by M. S. Willis
Expecting Mr. Carmichael to immediately attack, Maddy watched as he seemed to sway on his feet, his body slowly moving back and forth before he shook his head. His eyes appeared confused, hazing over as his breaths became more erratic, his lips parting to take in more air. Slowly closing her legs, Maddy crept back on the mattress, her eyes glued to the man standing in front of her. When it appeared that he’d finally shaken himself from his haze, his eyes narrowed as he noticed she’d moved from her wide-open position on the bed.
“And just where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
Lunging toward her, he caught her ankles in his hands and pulled her down while spreading her legs out towards his sides. She screamed and she wouldn’t stop screaming as she desperately gripped and scratched at the blankets and sheets, but she didn’t have the strength to keep from being pulled into the position that he wanted. Wrestling her back into a position where she was bared to him, he again reached into his pants, this time allowing the crisp material to fall to his ankles, his boxers still covering his hand and his cock. Eyes narrowing, he appeared frustrated again as he worked himself beneath the material. The slight sway returned to his body, his eyes hazing over as he grew even more impatient.
“Fuck this.” Pulling his hands free, he leaned over on the bed. The sudden movement must have caused his blood to surge from his veins because Maddy watched as his eyes slowly rolled back in his head, his eyelids fluttered open and closed and his full weight fell still over her body. Pushing at his heavy weight, Maddy struggled for a few seconds to roll him off of her and onto the floor. Her heart pounding against the walls of her chest, she crept off the bed, not sure what she should do. Checking his pulse, she found that he was still alive. Considering her options, she feared that if she ran — if Aaron had been defeated — she’d be dragged right back into this room so that Joseph could finish what he started. There was no other choice but the one so obviously laid out before her. She had to kill him.
Looking around the room, Maddy spotted a heavy bronze rod lying on a distant table. Hurriedly, she retrieved it, swinging up with both arms, she brought the weight of it down onto his head. Blood broke free of the skin; flesh broke free of the skull, but she wasn’t strong enough to cause much damage to his skull. The bone was too thick for Maddy to pierce or shatter. As she threw the weapon aside in search for another, light from a candle flickered along her wrist, catching her attention. Her eyes widened when she realized the cello string, the makeshift bracelet that she’d refused to allow Aaron to remove, was still on her wrist. Quickly she unwound the string, feeding it below Mr. Carmichael’s neck before pulling the end up from the other side. Lodging her knee into his back for leverage, she pulled at the ends of the string in an attempt to choke him, but even with the extra leverage she couldn’t get enough weight into the pull to have much affect. Growing frustrated, Maddy reached over to retrieve the rod she’d cast aside and tied the ends of the string on either side of the rod. Turning the rod in circles, Maddy watched as the string wound itself around into a single spiral line that appeared to slowly travel toward the back of his neck. When the weaving wire reached his skin, she continued to turn the rod, round and round, until finally she could see it cutting into his skin. Finally, she could hear his choked struggle for air, his body convulsed with violent spasms from the loss of oxygen. Just as his hands flinched and moved toward his throat, his body gave out. Maddy continued to hold the rod and her knee in place, refusing to allow the tension to dissipate in case he was still alive. She didn’t know how long it took for a person to die, she just held on wanting to ensure that his type of filth was erased from the Earth and quickly sent to the pits of Hell.
As she held the tension, as her arms started to quiver from the exertion of holding the rod tight against his neck, she heard a loud bang against the doors in the front portion of the apartment. Recognizing the sound of wood splintering, and finally the sound of the door’s weight being thrown against the wall, she knew someone was coming for her. Perspiration broke out all over her skin, but she held tight to that rod — her knuckles turned white from her adrenaline-fueled grip — and continued to drill her knee into his back. She refused to look toward the door as the sound of boots approached her, she was too afraid to look up and see that Aaron had been defeated, that the other men had come in to take her captive once again.
