Of Monsters And Men

|prologue

And we had clearly caught them by surprise when we attacked them because they didn't carry their guns with them. 

Honestly, they could have been vigilant. They should have known the Cartel was going to seek revenge. 

Gunshots fired from every direction, followed by a few curses and screams and more screams and some more screams. 

Men emerged into a blurred vision after a while, only leaving the smell of gunpowder and blood behind while the voices dropped low with pain. 

That was when I heard a soft intake of breath. It wasn't any of those Solidarity soldiers we had managed to take down or even my men's groans.

It was shallow, barely audible and…feminine. Slowly, I pushed the door of the room behind me and the sight for once had caught me in shock.

There was a girl. Naked and frozen on the cold floor. 

Her dark hair framed her face making it harder for me to see her as I made my way forward. Slash marks covered her bare, pale skin. Blood covered between her legs and even some pieces of glass had pierced her skin.

Her wrists and ankles were tied by chains so she couldn't run. I was surprised she was even alive. Barely but alive.

Fucking sadists!

"What a lucky day!" Satyam exclaimed behind me. I was so caught up looking at the girl that I hadn't noticed him entering the room. 

He didn't look the least bit shocked, instead, he sounded delighted. I looked up at him but he was already looking at the young girl in front of us with…hunger.

The girl couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen but that seemed to excite him even more judging by the strain against his trousers. 

A mixture of disgust and anger coerced into my blood at the thought of him hurting her. 

Satyam grinned ear to ear as he inched closer to touch her and without thinking, I pulled out my gun and pressed the trigger. 

I don't know what had come into me but I couldn't allow him to touch her. Hurt her more than she already was.

"What the fuck have you done?"

A betrayal. 

My head snapped towards Abhimanyu who stood at the doorway, his gun in his hands and blood on his clothes. For the first time in my life, I saw the surprise on his face as he stared at Satyam's body on the floor, choking on his own blood. 

I killed one of the soldiers of the Cartel, one of my own men. Even as an asshole, I had no right to kill him because he was loyal to us but still I had. 

That was considered a betrayal. 

And the punishment for betrayal in our world was death. 

"He wanted her." I motioned at the girl with my gun. "I couldn't allow it."

Abhimanyu moved closer. The surprise on his face was now replaced with a blank stare as he showed no reaction to the girl in front of us.

"H-help me…" Satyam stuttered, reaching out a hand at Abhimanyu. 

"I'll pretend I never heard you." Then he shot Satyam right between his eyes. 

There was a sadistic glint in Abhimanyu's mismatched eyes; something I was witnessing for the first time in him as he turned to face me. "I didn't like the way he wore his tie," he grinned. 

Now, Abhimanyu has caught me by surprise. 

Most people would have considered this as an opportunity to seize me. To stake me for my betrayal to take my position.