Page 26 of Sadistic Retribution (Rise of Phoenyxx #2)

Phoenyxx

It's time to start going through the list of shit Augustine gave me. I’m tickled and giddy with excitement as I look at number one on the list: Kill Destiny. Fuck yes. This will be absolutely my pleasure.

Scanning further down, number two says to “take control of the student body”. Not a problem.

I check the time on my phone, and it’s almost lunchtime. Perfect. I can knock off one and two in one felled swoop.

I whistle as I practically skip over to the cafeteria. Opening the door, the usual smells hit my nose. Unfortunately, food will have to wait. Priorities and all.

I see Destiny in her usual spot, with her parrots. I go straight to her table, ignoring everyone else around me. I step up to her, tapping her on the shoulder.

She turns, shock on her face. “What the hell do you want? How are you even back here? You better know right now that Synn is mine. We're engaged. I'm just waiting on the ring.” She sniffs, raising her head in the air.

I see red and welcome the rush of rage. “Get up.” I order her.

She sees the look on my face, but throws her heads back, mocking me. “Sure, little whore. What are you going to do? You’re way outnumbered.” She stands; and has the audacity to shove me backwards.

I push forward, grabbing her blazer tightly. Destiny struggles, but can’t get out of my grip or shrug off her blazer. I slide my free hand to my chest, pulling the switchblade. I love this one. The sound it makes when it flicks open is satisfying.

I push her in front of me, and she stumbles. I open the blade, holding the cold metal to a strip of bare skin. “Move!”

I march her toward the center of the cafeteria. Heads turn toward us, and I make sure everyone is watching. The knife gleams when I hold it up to give them a good look at it. I spin her around to face me.

“Really?” she says haughtily, like she’s not afraid. “You’re not doing shit with that, bitch!”

I scan the room, heaving a sigh of relief when I see The Six are not there. Can't let them stop me now. I cock my head, straight-faced. I wait, knowing the idiot will try something.

Destiny lunges for me, swiping for the knife. I tut at her, yanking it out of her reach. I go for her, pushing it hard into her shoulder. She screams like a fucking siren. Way too loud.

I pull it out, and her legs buckle, falling to the floor. This is too perfect.

For the last time ever, I straddle her. I grip the blade, viciously bringing it down and stabbing Destiny in the chest. I twist the blade and pull it out fast. She gurgles, her own blood filling her lungs. Good.

I keep going, stabbing her over and over again until she falls still. I sit in place, and I grip her chin, staring as her eyes cloud over, and go dark.

I stand up and roar in victory before jumping onto the nearest table.

“Attention everyone!” I yell, cupping my hands over my mouth to make sure everyone present hears me.

I look from student to student. “I am now the one in charge! You will answer to me, and for anything you want or need, you will go through me to get it. I own this place now. And no one is allowed to go near The Six! Fall in line, or end up like Destiny!”

Gasps and outraged cries sound through the room. I look pointedly at Destiny's former group of idiots. I point the blade at them. “You girls understand me?”

They all stand, dipping their heads in obedience. Most excellent.

Before I can say something else, I'm dragged backwards off the table by a pair of muscular arms. “Malishka, what did you do?”

Ghost turns me in his arms. “You killed her? Fuck, I need to get you somewhere safe!”

“Don’t bother. I'm not getting in trouble. I've been assured of that,” I mutter softly, so he doesn’t hear that last part. Then I shove him away from me.

He levels me with his stare. “Malishka, I know the state you’re in… intimately. Let me help you. Please.”

“Nope. I’m better than good. You're not needed—not anymore.” I condescendingly pat him on the head like a puppy, and leave the way I came in. Time to go visit Augustine to report the first two tasks are completed.

Purge

I'm trudging slowly back to my room. I swear, I’m more exhausted now than before I got some sleep. I managed to pass out for about five hours, which—lately—is about four more than I’ve been getting.

I have so much work to do, though. I need to find out more information about the supposed seventh Family, along with dirt on our fathers, and finding Fiasca’s true identity.

I get into my room, slumping down into my well-used computer chair. I pull up my screen, searching for any new info. It looks like I got access to the trafficking chat room on the Dark Web. Excellent.

Before I can check it, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I quickly pull it out, hoping it’s Iskra.

Frowning, I answer the call. It's my mother’s phone number. She never calls me. Hell, she's usually not around at all. And if she is, she’s drugged to the gills in her room—a separate room from my father’s.

