Dedicated to MeShu_ and ilovechocolates005, for finding the story interesting. ;) :D
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Chapter 19 The Dark Side

"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

• • •

"I parked your car in the garage." Andrew said, slipping into the driver's seat. "Make sure you take it before you leave."

"Yeah, like I will forget my car." Mallory scoffed. "Dumbass."

"I would really appreciate it if you keep your words to yourself for next couple of hours." He said.

Mallory pulled out her tongue.

As Andrew turned the key, the engine started and they hit the road. She increased the volume of radio which played some random jazz song. She crinkled her nose and changed the frequency. Finally, she set upon the one that was playing a Taylor Swift song. Settling back in the seat, she stretched her hands and closed her eyes, letting the wind from the window rustle her hair.

After half an hour of constant silence, she was about to say something but stopped short instead. She started fidgeting with her dress. She shifted in her seat, once, twice, thrice...

"Okay, say it." Andrew said, glaring at her because of her continuous shuffling.

"No thanks." Mallory said. "I can control myself."

"Clearly, you cannot."

"Jeez. If you really want me to speak. Tell me to." Mallory raised her hands in surrender. "Fine. I will speak. Happy, now?"

Andrew rolled his eyes. Yeah, I am happy.

"So, yeah. I am getting bored." She said.

"So?"

"Entertain me." She said in 'duh' tone.

He gave her a dirty look. "What should I do? Dance?"

"That would be awesome." She said and clapped her hands in mock enthusiasm.

He glared.

"Okay, just don't kill me with those looks." She smirked. "Come on, I will start the conversation."

"Of course." He sighed.

"So..." Mallory muttered tapping her nail on her phone. "Tell me something about yourself?"

"Like?"

"I don't know. Um...where did you live earlier?" She suggested.

"Paris." He replied shortly.

"Paris?!? You were in Paris? Wow, I love Paris." She said excitedly.

"You been there?"

"Nope. But I have heard. The city of love and everything. I wanna go there some day. Maybe, if you are lucky, I might just ask you to give me a tour." She winked.

"I would be honoured." He muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

"You are French?"

"Obviously not." He said. "I was in a Boarding school there."

"But why Paris?"

He remained silent.

"Alright. Don't tell me. But please don't go back to angry young man mode." She said scrunching up her nose. "It's really boring."

He sighed.

"What do your parents do?" She said, trying to keep up the conversation.

"Dead." He replied shortly, his grip tightening on the steering wheel.

"Oh. I am so sorry." She said, awkwardly.

Andrew nodded.

And then there was silence. Pin-drop silence. As Andrew focused his eyes on the road and Mallory looked around everywhere but him. Her talkative bones were dying to speak but she couldn't find a topic to talk about and thus, dejected, she slumped on her seat and went back to humming the songs on radio.

After an hour of silence, when Mallory had almost dozed off, Andrew said, "We need to get down."

"We are already there?" She said rubbing her eyes lightly.

"No." Andrew said and opened his side of door. "Just get down."

Confused, she carefully got out of the car. Within moments, Andrew was by her side.

"Don't speak a word. Let me do the talking." He whispered in her ear.

It was only then she realised where they had pulled up. It was dark and dangerous looking neighborhood. The street was dimply lit by a distant streetlight, enunciating the broken bottles and cigarette remains that adorned every inch of the road. The house in front of them looked anything but a normal suburb with it's windows emitting a faint glow amidst the dark streets and alleys. It had a scary aura.

"What are we..." Mallory began.

"Shh..." Andrew motioned her to be silent as a big tall man approached them.

"What do you want?" He said coldly, not wasting time in greetings.

"Dimitri." Andrew muttered shortly.

"And who might be her?" The man hissed through his teeth.

"She's with me."

The big guy eyed her up and down, suspiciously and then motioned them to follow him. As they followed the man to the door, they saw a couple of thugs on the porch with scantily dressed girls. They were smoking and drinking with girls touching the guys everywhere. Mallory made a desperate attempt to hide her disgust and looked away.

Reluctantly, Mallory pushed past the people and crossed the threshold of the creepy house. The interior was worse than outside with the broken furniture and beer bottles everywhere. The air was musty with the faint stench of alcohol and cigarette, making her eyes water. She almost turned back to leave when she saw Andrew following the tall dude and she rushed behind him, not wanting to be alone in the wretched place.

