled, “Kinky!”
Nicolas’ replying screech made her smile even wider as she ducked inside the vehicle to avoid the sneaker tossed in her direction.
© O.M.A
#shortstory #lgbtq #friendship #fiction #writco #writcoapp #stories #storytelling #humour #Love&love
