‘Dance with me!’ Eve shouted over the music at the front of the crowd.

​

‘I can’t!’ Villanelle returned, raising her palms up to reveal smudges of blood whilst scanning the room. Searching for anyone looking their way. ‘We have to go!’

​

‘Now?’ Eve’s smile finally dropped.

​

‘Now, Eve!’ Villanelle lunged forward and grabbed Eve by the arm. Pulling her through the dancing crowd, and in to a room full of all the wedding guest’s jackets, bags and gifts. ‘Take this.’ Her voice now calm, she ripped a coat from its hanger and handed both over to Eve, who cradled them like a baby looking down.

 

‘What’s…’

​

‘Go to the back of the room and hide. Don’t talk, don’t move. Go.’ Eve raised her eyebrows and stood defiant.

 

‘Go!’

​

‘No.’ Eve could feel the beat of her own heart through her chest, as she stayed within Villanelle’s glare. ‘Who’s out there?’ She asked, shifting her eyes towards the empty glass window on the door.

​

‘I don’t know.’ Villanelle confessed. ‘But I can feel that something isn’t right…It was too easy.’ She looked through the door but could see no one suspicious approaching. A drunk guest lying on the ground, her concerned partner crouching above, and a member of staff offering them his assistance. ‘Far too ea…’ She spun around fast and snatched the hanger out of Eve’s hand, spreading her fingers evenly around the top, allowing the hook to stick out. Lowering she quickly dropped into a crouch, dragging Eve down with her.

​

‘What the fuck?’ Eve whispered, clutching the puffer jacket a little tighter. ‘Who’s out there?’

​

‘Sssh.’ Villanelle stared up at the glass blinking not as she purposely slowed her breathing. ‘Five, four, three…two…’

​

The door flew open and Villanelle sprang, taking the gazelle down to the ground and holding the tip of the hangers hook to her throat. Pushing down beneath the larynx until oxygen was blocked and the girl was forced to scream,

​

‘I’m on your side! I’m on your side! Stop!’ Eve jumped up to close the door and check to see if anyone else was coming. Satisfied it was just the three of them, she dropped to stop Villanelle from killing another.

​

‘Wait, Villanelle! It’s her. It’s the girl. What’s her name?’ She pulled Villanelle’s arm back by the elbow.

 

‘Pam!’ The girl screamed clutching her throat. ‘It’s Pam! We’ve met, we…’

​

‘I know we’ve met.’ Villanelle retorted. ‘You just weren’t interesting enough for us to remember your name.’ Pam’s face dropped.  

​

‘I saved your life.’ She defended softly.

​

‘Debatable.’

​

‘Probable.’

​

‘Arguable.’

​

‘Are we seriously having a theasarusoff right now?’ Eve’s voice trembled. ‘What is going on, Pam? Explain. Please.’ She looked up at the glass and back every few seconds as the girl proceeded to tell her tale.

 

‘It’s just me, don’t worry…I followed you.’ Pam confessed.

​

‘Obviously.’

​

‘You have to go.’

​

‘No shit.’ Villanelle reapplied the hanger, gritting her teeth as she lent down a little harder.

​

‘No…Seriously…She’s coming.’ The girl squeezed out and Eve rushed to separate them once more. Asking,

 

‘She? Who’s she?’ Forcing her hand up their suspects jumper and over her smooth skin to ensure she wasn’t wearing a wire.

​

‘I can strip naked for you if you want?’ Pam confidently offered. ‘No one knows I’m here, I came alone.’

 

‘Who is she?’ Eve asked again, surprised and grateful for the newfound patience of the pitbull beside her.

 

‘Carolyn.’ Eve’s face let off a twitch.

 

‘Carolyn Carolyn?’ Villanelle asked.

 

‘Carolyn Carolyn.’ Pam confirmed. ‘She has twenty sharp shooters waiting for you to walk off this boat…It’s a shoot to kill order…For both of you.’ She looked over at Eve whose face was suddenly drained of all colour. Unable to speak. Unable to move. Unable to think of anything that wasn’t the life she loved but was suddenly in danger of losing.

​

Villanelle however, was triggered.

​

‘Get up.’ She snapped at Pam. ‘We’re taking you hostage.’

​

‘What?’ Both Eve and Pam shrieked in unison. 

​

‘We’re going back to the Twelve, taking their guns, holding one to your precious little face, and walking off this boat. Come on.’

​

‘That’s crazy. Twenty trained shooters versus us, what chance do we have?’

​

‘What’s the alternative, Eve?’

​

‘I have the alternative.’ Pam rose with a face full of teeth, threatening to break through her face.

​

***

​

‘So, what’s the plan?’

​

The plan was simple. In Pam’s mind at least. All they had to do was jump out the boat, swim to the wall, climb up the ladder and run. Easy.

