Page 26 of Slaughtered Firefly
I still wasn’t sure why in the hell I was here, unsure if it was stupidity or ignorance, but I had nowhere else to go. I needed to get the stash of cash I had hidden away.
There were four guys sitting around the large table, which held drinks and poker chips. Cigars were lit, filling the room with a thick cloud of smoke.
I slipped in through the side door after my fumbling of the lock, careful not to be loud as I locked the door behind me and crept through the kitchen.
Giggles reached my ears, and I froze in my tracks. That wasn’t a man’s laugh. I snuck closer to the den, despite every fiber of my being yelling not to get involved.
There in the center of the table stripping her blouse was Mia. She giggled as she stood up, grabbing onto the arm of the closest man. He was a man in his late thirties, slightly overweight but not horrible to look at. I’m guessing he was a big shot within the organization. Mia hoisted herself further up on the table. By the looks of it, she had lost her skirt already in a round. Strip poker or something strip related by the lack of currency on the table.
I was mesmerized by her expressiveness, the slow unbuttoning of her top three buttons, pausing and laughing with a shake of her head, her curls falling against her backside in lushlocks of brown. She bent down to retrieve her drink from the one that helped her up on the table, giving him a nice warm smile of course that didn’t matter when he was staring down her shirt. She was showing an even better view to those opposite her, as they crowded around her lacy red thong on display. Barely an inch of fabric between her pussy and their eyes. I was frozen in my spot, so turned on but unable to do anything but just watch.
She righted herself and began unbuttoning from the bottom up, meeting halfway in the middle to that last button that would have made those perfect breasts pop, she began dancing with the music feeling the beat, her eyes closed as her hands skimmed across her stomach lifting the shirt to reveal more of her perfect little body, and then they trailed down her stomach towards her core, teasing herself skimping down her thong line temping with the possibility they’d come off, but instead she gripped her hips moving her hands around to her ass. It was out of this world, the amount of control she had over the men in this room, myself included, as she treated us to a drink from the goddess herself.
Finally, the last button came undone, and the lacy red bra came into view as her hand roamed up her center and around her neck, a short gasp escaping her. She was totally in the moment.
Someone joined her on the table, pulling her against him and grinding his hips into her ass, but she didn’t flinch; instead, she turned toward him, letting the blouse fall on the table.
“Who’s next?” She giggled while drawing on the guy’s chest. She wasn’t looking up, just taking her hand in circles against the hem of his shirt.
I didn’t need to watch this. I was already disgusted with myself for kissing her earlier without permission. I vowed not to be like my father, and definitely not my uncle.
I snuck upstairs to the smallest of rooms — my room. I had paid the rent on this tiny hollow of a room every single week.Whatever I thought I earned would be taken if it was more than the expected winnings. I got smart enough to bet on myself. At first, it was pennies I found on my walks home, slowly building my way up to betting hundreds. It was nowhere near the millions that Uncle had, but it was mine, and only mine. Hopefully, enough to get out of this place and disappear.
I made it to the door of my bedroom and slipped in. The thud of the bass from downstairs muffled my footsteps, not that it would matter much with the state of drunkenness that everyone was in. I was thankful for the cover, but I was uneasy about Mia being down there. She was a good girl; she didn’t deserve to be treated with disrespect; she was smart; she was capable. She could make her life meaningful. I needed to get my cash and get out of here. Mia was not my girlfriend; she was a girl I kissed. That did not mean I owned her, or that I was obligated to save her. Take care of your own shit, Scott, and get the hell out of here, I reminded myself.
Looking into the room, the reminder of why I needed to get out just came into clear focus. My single bed against the wall and the one table beside it was all that would fit. It was a million-dollar house, and the one section of the house I was allowed was barely even habitable for a dog.
The nails on the walls held various school uniforms in pristine shape for the preppy hellhole I was forced to go to as it ‘looked good for school’ to have the less fortunate attend. I rolled my eyes at that thought as I counted floorboards directly to my stash. My knees were on either side of the board. I’d had to pry up as I grabbed the small pocket knife that was stashed in the bed mattress.
I had just dislodged one side of the board when there was a commotion down below. I froze. What if it’s Mia? I slapped my cheeks, willing myself to stop fucking caring; it wasn’t my job. I had my own problems, and upsetting my uncle was notone I wanted to add. It was probably someone stumbling into a cabinet or something anyway; there was expensive liquor everywhere, and it was strong shit.
Refocused on the now free board I pulled out the wad of cash, a little over five grand I managed to save, it wouldn’t be enough to fend off the creditors that would come as soon as uncle James stopped paying but I’ll figure it out. I had no other choice.
The music changed from the generic club thudding to something a bit slower, and my heart raced as I was running out of time. Replacing the board in the floors, I snuck back across the house and down the stairs. When I got to the last landing, my eyes locked on her form.
Mia was crouched on the steps, her eyes welling with tears as she looked at the blood on her hands. She was shaking all over, shocked. My eyes quickly scanned the open area. There in the hall was one of the men that had been at the table, his eyes frozen in death’s favorite emotion, shock. The butcher knife was in his thigh; if I had to guess, the femoral.
She was mumbling to herself, “Please don’t, I’ll be good I promise.” repeating it in a trance-like state, rocking back and forth and hugging herself.
“Mia.” I called out to her gently, not trying to shock her senses but letting her know I was there.
She didn’t look up, still rocking in place. I ran back upstairs to the linen closet and grabbed a blanket, quickly returning to her and draping it over her.
“Mia, can you hear me?” I placed my hand on her cheek as I kneeled in front of her. She flinched backwards, crying out as if my contact had burned her.
“Please don’t, I was good just like I promised. Please,” she repeated, still mumbling to herself.
“Mia I am going to check the rest of the house, stay here.” I told her as I stood up. I walked further down the hall and into the den, and that was when I lost all the contents of my stomach.
There were smashed bottles everywhere. The table had been flipped over, and one of the men was lying next to it, seemingly unharmed. I bent down to check his pulse, and there wasn’t one. I swallowed the knot in my throat as I made my way over to the couch, where another sat, eyes stabbed and a large glass shard sticking out of his jugular. I hadn’t seen my uncle yet, and I was feeling anxious. How did one little girl take on four grown men? I walked into the kitchen next, and that’s where I saw my uncle, lying face down in a pile of bile, with the knife block missing a few knives next to him. I bent down to check if he was breathing, and when I got close, he yelled out, reaching for a knife. My instinct to survive went into overdrive, and I kicked with all the force I had as adrenaline coursed through me. I kicked so hard and so fast that there was a cracking sound from his back, a bloodcurdling scream came out, and I kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold.
A satisfying smile crossed my face, and I knew there was no turning back. I walked back through the bodies to Mia. She was gripping the blanket around her now, her breathing slowed, and the mumbling had stopped.
“Mia?” I asked softly, kneeling in front of her.
“Scott?” she replied with confusion in her voice.
Her eyes met mine, and I could see the haze within them as she shook her head back and forth repetitively. “This isn’t real.” she began again, banging her fists against her skull.