“Mother?” I question, and I hear hysterical sobbing come through the other end of the line.

“S-Son? I need you to listen to me! I don’t have long,” she blabbers. “Your father... he’s doing some... bad things. You're in danger! You're all in danger! Please—”

The line suddenly disconnects, and I curse profusely. I try to call back, but it just rings out.

The thing about all our mothers is that they’re anything but.

They’re either always gone, locked up, or drugged out of their skulls.

They exist solely to obey our fathers. It's clear they were simply broodmares, and only “matter” in a public environment. All their marriages were arranged. I don’t think I’ve ever seen actual love between my parents.

The others have noticed the same thing with their own parents.

I don’t even know my own mother very well. She was stunning—the epitome of a classy, Russian woman of status. Blue eyes, long, brown hair; she used to turn heads wherever she went. Now though, she's not noticed. The years with my father and the drugs have destroyed her looks.

I pull up the chat thread with the guys, explaining what just happened.

Me: Answer your phones if it’s your mothers. Or better yet just call them right now. Something's up.

Synn: The hell?

Razor: Calling mine now.

Frost: Ditto

Ghost: I’ll call too

Trikk: On it bro!

Me: She said we were in danger. So high alert!

Synn: FUCK

My sentiments, exactly. I put my phone down next to me, shifting my attention to the computer screen.

I punch the code into the screen, watching as tons of messages flood into the trafficking chat room. Looking at the side bar, there are five hundred plus people in here. I shudder knowing there’re so many sick fucks in the world.

I click into the message box at the bottom of the screen, under my fake alias.

FrshMtLvr69

A cringy name but hopefully it will be effective.

I type: I am looking 4 fresh & tender meat, who would I contact for that?

A DM pings me in the top corner, so I click into it. User MTObs55d, nice.

They write: I can help you. What are you looking for exactly?

I type back: The freshest, most tender meat available.

They respond: I might know someone. What is the purpose for it?

I reply: A little personal?

I know this is a paranoid community.

I continue: Frozen has lost its’ appeal.

A couple of seconds go by, and then they message me an e-mail address. I quickly copy it, and click on the person’s profile, unsurprised to find the account deleted already. Definitely paranoid.

I run the email, hoping something will hit. A disposable one, not shocking. I put my software on it, trying to at least find the original IP address.

Next, I pull up my Dark Web heavily encrypted email. I paste the address into the recipient field, leaving the subject blank.

I type a short message: I was referred by MTObs55D on the Open Market website. I'm looking for the freshest, most tender meat you have. Money is not an object. I hit send and sit back to wait.

While I wait, I run photos of Fiasca through the reverse image identifier program I’ve installed. Not one single hit. Dammit! This was the last thing I could do for the moment. I'll just have to wait for now.

My eyes grow heavy while my thoughts run a million miles per hour. I lay my head back on the headrest, stretching out a bit in the chair. Maybe I can close my eyes for just a few minutes. I'll hear when things come in....

Synn

None of us could get ahold of our mothers. We don’t dare call our fathers. Our mothers may be invisible, but we do still care about them, and their well-being.

Well, except for Razor’s mother. I shudder, thinking about the sick shit the crazy bitch did to him while he was young.

When she was lucid, she was civil enough to him. But when she was tripping out, she did heinous things. There's a reason why he’s obsessed with carrying around a razor blade.

Mine was never around, either—except for the first few years of my life. I still remember how she was back then.

Synn Age 4

“Mommy!” I yell, happiness in my voice. I run to her, where she’s waiting for me outside.

It's such a pretty day, and my mommy looks really pretty, too. She picks me up, spinning me in a circle, making me laugh.

She laughs with me, then puts me down on my feet, making sure I don’t fall from the dizzies.

She is always smiling. She has blonde, curly hair, and dark blue eyes. I hear my daddy say all the time how beautiful she is.

“What do you want to do today, mio figlio?”

“Can we go get ice cream and go to the park?”

She laughs again. “Anything for you, il mio cuore!”

I throw my arms around her again. “Ti amo, Mommy!”

All we can do is wait. It's not like we can leave, so we just have to keep trying to call them. Please, let them be okay!

