Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
Cassie went on, relishing satisfaction from Rhea’s pain squeezed face as she tried to gasp for breath, “Honestly, I liked you at first. I really liked you….” She laughed bitterly, “But you should have just stopped being a flirt,”
Rhea wanted to say something in her defense but all she did was claw at the chords tight around her throat. The situation was beginning to look helpless – and painful. Her lungs were on fire and her head was pounding like someone was hitting it with a bat. Rhea knew at this rate she would black out and die – that was Cassie’s endpoint.
She went on, “He said nothing was going on between the both of you but I could sense his stares on you and he was distracted even when he was with me,”
“Well, that sounds like a you and your boyfriend’s problem,” Rhea would have sassed back if she wasn’t trying so hard not to knock on death’s door.
“And then that incident happened,” Cassie spoke through gritted teeth, a new wave of anger settling over her, “He thought I wasn’t there, but I saw everything. The way he threw himself at you and wanted to have you, none of you noticed me stepping into the room. I saw everything even before Big Joe came in!”
…..
So the bitch witnessed her trying to get raped by her boyfriend and did nothing? Rhea wished this was a fair fight because she wanted to land two or three blows on her face and teach her a lesson she would never forget in a hurry.
“I don’t blame you for that anyway…” Cassie laughed pathetically, “It was not your fault; you didn’t ask to be raped. However, I love Kenith too much to lose him and you are a threat to my happiness. He should have killed you alongside your husband but he wanted you alive to punish you dearly… Unfortunately, I can’t let that happen. I can’t risk that chance! I’ve been with him all these years, I won’t be cast aside!”
“Bitch please, have your pathetic boyfriend to yourself, I have better suitors!” Rhea would have said at this point if she had the opportunity. It wasn’t her fault she was insecure.
“You are a good person, Rhea…” Cassie’s gaze suddenly melted and Rhea would have been deceived by that look in the past if she didn’t know now that she was a psycho, “But I’m sorry, you have to go!” Her gaze switched back to severe as she tightened the chord.
Unfortunately, Rhea didn’t want to die as well, at least, not in the hands of this bitch. She won’t go down without a fight. So she at once grabbed the chord from tightening around her neck while holding her breath.
Cassie noticed her resistance and added more force to her grip and Rhea found out the longer she held her breath, the longer she felt like she was going to explode. She would die at this rate.
So with the remaining strength inside of her, Rhea dashed back with all of her might with no specific plan in mind and because Cassie was choking her from behind, she wasn’t able to see where they were going.
Something must have tripped her because Cassie fell, bringing the both of them down, the garrote loosened from her neck and Rhea was able to take a mouthful of breath.
No one was more grateful at that moment for oxygen than Rhea because she greedily took in as many as possible into her lungs. But that was a mere deviation because Cassie recovered immediately and tried to grab her to continue from where she stopped, Rhea elbowed her in the face.
A painful groan came from Cassie as Rhea hurried up to her feet, she had to get out of here. But even as she stood, Rhea felt light-headed and wasn’t as fast as she wanted to be.
Cassie grabbed her by the leg and tripped her, she landed on the ground with her side and expelled a sharp breath. That hurt like hell.
Before Rhea could recover this time, Cassie already climbed over her body and straddled her. She tightened the garrote that hung limply around her neck.
Rhea’s eyes grew wild because unlike the last time where Cassie was killing her slowly, she didn’t hold back this time. It was obvious that Cassie didn’t want a repeat of what happened where she nearly escaped and wanted her dead this time.
She kicked severely, struggling for life but Cassie had this demented look and was stronger than usual. Hot tears fell down Rhea’s face, she didn’t want to die now and especially not like this.
Rhea knew the moment her mind began to wander that she was in danger of moving to the great beyond. So she put up her last fight and it was in the process of striving, that her hand mistakenly touched something.
It was wooden and crafted with a long tip, then it hit Rhea, her hairpin. Because she loved antique collections, Chelsea had gotten her an oriental classic Jade bamboo hairpin for her hair but the makeup artist had rejected it saying it doesn’t go with the style Big Joe wanted for her.
