Chapter 4 Scarlett
Scarlett
I wokeup and immediately knew that Azrael had left last night. There was no cum sliding down my thighs or covering my tits. There were no ropes or chains around, telling me that he had taken what I freely offered.
Instead, his side of the bed was made, a note resting on his pillow.
I never saw him at night. He picked me up in the hall when I collapsed, took me to the room, watched me shower, helping when I needed it, and then put me in bed. I never saw him get in, and he was always gone before I woke up, but his presence? I could always feel it.
I could feel his ghost haunting the left side of the bed. I saw the indent in the pillow, and slight indentations where his hands had rested while he carefully made the bed, and I could smell his cologne lingering.
Sometimes I wondered if he touched me at night. Not just to fuck me, but to hold me. The thought made my heart flutter and my thighs clench.
I reached over and picked up the note, pushing myself to a sit.
There was a large ‘S’ written in blood on the front of it. Sinner or Scarlett, I wasn’t sure.
I opened it, something fluttering to the bed.
My eyes fell to my lap, finding a black Ace of hearts, the numbers and hearts etched in red, resting there.
I picked it up, turning it around, taking in the art on the back. It was beautiful. An upside down cross wrapped in blood covered thorns.
I turned back to the note, but there was nothing written there, just a few drops of blood.
My brows furrowed. I set it to the side and lifted the card up, inspecting it just as the door opened. I brought it to my nose. It smelled of copper.
Chef Dez walked in, rolling a cart in front of him. It had a dome on it and a glass of water beside it.
I held up the card as Dez stopped on my side of the bed.
He studied it while setting my things on my nightstand. “I was wondering what he was doing drawing his own blood.”
My eyes widened, my hand immediately finding my bracelet. I had long since gotten used to the weight of it, and now I found myself holding it while studying, just to feel the piece of his soul that he had gifted me.
But now he gifted me another piece? How had he done it? Etched this card with his own blood? Was there an entire deck somewhere or just this card? The ace of hearts. Because I am the Queen of Hearts.
I felt a smile spread across my lips. What a beautiful gift!
“Eat,” Dez told me. “You will be training with Alaric today. He expects you in the basement in 30 minutes.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I told him.
He smiled kindly. “You are very welcome, Miss Scarlett.”
I watched after him until he left before flipping the blankets back and jumping up from the bed.
I ran to the bathroom and quickly ran a brush through my hair, tying some of it back with a big red bow.
I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put on deodorant before heading for the closet, choosing a dress with shorts underneath them today.
On my way back to my nightstand, I glanced up at one of the cameras and smiled, taking a moment to spin in a circle before dancing over to the food. Chef Dez was amazing. He made the tastiest food.
I had never had anything other than beans, rice, and boiled brussels sprouts for as long as I could remember, so everything Chef Dez made was beyond my wildest dreams. This morning, he created a bacon and cheese omelet with green onions.
I took several bites, using the water to gulp it down before picking up the card, ready to start training with Alaric.
I looked myself over, but there wasn’t a great place to tuck it.
Oh! I had the perfect idea.
I headed back for the closet and pulled out one of Azrael’s belts. I wrapped it around my waist and tucked the card into it. Perfect.
I finished my meal and finally headed to the basement.
I had been down here almost every day since we started training just over a month ago.
There were corners of it I still hadn’t explored, but only because Azrael said it wasn’t time yet.
I knew they had prisoners down there. People filled with tar that the brothers or Azrael needed to cleanse.
I hoped one day I would be able to help them too, but for now, I needed to focus on my training.
I strived to push myself every single day. I put everything I was into my training and studying. Azrael had me reading over his brothers’ missions, and while I learned about how they worked, the mistakes they had made, I was excited to get to the reports that included their wives.
My new friends.
I wanted to see how Olivia and Rae fought.
I wanted to see what the three of them brought to the table, and where I would fit in with them.
I wanted to see if they had what it took to fight alongside Azrael and I in our mission.
