"I'm not thirsty," Linda said and Carlos scoffed.
He drank the champagne from the glass cup till it was empty.
"you think it's poisoned?" Carlos said to Linda knowing she was becoming nervous.
"I'll have something else instead," she said and got to the freezer. She took a red apple and started devouring it in her mouth.
"you know, I'm really grateful to your father for looking after me like I was his own son. Growing up, I watched my dad beat up my mom for the slightest thing and whenever I try to defend her, he yells at me.
He gets angry and beat me up with his belt till I start bleeding and could barely breathe. He locks me up in a closet for days without food or water." Carlos said
"So are you telling me this so I'll feel sorry for you? Or feel pity for you to justify the terrible things you've done?" Linda said as she was eating the apple.
"I'm just telling you how I became who I am. Even the devil was once an angel, right? …My father had manic depression that he couldn't control when he was violent" he said.
"just like you?" Linda chuckled.
"Nope, he was way worse… My dad cared less if I had eaten or not and that's why I started stealing at the age of 12.
One day, my dad caught me stealing money from his wallet. I wanted to use that money to pay my tuition fees and he beat me up mercilessly for it." he sighed.
"Some of the tattoos you see on my body were once scars from my father's beating. My mom begged my dad not to kill me but guess what that son of a bitch did,
He pushed my mom down the stairs and she fell down and broke her neck …That was how my dad killed my mom right in front of me," Carlos said in a sad tone.
Linda's eyes widened in shock as she heard that. She has known Carlos for more than ten years and Carlos has never mentioned anything about his parents. Not because they weren't that close but because Carlos is just a secretive person.
The day Carlos lost his mother, he was so heartbroken and devastated that he thought of committing suicide. He loved his mother so much because of the way she took care of him like an egg.
Carlos's mother was very beautiful with alluring brown eyes just like Carlos's own. She was a poor woman but she could go to any length to provide for and protect her son, Carlos. She spoils him and overpampers him like he was the only one who mattered to her.
No one could dare say anything wrong about Carlos to her, she'll never believe it. That was one of the reasons why her husband which is Carlos's father beats her up until he eventually killed her.
"My father felt no remorse for killing my mother, the only one who could confide in..." Carlos said, cleaning his eyes with his index finger.
His eyes well up with tears and his heartache whenever he thought of his late mom.
"All the times my dad locked me up in his closet, he was growing a devil inside of me. I became used to the beating till I no longer cry and whenever my dad yells at me, damn! I almost go crazy. I could hear the voices in my head telling me to kill my father to shut him up once and for all..." Carlos said with a smirk.
"I met your dad, the drug lord when I was 16, he thought me everything knew now. When I was 19, I started robbing banks, dealing drugs, and doing other criminal stuff.
One night when my sick deranged father was sleeping, I pressed his face with a pillow with all of my might. He struggled to breathe while I kept pressing him until he suffocated and gave up… that was my first murder" he smiled, feeling proud of himself.
"what?? You killed your own father?" Linda was shocked.
"Wow, you're such a devil," she said and threw the apple core in a waste bin near her.
"Is that what you have to say after I just explained to you how ruthless my father was? He deserved to die, he made me become like him" he yelled.
"No!, it's not your father's fault, although I understand that you got your bipolar disorder through genetics but…"
"…Thanks to my father," Carlos said flatly interrupting Linda.
"BUT you can be better than him. Rather, you chose to be like your father… If you can take your own father's life then perhaps, you can kill anyone" Linda said.
"Don't act like you're better than me, your father is the drug lord. He is still wanted everywhere," Carlos said.
"I know my father is a serial killer but we're not the same… I've done some bad things too but I don't have the heart to kill" Linda said softly.
Carlos chuckled "no wonder your father loves me more than you,"
Linda slightly bowed her head with a soft sigh. She has always known that her father showed more love and attention to Carlos than her as if Carlos was his own son.
"Aww, don't feel bad, trust me, there's someone out there who will love you for who you are," Carlos said in a mocking tone.
"but it's you I want, you sent me a text that you now realize I'm the only one who cares about you. Do you know how many times I read that text smiling like a fool? Carlos, I love you and you know it." Linda said locking eyes with him.
Carlos stared at the desperate Linda in front of him who is ready to take off her clothes any second and grind him till he gets tired. This is the one girl amongst all his exes who acts like a fool for him. He has never treated her nicely before yet she loves him. She loves him so much to the point that it irritates Carlos.
Hearing her shamelessly profess her love to him made him wish it was Anne who wants him so badly like this. He would've been the luckiest man ever.
"tell me much you love me," Carlos said, staring into Linda's eyes.
"It's beyond words. Your every touch makes my heart glows. Every minute, all I can think about is you, you're like the air I breathe…" Linda said pathetically and Carlos burst into laughter.
"What is so funny?" Linda asked. Her voice sounded like she was about to cry.
She already feels that Carlos is finally interested in her to ask her that question but Carlos's laugh made her think otherwise.
"look at how stupid you sound, …as a lady you need to have DIGNITY and let the men chase you. You're probably the cheapest slut I've ever met." Carlos said.
*SLAP!*
Linda slapped Carlos on his cheek with a scornful look on her face. She has had enough of his insults.
"hit me a million times it still wouldn't add to your value," Carlos said flatly.
Linda stood up from her seat.
"at least I'm human! but you're a monster! you're mean, you're heartless…" Linda rained him insults and suddenly, she started coughing uncontrollably.
"Don't call me heartless, you're the one who sabotaged my relationship with Anne. You set me up and called my girlfriend so she would catch us having sex… You desperately wanted her to break up with me" Carlos said sternly, glaring at her.
Meanwhile, Linda was still coughing. It was as if she was trying to cough out something from her throat.
"water, Carlos, I need water," she said while coughing.
"Water won't help you, Linda, …just know you've been poisoned and you have about uhm… five minutes more to live," Carlos said, standing up from his seat.
"What?" Linda whispered to herself, giving Carlos a suspicious look.
She felt a sharp pain in her tummy and she fell on the floor coughing blood.
"Wh… what have you done to me?" Linda groaned, crawling on the floor.
She suddenly became restless, holding her tummy tight. She was in so much pain and she felt her chest burning.
"That apple I kept in the freezer was injected with neurotoxin… it's not just any poison but it's from one of the most poisonous snakes, the black mamba" Carlos said.
Linda's eyes broadened, and her body stiffened due to shock. She couldn't utter a word.
Snake poison? How?
"I know how much you like apples so I kept that poisoned apple, specially for you… And that text I sent you," Carlos scoffed.
"It was just to lure you here to your death..." he said with an evil grin on his face
Linda who looked lifeless on the floor began to cry. She could feel the snake venom running in her veins as she was becoming weak by the moment.