~ astraia
[ 8:26 PM ]
We arrive at a large building downtown, far from the outskirts where Levi lives. He had dressed me in a white silk, mermaid dress that slightly pooled on the ground even with these silver heels on and a silver necklace that hung beneath my bandages. Levi speaks firmly while pulling his key from the ignition. "I brought you along because I didn't need you leaving the house while I was away. But this isn't a leisure event, Astraia, this is for work. So I expect you to be on your best behavior tonight." He looks over at me from the driver's side, "That means no crying, whining, no making any type of scene. Do you understand me?"
I nod my head and he smiles a little, "Good. Let's go."
We get out of his Lexus and walk across to the sidewalk and building. For some reason, Levi hadn't let valet take his car, especially since it was obvious that he could afford it. When we reach the front double-doors, Levi takes me by the waist and pulls me closer to his side before one of the two bouncers greet him. Without even looking at the clipboard in his hand, he greets Levi with a smile and handshake, creating polite small talk before opening the doors to let us in.
I'm astonished by the décor of the large building. The carpets are velvet red and the walls are carved gold, like a Victorian castle of some sort. The ceilings are high and painted with Renaissance-esque art, and several small golden chandeliers hang around the grand one that's in the middle hanging directly above the ballroom. Orchestra music plays and slightly echoes against the walls as most people here are dressed in their finest and servers pass through the crowds serving drinks and finger foods on trays. I've never been in a place like this nor around people of this stature; the anxiety was surely getting the best of me, especially knowing I wore no makeup, my outfit was not nearly on any of their levels, and I had blatant bandages around my neck. And it didn't help how popular Levi was.
Left and right, both Levi and I were receiving looks and stares, both different kinds though. Most people looked at my bandages first while people looked at Levi with excitement and awe. He only smiled and acknowledged the people we passed with nods before a few of them decide to approach us. We halt while Levi picks up a flute glass from a passing server and two couples stop in front of us. "If it isn't Levi Just Levi." One of the men greet while I notice the two ladies on their arms stare at him like he's a piece of meat. Levi greets him back, "And if it isn't the Mando brothers. It's been too long."
"Because you're always under a rock." The other man chuckles as Levi takes a sip of his bubbling gold drink, pointing at him with his index finger after her swallows. "I'm always working." Levi corrects with another flashy smile before one of the brothers glances over at me. His eyebrow raises curiously, "And who is this? You never bring a date to these things."
"Whenever the hell you do show up to these things." The other brother adds with a smile. Levi softly chuckles before answering them. "This is Astraia." He removes his hand from my waist to raise up to my chin, grabbing it gently and making me look up at him, "Isn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"
Despite his words, all I saw when I looked into his grey eyes were the dark ones that wrapped that wire around my neck and nearly choked me to death in his basement. "What happened to your neck?" One of the women asks bluntly, and Levi releases my face and looks back at her.
"She just had a cervical fusion surgery after a car accident." He lies, and all four of their faces droop into their condolences as if I was a wounded puppy. Levi frowns down at me with faux sympathy as well. "I know... it was so scary, but luckily, all went well. She should get her voice back soon," He claims before taking a deep breath and nodding his head, "She's been so depressed lately, I figured she should get out the house again."
"Poor thing!" The other lady frowns, and one of the brothers begins to tell a story about a surgery he's had in the past, but I see Levi's attention shift. He looks past the two couples in front of us, then takes me by the waist again before interrupting his story to dismiss us from the conversation. They don't have much time to react before Levi's already forcing us away from them and towards a round table surrounded by three standing people.
Levi leans down to my ear as we walk, the prep in his tone lowered into an annoyed growl, "Don't believe they were actually sorry. They couldn't care less about what happened to you."
I glimpse up at him before we approach the table, and when they see us, their faces light up at Levi's presence as expected. "Levi Just Levi!" They greet while outstretching their arms. I could hear one of the three men had a British accent and another had an Italian accent.
"Xavior, Oswald, and Randy." Levi smiles brightly, "How have you guys been?"
"Some of us better than others." Randy smirks knowingly across the table before bringing his champagne to his lips. Levi softly snickers before the four men begin another conversation, including my introduction and bandage cover story again. I didn't pay much attention to it as I scanned the ballroom and everyone inside, and even more importantly, any exit doors. I needed to get away from Levi.
