Graduation Test

Red sloshed over the side of the bucket, splattering the floor and narrowly missing the leg of Amanda’s jeans. Her face contorted in disgust and she jumped back, nearly spilling the rest of the damned thing over on herself. She stopped and took a breath.

The air was foul. It smelled of moldy storage, of bleach barely masking decay, of death. Stronger than any of those however, was the coppery scent of blood. Unpleasant though it was, the deep breathing helped to calm her. In just a few minutes, I’ll be upstairs. Then I’ll only have to come back down here one more time. Once more, and this will all be over. That thought would have been more comforting to her were it not for the knowledge that the last time would be the most terrifying visit of all. Still, she was able to steady her hand and continue walking from The Room.

Cleaning out The Room had always been the worst part of her time with Him. She had seen the photos first, and the tapes shortly after that. He had told her in excruciating detail what kind of sick shit went on there. She had come prepared to handle gore long before she’d ever had to interact with it – or at least she thought she had been prepared. She hadn’t gotten queasy at the sights, but the smell had been something else entirely.

Finally she was at the stairs. She ascended them slowly, careful not to spill any more. In retrospect, she supposed it wouldn’t have mattered. Tonight would bring her graduation test, and there would be more blood on her hands before it was through. When she got to the top of the steps, she exited through the back door and rushed to dump the bucket out a safe distance from the building, the cold rain urging her to move quickly.

She let the contents hit the grass with a sickening, wet sound. Whatever had been floating in all that red had been solid and she turned her head quickly as it fell, determined not to see what it was. Each droplet of rain that hit her was like a shard of ice that ran all the way through her body, but she paused to admire the estate for just a moment, as she always did. It truly was beautiful. She could still barely believe that something so beautiful could rest so peacefully on top of something so horrific.

Shaking her head she ran back inside and to the bathroom, tossing the bucket in the tub and filling the sink with water. She hadn’t gotten any of the stuff on her but she felt unclean as she had so often in the time she had worked there. Just one more night. She splashed some of the water on her face and looked up at her reflection in the mirror. She found she was barely able to recognize herself. She had never noticed the deep lines of her face before, never truly noticed her own pallor. Her eyes looked so sunken now, and she appeared to be much older. Working for Him had taken a toll on her, she could see that now. Just one more night.

He had taken the last year of her life. She had lined up His alibis, done His dirty work, tracked His potential victims, and procured the people He found to be the most deserving. She had wondered countless times what sort of ill deeds she had done to receive so much of His attention.

All too soon she heard the skid of His tires coming around the last bend before finally slowing down at the gate. She could hear them crunching on the gravel out in front and then the engine of His car stop. She looked at herself a final time before taking another deep breath. She ran her hand over the slight lump in the pocket of her jeans, reassuring herself that she would make it. Just one more fucking night. She gathered her courage and went out to meet Him.

“Amanda,” He said, closing the front door. “You always know right away when I get home.”

She said nothing, gave him nothing.

He smiled at her warmly. “Ears like a fox, haven’t I always said?” His expression was charming, as it always was. He was a very charming man. He would have been handsome if He had been anyone else.

She dared not ignore one of His questions. “Yes, Master” she replied evenly.

He waved a hand dismissively at her. “Come now, no need for such formalities. We’re equals now.” His smile widened. “Or rather, we will be. After tonight.” He took her hand delicately in His. It was all she could do not to cringe. He began to lead her through His home. “We’ll finally become one.”

That statement confirmed something that she had feared all along about their relationship. She knew all too well the sick and twisted things that he was capable of doing to a woman – to any person, really. She’d had to clean up the bodies, after all. On the occasions when they corpses had been intact, the conditions she’d found them in had left very little to her imagination.

He’d never touched her though, not in a sexual way and hardly ever at all. She’d seen how He looked at her, and she used to wonder why He had bothered to show any restraint at all after the things she’d seen Him do. He owned her, after all. Her fear of Him was damn-near crippling and He knew it. He could have her any way he wanted, do anything to her, and what would she dare say?

On one particularly horrible night, it had hit her. He had asked her to watch and so Amanda had swallowed her revulsion and sat quietly in the corner to see what it was He did. She watched Him rape the woman He had picked for that night before torturing her slowly until she died. She had pleaded for release, then bargained and threatened for it. He responded to her pleas only with violence, and at some point Amanda had noticed how He looked at the woman.

Only then had it occurred to her, she’d seen that look before. He looked at all his victims that way from the moment He chose them. That must mean He saw Amanda as something else, because that wasn’t how He looked at her. She had been sick when she put it together, He saw her not as a victim like the others, but as an apprentice.

It had horrified her to learn, but on some level it had given her security as well, and hope that she might not be tortured or killed. Even then, she was not so foolish as to believe that she’d be spared His touch forever. Something about what He did down in That Room excited Him – and she knew it was only a matter of time.

In the last month since they’d been discussing her final assignment and her graduation, she had begun to suspect that her time was coming. She was relieved when He took her to the kitchen and not the bedroom.

“I’m very proud of you, Amanda” He started as He carefully selected a bottle of wine. “Do you know why I choose women to assist me?”

“I have some idea.” She knew that gender didn’t matter to Him in terms of preference – at least as far as molestation went. She’d rather suspected He preferred the company of women however, on His more traditional dates.

“It’s not sexual, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He shook His head. “Women are the most adaptable. Men see what I do and they either need to do it themselves, or try to stop me.” He began to pour the wine. “And you Amanda, why you’ve been the most adaptable of all.”

He handed her a glass. Looking at the red of the wine made her queasy all over again. She set it down on the counter.

“You will face your final test today. If you succeed, you shall be rewarded greatly. If you fail…” his mouth twisted into the most malicious mock of a grin that she had ever seen. He barely looked human.

“I know what happens if I fail.”

“Good. For your last assignment, I’ve asked you to select someone worthy of what I, forgive me, of what we do. Have you chosen someone?”

“Yes.”

“Very good. Then tell me,” He looked down at His glass as He swirled His wine. She took the opportunity to slip her hand into her pocket, unnoticed. “Who have you selected to be your first victim?”

In one quick motion she drew forth the syringe, plunging it deeply into His neck and injecting Him without hesitation. She stepped backwards quickly, out of His reach and their eyes locked for His last moment of consciousness. “You.”