by Shana Vernon
“Tony Tony Tony. There are a few reasons why I brought you here tonight.” I started, picking up a wickedly sharp knife and testing the tip.
He was mute, his eyes fixated on the blade, a bead of sweat dripping down his temple.
I winked at him and put it back down. “Don’t worry, we aren’t up to that just yet. Let’s see how well you cooperate first, shall we?”
He seemed to gain a bit of self-assurance and glared up at me. “I don’t need to tell you shit. You are a dead woman, you know that?”
I pointedly looked between him strapped to the chair and me standing over him. “I really don’t think so, darling. I think you are about to die a very painful death. It can either go quickly and mildly painful, or it can be drawn out and excruciating. Though to be honest, even the quick option is really going to suck. You see, I’m feeling a little vengeful right now.”
“What the fuck does that have to do with me? I don’t know you.”
“You are right, you don’t know me. I do, however, know you and I know about the innocent people you have tortured and killed.”
I paused, letting that bit of information settle in.
He paled slightly. Bingo.
“You are going to know what it feels like to be on the other side, the side where you try to fight and escape, but all hope is eventually lost.”
“Look, why don’t you untie me, and we can just forget about all of this? There are people who are going to look for me, and believe me when I tell you, you don’t want them on your bad side. It won’t end well for you.” His trembling voice betrayed the false confidence he was attempting to exude.
“Are you referring to the Benefactor?” I asked smugly.
His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
“Oh yeah, I know all about the Benefactor and what you have been instructed to do.” I focused my anger and rage and crafted a new weapon into my hands, watching as his normally dark skin lightened even further. “So here is how it’s going to go.” I brandished my light whip with a loud crack.
Goodbye katana, hello light whip.
“You are going to tell me any information you have about the hybrids and you are also going to tell me who else was involved in the capture and torture of Alexei Turgenov.”
“You aren’t getting jack shit from me, so just give it up and let me g-”
I cracked the whip against his arm, and blood immediately poured out of the open wound along with the scent of charred skin. I looked at the whip appreciatively.
Pssh, effective.
He blew out a string of unintelligible curses and squeezed his eyes shut, his shirt quickly becoming drenched in his blood. I approached him and placed my hand not holding the whip over his wound, urging my warm, rose-colored gift to heal his injury.
His eyes reopened as the blood ceased, his skin stitching itself together.
“You are going to regret that,” he said, heavily enunciating each word as he spoke.
“Let’s try this again. Tell me everything you know about the hybrids and who was involved in the capture and torture of Alexei Turgenov.”
He spat at me and I dodged the projectile before bringing my arm up and slashing him across the face. He let out a high-pitched scream and a tear ran down his cheek, getting mixed with the blood oozing out of the new gash.
His drew in rasping breaths and bit his lip, attempting not to show how much he hurt.
I exhaled, grabbing his face, and healing him. “Let’s try this again. Tell me —”
“You don’t need to fucking say the same thing again and again. I heard you. That doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you shit,” he screamed.
My anger rose to wrathful levels and I whipped my weapon through the air, lashing him again and again, losing total control until I heard him howling in agony and pulled myself back.
I gasped when the rage cleared the red out of my vision. Most of his skin was coated in burnt lacerations, the scent of sulfur from his singed hair hitting me like a truck. Bile rose in my throat and I had to forcefully swallow it down.
He continued screeching, his voice a high keening noise that hurt my ear drums. I’d never heard anyone yell at such a high note before. Dropping the light whip, I ran forward and pushed my rose light over him, more and more until every lesion was gone. I could feel old scars from wounds long since healed disappear from the sheer force I threw into him.
I waited until his breathing slowed down and the tears stopped flowing before I asked again. “Tell me everything you know about the hybrids and who was involved in the capture and torture of Alexei Turgenov.”
He let out a raspy chuckle. “You are a fucking psycho, you know that?”
“Are you ready to talk?”
He shook his head.
Wrong answer.
I took a step back and snatched up a thin blade from the table, ramming it into his hand, straight through until the knife clanged against the metal armrest.
He bellowed and vomit sprayed down the front of his chest.
My stomach reeled. As much as I wanted to kill the man in front of me, I couldn’t watch him scream and cry and throw up. I needed to get this over with. While I had no issues with my profession, torture was not going to be a long term addition to my resume.
I stepped forward, yanked out the weapon, and healed the wound. Before he had time to say a word, I rammed a fist into his face. The bone crunched under my fingers and blood and snot trickled down his face.
I grabbed his chin. “I can do this all night, buddy. You can make it stop by answering two simple questions. What do you know about the hybrids and who was involved with the capture and torture of Alexei Turgenov?” My voice rose until I was shouting by the end of the sentence.
Light flowed from my fingertips and Tony flinched.
“Okay, okay.” He rasped. “I’ll tell you what I know, just keep that light away from me. Your gift is from the devil.”
I raised a brow. A religious assassin?
I released his face and backed away, crossing my arms.
