The Social Media Murder Corp

by Stephen Signorelli

“I was your favorite, and you beat me nearly to death and left me to die in an alleyway alone and unloved. I was your favorite, and yet you forced me to do unspeakable sexual things with perverts, sadists, and all sorts of human filth. I was your favorite, but you always called me bitch, or whore, or slut. You told me I was worthless, I was unimportant, that I had no value as a human being. You sold me by the hour like an inanimate object, but I was your favorite.”

  “Genesis, no, you don’t understand!”

  Genesis leaned in to Giancarlo close.

  “You are right, I am a woman of God, and every night I prayed for not only my deliverance but for the deliverance of everyone in that brothel, including YOU, Giancarlo. I prayed for God to forgive you, even as I was beaten, even as I was violated, I forgave you.”

  Giancarlo’s eyes went wide.

  “Genesis, I, I mean-“

  Genesis leaned forward and kissed Giancarlo on the forehead.

  “I forgive you Giancarlo,” she smiled.

  Giancarlo started to shake.

  “Thank you, oh merciful God and the Virgin Mary thank you!” he cried.

  Genesis turned and took a step away from Giancarlo. With her back to him she glanced down at the machete in her hand.

  “Unfortunately,” she said softly, “the child I am carrying does NOT forgive you.”

  “What?” Giancarlo asked.

  Genesis turned suddenly, the machete held out at arm’s length. She spun with all her might and plunged the machete into Giancarlo’s throat, decapitating him with one fluid motion.

  “Balance is achieved,” Stepan noted.

  Genesis awoke to the sound of birds and the smell of lilacs, the sunshine warming her skin. She rolled over in the bed and looked out her window. The last 24 hours had been a whirlwind of emotion, her entire world had be shaken apart. So many revelations, so many changes. She stood up and yawned. She held her arms over her head and stretched to wake her muscles up. She put her hands on her stomach and smiled. There was no baby bump yet, but there would be, soon enough.

  She stepped into the bathroom and, after a short shower, she put on her usual sweatpants outfit and headed to the kitchen. Upon arriving, she found everything stored away, the fridge empty. Frowning, she suddenly remembered Stepan’s words from the night before: they were leaving.

  Frantic, Genesis rushed out to the courtyard of the front of the house. There she saw a sedan, engine running, door open, with Yuki behind the wheel and Stepan leaning against the trunk.

  “I thought you left me,” Genesis said.

  “I would not do that,” Stepan stated.

  “So what now? How does this play out?” Genesis asked.

  Stepan reached into the car and pulled out a Nike gym bag, placing it on the ground he began to speak.

  “This is the truth: I live a life of extreme danger, of extreme destruction. I have no moral compass. I do not sympathize, I do not empathize. I do what I deem necessary to maintain balance in my life and in my world. This is how I live, it is how Yuki lives, and if you come with us, this is a life YOU will HAVE to learn to live.”

  Stepan pointed to the front gate of the house.

  “Beyond that gate, out there, is a world you and most of the planet does not know exists. It is a world of murderers and mafias, of smugglers and hit men. Terrorists and freedom fighters exist side by side and are impossible to tell apart. We ALL live by a code, an honor system. We may try and destroy one another, but we are ALL family, and we do not suffer the musings of outsiders. We have the power to destroy nations, or build monuments. We do as we please. We are forces of nature and we cannot be stopped.”

  Stepan pointed at the gym bag.

  “In that bag is a plane ticket to Miami. It also contains a passport with your new name and identity, and two thousand dollars in US currency. You will have a functioning American social security number, a verifiable college degree from Yale, and a health insurance id card. Also inside that bag is a Blackberry cellular phone and an ATM card with access to a bank account. Should you choose not to come with us, Yuki will deposit one million American dollars in the account and you will never see us again. You can do whatever you want, be whoever you want, and raise your child in peace.”

  Stepan folded his arms.

  “Or, you can come with us, and live a life you have never dared dream.”

