Animal 4.5

by K'wan

  There was a soft knock on the door tearing Lilith’s eyes away from the monitor. “Enter,” she called out. A few seconds later in walked Ophelia.

  Of all her children, Ophelia was the least troublesome. She was obedient, intelligent, and lethal. She loved Ophelia just as much, if not more, than she loved her sons even though Ophelia had not come from her womb. She had come into possession of the girl over a decade earlier in a small town in the Midwest. She was a child prostitute owned by some low level pimps. They had quite a few girls and boys in their stable but Ophelia stood out to Lilith because of her eyes. They were the saddest emptiest eyes she had ever seen on a living person. The girl seemed somewhat dimwitted, and rarely spoke unless she was ordered to. What the pimps did wasn’t Lilith’s business. She was there for the sole purpose of recruiting several girls to use as mules, but she couldn’t get her mind off the girl. Lilith was no angel, but she was no monster either. The thought of girls barely into their teens forced to perform sex acts for money sickened her and against her better judgment, she decided to intervene on behalf of the children. Several days after Lilith’s visit, the pimp’s bodies were discovered in the rundown motel they forced the girls to turn tricks out of. Lilith did what she could to reunite most of the girls with their families, but the one with the sad eyes she kept for herself. She would raise her as the daughter she never had and mold her in her own image. In addition to a new life, Lilith also gave her a new name, Ophelia, after the character in Hamlet.

  “Mother, your guests are here. They’re waiting downstairs in the living room,” Ophelia said in her soft voice.

  “Thank you, I’ll be right down,” Lilith told her. She was about to dismiss Ophelia when she noticed that instead of her normal robes or long dresses, she was wearing jeans and boots. “Did you go out?”

  “Yes, I was doing recon on our enemies,” Ophelia said with her eyes lowered.

  Lilith rose and crossed the room to stand before her daughter. She lifted her chin and forced Ophelia to look her in the eyes. “Where did you really go?” she asked, knowing immediately that her daughter was lying.

  “I went to do what is required of me for the betterment of the Brotherhood and kill our enemies,” Ophelia admitted.

  This surprised Lilith. Ophelia was usually very obedient and hardly ever acted without her mother’s approval, so it was interesting to hear that she had ventured out on her own. “And were you successful in your mission?”

  “No,” Ophelia said shamefully.

  Lilith backhanded the girl with so much force that she bounced off the far wall of the room. In one long stride, she closed the distance between them and gripped Ophelia’s face in her hand. “What is the penalty for failure, my child?”

  “Stop it, Mother! You’re hurting me!” Ophelia whimpered. Lilith’s grip was so strong that she feared her mother would crush her jaws.

  “Pain is a part of life. It was one of the first lessons I taught you when I rescued you from your slavers. Now answer my question!” Lilith commanded, applying more pressure.

  “The penalty for failure is death!” Ophelia screamed.

  “Then tell me, why is it that those you were hunting still have their lives but you stand before me about to lose yours?” Lilith demanded.

  “His face!”

  Lilith released her daughter from her grip. “What do you mean?”

  “His face,” Ophelia repeated, massaging her jaw. “I’ve seen it before, sometimes in my dreams. I feel like I should know him from my past, but I’m unsure. Everything prior to you adopting me has become foggy. Even during my meditations I can’t seem to penetrate the veil and see into my past.”

  Lilith knew that this was due to her reconditioning. In addition to training Lilith to be a skilled fighter, Nicodemus had also bestowed upon her his knowledge of potions and poisons. During Lilith’s early days with Ophelia she kept the girl heavily drugged, in part to numb the pain and help her forget what she’d suffered through, but also so that she would be easy to manipulate.

  “Did he say anything to you?” Lilith asked. Ophelia remained silent.

  “It’s okay to tell me. I won’t get angry with you again,” Lilith said sincerely.

  “He said that we were family.”

  “Your enemies will often try and confuse or mislead you with tricks and lies. This is why we have to be as strong of mind as we are of body,” Lilith explained.

