“We live in a hard world, Kora,” he sighs. “And the biggest problem is that none of us have a choice. You, me and everybody else for that matter, have to follow certain rules. We’re all raised and taught to be what we are. So none of us achieve real freedom. Not you, not me, nor the boy I killed.”
His voice sounds tired and sad. I remain motionless. Although I think about many things I could do, I know I won’t do anything. I’ve been conditioned to be submissive.
“How can one human being own another?” Gabriel wonders. “How can that ever be right? What’s the difference between us, Kora? Do you know the only reason I’m your master and you’re my slave? It’s because I was born into an aristocratic family while you were born amongst garbage pickers. Yet we’re both human beings, aren’t we? So on some level we must be equal and have the same rights to live and do as we please. Yet you’re just a thing I own. Doesn’t it seem wrong to you?”
He pauses, waiting for my answer. I can’t say anything. I feel like I’ve lost my voice.
“Everything is wrong,” he continues bitterly. “And nobody seems to notice. People just go through their daily lives, doing whatever they’ve been trained to do, not thinking, not wondering. And they’re all too stupid or blind to realize the wrongness of it all.”
I watch him carefully, scared to move. I wonder why he brought me here. What does he want from me? Just to talk? No, I don’t think so. He must have something else on his mind.
“My father is the high master,” Gabriel sighs. “And one day I’ll have to take his place. It’s unavoidable because I must follow a set of rules like everybody else and do what others expect. And nobody ever cares what I really want. Would you like to know why it’s a bad idea for me to become the high master?”
I remain quiet. I can hardly breathe, let alone speak.
“I kill people, Kora,” he says flatly. “I’m not really proud of the fact but I can’t help myself. Killing is just so easy. That’s the biggest problem with committing a murder, you know, is that it’s so damn simple.”
He leans forward and gently touches my face. I don’t move.
“Have you ever done it, Kora? Have you ever killed anybody?”
I shake my head no.
“I wish you had,” Gabriel says, looking disappointed. “You’d be able to understand me better then. How am I to explain to you that human life, supposedly the most precious thing in the world, is really worth nothing? It takes years of caring and teaching and nursing to raise a human being and yet I can undo all this effort within seconds.”
The blood seems to freeze in my veins. I realize where this conversation is leading.
“Do you understand me or not?” He glares at me.
I open my mouth to speak, close it and open it again. The words get stuck in my throat. Gabriel pierces me with an icy stare. A sneer spreads slowly across his face.
“You brainless piece of trash,” he says calmly. “Why did I bother bringing you here if you can’t even speak? If you’re the same as everybody else and have no thoughts of your own.”
He grabs the bottle of wine and smashes it against a wall. I shudder, startled, causing him to smile.
“You do realize how easily I could kill you, don’t you?” he asks, rising from his seat.
I look up at him, thinking for a split second about running for the door. But I remain still.
“Stand up,” Gabriel orders, and I get to my feet. “Kneel down,” he commands.
I obey.
He unholsters his gun and presses the barrel between my eyes.
“You’ll do anything I say without question, won’t you?” he laughs gently. “I wonder whether I can blame you for what you are, Kora. I guess it’s not your fault that you’ve been trained to be so brainless. But you can’t blame me for what I am either. Because I can’t help being what I am.”
I stop breathing. Gabriel smiles, his thoughtful sharp eyes locked onto mine. I can’t look away. I feel like a rabbit being mesmerized by a snake. It seems I have no free will left in me. But even in my half-paralyzed state, part of me is still searching for a solution. I imagine slapping the gun away from my head and charging into him. I think about clawing and kicking him.
But I remain frozen. Sixteen years of obedience overpower any desire to resist.
Gabriel scowls, saying, “I’ve never liked firearms. They’re too loud and messy.”
He lowers the gun from my head and places it on the table. He then slaps my face so hard that I fall backward. I let out a miserable startled cry. I’ve never been hit like that before.
“Don’t do it, Kora,” Gabriel winces. “Please don’t cry. It hurts me more than it hurts you. Trust me.”
He gets on top of me, sitting on my stomach, crushing me with his weight. I squirm, trying to crawl away, and he slaps me again.
“Don’t move!”
I freeze. He pulls a knife and touches my cheek with the long steel blade. I close my eyes for a moment, feeling my heart pulsate in my throat. When I open my eyes again, he’s grinning.
“No, I don’t think I should really do this to you,” he says, obviously enjoying my fear. “What’s the point of ruining your face, when there’s not much to ruin anyway? Carving up faces only works on beautiful people.”
He puts the knife away and wraps his hands tightly around my neck. I gasp and choke, losing my vision. I fling