  Genesis looked at the bag and imagined her life in the US. She imagined all the things she could do, and all the comforts and advantages she could give her unborn child. She would never want for a thing, and she would live to be an old woman and have many grandchildren and sit on a porch and drink tea. It was all just a few feet away, ready for her to pick up off the ground and take.

  “Fuck it,” she said as she walked past the bag, kicking it with her foot. She got into the backseat of the car and smiled.

  Stepan reached down and picked up the bag. Smiling, he sat next to Genesis and closed the door. The car pulled out onto the road and began the long drive to the private air field.

  Cambodia

  The hot sun of Cambodia beat down upon Genesis’s body as she closed her eyes and let the breeze kiss her face. She felt something at her feet and looked down, to see one of the many kittens that lived in the house rubbing against her feet. Genesis smiled as the kitten purred and chased after a beetle. She was dressed is a small sundress, simple sandals on her feet. Before arriving she had never even hear of Cambodia, now she was in total love with it.

  The estate was an hour from the capital, in a small rural area with no neighbors. It sat on 200 acres with many fruit trees dotting its acreage. The house itself was in an old French Colonial style, painted white, with an orange roof. In the backyard was a pool, hot tub, and patio area. Solar powered lights glowed at night around the house, illuminating the many pathways on the property.

  Behind the house was another building that Genesis had yet to enter. Stepan told her when the time was right, he would show her. He had gradually began to open up more and more to Genesis. She knew now he was born into extreme poverty, that he had started working for the Russian mafia at the age of 10, and had risen through their ranks. He spoke Czech, Spanish, English, Russian, and Latin.

  “Mistress, we are all ready for you,” Yuki announced as she stepped out on the porch.

  Genesis smiled and nodded. She was getting her first ultrasound, for the first time she would be able to see her unborn child. She happily walked into the house, ready to see her child.

  “Now this may feel cold or strange Mistress, but do not worry, it is perfectly ok,” Yuki reassured her.

  Genesis smiled.

  “Oh I wouldn’t care of it hurt like fire, I want to see my child,” she laughed.

  Stepan stepped into the room without making a sound.

  “Am I too late for the big reveal?” he asked.

  “You are just in time,” Genesis said happily.

  “Oh good, I am actually looking forward to this,” he said with a small smile.

  Yuki ran the paddles over Genesis’s belly as the machine did its work. The monitor slowly began to reveal inside Genesis’s womb, and for the first time she saw her unborn child.

  Both of them.

  “Twins!” Yuki said with a gasp.

  “What?” Genesis said, her eyes wide with surprise.

  “Mistress, there are TWO children inside you!” Yuki exclaimed.

  “Well I’ll be damned, look at that,” Stepan said as he peered at the monitor.

  “How is this possible? There is only one heartbeat!” Genesis said with a growing sense of dread,

  Stepan studied the ultrasound image for a bit.

  “Their hearts are beating in unison, they are synchronized perfectly. That, well that is rather amazing actually,” he said with a hint of surprise.

  “Ah yes, that is why we didn’t detect the two of them,” Yuki nodded.

  “Twins, God thank you, I am having twins!” Genesis said with tears in her eyes.

  Stepan
studied the image closer.

  “They are-, Yuki look at them, look there!” Stepan stated.

  Yuki peered in close to the image.

  “Mistress, they are holding hands!” she said with delight.

  “What? How is that possible?” Genesis asked.

  “I have heard of this before,” Stepan stated, “of ultrasound images showing twin fetus’s holding hands, sucking their thumbs and so forth. It means they have a very strong bond already.”

  “Mistress this is a very blessed thing,” Yuki said with a smile.

  “One more thing,” Stepan said with a grin, “they are girls. You are having twin girls.”

  Genesis broke down in tears.

  “Twin girls, God has blessed me so much. I don’t deserve these two miracles inside of me,” she cried in joy.

  “Children are a blessing, twins especially. They will always share a unique bond, they will always have each other,” Yuki proclaimed.

