The Matriarch: An Erotic Superhero Romance (The Matriarch Trilogy Book 1)

by Howell, Sloane

  I strolled behind a building, tossing two empty Starbucks cups in a dumpster.

  "Hello, Your Honor." I froze and did a one-eighty. The voice sent a chill of horror through my body.

  "Who is that?" I kept turning, brick buildings swirling in my vision, but nobody was there.

  Footsteps echoed through the shadows and a metallic noise clanked to my ears, like a lead pipe tapping on bricks. My hands started to shake, knees quaking, knocking into one another.

  "Oh, just a young man." The voice was raspy and cold as the night. A silhouette emerged from the shadows. A streetlight illuminated a face covered in pale white makeup.

  I started to run but the sounds in the shadows froze me dead in my tracks. Goosebumps sprouted on my forearms and the hair on my neck stood at attention.

  "What do you want?" I stared as his face came into view, painted like a skull, eyeing me like a hunter after its prey. A large “A” with a circle partially around it was on one cheek. His purple hair formed sharp spikes, pointing in all directions.

  "To send a message."

  More metallic clanking sounds shot down the alley, as if there were an army behind the ghoul with the painted face. Laughter and voices chimed in but only the lone man was visible.

  "I have a wife and children." My voice quavered.

  "I know. And so do others." He moved closer. My legs began to wobble as the haunted face now stood inches away. His irises were pale white.

  My fear turned to anger. "You're nothing but a punk criminal."

  The man stood there and stared up at the street light.

  "No, Your Honor. The criminals—" He reached out and ran his hand along the lapel of my jacket. "—they wear suits." His hand wrapped around my throat, crushing my wind pipe.

  My eyes were wide. I could barely breathe as I saw at least thirty men surrounding me from the shadows. I squirmed and clawed at him, trying to break free, but his hand wrenched tighter around my throat. A group of his thugs stepped out into the light.

  "You see, we are born with inalienable rights in this country." He squeezed my throat tighter and his fingers crushed my wind pipe completely. "A right to privacy."

  I squirmed and his hand clamped around my neck with more force.

  "Some of us, well, we think that's pretty important." He nodded, halfway laughing as he watched me paw at his grip.

  My eyes began to close and he released me. Frigid air burned as it rushed into my lungs. I coughed and spat on the ground, clutching my throat.

  "Who, who are you?" I managed to speak while gasping for air. "You're him aren't you? The nutjob leader? Ka0s?"

  "That's the rumor." Ka0s stalked away, taking a large steel blade by the handle from one of the other men.

  Unadulterated fear shot through my veins, into my chest, causing my heart to race. I began to claw at the ground, kicking my legs at the pavement, trying to scoot across the cement. My back slammed into a pair of legs. I stared up at 20 more goons standing behind Ka0s with their arms all folded. Their skeletal faces were further masked by scowls.

  "These are just kids. You're brain washing them. They don't know any better."

  "Oh, they know plenty. It's you who sold out to the dollar, to corporate interests. You sold these men into indentured servitude. For what?"

  He towered over me, pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and slapped at it with the large blade, laughing.

  "A lake house in 2007? Private school for, what, what's this say here?" Ka0s turned to the man next to him.

  "Oh, Jimmy. Little Jimbo. Good for him." He leaned down into my face. "Education is, umm, very very important. Oh, and Beatrice. Who names their kid Beatrice? Are you trying to get that girl's ass kicked at school every day?"

  "It's a family name." I snarled, sure I was as good as dead. "Where did you get this information?"

  "Oh, well. It's not so fun when someone else goes through your personal information, now is it, Judge?" He smiled as the moonlight passed through some clouds and cast a spotlight on a set of bright white teeth.

  "What else? Let’s see, a prized horse named Renfro." He paused and started to cough, choking on his laughs. "Five hundred — does, does, does that say thousand?" He handed the paper to the other man who stared at me with a terrifying gaze and nodded his head.

