Seeing her after all this time, maybe I shouldn’t have doubted her.
A darkness like that lurks within us all; only the ones capable of mastering it can bear its truths.
My biggest regret is allowing her to push me away. I was young, and I couldn’t stand the thought that my presence was causing her more pain.
I may be a man, though I’m not ashamed to admit it destroyed something in me, letting her go.
The last part of my humanity ended on those swings in her backyard, and she’s the only one who can bring it back.
It’s the only part of me reserved solely for her.
She’ll never be rid of me now. The only way she can get away from me is if she puts the fucking bullet in me herself.
Even then, I’d haunt her from my eternal damnation.
My eyes draw to her like magnets as she runs around the perimeter of The Pit, still amazed she’d even taken that up.
I personally wanted to call this place limbo, seeing as it’s where most of our captives spend their last remaining days.
My dad and I compromised.
There’s a jolt of nerves that bolts through me when she dips out of sight, and I internally grapple it into submission. My people are crawling everywhere; there’s not a square foot that doesn’t have at least two sets of eyes on it. We even have a five-mile stretch into the forest littered with security. You’d need to be suicidal to wander into this neck of the woods.
And if you happen to do so by accident?
Regret is a word you’ll soon find out the true meaning of.
Indie has also proven she’s more than capable of handling herself on her own. Nonetheless, she needs more training.
Every single person here has either come from a military background, or they’ve experienced a similar training. Hell, some have acquired it through the underworld.
We need it.
We have an enemy that has an unlimited amount of resources. There’s no telling us what we’ll face when the time comes. But to get the ruler, you need to disperse the servants.
The latter will be the biggest challenge; the rest will topple like ancient pillars.
They’ve taken too much over the years, a greed that puts mine to shame.
But where I’d love nothing more than to crawl inside Indie’s mind, hearing her thoughts, manipulating so I’m the centre of her universe, they want the ultimate control over whoever gets caught in their web.
I’ve done some sick, questionable shit in my time. I’ve known nothing but violence since travelling to the states. Conditioned to understand it and craft it into my very being as a child. Spending summers at training camps across the world under my father’s watchful eye.
Even Rex has had to take a moment from the sights he’s seen, now he’s become my right-hand man, filled with his own vengeance.
That society is filled with a sickness that can’t be cured, and it’s gotten worse over the years. Omnia once sent a shiver down my spine when I learned of the acts they committed, made Dawson throw up, and had Rex ready to drop a nuclear bomb on their centre hub.
Their only cure is us. Unfortunately, none of them will survive to see out the rest of their days.
My darkened thoughts are disturbed once more when Indie completes her run round the entire boundary, yelling out something to Dawson as he disciplines her to fight her mind to strengthen the lungs and skin in the cold.
It’s a fucking psychotic method, but well worth it.
She’s dressed in black shorts and a crop top, the setting sun glistening off her sweat-slicked skin. You can see the years she’s put into her defence training; she was always dipping in the martial arts in our teens, something I glance up at the sky to thank her father for.
Every inch of her body is toned to perfection, allowing her to face whatever threat comes her way.
My hands burn to roam over every single inch of that skin.
