The next morning, two huge men barged into her room in the name of taking her to her cell, that's what he called it right? She did put up a fight, all in the name of finding out just how badly he wanted her.
"Get up", the first growled
"And if I refuse?", she said haughtily
He grinned a crooked smile, revealing several missing teeth, "Then Mr. Executive will make you look a little like me."
The other said, "A shame ain't it. A pretty little peach like you a hostage"
Louella was thoroughly disgusted by them, how vulgar of them. They looked like they were imagining her naked. Disgusting. They were rapists- and vulgar ones at that! Did he know they were like this and still send them, or is there some stuff he doesn't know?
While they escort her to her 'cell', she took the opportunity to analyze the area, and it was very big. Men were walking around with guns and bombs left and right. But other than the obvious factors it looked like a normal country home. A normal country home for rich people, but still- normal.
The place she was coming from was a large white building that had no windows, and only one door. At least only one door that led out. The others were stationed at odd places along the side of the building with nowhere to go but to fall. Could this be one of the punishments? How cruel. From the lowest door, it was at least a seventy-foot drop. She gulped and looked away wondering how many had met their deaths in that horrid way.
It took a long time to get to wherever they were going. They passed several more armed men who leered at her and called the two escorting her lucky. She didn't even want to think of what they had done to deserve that title, or what they were going to do. So, she carefully looked away anytime any man yelled out to the men escorting her and they snickered, she would look away quickly. They passed a beautiful fountain that looked almost handcrafted because the designs were so delicately precise. Her wound was starting to ache when they passed a much larger house than the one, she came from earlier that day. So, if that was where they organized themselves and brought prisoners and hostages then where was this? This building was beautiful. It looked sort of wooden and like nothing she had seen in real life. More like out of a book, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and sloping brow roof, beautiful trees planted all around it as well as small rose bushes around the entrance, Louella was captivated by its simple beauty. It stood out like a majestic horse in the middle of a bunch of sheep. But as she stared more at the house, she realized why it was so much more beautiful than it should be. It was the only building in the whole area. She was literally in the middle of nowhere.
She couldn't even pretend to hope that was where they were taking her. And she was proved right, about sixty from the lovely home stood a single block of a building. From the looks of it one floor, one window, one door one room. She sighed in defeat as they got there and stopped. The men hurried her inside.
"Ugh, finally", the first one groaned
"Oh, get up. You're always so lazy." The second said.
"I can't help it. Certain things tire me out", the first complained
The second grinned, "There is one thing in particular though. That I could never be tired of doing"
And as one they both turned to Louella who was doing her very best to ignore them to this point. She turned around and prepared a nice scream in her throat.
"Aren't you just beautiful?", the first murmured as he grabbed her hand and stroked it.
"Let me go!", she yelled out, causing the second guy to cover her mouth with his hand, grabbing her waist with the other hand.
"I've always wondered what black bitches feel like", he mumbled in her ear.
"Same here, Alfred. Look at how she is struggling!", the first said cackling
"Yeah. You think she might be fresh Mike?", the one called Alfred asked.
"Let's quit talking and find out already", Mike growled.
They were about to make their move on her when Louella suddenly remembered what to do. It was what her mom had taught her when she was a kid and part of why she was so good at her job.
Louella is already naturally very flexible, and her mother took advantage of this to teach her a bunch of different martial arts as well as kickboxing and street fighting. But the one that came to mind right then was the simple girl's defense combo.
They are two. Perfect for when a guy is harassing you from the front and the back. The first is the most popular; knee-groin, heel-foot, fist-stomach for when you're getting harassed from the front. The second is; elbow- nose, back leg- groin, and anything else you wish to do.
Since they were two, Louella's brain was full of ways to utilize both defenses at the same time. She finally came up with the perfect defense. Bending back to the floor so she was out of reach of the two men, she slithered away. Only after ensuring she killed at least one of each of their generations. They had left the door open in their haste and she hurried to run out. Leaving them withering in pain on the floor.
She rushed out and flew as quickly as her injured leg would take her, but she didn't get very far before she bumped into a solid brick wall. She stumbled back and fell on her backside. How had she been careless enough to not notice a wall? She looked up and groaned. Of course, it was a person! A certain Executive to be exact, she glared at him
"I was that close to getting away, how did you know?", she grumbled looking up to his impossibly hard face
"I had a feeling. Where are your escorts?", he asked
"Taking a nap"
"Meaning?"
