Savior

Heath

My hand twitches as I watch her run off into the night, the wind whips her hair across her now downed hood. Her perfume lingers in the air, assaulting my air way leaving me in bliss. I’ve never seen her before so she must be new to town, strange. No one comes to Hartville unless they’re up to no good. That itself makes her even more interesting than before, why would a little girl like her be on a dark street at this time of night? How did she manage to bring down Marcus so fast? As if she had been ready her entire life for just that moment. I shake the thoughts from my brain, it doesn’t mater who she is. She’s just some worthless girl who was probably up to no good anyway. I aim the gun at Marcus’s head and pull the trigger, ending his worthless life and bettering the population. This isn’t the first time he has harmed an innocent girl wandering the streets in the night. I warned him last time I cleaned up his mess what I would do, and I never go back on my promises. I pull my phone out and dial the proper number, “ I need a clean up on 7th avenue, make it pronto.” I snap the phone shut knowing there’s nothing more to be said, no questions asked. That’s the rule of the game.

I lean down and drag the body over to a nearby alley way positioning him as though he was sleeping the drinks away. I snap a picture and send the coordinates to my source before making my way down the street wandering about a certain brunette that hasn’t released my mind.

........…………………………………..

I flip the light open and shut as I wait on Dante to hurry up. We are known as the Watte brothers even if we aren’t truly kin. Our fathers ran the underground mafia in this town, and we just happened to be the running up recipients once they crawled into their grave. We both didn’t want this life but does anyone ever. Our mothers were both in the same predicament as we were, slaves to the game. They never stood for us or sheltered us from the way the real world is and that includes the cruelness of our fathers. Dante and I were introduced around six years old during a meet with the lords of other neighboring mafias. That was the first night we watched a man die, we became men that night. Though the thought no longer bothers me, nor does the act of killing, I still will die before bringing another child into this world to live this sentence. It will die with me. Dante feels the same way and that’s why we agree to live the way we live. We are the reason the Watt brothers bring chills up anyone’s spine that knows better.

“Isn’t it a little early for brooding brother?” I hear him speak behind me.

I smirk as I turn to see him leaning up against the door panel uncaring. Turning back around I admit, “I killed Marcus a couple of hours ago.”

“I heard.” He announces as he joins me at the railing. We own many clubs in the city of Hartville including a couple of business, bars, etc. We’re standing by the VIP suite railing in Velvet; it’s one of our commonly known strip clubs here in Hartville. On average, our girls are racking in around two to three thousand a night. It’s quite impressive to watch sometimes. Your average middle class man with the perfect family life at home, coming in here and dropping thousands on a girl who doesn’t even care about him. We don’t care what they do in here most of the time as long as s**t doesn’t get out of hand. Our dancers can’t date while they work here, like it or not. No drama, no cops. Simple ideology. That is something we don’t need wondering around here considering some of the clientele we hold are less respectable to cops. I realize that Dante is still talking to me and tune in. “- have you even been to sleep yet this morning?”

“No, sleep is for the dead.” I mutter as I turn to the side table and pour me a drink.

He slouches back on the VIP couch and sighs. “Isn’t it a little early to already be drinking? What’s up with you?”

I shrug, not wanting to talk about the purple hued eyes that haunt my thoughts. “Nothing, I just need to go to sleep.”

“Right.” He states, thankfully letting it drop. I don’t want to deal with the lecture right now. I just want to drown my thoughts and lose myself in a certain red head. Too bad drowning is the only thing I will be doing in the end.

I down the class in my head and throw it on the table. “I’m going to go back to compound and sleep for a couple of hours. I’ll meet up with you later.” Without waiting for a response, I exit the room feeling better with the liquid courage fueling my veins.

........…………………………………..

Evelyn

“Come here you crazy b***h!” He screams, his fingers raking through the crown of my hair. I scream at the top of my lungs as he drags me back through the doorway. “How dare you?! You should be grateful for everything I’ve given you! Ungrateful, little –“