  “Your continued care is at a point where we will employ a specialist. I will arrange one to stay with us, along with a mid-wife, until the twins are delivered,” Stepan stated.

  “You have already done so much for me,” Genesis said, “and you continue to do more.”

  “This is what family does,” Stepan said as he walked out of the room.

  “Family,” Genesis said softly.

  The tears began to flow again.

  The weeks went by at a leisurely pace, Genesis was now in her 6th month, he belly swollen with her two girls. The attending physician declared her and her children healthy, indeed he remarked on the strength and synchronization of the girl’s heartbeats, proclaiming he had never seen this before.

  Genesis sat in the garden, three kittens playfully pouncing at her feet, as she read “The Old man and the Sea”. It was another hot but pleasant day in Cambodia, and she had fallen into a routine of enjoying her time here.

  Whatever Stepan did for a living, he seemed not to be doing much of it since they arrived 6 months ago. Unless he was working from his office, she just assumed he only did his ‘thing’ when the situation arose. She had pondered on the nature of his ‘work’ and decided that the best course of action was to not think about it.

  It was while reading in the garden that Stepan took a seat across from her on an oversized rattan chair.

  “Have you given any thought as to names?” he asked.

  Genesis smiled, not expecting a question like this from him.

  “I had one name in mind, my grandmother’s name, Marcela. But I wasn’t ready for a second name, so I cannot think of one.”

  “I am sure one will come to you,” Stepan replied.

  Genesis laughed.

  “I was thinking maybe I should not name them and just let them name each other.”

  “Oh, who knows what sort of silly names two girls would come up with,” Stepan laughed.

  “When I was young, my mother had a nickname for me, she hardly ever called me by my real name, only when she was mad at me, and the rest of the time she called me by the nickname she gave me.”

  “What nickname did she give you?” Stepan asked.

  “Terror. She called me ‘Terror’ because I was always getting into trouble around the house and chasing all the chickens and goats.”

  “I like that, ‘terror’, somehow it suits you.”

  “Did you have a nickname when you were a child?” Genesis asked.

  Stepan smiled as he answered.

  “We lived in a panelak, which was an old horribly constructed type of pre-fabricated concrete apartment block that had no humanity or warmth whatsoever. Such was socialism in those days as it is now, soulless. Anyway, I used to chase after all the other children in the playground and at school. Only my father’s good standing in the Party kept me from being expelled. My mother called me her ‘mayhem’, though she did say it with a degree of warmth.”

  Genesis laughed.

  “Mayhem and Terror, and what she we name Yuki? Damage?”

  Stepan laughed.

  “That seems appropriate,” he chuckled.

  Genesis sighed, she had been meaning to ask Stepan something, and she figured now was a good a time as any.

  “Can I ask you a favor? I know I have no right to ask you for anything considering all that you have done for me already, but-“

  Stepan cut her off.

  “We are family, ask what you wish,” he stated.

  “I need to know, for certain, who their father is.”

  “With a name, I can find anything. But be sure, at least as close as you can get to 100% of the name before I do what I need to do to find out.”

  Genesis sighed.

  “The men, the ones Giancarlo gave me to, they did terrible things to me. But there was one man, one man who planted his seed in me last before I discovered I was pregnant.”

  “A name?” Stepan asked.

  “Jacob. I don’t know his surname. He was a missionary in the city, about 45, bald head, grey goatee. Freckles. Dark brown eyes. He has a tattoo that says ‘John 3:16’ on his left shoulder, in green.”

  “How do you know he is a missionary?”

  “He brought his Bible with him when he came to me. He talked a lot as he fucked me, about his wife, his kids, his mission work. He damned them as he fucked me, he got off on it.”

  “That’s all I need to know. When I find him, how do you want him dealt with?”

  “I just want to confirm he is their father. But for his transgressions, he needs to be ruined. Not hurt, ruined.”

  Stepan stood up.

  “I will take care of this,” he stated, “we will know soon.”

  La Ceiba, Honduras.

