┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
"Hurry up and move this
damn corpse!"

- Aleksandr
┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Chapter 2 - Message In Blood

▪️S E R G E Y▪️

The drive to upstate New York took less than four hours.

Our convoy was on its way to the mansion in question, along with an extra truckload of weapons and ammunition, courtesy of Dominic. The Calvetti mafia boss had come prepared to our meeting, and even though he and his men did not accompany us, he let us have the supplies as a parting gift.

My mind wandered to what awaited us at our destination. To think that such horrors were taking place in such a seemingly peaceful neighbourhood. The irony was not lost on me with each beautiful and massive property we passed.

The sprawling Georgian-style building stood on over 5 acres of land. We were in the possession of a complete layout of the house and property thanks to one of our hackers who had managed to acquire the schematics. We knew exactly where every entry and exit was located, from the various attic rooms down to the illegal brothel hidden underground that was being run by Joseph, Artyom's eldest son.

"Ready?" I asked Aleksandr while we checked our ammunition.

"That's one of the main problems in our line of work."

"What's that?"

Sliding the magazine back into his gun, Aleksandr replied gruffly, "Too many assholes, not enough fucking bullets!"

Nodding, I said, "Then let's make each one count."

Within the next few moments, gunshots reverberated throughout the manor as we besieged the building.

Aleksandr took the upper floors while I headed to the basement area, easily disposing of the armed guards who stood in our way. The sight that greeted me at the bottom of those elegant stairs as we began opening all the doors had the blood roaring in my ears and I did not bother to ask any questions.

"Line up every adult male and female that you find... Kill. Them. All!" I barked out.

A short middle-aged man in the room next to me shouted, "Wait!"

From the opened doorway, I could see that he was fully clothed, one leg crossed over the other as he sat in a dark-coloured plush chair while a naked overweight man was sitting on the bed. The tear-stained face of a young boy stared up at me, his brown eyes red and wide. His body trembled while he stood between the two men wearing only a pair of briefs.

I had memorised every name attached to the photos in the dossier Aleksandr had received.

My heart clenched at the horrors that Timothée must have gone through over the last few months since he had been reported missing. But we would do everything in our power to get him back to his family in Strasbourg, France.

With a flick of my wrist, I had the two men forcibly removed from the bedroom. Timothée exhaled deeply and pulled the red covers around his pale body and my nostrils flared while I silently closed the door.

I raised my black Lebedev PL15 and fired at the naked man's head. He was dead before his large jiggling body hit the stone floor, his blood slowly spreading out from underneath him.

The other man pleaded, "P-please don't kill me, I didn't do anything!"

"Exactly!" I said before putting a bullet between his hazel eyes.

Stepping over their corpses I continued down the hallway, ignoring the screams of the men and women being pulled from the various rooms. I felt nothing for these people for they clearly ignored the agony of those whom they were abusing, so there would be no mercy for them.

According to the plans, the basement area was comprised of two floors.

Once again, I descended yet another flight of stairs and the atmosphere in the hallway was just as chilling as the one above. When I reached the last metal door, the resounding sound of a gunshot exploded from the other side.

Busting into the room, the sight before me was one that I had not been expecting.

An obviously injured and naked young woman stood over a partially clothed man. I immediately recognised the bald-headed individual as Pasha, one of Joseph's top enforcers. From the gaping hole in his bare chest and the gurgling sounds he made while staring blanking up at the ceiling, it was obvious that he only had moments to live.

With deep ragged breaths, Natalya turned to face me.

She was a sixteen-year-old Russian girl who had been missing since she had turned eleven. Her long blonde hair was dishevelled and her bruised body trembled under the fancy lighting of the room. Tears ran down her cheeks and she nervously licked at her split bottom lip.

My eyes observed the way her slim hand shook violently as she now pointed the handgun towards me.

I figured that when Pasha heard all the commotion he would have moved to put on his pants. Seeing an opportunity, Natalya must have grabbed his gun before he could get it and I could not help the small swell of pride I felt at her bravery.

From the look in Natalya's pale blue-green eyes, I knew that there would be no reasoning with her. She was going to shoot me and I had only seconds to diffuse the situation before I ended up with a hole in my chest just like Pasha.

Dropping my weapon, I quickly lunged at her just as she fired the gun.

Her screams pierced my ears while I tackled her onto the bed, easily disarming her. I hated having to restrain her, but it was for her own safety.

With my hands holding her wrists, I gently said, "I'm not here to hurt yo–"

Natalya cut me off and yelled, "Liar!"

She then wasted no time in head butting me and I grunted upon impact, more in surprise than pain even though I could already feel the bridge of my nose swelling.

Fucking hell! I thought while she thrashed under me.

In my defense, I had not been prepared for the strength that radiated from Natalya's lithe body. As our eyes locked, there was no mistaking the sadness that lurked within hers as she looked back at me.

Yet even among the sorrow lingering in her gaze, it was the first time I had ever realised that the colour blue could exude such a raging fire, the tint of green only adding to its intensity.