  “Yes, I know, but this didn’t feel like a lie. He seemed to truly believe what he was saying. Mother, you have always been honest with me when I ask you questions about my past, and I beg of you to be honest with me now. Is this man my brother?”

  Lilith had been dreading this day since Animal and his crew came into the picture. She had known all along that Ophelia was speaking about Ashanti. When she found out he was one of the young men loyal to Animal’s cause she feared it would present a problem with Ophelia, which is why Lilith had tried to keep their paths from crossing. Ophelia was bound securely to Lilith, but there was no telling what kind of damage Ashanti could do to her hold over the young girl. Lilith thought of lying to Ophelia and dismissing Ashanti’s claim, but she knew the girl would keep digging until she found out the truth, so Lilith gave Ophelia her own variation of it.

  “Yes, he is your brother, but he is not your family,” Lilith began. “In the beginning I sought to reunite you with your family as I had done with the other girls. I found them in New York City, your parents and two other children, one of which being this Ashanti. Your father was a man of great wealth and had your family living in a big house. I thought they would be happy to be reunited with their lost daughter after so long, but they were not. They had a new baby, a girl, who filled the void you had left. As far as they were concerned you were really dead to them.” It was a cruel, but necessary twist to her tale.

  Ophelia broke down in tears when she heard this. It was the first time Lilith could remember seeing her cry since their first nights together.

  Lilith hugged Ophelia to her. “I wanted to tell you, truly I did, but I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “How could they? Am I that flawed and wretched that even my own parents can cast me away like trash?” Ophelia sobbed. “Nonsense, child. You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. You are my Belladonna…my Nightshade,” she called her by her Brotherhood moniker. “You cannot punish yourself for the things your parents did. They are fools for casting you away, but I am not. Just know that regardless of what has happened and what will happen, that I love you more than anything and will never leave you like they did,” she wiped the tears from Ophelia’s eyes.

  “I hate them,” Ophelia croaked. “I hate them all for abandoning me and I will make them pay.”

  “Of this I am sure, my child,” Lilith beamed. “Now compose yourself and get dressed. I can’t have my guest see my favorite flower wilting.”

  *

  Ten minutes later, Lilith had changed into something more fitting of receiving guests, a pantsuit and flat shoes, and was making her way down the spiral staircase into the living room. Following closely behind her was Ophelia. She had traded her jeans and boots for a one-piece camouflage body suit and thigh high green boots. Covering her face was a mask, similar to those worn by Tiger Lily and the Black Lotus. Carved in the center was a replica of a nightshade plant painted in green and gold.

  There were four men in the living room, including Lilith’s son Peter and two of his minions. When the guests spotted them, they all stood as a sign of respect, except Peter. He sat on the couch, picking under his fingernails. As usual, he wore fatigues and heavy boots. His head was shaved close to his skin, showing off the two devil horns tattooed on either side. They made him look like every bit the evil demon that he was.

  This was the first time she had seen him since he’d gotten back from California and she had some choice words for him that would have to wait until after her meeting.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen,” Lilith said
apologetically.

  “No worries, your son Peter has been keeping us entertained,” K-Dawg said, taking Lilith’s hand and kissing the back of it.

  “Is that right?” Lilith raised her eyebrow and looked to Peter.

  “Yeah, I was just telling K-Dawg some old war stories,” Peter said with a smug grin on his face.

  Lilith wanted to slap him, but she held her composure. “Where’s your ever present shadow?” she asked K-Dawg. She was speaking of Justice.

  “He had some other things to attend to, but sends his apologies for not being able to come,” K-Dawg lied. In truth, he wasn’t sure how Justice would react to being in the same room with the woman responsible for ordering his niece and nephew kidnapped, and the man who had murdered his sister- in-law. Though Justice claimed to be done with Animal, K- Dawg had a hard time believing him. He knew how close Justice and Animal were while growing up, and love like that didn’t die easily, even if it was for someone who tried to kill you.

  “A pity,” Lilith said as if she gave a shit.

  “Speaking of missing persons, where has that beautiful daughter of yours gotten off to? She and I were having such an interesting conversation about history,” K-Dawg said slyly.

