Society Girls: Kalila

by Crystal Perkins

  I’m in my element—my place. The lab doesn’t lie, cheat, or hit, and I’m thinking I never should’ve left it in the first place. My class has all left, and I close my eyes, inhaling the smells of the different chemicals, letting the familiarity and rightness of this place wash over me.

  “I can’t believe you work here now,” Sean says, and I wish I felt right when I think of him, but I just don’t.

  “Did we have plans today?”

  “I don’t need an appointment to see you now, do I?”

  “Of course not.”

  His face is still healing from the bruises, and he’s walking with a slight limp. That shouldn’t give me the burst of pleasure I feel every time I see him, but it does. I know it kills him to look like this, which is why he accepted Matt’s offer of an extended leave. He’s getting paid to sit at home, and feel sorry for himself. Never mind that we both know he did hit me, and it’s not the first time. I need it to be the last, but I don’t know if that’s realistic right now.

  “Let’s get something to eat.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m meeting some of the of the professors for coffee so we can discuss my first week here.”

  “You suck that badly already?”

  “No, Sean, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “I look like Frankenstein because of you, bitch!”

  “You have three stitches on your cheek.”

  I should’ve known the slap would come, but I’d let Theo’s beating of him give me a strange sense of bravado. Bravado I realize he has to crush whenever it appears, because he has to have the upper hand, or his insecurities start to show. I rub my cheek, and shake my head.

  “Go home, Sean.”

  “My parents are having a party at my dad’s office tomorrow. We’re going together.”

  “That wasn’t a question.”

  “I’m not asking. I’ll meet you there at 6.”

  “No.”

  He moves faster than I thought he could with his limp, and has me slammed against my whiteboard before I can even try to stop him. “You. Will. Be. There.”

  Once again, he’s gripping me hard enough to leave bruises on my arms, and I know giving in will be easier than trying to fight him. Especially because it’s a fight I can’t win by myself.

  “Okay.”

  He kisses me, then. Not on the cheek, like I’ve allowed him to, but with his mouth on mine. It’s rough, and mean, and I hate every second of it. Thankfully, it’s over almost as soon as it begins, but he’s not done yet.

  “Tomorrow, you’re coming home with me.”

  I don’t answer, because I know if I contradict him, I’m going to be slammed back into that wall, and I’m just not up for it today. Or, really any day.

  “I told you to dress sexier. I told you to stop looking like an old lady,” Sean is as mad as I’ve ever seen him, and I steel myself for another beating. I know that’s why he chose his father’s office to bring me into—he doesn’t want witnesses.

  His friends brought women to the party who are showing lots of cleavage, and even his mom has on a low-cut dress tonight. That’s not an option for me, and I’m going to remind him of that, because I’m pretty sure he’s going to hurt me either way.

  “I had to cover the bruises on my arms, and the welts on the back of my legs,” I reply, trying to appear meek, so maybe he won’t come so hard for me.

  In truth, the off-the-shoulder, form-fitting burgundy dress is sexy while still covering me up, but that’s not how he sees it after his friends insulted us both. I don’t expect the punch, because it’s to my face, and I didn’t think he’d want the people in the other room to see what he does to me.

  I fall backwards, hitting my thighs on the desk behind me. They’re completely healed now, but he doesn’t know that, so I make sure to wince a little.

  There are cameras in here, and he didn’t try to turn anything off when we came in the door, so I know no matter what happens to me, there will be proof. I don’t know that anyone will see it, but it will be here, just in case.

  “You’ve been denying me for too long, Kalila. Tonight, you’re going to give me what I want.”

  “No,” I tell him as I wipe the blood from my mouth.

  “No? That’s not the answer we’re looking for,” the Sheriff says, entering the room behind me.

  I move around the desk, putting some room between myself, and these two men. Men who I know will hurt me worse than one of them already has if I can’t get away. I see it on both of their faces, and in their dead-looking eyes. Evil. I’m looking in the face of true evil, and now I understand that’s what I felt around the Sheriff at dinner. He hides it well, but not well enough.

