The anger she was feeling soon morphed into sadness. Tears welled up in her eyes as the memories began to flood her mind like a tsunami. Gaius was the only one among the six men that didn't rape her. But he'd mounted on top of her, groped her breasts and rode his flaccid dick over her body because the masked guy had commanded him to do so.

He'd ridiculed her, degraded her and had equally stripped her of her dignity as the other gang members had done. The mere fact that he was even present on that day, that he'd been part of the reason why she ran for her life and tried not to get raped, the fact that he'd been a passive part of her trauma was unforgivable. He also deserved to suffer, die and rot in hell afterward.

Why the hell had he been there on that day? Why couldn't he say a flat 'no' and not do the stupid things he did to her when the masked guy had ordered him to have his way with her? How could he have dared to date her niece when he knew what he'd done?

This despicable monster definitely deserved to have a good share of her pent-up wrath. He deserved to be in great amounts of pain and that was exactly what she was going to inflict on him. Once she covered what was left in space between herself and Gaius, she wrapped her two hands around his neck and began her attempt to stifle the life out of him.

As the tears cams streaming down and blurring her vision, her anger started to solidify into something whole. She was slowly beginning to see blood and nothing more. Ebun pressed her fingernails into the skin of his throat. Gaius could feel his life about to leave him within the next ten seconds because he could barely let out a word. Only strained and frail coughs escaped him.

But he didn't struggle to free himself from her grasp. If he was going to die, then so be it. He deserved whatever Ebun chose to do to him. The more the tears fell from her eyes, the angrier she got. If she didn't take his life away, there was no way that her fury could subside because the stored up pain she'd been feeling for years had flagged itself all over her like a second skin. It was out in full view, seeking for a fulfilling means of expression.

Yet even amid the uncontrollable anger she was feeling, the memory of what her sister said and the reason why she came back home quickly flashed through her mind. If she kills him, she would not be able to get the information she needs.

So she slowed down on the pressure she was applying on his throat muscles and she did it very reluctantly. Ebun didn't remove her hand from his neck though. Instead, she used the force of her hands on his neck to lift him up from the chair and throw him to the rocky ground like a filthy rag.

The floor was littered was small stones and pieces of glass. The side of his head grazed through the shattered glass which tore the skin immediately, causing blood to spill down the side of his face. Gaius continued to cough, catching the breath he'd nearly lost forever and in the process of doing so, his teeth and the lower part of his lip soon got covered with blood too.

Ebun chuckled.

She hadn't even started to hit him and he was already bleeding.

Ebun picked him from the ground again as though she'd just fished him out of a pigsty. Then she gave him a forceful head butt.

"Aaaaargh!" Gaius wailed.

Albert, Yemisi's assistant peeped in through the door upon hearing the thud sound. Worry was written all over his face.

"Don't worry, sir. I'm fine," Ebun smiled at the man. Gaius on the other hand was looking more unidentifiable because every part of his body was either bleeding profusely or had swollen up.

"Oh alright ma'am," the assistant walked away.

Then Ebun turned back to Gaius. She squeezed the collar of his shirt very firmly and pulled him closer, staring into his eyes that were now becoming drowsy. He looked like he was about to pass out.

"I hate that bland look on your face," She groaned. "Why aren't you begging me for mercy?"

"Because..." he coughed. More blood spilled out of his mouth. His breathing was heavy and loud. "This is the treatment I deserve. I've waited for this for so long and this is not coming from a cold or obnoxious place. I truly regret what I did."

"Are your 'true' sentiments supposed to soothe me? I heard all of the righteous things you did to atone for your sins. Your dad tried to prevent you from going to prison but you fought against it and insisted on going. I heard that you turned yourself in to the police. Am I supposed to be touched by that?"

"If you had been touched by it, I would have been disappointed. What I expected from you is exactly what you're doing. Don't forgive me. In fact, I want you to kill me. I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"How righteous," Ebun laughed. Then she raised a fist and slammed it hard against his right eye. He staggered to the side, away from her hold. The skin around his eye turned into a gross shade of purple, the veins from his eyelids became vivid and the affected eye turned red. His entire face felt as though it were ablaze because the deep cuts on the skin elicited excruciating, sharp pains.