"I put them to sleep, obviously", she said rolling her eyes
His narrowed, "Explain"
"Ugh, they tried to rape me okay? So, I knocked them out", she said smugly
She didn't expect him to do anything about it but what he did do surprised her
He clicked on something she was sure of it she heard the sound but saw no device. Probably an earpiece. "It's me, I have a hostage situation here, come pick her up… no you can't do that… I'll allow that, yes… definitely not… just come here!", he snapped into the thing
He turned back to Louella with a distinctively annoyed look. "Anything else?" he asked
She had to think for a moment. Will she do it now? What happens if he refuses? She still knows nothing about the murderer and if she can't be useful to them, they will get rid of her what will she do now? she decided to just go for it
"Actually yes… there are a few things I'd like to ask about, concerning your mafia", she said
He paused, just as she had suspected he would, "Who told you about that?"
She grinned, his reaction was perfect for this, "No one told me. I figured it out on my own. And I want to help. Yu catch the Murderer I mean. Nothing else but that.", she said silently applauding her assertiveness. He was quiet for a while
"I don't trust you in the least Rossi, but for the sake of my work, I'm going to accept this. We will talk later Now get going"
"Uh, get going to where exactly? There are rapists in my prison cell, sir", she said sarcastically getting up off the floor.
He turned around leaving n answer again. That thing is seriously irritating. His position was taken not long after by a woman. Louella stared at her.
"Ooo, you're so pretty! I can see why you are still alive!", she gushed
"Sorry, what?", Louella asked.
"Oops, see around here the pretty girls live longest."
Oh, she understood now, she means that the executive is also a womanizer how mediocre. She disliked him even less than before now. But that wasn't the problem right now, not only had the psychopath agreed to talk to her about her views, but later on, he had sent a strange woman to her.
"Um, who are you?", she asked
The lady laughed, "Oh I'm so sorry! My name is Bella, I'm the Beta around here", the lady said taking Louella's hand and pulling.
"The beta… as in the second in command, right?"
"Ooo, you're smart! Yes, I am the second in command around here", Bella gushed
Oh, I see, so if she is the second in command then he must be first, right? The alpha, I'd better make sure, though, "If your beta then I'm guessing he is alpha, is that right?"
"Exactly. Marco tells me you don't know anything about the moonlight murderer"
Louella nodded, "I don't know who that is, and your alpha doesn't believe me"
She nodded, "Yes, he has that tendency. But don't worry, when I'm done with you Marco will believe every word that comes out of your mouth", she said thus with a sinister look on her face and Louella began to worry.
Bella led her to the beautiful woodland house she was admiring earlier. The house was exactly how she envisioned it would be inside. It was almost literally decorated like a forest, complete with hanging vines and branches as well as a huge in-wall aquarium. It looked stunning and despite its majestic nature gave the feel of warmth. Bella grinned at Louella's bemused expression.
"Welcome to the den. This is where the people at the top live"
"The people at the top? Apart from you and the alpha who else is there?"
"Well, there is the alpha- Marco; beta- me; gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa," she explained.
Louella nodded, "So ten of you live here. That's an impressive hierarchical system you have here"
Bella laughed, "Oh, please. Let's get to the main reason I brought you here. Now apart from the fact that you can't stay in the cell after what Alfred and his idiot friend tried to do to you, I have to figure out whether you lying or not and then based on the outcome end you appropriately", she said all serious.
Louella sighed, "Are you going to torture me?", she asked warily at once.
Bella winked, "Only if you want me to be"
"Are you that way?", Louella asked immediately
Bella grinned and blew a kiss, "What does it look like sugar? Now, let's hurry, Alpha won't stay away for long. He seems very interested in you"
When he got there, they were still groveling. How disgraceful. He took out his gun and clicked off the safety.
"Explain yourselves", he ordered them.
They stood with difficulty, wincing in pain as they did, "Sir…she attacked us without provocation", Alfred said quickly in a whiny voice.
"Lies"
"B-but sir", mike started, trying to help.
"What did I say would happen if you tried this rubbish again? First, beta then one hostage after another", he said slowly
Both men fell to their knees, "It won't happen again sir", Alfred said his head bowed.
He nodded, "I know it won't. I don't tolerate incompetence",
And then he sent both men to their makers, he tapped the device in his ear and said, "Put Kappa through"
"Alpha, any problem"
"Clean up in the cell. Two dead men", he barked into the line
"What did they do?"