  “Let me go.”

  “I don’t think so, my dear.”

  “You’re the Sheriff. Are you really going to let your son rape me in your office?”

  “My son and I will both have you, and then I’ll farm you out to one of my business associates.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I have my hands in many things, Kalila. I can sell you, rent you, or just give you up once we’re done with you. I’ll have no idea where you’ll end up, but that’s for the best. Plausible deniability, and all.”

  “You traffic women?”

  “Only the ones who don’t know how to behave for me. The ones who behave get to stay and play for a little while first.”

  It makes so much sense now—why he’s after Reina. He knows she’ll find out about him, and bring him down, and he can’t allow that to happen. He thrives on the pain he helps cause, and his wife needs her charity committees. If he’s taken down, it all goes away.

  “You’re sick! Both of you are sick!”

  “You have no idea.” Yeah, I think I do.

  “Oh, and by the way—we’re having your little lover boy killed once he gets back from his secret mission,” Sean says with a smile on his face.

  “I don’t have a lover.”

  “I saw the hungry way Theo looked at you before you betrayed him. He knows your body.”

  “I was engaged to him once.”

  “Which will make his death so much worse for you.”

  No. Just no. Please God, no. “You can’t get to him.”

  “I got a job at Corrigan; don’t you think we could’ve placed other people there, too? So naïve, little Kali.”

  “Not for long,” his father tells me, and I force myself not to shudder at the look in his eyes. I will no longer show either of these men any sign of fear.

  “You’ll have to kill me first, and I won’t let you do that.”

  I can tell they’re surprised when I straighten my spine, and take a defensive stance. I let Sean beat me, but I will not let him hurt Theo. I’ve done that enough on my own. This is ending tonight, one way or another.

  “We heard everything, Kali. The FBI is on the way, and so am I. My brothers are with me, and we’re close. Just hold them off as best you can until we get there.”

  It’s Scott Griffin’s voice that comes through my ear. My own personal Calvary is coming, but I know they’ll be too late. I’m going to fight, but I’m also going to get hurt. It’ll all be worth it to finally know this is over.

  Sean comes at me first, and I easily flip him over the desk. His father takes advantage of the distraction, and pushes me to the ground. I use the lessons I learned from both Theo and Nate, to pull him down with me, and get him in a hold. My battered body screams out in pain, but I ignore it as I fight for my life.

  He gets free, and Sean kicks me in the ribs, before I pull him down, too, and stab one of my heels into his hand. I step out of both shoes, ripping my dress as I vault onto the desk, trying to give myself some leverage.

  The Sheriff is smiling as he raises his gun at me. “You fight better than most girls.”

  “I fight like a woman, you piece of shit.”

  The blow from behind knocks me back to floor, and I real
ize my error immediately. I forgot the 51s bat he had behind his desk, but Sean didn’t, and despite the injury to his hand, he’s wielding it like a pro. I narrowly roll away as he raises it again, but the Sheriff pulls me off the ground by my hair, and throws me into Sean’s next swing.

  My arm breaks, and I fall to my knees. I hear the electricity behind me, and know I need to get up, but I can’t. I’ve let myself be hurt over these past few weeks, and my body’s rebelling now that I’m fighting back. I just can’t move as the Taser makes contact with me, but then I’m shaking from the shock. Shaking and hurting as the bat comes down on me over and over again, while the Taser feels like it’s molded to my side.

  I hold onto consciousness by sheer willpower, refusing to die like this. Refusing to let either of these men take my last breath from me.

  When the door bursts open, and Ryan Griffin takes his first shot, the Sheriff falls behind me. It’s only then that I allow myself to pass out, knowing I’m finally going to be safe again. It’s all over, and I can breathe a real breath for the first time in weeks.

