1. Louis v. The Society #2
"What I need is for you to leave me alone. Both of you. I just wanna move past this and get on with my life," she said, retracting her foot.
Ian looked at her blankly. "...Forgive me… Let me speak in terms you actually understand..."
Deja anxiously leaned back as Ian leered over her, caging her between his arms, his face inches from hers.
"...I know it wasn't an accident, sweetheart…
I know you killed him. I can decipher every expression on your beautiful face because I know how to provoke them from you.
" Nuzzling her face, Ian tenderly caressed her cheek.
"You're brilliant. But you're an open fucking book. "
Pulling back, he looked her straight in the eye.
"There is no 'moving past this.' No 'getting on with your life.
' Because no matter what the fuck you do or where you go…
it will always lead you back to us..." Ian leaned in, whispering in her ear.
"Because you're ours...You will always be…
ours . You think killing Jax ended it… My sweet darling… it's only the beginning..."
Deja tensed at Ian's disturbingly sweet smile. He kissed her fingers before standing from the bed. "Here's your phone," he said, tossing it. "Your mother's worried. I'll let myself out."
Deja waited for him to close the door before her face fell into her hands.
"I'm okay, Mom, I promise… Just a little shaken is all."
Sitting at her kitchen table in her empty apartment, Deja stared at her parents on her computer screen.
Her phone had been ringing constantly, adding to the pile of voicemails and texts that had already accumulated while Keith had been holding it ransom.
Despite all her things being destroyed in the fire, it felt nice to have this part of her life back.
"We're booking our flight to New York-" Jared started.
"Pops, please don't," she sighed. "I don't want you wasting money. I promise I'm okay. I just… need to figure stuff out. Just give me a few days, okay?"
"Deja, we need to know you're safe. Is all that stuff the news are saying about Jax true? Did he hurt you? What the hell happened?" Debra panicked.
"Please don't watch the news," Deja begged. "I'll explain everything. I promise. If anyone asks questions about me, ignore them."
"What about your things? All your stuff-"
"I'll order from Amazon," Deja insisted. She frowned at the troubled looks on her parents’ faces. "I love you guys. I'm going to bed, but I'll call you in the morning, okay?"
After ending the call, she rubbed her temples when an alert popped up on her laptop. "Part-time scientist, full-time scammer. Deja Louis is at the center of famous solar energy mogul's death."
" Ugh !" She slammed her laptop shut. She was starving, but her cabinets were bare. She took out her phone to order Uber Eats when her dog started barking. Deja instinctively searched for something to defend herself with, but all she could find was a pin-roller.
"Shit!" Holding the pin-roller, Deja cautiously approached her front door. She looked through the peephole, but there was no one there. The doors were locked… but she contemplated dialing 911. Just because her dog was barking?
Suddenly, she heard the window in her kitchen crash.
Trying to calm her breathing, she cautiously entered the kitchen.
She saw her broken window and a rock on the floor with paper attached.
Deja apprehensively picked it up. "...'killer whore'.
..of course," she muttered. "Assholes...
" Sighing, she continued placing her order and walked back to her living room, where her dog was barking again.
"Could use some ramen tonight-boo, please! Stop barking-"
Deja froze the moment she spotted the masked figure standing in her living room. "...h-how-how the fuck did you get in?!" she blurted.
The figure darted for her, and Deja screamed, running in the other direction.
She slid into the kitchen, grabbed the pin-roller, and swung at the intruder.
But he tackled her into the fridge. Deja's eyes widened at the massive knife in his hand.
She kneed him hard between the legs, and he groaned in agony.
Shoving him off, Deja scrambled to her feet and ran for her door, frantically trying to unlock it.
She swung the door open and screamed to find another masked figure standing on the other side.
Deja tried to close the door on him, but he shoved the door, knocking her in the face.
She fell back, her head pounding. She crawled backward as the masked figure stalked towards her, a chain dangling from his gloved hand.
Blood splattered Deja's face as a machete abruptly went through his chest. Her eyes widened in horror as the machete sawed down his body, blood and entrails spilling like a waterfall at her feet until his mangled body collapsed to the ground.
Keith swung his machete as the second intruder approached, slicing his head clean off his shoulders. Deja gagged as blood sprayed the air. Lowering his bloodied machete, Keith looked down at Deja. "A pin-roller? Are you fucking kidding me?"