"Attempted rape, two on one", he growled back.
"Desperate suckers. I'll take care of its Alpha don't worry", and the line went dead.
He walked away deep in thought. Why had he gone to kill them? This wasn't the first rape case of rape, and it's not like he didn't know what they were doing, but it has just never bothered him before. Why did she have to be different? He knew exactly why. That didn't mean he was ready to accept the reason. He sighed, might as well go see if Bella was done.
He got to the den and walked in, greeted by the sound of Bella's high-pitched laughter. He skipped stairs up to her room and threw open the door. There she was, Rossi, strapped into the bed with the censors attached all over her body.
"You're so funny, Sugar. Honestly!", then she turned around and saw him, her eyes warmed, "Alpha."
"Beta, how's it going?", he asked watching the frequencies on the monitor that only Bella could interpret.
"Shockingly good. Seems she has nothing to hide, I didn't even have to force her. And his brain waves are so… normal almost as if she hasn't ever had a sane thought in her life!", Bella exclaimed
As if on cue, the monitor suddenly beeped loudly indicating a sudden change in frequency. Both of them turned to look at her but she wasn't looking at them her face was turned up to the ceiling and was it his imagination or did her dusky skin suddenly have a red undertone? Could she be blushing? The thought almost made him smile.
"What thought could have caused such a reaction? Could it have been about the murderer?", Bella mused
But as she said this, the monitor maintained a normal rhythm. Could she know nothing about the murderer? But his reactions… there must be something there!
"So Alpha, seems she knows nothing about the murderer"
He nodded, "I guess I can accept that"
Their subject groaned, "Great, is this late enough?", she asked sounding annoyed as Bella unstrapped her.
He sighed and leaned against the opposite wall, "Let's get this over with. You already know this is a mafia, even if I'd love to know how you know, you won't tell me, right?"
She nodded as she sat up, "Right. But I think I can help you; my line of work already has me dealing with this sort of stuff. And I can help you catch your guy, for a price of course",
He raised his eyebrows, "A price? Do you think you are in a situation to be making demands right now?", he asked
She didn't answer his question and went on, "I'll help you in exchange for my freedom and silence"
He laughed out loud, "And what made you think any of those things matter to me?", he asked
She pursed her lips, "Because, right about now I'm supposed to be back at work meaning they would have reported me missing. Even if they didn't, I never made it to my mom's place two days ago and she noticed. Your boss won't be too happy about you guys making the news, will he?"
He kept silent. She made a good point and she knew she did. Bella whispered in his ear, "She has a point, Marco, I think you should accept her offer. Besides, I had to kill my last friend", she hissed glaring at him. He rolled his eyes.
"If I agree to your conditions what in it for us?", he asked.
She smirked and stood up, "You get your murderer and get rid of me"
What a tempting offer, he narrowed his eyes and went into deep thought again. Even if he did accept her offer- and he had no doubt the boss would accept it as well- she was a dubious spirit and he could not afford to be deceived by her. He finally conceded mostly due to large and obvious hints from Bella.
"Fine, welcome aboard. But being part of the team doesn't guarantee survival", he said seriously and left both women there. He was late for a meeting with the boss, what a perfect opportunity to introduce the latest member of the cast. The newest kappa.
You rarely get cases of treason, but as rare as it is always found among the lesser members. Those who profit the least from the business and want to take down those profiting the most. It's pathetic, he has no time for such.
He got back to the fortress, and walked briskly to the meeting room, they were all waiting for him of course but still, he wanted to get this over with.
Everybody stood up as he walked in. he didn't even bother to sit down as he pulled out his pocket gun and pointed it at his head.
"James, standup"
The man stood up slowly, "Alpha"
"Kappa… I can't let you live"
He nodded, "I understand"
"Apart from me, there are eight other people in this room. Eight people who paved the way for you, and you sell them all out me included for a couple of hundred dollars?", he yelled the anger getting to him as he clicked off the safety.
James backed up, "You don't get it Alpha I needed the cash!"
"And you thought I wouldn't give it if you asked me? What did you need it for, your girlfriend?", he shouted firing a shot at the ceiling.
