Machi

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It's done. She's gone.

I couldn't stay once I heard the gavel drop. The word had come out, the sale now set in stone. . . My job was over.

It was time for me to end it all. I knew Imperial was in the hands of another now, she had been purchased and there was nothing I could do but make sure this would never happen again.

Crossing the back of the stage, I found the small spiral staircase that led to Sylvan's office. The frail iron steps creaked and rocked as I shifted my weight up to the top. Gripping the railing, I took in a few deep breaths as his door came into view.

He was in there, he was always in there during the auctions. I'd watched the box seats from above in the auditorium, I'd seen his black mass, I watched him slither around like a snake, spying from the shadows.

I waited, biding my time until I knew for sure that Megan had been there. The word on the street pointed me there, the junkies and dealers she had used had been the ones to lead me right to him.

And until Hans, a part of me wanted to think that maybe the police where right. They ruled her death undetermined, placing most of the blame on her years of drug use and lack of morals.

She was another statistic, a girl who had wound up at the wrong place, possibly trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes. They told me that with women like her, this was inevitable.

I never believed them. I knew my sister, and they didn't.

When I first heard the rumors about Megan getting involved with men in the sex trafficking trade, the officer I spoke to laughed at me. He told me I was wrong and to just accept the fact that her death was probably caused by a dealer she owed money to, or the pimp she was supposed to work for.

My sister was not a hooker, she didn't sell herself for sex.

That was when I decided to set out on my own, find my way in and take care of them myself one by one.

If no one would listen to me, if no one else was going to fight for her, I would.

I just never expected to get in this deep, and I never expected to drag in someone who didn't want it.

This isn't just for Megan anymore. . . It's for Imperial too.

Pressing my toes snugly against the warped red door, I let my knuckles graze the wood. Listening, I heard two voices going back and forth and shuffling around inside. But no one came.

Knocking again, the room went dead silent, so quiet I could almost hear the intense thudding of the two heartbeats harbored inside.

Is that theirs? Or is it mine?

Was I afraid? No.

There wasn't any room in my muscles for fear or regret or remorse. All I felt was hate. Hate for what he took from me, hate for what he had his men do, hate for how he treated the women that came through those doors.

Slamming my hand against the door, I pounded it so hard flakes of paint fell off the ceiling and scattered around my feet.

“Who is it?”

“Machi.”

“You don't belong here, Machi.”

“Open the door, Ethan,” I snapped, as my fingers curled into my hand and bit the skin.

“You. Don't. Belong. Here.”

He's going to make me kick it down.

Reaching around my back, I felt the gun I had tucked into my waist earlier. Stepping back a few feet, I counted inside my head. One, two, three!

Throwing my foot up, I lurched forward and kicked the door with everything I had. Wood cracked and splintered into thin fragments, metal snapped and shot off like a bomb filled with nails.

“Machi! What the hell are you doing?” Ethan asked as he pushed himself up from off the floor and yanked a gun out from the holder on his ankle. Pointing it in my direction, he took a few steps backwards, and glared at me. “Go, go now. Don't be stupid, I don't want to kill you.”

“Oh no? Are you sure about that?”

“Let me rephrase that, I don't want to kill you yet.”

“Where's Sylvan?” I asked, taking a long step into the middle of the room.

“He doesn't want to see you, if he did, he would've asked you to come.”

“I don't really give a shit what he wants, I want to see him.” Stalking closer, I kept my arms by my sides. “He doesn't have a choice in the matter. Where is he?”

Ethan clicked the hammer, aiming the gun at the center of my forehead. “I told you to leave, this is your last warning.”

When you know you're going to die, when you've already written your life off as a justifiable loss, a gun in the face meant nothing.

I had planned on dying the night I decided to enter the lion's den, my mind had accepted it, my heart and soul had spoken a silent prayer, hoping I wouldn't die in vain.

This was a choice.

I chose to give myself in exchange for justice. I chose to forgive myself for the deaths I caused because those beings weren't men. . . They were critters spreading a disease of ill-will and greed, formulated from the possession of another.

I wasn't afraid of Ethan pulling the trigger, but I was afraid he'd pull it before I even had the chance to get at Sylvan.

Whipping my hand around my back, I yanked out my gun and pointed it even with his. “Go ahead, put a bullet between my eyes—if you can.”

Ethan's lip curled up as he growled. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means, you better hope to hell that your aim is good, if you miss, then you'll really have a problem.”

“Machi, is this really what you want? Do you really want to die tonight?”

“I'm here aren't I?”

His finger shook around the trigger, gingerly stroking the small metal tab. “I know why you're here you stupid fuck. We've all known who are for a little while now.”

Cocking my head, I eyed him. “If you knew, why am I still alive?”

Sighing, Ethan rattled the gun in a small circle. “Hans was the one to point it out, you know that, obviously, you killed him for it. But we were planning something special for you, you deserve that at least, Machi. Don't you think?” His lips arched, smiling like a gremlin.

“Who bought Megan, Ethan, tell me who she was sold to. I'll kill you quickly if you're just honest, I won't let you suffer.”

“Do you really think I'm afraid of you?” Stepping forward, his arm went stiff. “You can't possibly be so fucking ignorant, Machi.”

My insides shredded, carving out a hole in my gut. There was no word that could explain how angry I felt right then. The cold metal burned my skin, taunting me to just yank out my weapon and kill him right there.

“I'm stopping this, it all ends today, right now. Get me Sylvan.”