Quickly pushing the thought away, I shouted over my shoulder for assistance.

A few moments later, one of the doctors whom we had brought with us entered the room. I pressed more of my weight down onto her so that she would not injure herself while the doctor administered an injection. Natalya's eyes widened and a look of terror flashed across her features before her lids slowly fluttered close.

Of course, I hated having to sedate her, but it was obvious that she would not have come quietly with us. Not that I could blame her, given what she must have endured in this prison over the last few years.

"Do you need me to see about your nose?" Dr. Maxim asked.

Shaking my head, I stood up and hastily took off my jacket. Keeping my eyes focused on Natalya's face, I covered her naked body.

"I'm fine doc, there are obviously more important things to take care of," I instructed.

With a curt nod, he handed me some tissue to clean up the blood that was on my face and I looked back at Natalya while pressing the Kleenex to my nose.

Thankfully, she had not broken it.

Picking up my pistol from the floor, I holstered it and made my way out of the room. I made sure to secure the lower floors before heading back upstairs towards the main foyer of the mansion.

When I found Aleksandr in the library, his dark navy jacket had been discarded and he was shouting out orders. His face was slightly flushed and his voice boomed, echoing down the hallway.

"Hurry up and move this damn corpse!"

At his feet lay Joseph, dead and naked with sixteen bullet wounds to the chest.

I refrained from making a witty comment about emptying the entire magazine of his gun to kill one man. However, knowing that Aleksandr was feeling responsible for the events that had taken place under this roof, I understood the excessiveness.

Even though he could not have predicted such a thing, Aleksandr acknowledged that, had he been keeping a better eye on our old Russian acquaintances, this could have been prevented. Especially since he had spared their lives, he personally felt responsible for the existence of this place.

In the end, there were twenty-six minors on the compound, a mix of boys and girls ranging between the ages of five to seventeen years old.

Unfortunately, we could not erase what had happened. What was done was done, but the most important thing was that we handled the situation as soon as we found out about it and we would do our best to help the victims.

"Be careful with his body, we have to send the head back to Russia!" Aleksandr ordered.

Tossing my bloodied tissue onto Joseph's face I sneered then observed two of our men grab his limbs. Taking their time, they carefully dragged his dead body across the library floor towards the mahogany desk on the far side.

A part of me wished that we could have brought Joseph back to Aelbank City and torture him; he did not deserve such a quick death. I fantasised about cutting his body in various places before lighting a torch to his skin while listening to his screams of agony as the scent of his burning flesh filled the air.

"Pity..." I muttered.

Squaring my shoulders, I walked towards one of the large windows, as a beautiful sunrise was beginning to peek from behind the trees.

We would leave the dead bodies for the police to find later. Coupled with a decapitated Joseph displayed to sit upright behind the desk in the library, we would have left a clear message in blood, one that would not soon be forgotten.

Noticing the state of my nose, Aleksandr asked if I was alright, "Ty kak?"

With a nod, I replied that I was fine, "Ya v poryadke."

In truth, I was not. Just remembering the look on each and every one of the victims' faces made me feel guilty. I could not help but wish that we had more control to stop such atrocities from happening in the first place.

To the outside world, men like Aleksandr and I were regarded as monsters, demons who walked among men. But that was fine as monsters were needed to fight other monsters. 

At the end of the day, I would gladly go on a murderous spree and continue to taint my soul if it meant that I would retain the power to be able to rescue minors like Timothée and Natalya. Those who could not be reunited with their families, we usually did our best to make a new home for them in Aelbank City and vowed to keep them safe.

By the time we were back in the car, the light of the morning sun shone brightly in the sky.

"So, what really happened to your nose?" Aleksandr enquired.

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"I heard that one of the girls beat you up, almost shot you too. But I'm not sure if it was the men creating stories to lighten the mood."

Grumbling, I looked out the window.

"Holy shit, so it is true!"

"Yes well, my injured pride aside, I'm happy to see that Natalya still had some fight in her. Some of the others weren't so spirited..."

Aleksandr nodded then said, "I will dispatch one of our men in Russia to pay Artyom a visit. No doubt he'll try to go into hiding the moment he sees the news."

"Make sure his death is a slow and long one," I murmured.

"I'm contemplating heading over there to do the deed myself, but I have this deal to finalise with Dominic and the others."

Turning to face him, I asked, "Want me to do it?"

"No, I need you here to make sure Natalya and the others are taken care of."

"Fair enough, it's a shame that she has no family back in Russia willing to take her in."

Aleksandr ran a hand through his dark brown hair, "Yeah, well, her father was a corrupt politician with many enemies. Natalya will be safer here, where we could keep an eye on her."

"Only for the next two years anyway. Who knows what she'll decide to do once she turns eighteen?"

"Time will tell, but I have a gut feeling that she'll stick around."

It was at that exact moment that a piercing throb shot through my nose, causing me to grunt an unintelligible reply.

——————————

A/N: So, thoughts on our man Sergey so far?

Russian Translations:
"Ty kak?" – Are you alright?
"Ya v poryadke" – I am fine