Super Bad (Completed 2013)

‡ Chapter 4 ‡

"You shot the chicken?!"

His scarlet lips curved into a grin. "What else was I going to shoot? Darling, don't be stupid. If I wanted you dead, my arm would have cracked your neck the moment you woke up." 

I shoved a hard swallow down my throat. My eyes rolled towards the squirming bird. Two bullets were plunged into each pupil, the red marbles replaced by silver circles. Its wings fluttered, the clucks now sputtering out of its beak.

"Casper," Levi spoke with a short nod.

Casper ripped his pistol from his jean pocket and shot the bird in the chest. One last cluck escaped before it went limp. A single white feather gingerly fell to the floor.

My breath hitched. I peeled my eyes away. My breathing was heavy, the image of the bird flashing before my vision. Blood... murder. I sucked in a sharp breath, shut my eyes and focused on ingesting oxygen.

"What the f.uck is wrong with you?" I heard Levi hiss.

"She's under shock," Casper answered dully.

Another curse broke under the leader's lips as he took a step forward. "F.ucking unbelievable..." He reached for my face and demanded my eyes to open.

Obeying, I sucked in another sharp breath before regaining my natural rhythm. "Don't touch me," I icily drawled, beckoning him off.

He studied my cold face, his firm gaze making my body shift. "You're an odd girl, Jessie Daniels, very odd."

"I'm not a girl. Try woman," I sneered, jerking my chin away.

He boomed a deep chuckle. "Well, you're a virgin are you not?" I failed a response, answering his question. "You're nearly seventeen and yet you're nothing like your father. Perhaps you're a mommy's girl?"

A snort escaped. How about I was nothing like my parents. Hell, I didn't even know who I was ever since I stepped into that port-a-potty. I was changing. The automatic jarring of my devil tongue was loosening. My tamed dark soul was surfacing. I was becoming impulsive. Vulgar. Reckless.

I didn't like it.

"I'm gonna take that as a no," he chuckled. He waved his gun again, it a habit of his. "I gather you now have your decision made?"

Thousands of questions crowded my brain, but he didn't have time or the sympathy to answer them all. It would take time. I needed time. And he was making an offer.

I set a confident mask over my face, adding what I hoped to seem easygoing. "I guess I'll give your Sniper recruiting team a go," I shrugged.

His looked darkened in laughter. "You're so nonchalant about this. This isn't a game, darling. This is the real world where not everyone ends up as a winner."

"I know how games work," I growled.

Levi and Casper exchanged mind-link grins that nearly exploded off their cheeks. I did an uncomfortable squirm.  Casper walked around, fidgeting a key for the locked chains.

"You had me worried," chuckled Levi as his friend worked his way. "Your father was a master at games. A great player, a legend your father was. Your mother apparently enjoyed playing his game." He drew a disappointed sigh. "Such a shame how he juggled everything for the game of love your mother expertly won."

I frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?" This was nothing compared to the story my parents told me. My wrists suddenly were able to breath and I rubbed the frozen skin.

The numbing was faint and I massaged it as I covered my perplexed reaction. So many questions triggered whenever he mentioned my father, having me wonder if my parents were really who they said they were.