Finally the man stopped in front of a wooden door and knocked thrice. The volume of music decreased from the other side of the room as the door was opened to reveal a girl wearing obscene clothes. Her netted attire left little to imagination as she smiled and motioned towards the man sitting on the couch with two similarly dressed girls on each side.

"You have the worst timings, eh?" The twenty-something man on the couch told Andrew, his voice laced with Russian accent. "What do you need this time?"

"A few things."

The man, Dimitri, laughed. "Konechno, brother." (Of course, brother)

Andrew took a seat in front of the man and Mallory sat next to him.

He looked at the tall man and said, "Adrian, Voz'mite ikh snaruzhi . U menya yest' biznes, chtoby prisutstvovat'." (Adrian, Take them outside. I have some business to attend.)

The man nodded and took the girls out.

"So, Andrew, won't you introduce me to the lady?" He winked.

"Mallory this is Dimitri." Andrew said almost dismissively.

"Um...Hi." Mallory muttered, reluctantly shaking the outstretched hand.

"Mallory, such a beautiful name." The man said kissing her hand. "How can I help you, Mallory?"

She remained silent, her face hearing up as she felt his gaze all over her body. The man in his early twenties had a broad chest and hard stubble on his face. With his half buttoned shirt, flaunting his broad chest and his branded clothes, she knew that he was living in the dreaded house by choice and not because he was poor. He was a thug, a drug lord or something along those lines.

"We need Fake IDs." Andrew said as the man peeled his eyes off the girl.

"That's all?" Dimitri said, almost disappointed. "That would be hundred."

"Hundred?!?" Andrew said dumbfounded.

"If you don't have the money, we can make a bargain." Dimitri smirked and looked at the girl sitting next to Andrew.

He ignored the remark, though Mallory could see his fists clenching. "I need other things too."

Dimitri smiled. "And what is that?"

"A car and some makeup."

"What kind?" He said thoughtfully.

"Expensive."

"Lamborghini? Porsche? Ferrari?" Dimitri asked.

"Something suitable for an elite party." Andrew said.

"Go with Porsche. I will get you the latest. It's what those rich people are into these days."

"For a night."

"Twenty grand." Dimitri quoted.

"Five." Andrew said.

"It's a sixty five thousand car!"

"Five grand."

"I will tell you what. You pay me Ten grand and I will give you other stuff free."

"Five. Last offer." Andrew said and pretended to get up.

"Not a penny less than seven."

"Four and I won't get you busted." Andrew said with narrowed eyes.

"What the hell?" Dimitri looked at him with disbelief. "Don't you know who you are messing with?"

Andrew kept on staring, without a word. Finally the other one gave in.

"Five grand plus hundred for other stuff." He said.

Andrew nodded and handed him a fat stack of crisp hundred dollar notes. Dimitri looked at the money and counted the number of bills. His hands worked in an automatic fashion as he nodded and rang the bell on his table. Shortly afterwards, a man with camera came inside.

"Stand there by the wall." The man instructed the both of them.

Click. Click.

Mallory blinked repeatedly, momentarily blinded by the flash. And before she knew it she was back on the couch.

"Any specifications?" The man asked Andrew.

"Names, Edward Sage and Victoria Sage. Ages, twenty five and twenty two respectively."

"Okay. This might take a while." The man nodded and went away.

Moments later, a middle aged woman entered.

"You called for me too?" She asked Dimitri.

"Oh yes. Take this young lady here, and fix her make up." Dimitri gestured towards Mallory who looked at Andrew confused.

"I will join you." Andrew said, getting up from the couch.

"You cannot, brother." Dimitri said. "The makeup area is just for girls."

"Don't talk at all. Just get your scars fixed and that's all." He leaned down and whispered in Mallory's ear, who nodded mechanically and followed the girl through the dingy corridor of the house.

"My name is Rose." The woman said as she opened the door to the makeshift make up room. "And you are?"

"Mallory." She whispered.

"Nice." The woman said pulling out a chair for the girl. "What are you doing here, Mallory? You look very young. How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Good. So what do you need to fix?"

