In my world,
Blood is priceless.
Life is worth more
When it's like this...

- Once Human

This warning goes for this whole book: some chapters may contain dark, disturbing scenes of violence and violation. These scenes are not to be celebrated in anyway, and I do not condone them whatsoever.

One year after Rumor:

1.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The hyped up guy with the bright green mohawk seems to have the upperhand. His body is wiry, but contoured by muscle, and he's got that look in his eye: manic, viscious, hungry for pain. His or his opponent's, I don't think he cares.

His chest glistens with the water he has poured over himself, and he shuffles, shadow-boxing, in the makeshift ring that is caged in by haphazard chicken-wire.

His opponent, some college kid who has watched too much UFC and has had one too many beers, is bouncing from foot to foot, trying not to look like he's just realized he has made a huge mistake. The swinging, bright light overhead shows his face intermittently, and each time, it looks more frightened and sobered than the last.

Newcomers never realize just how fucked up The Underground is until they step into its busted up ring and stare the psychopaths in the face.

From my seat, composed of three truck tires, I find myself leaning forward, interested to see how this newcomer will fair against Rex.

"Sasha!" I hear the familar rattling voice of Splinter from behind me, and smell the smoke even before he's clapped an arm across my shoulders.

I shove his arm off of me. "What?"

"Care to place a bet? This is easy money," he grins down sadistically at me from behind his cigarette, his brown eyes made even darker by the baseball cap he's wearing, covering his shaved head.

"I don't like it easy," I grumble, "now out of the way. I wanna watch this."

He shakes his head at me. "You been out of work for a year, just thought you could use the money."

I dig my nails into the rubber of the tire, remembering my former client. Lip gloss smiles and all jokes... but not at the end.

I can't believe I told her she was like family to me. She never saw me that way at all. She never cared about me. I was with her for years. I told her she was like family, and she fired me.

"I don't need anything or anyone," I spit, then push him aside, the beer I'm holding spilling over my hand. "Now let me watch this."

The crowd of drunks and misfits bang against the cage, screaming out for blood. I think I see the college kid's hands shake as he balls them into fists and takes a defensive stance that he must be copying from some action movie he's watched, because it's all sorts of wrong.

I sigh. Why am I so concerned for this stupid guy? This was his choice, and he could back out if he really wanted to. His pride is the only thing keeping him in place. What does he have to prove?

"Fight, fight, fight!" Roars the crowd in tandem.

"Ladies and gentlmen!" Shouts Mike the Mic into the monophone. "Welcome to the show! We have oursleves a newcomer up first, challenging our Rex to a regular brawl!" There is mass jeering from the crowd, since the kid didn't go for a fight to the death, and a guy throws his beer can at the cage, the liquid splashing over the college kid. Mike chuckles before continuing, " Place your bets, fellas! The fight will begin... now!"

I take a heavy sip of my beer, watching as Rex bounds around the ring, circling the scared looking kid. The guy is stumbling, trying to keep his eyes fixed on Rex, but the brawler moves like a wild dog, cornering its prey.

At first, Rex goes in for a few taunting hits, clipping the guy's head or smacking his ass, to the delight of the crowd. College's face goes beat red, and a snarl comes over his lips.

He lashes out, totally undisciplined, no form whatsoever, which is about the worst thing you can do when facing someone as skilled as Rex.

Rex feints and dodges these terrible punches, laughing ecstatically as each blow misses. He's playing with his food.

"Come on!" Splinter shouts, cupping his mouth with his hands, "Beat his ass, Rex!" A chorus of others chime in after him, calling out their demands for violence.

Rex complies, dodging a hit and coming up around to deliver a spine-tingling hit to the kid's jaw. Red spit flies out of College's flailing mouth as he spins and drops to the mat.

"Is this what you want?!" Shrieks Rex, raising his arms and dancing around the ring for his audience, a near-toothless smile spread across his face.

The crowd cheers violently, some jumping up on the cage and banging their fists against the wire wildly.

"Stay down," I whisper under my breath, watching the kid intently. But he's already climbing to his feet, staggering and dazed. "You idiot," I scoff, taking another swig of my beer.

Rex notices College and laughs joyously. He bounces around him, shouting, "Hit me! Hit me! Come on, you motherfucker, make me bleed!" The kid lets out a cry, aiming his wary fist at Rex's face, but Rex swiftly moves aside, grabs the kid's arm, and throws him to the ground. He twists the arm, and the shrill shriek of the boy compels me forward. I shove my way up to the cage, watching with mesmerized eyes.

Will he escape Rex's hold? Can he do it?

College screams out, both angry and frightened. The crowd laughs tauntingly.

"Break his fucking arm!" A girl squalls from beside me.

"Terry! Terry!" comes the sound of a terrified voice through the insane din of the crowd.

I look over and see a girl, fingers curled around the chicken wire, her tear-stained face pressed against it. She looks horrified. College's girlfriend, no doubt. So this is who Terrance was trying to look so brave for. What an idiot.

A big, burly man comes up from behind the girl, grabbing her waist. "You want a real man, honey?" he croons down at her. She starts struggling, trying to free herself from him.

"Get off of me! Get off of me!" she screams, and I see the desperate look on her paling face as more men start encircling around her.

I finish my beer in one big gulp, throw the can away, and head on over.

The girl is being shoved to the ground, and she is screaming just as bad as her boyfriend is in the ring.

"Hey boys," I say, entering the circle. "Sorry, but I can't let ya do that."

The girl goes silent, staring up at me like I'm insane. The men all look at each other, then break out laughing.  "You wanna get fucked too, little girl? There's enough dicks to go around."