  "Five hundred thousand dollars. For a horse." He screamed in my face as the blade pressed to my cheek. "Oh, pardon me, Your Honor. I have a temper sometimes." His voice was back to a calm tone.

  "H-how do you know all that?"

  "You see, judge—" He shook his head back and forth. "—We are the next generation of this country. Unlike your own, we embrace change. We adapt, we learn things, and we grew up with technology. We are proficient at using it. While you and your old rich fucking buddies moan about your smart phones, and plug away your personal shit into 1s and 0s that we — well, we know how to find it."

  Ka0s smiled, scratching the blade on his own cheek. "Well, we can't hang out here all night, Your Honor. Change is in the air and we are busy men. Can you smell it?"

  He inhaled deeply as I shrank away. “We do have one last question. Was it all worth it? The umm, the umm, the money and the horse and the house and the school?"

  I looked down at the ground, a sob welling up in my throat. "No."

  "I didn't think so. But you see, death is a strong — what's a good word — umm, well, it's a good way to make people change behavior. You see, if we let you live, nobody will find out about this. You'll be back to selling my brothers out for tickets to a private box at the Nationals’ game, while their families starve."

  One of his goons grabbed my right forearm and Ka0s pushed the blade into my palm. Blood poured from the wound. Ka0s cupped his free hand over my mouth. I screamed for help into his hand and the cold bastard grinned wider. Pain radiated up my arm and into my shoulder. He twisted the blade as it drilled through my hand. I kicked and fought, but it only made it worse. He finally pulled it out and wiped the blood from both sides of the blade on my shirt.

  "We'll see how many opinions you write with that hand now. Oh wait, we’re, we’re going to kill you. I guess that was completely unnecessary." His laugh was a terrifying melody that echoed down the walls of the alley. “So sorry, Your Honor.”

  Ka0s put the blade to his own throat and looked at me.

  "You see, I would have taken this blade to myself a long time ago, but you took that right away from me before I was ever born."

  He handed the knife back to one of his goons and started to walk away. He paused momentarily and then turned back to me and walked over. He bent down in front of me, staring into my eyes like he was searching for my soul.

  His hand reared back at an intense speed and I winced, covering my face. Ka0s reached into my pocket for my phone.

  "We wouldn't want to leave you with this, now. Would we? You might try to call and warn someone."

  He punched a few buttons on my phone and then held it up and smiled really big as the flash went off. He tapped the screen a few more times and handed the phone to one of the men holding a lead pipe.

  "Stay here with him. Wait for further instruction." His voice sounded normal, as if he hadn't just butchered me in front of an audience.

  "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

  "Oh, we'll be in touch. Very soon."

  My eyes were purple, my nose cracked and slanted as the men continued to beat me relentlessly in the corner of the alley. The pain had faded long ago. I was limp, broken. A lead pipe whistled through the air and smashed into my already shattered knee cap once more. I barely flinched at the blow as my body slouched against the wall. Only one eye hung open. Everything was blurry. Sounds mixed together. My ears rang and my body felt disconnected, torn apart. It sent pangs of nausea to my stomach.

  Some punk song started to blare from my phone in one of their pockets. He pulled it out and chuckled. He placed it in my palm and it fell to the ground as I tried to hold it.

  The man laughed ha
rder.

  "Got some real problems, motherfucker?"

  He held it up in front of my lazy eye. I barely made out Ka0s's smiling picture flashing on the screen for a video call. The goon accepted the call and Ka0s appeared on the screen. The dim green light illuminated his skull makeup. Rustling bushes sounded like static coming from the phone speaker.

  "Oh, hey there judge. You're looking good." He laughed. I wanted to die. "Check this out. I think you'll enjoy what technology can do. Thanks a lot Internet." He snickered, holding the phone out to a mailbox with my address stenciled on it.

  I began to squirm and attempted to scream, but loud, muffled gurgles were all that escaped my lips.

  Ka0s flipped the phone back around to his face and pressed a finger to his lips. "The phone is on mute. Nobody can hear you. Now if you'll excuse me—" He held the blade up to the camera and ran it through his spiked hair. "—I have some guests to entertain."