  Jacob Howard drank a cold bottle of water in the hot, sweltering Honduran sun. He had just finished digging another ditch for the hospital his Church was building here in La Ceiba, and he was tired.

  Not just physically tired, he was emotionally and spiritually tired. He had ‘found’ Jesus at the age of 5, and had been involved in doing the work of the Lord ever since. Christian High School, Bible College, and then straight into some of the worst 3rd world hell holes on the planet, building communities of Christ, spreading fellowship, and doing whatever it was his church required of him at any given time. Along the way he met a young woman named Cassie, a woman even more devout to Christ than himself, and he married her.

  That was the beginning of his spiritual breakdown. At first he found Cassie’s devotion to God inspiring, and he fed off it. But as their marriage continued, and children were born, Jacob began to find Cassie’s devotion a bit too fanatical and zealous. Everything was a sin to Cassie. Singing, unless it was praising God, was a sin. Public displays of affection, even amongst married couples, was a sin. Alcohol, despite Jesus’s habit of turning water into wine, was a sin. Any form of media that wasn’t God-centered was a sin.

  Sex outside of marriage was an instant one way trip Hell, and Cassie made sure her children, especially their daughters, knew it. To Cassie, women were cursed because of Eve’s transgression in tempting Adam. To her, all women were capable of wickedness and harbored lust and depravity in their hearts that had to be fought every day by prayer, praising God, and physical labor. Cassie told her daughters, when they got their first period, that menstruation was punishment from God for women’s lustful and immoral sexual desires. Cassie instructed her daughters to never touch themselves directly ‘down there’, even when showering, as it was a path to sexual temptation and, ultimately, to hell.

  Despite all this, Cassie and Jacob had 4 children, which was quite an accomplishment for a woman who viewed sex as a “necessary tool” to fulfil God’s commandment to go forth and multiply.

  Cassie made sure their 4 children were never far from her sight. They could not go anywhere or do anything without her knowing or being involved. She had total access to their rooms at all times, and only the two daughters were allowed any sort of online presence and then only because Cassie approved or disapproved every post,
every picture, every thought.

  She homeschooled the children, which consisted of reading the Bible and listening to Cassie tell them they were all going to go to hell for one reason or another, unless they praised God 24 hours a day. They worked in the various projects the family did for the church, cleaning or helping tend to the poor who would visit the church’s clinic or shelter.

  It was because of all this that Jacob threw his marriage vows out the window and started to see prostitutes whenever he could. Starting during their time in Mexico, Jacob would make excuses to go for ‘supplies’ for the church and would use that time to get laid, a lot.

  Cassie had no idea, and if she did, she hid it well. Jacob never meant to stray so far from his faith, but he was weak, and his wife pushed too much. Everything had to be about the Church, God, Jesus, and nothing else. Outwardly, they appeared to be the ideal Christian missionary family, always laughing and smiling, so full of togetherness and love. Inwardly, the entire family was a sham.

  Cassie was devout and fanatical about her faith beyond words. Everything that was done, that was felt, that was thought, had to be about spreading the Gospel of Jesus. There was no room for anything unless it had something to do with her faith. Cassie was pushy, she was aggressive, and she would manipulate situations to further the work of the Lord. She played nice with people whose faith and devotion was not as strong as her own, but in private she complained about them, calling them weak, and dismissing them as unworthy. To her, the people of the countries they missioned in were like children who could not think for themselves. Everyone single one of them, she believed, needed a strong Christian hand to correct their lives. Every parent was a failure, every child was sinful, everyone needed her to save them, this is what Cassie believed.

  Only Cassie could save them from their wicked ways, only Cassie could lead them to Jesus Christ, which was the ONLY path to salvation. Only Cassie had the right to interfere in people’s lives, because she was a Christian woman doing God’s work and nothing else mattered.

  As expected, her children were a mess. Her daughters had ran smack into puberty like a NASCAR racecar hitting a brick wall at Daytona. As their hormones raged, they began to question the whole “God” thing, at first silently to themselves, then slowly out loud, in subtle hints and whispers.