Chapter 23
Addison
My heart was pounding in my chest as I watched Mr. Adalyn use his thumb print to unlock the door. I could just run. I mean, anyone with common sense would not be following a strange man into an alley that led to an underground passage.
I exhaled and followed him.
At this point, he was the only hope I had left and there was no other choice but to trust him.
Stepping into the door, the humming from lights going down the walls through the tunnel made my ears prick.
Graffiti was painted down the tunnel, showing off one’s artist skills and gang affiliation.
I squinted my eyes and noticed one of the pictures was of a jaguar sinking its teeth into a cobra.
Almost like the same one I’ve seen tatted on Mr. L and his minions. The image even had one of the same dates in scripted inside the top of the letters. October tenth.
“Mr. L must’ve fucked with the wrong person on that particular day. I wonder what happened.”
I thought to myself.
The air around me felt cool, musty and thick with the scent of earth, mildew, and the faint tang of either rusted metal or old blood.
My stomached knotted in fear.
What the fuck have I gotten myself into? I pulled my flannel tighter around me as I continued to follow.
To distract myself from thoughts of getting murdered, I observed Mr. Adalyn.
The man cleaned up nicely in his business attire but seeing him in casual clothes made my clit throb.
He wore a black hoodie with a pair of matching sweatpants.
His hair was pinned up into a bun, displaying his freshly faded haircut with two horizontal designs on each side.
I flicked my tongue across my bottom lip before biting down on it.
Just by the way he was walking, I could tell he was blessed in between his legs. Granted, I had no clue how I would be able to handle it if I were offered, but still.
“This way.”
Mr. Adalyn called out over his shoulder, breaking my lustful thoughts.
“So, what does yeobo mean? You called me that earlier and I have never heard of that before.”
“It means darling, in Korean.”
And just like that, my pussy was calling for him again.
The air suddenly shifted to a warmer temperature and was now laced with the faint scent of bleach and metal.
The tunnel widened, and ahead of us stood a heavy metal door.
I noticed a keypad blinked faintly beside it.
Before I could get a better look, Mr. Adalyn blocked my view with his back facing me as he punched in a code.
The lock clicked, causing the door to groan open.
The night sky from an opening in the roof caught my attention as I looked up.
The moon was bright, and I could see a few stars through the clouds.
I briefly looked around the warehouse and for the most part, it was empty.
There were a few crates lined along the far left wall and there was a staircase that led to a lone office door on the far right.
A bay garage door with a white unmarked van was parked and I swear I felt my stomach drop out of my ass.
Shit. Was that van meant for me when he kidnapped me?
Mr. Adalyn continued to walk deeper into the warehouse, and I hesitantly followed. My gut was pulling me in the opposite direction, but I honestly felt that I would only get lost in the tunnels.
We walked behind a large plastic curtain that brought us into another room that was pitch black except for one light that shun in the middle of the room.
My eyes bulged as a figure sat in a chair, their head down and hands bound.
A metal table with different tools that were obviously there to cause torture sat next to the chair. I halted in my steps with realization of who was with us.
“Z,”
he called, shaking the man awake.
“I brought an audience for your death tonight.”
“What the fuck?”
I shouted, taking a step backward.
“Addison this is Z and –”
“Yes, I know Zachary! A promoter for Club Jump. Why the hell does Seojun have him tied up?”
I watched as Mr. Adalyn’s face scrunched up in confusion.
“Addison, what are you talking about?”
“I ran into Z a few times at a few campus parties. He just promotes for a few clubs in the area. He hasn’t done anything to anybody. Tell Seojun to let him go. Seojun, please come out!”
I called for Seojun as Mr. Adalyn just stared at me. This had to be a huge mistake. Zachary was the sweetest guy that I’ve met and wouldn’t hurt a fly. All he did was hand out flyers to everyone on campus and then leave. There was no reason that Seojun and Mr. Adalyn had him tied up. Maybe they got him mistaken for someone else.
“Please, Mr. Adalyn, call Seojun in here so that Zachary can explain his innocence.” I pled.
Mr. Adalyn walked up to me while he removed his cuff links.
“Addison, yeobo, I am Seojun.”
My eyes widened and bile began to rise in my throat.
“Y-you? But you don’t look like a…a…”
“Killer?”
Seojun asked. A smile crept across his face that sent a shiver down my spine.
“Why not? I am a very dangerous man, and I’ve sent a lot of men to their permanent sleep. Just like what I’m about to do to Z.”
“B-but why? Zachary didn’t hurt anybody. Like I said all he did was –”
“Zachary here used to put drugs in women and men’s drinks and take them back to brothel houses. Some of them were able to move on without the memory of what happened to them. However, the ones that paying customers really ‘enjoyed’ were requested to return. Do you know how the news that they were drugged and taken advantaged of was given to them? By having videos or pictures sent to them as blackmail and the only way they could recover the evidence was that they had to work in one of those brothel houses for an extended period of time.”