  The phone went blank and I flopped around like a fish out of water.

  I mumbled a few inaudible words and the men leaned in, trying to make them out. I tried to speak again but the words didn't sound right. My mouth didn't work.

  "I think he just said, 'kill me'." The goon looked to the other.

  They looked into my eyes and huge grins covered their faces.

  "In time, Your Honor."

  SUPREME COURT JUSTICE TORTURED, KILLED

  BY: JIM BRISTOL

  CAPITOL CITY - It is a day of mourning in the nation's capital today as word of Justice Ramirez's death and the murder of his family spread through town. Prominent lawmakers, lobbyists, and other government workers held moments of silence as they reflected on the 20 years of service the former judge gave the city. The president issued a statement and ordered that flags be flown at half-mast.

  "This senseless act of violence and the riots spurred on by enemies of the state are not the way a healthy democracy functions. You can rest assured that we are devoting every resource we have to apprehending these terrorists and holding them accountable for their actions. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ramirez family and others who have suffered at the hands of this group."

  Sources who wished to remain anonymous tell us that Ramirez left his office sometime after midnight and was murdered two blocks away. Preliminary autopsy reports show that he was severely beaten and stabbed before he was killed. Residents in the area woke to a horrifying sight the next morning as he was erected on a cross, his corpse crucified next to a streetlight at Fifth and Main Street downtown. The following message was hung over his head:

  0100101001110101011100110111010001101001011000110110010101001001

  01110011010100110110010101110010011101100110010101100100

  It reads "Justice Is Served" in binary code, the low-level language in which microprocessors are given instructions. Authorities who responded to Ramirez's house described the scene as something out of a horror movie. His wife and two children were tortured and their bodies mutilated, along with a five hundred thousand dollar prize horse. G3n3rat10n 0f Ka0s, a rogue hacktivist group, have claimed responsibility for the murders on their website and social media accounts, calling them a "wake up call" to the country and a "defense of liberty." Ka0s, the leader of the group, has asserted that they are "just getting started" and that "no leader who directly infringes on a citizen's right to privacy and freedom is safe from their reach."

  "Bring him to me." Kiril stared at the security guard.

  "Sir." The guard turned and hustled down the hallway.

  "How did this happen?" Kiril turned to me.

  "We are still looking into it." I stared at the wall, avoiding his gaze.

  "What was compromised?"

  "We are still investigating that as well."

  "What do you know?" He loomed over me. I gulped. The amount of money he paid me wasn't enough for the fear I encountered at work every day. But nobody ever quit. That was a death sentence. As Chief Technology Officer, I knew far too much about his security and the sophistication of the network that communicated his secret activities.

  "As of now we know data was extracted from a secured hard drive and left the premises." My voice cracked.

  Kiril pressed the tip of his fedora up to reveal a bit more of the bandages on his face.

  "Any Family business?"

  I looked at the ground.

  "So yes?"

  "It-it is possible, yes."

  "That is very troubling."

  My hands were shaking. I couldn't believe this fucker brought some whore to the office. My life was at risk. I'd heard the stories about people who fucked up. It never ended well. They just disappeared.

  The guard shoved William through the door and when he saw Kiril he turned to run. The guard froze him in his tracks and he turned back, pale as a ghost.

  "Thank you for joining us." Kiril looked at me then back to William.

  "S-sir."

  "This is our CTO, Blake Jackson. He has questions for you."

  "We believe data was extracted from the secured drive at your workstation. Any idea how this could happen?" I knew exactly how it happened. We'd seen the recording.

  "What? No. That's impossible."

  "Is it?" Kiril inched toward him. I felt a little sorry for William.

  "No. This is outrageous. I would never—"

  Kiril slammed William’s back to the ground and sank a knee in his throat. William coughed hard, gasping for air.

  Kiril wrapped his fingers around William’s throat and brought him to his feet as he stood. Kiril slid his victim up the wall. William’s legs dangled beneath.

  "Who were you with?"