  From the minute, he walked in the house and saw her; he knew who she was. K-Dawg had come up in the same hood as Ashanti and Animal, so he had known Angela since she was a kid. Everybody had always assumed she was dead, so it came as quite a shock when she answered Lilith’s front door. What K-Dawg couldn’t seem to figure out was how she ended up with Lilith, and didn’t seem to have any memories of him or who she was.

  “I’m afraid she too had other things to attend to,” Lilith replied. “But enough small talk, how are things progressing? Is Shai with us?”

  “Grudgingly, yes,” K-Dawg confirmed. “He’s just a little unnerved by the small hiccup in the road we’ve run into.”

  “You call a man murdering several of my people, costing me untold sums of money, and kidnapping my favorite son a hiccup?” From the corner of her eye, she saw Peter flinch when she called George her favorite. She had said it to insult him.

  “No, I would never try and downplay such a tragedy. Kidnapping is a nasty business, but I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that do I? On another note, everything in Puerto Rico went smoothly. The Red Widow should arrive sometime tonight with the cargo you requested. I trust the messenger got the package to you safely?”

  “Package?” Lilith was confused.

  “I had one of your runners deliver the documents you requested from your vault at the compound along with the shipping manifest for tonight. Didn’t you get it?”

  Lilith looked to Ophelia.

  “About twenty minutes ago, one of our sources on the police force informed me that one of our runners had committed suicide. He jumped out the window of a place called Original Sin,” she informed her.

  Lilith shook her head. “I’m disappointed with you, Nightshade,” she used Ophelia’s codename so as not to reveal her in front of K-Dawg. “Information such as this should have been brought to my attention immediately.”

  “I’d intended to, but we got…sidetracked. I didn’t know what the runner was carrying; only that he was one of ours.”

  “Did the source say whether the police had recovered the package or not?” Lilith asked hopefully.

  Nightshade shook her head. “No, the only thing they found at the scene was Luther Graham’s body. Also, the runner wasn’t the only casualty. Several other people were also found dead on the scene.”

  “Did they jump out of windows too?” Lilith asked sarcastically.

  “No, they were shot.”

  “Just what we need, another crew poking their noses where they don’t belong,” Peter added.

  “This wasn’t a crew. According to the source this was all done by one man,” Nightshade revealed.

  “That’s bullshit,” Peter capped. “I’ve been to Original Sin and their security is tight. There is no way that one man could’ve done all that and escaped with his life.”

  “Unless it wasn’t a man at all, but an animal,” K-Dawg added. “I warned you against poking your stick in that cage, Lilith. With all due respect, Animal is a headache that none of us want right now.”

  “He’s also a headache that we wouldn’t have if my orders had been followed.” Lilith cut her eyes at Peter, who was no longer smiling. The realization of what kind of monster he’d brought down on their heads was finally starting to set in. “If Animal has gotten ahold of that package it could present a set of unforeseen circumstances that could compromise our plans.” Lilith began pacing the room. She was a ball of rage and needed to walk the anger out before she struck someone in the room. “That parcel contained some very sensitive information, Information that could tear out the foundation of everything I’ve worked so hard to build. I can’t have that.” She was thinking of the sheet of notebook paper. The documents naming her a shareholder in NYAK were important, but replaceable. It was the information on the notebook paper that was priceless. It was the only copy of it she owned and the chemist who had drafted it was dead.

  “I’ll make some phone calls and get in the streets and see if they’re talking. In the meantime, I suggest you beef up security around this place. Once Animal tastes blood, he’ll keep drinking until he’s had his fill and then some,” K-Dawg warned.

  “Thank you for your concern. Peter, please see our guest out,” Lilith dismissed him.

  Peter rose and walked K-Dawg to the front door. The two men exchanged hushed words before K-Dawg left and went to his car. When Peter closed the door, he was surprised when he turned around and found his mother standing directly behind him. He opened his mouth to say something and she slapped him so hard that his lip split and blood trickled down his chin.

  “Stupid, stupid boy! Do you see what you’ve done?” Lilith snarled, raining spittle in his face.