The force and shock of the shot made him fall to the ground, "I- I'm sorry, Alpha! It won't happen again!", he yelled
He redirected the gun's target, "I know it won't Kappa. I know it won't," and with three consecutive shots, he was no more. Alpha moved on at once, "Gamma, get me the information he leaked. Iota, get this cleaned up"
When both had stood up, he walked out of the room he followed them out not talking to them and breezing past them. His mind was on other things, far more important things, most of them concerning one annoying woman in particular.
Louella sighed in relief. At least now she had something to look forward to the day she would finally leave this place. It was beautiful and ten percent of the people were good, but she hated it there. Mostly because she was being held against her will. But she would suck it up for as long as possible. At the moment she had to deal with Bella, the woman driving her mad.
"Sorry, I have to take this call," she finally said and pulled out a phone with a pink case, "Hello… Alpha… it was him, wasn't it?... it is sad… aren't you coming back to the den?... but she is going into James' room… jeez Marco, take it easy… okay fine… bye",
She put her phone in her pocket and turned back to Louella with a large smile, "Looks like you our new kappa. The tenth in the command you know. You get a new room and everything. Not exactly new because it belonged to the old kappa, but it's yours now", she explained.
"Who was the old kappa then?", she asked as she followed Bella out the room and up the stairs.
"James, I never liked him. He always thought to much of himself," she said without looking back.
Louella almost let her shock show on her face. So, James not only turned out to be a part of a dangerous mafia, he had gotten himself killed! Why though? What could he have done to result in death? The only thing that came to life was when the psychopath punched him for 'incompetence' or whatever he called it. That must have been it, he died because he messed something up? She had to ask later; they would tell her, won't they? After all she was a part of them now, they had no reason to tell her nothing. She had to watch her step; he would love any excuse to kill her.
A few seconds later, they got to the top floor and Bella pushed open a door and pulled Louella inside. The room was beautiful, with floor to ceiling windows as well as a king-sized bed, a walk-in closet and a huge bathroom. She was stunned, as high as her pay was, she had never lived anywhere as beautiful as this. The walls where painted black in some places and red in some others. The bed was the same, with black sheets and pillow covers paired with red bed spreads. There were two air conditioning systems directly opposite each other and a wall fan right it the middle. To the right of the bed was the walk-in closet and to the left of the room was a long desk with a MacBook on top of it. Louella's jaw dropped open in shock. It was amazing. If this was the room of the tenth in command, then how would the Alpha's room be? She decided to find out later.
"Your room now. It's awesome isn't it? That computer has already been cleared of all his files and the closet has been stocked with clothes that should fit you, and the bathroom has girls' products in it"
Louella turned to her, "Where you expecting me? How is the room already wiped of James?", she asked
Bella laughed, "It doesn't take long to prepare a room. Don't worry, it happens often around here", she said
Louella nodded. What a stroke of luck, "Who else sleeps on this floor?", she asked
"Just me and Alpha. I told you James always thought to much of himself", she said. "Anyways I'll leave you to get settled here." And she left.
After she left, Louella turned to the bathroom, since it was evening her intention was to get three days' worth of grim of her body and find something to wear. Then walk around the house, learn as much as she can about them. As much as she needed to know to stay alive till she could leave.
The bath was refreshing as one would imagine their first bath in three days to be. She stepped out the bath, cleaner, fresher and with a clearer mind. Now to face the next needs of her body. She needed food; she hadn't been given anything since she tried to escape that first time two nights ago. But there was no one to ask for directions. Truth be told apart from the psychopath- Marco, she must remember that name- and Bella, all the others she had spoken to since they abducted her are now dead. How delightful.
She left the room and locked the door with the key she found in the door. Going down to the last floor she ended up in the entrance hall where she had been escorted into. The kitchen had to be somewhere around here. After a quick look around, she came across it on the opposite side of the room and hurried inside. The table was laid out with a beautiful spread! What were the odds? Ahhhh, those were the odds she thought, as a humming lady danced out of the back. They stared at each other until the strange woman smiled.
"You must be our new number ten! I'm number five, epsilon", she said brightly coming over and taking her hands. Jeez, news travels fast around here.
Louella gulped, "Hi, um who exactly are you?", she asked.
The nice woman smiled again, "I'm Jane. You can see me as the care taker of this den, kind of the big sister here!"
She seemed nice enough, but if Louella tried to imagine what this friendly lady had done to propel herself to number five. Don't let it show on your face! She smiled back.
"It's so nice to talk to someone friendly here Jane. I've been so lonely these last two days. Alpha isn't always nice", she said throwing in a pout.