My eyes darted over to Zachary. Before I knew it, I was stepping toward him.
“Is that true?”
Guilt and shame glinted in his eyes as he stared up at me. He opened his mouth, but didn’t say a word. He shook his head as he cast his eyes down to the ground.
“Answer me!”
I shouted, gripping his chin.
“A-Addy, please, it’s not what you think.”
“You know, when someone says that, 9 out of 10 times, it is exactly what you think.”
Seojun stated nonchalantly.
Tears slipped down Z’s bruised face.
“I was addicted to pills and I needed money to get my fix. I wasn’t thinking about their wellbeing. I know it was wrong, but I was too fucked up to care.”
“That’s not a good enough excuse, you sick fucking monster!”
Seojun shouted.
My hands shook with fury as I let go of his chin and stared down at him. I waited for my empathy to kick in, but it didn’t. Hell, I didn’t give a fuck about his crocodile tears because I felt that he only cared because he got caught. If he had an ounce of remorse, he would’ve turned himself in a long time ago. Or, he would have stopped a long time ago, but he was still ‘promoting’. Not to mention, I saw him a few weeks before graduating on campus, urging people to come to some party.
“So, Z, are you ready to cooperate? It’s the least you can do.”
Seojun asked. I looked over my shoulder to see him leaning on the metal table.
“Look man, I told you I don’t know anything.”
“You are telling me that one day you just decided to not only drug people but find a random brothel house to take advantage of them or sell them all on your own?”
Seojun asked, crossing his foot over his ankle.
Z’s jaw tighten.
“No, that’s not what happened, dipshit.”
“Well, explain it to us because right now, that’s what we’re getting. How the hell did you even get yourself into this type of situation?”
I asked, standing over him with my arms crossed over my chest.
Z tried to turn his head away, but I gripped his chin again. Leaning down, I stared into his eyes. There was guilt and anger behind them, and I was starting to feel sorry for him.
“Look at me. You have always been so nice to me, and we used to laugh and joke every time we crossed one another’s paths. I never would have suspected you to be this awful person. So, maybe this is all just a misunderstanding, right? I mean, you would never hurt anybody on purpose, right?”
Z looked up at me before sighing. I stood up and watched as he dropped his head before shaking. My heart began to crumble in my chest. I thought Zachary was one of the good ones. I mean, it wasn’t like I was attracted to him or anything, but the knowledge that he was an actual kind guy gave me a little hope that there were good people in this world. Now it was shattered. Was everyone just mean, corrupt, self-centered assholes?
I could feel my eyes beginning to burn with tears. Z peaked up at me before he tilted his head to the side. His shoulders began to lightly bounce as a low chuckle filled the space between us. I rapidly blinked away the tears to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me and sure enough his ass was laughing.
“Addison, you’re so naive!”
“W-what?”
“Look at you over there crying because you thought I was so sweet,”
he spat in a mocking tone.
“I don’t see how you can do it, but I’m bored with being nice. Oh, and for the record, I did everything he said on my own accord. You see, a man named Manny approached me outside of a club one night while I was working my dead end job as a promoter. He offered me more money than I had ever seen and all the sex that I wanted. Who the hell would turn that kind of offer down, huh?
“All I had to do was go after women like you, Addison. Weak, sweet, and innocent. You were the first to come to my mind, but your ass barely wanted to party. I was still waiting for the moment I caught you slipping because I would have made some stacks on you.”
Zachary licked his lips as his eyes roamed over me. A seductive smile spread across his face.
“Oh, they would have loved you, too. I bet you are super sweet.”
Z eyed me up and down before bursting into laughter. Fury rushed through me causing my body to burn with anger. Balling my hands into fists, I cocked them back and threw them into his jaw. Z’s head snapped to the side, his mouth filling with blood.
“Shit!”
I hissed, shaking my hand. My knuckles were radiating with pain. I had never punched anyone before, and I had no idea it hurt so much.
“Whoa there, tiger! I don’t want you hurting your delicate hands on this shit stain.”
Seojun stated, gently pulling me towards him.
“That’s why I have these.”
He gestured towards the metal table he was leaning on.
“As you can see, everything you need is right here– no need to hurt those tiny fingers.”
I examined the table and noticed there were hammers, nails, bob wire, ropes, a nail gun, duct tape, and a metal bat all perfectly lined up. I ran my fingers across the tools before feeling Seojun step next to me. His scent was a mixture of cedarwood, rosemary, and jasmine – strong and sweet at the same time.
“These are just some of my favorite gadgets,”
Seojun murmured before brushing his thumb over my reddening knuckles.
