Under the dark starry night sky, Demilan McCloud drove his motorcycle through the roads of Ashcote, a relatively small city in the Westden Fells district of Alataria. It was an old motorcycle, but it did the job. He wasn’t really a bike enthusiast anyway. A black duffel bag was strapped to his back. He had been driving for almost an hour now and seemed to have finally arrived at his destination. It was an old warehouse.
He parked his motorcycle on the sidewalk and took off his helmet, storing it in the compartment under the seat. He scattered his long black hair and dropped his duffel bag on the floor. He opened the zipper on the bag and took out his assault rifle. It was a Skyla-30, a modern assault rifle that was mostly seen in the army. It fired 7.62 caliber rounds, held 40 rounds in a magazine, and had almost the firepower and accuracy of a sniper rifle, despite having a rapid fire rate. Demilan took two more magazines out of the duffel bag and placed them under his belt. He then strapped the duffel bag on his back once more and with his assault rifle at hand, moved towards the warehouse entrance.
He placed himself in front of the steel door and took a deep breath. He looked down and saw his necklace. It was a dream catcher that was hanging on his chest from a thin silver string, made of two circular shapes with several feathers adorning it, with various beads and thin strings braided in. As he looked at it, he found himself invigorated with fury and determination. Always remember your goal, Demilan. That’s what keeps the nightmares away.
He quietly opened the door, closing it behind him, and slowly paced forward. At first, he was greeted by a couple of small rooms, with only a few tables and chairs filling them. Everything looked dark, and Demilan wasn’t sure if he had gotten the right place. All he could hear, other than his soft footsteps, was a dripping sound from a nearby drain. His hand remained tightly wrapped around his rifle's handle nonetheless. Eventually, after quietly making his way through the shadows for a few minutes, he could hear voices coming from further inside the warehouse.
Once he made it to the large, open interior of the warehouse, the voices were audible enough, and among them, he suddenly recognized a female one. Unlike the other voices, the female one wasn’t talking, but rather making sounds of ache and discomfort. Demilan hid behind a few crates and leaned over to watch the men inside. The ceiling stood high above their heads, and every sound they made echoed between it and the walls surrounding them. A foul stench of sweat and blood filled the place.
There were 3 men there, all with golden masks hanging at their belts and wearing golden gloves and shoes. Men of Midas. That means I'm in the right place after all. I guess I remembered well. Two of them stood in the middle of the hall, next to a few wooden crates. One of them had a shaved head and face, and the other one had short black hair and a nasty scar on the left side of his face.
Those two were having their way with a young girl who was bent against a crate, with her back facing them. The shaved man was going in and out of her while the scarred one stood near and watched. Both of them were gloating and grinning as the rape took place while the girl was making noises of pain, writhing and grunting occasionally. She wasn’t crying, but she wasn’t happy either. She was in pain and suffering. She was completely naked, her clothes tossed aside in a pile. Her hands were clenched into fists on top of the crate, and she was heavily biting on her lip with anger. She looks so young. Can't be older than 16 or 17.
The third guy had short brown hair and was standing far from the other two, smoking a cigarette while he watched the other two's deed. Even though he wasn’t as cheerful as them, he didn’t look shocked or appalled, but rather cool, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Sick bastards.
With a teeth grind, Demilan silently watched for a minute as the shaved man penetrated the poor girl, again and again, giggling and smiling throughout the act.
He tried to figure out which one of the three was the one he needed. He examined the three faces. The one with the scarred face. He realized after digging through his memory. He was definitely in Odis's crew. I remember that scar. Can't forget a scar like that. He'll know where Odis is. The other two are useless to me. That means I need to dispose of them.
Demilan decided to start with the smoking guy first since he was secluded from the others and could be discreetly dealt with without triggering an all-out firefight.
He started softly pacing towards the man, using the crates as cover. The moans of pain that came from the raped girl followed him with every step until he was a foot away from the guy, placing himself right behind him. The smoking man looked as if he had no cares in the world. Using the Skyla rifle is off the table with this one.
