Months passed and I could no longer eat or sleep properly. Maria became depressed and our life was empty. Then my boss turned up and said he had another ‘job’ for me.
This time the job was in another state, which meant I had to travel and leave Maria alone for the first time since our son’s death. We decided it would be better for her if she stayed with her mother.
The new job was very interesting for me, and dangerous. The job was to kill a very popular and well know government official. The reason? My boss’s best friend and the target were both candidates for the same government post, and so he wanted to get rid of him.
The man used to throw a lot of parties, as did most of the candidates, but this man was the most popular and for this reason, my boss wanted his head. I went to the man’s house and hid outside. It was about 3 a.m. but unfortunately he never came home, so I had to go back to the B+B I was staying at. I was tired and there wasn’t much else I could do.
The following day, I tracked him to the city centre. The centre was busy, full of people and noisy, and if I shot him, nobody would see or hear me do it. I managed to get close to him as he had no security. He even shook my hand and gave me a hug, assuming I was one of his people, but I wasn’t; I was his death.
I followed him, my .22 calibre revolver hidden on me. It proved to be my lucky day. We were in a football stadium and I noticed him head over to a small private smelly toilet at the edge of the pitch. I assumed he needed a pee, so I got to the toilet first and hid inside there, waiting for him.
The smell was terrible. I’d rather be doing this task out in the bush, but I had no choice. He came into the toilet and saw me, turning as white as a sheet when his eyes locked onto mine. I didn’t give him a chance to scream. I placed the revolver against his ear and shot him, there and then. The music was loud outside and as suspected the dancing and clapping was so loud, nobody heard the gunshot. I quickly proceeded to cut his left ear off, and placed it in a small plastic bag, number four for my collection.
I collected the ears as trophies, so that I could prove to my boss that the jobs had been completed. My boss eventually gave me a small leather bag, and I put all the ears in there. I would of course dry them out before I placed them in the bag.
The day came, I knew it would, when Maria’s curiosity got the better of her and she asked me what I did for a living. I couldn’t tell her of course, or I would have to kill her too and I didn’t want to do that; she was too precious to me.
The following morning, Firmina called me over and told me that Maria was pregnant again. I was slightly taken aback, but not entirely surprised. What did surprise me was how I felt. I was not as excited as the first time. In fact I felt a little down, it wasn’t that long ago that I had lost my precious son.
It wasn’t long before Maria was getting morning sickness. She began to annoy me off and I became sick of the smell and of the fact that she would not let me touch her. I couldn’t tolerate that, so last night I did what a husband is entitled to do and I forced her to have sex with me. I needed it. I know my rights; I am a man, and she is my wife. I did feel a little guilty the morning after, but it didn’t stop me from doing it.
It wasn’t long after this that I began to get weird thoughts, as if a voice in my head was telling me what to do. This I found a little scary. It didn’t help that mother-in-law was always performing her magic tricks, casting spells, lighting candles and making offerings to ghosts. Why? A ghost is a ghost, it is dead and there is nothing anyone can do about that!
The other day I was out hunting wild boar in the woods for dinner, and through a clearing in the dense forest I saw something. It was a woman dressed in white. As I crept closer, I saw it was Firmina. She was standing by an altar, and on the forest floor was a pentagram. She didn’t see me, but it was her, all dressed in white and looking like a ghost, just standing there in a trance. It scared the hell out of me. She was performing magic spells, evil spells; I could feel it in my body and inside my head. There was no way I could let her perform those magic spells on me!
I got myself a black magic book. It was very interesting to read but some spells were quite difficult to perform. It was not the same book Firmina used; she said she didn’t practise black magic.
My mother-in-law thought I had the devil inside me. That’s what she told Maria, but I was hoping she didn’t believe her. Yes, I loved killing animals and people, but I didn’t think this meant I was possessed by the devil.
It was now 1958, and Maria became heavily pregnant and close to giving birth, but I didn’t want to see it, I didn’t want this baby; the only child I wanted was dead.
That morning there was mess everywhere again. Maria was in the bedroom and her mother was there with her, helping with the birth. I could hear everything, but I didn’t want to be there. Later, Firmina came up to me with a baby in her arms. “It was a girl!” she said.
I felt like throwing her in the river. I didn’t want another baby, especially not a girl. I hated her! I left and didn’t even look at my daughter. They gave the baby girl a name. Firmina decided to call her Marina, as this was a magical name. She always decided things like that, always connected with magic. I didn’t care about what they were going to call *it – it would not make any difference to me.
Time was passing fast and again and my anger was becoming harder to control. Marina was following me everywhere. She was growing up fast, which was a good thing for me. It meant that it wouldn’t be long before I could put her to work in the plantation.
I needed strong arms in the farm to help me. Paying other people was not the best idea. My boss had a solution for it, but he would not pay. I had to, and I was not as powerful as he was.
