Killing Hearts_A Dark Romance

by P. Brier

  I stuffed as much as I could in my suitcase, feeling a sudden urgency. I felt danger creeping in. The panic palpable. After grabbing my suitcase and putting my long black hair in a messy bun I grab the keys to baby, well Danny's baby. The two door Dodge Dakota, Danny named baby, because he said women were trouble and the only baby he needed was his truck.

  The drive to the post office was short and after checking in with the lady with the bright red muffin hair on her head, she took me to a back room and brought me my box. The scowl on her face permanent. After asking if there was anything else I needed with disdain, she exited the room and I was finally alone. I took the key and opened the locked box and the first thing I notice is a burner phone with one number entered in it and one voicemail. The second is a picture of Danny and I at the fair years back. On the back he wrote, “Don’t forget who you are, Monkey”.

  I picked up the burner phone and pressed the button for the voicemail and with shaky hands I press the phone to my ear. My brother's boisterous voice echoed through the device and tears welled up in my eyes almost forgetting to pay attention to what he was saying.

  "Jess, go to 1453 Madison Lane near Stockton, there you will find Bane and your question will be answered. His number is programed into this phone. But only call for an emergency. You must be very careful. I love you Monkey. Stay safe".

  I sat there staring at the plain brown wall. Shocked. Is this real? I feel like Nancy Drew, but more fucked up. My brother is dead, and I've practically run away from home. I shut the box and lock it after retrieving the picture and the phone. I left the post office, nodding to the muffin lady, and head back to Baby.

  I put the address into my GPS, and found the location is about a two-hour drive. After stopping for food, I decided I needed to get rid of my cards. If I am in any danger, whoever is the threat, could be watching my activity as well.

  The drive was uneventful. But scenic, full of trees and plentiful meadows. The occasional herd of cow's lazing about. The two hours seemed to fly by quickly, with my mind controlled by the lacking presence. God, I miss my brother. I arrived at Madison Lane and find a picturesque ranch style house with a wraparound porch and big red door. Pulling up I noticed two black quarter horses taking a stroll in the fields to the right and a charming red barn to the left. The house was adorned with an exquisite vine of roses that stretched up to the top of the house. The windows were left open, with pots of various plants on the window sill. I took a deep breath, preparing to speak with him. Bane.

  "Your here", the familiar gruff voice snapped behind me. The sadness in his tone was unmistakable. I take a quick look at him then I break the connection. He is dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a black t-shirt. Showing off his muscles and a colorful sleeve of tattoos with intricate art down to his wrists. He looks as handsome as ever in such casual clothes. His hair is short on the bottom but longer on the top, barely fanning his eyes. God those gorgeous eyes.

  "I was told to come here, my brother, h-he told me to come here" I state nervously. Not making eye contact. You almost kissed. You left me.

  "I know" he stated, "I mean, I knew you would be here. It was never meant to be this way".

  A tear escaped, but not unnoticed. He glowers and grumbles a series of curses under his breath before wrapping me in his arms with hushed reassurances and apologies. I wanted to pull away but my body was too exhausted and betrayed my mind.

  "Come inside, I guess I have a lot to explain" he grumbled before grabbing my suitcase and I follow him towards the house. So much for keeping it together.

  3: Suicide-Murdered

  “When you stand at the abyss, you fall to your knees and you fucking grab for any comfort, any little thing to keep it from swallowing you whole.”

  ― T.A. Webb

  Then…

  Bane Stratus

  SHE’S HERE. Danny's little sister is in this house. I knew this time would come, that I would have to face her. To explain why I left. To explain everything. This is going to hurt. Maybe me more than her. She is the only person that could bring these feelings from me. The only person who could make me feel things I never want nor could feel for anyone else.

  Anger radiates off her, I deserve her wrath for leaving but I had to. I hated it. She has the power to destroy. Just like she did two years ago. I wanted her then, and I want her now. But it can never happen. She is Danny's little sister. She is Monkey, the little girl I would cut my dick off before hurting and I did just that.