Timidly she took of her jacket. "These."

A gasp escaped the woman's lips as she traced the scars on her shoulder and neck. "What kind of monster gave them to you?"

Mallory shrugged, Andrew's warning ringing in her ears.

"It was that boy, wasn't it? The one who is with you? I have known him for years. The things he has done..."

"Andrew? No. He is nice." Mallory automatically defended him. "What do you mean my the things he has done?"

"What I mean is..." The woman got out a concealer matching to her skin tone and started dabbing it on her shoulder. "...be careful. He is not what he seems. You don't know what he has done. He is a monster. Satan I tell you..." And a single tear rolled down her cheek. "He destroyed my world. Don't let him destroy yours."

The words were like ice to her heart. What has the guy done to the poor woman? But no matter how many times she asked, Rose wouldn't reply. And every time she gazed in her eyes she could see the sorrow she felt.

Five minutes later, she was done. Mallory's shoulders were now even-toned and clear. But her mind was fuzzy and chaotic.

Almost dreamlike, she followed rose back to Dimitri's room where she was handed her fake ID. She was 22 year old Victoria Sage now who lived in Dallas, Texas. The driving license had a faint smell of burnt plastic, but it looked as authentic as the one that was tucked away in her wallet back home.

After a few more minutes, they were back on road. But, this time it wasn't some middle-class Ford, it was in fact a sleek and shiny black Porsche with custom interiors and unbelievable speed. But, Mallory didn't pay any attention to it. Her mind echoed the words of the lady.

He destroyed my world. Don't let him destroy yours.

"Why are you so silent?" Andrew said interrupting her thoughts.

Mallory blinked, processing his words. "You would rather hear me talk?" She said.

"I am just not used to your silence." He said ignoring her remark.

"You talk like you have known me for years." Mallory smiled.

"There's not much to know about you. Is it?" He replied back.

"I wish I could say that about you as well." She said and sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what I mean is that I am going to an unknown place with you. No one knows where I am. And still, I don't know a thing about you. The only thing I know about you is that you are in a gang and you risk your life to avenge your sister. If I were sane, I would have run away days ago..." She kept on rambling.

"But you didn't. May I ask you why?"

"You pretty much forced me into coming here. May I ask why?"

For a small moment, he tore his eyes away from the road and looked at her. But it lasted barely for a mini second and then he said, "I needed a cover. You seemed to be perfect."

"Oh." She said a little disappointed. She didn't know what she was expecting but it definitely wasn't that. For a few minutes, she remained silent as she saw the fast approaching silhouette of the buildings, the city line seemed very close. They had reached there destination.

Sacramento.

"So, you wanna know more about me?" Andrew said as the car came to halt behind a huge row of expensive looking cars, much like their own.

She nodded, not even sparing a look in his direction.

"And does this sudden curiosity has anything to do with the make up lady?" He said.

She looked up. "You know?"

"Of course I know." He whispered.

"So, what did you do to her?"

"What did I do to her? Are you sure you want to know?"

She nodded.

At that moment, someone tapped on the driver's side window. It was a valet.

"Greetings, sir." The man in red uniform gave a slight bow. "If you don't mind sir, I would be more than happy to find a parking spot for your ride." He said politely.

"Yes, sure." He said giving him the keys, which the valet took happily. Then he went towards passenger side and opened the door for Mallory.

"Welcome, mam." He said.

She forced a smile and gracefully took the outstretched hand.

"Thank you." Andrew said getting out. "I will take her from here." With a fake smile he took Mallory's hand.

"You have a very beautiful wife, sir." The valet said.

"Thank you." Was his curt reply as he took her hand and guided her towards the gate. "So, you wanna know, what I did to her?" Andrew said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Yes. Tell me." Mallory said, curiously. But nothing, simply nothing could prepare her for his next words.

With a very cool tone of voice he said, "I killed her husband."

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Hi,

I know it's late. I am sorry. Just joined college and been really busy, I hope you understand.

How was the chapter? I know some of you might think it's a filler. But it's a very important chapter.

Next one would be a better one I promise.

Hopefully next update would be sooner.

May god bless you. :)

-Ridhima☺