Because that’s what it was. It was ours, and if anyone got in the way of that—well, I’d tear them to shreds with the teeth Thomas didn’t think I had.
I danced out of the elevator, tracing my fingers along the polished stone wall, my steps completely silent as I made my way down the hall.
It was a maze down here too, but I had memorized all I was allowed to.
I had thought about going to the places Azrael had asked me to wait to see, but he didn’t give me many restrictions, so I wanted to respect the ones he did give me.
Moaning drifted down the hall the further I walked, and this one was different from the rest. It was weaker, more desperate. It had my feet slowing and my hand falling to my side.
I walked to the other side of the hall, looking into the rooms as I passed them.
They were all different kinds of torture chambers.
Azrael had told me once that sometimes, what cracks one person won’t crack another, so the vaster the variety, the better.
He had talked about expanding, which Havoc and Bishop had started about two weeks ago.
One entire side of the basement was now covered in plastic and filled with tools.
Azrael had mentioned yesterday something about the Blackheart brothers adding their own wing onto this house.
Expanding it, he explained. So they had a place to do their business without being in ours.
I had wondered if this addition to the basement would expand into that wing they were building.
A tunnel and a hall connecting us to them.
Each room was empty, the sound getting louder and louder until it opened up into a circular room lined in doors.
I finally slowed in front of the one where the door was cracked.
They were smart. They knew I was coming down here, so maybe this was part of Alaric’s test. Seeing if I would find it, seeing what I would do.
Curiosity—learning new things—was always my weakness. I craved to watch. To see. To study. I liked observing, assessing, putting together puzzles. Of course, I would follow the sounds. Of course, I would gently push open the door and take in my surroundings.
A large concrete room, three chains with shackles connected to them hanging from the ceiling.
A narrow, shallow trench carved into the floor, still damp with the water that had last been used.
It stretched from one end of the room to the other, disappearing into a small tunnel burrowed into the wall.
I was curious to know if the water they used was recycled through the house.
Was I using it to brush my teeth?
My eyes drifted back to the person moaning.
It was a woman, that much was clear. She was wearing tattered and torn clothes, a business suit, it looked like.
Her head was covered in a canvas bag, eyes stitched into it in the form of X’s, like some sort of joke.
Her wrists were rubbed raw from the chains that attached her to the ceiling, her clothes were damp, splattered in a little blood, but not much.
My guess was that they had held other prisoners in there and the blood on her clothes was theirs.
She was whimpering softly, the smell of her almost causing me to gag. Urine, shit, and body odor. Maybe that’s why they used the water.
I could feel the presence behind me the second I walked into the room, but I ignored it, knowing that it was most likely Alaric. He also liked to observe. In a world of noise, being silent was a superpower, one we utilized to the best of our ability.
I walked up to her, my steps so silent, she had no idea that I was even there. She couldn’t smell my perfume behind the canvas bag, and even if I was making a sound, she wouldn’t be able to hear it over her shivering and moaning.
I walked around her slowly, taking in every inch of her.
From her hands and bare feet, she was old, and by her bright red manicure and pedicure, she liked to look nice.
It was an expensive suit. More expensive than Thomas ever bought, but less expensive than Azrael’s.
I could tell that much just by the bottoms of her pants.
The fabric, the way it fell on her ankles.
It was easy to tell after so many years of looking down.
What were they doing to her? Why? Was she part of the church or someone the Blackheart brothers brought in?
I stopped behind her and looked past her, finding Alaric’s eyes. They reflected almost no light whatsoever. Blacker than night.
He stood just inside the doorway, his eyes flicked from the woman to me.
Did he want me to hurt her? I could, but not very well.
I was actually very eager to get into this part of the training.
The longer I trained, the more the craving grew.
Rivers of blood. Halls filled with it. He had promised me he would let me have it, and I could feel the impatience growing. I wanted it.
I needed it.
So, if Alaric wanted me to hurt her, I would. I would do it until he told me to stop.
But instead, he turned away and headed out the door.