Love Or Death?

Three

"Come in!" the man smiled, if I didn't think I was dreaming I would have sworn I saw a spec of red in his mouth. His teeth were oddly blinding but perfect. I felt Landry take my hand in his, snapping me out of my terrified trance. I glanced over, the supposedly comforting smile on his face did nothing to get me near comfort, if anything it made me even more anxious.

We followed closely after the pale man before the door jammed shut behind us, sending a chill through my body. The room was nothing out of the ordinary of what a private club looked like. Lights, comfortable chairs, and most of all, all genres of drinks and drugs on the shelves.

Aside from the man who led us in, there were two women behind him in sheer lingerie that showed their tailored bodies perfectly, definitely not leaving anything to the imagination.

There were a few other girls like that around, either they were getting pounded by large men or just lying around talking to men. The men in this room were all large and looked like they were preparing for some sort of apocalypse with their build. No matter how gorgeous these people looked, nothing felt right about this place.

We took a seat in front of the man and I stayed curiously analyzing the place for any possible escapes, "Beautiful isn't it?" it took a split second for me to register that he was talking to me, his deep blues staring into my soul, making the words clog up in my throat.

I managed a forced smile, "Very," I admitted.

"Friend of Landry's, I see. Welcome, Zipporah, name's Jack," he grinned. Jack, such an ordinary name for a not so ordinary looking person.

How the f**k did he know my name?

"Nice to meet you, Jack," I forced a smile, trying to avoid locking eyes with the practically naked girl behind him that has been analyzing me since I walked in.

"You look really strong and have a confident aura, I like that," he said, leaning forward, "I feel like we'll get along…" he paused, scanning me from bottom to top, "just fine."

I could have sworn I saw him wink at me, even if he did, I can't do anything about it. I gave him a fake smile, staring everywhere but at him, I could still feel his eyes linger on my body, sending current through my veins, "nice place you got here," I added.

"You think?" he sounded surprised as if he didn't know.

"Yeah, it's a nice place but what really is the purpose or point? Well, asides from the people f*****g and drugs, there should be more to it, right?" I sat up confidently, staring right back at the eyes that mortified me a few seconds ago.

The silence was thick between us for a second, I could barely read what was behind those eyes of his as he didn't say a word, "Well then," he finally broke the silence, not keeping his gaze off of me, "I originally built this place for my friends and I. It was mostly like a place for experiments, drugs, alcohol. Just rich, young, stupid teenagers looking for a bit more freedom," he narrated.

I nodded, "Interesting," I crossed my legs, taking a more comfortable position, "tell me more," I lowered my brows as I saw the subtle shocked expression on Jack's and both of the girls' faces.

"Things ended up a lot more intense than originally planned and it eventually got one of us killed with an experiment, let's say that. Now I just use it as a private club that can be used for quite questionable things or people, nothing too out of the ordinary, and there's no judgment here," Jack smirked, his eyes darkened as he stared, thinking it'll make me flinch or feel intimidated.

We were briefly interrupted by a familiar voice causing commotion at the back. It was Landry, like there was a fight between him and someone else. My heart raced as they brought him into the room, battered and thrown on the floor in front of Jack.

"What foolery is this?" Jack shouted at the man who threw Landry, his face turning red almost instantly.

"He broke the contract, sir," the silence was deafening after he spoke. I frowned my brows, wondering why the man nudged his head towards me. I shot my head towards Jack to see he had calmed down instantly, looking a lot more sombre and serious than he did before, like it was a whole new person I was looking at.

Landry knelt there, his hands beside his body steady. He didn't move as Jack stared at him, his eyes void of emotions. He sighed, standing before Landry, "You know what comes next don't you, old friend?"

I saw Landry nod, his head facing the ground. So Landry was one one the friends that started this place with Jack as teenagers? He was always the typical British man next door, I would have never imagined he had a life behind all that.

"Get it for me," Jack said, his tone quite more sober than earlier. The man walked in soon after with a small, beautifully embedded knife, just like the one I saw at the door with the exact design. Fear washed over me, I felt my knees shake and my skin turn pale as I realized what all this looked like. Was this a cult and they were about to kill Landry? Was I next? Why are they killing him and he's just kneeling there with that pitiful look on his face just waiting to be slashed by the neck?

The questions were soon replaced by the unhinged feeling of someone watching me, I felt the presence of two bodies at least suddenly behind me. I wouldn't dare to move, my body didn't even allow it. As I watched what I felt was about to become a murder scene, the expected people behind me grabbed me by my arms sharply, their tight grips pinching into my skin.

I whined and yelled, "Let me go you bastards!" struggling in their grip. One tried to intimidate me by staring into my eyes, I gathered the spit from my mouth and spat in his furious face.

"If you wouldn't kill her sir, I'll kill her myself," the man I spat on yelled, squeezing my arm tighter making me wince as I felt my bones cry for mercy.

"No please, deal with me and spare her," Landry said suddenly, the cry for empathy in his voice made my heart warm up, "please," he begged.

Landry nodded at the man and he released his grip a little.

I swear if I get out of this alive I'll kill this bimbo myself.

"What do you want with me? Why are you killing Landry?" I yelled.

"He broke our code," he said, twirling the knife in his fingers as he walked up to me. My heart raced, the air became lighter as he placed his knife underneath my chin, raising my head up. I refused to look intimidated, I paired a stern glare with his subtle smirk, "I'm not going to kill you, I have very special plans for you, Pumpkin."

"The name is Zipporah," I said through gritted teeth.

"Fearless even with a laced knife near your neck? Feisty, I like you already," a maniacal smile spread across his lips, walking back towards Landry to whisper a few things in his ear before slashing his neck clean from behind him. Landry's body dropped straight to the ground, his neck as if it was being eaten from the inside out all the way to his face and chest. He did mention it was laced but what could it have possibly been laced with that would cause such damage?

My stomach turned as from blood, it turned to his bones only in a pool of his blood. I tried to look away but the image stuck to my head, making the pasta from earlier threaten to make its way back out.

"Now pumpkin-"

"The name is Zipporah!" I bit back as my blood boiled beneath my skin. My lips were in a thin line as the fear was immediately replaced by rage as his smile only grew as I spoke. I won't let them intimidate me, if I die, at least I won't die scared.

"Zipporah," he corrected himself, "what do I do with a pretty thing like you, hmm?" he teased, placing himself back comfortably in his chair.

"How about let me go?" I suggested.

"So you'll rate us out to the police or something?" He scoffed, "I have just the perfect job for a fearless, hot Lady of your calibre."

"I don't need your offer."

"I could say otherwise, pumpkin. Now that you're jobless and your sugar daddy is dead, I mean?" His sinister smile made my stomach turn.

I stood there, flabbergasted. How much did he know about me and who was this man? Who was Landry? What exactly was this place? Millions of questions raced through my brain but I stood tall, trying not to let my fear show through my face.

"How did you–"

"Oh darling, I know practically everything about you. It's been a long time coming, trust me when I say that," he tilted his head as his smile grew, "No time to waste, let me introduce you to what you have to do for me to keep your life."

"What are you going to do about Landry? His children, his car that's parked above us, what about that huh? You sick f**k!" I struggled to say as the two men walked me behind Jack.

He stayed silent as the two men pushed me to walk behind Jack. We stopped in front of yet another door that he had placed his finger on to open with a beep.

He looked over his shoulder, using the corner of his eye to look at me, his eyes flashed a bright red that made my heart almost sink to the pit of my stomach, "Learn to control your tongue or I swear to whomever you worship I'll cut it and feed it to you."

Why did his bloody eyes turn red!? What have I gotten myself into?