Hunter

I'm hunkered down in a dark corner, catty-corner to the Director’s office. I'm waiting for the decoy that Jax has ZYGOS setting off so I can get into his office undisturbed, hopefully for more time than I had before. I'm not sure what they’re going to do, but I’m waiting.

“Bro, why are you hiding?”

I startle when Trikk’s voice creeps up on me. I whirl around, finger to my lips. “Quiet! I'm waiting for him to leave so I can search his office.”

He laughs quietly. “Yeah, us too, bro.”

I see the others coming up in my peripheral, all except Purge. I shake my head with a sigh. “I guess six is better than one. But you boys must follow my lead, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Synn mutters with an eye roll.

A loud cry distracts us, coming from inside the office. Augustine's voice drifts through. “What do you mean my CAR IS ON FIRE? Who is responsible for this?” A slamming sound follows and a moment later, the door flies open. He storms out, face red with anger.

We watch until he turns the corner. I slowly come up from my crouch and look closely, but the area appears clear. I nod to the boys. “Follow me.”

We get into the office, Synn turning the lock behind us. Ghost speaks up, informing me about Destiny’s death. I shake my head, focusing on the task at hand. I'll rattle this around in my thoughts later.

“Okay, we need to toss this whole office,” I say. “Everyone, check every square inch. I want two of you with me on the desk.”

Frost and Trikk stay with me, Synn, Ghost and Razor searching the walls and floors.

The three of us start on the desk. I swipe through the papers on the top, making a small pile as I look closely at each one. Nothing stands out as being out of the norm. The boys are making quick work of getting into the drawers.

“All student files,” Frost reports.

I nod. “Look through them all.”

Trikk and Frost jimmy the other four drawers. Once they’re all unlocked, I go to the very last one, all of us working on one drawer each.

I pull it open, seeing more unlabeled files. I open the first one, frowning at the information within. It details what appears to be a couple. I skim through the top one, making sure to take a picture.

“Boys,” I whisper. “Take pictures of every document you find.”

“Way ahead of you,” Frost whispers back.

I flip to the second page of the file—and freeze. What the fuck is this?

“This is about the Solomons!” I tell them, taking a quick picture of it.

“The old fucks who had our girl?” Trikk questions. “The fuck?”

“Yep, those are the ones. This is very strange, and highly suspicious. Keep digging!”

I keep flipping through the file, taking more photos. I knock around the empty drawer, feeling a hollow area on the bottom. Pressure on the bottom corner pops it open. The lone file inside says Augustine on the front. I open it, gasping as I read.

It's a list of duties. The very first one says Break the girl. After that, there're regular duties listed. On the second page, there are more eyebrow-raising tasks.

Report to the medical staff daily

Update your superior on the girl

Inform your superior on everything the six prime students do

Maintain compliance with the provided medications

Always use the off-label medications on the girl

Keep a daily list of students in the inpatient unit

Keep a detailed list of students in the special unit

Keep daily track of sales

Keep the list current of students in the outpatient program

I quickly snap photos of every page. I speak lowly to the others. “I’ve found some good stuff in this drawer.”

“Us, too,” Frost responds back. “Shit that makes no sense.” He curses, reading the file he’s holding.

“Holy shit!” Trikk whispers loudly. “There’s one here on Bambi.”

“Shh,” I warn. “Just take pictures. I'm aware of that one, though I haven’t been able to go through it. Every page, Trikk.”

I hear his phone camera clicking as he makes sounds of surprise. “There are pictures, too. She's just a kid in these!”

I nod once, glancing over when Razor, Synn, and Ghost joins us. “Nothing in the walls or floors?” They shake their heads. “Alright, help us with these files.”

They get right to work, and I turn back to my own. I look up as Razor curses. “Files on all our families! The fuck is this shit?” His camera clicks repeatedly, as well.

Finished, I look around, noticing all the boys finishing up the desk. “I take it you found nothing further in the files?” I level a glare at Synn, Razor, and Ghost.

“Nope, nothing,” Synn confirms.

“Everyone about finished? We're pushing it on time.”

“Yes,” echoes back from them all. I move towards the door, putting an ear to it to listen. I don’t hear anything, so I crack it open, peering out. Seeing nothing, I motion to the boys.

“Hurry, we need to get out of here, and separate. Wait a half hour, then come over to my room. Clear?”

Not needing to hear their answers, I scurry out, going back to my room. I need to call Jax. This could potentially change everything.