Three more days have passed in the blink of an eye. I can feel the sleep deprivation catching up to me. It’s the first time in years that I collapsed in the middle of the day after all. Thankfully Lis didn’t see it happen. She has been mostly staying in her room the entire time. Occasionally she asks me how father is doing and when he will be back. It gets harder to lie to her face like this.

When was the last time I saw her smile? How my heart yearns for that brightness, those blooming red cheeks…

“Toilet…” I rub my worn out eyes and leave the stuffy office. Outside I’m greeted by bright sunshine. It is way too blinding and makes me want to close all the curtains in the damn house.

As I walk upstairs I can hear something. The faint muffled steps of someone inside the bathroom. Lis must be using it right now. I yawn and then rhythmically knock on the door.

“Just a moment!” I hear Lis cheerful voice from inside. She must be in a good mood. A few shuffling noises later she unlocks the door and opens it for me. It’s rare for her to lock up. “You can use it now.”

My eyes widen. Suddenly I’m confronted with a shocking sight. Lis… she is all dressed up! She is clad in that azure dress and those black knee-high socks she only wears on special occasions. Her curly hair has been ironed straight and topped off with a fancy ribbon. It’s almost surprising that she doesn’t wear make-up, but Lis' natural beauty can’t be surpassed anyway.

“What’s with the dress-up?” I ask with a dry throat. Seeing her like this after being deprived of her for days makes me all jittery.

“I know that I can’t meet with clients right now, but I really felt like wearing this at least once in a while. I always thought I only did it for the job, but this morning I realized that I actually really like wearing nice clothes and doing my hair~” She smiles brightly.

My heart contracts. Such simplistic happiness. I’m envious, jealous of her and even a bit resentful towards the world that forced my sister to be like this. She is just too precious for her own sake. I have to suppress my darker instincts with all my might.

“Should I give you a make-over as well Rafi?” She suggests something outrageous all of a sudden. That excitement is almost infectious.

“M-maybe another time. I can’t compare to your beauty anyway.” I avert my face as I realize my cheeks are flushed. My heart is hammering dangerously close to the painful spectrum. I should step away from Lis as soon as possible-

“Don’t be so mean to yourself! You are really pretty after all.” She hugs me. Ahhh, I’ve missed this. Usually she had this tendency to hug me every morning after waking up. It’s been too long since I felt her soft cheek against mine and got to feel her chest press against my arm. And that smell…

That smell.

I push Lis away and glare at her. There is no way I could stop myself despite her confused expression. That smell, no that stench! It makes my stomach revolt and my eyes turn bloodshot. Why is she wearing this? Why did she have to cover herself in that horrid odor?!

“W-what’s wrong Rafi? You look so angry-“

“That perfume… didn’t I tell you it was horrible?” I ask unable to suppress the shaking of my arms as I push Lis against the door.

“B-but it’s Papa’s present… I… I think it smells just fine.” She looks down with a mix of guilt and defiance.

This isn’t right. I can’t accept this. That man’s corruption runs so very deep… Even though he isn’t here, no, because he isn’t here, she desperately seeks his embrace, his presence! That’s why she would clad herself in this stench that marks her as his… his possession.

“I don’t want you to use it anymore.” I say with a cold voice. It just slips out on its own.

“Wha- why would you say that?” Her emerald eyes stare back at me in confusion again.

“Are you saying… that man’s more important than me?” My head is pounding. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t do anything wrong, it was all that bastard’s fault, but I feel so seething, burningly jealous! I can’t allow it. Even though I told her it’s bad, even though I erased him from her world, she is still holding up her own strings, desperately trying to be controlled!

Why does it have to be him? Just come to me… just be mi-

“Rafi? You are scaring me.”

Her words are like electric currents that shock my brain and body at high voltage. It makes me twist and cringe and coil.

I let go of her arms and release her.

Then I storm off. There is only one solution to this problem. If she tries to grab the strings, I simply need to cut them to pieces! Burn the remains in the fires of my hatred!

In seconds I reach Lis’ room and throw the door wide open. It crashes against the wall loudly, but I don’t even care. Her neat and tidy bed in the left corner, the wardrobe in the back. Where is it? Where is it?!

Below the desk? I push the chair out of the way forcefully and look below. Nothing! I throw open the wardrobe and pluck all the nice dresses out and throw them aside. Not in here either! The shelves full of books, who cares about those, they aren’t relevant! I throw the books down maybe she hid it behind them!