Demilan waited to catch the guy in between inhaling and exhaling the cigarette smoke. Once the time was right, he quickly grabbed the man from behind, one hand twisting his right arm behind his back, and the other one covering his mouth and nose, blocking any exit of that smoke from those lungs, suffocating the guy. He quickly dragged him behind the crates. The smoking man tried resisting and fighting, but any wriggle he made only hurt him more, as his twisted arm was twisted further. He tried making noises, but he couldn’t make anything beyond muffled murmurs. Demilan looked at the man's face with cold, harsh eyes, and watched as oxygen was denied of him and his face slowly lost expression.
Eventually the smoking man closed his eyes and became still. To make sure the guy wouldn’t suddenly come back a minute later and cause trouble, Demilan quickly snapped his neck, letting out a small crackling sound. Luckily for him, the other men didn’t hear that.
The horrible smell of sweat and blood was still in the air. Demilan leaned over the crates and watched the other two members of Men of Midas.
From where Demilan was standing now, he could get a better look at the naked girl. He could now see the stream of blood dripping down on the other side of her face from her forehead. They were beating her, on top of it all.
"Come on, man, will you finish already? I want to go next," said the scarred man.
"Relax, Maythem, I'm almost about to finish," the shaved man said with a grin.
Quick and easy. Just need to isolate the guy with the scar. He was not about to wait for the man with the shaved head to finish his act. With a quick movement of his feet, he took himself away from the crates and went in towards the two men, his assault rifle held up and aimed at them.
At first, he lined his aim with the scarred man. Must neutralize that guy, Maythem, first so he won't make any trouble while I take care of the other one. He pulled the trigger and sent a deadly bullet through the scarred man's left leg, bringing him down and immediately drawing all attention to him. The loud gunshot echoed infinitely inside the warehouse.
The shaved man quickly turned around, about to draw his pistol at Demilan, only to find himself a few seconds too late. Before he could even draw his weapon, Demilan had already shifted his aim in a swift move to point directly at his right kneecap. Can't risk the bullet going through him and hitting the girl. The thought crossed his mind during the split second. He fired a round and blew off the man's kneecap, bringing him down on all fours with a mighty scream of pain. That scream lasted only a second, as now that Demilan could shoot him without risk hitting the girl behind him, he made another swift shift of his aim to the rapist’s head and pulled the trigger once more. Spatters of blood and brain poured all over the floor, some of it hitting the girl.
As the blood pool around the shaved man gathered and grew, Demilan made his way to Maythem, the wounded scarred man, who was still agonizing over his hurt leg.
"Oh, fuck!" he screamed. "You motherfucker!" he cursed his shooter. "Who the FUCK are you?!"
Demilan crouched by the man and asked him in a heavy voice, "I want to know where I can find Odis Maben."
Maythem responded with a chunk of spit thrown at Demilan's face. This fucker…
Demilan placed his thumb over Maythem's bullet wound and squeezed hard, sending horrible waves of pain through him. He screamed again, louder than ever. "Where is Odis Maben?" Demilan asked again.
"I don't know, man, please," Maythem turned soggy. "I don't know who that is, man."
"Now, I know that’s a lie. I remember you as part of his crew, Maythem."
"I don’t know where he is!" Maythem cried. You just called yourself as a liar, Maythem, and he who lies once will lie again. You DO know where Odis is.
He pointed his Skyla rifle at his other leg. "I either get an answer or the joy of putting another bullet in you. Either way, I win," he said. Maythem simply looked at him with a frightened face. "Have it your way." Demilan was just about to pull the trigger when Maythem stopped him. "WAIT!" he screamed. "16 Pine Street. That's where he lives. Please, don't shoot." That's a good boy, Maythem.
A sudden rattle from behind caught Demilan's attention. He looked around and noticed someone was missing. Where's that girl? Her clothes are gone… did she run away? How did I not notice that?