  "Nobody, I swear—"

  His lips turned pale blue as Kiril squeezed him harder.

  "Who did you bring here?"

  "A woman. Just some whore. I fucked her in the office, but then we left. I swear."

  "What was her name?" His voice rang off the walls.

  "Ger—Gret—uhh, Gretchen. We were only here for thirty minutes tops, I swear."

  Kiril signaled to the guard who pulled up a security photograph of the red-headed woman on Will's computer monitor.

  "Her?" He pointed at the monitor as William squinted his eyes, peering at the screen.

  "Yeah, that's her."

  "Did you leave her alone?"

  "No—"

  Sweat dripped from his pores as he shuddered in front of Kiril.

  "Okay, okay. I left for a minute to go to the bathroom, but that's it."

  Kiril nodded to the security guard who clicked the mouse. It showed the woman crouched over. She was alone, inserting a thumb drive into the computer.

  "That bitch." Will clenched his fists.

  "You were reckless. You endangered my business." Kiril backed him into the corner of the office. Will cowered against the wall.

  "Please. I didn't know, I swear."

  Kiril turned to me. "Many secrets were on that computer. Was it connected to the network?"

  I nodded to him, unable to watch.

  "How did she know it was this hard drive?"

  "That is a good question, sir." I shrugged, still wincing at Will.

  "Investigate. Find out."

  A streak of urine ran down the inner leg of Will's khakis as Kiril turned and faced him.

  "It's good that you fear me." Kiril snarled.

  He drew two knives from his waist beneath his suit coat and twirled them in his fingers before bringing them to a halt on Will's neck. Blood oozed around the tip of the blades that barely penetrated his skin.

  "You should fear me." Kiril cocked his head sideways and stared into William's eyes, exhaling inches from his face.

  Blood sprayed across the room as he ripped the blades across Will's neck and pinned his chest against the wall with his hand. Will's white dress shirt saturated with crimson as he bled out in front of everyone. I shuddered, afraid I might vomit as I turned my head to avoid seeing Will's corpse. Kiril released him and the body slid down the wall and collapsed on
the floor.

  He spun the blades and holstered them, turning to the guard.

  "Get him out of here."

  Kiril sauntered toward me, my eyes hidden by my palms.

  "Find out what happened."

  "Y-yes sir."

  The security guard grabbed his walkie talkie while Kiril strode out of the room.

  "Yes. Need body removal, room 248."

  I sat in front of my keyboard, rummaging through the directory full of PDF files and images, all legal documents and meticulous notes.

  "No, no, no." The light from my computer was giving me a headache and frustrating the shit out of me.

  "Hey Mags, didn't even hear you come in. How was your date?" Grandpa's voice always made me smile. But I was too tired to respond.

  I had my elbow propped on the desk, face in my palm.

  "Not well?" grandpa asked.

  "What? No, the date was amazing. I got a goodnight kiss." I swooned in my chair for a second and realized what I was doing.

  Grandpa's eyebrows arched.

  "And before you ask, I was a good girl. Just a kiss."

  "Well, what the hell then? Why do you look like someone killed your...favorite pair of shoes or something?" It got a laugh out of me. I do love my shoes.

  "Going through the drive from the other night. There is so much data."

  "Ahh, the paper chase."

  "He is trying to buy Cody's business. Cody has no idea. Shit is getting complicated already."

  "What's it say?"

  "I don't know. I need to have one of the scientists look at it. All kinds of research studies and paperwork for a term sheet, angel investing, ran through a dummy corp. Why the hell would he want a hippie medicine business?"

  The documents were all marked 'secret' as I scrolled through.

  "He's offering ten times what that business is worth, and it has Cody's brother and sister's name on the legal documents. They own fifty-one percent of the company."

  "Look at that shit." Grandpa's eyes bugged out as he pointed at the screen.

  I followed his finger and my own eyebrows raised. A picture of the human anatomy filled the monitor. There were formulas and scientific jargon covering the page. I didn't understand it, but it was obviously a genetic experiment of some kind.