I'm pulled out of my thoughts and planning when Levi sets his hand on my lower back. It's then I notice Randy and Oswald had left the table and it was only three of us left here. "Xavior and I have some business to talk about, but we'll be back, alright?" Xavior leaves the table as Levi talks quietly in my ear again, "Can I trust that you'll be on your best behavior?"
I nod my head as he leans back up, and he smiles sweetly at me before leaving my side to follow Xavior. I watch him move through the walking and standing crowd towards stairs off to the side of the room, disappearing behind the wall. I could feel my body flood with adrenaline as my feet immediately move from the table. I wasn't exactly sure if I should just go through the front door again, but that's where I naturally headed without thinking. I was in such a rush, I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going, I kept bumping into several people and servers had to quickly halt to avoided crashing into me.
I felt everyone's eyes on me, and the more I bumped into people, the more the room felt like it was spinning. I saw people talking on their phones, their eyes so big as they stared at me. They're talking to Levi. Levi has people watching me. I'll get in trouble again. He'll put me in the basement again-
I bump into another man, actually freezing this time since his face was somewhat familiar. It was one of the Mando brother's from when Levi and I first arrived. He turns and looks down at me before offering a confused smile, "Hey, sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. My fault!"
I then grip onto his blazer and attempt to speak, but my voice was nothing but brief hoarse squeaks and silent air. He sets his drink down as to not spill it as his face contorts and he takes hold of my wrists, "Miss Astraia, what's wrong? Where's Levi?"
I shake my head vigorously and point to my neck, pleading silently for his help. I think he begins to pick up on my message that I was in danger as he sets his hands on my shoulders and tries to calm me down. "Hey, hey, how about we go get some air and you can calm down a bit so I can understand you a bit better, alright?" I quickly nod my head, feeling better from the idea of him escorting me out the building. Being alone felt...too vulnerable. He does what he said he would, and we head out one of the emergency doors leading to the side of the building.
[ 10:42 PM ]
I catch my breath and try to get my anxiety levels back down as the Mando brother watches cautiously. "So...what's wrong?" He asks again, eyebrows furrowing, "You looked like you were about to die in there? Were you having a panic attack?"
I nod my head at the second question he asked, but he thought I was replying to the panic attack part, so I shake my head no again. "So you weren't having a panic attack?" He asks, and I roll my eyes before pointing hard at my neck again and grabbing onto his arm with my other, showing my urgency as I mouthed "Levi."
He watches my lips move before slowly saying his name, "Levi...? You're saying Levi?"
I nod my head and point to my neck again. He finally connects the dots, "Levi...did that?"
I nod my head yes like there's no tomorrow, tears overflowing from my eyes from the overwhelming sensation that washed over me. I jump hard from Levi's voice calling my name from behind me. I turn around to the exit where he had emerged, "Astraia? What are you doing out here?"
Out of instinct, I push myself behind the Mando brother as he kinda takes the situation into his own hands. "Did you do that to her neck, Levi?" He asks in a bold voice, and Levi stops in his steps and looks down at me past him. He exhales deeply and looks back up to the brother, "Is that what she told you?"
There's a brief silence as he doesn't answer him but instead rewords his question, "What have you done to her?! She's terrified, and it's clearly of you."
"Now what reason would she have to lie like that for?" Levi asks and the brother slightly covers me more with his arm, "That's exactly the same thing I'm wondering."
Levi stares at him for a moment before sighing deeply. "You should've just did what I asked you to, little angel." He says tiredly as he begins to take steps towards us. The brother yells at him to keep his distance, holding me back behind him to use his body as my shield, which was kind but was wasted.
He attempts to push Levi, but is only tripped before Levi swings him into the side of the wall, grabbing him by the back of his head and smashing his face into the brick twice. And that's enough to knock him unconscious. His body drops onto the alleyway ground, face now bleeding. I quickly turn around to run, but I'm grabbed tightly and my body writhes up in pain when Levi grabs my neck and squeezes tightly. It prevents my body from fighting back as I helpless tug at his arms and hands. "And where the fuck do you think you're going?" He growls in my ear before slamming my front side against the wall and keeping me pinned up against it; it felt like I was trapped between two walls.