He cleared his throat. “We’ve been killing off the nasty beasts since the very beginning.”
I kicked him in the shin at his terminology and he yelped.
“Continue.”
“Once our ancestors found out about the hybrids, they’ve been hunting them. They didn’t want the humans to find out.”
“Why do humans care?”
He stared at me wide-eyed. “Seriously? You think those abominations should be allowed to exist? It’s bad enough we can’t kill off all of those fanged bastards, but to be able to create spawn with them?” He shuddered. “It’s a disgrace.”
So he wasn’t just religious, he was a bigot. Some of the unease I’d felt about torturing him flew out of the window.
“Let me get this straight. For years, the Guild has known about the hybrids and decided they shouldn’t exist simply for being born. They decided to be judge, jury, and executioner when that isn’t how our code works?”
“It doesn’t work that way for humans. The vamps shouldn’t have any rights.”
I felt sick to my stomach and punched him again.
“Fuck! Stop doing that.”
“Quit being such a bigoted xenophobe.” I paused, getting control of my anger. “Who else do you know has been recruited to hunt them?”
He shook his head. “They are too secretive for that. All I know is that Master Abbott recruited me, so he’s involved, but I don’t know much else. I was assigned to keep watch over Quinn Greer, but he’s a low-level recruit. He doesn’t know shit.”
I sighed. It didn’t feel like he was lying. “What about my second question?”
“Turgenov? That self-righteous bastard stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and got what was coming to him.”
I grabbed a larger blade and impaled his upper leg. “Talk about him like that again, and I will flay your skin, layer by layer. Your screams won’t stop me the next time.”
His mouth d
ropped open in a silent scream. “Crazy ass bitch! What do you care about Turgenov anyway? He was gone by the time you showed up.”
I ripped out the knife and slammed it down on the table. “Just answer the God damn question, Tony!” A circular wave of light exploded out of me, slamming into my surroundings. The table fell, the weapons clattering to the floor. I turned back to face Tony and saw him on his back, still attached to the metal chair.
I calmed my breathing and wrenched him back to an upright position. “Don’t mess with me, Tony. You really don’t want me to lose my patience again.”
“Alright! I was the main interrogator, though Abbott was the one to bring him in. Told us how he was snooping and uncovered the ab- hybrid secret.” He said, fixing himself at my glare.
“We had a rotation. Me, Hernandez, and Martinez.”
He must have meant Isabella Hernandez, but I had no memory of a Martinez.
“What’s Martinez’s first name?”
“Uh... Leo, I think.”
“So it was just the three of you, and Killian Abbott?” I asked, my patience running thin.
He nodded.
That was nothing! Only one more name for my list. I had expected more.
“Who is the Benefactor?”
He stared at me. “Do you really believe I was given that information? I don’t think Abbott even knows who it is, but all orders regarding hybrids come from the Benefactor. Killian wouldn’t have had him killed without the command.”
“How do I find him? Who gives you the phones?”
“Look, I really don’t know anything else. He gave me my phone, but I don’t even know where Greer got his.”
“Where are you supposed to keep the phones? Other than in your pockets.”
His mouth dropped open. “It was you? You took my phone?”
I stared at him, mute.
He sighed. “Let me out of here, and I’ll bring you to our meeting place.”
He was scrambling now, trying to save his neck. He had no more information for me, which meant his life wasn’t useful anymore.
“There is no meeting place, is there Tony?”
I closed my eyes and imagined my perfectly balanced katana, smiling when I felt it materialize in my hand.
I opened my eyes. “Here’s the problem, Tony. I can’t let you live after what you did. I saw the condition my father was in before he was killed, so now you need to die as well.”
A look of confusion passed over his face. “Who’s your father?”
“Alexei Turgenov, of course.”
His mouth dropped open and he spluttered, “N…No. That’s impossible. He didn’t have any kids. He was always here or on missions.”
“Yes, except when he was with me. The best-kept secret any Guild member has ever had.”
I took one step forward, slashing the light across his neck as quickly and with as much strength as I could muster. His head toppled off his body and fell to the floor with a sickening thump. The look of shock frozen forever on his face.
Chapter 7
I stared at the head lying on the floor, its eyes blank and unseeing.
Well, that was a colossal waste of time.
If all the members of this so-called elite division were that uninformed, my task was going to get a lot more difficult. I sighed, tearing my gaze away from Tony’s dismembered body, and went to get my supplies.
Before arriving at the safe house, I had picked up some lye, bleach, and other cleaning materials. After wrapping Tony’s body in the plastic on the floor, I dragged him across the room. Thankfully, the bathroom in the basement had a tub, which I filled up and heaved the corpse into it.
I slipped on the industrial-strength gloves and pair of goggles I had swiped from the poisons classroom. Glancing around the room, I carefully picked up the bottle of lye, unscrewing the cap and pouring the contents into the tub before backing away.
The effect was immediate. The water began bubbling, boiling faster than I had ever seen, the skin already beginning to melt off the bones. My nose was assaulted by a sickening charcoal scent, and a bitter taste took over my mouth. But it was the faint sizzling sound that tipped me over the edge.
