Machi

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How do you become one person when inside, you're really another?

Having two lives, they'll always find a way to bleed together. It's inevitable, there's no way to avoid it.

My life had gone from normal to living a lie so I could learn the truth. I had created a man that never existed, just so I could finally get revenge on those that had destroyed the life I wanted.

One night, it took one night for my two worlds to collide, for the man I was and the man I became to sync up and destroy everything I had worked for.

There was no camera in my room, there was only one man who had lost his way. I didn't have to tell them who I was or fear they might find out. . .

Because they already knew. I was just too blind to see it.

* * *

Glancing down at my watch, I tapped my finger on the table. “What the fuck, you're late, I don't like late, Hans.”

“Machi, Machi, Machi. . .” Cupping his hands over his heart, he lowered his head. “It's better to be late than to never show up at all. I'm here now, aren't I?”

Arching one brow, I glared up from the table. “Don't give me that bullshit, I don't have time for your fucking games. Where are they?”

“Ahh, yes, the girls.” His fingers fluttered over each other, snapping softly. “They're here, but first we need to talk about the price. I know we had discussed ten apiece, but these ladies, they're worth a lot more.” Stepping to the table, he reached for the back of the chair. “May I?”

Nodding, I cracked my knuckles in my lap. My patience for that man was already thin. There was something about him that I just never liked.

Have you ever just met someone and didn't care for them at all?

That was Hans, he just rubbed me wrong from day one. I couldn't put a finger on why, but it sat in my gut like a heavy weight. It took everything I had to not just hit him in the face right off the bat.

But this shit, this shit wouldn't fly. I wasn't about to negotiate a deal that was already set in stone.

The game was simple; he would find me the girls and I paid him for his services. The price was set by me, the rules for the exchange were set by me. All he had to do was one job, that was it. Find me the women we needed to fill the stage.

“The price is set, Hans, ten each, no more, no less. That was our deal.”

Sucking in air through his lips, he rolled his head on his shoulder, pulling a small flask from his breast pocket. Unscrewing the cap, he held it out to me. “I don't want to be rude, would you like some?”

Shaking my head no, I cupped my hands and laid them on the table. I didn't speak again, not yet. I wanted him to talk his shitty fucking mouth off, let him rattle whatever pile of horse shit he had come up with and then I'd let him know who was running the show.

He wasn't in charge of this deal, I was.

Tipping his head back, he took a long swig of liquor. “Ahh, Tequila.” Staring into the small opening, he eyed the inside of the bottle. “It hits just right, you know? Burns a little on the way down, warms your stomach once it settles, just like a good woman. I love this shit. Are you a tequila man, Machi?”

Silence.

“A man of few words tonight,” he said, resting the flask down. “That's fine with me, I don't mind doing all the talking. So where were we. . .” Tapping a single finger to his lips, he eyed the wood beams crossing the ceiling. “Ah yes, I remember now, the price of the girls. I want twenty apiece, forty large for the pair.”

Chuckling, I scratched my forehead. “Forty for the pair?”

Lifting his finger up, he pointed across the table. “These girls are worth it, they'll bring in double, probably even more for your boss. They weren't easy to get, Machi, I want what I deserve for bringing them in.”

Leaning back in my chair, I traced the thin swirls in the wood grain. “Tell me, what makes these girls so special? Shouldn't I see them first and decide for myself?”

“Forty,” Hans said, running his hand back and forth across the top of his head, aimlessly looking at nothing. “It's fair, trust me.”

“I decide what's fair. Now let me see them.”

Peering at me through slit lids, he rolled his eyes towards the door. Snapping his fingers, he yelled, “Come!”

The door opened slowly and my heart sank inside my chest. Sitting up straight, I curled my fingers into my palms and bared my teeth. “Are you fucking serious?”

Was he fucking insane bringing me these two girls?

No. No fucking way am I paying anything for them.

“Machi, these girls are top of the line, these girls—”

Slamming my fist onto the table, I sliced his words in half. “These girls are underage!”

Holding up his hands, he pushed back in his seat. “Machi, they're exactly what you need. You need girls, I'm giving you that. And they're virgins, do you realize what a virgin could go for?”