Nothing, nowhere, where is she hiding it?!

Eventually I can hear the gasps from behind me. Lis has followed me and is now watching my rampage. She must be terrified. Completely frozen in place. Whatever.

I kick over the carpet and look for secret compartments. This damn room is empty! Where is the stache?!

I clench my hands to fists and tear the curtains aside so hard that they spring off. Nothing behind them either!

“P-please… stop already….” Lis shaking voice penetrates my rage filled mind and finally makes me snap out of it. “Why are you doing this?”

I can barely turn around. Seeing her moist eyes will just break my heart. The heat and rage inside me won’t die down. I want to erase everything that man has done to my sweet Lis, but in the process I hurt her. This make me so frustrated!

“Where… where is the perfume?” I ask with a breaking voice.

“Y-you were looking for that?” She can barely believe it apparently. “I… I put the box inside the bathroom drawer.”

She told me this out of her own volition. Because she is scared of what I would do if she doesn’t confess? Her reasons don’t matter.

I rush past her out of the room and down the hallway. Inside the bathroom I find the box in seconds and then open it to check. Six bottles of that ghastly substance. The final pieces of his legacy inside this house.

Taking the box under my arm I go downstairs and move to the garden door. Outside I can smell the heat of a common Paris morning, but I don’t even feel the sun on my skin. My feet take me to the back where our garden furnace stands untouched. We don’t use it often, but sometimes that man had burned some old documents in it.

I tear the door open and prepare it in record time. The flames are licking the brick walls greedily. For a moment I consider opening the bottles… but then I just smash them against the walls. The colorless nectar spreads across the furnace and gets swallowed by the flames. Too little to quench them and too flammable to resist, the perfume soon is evaporated and dissipates in the darkness of the pipes.

Six bottles are smashed and the door closed. It will be a while until they are completely erased from existence and that disgusting smell will spread from the chimney soon. I walk back into the house and close all windows. The wind’s direction is favorable, but I don’t want to smell even a whiff of that stuff.

Inside the living room I find Lis watching me with a pale face.

“I will buy you better brands soon.” I say with a forced smile.

“…” She doesn’t reply and just folds her hands in front of her chest.

“You look very nice.” I add a compliment that is much too delayed. Without waiting for her reply I hurry back into the office. This couldn’t continue much longer. A feeble everyday life only supported by my weakness. We can’t stay this way.

The next day comes and we finally reach the end game. I run my hands through my unkempt hair for the third time as I watch the outside nervously. There have been people watching our house several times now. They were getting less subtle about it too.

The doorbell rings to tear me out of my inner world. About time.

I head to the door and on the way I meet eyes with Lis who was staring down the stairs. Maybe it is because of what happened yesterday, but she doesn’t greet me. In fact she just watches me open the door from a distance.

“Bonjour Mademoiselle Rafflesia.” Robert greets me with a professional smile.

“You are late.” I chew him out with a glare. This guy always went on about manners and punctuality and yet he has the audacity to be 20 minutes late.

“Pardon my tardiness. I had trouble with the morning traffic.” His words are innocent, but his meaning is clear to me. He looks past me and has obviously noticed Lis in the background already.

“Monsieur Robert!” She calls out to him with pleasant surprise.

“My, how good to see you Mademoiselle Lis!” He puts a hand to his heart and bows his head slightly. This act is disturbingly realistic.

Lis actually approaches us while I close the door behind the bald chaperone and lock it right away.

“I really missed you.” Lis hugs him enthusiastically.

“It has only been a bit more than a week, but I also felt somewhat lonely without your presence.” He chuckles and lets the hug happen. It makes me feel uneasy. Maybe he is into younger women after all. This cheeky baldy should better learn his place.

“We need to talk Robert.” I decidedly push myself between them and then nod him to follow me.

“Right away young lady.” He acts as dutiful as one would expect of his position.

“Will you be talking all day again?” Lis is clearly a bit disappointed.

“Well…” Robert looks at me for confirmation.

“Sorry, I’m discussing business today. Father’s orders.” I brush their little familiar aura aside with my coldest shoulder. “Robert will leave right after, so there won’t be time for a tea party.”

“My apologies Mademoiselle. Next time then.” He smiles encouragingly and follows behind me.