  Taking a second to admire her, I noticed how much she has grown. She was no longer the young teenage girl I almost kissed all those years ago. She was gorgeous. She was all women. She wore black cut off shorts and a grey Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt. Her long black hair was pulled up in a messy bun on the top her head. She looked disheveled but striking in a natural way. Her long legs went on for days and ended in a pair of black and white Vans.

  She continued to tap her foot nervously. I wanted to calm her, reassure her everything was going to be okay. But I didn't know if it was going to be okay. Fuck.

  I sat down in the chair next to her and placed my hand on her knee. She startled, but didn't look up. Her posture seemed lost, hunched over. Her breathing hitched as I stroked her knee. The way her body reacted to mine, sent a jolt to my cock. What is wrong with me, she just lost her brother. She doesn't need this. Not me acting like a hormonal teenager. She needs answers, closure. I can give her answers, but closure, that is a lot harder to obtain.

  "I suppose you want answers, and I will give them to you, but understand your brother s involvement and my involvement was involuntary"

  “I don’t understand any of this” she whispers, “he is dead, and I am here with you”, her hand comes up and wipes tears that have fallen from her sullen eyes.

  Rip it off like a band-aid. She needs to hear this. I sigh. "It’s not going to get better, I have to tell you things. Things you don’t want to hear.” I take a big breath and continue, “the club your father opened and my father invested in was not only a gentleman club. It was and is a sex trafficking ring that kidnaps young girls and sells them to the highest bidder" I let this sink in. She looks like she is about to vomit. I always saw the disapproval of her father's business in her eyes, but she never said anything, the dutiful daughter, even though unwanted. Now she knows she turned the other cheek, even thought there was nothing she could do. But instead of getting sick she nods, giving me the okay to continue. So, brave.

  "They hired an agency called The Quarter, they provided the girls and gained a profit on their sales and this continued every Saturday at an auction. When your brother and I turned eighteen our fathers decided to give us a birthday present, a job. Two girls barely sixteen were strapped to chairs, gagged and bound". They had been beaten and starved, I didn't tell her that.

  The memory suffocated me and left a bad rancid taste in my mouth. I'll never forget the fear in their eyes. They looked tormented and broken. They could have been Jesse, I thought.

  “They had been there awhile and according to our father they were ours for our birthday. On one condition, both girls had to be terminated in the end”. She looks horrified. She won’t know the half of it.

  "We thought it was a joke. I mean we were not virgins, but Jesus. These girls looked terrified, it sure as hell didn't make me hard" she grimaced, she didn’t need to know that "sorry. So, when your brother told your father "no" he didn't take it so well. He grabbed one of the girls and put a bullet in her head. Stating we could have fun with the other one but if she isn't dead by the end of the night, you would be dead as well or worse sold". Her body stills and I think she stops breathing. I continue stroking her knee, in hopes it calms her. I’m lucky she is even letting me touch her after I left, and worse I humiliated her. I made her think she was easy, I taunted her with just a few words. That the last impression I left. She should hate me.

  She was pale, hell who wouldn't be? She stared at me as if I was sporting two heads instead of one. I brought my oth
er hand to her shoulder, "Breathe Jess, breath for me girl, I know this is hard but it needs to be said, you need to know what we have been trying to stop". That rights, babygirl. We’re going to stop them. She took one courageous breath and let it out, trying to calm herself. Her color was returning to normal. She nodded, but still never made eye contact. Brave girl.

  I continued, "your brother nodded in agreement, and told your father that we wanted to take her to his room and that he wouldn't be disappointed. Your brother was a better actor than me. You know that. We took the frightened girl into his bedroom, trying our best to calm her. We did the only thing that would keep you safe. He shot her. But that wasn't what your father wanted out of that night. He needed leverage. He knew your brother and I wouldn't rape the girl, we would make it quick and painless. We aren't heartless. But he placed multiple cameras in the room to catch us murdering her. If we betrayed him he would claim, we kidnapped the girls and killed them for our own pleasure.”