  Theo

  Reina’s labor was pretty short, which might be some miracle of Kendrick’s medicine, or might just be because the baby is already taking after his parents and getting things done. Either way, we’re all in the room with them, passing around the little guy, and smiling at the beginning of a new life.

  “Why aren’t you answering your phone, Kenny?” Luke Griffin’s voice asks, coming through the speakers.

  “Luke? How are you on my system?” Ainsley asks him, pulling out her tablet.

  “I had my brother patch me in before he started rocking in the corner.”

  “What?” Audrey asks him, passing the baby off to Blake, and going into leader mode.

  “Scott’s gone catatonic, mumbling about how what we just saw was ‘worse than the belt’, Ryan’s in handcuffs for shooting the Sheriff and his son, and Owen’s contacting our lawyers. I’ve been trying to reach Kendrick for the past thirty minutes.”

  “Reina was having her baby, but I’m here now,” Kendrick says, rushing through all of us to the other side of the room.

  “Oh God! No! Please, don’t let it be too late!” Reina yells.

  “Rei?” Matt asks her.

  “Kenny, go to her. Go to her now!”

  “She’s on her way to the hospital,” Luke tells him.

  “Let me check her injuries, Reina. I can fix some things from here.” We all watch as he places his hand on a light box, and when he gives his command, I feel my knees buckle. “Show me Kalila.”

  The box shoes a skeleton, a woman who looks like every bone in her body is broken, but it also looks like some are healing. A second screen shows her with bruises and welts over much of her body. Kendrick’s fingers are moving over the screen, and even though I don’t understand most of what goes on down here, I know he’s trying to heal her. This can’t be right. It can’t.

  How is he still monitoring her after her implant was removed? How are the Griffins involved? Why is Reina not surprised by what Luke said? I have too many questions, and I need at least a few answers.

  “The belt, Reina,” I manage to say as I use the wall to hold myself up.

  “When Kali’s parents got excited to see you, Sean took his belt to her. Scott heard it since he’s been monitoring her.”

  “You knew he was beating her, and you let it happen? Why would you do that?”

  “Because it was the perfect opportunity to take down the Sheriff,” Jane Corrigan says from the corner of the room.

  “At Kali’s expense?”

  “Sean had a crush on her. It was the best chance for us, as the Sheriff was ramping things up. He was going to expose something soon, no matter how hard we tried. He was too good at hiding his dirty tracks, so we needed an ‘in’,” Reina tells me, tears streaming down her face.

  “And Kalila agreed to it. We warned her Sean had violent tendencies, and she fully understood she could be hurt when she agreed to go undercover. Kendrick did what he could to help her, but Sean liked to see his handiwork,” Jane adds.

  “Why am I just hearing about this now?” Audrey asks, looking like she wants to hit one of them. “Why is Scott tapped into her, and how is he tapped in when her implant was removed? Wait, it wasn’t removed, was it? Damn it!”

  “The one we put in originally was removed, but we already had a new one in her. One that has all the healing, and pain concoctions we’ve been getting ready to test. Kali was already testing some for you, but we added everything we could to help her as much as we can. As for why no one but the three of us knew, it was the only way to make this work. We knew she’d have to turn on at least Theo to keep her cover, and our anger needed to look real.”

  “You’re kidding, right? We’ve been here before, and determined that all of us can act. We’re fucking spies,” Jade reminds her.

  “You’ve never had to lie to save us all. The Sheriff was going to take us down, or die trying. Even Aiden’s dad was worried. Believe me, if I’d had another option, I would’ve taken it.”

  “What did they do to her, Luke? What did you see when you got there?” I ask, because I need to know.

  “A bat, and a Taser. They were using both before Ryan shot them.”

  “She already started her healing before she lost consciousness, so I have her stabilized. Her bones are slowly fixing themselves, and I don’t want to do more now, because the EMT’s would’ve been able to tell some things were broken. She’s not in pain, thank God. I’ll transfer her as soon as I can,” Kendrick says, grabbing his coat.