The boots stopped suddenly when they reached the doorway, an audible gasp from the mouths of the men that stood witnessing Maddy as she held tightly to the weapon she’d fashioned from a bronze rod and the string of her instrument.
“Maddy … ” Fear and shock were inlaid in the tone of a voice that Maddy would recognize for the rest of her life.
Dropping the weapon, she turned, instantly pushed up to her feet, and ran into the arms of Aaron. He held her for a few moments, his chest heaving against her cheek. She didn’t care that he was covered in blood, didn’t care that she could feel the heat of anger and rage still rolling off his body. She buried herself within those arms, delighted in the sound of his heart as it raced in his chest.
His voice awash with concern, Aaron asked, “Are you okay?”
Maddy nodded ‘yes’ into his chest as she pulled him closer to her body. “I am now. I think I killed him. I think that vile bastard is finally dead.”
Xander squeezed around Aaron and Maddy as they embraced in the doorway and immediately moved over to inspect the body of Aaron’s father. Unwrapping the string from his neck, Xander felt for a pulse. Finding none, he rolled the body over to discover that his eyes had bugged out from his desperate struggle to breathe. Whistling low, he shook his head in amazement. “My, my, Cricket, whatever have you done?”
Aaron opened his eyes and peered over Maddy’s head while still keeping her cradled to his body. He caught his breath before it gasped at the sight of his father: eyes wide and dull from death, mouth agape in search of air. Xander picked up the weapon, a smile appearing across his face as he pulled the string from the rod, held it up so Aaron could see it. “Remind me not to piss off your mouse, Aaron.”
His eyes widening, Aaron pulled away from Maddy and grabbed her arm to inspect her wrist. “Was that … ?”
Nodding, Maddy looked over her shoulder at Xander as he held the string up. She shrugged her shoulder, looked back over toward the man she loved. “Not only did you give me freedom with that string, you gave me a weapon to use against him, Aaron, you gave me justice.”
Looking down at his gentle musician turned assassin, Aaron picked up her small body, winced from the pain from where the bullet had torn his skin, but still cradled her against his chest when he turned to leave his father’s apartment. As they spun around, Maddy caught a brief glimpse of Xander kicking the body on the floor before laughing and following along behind them.
As they traveled through the corridors leading back out to the ballroom, Maddy closed her eyes to avoid seeing the carnage that littered their path. She knew there had been a bloodbath, knew that Aaron had killed countless men as he battled through the halls to get to her, but she didn’t want to see the evidence of his brutality, the victims of his darkness cut into pieces along the floor. Reaching the ballroom, Xander stepped around them, opening the door so that Aaron would not have to put Maddy down.
When the doors opened, and Aaron walked through into the expanse of the large room, the deafening boom of cheers rolled throughout the room. Maddy’s head shot up to see several groups of men — some injured, others covered in the blood of their victims — with their arms raised in the air, their war cry now a shout of victory for their new leader.
One man stepped forward from the crowd, his hair was pale white and his eyes an eerie silver. Reaching out, he shook hands with Xander, his other hand coming up to clap Xander’s shoulder. “Is it done? Has the old man finally met his maker? Please tell me the last thing he felt was Aaron’s blade as it pierced his rotten heart.”
Xander shook his head and pulled his hand free to motion his thumb
toward Maddy and Aaron. “Sorry, Jason, but Aaron never had the chance. His slave took care of it before we could even get in the room.”
A hush fell over the celebrants like a wave, each man turning to look at the small woman cradled in Aaron’s arms. Aaron stepped forward, took a position in the center of the room, before speaking out to the crowd.
“Joseph Carmichael is dead, the leadership of The Estate is now in my hands. Tomorrow we will meet to discuss changes that will need to be made to the network, but tonight, I want you men to rest and to celebrate while I take my slave back for my own bit of merriment. Know this: The corruption has been extinguished, a new leader is among you.”
