6. CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

Chyler

As we arrived at the warehouse and parked at the back, the three of us stepped out and opened the lift gate. When we left the nightclub, it had started pouring rain. The man was finally asleep in the back of the SUV.

Already, I knew it was going to take a lot of effort for the three of us to get him inside. We were strong, but carrying a full-grown dead-weight man was no easy feat for anyone.

“We need to get him inside and restrained before the drugs start wearing off.” Madison whispered-yelled, and the three of us dragged his limp body out of the vehicle. He hit the ground with an audible thud, and I couldn’t help the grimace. I bit my cheek and looked down at his prone form, trying to come up with a better solution aside from dragging his ass across the mud and gravel.

“Fuck, he’s heavy.” I groaned, bending down to pull his arm over my shoulders and lift him up. Madison came to his other side and did the same with his other arm. We lifted and carried him towards the doors, staggering the entire way; we eventually made it through them. Alexis closed and locked the doors behind us as we continued further into the expansive space where his new favorite chair awaited him.

When it came to questioning any of our targets for information, I have done most—if not all—of the dirty work.

Madison is the brains of our group; she works as a full-time registered nurse but could easily do so much more. She’s always had a passion for science and engineering.

Alexis is a well-organized tech nerd, so she always sets up our assignments. I’m not sure how she’s managed it, but her hacking skills and resources have become unparalleled over the years. We could get a name from this guy, and within minutes she could tell us the last time they took a shit. A little overkill, I know, but she could do it—pretty sure she did it once as a party trick.

That leaves me as the muscle—or, in this case, the interrogator. Blood doesn’t phase me; it never has. Not to mention, over the years, I have managed to develop a switch for my emotions—it makes all of our jobs that much easier.

The girls don’t have the stomach for blood and gore, so they never linger once our target is secured to their chair or wall— that was a fun one . They are always tucked away in another room or location, with a camera feed and headset to communicate with me while I perform my work.

After securing the man to the chair, we entered one of the back office rooms and waited for him to wake up, staring at the monitor that gave us a good view of him. His head was bent forward and lolling to the side. I crossed my arms and hummed to myself as I watched the screen. A black satin hood covered his head, his wrists were zip-tied to each of the chair armrests, and his ankles were secured to the chair legs with rope.

I was jolted from my thoughts by a loud bang behind me. I quickly turned around and saw Alexis standing in front of the metal table with the briefcase on top. She had slammed it onto the table, most likely for dramatic effect.

“What are we going to do with that?” I turned and moved towards the table, placing my hands on my hips and biting my cheek as my eyes inspected the black leather briefcase.

“Charlotte didn’t give us any instructions regarding handling the product.” She frowned as she glided her fingers along the locks, the temptation to open it lighting up her eyes. I had to admit that I was just as curious as to what could be in that briefcase. I assumed it was the drug that Roman had stolen, but money would have been a plus too.

“Think we should open it? Make sure he didn’t already hand it off while our backs were turned?” Madison stepped up beside me and crossed her arms. At this point, we would think of any excuse to justify opening it up to get a peek inside. Curiosity always wins in the end.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to check. Besides, we should probably know if we do or don’t have anything to deliver to Charlotte.” She shrugged and pressed the two buttons on the front of the briefcase, an audible click echoing throughout the small room as the latches popped open.

We all fell silent as she opened the briefcase. I think Madison may have stopped breathing for a moment. Inside, there was heavy foam padding, with a single slot in the center holding the vial of the drug. Madison and I leaned in to get a better look, and I tilted my head to see it more clearly.

“It doesn’t look all that special for a miraculous wonder drug that's supposed to cure the world of addiction.” I deadpanned as I inspected the vial from a distance. The vial was medium-sized, and the liquid inside was a bright violet shade. It was a very pretty color, but it still didn’t scream ‘top secret stolen drug’ at first glance.

If I am being honest, I was actually quite disappointed with its appearance. I was hoping it would look like something out of Resident Evil. After a few minutes, a groan came from the monitor behind us, and Alexis slammed the briefcase shut, snapping the three of us out of our thoughts.

“Looks like our guest is finally waking up. You ready, Chy?” Madison grimaced, knowing what was about to happen to him. I didn’t blame her; to put it bluntly, what I did was completely fucked up, but you would think she would be used to it at this point. She’s been doing this work a lot longer than me.

“You two need stronger stomachs, seriously.” I rolled my eyes and picked up the balaclava that I had set next to the monitor. I breathed deeply, pulling my mask back over my nose and my hood over my head. With a casual wink, I opened the door and exited the room, making my way across the floor to where the man was now squirming against his restraints.

I melted into my role effortlessly, flipping my switch, detaching from the world, and becoming a shell devoid of all morals. I have practiced disconnecting myself from reality for years, making it a simple and fluid task now.

I have scared both Madison and Alexis with the dark side of myself. They know not to push me too far because of what I'm capable of. Sometimes, I wonder if Madison regrets introducing me to Charlotte all those years ago. I don't think she ever expected this to happen to me.

