The young men shivered relentlessly… against the cold… against their own primal fear.
"P-please," The young man in the red jacket begged. "Let u-us g-"
Before he could finish, a small girl wearing a white rabbit mask swung a baseball bat at his chin, knocking loose some teeth she broke and sending blood flying to his dirty blonde friend. The dirty blonde jumped and cursed as the blood hit him, nearly knocking over the young man with the beard next to him.
"Oh fuck! Brad," Screamed the young man with the beard. "You bitches better let us go, or you'll be fucking sorry!" The bearded young man gritted his teeth and flared his nostrils as fire welled up in his eyes. A fire his captures were more than eager to pound to dust… save for one.
Vivi was new to all of this, which was why she shivered (trembled) against the cold and in fear as well. She was not a murderer and yet… here she was on this frigid fall night, about to execute some guys she did not even know.
"Oh honey," Hyena said, stepping forward. "How do you plan to do that?" She placed a finger on the bearded guy's shoulder and traced it along his back as she motioned around him.
"Do you plan to punish us," Hyena asked as she sat on her knees behind the guy, letting her hands roam across his shoulders and chest. "Please love, tell me. I want to know what you have in mind for us."
"Fucking crazy bitch," the bearded young man screamed as he struggled against the ropes that held his ankles and wrists. "Get the fuck off me!"
"But why lover," Hyena asked sweetly as she let her hands fall down the bearded young man's chest and abdomen. "Am I not good enough for you?"
"That's enough for now, Hyena." Seahorse said as they stepped forward. Hyena groaned, but relented, nonetheless. She backed away from her ferocious captive, begrudgingly stood up, and paced back over to Seahorse and the others with her arms firmly folded.
"Just so you know, I call ownership." Hyena huffed as she walked past Seahorse.
"Noted." Seahorse replied flatly.
He cleared his throat before pacing in front of the young men, eyeing them intently from behind his white seahorse mask. Only the young man with the beard tried his best to look tough under his gaze, but the longer Seahorse paced without a word, the longer that shell of bravado began to fold away. His friends, however, did not even try to pretend. While the young man in the red jacket, Brad, was preoccupied crying in pain at his broken jaw, the dirty blonde next to him grit his teeth in a failed attempt to not cry and snot all over himself. The young man on the other side of the bearded one, the wannabe playboy, was too stunned by fear to do anything. The only thing Vivi could see from him was the constant, contorted face of terror he held. If it were not for the sweat that dripped all over his stark pale expression, his face could have been easily mistaken for another white mask. Now the last young man on the other side of him, the one with the glasses, was what caught Vivi's attention. Much like his friend next to him he said nothing, but his expression was not one of terror but of sadness… and maybe even guilt.
"One week ago," Seahorse spoke low but firmly as he continued to pace in front of the young men. "We received a report from Claire Garfield that one of you raped her. And after further investigation from our part, we found heavy evidence that backs up her claim. However, all our investigation did was narrow down her suspects. So, with that being said, who is going to confess?"
Seahorse stopped in front of them, placing his arms behind his back as if he were listening intently to whatever they had to say. For a while, none of them spoke up. Even the once ferocious bearded guy remained quiet.
"Nothing," Seahorse questioned. "As you wish." Seahorse gave a shrug and then motioned for Rabbit to begin beating Brad's head.
"Stop! Fucking stop!" the bearded guy said as all his other friends just watched in horror as Rabbit kept swinging her bloody bat. After a while, all that could be heard were loud, wet, crunches and sickly mushes as Brad's skull broke open, releasing floods of red brain matter all over the ground. Even the rest of his body fa red no better as it spasmed with every swing until it finally froze. Even then, even when his head was all but gone, even after his corpse released the last bits of piss and shit it held, Rabbit kept swinging.