With their fists pumping in the air, the men cheered for Aaron as he moved toward the exit. Nothing could be heard except his name being chanted even as they walked down the halls toward his quarters. Maddy reached up, wrapped her arms around Aaron’s neck as she whispered in his ear, “Together, Aaron. We defeated him together. We are free and tomorrow we will finally wake from our nightmare and we can open our eyes to a new day.”
Epilogue
“May I speak, Master?”
“Yes.”
Pulling her legs apart, spreading herself open before a man so lethal, she should be terrified of him rather than turned on. Maddy smiled seductively at Aaron as he crawled his way up the bed. Her skin blushed from the intensity of his stare as he took in her body, the growl that emanated from his chest as she opened herself before him.
“Have I been a good enough girl to deserve your kiss?” Her voice cooed as she teased him, enticed him into doing things to her body that left her drunk on the waves of ecstasy only he could create within her. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched the side of his mouth quirk up while he attempted to narrow his eyes and appear stern. His hands grabbed her ankles and pulled her down to a point where her bottom brushed against his bent knees. Reaching up, he took hold of the brown scarf ends that were tied to the posts of his bed. Wrapping her wrists within the scarf, he locked her in place, preventing her escape. Holding his upper body over her, he brought his forehead down to hers, his eyes, the color of forbidden forests, glistening with mirth.
“I don’t know, Mouse, have you been a good girl? Tell me how you’ve pleased your Master.” His voice held humor in its tone, Maddy’s heart delighting in the way they played when they had moments alone.
Opening her mouth to speak, Aaron quickly leaned down, taking her lips with his. His tongue licked across her lips seeking entry, and when she opened them for him, another growl vibrated across his chest. Aaron deepened the kiss before his mouth moved along her neck, down across her breast and abdomen, and finally kissing her in the most intimate of ways as his hands kept her legs fully spread apart.
Her head fell back from the sensation. The heat of his mouth, the movement of his tongue against her, causing her body to tremble and quake. Heat bloomed within her, electricity that shot along her skin and through her core. He’d been correct that day when he’d first forced pleasure in her body; his kiss was something she craved so intently, she’d be willing to crawl to his feet if that was what she had to do so she could feel it. This man, her warrior … a dark knight, if anything, but not really a knight at all. He wasn’t a good man, he’d committed countless acts of violence in his life, and he was still considered the most lethal man of The Estate. When it came to Maddy, however, he was another man entirely, a man that would kill to set her free, who would lay down his life if it would save her.
It has been six months since Aaron took control of The Estate. Throughout that time, Maddy still appeared publicly as his slave, still knelt at his feet as he addressed the murderers and thieves that he ruled over. On the night that his father had been killed, they’d gone back to Aaron’s apartment, helped wash the blood away from each other’s bodies, and had entangled themselves on the bed as they whispered their innermost thoughts and feelings to each other. The following morning, Aaron, Maddy, and Xander met before the assembly was to take place in the ballroom. Reaching the decision that Aaron couldn’t show weakness — couldn’t have something that was so meaningful to him that it could be used as a weapon against him — they decided that Maddy would continue to play the role as his slave before the other members of The Estate. It was their hope that if another man had the idea to challenge Aaron’s rule, their first target would not be Maddy, as they would not believe her to be of much value to Aaron.
So far it has worked, however, Aaron didn’t like her naked body displayed to the men who served him. Covering her in expensive materials and jewels, he had clothes made that would entice, but would also allow her modesty while in public. Under his rule, many of the activities in the house were changed. The wing where his father had resided was stripped of all chains, stripped of all tools intended for cruelty, stripped of all evidence and corruption Joseph Carmichael had spread among the men who’d been loyal to him. The bodies of the dead men, the dead slaves, and finally the dead Mr. Carmichael and his two guards were burned in a giant bonfire the night after the slaughter. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air while the carnal screams of The Estate members rallied around Aaron.
