Page 3 of Brutal Empire

I wasn’t allowed out much. Just places nearby. I did a job here or there with Daphne or with both her and Gideon around. It wasn’t hard taking a life, not if it came in the safety of many. It was relatively easy to prey on the ones who hunted.

“You’re not ready,” she said as she got up.

I hated that word, that I wasn’tready. As if she was trying to protect me. There were a lot of things I had not been ready for, but I was forced to do them. All I had to do was look down at my skin, and my body was like a map of things I had not been ready for.

“I am.” My voice held conviction, sounding braver than I actually was. Even if I wasn’t ready, at least I was willing, and that meant something to me.

Daphne halted, and she turned to look back at me. There was anger in her eyes, and the only reason I knew was because it mirrored my own. It was the one emotion that didn’t leave me alone.

“This mission involves infiltration,” she said in a softly spoken voice.

I could do that. I’d been doing that little by little, and it got easier each time I began to play a new role. Pretending to be someone else was easier than being yourself. Daphne could be charming and alluring, but I couldn’t; that wasn’t me. I got my prey by being aloof and reserved. Most saw a lonely, sad girl, and they wanted to take advantage of that until that sad, lonely girl stabbed them in the back.

“I can d—”

Before I could finish, she kept on going.

“A snuff production company,” she finished, and I stopped breathing. “You will have to play the role of a lifetime here. There’s going to be everything that triggers you, and if you can’t handle any of that, then you’re also going to die.”

I watched her walk away as the memory of my first monster came.

* * *

My nose scrunched.The air was a little musky, not necessarily bad, but there was a lack of warmth and sunlight in this apartment.

Still, I didn’t let this ruin my good mood.

I was an average girl with average grades. I wasn’t ugly, but I wasn’t gorgeous either. I was an in-between kind of girl. So imagine my surprise when Jason, the hottest senior boy, wanted to date me—a sophomore.

Sixteen and eighteen weren’t that bad, but my parents would never understand. So here I was at his apartment. My boy was sweet, but he was damaged. He wasn’t anything like I thought he would be.

He didn’t pressure me. He was just content to let me be. This was my first time sneaking out of the house, but it was my birthday today. All I wanted was to spend time with Jason.

He had always invited me over, but I’d always declined because I didn’t want to lie to my parents, but tonight, I wanted freedom. To go outside and feel the fresh air on my skin, to feel like I was breathing—living.

I followed his directions and went up the stairs in the alley to his apartment through the fire exit. He lived in a two-bedroom apartment with his mother, not that she was much of a mother.

In my delusional mind, I thought I would find him with balloons or flowers, but that was not the case as I slid open the window.

The apartment was ratty, not what I had expected, yet I wasn’t discouraged. I wasn’t materialistic—that wasn’t how my parents raised me. My parents were strict, so they would never understand why I had come here, but I needed a little freedom. I wasn’t a little kid anymore. I wanted to be like my friends and be able to go out, date, and feel like I fit in.

“Jason?” I called.

He knew I was coming. He had texted me earlier while I was at dinner with my parents.

Taking a deep breath, I took another step. This time, I could see a shadow on one of the couches. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight before me.

Jason was lying on the dirty couch, his handsome face lost in bliss, and next to him was a syringe.

He didn’t. How could he?

I didn’t know what to do. I was an average girl, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine something like this happening. I refused to be a part of this. I took a step back, but guilt slammed into me. What kind of person would it make me if I left? He didn’t know who his father was. His mother was never there, and I would just be another person in the long line of people who had failed him.

My heart was racing as if I was the one who was on drugs.

“Jason,” I whispered. I felt so foolish for not noticing earlier. Suddenly, the reason why he always wore long sleeves made all the sense.

TWO

---