Vivi wanted to turn away, but it was too late (far too late) for that. She had already seen the worst of it so now, Vivi simply stood there, numbed, as Rabbit kept beating away joyfully, beating away at what was not there. Her sensations were so lost to her after the gruesome sight that Vivi did not even notice, let alone feel, the bile that was pushing its way up her throat until she felt a bit pop through her lips. Vivi immediately turned her head, lifted up her own white mask, and forcefully vomited everything she had. She even fell to her knees against the painful force of vomit that spouted from her.
"Oh dear…," Hyena said worriedly as she knelt beside Vivi. "Dober, honey, are you ok?"
Even as she spit out the last of the vomit, Vivi could only nod her head. She usually considered Hyena a vile vixen, but there was always this sense of odd motherly care she gave towards Vivi and the rest that made Vivi rather comfortable around her. Seahorse on the other hand, was nowhere near as gentle.
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Seahorse groaned as he raised a hand for Rabbit to finally stop her assault, to which Rabbit actually gave two more swings before sadly lowering her bat. She then waited there patiently as Seahorse stomped over to Vivi, yanked her up to her feet, and half-dragged, half-walked, behind a nearby tree. Even behind her mask, Vivi could tell Hyena was concerned about the two of them, but even she dared not interfere with Seahorse, lest he report Hyena to Butterfly.
"You need to get your shit together," Seahorse growled low as he shoved Vivi against the tree. He was not a particularly big person, but he was definitely a strong one. "We are from over so either stop fucking this up or head back to the fucking van."
Seahorse gave Vivi one last hard shove before returning to the others. Vivi tried to get a hold of herself, but every time she inhaled , she would smell the stench of puke and every time she grabbed her hand to keep from shaking, the tremors would increase . She thought she was cut out for this. Butterfly made her think she was cut out for this. Tracking down and playing judge and jury to traffickers, rapists, stalkers, and abusers seemed like a dream… until she had to standby and play executioner as well. (Death) was a funny thing that way. Nobody takes executions seriously till they have to see it, till they have to do it, and in their case… till they have to prolong it.
Another painful cry whisked Vivi back to reality. She spat and wiped her mouth before quickly placing her mask back on and hurrying to see the horrors that befell the boys now. Vivi came back just in time to watch Rabbit pelt the playboy's hands while they were still tied to his back. All of his knuckles were bloodied and even some had broken bone jutting out from the limply hanging fingers. Seeing the gnarled fingers instinctively made Vivi turn away. A mistake she wished she had not made as she gasped in horror and disgust to find Hyena stroking the bearded guy's cock from behind as they both watched the scene. The young man cried (literally) and swore harshly for Hyena to stop. However, between his friends agonizing screaming, the sick popping of his friend's fingers, and the rush of blood that filled Hyena's ears, nobody could hear him.
Hyena laughed seductively and whispered, "I wonder what's going to come out first? The truth, or your load?"
The answer came swiftly. The dirty blonde screamed that he was the culprit just as the bearded guy ejaculated. Hyena turned the forcefully orgasming young man towards the dirty blonde as he continued his ejaculation, spraying some of his dirty seeds on the guilty guy's lap. Satisfied, Hyena wiped the bits of sperm that fell on her hand on the young man's beard before standing up and walking over to Seahorse's side. Even Rabbit stopped her own assault and returned to their leader's side.
"The fuck man," The bearded guy cried out through snotty tears. "How could you let these bitches do this to us?" Seahorse gave an initial answer of a boot to the bearded guy's chin.
"Because I used to be one of these 'bitches'." He said impassionedly before walking over to the dirty blonde.
"As for you," Seahorse said as he stood over the dirty blonde. "I'm going to need you to start talking before this nightmare continues all night. The dirty blonde stammered uncontrollable for a bit until legible words began to escape his trembling lips.
"W-we were a-at a party a-and… w-wel-"
"You have approximately six seconds to straighten up or I'll have Rabbit do it for you." Seahorse interrupted. The dirty blonde's eyes went wide as the full truth finally shot out of his mouth.
