Page 1 of Sink With Me

Date: 7-23-2022

Time: 0927

War. It should be a terrifying word, shouldn't it? The bloodshed, the lives lost, and even the long-term effects should be enough to make your body shudder at the thought. Yet standing here with the enemy's blood on my hands does nothing but send a rush of adrenaline through my body. The well-organized faction would never be prepared for my wrath. They prove that time and time again. With each body that drops, the closer I am to the finish line.

After the War of Chaos, Bay and Depth were formed. Concealed from the world into secret factions; one for the land and one for the sea. Protectors, or so we thought.

Now we’re at war with one another. If they weren't so precious about their fucking ocean maybe we wouldn't be in this mess, but I guess not everyone has the mindset to do the right thing.

Slowly, I climbed the ranks until I became one of the most important members, not that anyone ever noticed. That part isn’t important. What is important is that while I was fighting my way up, I learned of another taking his role on the opposite side. How cute is that? Following behind his daddy, like the ripples behind a crashing wave.

What a pity.

The best part about not having parents is that you can create your path, with no obligations or expectations standing in your way and holding you back from progress. You can rule the world or in my case end a war without the hassle of being reprimanded about every move you make. You have no motive to stop what you’re doing to appease the ones you love.

However, the physical reminder of being alone stares back at me every time I glance in the mirror. It’s my mother's smile shining, her brown curls falling from my head. It’s my father's ocean blue eyes locking onto my own, with his pointed nose in the air and freckles painting my cheeks.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s me I’m looking at. Not them. I carved my path from the day I heard that the ones who were supposed to love me most sank to the bottom of the ocean with everything they ever fought for. Thirteen of Bay's most crucial members who spent years preparing to accommodate and provide for those most affected across the world by The Chaos plummeted to the dark depths of uncharted waters.

If that’s not motivation, then I don’t know what is.

I can feel the man breaking beneath me as I drive my once delicate knuckles into his face again and again, so lost in the plaguing memories my actions feel dissociated from me. No matter how hard I train or how many lives I take, I'm still human, and being human sucks. All these feelings I'm forced to carry inside a body I never even asked to possess.

“Sharkie?” A familiar voice grounds me back to reality through the hidden speaker in my ear. Karma. She always seems so calm and composed in these situations.

Subtly laughing, I wipe my shirt along my face to rid some of the blood splatter. I've honestly started to wonder if she watches me through my chest-piece. Of course, she doesn't. Last time she threw up her gourmet salad and cussed me afterward for it. She thinks I take it too far—I think I should just click my camera off so no one can see what I get up to. She'd never make it in a field with such distaste for violence, but she is a hell of a mastermind behind the screen. I never question her. She does her job, and she keeps my ass in check. I’m not scared of many people, but when Karma’s yelling, I’d rather not be on the receiving end.

“I already told you,” I huff through heavy breaths as my hands wrap around the red stained fabric of his shirt, “you can call me by my name.”

I groan under his dead weights as I drag him to the corner. I never dispose of the bodies—consider it my calling card if you will. Who would Depth whine to? Cry to? The police? No, they can't. So why get rid of evidence when they can’t trace who did the crime? I want him to see what he's causing. I want to make sure it’ll haunt him forever.

“I refuse to use such a pretty name while you're doing vile things.”

I smile.

"Karma," I say in a smooth voice as I dump his body, "I'm doing vile things for the people—" She cuts off my words with a click of her tongue, expressing her disapproval at my sentiment.

The low growl that comes from the man beneath my feet has my skin crawling, nearly ready to just burn the whole building to the ground. They are an infestation. What do they feed these assholes that make them so hard to fucking kill? Each one I encounter fights until they simply drop from exhaustion.

“He’s… coming… for you.” Each word the man speaks comes gurgling and sputtering over the blood rising in his mouth and spitting down his chin. The sadistic chuckle that follows has bile reaching my throat.

“Can’t wait to meet him.” I purr through my smile, clicking my pistol from my hip and putting a bullet right between the bastard's eyes.

I should have known better than to let this distraction take all my attention. A cold steel edge presses into my throat, the overwhelming scent of cigars and salt water filling my nose. Yet, I stay silent; I can handle this on my own.

Breathe. One, two—

Elbow to the ribs, a quick turn on my heel and a grasp on his wrist has the knife dropping from his hand into my own as he falls to his knees. Green eyes stare up at me. They don't hold fear but a glimmer of something completely different. Confusion, admiration? I look at the sharp line of his jaw, perfectly risen cheekbones, and tousled brown hair. His features are all I need to figure out that this… is Tide.

The rapid flick of his pulse kisses the blade as I hold it to his neck, the vibration echoing up the hilt into my palm and instinctively, I press it further and watch as a deep red droplet glides down the metal.

He doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t fight, he doesn’t do anything except smirk. The asshole smirks. Who does he think he is? Here I hold his life in my hands, yet he kneels and greets death like an old friend.

The way he holds my gaze has every nerve ending in my body firing unlike anything before. I could end him now, without a second thought or hint of remorse. Those once-shocking nerves begin to die and sink into the pit of my stomach.

It’s become too easy for me to kill without a second thought, this constant desire urging me to just drive the blade in until blood pools and his heart stops. Even though I know that's illogical I tilt it a little further just to see his nose scrunch. If I were to end him now, another would gladly fill his position, leaving me back at square one.

“Damn it Sharkie. Did you kill him? Sometimes I swear that your brain is empty. ” Karma's voice comes back over, startling me enough that the knife falls between my fingers to the grimy floor below. I need to think, but I can’t with Karma's voice in my ear and his eyes holding mine hostage. My heart rate skyrockets and my mind clutters. Think. He shouldn't be here but he is, in the flesh, tempting me with the blood I can't spill. Maybe I can… no, that wouldn't work… or I could try–

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