“Definitely.” Lis nods with an improved mood.

“Before I forget.” I stop in my tracks and look over my shoulder. “Please stay in your room today Lis. Our talk is very important and any distraction would be bad.”

“Understood…” Lis reluctantly agrees. Good.

I sit in the stupid chair I hate and spin my finger across the rim of the tea cup. Despite my previous words I had prepared some tea actually. Robert looks like the type who prefers a good wine during a business talk, but I wouldn’t waste my funds on something like that. Tough luck baldy.

“The situation is escalating Rafflesia.” He sips on his piping hot cup with a disgruntled expression. He really doesn’t like tea at all, but is too polite to refuse. So his strategy is to force it down as fast as possible. So predictable.

“I’m aware.” I sigh and hold onto my Smartphone. The screen is covered in tiny scratches. I’ve been carrying it everywhere rather roughly lately.

“Don’t you think your reaction is too apathetic? This mess is mainly your fault.” He says accusingly.

“I’m doing my best. Today the last contact has confirmed their presence at the meeting.” I put the phone on the edge of the desk and half-close my eyes.

“Are you certain that they will hold to their promises?”

“These criminals are scared straight of my ‘father’. I only had to place some careful threats and at the same time give some promise of a reward.” Mob bosses, drug barons, human traffickers... all of them were the same. They are tiny mutts just salivating when you dangle a big bone in front of them and they always become really obedient when they meet the alpha dog.

“They must be suspicious of you. That voice modulator is not fail proof.” Robert sits down across the desk and folds his hands concernedly.

“I made sure to keep it brief and mostly interact over text just like you told me. If they are suspecting something nobody acted on it yet. I met their subordinates in as my ‘father’s' messenger. The deal is still going.”

“Over a week has passed already; we can’t afford to wait any longer. The DGSI is ready to raid the meeting. They have been waiting for my go ahead for a while now. My boss is raising hell to make this operation work and he is throwing me into the fire first if anything goes awry.” He massages his eyes and then stares at me expectantly.

“The RG can wait a little longer. You want the entire hydra, or for each head you sever, two new ones will grow in its place.” I remind him with a glare.

“The higher ups are thinking of cutting our losses. We can’t depend on a girl that isn’t even of age yet to handle this big of a responsibility. That’s what I heard through the grapevine. The only reason we are still on track is because I have been taking responsibility for your actions.” He displays his uneasiness with twitching hands and darting eyes.

“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” I squint my eyes.

“You have been a great help Rafflesia, it would have been nearly impossible for me to crack Antonin Duboi’s criminal empire without inside support. Your hatred for your father is understandable-“

“That bastard wasn’t our father.” I cut in with the heat overwhelming my chest.

“Your dislike of your adoptive father is your strength, but it also blinded you. The reason the operation is in peril in the first place is because you couldn’t control yourself!” He slams his hand on the desk. “We were absolutely clear on these terms. You were only to lure him into our trap. Instead you lost your cool and murdered him. That was a huge mistake - one that I am paying the price for right now.”

His words ring true. I wanted to see that man suffer, to let him know just who was responsible for his downfall. But his venom was already too deep inside my body… and I short-circuited. My blood covered hands… my dirtied soul, they are things I can never cleanse again. But strangely enough I stopped caring about that a while ago. I feel nothing but indiferrence when remembering it now.

“You didn’t even make it look like an accident. Lacerations, impalement, desecration of the body… Even the forensics were surprised. Your desire for revenge is sick Rafflesia.”

“I know that. But you have made use of that part of me for a while now, so you shouldn’t complain.” I counter coldly.

“If we had caught Dubois alive we could have gotten a confession out of him. We could have pressed information about all his connections and had a public trial and given an example to other criminal rings.” His regret is clear to me. “The circumstantial evidence you gave us from his documents and recorded conversations are enough to justify the investigation and the follow up, but the DGSI is treading on thin ice here.”

“You people can do whatever you want and nobody can oppose you. Isn’t that what your ‘justice’ is all about?”

“Central has been hiding Duboi’s body since we retrieved it and covered up the scene of the ‘accident’. All for the sake of not alerting the other heads of the organization. But we can’t keep it under wraps much longer. The chief is under serious fire for this.” He takes a deep breath and tries to reason with me. I can tell easily from his approach. “Don’t you care about all these poor girls that are suffering right now? The prostitution ring continues its evil actions while we hesitate. Innocent people are being used and abused every day we hesitate. Which is why we need to act now.”