Deja scoffed. "In case you forgot, all my things were lost in the fire!" she spat. Grumbling with aggravation, Keith took out his phone and texted. "Who… were they?" she asked.
"Reapers," Keith muttered. "Lucky for you, they were juniors. Unlucky for you that means a high-status Reaper sent them."
"Why are they after me?" she asked.
Keith looked at her mockingly. "Don't play dumb, baby girl. You know exactly why they're targeting you."
"It was self-defense-!"
"They don't give a fucking shit!" Keith snapped.
She watched Keith gather the mutilated bodies into a pile. "I thought it was you… coming to kill me,” she admitted.
Holding an intestine, Keith looked at her. "Why?... Because you killed my brother?" Approaching her, Keith crouched beside her. "I do want to hurt you, baby girl... sooo fucking badly … but not like that ..."
Wrapping his hand around her throat, he held her gaze. "I want to make you scream until your throat tears to fucking shit… but not like that...."
Keith tightened his grip. "I want to make you cry and beg for mercy… but not… like… that..."
Keith smeared the blood that had splattered on her skin. "There are worse monsters than me, baby girl. Because I don't wanna wear your face like a mask… just your pussy."
He leaned in, but Deja moved her face. Keith chuckled tensely. "I wish you knew how much I fucking hate you right now."
"Then, why the hell are you here, Keith?!" she snapped.
"Because I'm fucking obsessed with you, Deja!
How many goddamn times do I have to say it?
! I'm an addict going through fucking withdrawals!
I just sawed a bitch in half until his intestines spilled on your fucking floor like goddamn spaghetti just so I could see that damn smile on your-! " he growled. "Dammit! Fuck you! "
Deja watched Keith, startled as he picked up the bloody, decapitated head.
"Can you believe her?! You see what the hell she's done to me?
! Murders my brother- Got me losing my goddamn mind!
And now you've lost your head, you fuuuuuucking iiiiiiidiot!
If only you had minded your fucking business. Stupid piece of-"
Keith punted the head across the living room like a soccer ball.
"I'm not even supposed to be here," Keith laughed maniacally, waving his bloodied machete around. Crouching in front of Deja again, he wore an uncanny, sinister smile. "Oohh… baby girl ... you almost look scared of me."
"I'm not scared of you," Deja muttered.
Keith grinned. "You are... the bane of my existence...you know that?"
"The feeling is mutual," she said, averting her gaze. "Can you leave now?"
Smirking, Keith stood to his feet. "Who knows when the next Reaper will come breaking down your door," he said, nudging the corpses with his foot.
Deja shook her head. "How do you guys never get caught...?"
"Because we're professionals, baby girl. We fly under the radar… Unlike you , who took down the head of an empire, thinking that would spark its fall. But even Rome didn't fall in a day… Do you remember what happened after Brutus killed Caesar?"
Keith lowered his gaze. " War ."
Fixing his tie, Ian stared at himself in the mirror. That vein against his temple hadn't stopped throbbing since he last saw Deja. The fact that he wanted something he couldn't have irritated him beyond comprehension.
"Ian."
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Esme in a red pantsuit, her cleavage on display. Her platinum blonde hair swept aside. "...they're ready to begin..." she reminded him.
"Thank you, Esme. I'll be there momentarily," Ian said, turning to face the mirror. He entered the banquet hall crowded with those he had seen only months ago at the Solstice.
"Ian." Margaret hugged him. "I'm so sorry about Jax. I can't imagine how you're feeling."
"Thank you, Margaret. Your comforting words are appreciated," Ian said.
"May Roselyn reward him justly for his tremendous service to this Society," she smiled. "Moladh Roselyn."
Ian nodded. "...Moladh Roselyn..."
Taking his seat at the front, Ian saw Keith stroll in, wearing a leather jacket, shades, and a joint hanging from his lips. Blood caked his boots. "You look like shit..." Ian muttered.
Keith snorted. "You should see the other guys."
"Reapers!" Jakar spoke from the podium. "We are gathered to discuss the passing of our brother…
Jax Donovan. Now, I understand he was a pillar of our Society…
However, the Donovan brothers have made me aware that his fiancée has been attacked.
Reapers… We do not attack the spouses of those within our Society-"
"But, she's not his spouse," Sander spoke up. "They never married."
"And our rules state that we may execute anyone who kills a Reaper," Jenna added.
"What about Keith?" Alec snapped. "He killed two of our Reapers last night."
Keith snorted. "They were more like interns."