Page 4 of Repossess My Heart

“I won’t.”

“Happy hunting.” He deadpans with the slam of my door.

Yes, but first… I need to do something about those eyes. The Officials have been waiting years for her. They can spare a few more days. My tactical gear slides on like a glove, the back corded straps lining my vest only require minimal tightening. My blades, the tools of my trade glint in their respective slots, reflecting what little light is allowed inside my home. I send a signal out, triggering my drone as it lifts seamlessly from its dock hovering above me. My gloved fingers tighten around my mask as I meet my own eyes in the mirror their bright blue hues seem to exist in a direct contrast to my white hair. A lot of him and far too little of her. My sharp, angular features an ode to his heritage…hisnot hers. To a man I’ve dedicated my life to destroying. The son he forgot cast into the darkness with the woman he had killed. A little secret that grew into a blight, a killer he’d be proud of. But I don’t want his pride. I never wanted his pride. Since I can remember, I longed for his fear, the widening of his eyes in terror.

Like theirs did.

I look away from my mother’s eyes, glimpsing the number nine that was tattooed into my forehead the day I dedicated myself… sold myself to the Officials. The day I became a Repo Man. Branding me like cattle of the old world. My sick smile quickly hidden as I tug my mask down over my face, becominghim. Reveling in the way it presses into my skin.

Now, now, Reverie, let’s see what we can do about those unfortunate eyes.

People hang their heads as they walk by. Suddenly the tarnished cement of the alleyways are a new interesting thing to study. Repo Men are feared and for good reason, we’re trained surgeons and violent killers. Men, women, children, it doesn’t matter. Where there’s a debt, we collect. I’d like to say it gets easier, all the killing. That the gore that’s seeped deep into my pores is something that keeps me up at night, but that would be a lie. I could say it gets easier… but it was never hard at all, not for me. Not for most of us. The best of us, the ones who don’t fail, who aren’t swayed by meaningless pleas and promises.

I swear I’ll pay up!

Please, not my baby!

I’ll do anything!

The ones who beg are always perfect in the end. Their eyes brimming with tears and misery. Terror and eventually pain. My tech alerts me to another in the area. It doesn’t take long to clock him. My eyes narrow on his stocky form, Two. He’s new, bloody as hell. His cuts are rough at best, but I suppose he gets the job done well enough. Organs come out clean, that’s all that matters in the end. I watch him pull out a holo card, one displaying a very underwhelming pair of wide umber colored eyes. My gloves strain as I ball my fists.

Why the fuck do you have her information?

“Two, why are you here?” I ask in our secured comm, rolling my still narrowed eyes as his head snaps to where I’m leaned against the side of the filthy sex club she works at.

“They didn’t say I was working with the poster boy.”

Far from it deadshit.“You aren’t, leave.”

He scoffs, the sound worms into my chest. I almost don’t hear him as my mind plays out all the different ways I could rearrange his body, “Look man, you may outrank me but-“

I’m closing the distance before he has a chance to finish the sentence. My mechanical arm expands as I reach him, gripping his throat as I tug him back into the wall with me. The thick fabric of his suit crinkles underneath my grip. If I fuck this up, I may not get another chance. She’s wary, never leaves unless she needs to. Never been registered and untraceable. Her mother was the one that took out the original debt, she was smart in that fact. Too smart. Fucking vermin always thinking they can slither past the rules.

She’s a challenge… and Above be dammed I can’t stop thinking about her eyes.

“Leave.” I snarl, my hand tightening further around his throat. Just a little harder, the tiniest flinch of my hardware and his windpipe crunches like a soda can. I can hear it now, only adding to the thrill building in my chest, “I don’t need backup and this one is mine." I shove him backwards as he makes a throaty gasping sound, desperately trying to suck air into his straining lungs. “Reject the collection and move on Two.”

I can practically imagine the angry burgundy shade of his face behind his mask. His eyes wouldn’t be nearly special enough for my collection from what I remember. Wouldn’t hurt to check, though. His head jerks to the side, zeroing in on something behind me. Rage bubbles up in my chest as I turn, seeing her for the first time in the flesh. Such pretty flesh too. I can already tell it’ll split like butter under my blades. Her empty eyes widen for a moment before she turns, her long inky black hair slapping out behind her like a whip as she bolts. The growl that slips from my chest is made louder behind my mask as Two casts me a final glance before taking off after her. With a roll of my neck and a deep breath I signal the siren on my drone, sending it up as I set off after them, half shocked by his downright idiotic display of bravery. Two’s drone follows mine, its own warning siren blaring out of sync. A warning that says stay out of our way and they always do.

I pivot in the quickly clearing street, jerking a throwing knife from my vest. A flick of my fingers sends it slicing through the toxic air. Giving the doomed machinery my back and not bothering to watch as his drone sparks and plummets from the sky.

“Last chance before I rip you to fucking shreds!” I announce.

The comm is silent aside from the sound of ads playing and the heavy pants of his breath. My vision goes partial as I view my drone footage. Reverie scales up the side of a body shop nearby, displacing trash and spare rotted body parts as she goes. It doesn’t slow Two, even lower ranking, he’s deadly.

Mine. My kill.

A sinister smile pulls up my lips as they come into view. My heavy pounding boots slow as I scale the wall on their heels. Using every brutal advancement that was forced on my body. No sooner than my feet hit the top, I jerk another blade from my vest, kicking off the roof as I swing the sharpened metal, cutting into the back of his neck just as his hand tangles in her long hair. His pained grunt barely registers as I fist his mask in my hand, ripping it from him, a taboo. Leaving nothing between us, nothing to leave up to guess that I plan to make good on my promise. There’s no dignity, no respect in his death and, as I suspected his eyes aren’t good enough to bother keeping. His fist rounds painfully on the side of my head and I can feel the split high above my temple, the blood seeping out and mingling with the sweat beaded there from our chase. His mud-colored eyes spark with fear as realization sets in, doubling his efforts as more and more blood escapes him.

His blade swings wide as I shove back off him, catching it in the grooves of my mechanical arm. The gears make a loud grinding sound as the attachment tightens painfully at my shoulder. Where metal meets flesh, metal always wins. I grunt past the pain, jerking my arm up until the blade rips free from his hand.

“Okay! Okay! Nine, you can have her!” he grunts, his words already slurring from blood loss. This injury wouldn’t be deadly for us, not if he had a drone left to heal him. I smile behind my mask, a sinister laugh bubbling up from the depths of the rage in my chest as he unsheathes another blade. With a grunt he tosses it behind him, hitting Reverie in the leg, “There she’s yours!” He gurgles, blood cascading from his mouth like a crimson-colored waterfall. He keeps looking around, searching for the drone he lost connection to.

Her scream is filled with pain. Her boring eyes pitched together as the blade grazes her, cutting deep into her calf. I welcome the blinding anger that follows. Her pain is mine, her eyes are mine. Her full, perfectly curved body hits the rooftop where she had been rooted in place. Either by shock or confusion, it doesn’t matter. My gloved hand grasps the handle of Two’s knife as I bring it down across his throat, opening him up to the bone. He gurgles again as he falls backwards, his half-decapitated head falling just barely quicker than him. The bisected bone snaps under the weight, making his head swing back against his back like a pendulum before he lands on top of it. The sudden arterial spray of blood coats Reverie just as she gets shakily to her feet. Her blood and glitter adorned arms tremor with tiny quakes as she unsheathes her plasma blade. I decide I like the combination, glitter and blood suits her. The blade I could do without.

Nasty things.

Expensive.

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