The Devil's Harem

“Why are you here?” Jessica said as she took a step back when she saw the person standing in front of them, blocking their path. She immediately recognised him, he was the same man from this morning.

“I think he came to finish his unfinished business,” Alex did not let the man respond, “Isn’t that right? Mr Black Rack Osama?”

Alex did not feel that the man in front of him was any threat to them. The white little man looked like he was in his sixties, with a small patch of hair, just above his forehead and a slightly hunched back. The man looked more ordinary than ordinary people. The only things that stood out on him were a scar running down from his ears to his chin and that lecherous smile on his face.

‘How could they hire him as a diving instructor?’ Alex thought, looking at his hunched back. In the morning, the man was sitting by the edge of the yacht, so he did not notice that.

“What unfinished business?” Jessica was confused, “And what kind of name is this?”

Alex, in turn, looked at Jessica’s chest, “Well, I think he believes in a multi-cultural, all-inclusive society.”

.....

Then averting his eyes, he explained, “What happened in the morning was not just a leecher ogling over your body. This guy wanted to kill you.”

“Kill me? But why? And how do you know that?” Jessica asked.

“I checked his details this morning... His name, as I said, is Black Rack Osama, and his address in the passport is some fictitious city in Porkistan. I can’t even pronounce that name. To think that someone would believe that and give him the job. I guess they were really short-staffed, or perhaps they are his accomplice,” Alex started off by explaining the details to Jessica but ended up talking to himself.

“Alex...” Jessica heard whatever Alex was muttering, “Did you know that he would come looking for me? Is that the reason you dragged me along all this time?” Jessica was smart enough to understand what was going on. When you are at the top, there are many eyeing your throne. This was not something new. But she wanted to know if Alex used her as bait to have this man come out in the open.

When Alex saw Jessica looking at him with that inquisitive gaze, he did not reply right away. He continued to stare at her, contemplating and trying to choose his words right. The cat was out of the bag, so there was no use lying, but should Alex sugarcoat his words or come out blunt? That was something he had to decide.

Finally, after a brief pause, Alex nodded, “I had my doubts, and I believed he would come looking for you,” Alex decided to be out with the raw truth. Believing it or not was totally up to Jessica, “But, I never thought to act upon it on my own. You should know that you were the one who came looking for me, not the other way round...” Alex and Jessica continued to talk, ignoring the man. The man was not an ordinary guy. He came to kill Jessica and, if Alex were to persist, possible the two of them. But he was pushed to the sidelines without any regard. This was not something civilised people would do. But well, boys need to explain everything to girls, and Alex was doing the same. So it was inevitable for the man to wait for his turn.

“... I had decided to call Karen and brief her about my doubts. After that, it was up to you how you handled the situation. But then you showed at my doorsteps. You apologised for your wrongs. We had our differences sorted out to a great extent. And then a small part of me decided that I should take the matter into my hand and try and help you with this matter. One thing led to another, and here we are, and in front of us is standing our possible doom,” Alex said, pointing at the man.

“Enough with the chit-chat,” the man could hear Alex very well. Finally, he got the chance to intervene, “I have to say you are a daring man. to knowingly look for your death. I haven’t seen many in my life,” the man said.

“As to appreciate your bravery, I will give you a clean, bloodless death,” the man grinned, “I will slit your throat and let you see your life seep away as the blood drains out of your body and you wriggle here, on this very spot like a fish out of water,” the man said licking his lips, “As for the woman. First, I make her see as the lights in your eyes fade away. Then I will let her enjoy all the pleasure of being a woman before she leaves this mundane world.”

“Hey... Hey... Don’t spill the beans so easily. You are going to scare the little girl over here,” Alex said as he covered Jessica’s ears, “It’s alright, Jessica. The uncle here is just a horrendous and a vulgar dead weight on this earth. He is just sulking because he never got to use that tiny little pencil in his pants. I will try to reason out with him.” Alex said to Jessica but loud enough to deliberately have the man hear him.

“Boy, leave now, and you will get to live a bit longer. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite. I won’t mind throwing a bit of free stuff for the amount I am getting to kill this girl,” the man said, pointing at Jessica.

“Impolite? Man, you are here to kill her, and you are worried about being impolite?” Alex chuckled, hearing the man say, “What a gentleman you are.”

“Don’t worry. After I am done with you, I will be sure to taste that body of hers like a gentleman,” The man said.

“With me here, the only thing you will get to taste is my fart,” Alex held Jessica by her arm and pulled her behind him, “Don’t worry, I will protect you.”

Jessica looked at Alex’s broad shoulder, shielding her from danger. No one knew what she was thinking. She was angry at him for using her as bait, but there was also a faint smile on her face, a genuine smile.

‘Was it assurance?’

“Kid, I am tired of playing with you. If you want to hang on to your measly life, just look the other way,” the man forewarned Alex, “I won’t say it twice.”

“Not a chance, baldy,” Alex turned around and smacked his ass, “Come, take a sniff.”

“Then don’t blame me,” The man made his move. And in an instant, he was in front of Alex and Jessica. Out of thin air, a dagger appeared in his hands, and without any hesitation, he slashed it at Alex’s neck. He wanted to get down with Alex in one fell swoop.

Alex was taken by surprise. He moved back and pushed Jessica along with him.

“Hey... Hey... Hey... Time out, time out,” Alex cried out, narrowly dodging the knife.

As the man almost flew past them, Alex grabbed Jessica, and the two of them pulled back to a safe distance.

“Regretting it, boy?” The man smirked as he licked his blade. There was a trace of blood on it.

Alex, when saw the blade, touched his neck and felt wet. He tried his best to avoid the attack, but the man was faster than he had thought. A small trail of blood formed on his neck. The pain was stinging, but it was nothing much.