I was the sweet, lost little sister to her.

Now, I was a fucked up monster, ripping the heads off innocent people for fun.

I pulled the hood from the man’s head. He let out a groan as he lifted it and turned his gaze to take in his surroundings. This warehouse had been abandoned for years, and recently, we decided it was the best place to interrogate the employees we had kidnapped.

Since the place was abandoned, we could come and go as we pleased. We didn't have to work around the owners' schedules, and the chances of getting caught were significantly lower with this location .

We were near the Mississippi River, so the building always smelled damp. The river was a convenience; it made disposing of what was left of the bodies easier and quicker. We tried not to leave much of a mess behind once we were done, but sometimes it just got to be too late—and if I am being honest, we got too lazy.

The inside was dark, and the windows were covered, so very little light entered the building, even during the day. We installed a single floodlight in the center of the massive room for dramatic purposes and to avoid lighting up the entire building and making it evident that we were using it. From the outside, this building looked as abandoned as it was.

I have gotten comfortable with this warehouse over the years. It's actually surprising that we have been able to use it for this long without being caught.

“Go light today, Chy… We don’t have time for one of your ‘in-depth’ interrogation sessions. Get the information and be done with it. Sweet and simple.” Madison said over the earpiece.

I might have gone a bit overboard with my questioning the last few times, but I was frustrated with constantly falling short on answers. This assignment seemed to be dragging on forever, and I was starting to feel worn out. It's infuriating how difficult it has been to locate Roman Atwater; even Alexis is amazed by his elusiveness.

I stood before our victim, dropping the hood to the floor. The only identifying feature he could see was my eyes. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t be breathing long enough to tell anyone what they looked like .

I pulled my knife from its sheath on my right thigh and tossed the handle in my hand before tightening my grip on it. The light that refracted off the blade caught his attention, and his eyes snapped up to meet mine.

“Wh—where am I? Please don’t hurt me.” His eyes moved to the knife in my hand, and he immediately began pleading for his life. I was hoping he would have lasted longer than two seconds—at least five. He was already disappointing me.

“How about we start with the easy questions first? What’s your name?” I asked, cocking my head to the side and lightly twisting the blade’s tip against the pad of my finger. I could feel the animal inside of me sizing up its prey before the slaughter.

“T—Tyler. My name is Tyler.” He stuttered and swallowed the lump of bile in his throat. He looked like he was going to throw up, and most likely not from the alcohol. I was always good at eliciting fear in my victims.

“Good start.” Amusement dripped from my lips. “Tell me, Tyler, what was in that briefcase you brought with you to The Landing tonight?”

He didn’t answer, which was a bad move. He would be making a huge mistake if he decided to play the hero role now.

“Let me make this clear, Tyler.” I took my knife and rested the tip lightly on the back of his hand. If the girls want “sweet and simple”, I will give it to them. “The longer you take to answer my questions, the more blood of yours I will spill. This can be as painful as you choose to make it.” I pushed slight pressure into the handle, the tip of the knife breaking the skin, and blood began to slide down the side of his hand.

“It’s a sample of Mr. Atwater’s new drug.” He mumbled.

“A name, please. I need a name for it.” I gestured my free hand in a circle and then placed it back on my hip. If he keeps giving me these short, vague answers, we will be here longer than any of us want.

“Ataraxia.” He blurted out, his voice trembling as he looked down at his hand and the blood that was slowly flowing over it, dripping to the floor.

“ Ataraxia .” I echoed, testing the sound of it on my tongue. It was not the kind of name that I had expected. “And where is Mr. Atwater right now?”

“I—I don’t know.” He sucked in a breath, and I knew this was where our fun was going to begin. A sadistic smile played across my face.

“Wrong answer, Tyler.” I pulled back the knife and stabbed it straight through the back of his hand. His scream vibrated off the walls of the warehouse and flooded my senses.

The unhinged and vicious side of me came crawling out to play, feeding off his screams like a meal. Women can easily be just as fucked up as men in the end. We are all in support of equal opportunity aren’t we?

“I am going to ask you one more time. Where. Is. Roman ?” I spat my words with venom.

“None of us k—know. He doesn’t come to the lab b—building.” Tears were starting to run down his face, and he was struggling to compose himself. He turned his head to look away from his bleeding hand—the knife sticking out of it.

“Not good enough.” I clicked my tongue, ripping the blade out of his hand and immediately plunging it into the other. Another loud shriek broke from his throat, and his breathing started to labor. I could see him getting dizzy from the pain. Good. He had a lower pain tolerance than the last few employees we dealt with. I was going to have to make this quick before he passed out on me.

“P—please, s—stop. I don’t know anything. I’m just a lab technician.” He pleaded.

I hummed and took a step back, leaving the knife in his hand and crossing my arms over my chest.