His words are cut off by the ringing in my ears as my body begins to go numb. This is my normal shock response to his evasions, numbness. What else can you do when all other defenses fail you? I cry out as he enters roughly with no warning, cursing my very existence as he always does. It is a never-ending repetitive cycle for us. He’s threatening me as always, when suddenly he goes quiet. I take his thrusts limply and wait out until I am alone again. Suddenly, I feel him bite down at the base of my neck. Black stars shoot across my vision and my screams once again pierce the night. I jolt up in my bed, hyperventilating into the darkness of my bedroom. My cat skittles is glaring at me from my pillow as I reach over for my phone. It’s one o’clock in the afternoon. I find myself silently thanking the universe I don’t have to work at the bar today. This morning’s events have left me in a scramble for my mood and thoughts that are in a million pieces God knows where. My gums ache as I make way for the kitchen, skittles padding after me resentfully. If it was his way, he’d have us both in the bed all day binging on tv shows or something. He’s such a lazy animal. I grab a bottle of water out of the fridge and unscrew the cap. I find what I’m looking for in the cabinet and drop it into the bottle before shaking it up quickly. If I don’t get this elixir in my system fast, then I am one step closer to losing control again. I remember last night, smelling the strange man that appeared out of nowhere. Not the scum who attempted to attack me but the delicious one who “saved” me. In some way I feel like he did save me, but not from the weak man on the concrete. He saved me from myself. I brace myself as I down the entire bottle, hating the pungent taste of the chemicals that hold my darkness in the depths of my mind. You can’t run from who you are, from what I have made you. You will be cursed, mine for all eternity. His words ring through my mind making me grimace. NO. I will not put myself through this again today, I will shake last night’s dreams, and I will lead a normal life. How could you ever be normal when you know what you want? A small voice whispers in my mind. I ignore it as well as I trudge to the shower quietly.

........…………………………………..

I sit in the uncomfortable metal chair, finishing my look as the music blares outside the room. I work during the day at a local bar as a bartender for a couple of hours between three and nine sometimes, but my main job is an exotic dancer. The club is called Velvet, but I like to call it Hell. My “abilities” come in handy when I’m dancing or in close contact with people here. If we get people in here, I make a load in a night. Saying I drain them dry would be ironic for the situation I currently endure. “Hey Rose, how’d your morning go?”

I look up to see my friend, Jesse walking into the dressing room. She clearly just got out of VIP which means things are starting to pick up. I hold my breath, trying to block out the smell of her pulse beneath her skin. I’ve grown accustomed to doing this frequently especially in close contact. “It went okay, skittles kept me asleep for forever.” It wasn’t a lie necessarily, but it wasn’t the whole truth. I wasn’t going to relay the information about Marcus or about the mystery man. Why would I? I’ve seen worse after all, it’s not like he actually had the balls to kill him after all.

“Boss man said you’re up next, so you better be ready soon.” She lifts her already large breast up in her halter top and struts out of the room. She’s always looking out for me in the best way, but if she knew who I really was she would run away. I look in the mirror. My brown hair lays in glossy wave down to my hips as it always does. My eyes remain their diamond blue that they always were before the curse. My body is thick in the right places, hourglass is what the generation calls it now. I’m wearing a corset that is laced up my back with a lacey red thong to match against my tan skin. My knee-high leather laced up boots are tightened against my long legs as I stand readjusting myself. My high cheek bones and perfect eyebrows leave no room for makeup. I grimace at my features knowing why I look this way, to attract. I clutch my bag and walk out of the room to “Apparition” by Sleep Token. I walk up the stage gracefully. As I make my way over to the pole I take in the crowd, everyone is eyes on me as I slide down the pole spreading my legs slightly. I swing my long hair and release some of my power as I feel the music beneath me. Men and women come up throwing blankets of money as I slide across the floor. A pretty blonde with big boobs is standing at the edge of the stage looking about as nervous as a first timer. I slide my face from her hips to the crook of her neck and breath in her scent. My mouther waters and I stare into her eyes as she whimpers. I can smell her arousal through the thick air, and I can see she is entranced. The ache of my gums brings me back to the ground and I spin around showing her my back and ass. She quickly exits back to wherever she came from, and I smile. I am the predator here and sometimes that comes with benefits.

“Streets” by Doja Cat blares through the speakers as I roll over onto my back, arching I gently spread my legs. I can hear every heartbeat in the room speed up as my hands wander around my body. I peer up through my lashes to the top balcony that I have begun to know so well. My charisma shatters when I come face to face with the man that has been haunting my thoughts since he sauntered into my life. Hazel brown eyes glare down at me threatening my breath as if I should be buried under this stage right now. Any other girl would scamper away terrified for her life. Me, I turn my ass around and shake it tauntingly at him knowing it is driving him insane. f**k him. I don’t need a savior.