Later that night, after days’ work, Maria said she was pregnant yet again, but this time she could tell it was a boy, because she was not feeling well. She said she felt like she’d done when she was carrying my first boy.
Farms that had male children working on them was a blessing. It meant stronger hands to work more land; but as time went on, I was getting more restless and worried about money.
One night, my boss visited me and offered me a new job. The job involved going to his farm to clean up some mess. I was glad he came over, as I was getting a little bored. My boss told me that a man was flirting with his daughter on her way to school and as a result he deserved a good punishment. I don’t like torturing anyone, clean fast killing is my preference; like killing a chicken, but a job was a job.
That day I remember well. It was the 12th of September. I arrived at the farm and it was quite dusty, the first rains had not arrived yet. I stopped by the main gate and a little boy opened it up for me. I didn’t even need to get off my horse.
My boss was waiting for me outside with a big grin on his face. He was always good to me and always treated me very well. We went into the house and he put me up in one of the guest rooms with a window that had superb views across his land.
I drew in a deep breath as Lorin finished reading the 12th September entry. I suddenly realised that the storm has passed. I didn’t know how long Lorin had been reading for, but I’d been lost in the story contained within the pages of father’s secret blood book.
Storms usually passed as quickly as they came in the Amazon, the heavy rains only lasting five minutes or so, but the amount of rain that was emptied by the heavens within those five minutes was enough for a month.
“Quick, put the book back,” I said, fearing that we might soon be noticed missing. We both left the room and went out into the garden and were shocked to find mother there, crying quietly to herself.
I knew mother did this often. She didn’t like to show any weakness in front of others, preferring to hide her true feelings from everyone. Her children might be grown up, but she still suffered silently in her life of hell.
“Mum, please don’t cry. Look, I’m better now, and we both feel much stronger. We can resolve things ourselves,” I said, saddened at the sight of mum in torment. I gave
her a big hug to try and cheer her up a little.
Maria looked at me, her eyes filled with sadness.
“He is too powerful. He can control everyone, you know that.”
I knew my mother was strong, a real fighter, but she could now see the effect of what her father’s cruelty was doing to me, to them all.
Lorin was right; we had to do something about the situation; but what? I had plenty of thoughts whizzing around my mind, but rationalising them, was a different matter.
Later that month, grandfather died. It was a sad time for all of us, especially me. Grandfather was such a funny character; he used to make me laugh so much, no matter how sad I was.
The only positive thing to come out of grandfather’s death was that after his funeral, grandmother then came to live with us. It was my opportunity to tell her about everything that had happened, including the beating I received, and I did.
Grandmother was furious. “Right, that’s it,” she said, shaking with anger. “He’s gone too far this time. I’m going to teach you some dark spells and voodoo magic, but you both have to promise me that you’ll never use it on anyone just for fun,” she said, waggling her finger at us.
“I promise grandmother,” I said, in unison with Lorin. In reality I was harbouring too much anger and revenge inside to ever keep the promise that I’d made.
“Can we kill someone with voodoo magic?” I asked, looking at Lorin, who confirmed his desire to ask the same question with a nod of his head.
Grandmother looked at us both, her expression serious. “Yes, you can do the death sentence voodoo.”
“Please teach us, just in case we need it. Please grandmother,” I asked.
“Well, I’m not sure you’re ready for that. But I will teach you some basics,” she said. “But not here. We need to find a quiet, private spot, by the edge of the forest.”
We left the house and the three of us wandered along the same path we’d used when hiding in the forest to read the diary, but this time we branched off before the old tree and found a clearing in the forest, close to the river.
“Ok, this will do here,” Grandmother said. “It’s like making a dish, you will need some ingredients,” she said, bending down to clean the forest ground. Once she’d done that, she drew a big pentagram in the earth. “Now pay attention!”
Lorin and I looked on, excited at what grandmother was about to show us.
“We will be working with black magic, so the pentagram needs to be upside down,” she said, opening her shadow book and placing it on the ground. “Come on you two, get closer,” she said.
Lorin and I shuffled closer to the pentagram.
“You will need some possession from the person you want to cast the spell on. Like a piece from their clothing, hair, or anything else that belongs to them. If you want to cast a death sentence, you will need to build a doll,” she said, turning to us and smiling slightly.
We all sat there for a few hours, grandmother showing us some of the spells she knew, and how we should cast them. It was like attending school, only that day, we learnt about the forces of darkness, not maths.
We thanked Grandmother for telling us what she knew and when we got back to the house, mother had made us all tea. She didn’t question where we’d been either, as we were with granny.
I was now feeling much better, having learnt these things. I felt at least we had a chance of finally taking revenge on our father.