“I’m sure you are well aware of what we’ve done to the other lab technicians that we have kidnapped. So tell me what we need to know, and we will stop picking you off like flies.”

“None of us have any direct contact with Mr. Atwater… He communicates with us through one of his lab directors.” His voice was shaking.

“We aren’t going to get anywhere with this guy. He’s just as useless as the rest of them.” Alexis sighed over the earpiece. She was right. If what he said was true, then he and every other lab technician were a complete waste of our time.

“ What was that about a lab director having contact with Roman? That might be information worth having.” Madison chimed in.

I hung my head and ran a hand through my hair. Interrogating—torturing—these lab techs for information was tiring, and we weren’t getting anywhere with it. But at least now we knew why; because none of them even interacted with Roman. No one had the information we needed because he was using someone else to handle his work in his absence.

“How about a name for this lab director?” I sighed, already growing tired of this.

“I—I can’t remember it.” He stuttered, trying to recall the name he so desperately needed to know. “S—something with an ‘M’.”

I leaned forward, pushing my palms into his forearms for support as I brought my face to his. “That doesn’t help me, Tyler. A lot of names start with the letter ‘M.’”

With another quick and fluid motion, I tore the knife from his hand and jammed it into his thigh, stopping when I could feel it hit the bone.

“Fucking bitch!” He cried out and cursed. I chuckled under my breath; he did have a little bite to him, but not much.

“Name.” I deadpanned, twisting the knife before ripping it out of his leg and standing to my full height over him. I wasn’t tall by any means at five-six, but I could still make him feel small.

“Michael Aug—August. Michael August. Please, let me go. I won’t talk, I swear.” He continued to beg. The pain was getting to him; I could hear it in his cracking voice; it was breaking him down entirely. He was still sobbing, and soon, he wouldn’t be able even to speak coherently.

“Oh, I know you won’t. Thank you for the information, Tyler.” I cooed, and with a single quick and fluid movement, I slit his throat .

His blood flowed freely from his neck and pooled quickly underneath him. His entire body was covered in his blood, clothes soaked through. Another employee and there is still no direct location on Roman. But at least we were able to get a name for someone who would be working closer with him: Michael August .

Hopefully, this will prove not to be a complete dead end and a waste of time for us. I dragged the flat part of my knife along Tyler’s pants—whatever patch didn’t have blood on it—to clean it off as much as possible, then returned it to its sheath, inspecting Tyler's now limp and lifeless body. It was such a shame that it had to be him; he looked no older than twenty-five.

A loud bang from behind startled me from my thoughts, and I turned to look over my shoulder. The door to the warehouse had been kicked open.

“Chy, we’ve got company,” Alexis yelled over the earpiece. “Get the fuck out of there, now!”

Two dark figures appeared in the doorway.

Shit.

I bolted.

Like a startled rabbit, I took off for the warehouse's back door, letting the shadows consume me and assist in my escape. I could have stayed and fought, but the complications that would arise if I lost and was caught were not worth it. I needed to get out of here before they figured out who I was—they already knew what we were doing; the evidence in front of them was damning.

Without wasting any time to look over my shoulder and see whoever it was that had busted into the warehouse, I pulled the handle to the door at the back corner of the room—praying it was unlocked, and hell yes, it was—and I took off, out into the rain.

Madison whipped the SUV around to where I had exited the building, Alexis throwing the door open for me. I jumped inside, pulling the door shut behind me as we peeled out of the area and onto the closest major highway.

“That was way too close. How did we get caught? No one has found us here before.” I growled, ripping my balaclava off my face and tossing my hood back. This was a complete disaster. Alexis let out a curse and tugged at her hair.

Her eyes widened the moment she realized what had just happened.

“The security cameras on the building. I thought I disabled them last month, but someone must have turned them back on. Fuck .” She cursed and pounded her fists against the back of the passenger seat.

If those cameras were now functioning, then there is a chance that whoever they are already has images or videos of us. They know who we are.

“Do you think it alerted whoever just busted down the doors?” Madison asked over her shoulder from the driver’s seat.

“It’s a definite possibility. We’re going to need to find a new work location after this and tread with a lot more caution. This might be a sign that we are being hunted now. Someone knows what we are up to and is trying to stop us.” Alexis sighed and sat back in her seat, biting her fingernail in frustration.

“I guess Roman isn’t playing around anymore,” I mused .

“Enough, no more freaking out. Let’s just get our asses home and deal with it in the morning. Luckily for us, we got out of there in time, so they don’t know who we are.” Madison hissed.

The rest of the drive was quiet between the three of us. Not a single word uttered. I couldn’t help but wonder who was now supposedly chasing after us and if they were sent by Roman or someone else.

This whole assignment that Charlotte gave us months ago was fucked.

Our aggressiveness in finding Roman’s location by kidnapping and disposing of his employees has caught either his or someone else’s attention, and I had a feeling they weren’t going to stop until they had us in cuffs—or worse, dead.