He was standing so close now, that I could feel his cool breath tickle my ear. A small shiver ran up my spine and I fought the urge to moan. What the hell was wrong with me? This man barely touched my hand, and I was about to climax. I glanced over my shoulder to see Seojun’s hooded brown eyes staring down at me. He was about 3 inches taller to my 5’8 height and that only turned me on more. My eyes drifted down to his full lips that had a soft pink and brown under tone. He tucked his bottom lip before a slow smirk began to form. The fact that this man was easily getting me hot and bothered was frustrating as hell.
“Does seeing all of my gadgets do something to you, yeobo?”
“W-what do you mean?”
I asked, feeling my body warm.
“I mean, if I were to slip my fingers into your panties, would they be drenched with your essence?”
I briefly closed my eyes and bit down onto my bottom lip. Something was seriously wrong with me because he was right. Punching Z and seeing all of the items that I could hurt him with spread across the table, had me soaked. Was I the type of girl who would enjoy some type of discipline fetish? I mean, I enjoyed watching a bit of porn with that involvement, but I never thought I’d actually get to do it.
I cleared my throat and scooted away from him. I couldn’t be thinking about that right now. Desperate to change the subject, I pointed at the table.
“Uh, these are just basic items you can get from any hardwood store.”
Seojun lightly chuckled and shook his head before he rubbed his thumb across his bottom lip.
“Exactly. I don’t have to spend so much money just to have my fun. Besides, I have something special that I like to utilize for my own enjoyment – Tiffany.”
I stared at him with an arched brow. “Tiffany?”
He nodded and I wanted to kick myself. Here I was lusting over this man, and he had a whole girlfriend. I should have known better. And fuck him for flirting with me like that knowing damn well he had a girlfriend. I had it in my right mind to tell her what type of man she was dating.
“So, you and your little girlfriend like to tag team bad guys? That’s pretty cool. Was she ‘my love’ in your phone that you left back in Vegas?”
An amused smirk crossed his face as his head slightly tilt to the side.
“Addison, yeobo, do I hear a hint of jealousy in your voice?”
“Yes,”
I shouted in my mind.
“What? No!”
I laughed, attempting to cover up my annoyance.
“I was…I was just asking, that’s all. Besides, I don’t think she would appreciate you being here with me, especially if this is y’all’s thing.”
Seojun threw his head back and laughed. I guess watching me flustered was hilarious to him. I rolled my eyes and continued to look over the items on the table. If he kept on, I was going to chunk one of the hammers at him. I watched as Seojun continued to chuckle as he walked toward an opening on the far left side of the warehouse that was covered up with a hanging plastic liner. He reached behind the curtain and pulled out a long metal bat.
“This, is Tiffany.”
“Oh.”
“And that phone you found in my house, that you still have, was not mine but Dash’s.”
“I see.”
I could feel my cheeks warm with embarrassment, but at the same time, a small ounce of relief escaped me. I was really getting jealous of a damn bat. I didn’t know this damn man but was about to get pissed off if he had a girlfriend. I had the same feeling when I saw that woman rubbing on his arms inside the bar. I don’t know what the fuck was going on with me, but I needed to shake this shit off. Seojun was not mine nor was he interested in me. This was strictly business and nothing more.
As Seojun walked back towards me, I examined the bat closely and understood why it was his favorite. I briefly looked over at Z.
“Are you going to use Tiffany on him?”
Seojun shrugged one shoulder.
“Do you want me to use it or would you like the first swing?”
“Don’t you need more information out of him before we start fucking him up?”
Seojun’s eyes slightly widened before he burst into laughter.
“Let me find out that this sweet innocent act of yours is all a persona and deep down you have a lust for blood.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. I had never intentionally hurt anyone, but at the same time, I despised people who knowingly did evil to another person. My sympathy and empathy for why they harmed others was null and void. Hell, Z proved that shit to me. Besides, I literally had a list of people that I wanted to see hurt and I reached out to Seojun to make sure it happened.
“I am nice,”
I started, taking Tiffany out of his hands.
“I just don’t like people who take advantage of others to fulfill their sick pleasures.”
“Interesting.”
Seojun stated, his eyes slightly squinting as I held onto his bat.
“Tiffany is quite powerful, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
I smirked before walking past him and over to Z who was rolling his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn’t give him a chance. I allowed all of my frustrations and anger take over me as I swung the bat down in between his legs. Adrenaline raced through my body as I watched Z howl out in pain.
I have never been a violent person, but I was tired. Tired of letting people push me around and tired of people thinking they can just man handle or manipulate me without consequences. Dr. Johnston, Bruno, Olivia, and Mr. L — all of them had pushed me to the edge. Yes, I talked big shit and that usually got people out of my face, but lately, it wasn’t working anymore. Especially when I was dealing with these ruthless killers. If I was going to survive this trial, then I would need to become ruthless.