​

‘Oh my God, we’re gonna die.’ Eve concluded. Her eyes unable to look at either of her fellow escapees, as her face sunk further towards the ground.

​

‘No, you’re not.’ Pam insisted. ‘Not if you follow my instructions to the letter, but we have to go now. Carolyn was very clear that there were to be no eyes inside but with the CCTV now deactivated, her patience will only last so long. She’ll have men in here any minute. So, move!’  

​

‘Why are you doing this?’ Villanelle enquired. Her eyes narrowing to a millimetre.

​

‘For Konstantin.’ Pam’s head dropped. Her body suddenly feeling a little heavier, and heart a little larger, she was unable to move from the thought, until a sharp sting came at her face and rocked her.

​

‘Come on then, killer.’ Villanelle towered over the girl but dropped to meet her face with a smirk. ‘Let’s go.’ Looking back at Eve, she nodded her approval, and the three of them were off.

​

Out the door, through the blindingly bright hallway, passed the drunk dancers, three tier cake, that Villanelle felt need to trail her index finger through to get a scoop of, down two floors of service stairs, another hallway, and finally into the fire exit room, where the emergency side door was located.

​

Cartoon posters above the life jackets reiterated all of what Pam had already instructed. Advice on how best to stay alive; Lie on your back, face up, don’t panic, don’t consume the water, and gently paddle with your hands and feet until you reach a point of safety.

​

‘I feel sick.’ Eve confessed, as she clipped the last clip on her jacket in. Looking up in the hopes that the plan had changed. That somehow one of her killer companions had in the last three minutes come up with a solution that didn’t involve catching hyperthermia. That they could simply run back up, grab hold of the wheel and sail all the way up to the Cotswolds in peace. Villanelle singing along to the radio, do boats have radios? Devouring scone after creamy scone, and lying back in a warm bed, without a care in the world inside a cosy B&B at the foot of a mountain. They’d…

​

‘Hurry!’ Pam crushed that dream. ‘Once I push the alarm, we’ll have to move fast. All their eyes will be on the evacuating guests and staff. They won’t be looking down here until they realise you weren’t with them…Ready?’ She asked, looking directly at Eve, who simply nodded through the trembles. ‘Are you ready, Villanelle?’

​

Villanelle answered with action. Walking casually over to the fire alarm and smashing through its glass with the tip of her thumb. Smirking over at Pam who stood with wider eyes than Eve and a heart threatening to break through her ribcage. ‘Born ready.’ She whispered under the piercing sirens, before yanking open the door to reveal calm waves just a metre below. ‘Take my hand!’ She shouted up at Eve, as she sat at the edge ready to jump. ‘We go together!’

​

‘I’m scared!’ But with that, her fear became a reality as Villanelle yanked her out and into the Thames with her. A piercing pain coursing through every fibre of her body, she failed to recall the advice and screamed. Flailing her arms in want of release, until Villanelle grabbed her by the shoulders, screaming,

​

‘AAAAAH!’ Causing Eve to settle. ‘One minute, and we go!’ Easier said than done, Eve thought, but the three lay bobbing in the Thames, hand in hand, like sunbathers at a beach, until the effects of the cold water shock wore off and they were able to swim away.

​

Grateful for the ability to breathe calmly again, Eve paddled backwards. Slowly but surely, against the thankfully slow current at the side of the vessel, just twenty metres to the wall.

​

‘No!’ Pam shouted, as Eve began climbing the ladder in her high-vis coat. ‘Take, the jacket, off, first!’ She squeezed out. And as Villanelle slowly ascended the steps below she thought not of the coldness, or that pain of the arrow in her back returning, or her relationship with Eve, or her chances of ever seeing another sunrise, but of Carolyn. Her face. That sweet smile she’d given her when they’d left the pub. That admirably cool and collected demeanour she’d emitted. That phony expression she’d surely return as she drained the cunt of life. Slowly. Painfully. Intentionally. Oh, yes she’d soon be looking down into the eyes that were now frantically searching through binoculars for her. Smirking as every vein in her eyeballs pleaded for mercy. Pink. Red. Purple. Expired. Villanelle smiled as she ascended the stairway to Heaven, dreaming of all the ways she could send the serpent back to Hell.

​

***

​

‘Taxi!’ Villanelle shouted at the cabbie stood in front of his car across the road. Raising her right hand to the sky while pulling Eve along with her left. All three ladies soaked to the soul but determined to survive, they weaved through the slow moving London traffic, until they reached their knight.

​

‘Where are we going?’ Pam asked before the driver could. ‘I’ve got us a room in the Hilton just over there. It’s…’

​

‘Get in.’ Villanelle ordered the ice cold, trembling Eve.

​

‘’ang on!’ The driver protested, suddenly noticing their state.