  “We were stuck. That is how we became in charge of the training. We didn't kidnap the girls but we made sure they were "buyer ready"". She put a hand up to stop me as if my words were acid to her ears. She was going to be sick, and I would be too, if this wasn't my normal. I mean she just found out her brother trained kidnapped girls to suck cock and that her father was the leader in sex trafficking ring and planned to sell her to highest bidder. After a few slow-ticking seconds she finally makes eye contact. Water escapes her striking grey eyes and it takes everything out of me to not catch the stray tear with my tongue. Just one taste.

  "Why did you leave" she whispered, her sweet voice constricted by dejection. I knew this question would be asked, I just didn't expect the pain behind it.

  "I had too, to keep you safe", I hiss. It was the hardest thing I ever did.

  "Your father saw the interaction between us that night. He told Carlos to come get me and bring me to his office. He informed me that I was replaced and that I could leave or die, with you. But if I disappear and never speak of the club again, you would be safe". For now.

  “After I had left that night, his precious guards found me leaving my apartment. They beat me with mere seconds to the end of my life. With a final warning, "Stay gone.”

  “Why did you humiliate me, you said horrible things, I would have done anything for you”

  “Believe me, hurting you was never my plan. But they couldn’t know that.”

  She stood slowly, I was afraid her legs were going to give out any minuet. But she stood strong, she was fearless. She didn't need to hide behind that facade. Not with me. Never with me.

  "So how does this end, why did my brother die" she stated. She walks to the kitchen sink and braces herself on her arms. Preparing for the answer.

  "Your brother started working with man named Jay, he is a scummy piece of shit and wasn’t much better than your father, but he had some morals, he wanted to finally bring down the depravity and set those girls free. Your brother saw a chance to save you so he took it. They set out to destroy the empire by turning all the sponsors against the club with blackmail and force. You’re looking at the force.”

  She looks up at me, sorrow filling her gaze, my hearts aches to comfort her but hold back and continue.

  “But your mother found out. She was displeased to say the least. I mean, who was going to pay for her new ass if they didn't sell less fortunate girls to hardened criminals and rich assholes. So, she told your father. Danny found out that your father knew and planned to have him sold or imprisoned for his betrayal. We planned on faking his death”

  Her eyes widened and shock took over. I put my hands up to stop her. I know what she was thinking. But no, this doesn't have a happy ending. I shook my head, ending the fantasy. Her shoulders hunched, but I continued.

  "Jay’s supplier got us the drug that would make it look like an overdose. If he gets the antidote within 24 hours the affects would be reversed. But the drug was swapped. Someone swapped the preloaded syringe with heroin and not the lab created toxin we intended. He was murdered.”

  “I first thought it was Jay, but he has everything to lose if this fails. Maybe your father has a motive we don't know about. Because your brother being dead doesn't benefit the Montgomery name" I took her small cold hands into my large ones. "You were supposed to come here and find him here, and we would find a way to all disappear. But now you're here, and he is not. I must finish what he started, and keep you safe. I will protect you". For Danny. For me.

  4: Bad Choices and Tears

  “I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for.”

  ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

  Now…

  Bane Stratus

  SHE RECOILED FROM my touch. I knew she recognized my voice. She had too. How could you forget the voice of the man you destroyed? I stroked the side of her check, relishing in the uptake of her breath as my fingers scorched her skin. Grabbing the back of her neck I pulled her closer. She yelped. God, I love that sound.

  "Don't fight it darlin, our time has come. Your mine, and when this end, you will still be mine" I lick her cheek, drowning in her scent and taste. "You will bleed, you will suffer, and I will take what I'm owed".

  I wasn't always this cruel. I never wanted to be a killer. I sure as hell didn't want to be a criminal like my old man. But sometimes fate has different ideas.