The day was passing quickly and we hadn’t have time to get back to the notebook. Moises had been gone for some time now, but I knew he’d be back soon. I could almost sense it.
Later in the evening however, with our father still away, we sat on the bed with grandmother and opened the shocking diary once again, this time grandmother would be listening as well.
CHAPTER 24
Skinned Alive
WITH THE THREE of us snuggled up on the bed together, Lorin started reading from the diary once more.
Early the next morning my boss knocked on my door and told me that we needed to make a plan. Time was passing and the man could get away if he were to find out he was in danger.
Later, I got on my horse and rode close to an old and abandoned school. My boss told me this man used to walk by the old school every day on his way to work.
I rode up to the old building, hid the horse inside and lay in wait, ready to ambush him. It wasn’t long before the man approached, as predicted. I was standing by a tree and he didn’t see me. When he passed in front of me I smashed a piece of wood across his head. I didn’t kill him, as my boss wanted him alive. The man fell to the ground like a sack of flour and I tied him up and put him on the back of my horse. He was such a heavy person.
I rode through the woods, returning to the big house. I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself. Nobody saw me and that was a good thing. I took the man to the abandoned stable and left him there as he was still unconscious. My boss would visit him later to give him the treatment he deserved.
I then went to the big house for something to eat, and I saw my boss’ daughter crying in the kitchen. She reminded me so much of Maria. Damn women are all the same though, crying over everything.
I asked her what was wrong. I was just playing the Good Samaritan and it was fun. She told me her father was planning to do something really bad to a man she knew, but all that the poor man had done was just speak to her, nothing more than that.
As I listened to her, I didn’t know who was right or wrong. I was there doing a job though, so it didn’t matter what she was telling me, but I said to her I would not let him do anything bad, and I promised her. She couldn’t read my mind though. It would be me who was going to take the skin off the man’s body whilst he was still alive.
She hugged me, and said I was a good man. I quite liked it, so I took advantage and I hugged her even tighter. I could smell her innocence, like the smell of a blossoming flower in the early morning after the rain.
The night came quickly, and I and another two men, along with my boss went to the old stable. The man was there on the floor, he was awake, so my boss kicked him, before asking him to look up.
The man’s eyes were red and he didn’t look well. He was in shock and had wet himself as well. My boss laughed out loud. For one second I felt sorry for the poor man, but I had too much anger inside me. I couldn’t let silly emotions take over me.
My boss, with the help of his lacaio, tied up the man’s leg and hanged him upside down. That way I could get my hands on him much easier, like a butcher.
As they were stringing him up, I started sharpening the sniffer knife. I had a good one that I used in my hunting trips. I confess I didn’t like the way the man looked at me, as if he was asking for mercy. But I had no mercy in me, I wasn’t born with it. I was cold blooded, with no remorse and nobody could change that, not even the poor man hanging upside down in front of me.
It was an unforgettable night. When I went to bed I could still hear the screaming of the poor man inside my head. He was crying like a baby, asking for clemency. But I sliced off his skin, from head to toe. I peeled him alive, before finishing him off.
The next day, when I was getting ready to go home, Magdalena, my boss’s daughter was waiting for me outside. She looked beautiful that morning. She gave me some baby clothes, as she knew Maria was pregnant and she thanked me again; that really made me laugh.
My boss gave me 120 white cows for the job. The truck was going to make the delivery to my farm the week coming, as I had to check the fences to make sure everything was secure before the cows arrived.
My boss also gave me some money, so I decided to stop at the cabaret on my way home. I had been away without Maria for a few days and she was pregnant, but I didn’t care.
Close to the Amazon River, a local lady decided to open a whorehouse away from the city as it was against to the law to have one in the town. I found it and tied the horse up outside. Loud laughing and music drifted out into the night. I was quite thirsty,
so I went straight to the bar.
I was tired and asked the owner if I could have a room for the night. She said it was not possible as all the rooms were full. To me, even no meant yes. I would have a room even if I had to kick someone out of it.
I told her I would be staying the night and I walked inside. She didn’t try to stop me. I could hear laughter and talking coming from the bedrooms. The girls were clearly having a lot of fun.
I chose the last room on the left close to the back door as it would make an easy escape for me, should I need to leave in a hurry.
I pushed the door open. A fat man was lying there on the bed with two beautiful girls. He got up fast and shouted at me. I raised my gun and pointed it towards his head. It did the trick and he immediately shut up.
I could not let him leave the bedroom however as I didn’t want anyone disturbing my night, so I tied him to a wooden seat by the bed. I was so tired and took off my clothes and fell into bed along with the two girls.
The following day, before I left, I gave them a lot of money and I asked them to give the fat man, who spent the night tied up in the chair, some love. It was the least I could do; he’d spent all night in such an uncomfortable position; that really made me laugh too.
Daughter of the Forest: Diary of an Assassin Page 12