Growling under my breath, I snarled, “I don't purchase children, Asshole.” Lurching over the table, I snagged the collar of his jacket, and yanked him to his feet. “And neither will you.”

A quiet gasp fluttered into my ears. Whipping my head up, I eyed the scared teenagers. They were pressed together tightly, hugging each other as if I was angry with them. But I wasn't. They hadn't done anything wrong.

I could tell right away they hadn't come by choice. Bruises and fingertip shaped marks spotted their arms, dirt and debris was strewn in their hair. They looked so innocent, like two injured baby birds who had fallen from their nest and needed help.

What are they? Fourteen, fifteen?

It doesn't matter, they're going back.

I was going to be the help they needed, I was going to make sure they got out of there unharmed.

What I did with my life was wrong, what I would do for my boss was wrong. I knew that and I wouldn't deny it.

But I would never take a child from off the streets, I would never allow the sale of an underage girl to pass through my hands.

The women I took agreed, the women who came to me knew exactly what the hell was going to happen. If they didn't like it, I'd send them on their way before anyone else knew I had them.

But most of them. . . Most of them had nothing else to live for.

They took my offer and accepted it with open arms. Because any roof was better than no roof. Because having a home; even if it meant surrendering to a man they had just met, was better than selling their bodies to a disease-infested jerk-off for a single bump off the knuckle.

I could never promise them protection, I could never honestly tell them that they wouldn't meet the hands of death with their master, and I made that very clear to them. To those women, they had already risked their lives ten times over, what I offered was no different.

But selling a child. . . Not a fucking chance in hell.

The table wobbled as Hans laid across the top, his eyes wide and shocked. “Your boss would want these girls, he'll kill you if you pass this up.”

“What kind of threat is that? We both know he'll kill me when he's done with me anyway. Besides, who said he's ever going to know about this?”

The girls clung to each other, allowing mere trickles of screams and yelps to hit their lips. Their eyes were closed tight as they huddled together, inching closer and closer to the wall.

Flicking my head up, I barked. “You two, go, get the fuck out of here. There's a door in the back, use it.”

They both stared at me with fear and uncertainty resting on their faces. They didn't know me, they couldn't be sure if I was telling the truth or lying through the skin of my teeth.

“Go!” I screamed. “Run, just fucking run and never look back!”

Their small dirty feet stumbled over the floor, tangling around one another. One girl fell to her knees as the other pushed off her, using her body as momentum to move.

Climbing back up, she started to run, but she stopped. Her tender, youthful eyes scanned my face as she swallowed hard. “Thank you.” Whispering, she took off like a wild rabbit, scampering away as fast as she could.

“No!” Hans yelled, trying to twist free from my grip. “Get back here! Get your fucking asses back here!”

I wasn't letting go.

“You sick fucking prick.” Hissing, I dug my fingers in firmer, yanking him over the table completely. “Did you honestly think that I would buy them from you? Did you really think that you could pass off two children and I would take them?”

“Every man has a weak spot, most of the men you deal with would die to have a piece of what you just threw away.” Glancing at the door, his eyes became shifty like he was waiting for it to be thrown open any second.

“You're not alone, are you?”

He wouldn't talk. Closing his mouth, he tried to pry my hands free. His fingers clawed and stabbed, raked and scratched. But right then, I didn't feel a fucking thing.

“Who'd you bring? Danny? Georgio?” His gaze stayed firmly in place, begging the guys waiting outside to rush in and save him. “Did Sylvan send someone with you?”

There it was. A flash, a moment of truth in the crusty, beady little eyes resting in the sockets. He had given me some insight, he had shown weakness when he wanted to be strong.

Is Sylvan watching me? Is he trying to test me?

“Who is it, Hans?”

The handle shook gently, opening slowly. “Hans? Machi? You guys alright?”

Hans attempted to speak, so I stopped him. Curling my hand around his throat, I squeezed down, cutting off any of the sounds he tried to make.

“Machi, what the hell man?” Fior stepped in, reaching for the gun on his waist.

“He's a liar, Fior, he tried to take the money and split with the girls.” Hans attempted to wiggle his head, but I kept him trapped.

Every muscle he had was useless, breaking apart in my hands as rage consumed me.

“Where are the girls?”

“They took off! Go! Go fucking find them!” Clamping down harder, I peered at his ghostly white reflection. “I'll deal with this dick.”