"Brad slipped a pill in her drank and I took her up to my room and fucked her while Kelson and Luke kept watch!" The dirty blonde began whimpering into a cry. Seahorse knelt down before him, lifted his chin up, and whispered, "Now see. Was that so hard." Seahorse stated before slipping a butterfly knife from his sleeve and stabbing the dirty blonde in the neck.
"Chad!" The bearded guy, who Vivi later found out was Luke, screamed as he watched his friend spasm and choke on his own blood. Chad gurgled for a bit longer, flailing like a fish until he went just as still as his friend before him. Even releasing just as much piss and shit as him.
"Rabbit, finish off the playboy now and then help Hyena load our little manly man into the van so that she can play with him later." Seahorse ordered as he stood, taking a handkerchief, and wiping away the blood on his butterfly knife. Rabbit immediately did as she was told, finishing off the wannabe playboy with just a few swings while Hyena jumped for joy and snatched Seahorse into a big hug. Telling him thank you and planting a kiss on his mask through her own.
"Okay, okay. Get off me and let's get this place cleaned up." Seahorse grumbled rather warmly.
"B-but… what about him…" Vivi shakingly pointed over to the last young man with glasses.
"Glad you asked," Seahorse said as she strode past Hyena and pulled a pistol from her hip. "That is your real initiation."
Vivi looked at the pistol incredulously before stammering, "B-but he wasn't in the confession."
"No, he wasn't, but our dear friend Shane over there was actually Claire's friend who stood by while his basketball friends had their way with her." Seahorse elaborated. Vivi felt her stomach fall as she peered frantically at the young man named Shane. Their eyes did not meet but she could tell that what Seahorse said was true.
"But even still," Vivi said as she turned her attention back towards Seahorse. "He did not actually participate. He doesn't deserve this."
"He stood by and did nothing as his 'friend' was raped and allowed her to carry that burden on her own instead of speaking out for her afterward. As far as we are concerned, he is just as guilty as the rest of his teammates. However, his sentence will be much lighter than the others. So, make it quick." Seahorse pushed the gun onto Vivi before walking away to help with the cleanup.
Vivi began to hyperventilate as she stared at the gun in her hands. She had no idea what to expect but this was not it. She wanted justice, but she did not want to kill people. Just the thought alone was making her stomach all queasy again. However, just as her nerves were going to get the best of her, Shane spoke up.
"Hey… please let me go." The poor guy begged. Vivi snapped out of her hysteria as she turned towards him. She wandered over, standing in front him.
"I-I'm sorry… I… I can't." Vivi replied sorrowfully.
"But you can. They're distracted right now. Just help me untie the ropes on my ankles and I can just run away. I promise, you won't hear from me again and I'll even change. I'll be that hero for women that I wasn't for my friend. Just please give me another chance." Shane pleaded as he began to sob.
Vivi wanted to. Wanted so desperately to believe him. However, the last time she heard something like that, it cost her mom her life.
"I'm sorry." Vivi said as she held the tip of the pistol to Shane's head.
"P-please I promise I wil-"
A thundering shot rang out before he could finish. Even after his body fell back limply, lying in the blood and brains that splattered from the back of his head, Vivi still held the gun in place. As if the guy was still there. As if she could take it all back. As if she could have made another choice.
Soon after, Seahorse gently grabbed her hand, taking the gun away and holstering it back on her hip. He then grabbed around Vivi's trembling hand, turned her towards him, and whispered softly.
"It's okay. It's over. Justice was served, whether you believe it or not. He would have never changed, none of them do. So don't think too deeply about it. Don't regret what you did for the defenseless girl that was taken advantage of. For the defenseless girl that nobody took action for, or even listened to, except for us. You did good Dober, and now you can keep doing good with us, okay?" Vivi could only manage a head nod as an answer.
"I promise it'll get easier, especially when you see the real monsters," Seahorse finished with a pat on Vivi's shoulders. He then turned away to rejoin the rest who stood by, waiting for Vivi. She knew she was in over her head, but she also knew that if she did nothing, then nothing would change. And to her, that would make her just as guilty as the (evil) they hunted.