Chuckling, Ethan gripped the gun with two hands, spreading his feet into a firm stance. “You're not ending anything.”

I heard the shot, the loud bang ricocheted around inside my skull, drowning out the crowd from below and replacing it with a high pitched buzzing.

Rocking my jaw back and forth, I watched a thin trickle of smoke spill out from the end of my gun. Looking at the floor, Ethan had fallen back, his legs bent unnaturally as the weight of his body buckled.

A single gunshot wound to the head, that was all it took.

Ethan was dead.

For most people, killing another person would torment their mind, it'd eat away at their dreams and fill every day with an endless pain that they'd never be able to ignore.

For me—it meant nothing.

He deserved it for all the women he got killed, for all the girls that he bought and sold, and for all of the people he abused along the way.

Mercy. . . I had none.

Hell was waiting for me, and I made peace with that. Because vengeance for my sister was worth every flame I'd suffer.

“Sylvan!” I yelled, lunging forward and tossing a chair out of my way. “Sylvan! Come on, show yourself, don't be a fucking pussy!”

A sharp pain spiraled down my arm, hitting the tips of my fingers like cutting knives. Reaching for my shoulder, I felt a dampness on my sleeve that was spreading down my chest and ribs.

Pulling my hand away, bright red stained my hand. I was shot.

Growling under my breath, adrenaline coursed through my veins, erasing the pain that tried to hold me back. I wasn't done, not yet.

Scanning the room, I expected to see Sylvan cowering in a corner. But he wasn't there, he wasn't anywhere.

Fuck! Where is he?

He has to be here.

Checking under the desk, it was empty, checking behind a floor-length curtain, it was void of Sylvan. But I knew he was there, I had heard two people, he was somewhere inside these walls.

“Sylvan. . .” I sang out, raising the tone of my voice. “Come out, come out wherever you are.” Walking around, I tapped the end of my gun on the wall. “I'll stay here all night, I won't leave until you show yourself.”

The wall on my left opened, exposing a hidden room. “You really are determined.” Stepping out, I got my first true view of the man who was in charge of it all.

He was older than I expected, maybe in his early fifties. Gray and black hair peppered his head, a thick mustache traced his upper lip. He had weathered lines that painted his skin, and a small beer belly camouflaged by a deep navy blue button-up shirt.

“Sylvan, I'd say it's nice to meet you, but I'd be lying.”

Holding out his arms, he smiled. “What can I do for you, Machi?”

“You know what I want.”

Glancing up at the ceiling, his eyes dropped back to mine. “Refresh my memory.”

“Tell me who you sold Megan to, tell me who's responsible for killing her!” The air around me grew cold, filling my chest like sharp icicles.

“You know our buyer information is confidential, Machi. I can't tell you anything.” Stepping around me, he glanced down at Ethan. “It's politics, that's all, just politics.”

“Fuck you and your politics. Tell me who it was, maybe I'll spare you.” I lied, I lied like a fucking dog.

And he knew it.

I waited for him to rattle off the name of a buyer or the man who had trained her. But he didn't.

Laughing, Sylvan lifted his eyes to mine. “She had a filthy, dirty, little mouth, Machi. She didn't deserve to live. Your sister was a fucking bitch. I had fun with that one.”

“You—you did it?” Grinding my teeth together, I cocked my jaw out. “Why?” Feathering the trigger, my lips turned down.

Squinting with one eye, he tilted his head. “Everything that I had given her, everything I had offered her, and you know what she had the fucking balls to do?” Holding up one hand, he wiggled his index finger. The tip was missing from end to knuckle, only a thick, round nub was left. “The bitch had the fucking nerve to bite me.”

“You fucking piece of shit!” My muscles began to shake as everything around me began to sway. I was losing a lot of blood and it was making me lightheaded, causing Sylvan's figure to double and squish back into one form.

Rolling his jaw around, his tongue licked over his lips, enjoying the look he saw he on my face. “You want to know the best part? You what to know what she said to me before I wrapped my hands around her fucking throat?” A sick grin twisted his lips up as his eyes fluttered in enjoyment. “Do you want to hear the words Megan White whispered into my ear before she died?”

Veering my stare, I lifted the gun towards his head. “It doesn't matter what she said, what matters is that you never have the chance to do it again.”

“She called for you, she yelled your name as if you would hear her screams.” Folding his arms over his chest, his stare pierced my chest. “She warned me that you wouldn't let me get away with it. And I laughed at her, I told her she was a foolish little druggie to think that anyone ever cared about her.” Shaking his head, his lids hooded. “Fuck, she was a pretty thing though, she knew how to suck one hell of a cock. It was hard to watch her lips turn blue and purple, but it felt incredible to feel her pulse slow down and watch her eyes glaze over. I hold the power, Machi, to take life or give life. Me.”

Tears rested on my lids, knowing that she needed me, that she had hoped her voice could travel and I would hear her labored song. All my muscles shivered as the rage came to life and replaced the sadness I felt for those last moments she experienced.

“You're wrong, Sylvan, I hold the power.” Clicking the trigger, the gun went off and he dropped to the floor like a rock.

And as I stood over his lifeless body, breathing in the thick scent of gunpowder and watching the trickle of blood pool around his head, I felt nothing.

Taking his life wasn't gratifying, it didn't fill me with happiness. I still felt empty, I still felt like I had nothing left. No matter how many times I replayed his death inside my head. . .

It still wouldn't bring back my sister.

And now, Imperial was gone too.

I hadn't won the war, I still lost.