Dark Romance: A Cruel Obsession

Fists and kicks fell on the driver like a torrential downpour, each blow landing without mercy. They flipped the driver to the ground, beating and kicking him until he coughed up blood. A steel rod as thick as an arm shattered his kneecap, his agonized screams haunting Shelley for a long time.

In the midst of this turmoil, when a mercenary broke away from the group assaulting the driver and crudely pushed her to the ground, preparing to commit an atrocity, Shelley plunged a knife into his heart.

As it turned out, Shelley was much more adept at killing than Vivian. Her stab was precise and ruthless. Fearing it wasn’t deep enough, that the death wasn’t thorough, she withdrew the knife and struck again, equally precise.

Throughout the entire process, Shelley remained eerily calm and detached, her hand gripping the knife without so much as a tremor.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

The driver, abandoned in a pool of blood, lay next to his deceased colleague. Shocked and incensed by the sight of their fallen comrade under the hands of someone who seemed as innocent as a lamb, the mercenaries, in a synchronized surge of shame, anger, and bloodthirsty excitement, viciously lunged at Shelley. They tore her clothes, bit her lips. As she wielded the dagger, striking yet another of their own, she even broke her hand bones.

Excruciating pain jolted through Shelley’s mind. She clenched her teeth, wanting to pass out, but unable to. She could only watch helplessly as the mercenaries disarmed her, pinned her limbs to the cold and filthy ground. The leader of the mercenaries, after removing his pants, pressed himself against her.

She was done for.

Shelley had lost all possibility of resistance. Her mind gradually emptied, tears streaming down her cheeks, yet the pain had not fully arrived when she heard a “bang,” the sound of a gunshot.

She saw the mercenary on top of her struck through the temple, blood splattering. Death had come too suddenly; even in his final moments, the mercenary’s expression bore a cruel smirk.

Shelley was bewildered, horrified, and then overwhelmed with the euphoria of surviving such a harrowing experience, followed by a profound sense of dread.

The single gunshot shattered the debauchery within the warehouse. The mercenaries swiftly abandoned Shelley, cursing and reaching for their guns, but before they could grasp them, they were surrounded by a rush of members from the underworld.

For Shelley, who had been at death’s door one moment and then given a new lease on life the next, Alajos, who could coldly kill and then tenderly drape her in clean clothes, seemed like a god. Later, hiding in the back seat of the car, when she went mad from her first kill, Alajos’ guidance became another form of redemption for her, just like it had been for Vivian.

“What did he say?” Upon hearing the story, Vivian couldn’t help feeling a pang of jealousy. Alajos had never offered her solace after her first kill.

Shelley vividly remembered Alajos’ words. Without hesitation, she responded, “Good job killing!”

Vivian was taken aback. “… Huh? Is that supposed to be comforting?”

“Isn’t that comforting?” Shelley asked unapologetically.

“Is that supposed to be comforting?” Vivian muttered.

Silence lingered in the hospital room.

After a moment, Vivian stirred.

Rubbing her temple as if with a headache, she let out a mix of exasperation and amusement. “Hmph.”

This single sound, “hmph,” seemed to act as a switch breaking the silence, and Shelley couldn’t help but join in, and the two girls burst into laughter.

“To be honest, I didn’t know what I was thinking at the time,” Shelley said with a laugh, her voice tinged with confusion and helplessness. “Maybe I was just too foolish and scared at the time. He hadn’t done much, just a simple ‘good job killing’ with almost no emotional fluctuation, and I took it as if it were a divine decree, interpreting, consoling, and convincing myself.”

“Was he praising me?”

“Why would he praise me?”

“Because I killed those who tried to harm me. They were vile, malicious, despicable. If I hadn’t killed him, he would have hurt me, even others. By killing him, I don’t need to be afraid or feel guilty.”

Vivian rested her forehead on Shelley’s shoulder and wrapped her arms around her waist, offering silent comfort.

Shelley patted her back, “This is a hurdle you have to cross on your own, Vivian.”

“Mm.” Vivian held onto Shelley, refusing to let go.

Shelley let her hold on, while the sunlight danced on her fingertips.

Silence settled in the hospital room once again.

“You…” Vivian’s muffled voice came from behind, and Shelley turned her head slightly, “What is it?”

Vivian hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should ask, “What about your classmate… what happened to her?”

Shelley fell into a prolonged silence once again, and Vivian’s heart sank. She knew she had made a mistake, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay.” Shelley sighed, her eyes slightly moist. She looked up at the ceiling, unable to stop the tears from spilling over, “She’s dead.”

“On the night we were rescued, she took a gun from Alajos and shot herself.”

Vivian had already guessed the outcome of Shelley’s classmate’s death before Shelley spoke, but she hadn’t expected that Shelley’s classmate had taken her own life.

“To compensate her family, my family provided a lot. Her father was a gambling addict, he had squandered the family fortune and borrowed at high interest rates. My father paid off his hefty debts. Her brother was mediocre, just a nameless thug in the organization. My brother brought him to his side, made him his right-hand man, and personally taught him how to handle the family’s business. My mother even sent countless luxury clothes and jewelry to her mother, taking her to various high-society events.”

“They all indulged in immense wealth and luxury, not shedding a single tear for the innocent girl who died so tragically.” Shelley’s voice carried a poignant tone, “You see, Vivian, there are so many wretched people in this world, but it’s always the innocent who suffer.”

“Why!” Shelley demanded loudly, but Vivian couldn’t provide her with an answer.

“Did we do something wrong?” Shelley didn’t wait for Vivian’s answer, she answered her own question, “No! It’s those in power, those who control life and death, who are wrong. They are indifferent, despicable, and tyrannical, trampling the innocent underfoot.”

“Do you want to become one of them, Vivian?”