Death's Hitman

Chapter Seven

Hope was silent the following morning and through most of the day. He was used to silence and it didn't overly concern him as he spent a lot of time with his visor watching Kane, still curious about the letter. But the Fire Lord appeared to have forgotten his letter. Hitman didn't dare get too close to him and so observed him from across Hell as the big man brooded in his velvet armchair while his slave rubbed his shoulders or sat in his lap kissing him. He allowed it but was clearly very distracted. Hitman watched him get up suddenly and then he was in the room which had been the girl's during her time at the Fire Pit. He paced around the room which had been fully restored following his fiery outburst, looking at everything closely. A memory suddenly came to  Hitman as he remembered her holding a small box.

Getting up abruptly, he took off the visor and picked up her bag.

"Do you need something sir?" she asked, watching him a little anxiously.

"What's that box you had?" he said, tipping her bag up. She flushed red and crossed the room, going to take the bag from him, but he pushed her aside.

"Nothing; it was nothing," she said, scrambling to pick up her clothes which were all over the floor. She held them to her chest as he turned towards her, a menacing glare on his face.

"I asked you a question," he said, his voice hard. She started to fold her clothes on the bed and he glared as she had the audacity to turn her back on him. Crossing the room he bent her over the bed and slapped her ass with his hand hard several times. "You want to push me again little girl?"

"No sir!" she yelped.

"Show me that box now or I'll take off my belt and whip you until you do as you're told and then I'll do the same again all night long until you learn to listen to me." He gave her another hard blow and then hauled her up. Rubbing her ass she went sulkily across the room and picked up her bag. Slowly she opened it and he glared at her. "You are trying my patience," he snarled. She started at that and then opened up a hidden compartment in her bag, extracting a small white box. Holding it out to him she turned away.

"Please let me have it back sir," she begged him. He looked at it curiously; it was just a plain white plastic box. He couldn't understand why she had hidden it. Opening it he looked inside and gave her a puzzled look.

"What is this?" he asked, taking out a white gold chain which had a pendant on it in the shape of a dove. "Where did you get it?"

"It's mine," she said, faintly. "Please, please let me have it back. You can beat me all night with your belt if you like but please let me have it."

She had tears streaming down her cheeks now and he observed her silently, putting the pendant back into the box and then handing it across to her.

"I ain't gonna beat you Hope," he said. "Where did it come from?"

"From me," she said softly. "I was wearing it when I died."

He stared at her, his eyes wide with shock.

"That's impossible," he said. "Nothing comes with you when you die."

"I'm not lying sir, I promise," she said, dropping to her knees, clasping the box in her hands. "I always had it, long as I can remember..."

"Hope nothing can come across when you die. Nothing," he said, his tone still disbelieving. She gripped the box tight in her hands as if fearing he would remove it from her and he sighed. "Get up off your knees. I'm not mad with you, just don't understand is all."

She got up, watching him anxiously as she took the small box back to her bag and sealed it inside the hidden compartment. When this was done she started to put her clothes away slowly, keeping her gaze averted from his as she did so. Shakily she went to the kitchen and fetched herself a drink and he watched as she sat down at the table with it. Her hands were shaking so much she couldn't get the lid off the bottle so he took it from her, pulling off the lid and handing it back to her. His mind was racing. How did a human object cross over like that? Keeping half an eye on her he went across to the sofa and sat down, taking out his visor and searching for objects that had crossed from the world of the living to Limbo. Nothing.  No results at all. Narrowing his eyes he took the visor off and looked across at her. Numbly she met his gaze for a moment but then dropped her head.