Page 14 of Haven

His whimpers followed me out of the warehouse as Vesper pulled up in her blacked-out Escalade. Vesper was the cleaner; she called them her science experiments. She could make a fortune using her degree in something else, but she loved our quaint little town.

“What did he do?”

“Drugged a fifteen-year-old. His ED saved her from getting raped on top of a trash can.”

She pulled on her nitrile gloves. “He's dead?”

I shrugged. “If he’s not dead yet, he will be.”

“Dead or not, I can still experiment with his body.” I still didn’t know how she found half the shit she had, but it was none of my business.

“Have fun. Make sure no one can find him.”

She scoffed, feigning insult. “Babe, you act like I am not the queen of my craft.”

And with that, I left her to dehumanize Roger a little more before we had to dispose of the evidence.

Thirteen

Vesper

Damn, Widow did a number on Roger already. One thing that got to Widow the most was children and teens being attacked by sick fucks. It hit home for her. She wasn’t the type to kill just because, but she would do it to save someone. Widow didn’t realize the savior she was. Sometimes people were meant for better things, and then there were the people who were intrigued with the odd and strange.

Was it appropriate to enjoy murder to see how it affected a body? Did it count if it was shitty people who died? Melisa would have a field day if she knew every aspect of what happened in the warehouse, but luckily she was on our side.

I slapped Roger’s face and he let out a weak groan. “Wakey, wakey, asshole.”

Torture was healing in a way that none of the other Vipers understood. They had their own ways to cope with their issues—sex, riding, or whatever else. Our vices were different like each Viper was different. Some Vipers indulged in sex as their vice, but that was off the table since the only woman I wanted was off-limits. So experimenting on pathetic men who preyed on the innocent filled the void.

I grabbed my hunting knife and my torch lighter. “You know, fire can be useful for a lot of things,” I taunted as I heated up the metal. “Warmth. Light. Fuel. There’s many things this viciously beautiful beast can do, but you know which is my favorite?”

He whimpered, pulling sluggishly at his restraints as I pressed the hot metal against his ankle laceration. I quickly heated up the knife once again, and did the same to the other one. It wouldn’t save his life since his penis was missing, but I could have some fun with him before he died.

And then the real fun could begin.

“Fire can prolong the torture,” I hissed as I used the knife to cut his skin. “She is dangerous though. Just like a woman, you have to know how to handle fire, or you’ll get burned. And sometimes getting burned is the most electrifying moment of it all.”

I sounded hypocritical.

Getting burned was a risk with fire, but taking a chance with Rory was…forbidden.

Feelings and emotions should be forbidden because they create problems and traumas we’re forced to cope with. Emotions caused memories, memories caused feelings, feelings caused problems. Feelings and emotions only led to heartbreak. I shouldn’t want Rory because I knew how it felt to lose someone and be nothing more than an empty shell.

Violet would kick my ass if she knew I was using her death as an excuse, mixed in with other reasons. She was dead, so she didn’t understand the hollow feeling in my chest where she took a part of herself when she died, but James also took a part of me, too. Nothing had ever been the same since that night. But that night was the night Vesper was born, because Vida was weak.

“This is Ruben with the Marion County sheriff's office…the car flipped…Violet didn’t make it. I’m sorry. Her body…you can…” My world tilted as my fingers went numb, the phone slipping from my hand and crashing to the floor.

Gone…

Violet was gone.

James groaned, cursing me under his breath. I should have been with her. If she would have come for me, this would have been avoided. A sob ripped from my lungs, raw and painful, as the room spun. It was my fault. I should’ve been with her.

I hit James, anger flowing through me. I needed to go and claim her body. She had no one else. We had plans before rehearsal, and then we would spend the night writing new music. But James guilt-tripped me into staying home, which caused Violet to drive herself to the theater for the show we were dying to see. I told her I would make it up to her. She said she wasn’t mad at me, but she wasn’t missing her musical.

“I need to go to the morgue.”

“Fuck off, Vida,” he mumbled.