"I would have believed that you really did these things out of remorse, if you had not been audacious enough to date my niece. Why did you do such a thing? So you could hurt her like you hurt me?"

"N-n-no. Not at all!" His right eye could no longer stay open. It had swollen up quickly. "I didn't know she was related to you. We met each other in Australia and just fell in love with each other. It was recently that I found out you were her aunt. I broke up with her and told her to chose her family over me by reporting me to her mother."

"D-did s-she do it?" Ebun was suddenly interested in knowing whether her niece had been on her side.

"Y-yes," Gaius answered but his response wasn't believable. Truthfully, Gifty had been reluctant to snitch on her boyfriend but Gaius couldn't tell that to Ebun. He didn't want to destroy the relationship between two relatives.

Fortunately though, Ebun was convinced even though Gaius had made no effort to sound convincing.

"Gaius, tell me something. If you had this great amount of good in you, then why the hell did you associate yourself with demons?"

"I made a bad decision and when I realized it, it was too late for me to go back. When I was much younger, I ran away from my country, Australia because of my abusive father. I was able to sneak into a ship that was headed for Africa and after a journey of five months, I came to Nigeria. I wanted to be as far away from my dad as possible so by choosing to go to a country in Africa, I felt like he'd never find me. Also, my mother is Nigerian so I just felt it would be good to stay in a place that felt a bit familiar.

When I was trying to start my life in Nigeria, I met a young guy at the ship harbor who was kind to me when I asked him for help. He was only a few years older than me. He helped me with food and sheltered me for a couple of weeks. I was grateful and swore to pay him back. I know it was stupid of me to make such a promise to someone that I couldn't fully trust yet. Then one day, he asked me if I wanted to work. I didn't mind. In fact, it was good. I didn't want to become a liability to him.

He told me he needed an ally for the job he was doing. I was glad to be of assistance. So one afternoon, he took me to a strange place. It looked like a place where soldiers lived. It was scary and I wondered why he was working at a place like that. Later, I learned that it was the secret sublet for a mafia organization that has its headquarters in one of those European countries. I don't know which country in particular.

But the people who worked in this sublet were very powerful. They organized crimes and were even more fearful than the police. I didn't really know how things were done since I was still a teenager but one thing I knew was, the system of operation in that place was a dangerous one. In fact being a member or a worker for the subdivision of that mafia doesn't guarantee that you will be protected. You should be ready to die on the mafia's behalf once you become a part of it.

That's why two of the men from the day of the rape are in prison now. They knew what they were in for but they had to live according to the oath they'd sworn. The mafia will protect its members but if they are out of its reach, then the member has to fight for his life and make sure not to get caught. In the process of doing so, it's a taboo to implicate the organization."

"So what's the point of this whole thing when you guys aren't even getting maximum protection? To me, it sounds like the members themselves just enjoy being evil. So vile to the the point of defending wickedness even in the face of danger and death instead of repenting. These people sound like animals to me. A bunch of ruthless, jobless, psychopathic thugs."

"Yes. That's who they are. The guy who took me to the headquarters promised me that I was going to get paid and as a young boy, I just wanted to survive. I didn't know what the job even entailed until the day came when I was to carry out my first operation. That was the day of your rape. When I realized what I was expected to do, I regretted following the guy. I hated myself for making a promise to repay him for his 'kindness'.

The guy I'm talking about is Geoffrey. He fled to Germany. The mafia helped him flee. Still, even upon escaping, he continued to rape girls there because that was just what he loved to do. But your sister arrested and had him killed. When he said he wanted an ally to do this with, he just wanted to drag me down with him. He had no intentions of helping me. Once when he called to ask me for help because he was on the run, I considered assisting him because I thought he wasn't a bad person and had just been trapped like I was. Then I learned that he himself is an evil person. The mafia didn't make him that way."

"If the mafia helped Geoffrey flee to Germany then that means the organization also has another sublet in that country."

"Yes."

"Just how powerful is this organization that they established places all over the world and employed thugs just to strategically ruin people's lives?"