  I spent three years in prison because of this deceitful cunt. She put me away for murder. A murder she committed. While in prison I became violent. Well, more violent then I already was. After beating the shit out of my cellmate, for reasons I won’t go into. I was approached by a society called the Elite.

  They wanted a killer, and they saw that in me. They would make sure I wasn’t touched and that I got off on a technicality, if I give them a murdering bastard, who would kill anyone for them without question. Me.

  They got me out after three long fucking years. They offered me a job right out of prison, with enough money to start new. Some family man who obviously did some shady shit, but I didn’t ask. I slit his throat without thinking about it. I was a changed man. No remorse, no humanity. A monster.

  After that first kill, I took the money and moved back to Detroit. But this time I’m not living in squalor. I live in modest house with a very secluded environment. The whole house is sound proof. With cameras set up all around. I stay to myself and travel frequently to do jobs for the Elite. But this is the first time I have been home this long, or brought a job to my home. She is special, she is personal.

  I circled her, waiting for her to speak or whimper anything, to show me how frightened she was. But instead she straightened her spine and prepared her body for whatever it is I was going to do to her. Still so brave. But that bravery, that I once adored, won't help her now.

  "Bane, listen...." Before she could finish her sentence, my palm comes across her check. "Don't say my name" I growl. I didn't need to hear her excuses or her apology I needed to hear her scream.

  "I didn't h-have a choice" she stuttered.

  "We all have choices, darlin. You just chose the wrong one".

  I want her to see my face, the face of the man she betrayed. I remove the blindfold and she hisses at my touch. I want her to see the hatred in my eyes. To know she destroyed the only person that will ever love her, because once I'm done with her, no one will have her. I untie the blindfold from behind her head, she gasps as she takes in the room. Or shall I say cell. Bare walls encase her. There is toilet to the left and a sink. There isn't even a mattress to lay her little head. That is a privilege.

  She starts to twist, trying to take some pressure off her arms. Which I know are tired, but I don't really care. She deserves everything that is happening. The old me would have taken care of her, held her, but she killed the old me. When her eyes contact mine, she frowns. She knows we are done. But that doesn't stop her from trying.

  "I had no choice, she made me. You have to believe me" She gasped through clenched teeth. She
was in pain. Good.

  "I don't. Plus, even if I did. You aren’t here for me, well not exactly. Someone hired me to do many things to you, very specific. Seems I am not the only person you have wronged", I point to the wall, where a small camera can be seen, "You’re on camera, darlin. Our benefactor can see and hear everything. And they want to hear you scream." I leave her with that, and walk out the door, locking it behind me. She can't go anywhere anyways, but you can never be too careful. As I retreated up the stairs, I could hear her screams as she begged to be released. I smiled. Good.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  After leaving the basement, I walked to my office and grabbed the whiskey and sat behind my desk, I ran my hands over my face. This is harder than I thought it would be. I keep thinking about Danny. This is his baby sister. He would kill me for what I was about to do. Hell, the old me would have killed me for hurting her. But she betrayed me. He must understand. But he is gone. He isn't here to stop me.

  She pretends to be innocent. She pretends to care about me. Even now, when I know who she really is. She fooled even Danny into thinking she was pure and good. He gave up his life to protect her. I have given up my freedom.

  I don't know who hired me, but whoever did, despised Jesse almost as much as me. The plan is to let her hang. But a part of me wants to be near her. She is still as beautiful as she was years ago. If only her outside matched her insides. I can't let her distract me from the end deal. The Elite will let me go after this last job. I have enough money saved up to live comfortably and to start over. No more killing. She is a means to an end. A beautiful torturous end.

  But there is still a part of me that wants to touch her. Comfort her and take her home. An old part of me that I thought had died long ago. I can still taste her beautiful pussy and the smell of arousal that coated her. I can still hear her moans as she came apart. The way she would shiver slightly as I ran my fingertips crossed her erect nipple. She was exquisite. Stop. Shit. She isn’t mine. Not then and not now. She should suffer. I need her tears. So, the Elite can let me go, and then I can finally be set free.