"Let's make a bet," I say, removing my jacket. "Forget this girl here. If I win against you guys you leave this place and never return. This will be enforced by The Underground, I assure you. But, if you all win, all five of you guys can fuck me at once in anyway that you like."

"Sasha," Splinter's voice suddenly comes from behind me, low and concerned. "Don't."

"How's about it?" I ask the men, ignoring him.

"What?" the girl yells at me, her eyes enormous. She is certain I am insane now.

All the men look around at each other, confident and leering. "Fine," says the man holding the girl. He lets her go, and she sprints to Splinter's side.

I look at him severely. "You get her out of here. You make sure she gets home safe, okay?"

"Do you have a death wish?" He growls at me.

I shrug. "I'm just bored."

"What a crazy bitch," one of the men says from around the bandanna that is tied over his mouth. "We're gonna make you swallow those words, and then we're gonna make you swallow--"

Without a single thought, I whirl around and round-kick the shit out of his face. The sound of the impact is a fleshy pop, and I know I've broken his nose. He drops to the ground, out cold. "Shut the fuck up," I grumble, spitting on his unconscious body.

The rest of the men are too stunned to do anything for a second, but after pulling themselves together, they all come flying at me.

I note that the rowdiness of the crowd dies down, as does College's pleading screams. All eyes are on us.

I grin, swerving out of the way of the big guy barreling towards me. He is all weight, all force, no speed or technique. I whirl around him as he passes and kick him with all my strength right up between his legs. He screams like a little bitch and crumples to the ground, holding his groin.

"You like it dirty?" the smallest guy in the group says into my ear as he grabs me from behind. He's got a boner, in love with the brutality. I reach up, grab either side of his head and throw all my weight over, taking him with me. He comes down hard onto the ground. First, deflecting a blow from the other guy, I stomp down on his face, and then I stomp down on his erection, feeling it bend beneath my boot.

His scream is ungodly, his eyes watering over. I kick him in the head again to shut him up, and then I start taking the other guy seriously.

I block his punch with my arm, sending a right hook up to his chin, snapping his head back. Then I take his raised chin and slam his head back all the way to the ground, a sickening thwack telling me I've fractured his skull. The lights go out, but he's not dead.

I stand up, wiping my brow, pinning the last guy with my stare. "You coming, sweetheart?" I ask him.

"We get it," he says, little beady eyes darting around to the bodies of his friends laying around me. "We'll go, we won't come back."

I shake my head slowly. "No, a deal's a deal. I said that I have to beat all five of you, and beat you I will. Law of The Underground is to keep your word, right?" I ask the crowd, and everyone cheers in assent. I smile at him, "Come on, baby. Let's fuck each other up, hm?"

He won't come at me, so I go to him, breezing forward, landing a right punch, left punch, right punch, left punch on his face. He dodges the next set, and brings a leg up into my stomach, making me grunt.

I spit on the ground, trying not to double over and stand straight, ready for the next hit. His elbow speeds towards my head, but I move back, and he stumbles over. I grab his head and throw him to the ground. I stomp down on his stomach three times in quick sucession, and then I sit on top of him and punch and punch and punch until his face is spewing with blood. He tries to bring up his hands to defend himself, but I catch them both and bend the fingers back until I hear a satisfying snap, which makes him scream out in pain.

I lean forward, down to his ear, and whisper, "you wanna know what it feels like to be helpless? You want to know what it feels like to be violated?" His bleary, swelling eyes look horrified. I stand up, giving him a kick in the temple that's so strong, it turns him over onto his stomach. "Does someone have a pole? Something long?" I ask the crowd.

Dozens of people scramble to find me something, and one runs up with a baseball bat. I notice that it is Rex. He's abandoned his one-sided fight with College, who is being removed from the ring by two of Mike's guys.

"Perfect," I pur at Rex, running my hand down the bat. I turn back to my own prey. I wrench his pants down so that his white, flabby ass is exposed to everyone. I raise the bat for all to see, and everyone cheers. Then I ram the end of it up buddy's ass, and he writhes and squeals like a pig. I thrust it in a couple times for good measure before bending back down again, pulling his head up by the hair. "Never ever touch another woman again," I seethe, "I will know, I will find you again, you little pig-bitch."

I drop his head, and the crowd roars to life again, galvanized by the show they have just watched. "Pig, pig, pig!" they all shout down at the men, spilling their beer onto them and throwing various items at their heads.

I receive pats on the back as I make my way through the crowd, but I'm not proud of what I did. I basically raped that guy, the very thing I was trying to prevent.

That's just my nature though. Neither doing good nor evil. Neutral, nice and gray, the way The Company likes their Attendants to be.

I see him up ahead, face full of disapproval, holding my jacket that has been trodden on. I let out a dreading sigh as I approach him. "What is it, Viktor?"

"You're being summoned," he says, gray eyes looking down on me, thick black brows turned down.

I raise my brows. "A client?"

He nods. "Finally, something better for you to do."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Whatever, Dad."

"How much have you had to drink?"

"Lay off, Vik," I groan, grabbing my jacket from him and sliding it on. "I'm not a child, and you're not even twenty-five yet, so come off it."

"You can't be drunk when looking after this client. He's very specific with his requests, and he's paying The Company a shit ton of money for our services."

"I'll stop drinking, 'kay?" I drone. "Now who is this client and what's his deal? What sort of anamoly is he? Don't fucking say he's the essence of a bloody flower, I've had enough of that shit."

"... He's not an anomaly."

"What?" I frown, "I asked only to attend to anomalies. What is he then?"

"He's a Demon."

* So there's Sasha. I want to throw it out there that what she has done in this chapter is not heroic, and in fact is very wrong. Please keep that in mind.