Fior disappeared out the door and I heard the rev of an engine and the tires squeal as he sped away. He wouldn't find them, they were gone, hopefully hiding in the shadows.

“Is there anyone else coming to save you?” Smirking, I dragged him around the table as his feet kicked and bounced around. The chair he had been using flipped backwards, hitting the floor and snapping into pieces.

Staring into his suffocating eyes, his nostrils flared as his lids popped open in fear.

“No? So, no one else is coming to help you. Doesn't that suck for you?” Drawing my hand back, I let it connect with his cheek.

His skin burst open, cracking wide like porcelain on concrete. But that wasn't enough, not for me, not for what he had done to those poor girls.

My knuckles crunched under the weight of my arm, hitting him again and again. The skin had started to peel back on my fingers, turning red and raw as I pounded his face.

Hans tried to fight back, but there was nothing he could do. No amount of apologies he tried to spew out or saddened eyes he wanted to feed me were going to work. He deserved every last second of pain for trying to sell me children.

Loosening my hand, he fell to his knees. I could see his lips moving, I could hear the soft vibration of his vocal cords as they tried to drum up a sound. Lowering my ear to his face, I could barely make out what he was saying.

'Our father. . .'

“No amount of prayers can save you, not now, not ever.” Hovering over him, my fingers pierced into my palms as I balled my fists.

Falling back, Hans kept his face up to the ceiling, holding his hands up to the sky.

Let him pray, let him have this moment. . .

Because it's his last.

My shadow painted his body in black glass as his lips continued to speak muddied sentences.

“I. . .” Sucking in a long breath, he licked his dry lips. “I know who you are.”

“Oh yeah, you know me? Good, good for you.”

Shaking his head no, he whispered. “No, I really know who you are. I recognized your face, I couldn't place it at first, but then it hit me last time we met. She had you with her, she had you in her wallet when I brought her to Ethan years back. Was it—Easter? Was that the picture I saw of you and her? She was young in it, sitting with her big brother, with a fuzzy white bunny in her lap. Cute little girl back then, imagine what a girl that age could bring?”

“What did you just say?” Clenching my jaw, I cocked my head into my shoulder. “What the fuck did you just say?”

Coughing, a devious giggle mixed with his raspy voice. “Yeah, I thought so. What was her name—Merri, Maggie. . .” Smirking, he pointed up at me with blood staining his teeth. “Megan, that was it, Megan.”

“You're fucking lying! Tell me you're wrong!”

A crazed laugh burst from his mouth as his eyes popped open wide. “Fuck you! How about that? Fuck you, Machi!”

Slipping my jacket off, I dropped it to the floor. I didn't see him anymore, all I could see was a fucking spider that deserved to die.

He knew, he knew exactly who I was. Hans said her name, he had let it fall off his tongue like it was a dirty word. He wasn't walking out of there now, there was no fucking way I would allow it.

“I won't pretend anymore, who I am will get me killed. But what you did. . .” Crouching down, I cracked my knuckles against my palms. “That's unforgivable. I'm doing the world a favor, all you can hope is that the devil hasn't already signed his name to your papers.”

Stepping over his waist, I bent down, kneeling around his chest. Lowering my hands, I wrapped each finger with precision around his throat.

Hans had just sealed his fate. He had played the song I needed to end his life forever. And it took one name, one single word to destroy any of the control I had left.

That was all I needed to know—the rumors were true, cementing in my mind that I was on the right path. Every gut instinct, every little hint that led me there. . . I was right.

I promised my mother she'd have her day, that I'd make sure to finish what she started and get justice for my sister.

And it was starting right then.

Hans wasn't going to have the chance to hurt anyone else, I was going to make sure of that. There would only be one black heart in the end, and it was mine.

Then it happened, Hans wasn't looking at me, his mind had wandered as the lights cut out. He was fixed on something else, his eyes still and settling on the window.

Turning, I didn't expect to see anything there. I had the quick thought that maybe he was seeing himself, watching his soul escape his body or a shadow figure crawling up from the floor, ready collect a debt long overdue.

I was wrong.

A small face stenciled the glass, reflecting back terror and crazed shock with her eyes.

And as my heart sank, I did the only thing I could.

I took her.