That’s something my father engraved into me from a very young age.
I never argued with him, for he built a strong brotherhood where loyalty ruled, and I knew no one would ever betray him.
But some families bring just destruction.
And their loyalty to that destruction crushes souls, forever destroying them.”
Levi
Levi, 16 years old
“I don’t understand,” the man whispers, licking away the blood dripping from his nose on his busted lips while he pulls at the collar keeping him glued to the wall. Tight cuffs wrap around his ankles as his bare feet curl into the glass, and he hisses, “I’ve never done anything wrong in my life.”
“Is that so?” I ask, sliding my fingers over the glistening knives and not liking any of them.
All these tools are boring, even if they are expensive.
Still, I settle on the largest one made out of the finest steel and lift it, enjoying its weight in my palm as the man continues to talk, his voice so gravelly I barely resist the urge to cut off his tongue and feed it to him.
“I’m a teacher at the local school. I have a wife and three daughters, I’m an active member of my community, and I have never committed any crimes.” A whimper escapes him, and I turn around to see him shift a little, the sharp glass digging into his heel at the action. “If you let me go, I’ll plead your case with the district attorney.”
My laughter is the only answer to his proposition.
“I’ll make sure he offers you a good deal if you help me.”
“Or he’ll offer me an even better one once he sees what I have on you.” I tap the tip of the knife. “You have secrets, Ken.” His breathing speeds up. “Secrets you like to hide in the basement where you have a camera and a bed, along with cuffs.” I move closer while anger zips through me, awakening the rage in my blood that ignites everything in its wake. “Do you think the district attorney would love that?”
“I never touched them! I didn’t do anything to them.”
My hand flexes on the knife, but still, I keep my voice even and smile intact despite wishing to snap his fucking neck.
Patience, patience, patience.
“No. You just kidnapped them and then got off on their fear, snapping countless photos of them in their despair before giving them to their rapists.”
Ken used to be a hit man in his youth before he discovered perverted men were willing to pay any amount of money to do the dirty work for them, which included kidnapping their victims.
He operated on the dark web and took any requests, as long as they were willing to pay the price.
Any age. Any gender. His victims didn’t matter to him, and they joined his collection in the photo album he kept hidden, so he could get off on his trophies while playing the perfect family man to the world.
If people only knew what kind of evil might live next door to them and act like the most perfect person in the world, they’d learn to be more wary.
“I stopped this a long time ago,” he whispers, pushing against the wall harder as I come closer to him, and the pulse in his neck beats wildly. “I met my wife and had our daughters, and I left that life behind.”
The anger only intensifies, and I resist the desire to stab him right in the heart and watch him bleed to death.
Patience, patience, patience.
“I found God.”
“Don’t try to use God to cover up your crimes. You lay low because you almost got caught. When your last client deceived you.” He blinks and stills when I put the knife to his collarbone. “He called himself Robert.”
After my family took me in and showered me with everything, I grew up with two goals in mind.
To always make them proud for loving me despite knowing shit about me, and the fact that I was incapable of feeling the same emotions back. I created a whole different personality for them, the one I could present to the world, and be sane enough.
The monster living in me was protective of them, and I would kill anyone who so much as hurt my family, but love…I have no fucking idea what that is. They mean everything to me, and I’d die protecting them, but is it love?