“I, Alex Rutherford, have never regretted a thing in my life,” Alex said and smacked his thigh, “Come, bitch... I will let you know who the man is...”

“Then why did you stop?” the man asked, smirking, “Don’t tell me you need a change of diapers... Hahahaha...”

“Che... I just wanted to fight on equal grounds. You, bringing out a weapon is cheating, old man. Men rely on their fists to conquer the world.” Alex tried to act cool.

“Hahaha....hahaha...” The man had it enough and could not hold his laughter, “You surely are into some Chinese stuff, boy. This is not some movie we are making where you will have plot armour. Everything goes as long as the purpose is fulfilled. Now enough chatting, say your woman goodbye, and get ready to meet your maker.”

Not giving Alex the chance to reply, the man, made a dash toward Alex. This time Alex’s heart was his target. When Alex saw the man rush toward him, he took a step back and twirled around the dagger with his back towards the man. It was better to get slashed on the back than his chest.

Soon, Alex was covered in blood. At first, it was too fast for Alex, and he was barely clinching his neck. On top of that, he had to keep Jessica safe along with his neck.

But pretty soon, he could clearly see the movements of the man. The number of wounds being inflicted began to reduce.

The man was starting to get pissed with each strike he made. At first, he thought it would be easy money, and even with Alex there, he was confident in getting that hefty bounty on Jessica’s head.

When he saw Jessica, he started imagining her in bed. He was notorious in his line of work for being a sicko douchebag. He loved torturing his targets before dropping them on the ground. And if it was a woman, he would use their body for hours, or sometimes days, to quench his thirst before getting rid of them.

But now, with Alex here, it was not going to be that easy.

“Bastard,” the man took out a gun and pointed at Alex, “I didn’t want to make noise, but you have left me with no choice,” and the silent shore reverberated with the loud noise.

Alex dived to the side, but the bullet was fast and grazed Alex’s shoulder. Alex rolled around, not caring about the wounds and hid behind a tree. Jessica was already hiding behind another tree. Their gaze met and Alex helpless shook his head.

“We are in deep trouble,” Alex whispered to the nearby Jessica.

“What do we do now?” Jessica slid down with her back to the tree and asked. She had very little hope of making it back, but she didn’t want Alex to get implicated because of her.

“What can we do? It’s all in his hands,” Alex said. ‘Shit,’ the dagger was already a problem, but he had a gun too.

While the three of them were in a stalemate. About two hundred meters away from where they were, two people stood on the top of a building. One had a binocular on, while the other was monitoring Alex and the others with his sniper aimed and ready to fire.

*Ding!

The elevator rang. The man with the binocular pulled out a gun and pointed it at the elevator, ready for an exchange.

As the elevator door opened, a man walked out draped in a long, thick jacket and a black fedora hat, covering his face.

“Relax, it’s me,” the man said as soon as he stepped out. He sounded like a boss.

“You are here,” the man pulled away the gun, recognising the voice.

“What is going on?” the boss asked.

“As we guessed, the man has revealed himself,” the man gave the binoculars to the boss and said, “Alex is trying to put up a fight, but he is in bad shape.”

The boss nodded and took the binoculars. He looked around for a while before he spotted all three of them.

“Sir, should we intercept,” the man behind the rifle asked.

“No,” the boss waved his hand, “Let me gauge the situation for a while.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Aunhh...” Alex adjusted himself, but his wounds began to hurt.

Jessica, when heard his groan became teary-eyed. It was all because the man was here to kill her and Alex was standing in his way. She was the reason for his sorry state.

“Boy, you have done enough,” the man said as he looked towards the long trees in front of him. It was already dark, and it was hard for him to see clearly, “It’s alright if you give up now,” the man said, taking slow steps forward without making any sound.

“Enough bullshit. Don’t try to flatter me, asshole,” Alex crawled up with the support of the tree and said, bearing the pain.

*Bang!

As soon as the man heard Alex’s voice, he fired in that direction only to hit the tree Alex was hiding behind.

“Still acting cocky, aren’t we? Then let me fulfil your wish.”

“Enough! stop it.” Before the man could make his move, Jessica walked out from behind the tree.

“What are you doing? Get back now.” Alex called out for Jessica in a hushed tone.

“You came here for me, right? Then there is no need for you to kill him. Just kill me and be done with it.” Jessica ignored Alex and looked at the man straight in his eyes and said.

“Tchh... How touching. Well, since you are already willing to give yourself to me. I don’t mind sparing him,” the man said as he traced his fingers from Jessica’s face to her lips and went down, “But it would be a waste not to enjoy this body of yours.”

Jessica felt disgusted as she felt the man’s finger moving along her face, down to her breasts. She bit her lips, trying to endure the humiliation as best she could. Alex was already in this state because of her. If she still

did not step in, he would be wasting his life trying to save her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Sir?” the man with the refile looked at his boss and asked. Things had already gone far. How long are they going to wait?” They have seen the situation unfold from the start but chose not to step in till now. But now that it was getting out of hand, they should intervene before something unfortunate happened.

The man in charge thought for a while before nodding his head, giving permission to go forward.

Getting permission, the man was ready to move, but Alex made his move before he could do anything.

“You keep your hands away from her,” Alex cried out. Jessica and the man were quite close to where he was. He leapt from behind the tree and pulled out the hairpin from Jessica’s hair.

The man might be enjoying Jessica’s soft skin, but he was also vigilant. As soon as he saw Alex move, he turned to point the gun at Alex. But the man was a tad bit slower. Before he could shoot Alex, Alex had struck the hairpin deep into his nape.

* * * * *

.....