  “All I did was follow your orders, Mother,” Peter said, wiping his mouth.

  “My orders were for you to bring Celeste to me, not storm into a man’s home and rape and murder his wife!” Lilith shouted back. “Animal will come for any and all responsible for this. If he hurts my George because of what you’ve done, you will answer for it.”

  “Relax Mother. So long as we’ve still got his kids, we’ve got the upper hand. I’ll bet if we send start sending him little fingers and toes in the mail he’ll back off,” Peter said smugly.

  Lilith grabbed him by the throat and lifted Peter from his feet. For an older woman, she was surprisingly strong. “If you lay one hand on those children, either of them, you won’t have to worry about Animal because I’ll kill you myself, do you understand?” He nodded and she let him go. “Children are innocent and I will not punish them for the sins of their parents. We are soldiers, not savages. You’ve opened Pandora’s Box and I expect you to close it.”

  “I’ll go into the city and track down this Animal personally,” Peter vowed.

  “You’ll do nothing, but ready your men and await further orders,” Lilith told him.

  “As you wish, Mother,” Peter said, feeling slighted. He knew he had fucked up and trying to plead his case further was not only pointless, but potentially dangerous. He had seen his mother in murderous rages before and wanted no parts of it. He motioned to his two minions that it was time for them to go, but Lilith stopped them.

  “Tell me, which of these men is your best soldier?” Lilith asked.

  “That would be Angel,” Peter said. A man with long black hair and wearing similar fatigues as Peter’s stepped forward. “I have been in over a dozen firefights with him and he has never faltered. He is hands down the best man in my unit.”

  “Is that right?” Lilith regarded Angel. Though he was frightened of the woman, he did his best to look brave. Unexpectedly, Lilith tapped his chest with the tips of her fingers in a complex pattern. “You have roughly twenty seconds left to live, Angel. Use them wisely,” she turned and headed back towards t
he steps leaving Peter and his men standing there in wide-eyed shock. Nightshade fell in step behind her.

  “Shall I go out in search of Animal and retrieve the package?” Nightshade asked as they ascended the stairs.

  “No, I need you with me. I’m hopeful that Animal will be so focused on trying to use the NYAK documents against me that he’ll overlook the real prize. We’ll continue according to plan for now. But to be on the safe side I want extra eyes on the port. I want to know the minute the Red Widow and my cargo arrives, do you understand?”

  “Yes, Mother. I won’t fail you again,” she promised and went off to do Tiger Lily’s bidding.

  “For your sake, I hope not,” Lilith said to the space her daughter had occupied a few seconds prior. As she was continuing up the stairs, she heard something heavy hit the floor in the living room. For the first time that night, Lilith smiled.

  CHAPTER 13

  Raffa Kahn sat behind his desk in the corner office of the accounting firm he’d co-founded, stroking his thick black goatee as he often did when he was deep in thought. Behind him, a large glass window took up almost the entire wall. On clear nights, he had a picturesque view of downtown Washington, D.C. Sometimes he would stand in the window, looking out at the city and pinch himself just to remind himself that it was real. Sometimes, it was hard to tell one reality from another when you walked in two worlds. As far as the government was concerned, Kahn was an overpriced accountant who handled accounts for some of the largest companies in the eastern United States, but those who really knew him knew that what he made as an accountant was a drop in the bucket when weighed against the type of money he collected at his real job. All in all, no matter which life you looked at, he had done extremely well for a kid who had vanished from the world at the tender age of fourteen.

  Kahn was a man who was no stranger to the triumphs and tragedies of life. In fact, it had been the tragedies suffered throughout his life that drove him to be more than what society had expected. He’d gone from a dirt poor kid, stealing and selling drugs in the streets of Cuba, to a man of stature and power, who had amassed more wealth than he ever thought possible. Everything he had, he had worked incredibly hard for, no handouts or assistance. He was self-made and prided himself on that more than anything. Kahn had learned from an early age that when opportunity knocked you didn’t just open the door, you pulled it inside and held it hostage. This is what he did nearly twenty years prior when a stolen necklace would forever change his life.