"The mafia members always said they did it to people who deserved it. I never got to understand what that statement meant or see exactly how it was so. After the day of your rape, I ran away. The mafia did chase me and tail me but my dad found me eventually and because of his presence, I was protected from the punishment that was set out of me for betraying the organization.

I didn't like the fact that my dad was the one protecting me because he also wasn't a good person. But I didn't have a choice. Apparently, he'd done his best to find me so he could prevent me from meeting my mother who was imprisoned. I should have known he'd find me. While I stayed under his protection, I promised to turn myself in one day and pay for my sins."

"So these mafia folks sent men to rape me because I deserved it," Ebun pondered loudly on Gaius's first sentence, utterly broken and dumbfounded by it. The memory of the things Gilbert had told her at Khovrino Hospital came to her mind. The smirk on his face when he told her that she deserved what she got for being nosy was vivid.

"Tell me the story around my rape."

"The boy you saw that day on the corridor is the son of a very powerful person. His father has many connections. He knew someone who was a member of the Nigerian subdivision of the Black Vipers Organization. His plan was to contact the person to hire thugs who would deal with Josephine for assaulting his son.

The son in question is the younger brother of the boy you saw at the corridor. The boy wasn't aware of his father's connections so he tried to fight for his brother by attacking Josephine. That was when you came in and hit the guy in Josephine's defense. When the boy got home, he reported about you to his dad who then asked the thugs to go after you instead for trying to stepping in the way of getting justice for his son and for hitting the older brother.

When the leader got the information, he just told us to follow him without giving us the story or any short reason. I only got to find out about the story when I asked Geoffrey on the day he called me for help. Even if I had been told on the day of the operation, it would have been impossible for me to back out. The way this organization works is that they have different sets of thugs who help to commit different crimes.

The organization's workers are not only involved in raping girls. There are also thugs that kill, hooligans that steal, rogues that rob people of their properties and even burn down people's houses. Also, these sets of thugs have their respective leaders."

"So..." Ebun laughed dryly for a minute. "The group you were assigned to is the one where the members and their leader go about raping girls?"

"There was also another gang that specialized in assaulting women and men even."

"Tell me something, Gaius. On the day of the rape, the leader of your gang was wearing a mask but the rest of you were not. Why was it so? Isn't that a means to expose you guys?"

"That's precisely why. It was fashioned that way so that when we, the members get caught, we can easily implicate one another, describe one another's facial features but not the leader. So it's like the leaders are turning us against ourselves. Another reason is so that we stay loyal to each other. Since we can recognize each other and know we can expose one another when we are interrogated by the police, we just end up choosing to defend evil and not reveal any information about each other or what we have done."

"This is completely insane and it makes no damn sense. So how about the leader himself? Was he always wearing a mask even when you guys were not on any operation?"

"Yes, he always was. So I could barely tell what he looked like. The times when he didn't wear a mask were rare. And in those times, I only saw his side view and it was always from afar. I think he's got fair skin though judging from the few faint glimpses I caught of him. Also, I heard the leaders who wore masks in the mafia were the ones who couldn't protect themselves properly if they were to get into trouble.

But the leaders who didn't wear masks were the ones who'd ranked a really high position in the organization. This meant that they were tough men who could win any battle if they were to be in danger. These set of leaders have something else in common — a tattoo of a serpent drawn on their ankle."

"Damn. So if I asked you for a description..."

"I wouldn't be able to give you an accurate one."

"What's his name though?"

"Grigory Levin."

Ebun swallowed a thick ball of saliva upon hearing the name. Several emotions started to weigh down her heart. She didn't know which sentiment was the right one to feel in that moment. After so many years, she'd finally been able to identify the leader of the rapists by his name. And by simply knowing his name, it felt like she was much closer to finding him.

Now she had something to be on the lookout for. To suspect anyone who goes by the name Grigory. Also, this person was definitely a white man telling from his name. So any white person or someone of a white descent with the name Grigory was who she should be looking for. However, in her thinking process, she paused. Then she realized that it was a feeble and dumb conclusion to arrive at. So she asked Gaius again.

"Don't you at least have a little remembrance of Grigory physical features? Maybe a mole in his hands or something about his walking step?"

"He wore gloves most of the time so we wouldn't able to know anything substantial about his physical features. The Black Vipers Organization sure does know how to protect its leaders but not the subordinates."