"Little girl!" Demilan tried calling to her, even though he couldn’t really tell if she was still in the warehouse. "If you're still here, first let me say I'm not going to hurt you." No sound was heard. One last trick. She wasn’t crying or screaming. She just looked resentful. She's the type that would love for some payback. "If you come out now, I'll let you beat the shit out of dear Maythem!" he called out, his voice echoing between the walls.
"Wait! What are you doing?! Stop! Don't do this! PLEASE!" Maythem cried, only to be ignored by the rugged gunman. After a few seconds where all that was heard was Maythem's sobbing, Demilan decided to give up on the matter. At that moment, he heard that rattle again. He saw her coming out from behind the crates, this time fully dressed in her long tight jeans, black shirt, and jeans-colored jacket. Her long brown hair went down all the way to her chest, and her big blue eyes sparked fiery like wildfire.
"A deal is a deal," she said in a stern voice as she paced her way to him.
"A deal is a deal," Demilan replied. He now noticed the wrench that was in her hand. Must have found it somewhere in here. Very well. I'm not going to stop her.
"No! Please, stop!" Maythem yelled once he saw the wrench coming his way. Demilan preferred not to watch. I'd rather save myself the violence this time. I've had enough for now, I believe.
He only heard the bashing noise that the metal wrench made as it walloped Maythem. Sounds like she hit his head. This girl sure is merciless. He heard another bashing noise. Then another. Maythem was no longer crying. He was no longer making any sound. Only the harsh hitting of the girl's wrench made noises now. After a few more hits, he heard the metal clang that suggested she’d dropped it on the floor. He turned around and saw the bloody pulp that was once Maythem's face. Spatters of blood covered her clothes and face. She was breathing heavily, yet looked somewhat satisfied.
"Thank you," she said to him.
"You're welcome." He started walking away when she stopped him. "Wait!" He halted. "Why did you do this? I mean, I know you didn’t do this just to save me, I heard you asking him about Odis Maben."
"Yeah, I just wanted to know where he was."
"Why? I know who Odis Maben is. He's a drug dealer in Men of Midas, what could you possibly want with him? Drugs?"
"No. He took someone away from me."
"I see. Well, Reus Mallistrom's men also took someone away from me. My little sister, Vera."
"I'm sensing a point coming." He could already tell.
"There's a good chance that both of the people we're looking for are at the same place. I suggest that we join forces."
"You'll just get yourself killed, little girl."
"Don't call me that, and don’t you worry about me. I'll be doing this either way. With or without you." Going alone against Reus Mallistrom will surely get her killed. Going along with me gives her a chance to make it out alive from the situation. God, what am I thinking? Taking a little girl with me on this mission?
"How old are you?" he asked her.
"15," she said. Demilan buried his face in his hands, letting off a long sigh. Goddammit… she's only 15 years old, and I just saw he beat a man to death with a wrench. What am I supposed to do now? "Please. I'm asking you because you seem to handle yourself pretty well. I want to save my sister." Suddenly, when her sister came into the conversation, she looked less intimidating and more helpless.
Why am I even considering this? I usually don't pay attention to such minor things. I have a mission. I can't just bring her along. But… what if I leave her alone? What if she goes out there against these guys alone and ends up dead? Can I live with that? I already have so many sins on my record, so many things that I wish I could take back, so much wrong to make right… maybe this can be me starting to repent…
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Maileena. Maileena Banister."
"For the record, I can't have your death over my head if something happens to us. Your life is your responsibility. I am not your godfather or your fucking mentor. This is only two people working together towards a common goal out of shared interests."
"Done."
"Alright, let's go. I have a place not far from here, you can take a shower there if you want." He started walking away when he noticed her crouching next to Maythem. She took a revolver that was hiding in the back of his pants. It had a long barrel, and it shone brightly. She placed the revolver in the back of her pants and tailed behind Demilan as the two made their way outside.
"Thank you, mister…"
"It's Demilan. Demilan McCloud."