​

‘Go.’ Villanelle ignored him. Pushing Eve inside and turning to have a private word with the person standing between them and freedom. Words that made him flick his fag, jump back in and step on it. Caring not that his seats would soon have to have there waterproof coating reapplied.

​

‘Where are we going?’ Pam asked again, but Villanelle remained silent as she looked back and monitored the activity of the cars behind.

​

‘Take this left.’ She ordered the driver. ‘Right…Left…Left again.’ Watching to see if any cars followed, she sat back after five minutes of ducking and diving. Stretching her arm around Eve’s shoulders and pulling her in. ‘Don’t worry.’ She planted a kiss upon her forehead.

​

‘Where are we going?’ Eve broke her silence. Wet but warm and even warmer in Villanelle’s arms, she no longer shivered, nor worried.

​

‘Martin’s.’ Villanelle replied, and neither woman questioned the proposal. It was a safe location after all and one that would allow them to reform and think up a plan of action. ‘I hid something there.’

 

 

MARTIN’S HOUSE

(Don’t Google It)

​

 

The glass was a concern. More so than Martin himself, but the latter proved inconsequential, as the house was empty when the three had arrived. And after 10 minutes of frantic digging, Villanelle finally excavated the bag she’d hidden within the trees, containing a key to the house, some cash, cards, and a passport with her face but someone else’s name printed within.

​

‘Why and when did you hide all that?’ Eve asked with a gleam in her eyes.

​

‘They think I’m stupid.’ Villanelle marched towards the cab to pay the driver, waiting for him to pull away before turning towards the house. ‘They think I just run around killing people and don’t think about the day someone will try to kill me.’ She chuckled, ranting on to no one in particular as she opened the door. ‘I hide things everywhere I go.’

​

‘That’s great but what’s the plan now? Caro…’

​

‘The plan is pull those blinds!’ Villanelle snapped, interrupting Pam midsentence, unfazed by the possibility of being hunted down by Carolyn tonight, or any other. ‘He better have vodka.’ After scrubbing her hands in the sink, she opened every cupboard, drawer and fridge inside the kitchen but found not a centilitre of alcohol.

 

Settling for a box of granola and a carton of long life milk, she poured two bowls and took a seat besides Eve on the sofa she’d not too long ago had Villanelle arrested on.

​

‘Is there enough for me?’ Pam squeaked.

​

‘Why did you kill Konstantin?’ Villanelle responded, causing Eve to pause with the spoon just an inch from her open mouth.

​

‘I…I…’ Pam struggled to find the words to complete a sentence.

​

‘Did Carolyn order it?’ Eve remained silent, eyes switching from killer to killer.

​

‘No.’

​

‘Then who?’

​

‘Hélène.’

​

‘Bitch.’ Pam smiled but dropped it fast in Villanelle’s glare. ‘So, that’s what she meant when I was under the bed.’ She looked over at Eve, who could only bow her head. ‘I’m glad I killed her.’ Eve took her first bite and smiled to herself, as the inquisitor beside her nodded up at the box on the kitchen side. ‘Go. Eat.’ And after several minutes of wordless crunching, Villanelle broke the silence with the inevitable, ‘I can’t believe you kissed her before you kissed me.’  

​

‘I kissed you on the bus.’ Eve defended, her voice suddenly higher in pitch.

​

‘Oh, please, that wasn’t real. That was a distraction.’

​

‘It was real for me.’ And with that, both smiled and sat back. Eve twisted a tad, raised her feet from the floor and placed them softly upon Villanelle’s lap. Rubbing her thighs gently with the tips of her toes, as Pam remained silent in the kitchen, eyes fixed on the black screen of the TV.

​

‘Do you think Martin has a gun?’ Villanelle asked Eve with a mouthful of oats.

​

‘I do not.’ She was certain.

​

‘Do you think he has Netflix?’ She grabbed the remote and discovered that Martin did indeed have a Netflix account, and selected a series she thought would bring a smile to Eve’s face.

​

‘Seriously?’ Eve laughed, shaking her head.

​

‘What?’

​

‘I thought you’d be more of a Mulan kinda girl?’

​

‘I like Mulan too, but Barbie is number one.’ And they sat watching episodes of Life in the Dreamhouse, for as long as it took for the granola to digest and Eve to suddenly declare,

​

‘I need a shower.’ Leaning forward to place her nose on Villanelle’s shoulder to sniff. ‘So do you.’ She concluded, rising from the sofa, holding out a hand. ‘Come.’ She ordered softly.

​

‘Into the shower?’ Eve’s eyes twitched up in response, along with the corners of her lips, as Villanelle grabbed her hand.

​

***

​

The shower was already running when Villanelle entered the room, not taking in the cast stone mantel fireplace simulating a crackling fire to the left, the crystal sconce brightening up the marble walls to the right, the silver towel rack with a dressing gown tossed casually over the top, nor the heated tiles warming her soles as she walked along the floor. For across the room, directly opposite, within an oversized glass container with the door wide open, stood Eve.