“Not until the last pig agreed to the date of the meeting.” I shake my head.

“Why are you so obsessed with taking them all down at once? Antonin Duboi’s empire will crumble to dust either way. We will make sure of that, I promise on my honor.” He gulps down the remaining tea and assures me with a serious face.

I sigh.

“I’m not doing this for revenge Robert, you small-minded fool.” I can’t keep this up any longer and just push the chair back to stretch my legs forward. “If I don’t get rid of every single of these filthy bastards they will come back for revenge on us instead. Whoever remains in the pile of rubble will take away all the treasures from the ruins and inadvertently find the trail that leads to that man’s family. It will be obvious that I was involved with his downfall. I can’t allow having even a single loose end by the end of this, you understand?”

“I understand that you are afraid of retribution. You and Lis are innocent in all of this, so I guarantee you the police’s protection-“

“Protection? You think I will just go along with that? The moment this case is solved the police will seize this house and everything that belonged to that man. His accounts will be sealed, his resources confiscated and whatever is left will go into the hands of the last bosses that you didn’t capture in time. They will take the leftovers and rebuild. And what happens to Lis and me under your ‘protection’?” I spin my empty cup in place and watch derisively as it topples over.

“What are you suggesting?”

“They will take Lis in for questioning and she will be pressured from every direction. Once she finds out that he is dead…” I trail off with a bitter expression.

“She will learn to understand the circumstances, we have good psychologists that deal with victim therapy-“

“You don’t understand her at all!” I shout. “Lis is special. The only reason I haven’t murdered that man in his sleep all these years, do you want to know what it was?” I smile darkly. “Because she loved him like a real father! I couldn’t bear to take that from her. She has developed a dependency on that man that’s almost like imprinting. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. She won’t just be heartbroken once she finds out, she will break down completely.” I clasp my hands so tightly that my nails start to dig into my flesh.

“That’s all the more reason to give her into the care of a professional.” He has the gall to act like he understands… with those self-righteous eyes.

“They will question Lis, torture her with reminders of that man’s death and then put her into an asylum. You think Lis belongs into a loony bin, huh?! I’m not ‘of age’ yet as you mentioned before. That means I will be handed off to an adoptive family or governmental care. Lis and I will be separated!”

“You will be able to visit her-“

“You think so? My presence will trigger those memories again and then I will be treated as a bad influence. Even if that doesn’t happen, who gives you the right to separate us?! Why should I have to adhere to your schedules?” I can feel my control slipping. Everything is starting to spill out like bile from a sick person.

“Calm yourself!” He stares me down. At least he has guts. “I can see that you don’t want to be separated, you really love your sister. But are you really thinking of what’s best for her? Would she really want your version of ‘protection’? Can’t you see that you are suffocating her with your actions? Lis would certainly agree with my approach-”

“SHUT UP! You don’t understand Lis, she is nothing like you.” I get up from the chair and swipe aside the paper weight from the desk. “Lis is truly good from the depth of her heart. She isn’t a hypocrite like you. You… you talk about justice and use the excuse of innocent people to proliferate your self-centered righteousness. Always talking about how you want to help people, how you want to save them or how you can’t stand injustice. But that’s all just a façade. You are just scared of being seen as immoral or wrong. When you get praised by your superior or when you go home to your family and get celebrated as a hero, you can feel like you are better than that scum out there using those ‘poor girls’. But the plain truth is that you are just using them as well to feel better about yourself.” Just like he used me. Like he uses Lis as a bargaining tool right now. How he has the arrogance to expect to have the upper hand.

“I’m disappointed that you see me this way…” He lowers his gaze and sighs. “I had hoped we could get along better. But ultimately this is a job, so I can’t let our personal disagreements get in the way. I always felt that Lis and I are on the same wavelength though.”

“That’s where you are wrong. Lis saves people without even trying.” I chuckle with a pained heart. “She doesn’t think about wanting anything in return, she doesn’t even realize that she is saving them. Her perfect smile, her gentleness, her pure heart, they can cleanse a person. Even if it’s just for one day, she has saved countless people. There is not even a trace of selfishness inside her. She is special. That is why she is the only one I can ever love.”

I move across the room and raise my arms theatrically and then put them to my heart. All I wish for right now is to go out and embrace my pure Lis. Take me away from this dark and bitter place!