The lady bought it, "Aw, poor baby! Don't be worry, sit down okay? Have some lunch"
Louella gladly accepted the invitation and sat down to a wonderfully filling meal. Not long after Bella came back in with a huge grin, Mr. Marco followed not far behind her. He and Louella exchanged a scowl.
"Hey Jane, Louella. Ooo, the food looks great! Hey Marco come and eat", she called. He just breezed past her not answering. Guess he does that with everyone. Jane didn't seem to be having any of that rubbish.
"MARCO! GET BACK DOWN HERE AND JOIN THESE NICE LADIES FOR LUNCH"
Louella and Bella almost fell over the table laughing as he came back into the kitchen with a serious scowl on his face, he sat at the far end of the table and didn't look up once. The girls basically ignored him and held their own conversation at the opposite end. Bella and Jane where doing their best to help her understand everything about their way of life. Marco did his best to scowl and Louella did her best to ignore him.
"Don't mind my brother Lou. Ooo, what a nice nickname for you!"
She stared at Bella, "Did you just say brother?", she asked.
He stood up then slamming his hand down on the table, "Enough of this. She doesn't need to know anymore."
"Why don't I need to know anymore?", Louella questioned trying to sound shocked. He wasn't buying it.
"I don't trust you in the least and just because you're my subordinate now doesn't mean that has changed", he yelled and then stormed out leaving his food nearly untouched.
Argh, he was yelling again. Why was he yelling? What had she done to deserve a scolding? Asked about the business she was joining? Your losing your mind Rodriguez. So, she looks like one woman, so what? It has nothing to do with you. Treat her like every other comrade. He had gone up to his room to relax, more like cool off. Although why he was cooling off, he didn't know.
A cold shower should do the trick. He slipped in and stood under the spray for as long as he could stand. When he was shivering enough to forget his troubles for a moment he got out and pulled on a pair of old jeans. Typical night time attire, right? Right. His stomach rumbled. That's right, he barely ate anything at dinner, he was too busy being angry with her for no reason in particular. He sighed again and headed to the kitchen in search of some left overs.
Immediately he entered he regretted it. Who else would be in the kitchen but the little Princess? He paused and stared, observing what she was doing. She didn't even seem to have noticed him standing there, she was absorbed in what he recognized as James' former laptop in front of her, typing away. Suspicious curiosity over took him and he walked up to her back.
She turned just then, frowning, "What did you say was his name again?", she asked
There could only be one man she was talking about. The Murderer. He said exactly that. She keyed the name into a small white box and almost throttled her.
"Are you stupid enough to search that online?", he half yelled
He could almost feel the heat from her eye roll," Of course not, it's a private site. I made it", she said
"You made it?", he repeated
She nodded, "It's quite advanced if I do say so myself. You can find anyone here with just a name and a description"
Again, he wondered what she did for a living, "Did you find anything?", he asked cautiously
She shook her head, "Not yet, but I will soon. He seems to be online. Did you ever think to search there?", she asked
He shook his head too, "No", was all he said and turned around to walk away, suddenly not hungry any longer. He got to the kitchen door before she called him back.
"Wait, Marco"
His voice was sharper than intended when he answered, "What?"
"Jeez, calm down. You and Beta are siblings, right?", she asked.
He didn't like where this conversation was going and he wasn't about to let it go any further. He ended it with a short harsh comment.
"It's none of your business, princess. Stay out of it", he said and walked back up the stairs, praying he had shattered her resolve and at the same time knowing he didn't even put a scratch on it.
Now he was back in his room he could focus on matters that needed more brain space. Like how she had looked in the flimsy night gown…
What a rude man. She walked him flounce out of the room like a child throwing a tantrum. She rolled her eyes and tried to keep from smiling. Honestly, men are such weird creatures, but could it be possible this one is actually growing on her? Nah, not possible. Back to more important matters.
Her entire motive for even convincing herself to help out these people was a matter of her freedom. She had too much outside here, too much she had struggled half her life for, way too much to just let go. Louella's mind was made up; she was getting out of this hell hole. No matter what it took.
The problem with a certain Psychopath… requires way too much brain power for this time of the evening. She turned her attention back to her computer screen and gasped. She had found activity! The murderer seemed to be in hiding or something but he was definitely using devices. Most recent activity was a few hours ago. Feeling extremely accomplished, Louella put a pin on the device in question and headed up to get some sleep. She had a feeling the next day would be rather demanding.