​

Water dwindling through her dark curls, down her back, and over the buttocks that Villanelle had dreamed of touching ever since she first laid eyes on it. Biting her lower lip she moved forwards, unable to close her eyes or stop the beat of her heart from racing. And Eve, with eyes forced far to the side, stayed with her back to the door. Heartbeat just as strong, awaiting that first touch.

​

Hearing the sound of a towel dropping to the floor, she held her breath, remaining motionless as the footsteps got closer, the door clicked shut, two hands came at her hips, and a kiss to the side of her neck. 

​

She spun and stretched her neck up to meet Villanelles eyes, before touching her back. Wrapping her hands around her lover’s figure and sliding them lower, smiling as her palms brushed over the firm bump.   

 

Villanelle removed her hands from Eve’s hips and brought them up to her face, pulling her in, as the water continued to run down their skin. Parting lips with her own, she slid in and tasted the sweetness of the granola on the tip of Eve’s tongue. First toying with her, then going deeper for more.

​

Eyes closed, Eve let out a moan, as she felt fingers slowly creeping around her body. Face to neck, neck to breasts, Villanelle slid an erect nipple between her fingers and began twisting, turning those moans to groans as Eve’s body began to quiver within her grasp.

​

‘I love you.’ She pulled out of the kiss to confess. Eyes squeezed and hoping to hear it back.

​

‘I love you too.’ And with that, Villanelle lowered, sliding her tongue over Eve’s pert lower lip, down her chin, neck, chest, between her breasts, pausing to plant a kiss, then beyond. Stopping between the thighs that parted willingly, as Eve grabbed hold of the wall with one hand, and the soft blonde hair of her lover below.

 

Breathing heavily, she fought the urge to scream, as the tip of the tongue that was just in her mouth, toyed with her clit with ease. Circling it slowly, Villanelle looked up with a smirk and proceeded to torment. Speeding up the motion, as she placed her hands to the back of Eve and squeezed, digging her nails softly into the flesh, forcing her closer.

​

Moans suddenly louder and vibrations stronger, Villanelle went in for the kill, jumping to her feet, taking hold of the back of Eve’s neck with her left hand and pushing into her with the right. Sliding her fingers over Eve’s mound, past the throb and in with speed, causing Eve to finally give in.

​

Caring not of neighbours, police or even Pam, she screamed over the sounds of water as Villanelle filled and fulfilled her. Quivering but strong enough to raise a leg, she slid a foot around her lover’s back pulling her in. Thrusting with her hips in motion, they moved in unison, until Eve pulled back.

​

Villanelle’s eyes sprang open but smiled, as she watched Eve turn to face the wall. Coming up from behind, she placed herself on her lover’s behind and began to grind, moaning with the sudden sensation below.

 

Back and forth she pushed into her until she was wet from more than just the shower, and slid her arm around the front of her girl to slide back inside. Moist, warm, welcoming, Eve found herself spreading wider and wider for more, and Villanelle gave it to her. Filling with her fingers, playing with her thumb, and biting with her teeth. She sunk into Eve’s shoulder, forcing her head to drop back over her own.

​

‘Vil…Vil…Vil.’ Villanelle smiled as Eve moaned on, wrapping her free hand around her throat and squeezing, she ordered,

​

‘Call me Ox.’ And Eve collapsed with the much needed release.

​

***

​

Two hours later and they were under the sheets of Martin’s king sized bed. Curtains drawn, table lamp dimly lit, and as naked as the day they were born, Eve pressed her breasts down upon Villanelle’s as she lay on top of her, wanting more.

​

‘What’s wrong?’ She asked, looking deep into the sunken eyes of her lover below. It took Villanelle a while to respond.

​

Tapping her index and middle finger against Eve’s soft thighs, her eyes stayed fixed towards the door. She’d already planted every knife Martin owned around the house and under the pillows, but still she laid uneasily.

 

‘It’s Carolyn.’ She confessed, her voice a little hoarse.

​

‘We’ll get her…’ Eve reassured, rubbing her palms over Villanelle’s breasts. ‘But what about her?’ A sudden pang in her heart. ‘Do you think she…’

​

‘I do but not tonight. I think it will take her a week to find us but I don’t want to risk it. We go tomorrow.’

 

‘What about Pam?’

​

‘Pam’s staying here.’

​

‘You sure?’

​

‘I’m certain.’ And with that Villanelle let off a smile, closing her eyes with the vision of their saviour next door in the guest bed. A small, cosy room, overlooking the garden. Fresh sheets saturated with the blood of a girl, once a mortician, soon to be on the slab of another having the gash on her throat closely examined. ‘For Konstantin.’