Ebun tried to remember the day of the rape and whether the leader had worn gloves or not. But she wasn't sure either. There was no opportunity to see his hands in close view. Even when it had been his turn to thrust deep into her, her eyes had been closed because she was already so weak.

Frustrated, she groaned and forced out a breath.

"I'm going to keep you alive, Gaius. You're literally the one member of the gang that I'm going to spare. But don't be crazy enough to think that it's because I forgive you or because you did a good job in showing how sorry you are or because your background story shows that you genuinely didn't intend to hurt me. I don't care about any of that. You were there that day and that's just what makes it impossible for me to forgive you. I'm keeping you alive because I will be needing you to help me find this demon called Grigory Levin. You will be useful to me and my sister."

"Then you will have to protect me because very soon, the organization will find out that I revealed these things to you and they will come for me. My dad is no longer around to shield me because I rejected his protection."

In the thirteen years of her trauma, she never thought that she'd say this to a member of the gang that molested her. She hated that she had to say it but she had no other choice.

"I will protect you."

***
A few days later, Ebun visited Yemisi at her law firm to discuss how things had turned out concerning her interrogation of Gaius.

"I'm so happy you came of your own will. When you stepped out of the tenement that day, you wouldn't say anything to me throughout the drive. You just kept crying. I was so worried for you but I figured that it was because you were overwhelmed just like I was when I got the same information," Yemisi said as she placed a tray containing two mugs of coffee. Then she sat on the sofa with Ebun.

"Yes, I was so overwhelmed. After all these years of trying to find the leader of the gang, I finally get to know his name. It was liberating but at the same time, it made the memory of the incident hurt even more."

"I understand you, my love," Yemisi patted her back. "Did you find all that he said to be useful?"

"Of course. I'm so glad I decided to come home.  Just one day of interrogation and I have more information than I could ever have had within the past seven years. It almost makes those seven years look like a sheer waste of time. The only reason why it's not a complete waste is because I was able to find and kill one of them. Nurse Zoya was right. Coming back feels like a digression from the path of thorns to a path full of roses."

You also found love, Ebun. How can you disregard Sean like that? Her subconscious chastised. Ebun felt guilty.

"I'm so happy that this is how you feel," Yemisi said, although confused as to who Nurse Zoya was.

"Do you mind if I asked you a question though?"

"Of course."

"Okay. So it's about the Black Vipers Mafia that Gaius talked about. I wanted to ask him more detailed information about the mafia but he didn't seem to know much about it. I was just wondering why the organization exists. What really is the gain to be reaped from doing bad things? I know that the sheer and incomprehensible wickedness of their hearts is one motivation but that can't be all. What makes them stand so strong and even establish subdivisions in other countries?"

"It's perhaps, a revolutionary move. A move to overthrow the current system of government and the order of peace that rules the world. The ridiculous thing is that some officials from the present government are most likely allies and sponsors to this revolutionary move. I wouldn't be surprised if it were really so.

You see, with every system of government, there lies a weakness within that potent enough to pull it down. Even if it's a perfect system, some animalistic individuals are simply not pleased with it. Even with democracy, a system that ensures freedom and fairness for the people, some people are still not happy with the order. Democracy is disadvantageous to oligarchs and people who wish to have the world at the tip of their fingers.

The system isn't beneficial to dictators; to people who want to rule without giving the people the choice to vote for their leaders. This mafia movement is obviously a terrible one. If its mode of operation were to be the order which the world followed, it will be chaotic and the civilians will be hurt. Just like you are. The mafia has hurt you and it's probably done the same to several other people — even without a complete domination. But you see, at the expense of your happiness and that some of other victims, the members of the mafia and its secret sponsors are getting what they want.

This, for them, is justice. It's the same way villains have their perspectives and motives for doing things like heroes always do. For every good thing that exists in society, there's the other side of it. That other side perpetually frustrates what the good thing is trying to achieve. Let's even assume that this organization is doing these despicable things to punish criminals. Why then, does the police exist?