  “When will she be here?” Rose asks.

  “She won’t be going there,” Luke answers.

  “Of course she will,” Matisse tells him.

  “No. Scott explained everything to us during the car ride here. He told us she said she couldn’t come back.”

  “That wasn’t the plan!” Reina yells. “What have I done?”

  “There’s more. Scott heard them say they had people planted in C&C who’ve been ordered to kill Theo.”

  “Let’s see how far they get when they try,” I say, needing to fight someone, and it might as well be assholes who got past us.

  “I failed her, and us,” Reina says, quietly, looking like she’s going to faint.

  “Everyone out!” Matt bellows.

  No one questions him as we all do as he says. He’s right, because while I’m furious right now, Reina just had a baby, and needs her rest. I’m not resting, though. Not until I know everything, and figure out how I’m going to bring my girl back here where she belongs.

  Chapter 16

  Kali

  I wake up in a hospital room. It’s a different one than I last woke up in, and because my body isn’t covered in plaster casts, I know it’s connected to the Society. I heard Kendrick’s voice as I slipped in and out of consciousness, but I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not.

  “You’re awake,” his head nurse, Liz, says as she leans over me.

  “Yeah,” I say in a scratchy voice.

  A cup with a straw in it shows up in front of me, and I reach out to take it. “Drink slowly.”

  After taking a few sips, I feel like I can talk. “Where are we?”

  “The office we keep outside of C&C. Kendrick wanted to take you there, but Scott Griffin said you wouldn’t want that.”

  “No.”

  “Your friends are out in the lobby.”

  “What friends?”

  “The other recruits, and the mentors; everyone’s been taking shifts.”

  “How long was I out?”

  “Almost a week.”

  “When can I leave?”

  “That’s up to Kendrick. Would you like me to send your friends in?”

  “Scott, Reina, and maybe Kendrick are my only friends, Liz, so no.”

  I turn my head, so she won’t see the tears running down my cheeks, but she squeezes my hand, so I know she saw them anyway. I silently sob long after the door’s clo
sed, both for the loss of my friends, and the loss of me, too. I lost myself while doing what I needed to do to save us all, and the scars left behind aren’t all physical. When I’m all cried out for the moment, I close my eyes, and sleep again.

  I don’t know if it’s hours or days later when I wake up again, but as before, I’m not alone. This time, it’s Reina instead of Liz, and she’s got a baby in her arms.

  “You had your baby!”

  She looks up at me, and smiles. “The night you…when you were hurt. Again.”

  “You should be at home.”

  “So should you, but we’re both here right now. And I need to tell you how sorry I am.”

  “For what?”

  “Kali, you were almost killed.”

  “Yes, but those men will never hurt another person again.”

  “I didn’t think either of them would go as far as they did. When I heard the tapes….”

  I want to re-assure her, but another thought makes me sit up in the bed. “Ryan. Is Ryan okay? Do I need to give a statement?”

  “He’s fine, and no. The cameras in that office showed everything, and he was cleared of all charges.”

  “Oh. Good. He saved me. Him and Scott.”

  “You saved us, and so many other people because you saved us.”

  “You do amazing things, and that needs to continue. Knowing I was helping you keep doing what you do helped get me through all of this.”

  “During the course of this mission, you’ve passed every test we could’ve thrown at you, so you’ll come back as full-fledged member. I’d like to have everyone graduate at once, and I know Stella thinks you should finish the fashion show, but you’re basically done.”

  “I am done, Reina, but thank you for the offer. I’ll finish the fashion show, but I can never go back to the Society.”

  “I didn’t believe Scott when he told me that.”

  “I know I had to pretend to turn against Theo, but everyone just accepted it at face value. You tell us we have to put each other first, but when it came down to it, they chose him over me. I know I was a bitch, but they didn’t even try to talk to me.”