Thanks to that, the hairpin was long forgotten until now and Rhea didn’t think twice about picking it up and rammed it right into Cassie’s neck.
From Frying Pan To Fire
Rhea had been careful all her life trying not to be caught breaking the law. It was hard growing up innocently when you have no one to look after you. She worked for Ruth because the pay was attractive and supported her survival.
But she had to give up working there in the end because when you begin associating with criminals, you start to think like them as well. And that proved effective after she picked up the skill of pickpocketing.
It seemed cool at first, being able to snatch stuff from people without them noticing. But that was not the kind of life Rhea wanted, especially when she saw the lives of the people she treated. Those criminals had a bleak future.
She was privileged to know some of them, especially the lower gangs – most of the important figures wore masks to protect their identities and hardly spoke to her. She guessed they looked down at her or simply didn’t care.
But one of them told her, “You can do anything you want contrary to the law, after all, the shitty law is meant to be broken. But taking a life? That’s a shit you don’t come back from. It stays with you forever and lingers on your mind like a wandering ghost.”
Those thoughts didn’t cross Rhea’s mind as she thrust the tip of that headpin into Cassie’s neck. It wasn’t time to think about her moral compass, because right now, it was kill or get killed.
Cassie screamed from the pain and stiffened beneath her but she still wouldn’t give up on strangulating her. If anything, Cassie applied more pleasure on her throat as if she knew her time was running out.
Rhea snapped. She was desperate to live.
She stabbed the hairpin into Cassie’s neck once more causing blood to pump out from the puncture yet she didn’t give up, and stabbed her over and over again still her hands loosen on her neck and Cassie slipped to the side.
…..
Breathing heavily, Rhea sat up, instantly removing the garrote around her neck, and felt a relief she hadn’t felt until moments ago. She touched her neck and though it was painful and the skin there must have bruised over, she was fine.
But the same couldn’t be said for Cassie.
Rhea watched Cassie on the floor, pressing down on her wound in the neck as if trying to stop the bleeding all to no avail. Cassie tried to speak but all she did was choke on her blood.
She was not going to survive that, it was obvious to Rhea. And while that thought was supposed to chill her, it didn’t and that scared Rhea the most. When did she begin to feel nonchalant about taking a life?
No, she didn’t take a life, Rhea shook her head. This was self-defense, she was just trying to protect her life! The victim had tried to take her life! Surely, her word would stand in the court of law. That is if she gets reported.
No one would know what she did if they didn’t see her.
Rhea stood up to her feet at once notwithstanding the urge to rest a bit. Her throat burned and she remained unmoving at that spot trying to get over the vertigo that washed over her.
She didn’t leave immediately, rather went to the rack containing a few clothes and picked out the simplest dress she could find.
Crossing over to the dresser, Rhea was shocked at her reflection. She would have been scared of her appearance if she had stumbled at the mirror by mistake.
Her hair was disheveled, poking out in all directions as a result of the fight between them. She was almost drenched in Cassie’s blood while the chord marks on her neck were deep and bruised.
Rhea zipped down and stepped out of the wedding dress till she was half-naked. If she wanted to escape here, nothing should limit her speed and her wedding dress was conspicuous – she would be putting a target on her head if she were to go out in that.
But she groaned when she bent and looking at the mirror, Rhea discovered another red bruise at the side of her stomach. She must have gotten that when Cassie tripped her and she fell flat on her stomach.
But there was no time to linger on that wound, there are urgent matters to treat like escaping this hell hole. Rhea used the wedding dress and began to wipe her face, neck, and hands free of the blood.
It didn’t clear everything but it made Rhea look less scary, and she put on the clean clothing. Rhea would have preferred pants but there were only dresses and had to make do with it. When she was done, she picked a comb and made her hair look presentable.
Rhea picked that hairpin, cleaned the blood off it, and used it to hold the end of her hair she pulled into a rough bun. She didn’t know what was out there but since that pin saved her the first time, it might the second time.
It was time to go.