Although, the police in itself has done wrong to the civilians when it's supposed to protect them but if the mafia is also hurting people like you in the process of 'punishing criminals', How then, are they any better or different from the police? The Black Viper isn't trying to protect anyone. It's just an organization that's peculiar and meriting to like-minded psychopaths. There's nothing inherently good about it so it can't even be perverted."

"This is a lot more serious than I imagined. So now, I'm not only trying to destroy the leader of the gang. In fact, in order to crush him, I must conquer the mafia system first because they definitely have his back."

"Exactly. Honestly, I don't even think that you and I are strong enemies for the Black Vipers. A lawyer and a fighter against several groups of thugs, gunmen, ruthless leaders and the entire mafia body including its sublets in other countries," Yemisi shook her head in disdain as she closed her eyes to imagine it. "Doesn't sound like a sexy match."

"Do you know that even as I've been able to catch some of the members and put them in prison, I've not been able to convince the judge to give them a death sentence. I'm certain that some of the officials at the court work for these mafia people. These rapists actually deserve a death sentence because they've escaped prison a few times and have to tried to cause more harm.

Each time they escape, they always come for me and try to kill me. Thanks to my bodyguard who has saved my life in those times. Each time I'm able to send them back to prison and inform the judge of what happened, he still doesn't approve of my plea. My life and that of some of other people has been in danger. The best thing to do is get rid of these bastards but the court won't let me. The court is even planning on granting amnesty to the convicts that I fought so hard to put behind bars. It may look like I have all in control but even I am struggling."

"This is so frightening. They are really trying to destroy us. It's so messed up," Ebun was heartbroken to learn that her sister was also affected by this whole situation. Even her daughter. Gifty probably must have loved Gaius so much and must have been devastated to learn about his past.

"That's why it's even harder to try to fight the battle on your own. It's a relief to have you around to be honest. The only reason why I'm still invested in this case is so that we can at least know who the leader is. I know that will make you so happy. However, destroying and defeating him is what I'm not certain about. I'm just a mere lawyer, unfit to conquer the European Mafia."

Ebun wasn't glad to hear that. What was the point of knowing who the leader was if she couldn't gouge out his eyeballs, stab him a hundred times and tear his penis to shreds? She also didn't like the fact that her sister was right about it.

"Hm. Can we talk about something else please?" Yemisi said after a long, forlorn while of silence.

"Yeah... I guess," Ebun said, feeling awkward. She couldn't remember the last time she'd sat down to gist with Yemisi. Their relationship was always the uptight one that constantly kept them at loggerheads. So she didn't know how to go about it.

"So..." Yemisi said, equally feeling uneasy. "How was Russia really? Did you make enough friends? Were you fortunate enough to fall in love with a good man? It's okay if you didn't though."

"Well..." Ebun blushed as the image of Sean came to her mind.

She remembered one night when Sean had mounted on top of her, shirtless. She thought he was about to have sex with her. She wasn't mentally prepared for it after what had happened to her. But she was surprised when he simply took hold of her hand, bent down and placed it onto his finely chiseled chest, right above his heart. "Examine to your heart's content," he'd said.

Smooth skin, strong hard muscles, flexing under her fingers.

"You're smiling so hard. Ebun, So you really have a lover? Tell me, tell me, who is he?!" Yemisi's voice rose to a high pitch, snatching Ebun out of her day dreaming.

Then Ebun remembered that she couldn't tell Yemisi about Sean. What if she asked about what Sean did for a living? What would she say?

Suddenly, something hissed loudly from a distance, as though water from a kettle had boiled to its highest point.

"Jeez! I forgot that I put something on fire. I'll be back in five minutes," Yemisi rose from the sofa. "You're not escaping my question just so you know," then she went into a room in the office.

Ebun heaved a deep sigh of relief, grateful that she didn't have time to answer the question right in the moment. She had some time to come up with a lie.

While Yemisi was away, Ebun decided to look around her sister's office and ponder deeply on all that Gaius had told her a few days ago. That was when she heard the door of the office open. Innocently, Ebun turned around, thinking her sister was back or a staff of the firm had stepped in. But she froze in deep shock and trepidation when she saw who'd just stepped into the office:

Two of her rapists who'd been in prison for years: Gordon and Stephen.

Looks like they'd been granted amnesty like her sister had said.