….2....
....THIRD PERSON POV....
Ezra Thorns; I want her trembling hands wrapped around me
She was trembling, she was scared, she was anything but sane. The world seemed to have stopped moving.
Sapphire hated that she couldn't move a muscle. She hated that her fight-or-flight response had failed her, leaving her frozen, her heart pounded so hard and she swore, he could hear it.
"Oh my God, Sapphire," Ezra sighed, his voice was smooth, almost exasperated, he rubbed his hand along the lifeless body beneath him, Casually wiping off the blood that now dripped lazily down his forearm.
Each step towards her felt like a countdown, walking slowly like he was savoring the moment was her life going to end now? does she wanna die? Does she wanna be alive?
"This isn't what it looks like," he said slowly, voice soft, condescending patient. Like he was explaining something to someone hopelessly naive.
Then he frowned, annoyed, like a child caught doing something they weren't supposed to. "Actually… it's exactly what it looks like." He crouched, casually nudging a severed arm aside with the tip of his boot. His eyes dragged over her trembling frame slowly, making her shiver for reasons that went beyond terror before he straightened with an exasperated sigh.
"You're shaking," he observed. His voice was quite, appreciative. "hmm, I like that."
"We weren't supposed to meet like this, doll." His tone softened on the word doll, and her stomach twisted.
He pursed his lips as if thinking, then a small grin break through. "But we can still have a dinner date, chef this body up."
A beat of silence. Then a groan.
"Ah, fuck, I don't have a fucking flower." He clicked his tongue and shook his head like he was genuinely disappointed in himself. "Would've made this date a lot better."
"Come, here, honey." He murmured, his voice was disturbingly low, velvety and dangerous "We don't have much time," he urged, pulling Sapphire to her feet.
But her legs wouldn't move. Her back was pressed into the wall as if she could disappear into it.
Ezra closed the distance in two strides. He grasped her arm and pulled her upright effortlessly. She stumbled into his chest, and her breath caught.
Her body went rigid, as she clung on to he very person that was killing her.
"Your trembling body is a fucking turn on," he whispered against her ear. Her knees buckled, she bit her lips enough to taste blood, desperate to stop the sound clawing up her throat.
"We need to hurry. Your shift starts in an hour, and the shop opens in two hours and thirty minutes."
Her legs weren't moving. "Come on, you don't want me to carry you on our first date, do you?"
"Please, let me go," She finally choked out, her voice shaky. "I promise I won't say anything." She was hyperventilating, crying.
"You won't?" Ezra quirked a brow, a low chuckle escaping, a sound that slid down her spine, he wrapped an arm around her waist as she nodded rapidly, shaking from all the nerves.
"I won't," her voice came out firmer than before.
Ezra stared at her for a long moment, his eyes taunting.
"I know you won't," he finally said. "If you break, I might not want to share you with the world again." Ezra leaned in close, their faces inches apart, his breath warm against her lips. He studied her for a long moment, eyes sharp and amused, as if he could read every terrified thought she had. "Besides, I trust you."
Then he turned his back to her, strolling toward the body.
"But!..." he sang softly picking up the cleaver ad spinning it in his "...this body won't chop itself."
Sapphire flinched as the knife swung down with a wet thunk "The fucking eyes he used to stare at you." Ezra muttered, his tone darkening "they need to be burned."
Sapphire's breath hitched, she didn't need to look for her imagination to paint the scene anyway.
Then his voice came from behind her. She hadn't even noticed him move.
"Doll." She froze as he came up behind her, his presence swallowing hers whole. He took both of her hands in his, warm and blood-slicked, and slid a glove onto one trembling hand.
"Hold it," he murmured, placing the knife in her grip.
Her body shook as he wrapped his hand around hers, guiding her finger around the handle. Ezra leaned closer, his chest pressed to her back, his voice low enough to rattle in her bones. "Good girl. Just like that"
Then, without warning, he slammed the blade down with their joined hands.
She screamed, struggling against his grip "I'm offended." His lips brushed her ears "but, I understand,"
He forced her through another strike. Then another. Time blurred until her arms ached and her throat was raw from muffled cries.
When he finally released her, she stumbled back, shaking uncontrollably.
"Now we're accomplices," he murmured, his tone sweet. Then he leaned in to place a gentle kiss to her temple "My very cute accomplice."
Sapphire sat there, scared out of her mind, hoping one of the other workers arrived early. She stared at her hand, the one he had forced to hold the knife. The spot he kissed burned in her mind.
She hated it. It made her skin crawl. She needed to get out of there.
Sapphire kept her eyes away from the gruesome scene, playing with her fingertips to distract herself. Ezra had locked them in, preventing any attempt at escape. And even if she tried, where would she go? He was taller, stronger.
Her mind screamed as she awaited her fate. But soon, Ezra walked up to her.
"All done," he said, motioning for her to stand up.
She looked at him, memorizing the details of his face. If she got out alive, she would remember him.
But he just smiled. "We need to leave, and you need to discover the body with your lazy co-worker."
Still shivering, she looked away.
"Why do I need to be involved? Please, just let me go," she pleaded, pouring sincerity into her voice.
Ezra smiled. "Because I know you, Sapphire. You're a goody two shoes now."
He pulled out a napkin, carefully wiping the bloodstains from her hair. "Don't worry, your hair won't be a problem. You work here."
Then he crouched, meeting her eyes. "Compose yourself, doll."
Sapphire's heart pounded as he walked her out of the diner. The street was quiet. She prayed for someone, anyone to see them, to intervene. But to any passerby, they looked normal, just a couple heading home.
He kept her hand tucked in his pocket as they walked to the bus stop. She was still shaking, but she forced herself to stay still. Anything to survive.
When they arrived, he made her sit. He sat beside her.
They sat in silence for thirty minutes. Then Ezra turned to her. "Go to work." he said, rising. "We'll see each other again."
She didn't move.
He leaned in, whispering with a smirk. "If you try anything funny, remember, we did the chopping together. And I have evidence."
He dangled the purse he kept the memory card from the CCTV. There was nothing left to trace back to him.
The moment she turned the corner, she saw Williams, her coworker. "Morning." She croaked, forcing a smile.
Just like Ezra said.
They arrived at the diner exactly six minutes late.
"I'll go change into my work shirt," she muttered. Williams nodded and headed into the kitchen.
Sapphire changed in a hurry, fear gripping her. She quickly slipped on her work vest and stood there, awaiting Williams' scream.
Her breath was heavy and shaky. Her hands were sweaty as she bit her lip, crying silently.
Then,
"Arrggh!"
Williams' horrified scream echoed.
Just as Ezra instructed, Sapphire ran into the kitchen, acting as if she had just spotted the gruesome scene.
She gasped, eyes wide, before her body crumpled to the ground.
She fainted.