Page 15 of Vengeance of Childhood Proportions

Jason crouched down in front of me. “Hols, what happened?”

His calm demeanor helped to soothe my rage, but it did not extinguish it. I lifted my head just enough to show him that I wasn’t harmed. “They don’t know my name. They ruined me,brokeme, and they don’t even remember my fucking name.”

Jason looked over his shoulder at Sam. I wasn’t sure if he was dead or alive, though based on the amount of blood on me, him, and the floor, I was going to guess dead. Carefully, Jason shifted on the balls of his feet to face me again. “I see you reminded him.”

I couldn’t help the snort that came out of me. Only Jason could be so aloof while I was a fucking mess.

Jason stood up, holding out a hand to help me up. He took the knife from my gloved hand that I didn’t realize I was still holding. “Go take a shower, Hols, and then get out of here. I’ll clean up. Though, we might have to figure something else out with this body. You pretty much signed your murder confession onto his skin.”

As I made to exit the cell, my eyes landed on the carvings in Sam’s dark skin. If there was a Hell, I hoped the Devil let him keep my handiwork. I wanted him to remember my name for all eternity.

Holly

Chapter Five

Holly

I endedup atSnowChains. After scrubbing every inch of my body, and then scrubbing it again, I grabbed one of Jason’s cars and headed out. The apartment we shared was one of many he owned under a variety of aliases. As I always did outside the bunker, I was wearing one of my wigs and contacts with a different coloring than my natural.

I was so used to looking atmedressed and looking like someone else that I even wondered ifIwould recognize me anymore.

On a subconscious level, I must have known where I was planning on going because I grabbed one of my masks. Or maybe that was just habit. I was certainly overdressed forSnow Chainscompared to my usual.

Did I even want to dance tonight?

I thought about losing myself in the music and figured that was as good a cure as any to get me out of this head funk. Jason was back at the bunker cleaning up my mess because I’d lost control. I needed to get my control back before I returned. Anything could happen in those blackouts, but that wasn’t what was bothering me the most.

I’d missed it. I’d killed Sam, one of the boys who’drapedme, and I’d missed it. I didn’t remember him dying. I didn’t know if he screamed or just faded away. I didn’t know if he pleaded more. I had no idea how many times I’d written my name into his skin.

I recalled Christopher’s death. After spending two days in my cell at the beginning of his stay with me, he decided living in his cell with the Goliath bird eating tarantulas was better than facing me again. But he’d been wrong. I’d been dropping crickets onto the cell to keep the tarantulas fed. I was not about to starve the creatures just to torture Christopher. The fact that Christopher was inside the cell when the feedings started had been amusing, to say the least, but his fear of the giant arachnids had proven too great and his heart had given out.

I’d been disappointed because he hadn’t died atmy hand, though technically I was the one who pressed the button that had released the crickets. Jason had also pointed out the symbolism. Christopher had died the day before the anniversary of my attack, which meant Jason was able to stage him at the high school onthe day of. It was so perfect that I hadn’t cared that I hadn’t killed Christopher with my own two hands.

Amber had been a different story. I’d had to get inventive with her fear of aging. It wasn’t like the cosmetic industry created a serum toagesomeone. Putting her inside a tanning bed for an hour a day inside her cell, when twenty minutes was supposed to be the max, had ended up burning her. She was completely unrecognizable. She’d died in my cell after I ran a blade over her throat to just make hershut up. Her crying had been so high pitched and annoying that I’d thought about cutting out her tongue, but honestly I was growing bored with her. She hadn’t had any fight like the men had.

Of course, after her death, the men hadn’t really been fighting anymore. But now there were only three left. New blood would provide me with the fight I desired.

I put my mask on before exiting the car.Snow Chainswas located in the warehouse district by the piers. Jason told me that Valentino, the owner, had acquired it after winning a legal battle that had awarded him several million back in the eighties. I didn’t know how Valentino and Jason became friends. To be honest, Valentino might be Jason’sonlyfriend. He was the only person I knew that Jason talked to, and that included me. I knew that there was a lot about Jason’s past that I didn’t know, but I had a feeling that Valentino did. With how introverted and antisocial Jason was, I was glad he had at least one true friend in the world.

Members of the club had lockers that they could put cellphones, jackets, or whatever in prior to entering the main room. The receptionist—it varied, but tonight it was Dominique—always checked to ensure there were no devices being snuck into the club. There was recording equipment in some of the private rooms. It was a paid service, and the club required the written consent of all parties involved before recording started. The club itself had a fantastic security system. There wasn’t an area of this place that wasn’t under constant surveillance, but those were monitored by club employees who were paid to be discreet and look out for the safety of all who stepped through those doors. Those recordings were also kept on a secure drive and not accessible to the public.

Dominique gave me a little wave upon my entry. She didn’t particularly like me because she wanted Master Kade, which is how everyone here besides Valentino and me knew Jason, and she thought I had Master Kade. It was well known amongst the employees that I was an uncollared sub and I was to be watched at all times if Master Kade was not around. Valentino wouldbe personally offended otherwise. However, that did not stop Dominique’s jealousy.

Many wanted Master Kade. He was known for being a sadist and only took on the pain sluts. There were many women around the club who had a “K” etched into the skin of their inner upper thigh. While other Doms might use a tattoo machine or a branding iron for such a feat, Jason used a scalpel. It was always done under supervision, with one of Valentino’s medical staff on standby, and with the written consent of the woman.

I had nothing to put inside a locker. I didn’t have a phone and I wasn’t wearing a coat. A glance down at myself confirmed that I was wearing stiletto boots over a pair of skinny jeans and a green mesh tunic that showed off my skin as well as the matching green bra I had on. Well, at least I’d remembered to put on pants in my haze. That was something. I could take the tunic off once I got to the poles and keep it at the corner of the stage.

I nodded to Dominique. I was a frequent enough visitor that they knew me, regardless of what wig or contacts I was wearing, because of my mask. I was one of very few who regularly wore them, but I was the only one who didn’t need to scan a membership pass to gain entry. I didn’t know if Jason paid for my membership or if Valentino comped my membership fees as a favor to Jason, but either way, there was no paper trail of my membership.

What name would I put down anyway? It wasn’t like I was legally alive. I didn’t know why Jason had introduced me as ‘Dani’ the first time I’d come here with him on my twenty-first birthday. I supposed in a way it was generic, could be Dani or Danny, and it was obviously a nickname that could stand for a variety of legal names. It wasn’t like I had a fake ID with the name ‘Danielle Smith’ on it. Jason had brought me up to Valentino’s office that first night, said “this is Dani”, and that was it. I ran with it.

I didn’t use the name often as I rarely had to introduce myself. If I did end up hooking up with a Dom, Jason was always right there. Well, except for one time, but I was trying really hard not to think about the sexy as fuck special agent.

“Poles are closed tonight, Dani,” Dominique warned as I walked past her reception desk. A wall had been erected behind the desk so no one who walked in off of the streets could see what was happening inside. To get to the main room, you turned left after the reception desk, which had a sign that read Restrooms with a left facing arrow. It was Valentino’s little joke because the newbies and fakers always tried to turn right, which was a dead end.

I paused. “What do you mean?”

“Masters Xzavier and Nick are deflowering Sophie tonight for her birthday. They have a big ceremony planned, so all the poles and other stages are closed. Only the private rooms are available. Didn’t Master Kade tell you? A memo did go out last week reminding everyone about it.” She cocked her head; her red lipstick shined in the overhead light.

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