"What did I tell you?" He asks in deep, sharp breaths, roughly yanking me to make my resistance completely diminish, "What the fuck did I tell you? I told you to be on your best behavior and what do you do? Now look what happened." He roughly pulls my chin to the side, forcing me to look down at the man on the ground. His growl gets deeper and quieter in my ear, "Look what happened. Look what you did, Euphoria Astraia Mai."
Tears rush down my face as I scrunch my eyes shut tightly, barely even able to whimper. After a minute in his tight hold, he releases me, making it a bit easier to breathe and giving him a second to cool down. He takes a few deep breaths before walking back over to me and taking my wrist. He pulls me over to a drain pipe lining the side of the building before reaching into his pocket and taking out a zip-tie. I try to protest as he locks me to the pipe, but he only pushes my hands away from him before he walks away from me and past the Mando brother, out of the alley. I try to yell for help, but I had no voice. About ten minutes pass before I see Levi's Lexus pull into the alley, stopping in front of the Mando brother before he quickly gets out. He picks up his unconscious body before putting him in the backseat and closing the door. Then he comes back to me, pulling out a pocketknife to cut me free.
He then grabs my free wrist and yanks me in front of him, and I nearly trip over my now dirty white dress before catching myself and moving toward his car. He forces me in the passenger seat before walking back around the hood to the driver's side. And the entire drive back to the outskirts is completely silent.
[ 11:29 PM ]
When we pull back into Levi's garage, he puts the car in park and we get out. Levi pulls the man from the backseat before hoisting him over his shoulder and making his way to the door leading inside the house. I follow awkwardly behind, expecting to just be allowed back to my room, and I have no idea why I thought that so.
My forearm is grabbed and I'm pulled past the staircase, which I know only leads two four places: a bathroom, the backyard, the laundry room, and the basement. I don't get the chance to resist as at the slightest pull of his arm, his eyes met mine and I went completely stiff. His expression was deathly, so merciless as if he was ready to completely snap. I lower my head like a scolded child as we head to the basement where he makes me walk down first. He close the door behind him and makes his way down the steps after me. Then he sets the Mando brother down, making him sit up against the wall. He then pulls out another zip-tie from his pocket before cuffing his hands together, and I begin to wonder why the hell he had those in his pocket in the first place.
"Sit down, Euphoria." Levi demands as he does, and I do as told. I sit on my knees in the ruined dress, taking off my heels while I can. Then I watch as Levi stands and walks to the corner of the room, brushing his hand over the cinderblocks before one of them slightly pushes in. Then the wall behind the stairs begins to shift right, revealing another who safe room or something underneath the rest of the house. Except when the lights flicker on, I see it's not even close to a safe room. It's full of large cages, some glass with holes and others barred. There are chains and tools hanging from their walls and two metal tables at the end of the room where a pipe and chain are. And then there are groans from the inside.
I watch in horror as Levi enters the room and walks up to one of the cages, unlocking and opening it before pulling out a middle-aged man by his hair. Levi's face contorts in disgust as he did. "Oh my God, you fucking stink." The man struggles to his feet, only able to groan in response from the gag in his mouth, "Did you piss on yourself?"
Levi tosses the man forward into the main room of the basement, I guess, where I get a whiff of the stench Levi was addressing. The man did in fact stink. He falls into the shelves before falling down onto the ground, sobbing heavily through the towel in his mouth. I pull myself away from him with more silent tears running down my face as Levi close the fake wall and simply stands and looks at the three now on his basement floor, clearly agitated yet thoughtful. He takes a deep breath before moving to the door and roughly forcing it open after unlocking it. I see it leads outside, and after a few minutes, he returns with a bucket in his hand. He then throws the water inside of it at the Mando brother, waking him up with urgency. Levi sets the bucket down while closing and locking the basement door back and beginning to unbutton his black button up.
He takes it off to his five pairs of abs and toned, veiny arms, balling the shirt up before setting it atop the black rolling cart that was home to the coil wire he choked me with just last night. I felt my body begin to shake as the Mando brother began to ask questions as to what we did to him, where he was, things like that. Levi simply ignored him while opening up a case at the top of the cart, letting the brother run his mouth, even letting the brother threaten him with venom in his tone.