“No matter how much you love her, she needs real help. Face reality already…urgh…?” He holds his head for a moment. Probably just a short dizzy spell.

“I know all about reality. How people use and get used. That’s why I did all of this. By using the DGSI I can get rid of all my opponents that would go after us. By using my father’s files and accounts from this phone…” I raise the Smartphone to show it to the heavily breathing Robert. “…I got access to his fortune and already transferred it to a safe offshore company as a donation. Of course it is fake and all of that money will be at my fingertips.”

“Y-you… won’t get away with that! Do you even understand what you are doing?!” He is upset. No surprise there.

“Yeah. I’m making sure that Lis can stay with me. Once that man’s empire is in ashes and everything is taken care off we will disappear forever. There will be no trace of us left, so nobody can complain. That is the paradise that I will create for just the two of us.” I can only smile when thinking of that wonderful future that is getting in my grasp.

“You won’t even… escape… from Paris…” He holds his heart now. The pain should have started to set in. It’s surprising how long it took him to realize.

“I already prepared the route.”

“I will stop you…!” He suddenly throws over his chair and pulls out a gun from the back of his pants.

“With your bare hands?” I smirk.

Robert’s hands are empty. There was no gun where he grabbed.

I casually pull the very same gun from my jacket and spin it on my index finger. His glazed over eyes are wide open in shock. The sweat from his brow is dripping down onto the floor.

“When did you…?”

“Just a little magic trick I picked up during my job. You wouldn’t believe the things men keep in their pants that they discard so carelessly on the floor.” I keep spinning the gun and walk closer to Robert. He might be an agent with experience in self-defense, but he is also dying from poison right now.

There is no danger whatsoever.

“For an agent you are a little too trusting of stuff that’s offered to you by a criminal’s daughter. I can’t blame you though, the poison was tasteless. And when you gulp down that much tea at once it would be hard to notice.”

“The DGSI… is waiting… for my…” His breathing is so heavy now that he can barely talk.

“For your report, I know.” I pull his left arm away from his back. Robert is no slouch; he really managed to type a message on his phone in this situation. Even as he is losing consciousness, completely disarmed he still follows his duty. I pull the phone from his hand and delete the message. “As long as I have this it won’t be too hard to convince them to wait a few days longer.”

“You think you won?” He grimaces in pain and sinks to one knee.

“The codeword was Leonardi, right? I overheard your calls a few times. Using flower names, how appropriate.”

He gasps in horror. He probably thought I wouldn’t figure this out. An undercover agent had many reasons not to call directly or meet up with their employers, so they used codewords for messages to make sure that the information was true.

Seems I hit the bullseye after all-

“HUAH!” Suddenly he springs up with unexpected force and flips a small knife out of his sleeve. It must have been stitched into the rim. With this surprising strength he stabs me… or would have at least, but I reflexively moved the gun up and deflected the attack. Not giving him time to repeat that stunt I kick his face with my right boot. He drops the knife and then sinks down against the desk.

“Not bad asshole.” I ignore the hole in my jacket where the knife sliced the fabric. “Nothing less of a former beat cop. Still not good enough though.” I squat down in front of him and watch him writhe in pain. “Thanks for your hard work Robert. I will take it from here.” I put the gun to his chest. “You know, coming to the home of two innocent ladies, armed with a silencer, that is just all kinds of wrong.”

My mouth moves casually, but my inside is cold. My heart doesn’t even jump from the small recoil after pulling the trigger. There was no loud noise thanks to the silencer, but the burn mark on Robert’s clothes stinks horribly. I need to put that corpse into the closet fast and then spray the room with something to overlay the smell. This dead body is a pain to get rid of, so I will just put it out of sight until we leave the house behind. The RG will find him and give him a proper burial or whatever.

As I pull up the corpse from the armpits and drag it towards the drawer I suddenly hear a loud bang from outside the door. My heart stops, my blood freezes and my mind halts.

“Unngh… heee…AAAAHHH!” Lis' scream reverberates through the entire house. The next moment I can hear the loud steps as she runs away.

The door creaks and the small gap turns into a wide opening.

I forgot to lock the office door.

No

NO

NOOO

It’s all over. I fucked up. This can’t be happening. Shitshitshitshit!!!

I throw the corpse aside and drop the gun to run after Lis!