The units were also instructed of new rules regarding the severity of their crimes. Aaron couldn’t stop the men from continuing in their practices, but he gave a stern warning regarding the method in which they were performed. There would be no more abductions of innocent women, no more slaves that were tortured and mistreated from any of the units within the network. The unit that dealt in prostitutes and the sex trade was eradicated, the members of that unit dispersed out to serve in other areas controlled by The Estate.
Bringing the network to a quick end was impossible. These men were not the type to quietly walk away when told. If Aaron had attempted to immediately dismantle The Estate, he would have been ambushed, killed, and replaced with another leader.
Aaron led the men during the day and had hushed discussions with Maddy at night. Although he was technically the leader, she was the voice that whispered in his ear, the conscience that influenced his decisions and directives, the angel on his shoulder that grounded him to their task.
Her story didn’t end with her escape; she didn’t go back to the life she’d known before. Even knowing that it was possible the world still searched for her, perhaps still grieved for the loss of her, she’d chosen to stay. She needed to support the man that was bringing down the network slowly, whittling away at the most corrupt areas first before moving on to the other units. She’d chosen to seek her vengeance, to deliver justice, by tearing the network down from the inside out; and for all intents and purposes, Aaron ruled The Estate. He was the esteemed leader whose decisions were followed without question, the executioner of those who failed to act in accordance with his rules; but it was Maddy who sat quietly in the background, who whispered suggested directives, and who was able to help guide Aaron as he slowly demolished the house and organization built by the devil himself. In a sense, it was Maddy who had taken command of the organization that had abducted her, and she did so by taking possession of the heart of the man who was the most brutal of them all. She stayed not only for her vengeance, but also to ground Aaron, to ensure he remained free of the corruption and madness that had slowly destroyed his father.
It could take years, maybe decades to finally bring it all to its end, but Maddy understood the need for Aaron’s caution, knew that there was never true loyalty between murderers and thieves. Eventually they would succeed, eventually they would make sure that there was nothing left but the legitimate business they used to launder money through.
Ever loyal, Xander followed Aaron’s orders, knew full well that Aaron intended to bring a little piece down day by day until, finally there was nothing left. Maddy had been worried that Xander would oppose such an objective, but when he’d finally been told, when Aaron had sat him down and explained what they’d planned to do, he smiled. The destruction of The Estate was his justice as well … for what had
been done to him and for what had been done to his family. Tirelessly, they worked together. Xander, once again Aaron’s spy, was impressive in his tasks now that he was no longer bound to the apartment to protect Maddy.
Regardless of the efforts they made, the successes they achieved as a unit of three, it was the private moments that Maddy loved the most. Her intimacy with Aaron, the nights where they held each other and discussed not only their pasts, but their futures as well. Those were the moments she cherished above all else. Her need for vengeance and her pursuit of justice were nothing compared to the moments when she was pulled tight to his chest; when she was wrapped within the heat of his body and within the safety of his arms. She didn’t feel the need to hide anymore, didn’t fear the world as deeply as she had before. She’d slaughtered the demon, and by doing so, she’d ended the tyranny of the worst kind of evil in her and Aaron’s life.
The path Maddy’s life had taken was a complicated course, one that most would not believe possible. Unbelievable as it may have seemed, however, out of Maddy’s worst nightmare, the most pure form of love had bloomed. Aaron still struggled against his quickness to kill, his enjoyment of the feel of steel against the flesh of his enemies, but he was no longer consumed by the anger and rage that had almost destroyed him, and it was because of the love she’d returned to him.
Madeleine saved herself when she was abducted. Taken while she was a scared woman, one who’d once been viewed as nothing more than weak and easily controlled, she’d proven that she had the heart of a lion, that she had the spirit of a warrior, that her strength didn’t exist only in her ability to fight, but in her ability to endure, in her ability to survive.
Most importantly, through her strength and her bravery, Maddy had not only saved herself, but also, Aaron: By opening her eyes and discovering that hidden deeply within the recesses of the executioner’s soul, there was goodness, there was compassion, there was love and there was honor; but above it all … deep within that infinite darkness …