I sprinted to the sink, barely making it before I deposited what was left of my dinner. While killing people during combat hadn’t bothered me one bit, watching someone disintegrate in front of my eyes was on an entirely different level.
After rinsing my mouth out, I left the room, closing the door behind me. I yanked off the gloves and goggles and reached into my bag, pulling out a handful of scented candles and incense. There might not be neighbors in the immediate vicinity, but I had no idea how far the smell of melting flesh could carry in the wind.
Invisible, and with my bag over my shoulder, I headed into the forest behind the safe house, making sure to go a respectable distance before plopping down and pulling out a shovel. While lye is an incredible dissolvent, it doesn’t completely disintegrate the body. The bones and teeth would remain, and I needed someplace to put them.
I dug a two-foot hole, before splaying myself out on the ground, getting comfortable. It would be another few hours before the lye would be finished and I didn’t want to be anywhere near the smell. My stomach turned at the thought.
After burying the remains, I used one of the bathrooms upstairs and showered three times before the odor was finally gone from my passageways and dressed in a new jumpsuit. I had incinerated the old one, along with the gloves and goggles, using a mixture of my gift and actual fire from the fireplace on the main level.
I made one last stop before returning to the Guild. Invisible, I entered Tony’s apartment, searching for more information, and coming up blank. I gave up and withdrew the single flower I’d brought with me.
The bright yellow petals of the sunflower, glinting in the darkness, the thick, green stalk sturdy in my hands. I placed it on Tony’s dresser, along with a business card that had one word printed on it, podsolnux, which meant sunflower in Russian.
Sunflowers were planted all over the Guild’s property, so I would place one in the residence of each person I had killed in retribution for Papa, knowing that as time went on, Killian Abbott would become more and more crazed staring at them day after day.
When daylight was threatening to make its appearance I stumbled to my bed, my eyelids fluttering shut and my mind entering into blissful sleep.
Papa stood next to me, laughing, and discussing what we would do when we disappeared. Where we would go. A huge smile was plastered on my face, elated that we were finally together again. The room darkened and a shot rang out.
I screamed as Papa dropped to the floor, his hand clutching his chest. I sprinted to his side and threw my hands on his torso, willing my power to ignite and send waves of healing energy into his body. I kept trying even though my hands refused to light. Even as Papa gently clasped my hands and brought them to his face, depositing a whisper-soft kiss to my knuckles.
He told me that it was useless, that he was too far gone, and that he loved me. He promised me that he was proud of me, and with his last dying breath, told me my mother’s name.
Something was shaking my shoulders, and I instinctively reached out, grabbing a fistful of material in my hand.
“Hey!” a familiar feminine voice griped, and I opened my eyes, Sofia perched on my bed with her shirt bunched in my fist. My body was covered in a sheen of sweat, skin tingling from the last remnants of my nightmare.
I released her clothes and forced out a smile. “Good morning,” I said, realizing it was half true. Even though the nightmare brought my sorrow to the forefront of my mind, the knowledge that Tony Anderson was long dead made the day slightly better than the one before.
The rest of the initiates were already out of the room, daylight streaming through the windows, bright enough that I knew it couldn’t have been that early.
Sofia shook my arm. “Tell me, tell me! I want to hear all about it.”
I chuckled at her excitement,
but I examined the room, not trusting that the Guild hadn’t bugged our rooms.
I need to get my hands on that app Evelyn has.
Right! That had reminded me. I reached under my bed, unlocked my safe, and withdrew two of the burner phones I had purchased the day before. I handed one to Sofia and powered mine on, watching as she did the same.
Once the phones were on, I opened the messaging app and pulled up the contact of the second phone.
I don’t know who could be listening. This is more secure.
She grinned. This feels so fucking official. We need a name for our group.
I laughed. The Anti-Guild?
She raised a brow and began typing. That is terribly uncreative. I was thinking something more like the Badass Bitches Brigade.
I shook my head and put fingers to keys. I don’t think Ryder would appreciate being a “Bitch”.
I typed out another message. “We have another addition to our crew.”
Sofia’s eyes widened. “Who?”
“Quinn, Did Ryder tell you about the device I found?” I typed.
“Yes.”
“Well, apparently he got one as well and had no idea who the contracts were for.”
“Can we trust him?” She asked, looking up, the question displayed in her expression.
“Yes, I think so. He didn’t have a clue what was going on. He wants to help.”
Sofia sighed. “I hope so, but if not, we’ll just kill him.”
I choked out a laugh and before I had a chance to reply, she was already typing again. “So, what happened last night?”
I typed slowly, making sure to word my message carefully in case anybody ever ended up with these phones. I found and questioned the first item. Was a bit disappointed, but I now have the next item on the list. I took the trash out when I was finished.
I glanced at Sofia’s face, waiting for her reaction. She shot me a quick look before typing out her reply. How do you feel about it?