"You know what the sad thing is, Austin?" Levi finally interrupts the brother's vicious ranting with a deep sigh, "You weren't even my target tonight. You were supposed to go home tonight. To your wife. Or hey, maybe even to your mistress...uh...Alexandra, right?"
The brother goes silent for a moment as Levi chuckles quietly, and it's something dangerous. Chills run down my body as he begins to pull on a pair of black latex gloves. "See that's the thing, if you had just minded your fucking business, you wouldn't be here right now." He continues, "But no. You just had to be the hero of some hardheaded bitch who you don't even know."
The confidence in Austin's eyes had morphed into fear and panic. "I-I don't even care about it anymore! Trust me! I won't say anything! You're right! I don't even know her! I don't even know your whole name! It's not like I could tell anyone!-"
"There's a reason why no one knows my name, why I make everyone call me Levi Just Levi. Nobody knows who I really am." I watch him approach me, and I slightly crawl back but I stop when he crouches down beside me to wrap his arm around my body and grab my chin with the gloved hand that holds his serrated switchblade, his thumb pressing into my cheek and slightly making my lips pucker. He continues while shaking his head, "This isn't even about you, Austin Mando, this is about her." He meets my eyes, "She has to learn that her actions have consequences."
"But I didn't do anything! I'm a good guy! I'm innocent!!!" Austin yells, his volume seeming to make the other man cry harder. Levi only laughs softly again while slowly looking back across the room at Mando sitting against the fake wall. His eyebrow arches, "Innocent, eh?" Levi then stands from my side and begins to walk towards Mando, flipping the blade through his fingers and over his hand with expertise yet carelessly, "You know what I learned? Nobody's innocent in Hell." He points at Mando with the knife, "And there is nothing innocent about you, your brother, or your company."
Levi crouches down in front of Mando, pressing his available hand against the wall beside his head while bringing the tip of the knife under his chin, "See, I know everything about you, Austin. I know everything about everyone at that damn party. Everyone I know, I know. From that Stacey case you've kept hidden from the public and even your wife for the past two years to the mole on the bottom of your fucking foot. You're not innocent, Austin, you're a sick fuck and the worst type of person to walk this fucking Earth."
Austin's face had reddened like a tomato, probably out of anger, embarrassment, fear, or all of the above. Tears had began to brim his eyes as he forced words through his gritted teeth, "It was a mistake-"
"Right, it's always a mistake." Levi interrupts him knowingly before removing his hand from the wall and pointing his thumb back towards the crying man on the opposite side of the room, "He told me something similar."
"If you were going to do something about it, you would've done it by now." Austin's lip begins to tremble as he spoke.
Levi smirks a little before tapping the side of his blade against his chin, "What did Joker say in that one movie? Uhh.... oh, right. If you're good at something, never do it for free?" Levi stands back up and moves over to the other corner of the room to grab a folded chair leaning against the wall between the shelf, "I'm not a vigilante, Austin. And I'm surely not planning on becoming some kind of martyr spilling all your dirty little secrets to whomever I please. Some day, I'm sure they'll have a hefty price tag. Secrets like that always do. That's how I'm still in business." He unfolds the chair and sits on it backwards, folding his arms over the back of it after pulling over his two-shelved tool cart closer to his side. He then smiles sweetly at all three of us on the dirty floor, "Now. Who wants to play a game?"
~ levi
[ 12:00 AM ]
"Here's what we're gonna do. Let's play a classic. Truth or dare." I smile although I was anything but amused, "I decide who to pick for truth or dare. If you pull out of a dare, you don't make it out this basement. If I know you're lying on a truth, which I assure you I will, you will not make it out of this basement." I flip out my switchblade with a slightly deeper smile, "And I get to have some fun. Alright? Alright. Who would like to go first?"
Of course none of them volunteer, so I pick. I look over to the hunched over, crying man leaning against the shelves. "Dean." After he ignores me, I exhale deeply and stand from my chair. I walk over to him, gripping his shoulder and swinging him back so his back slams against the shelves and he finally faces me. I pull the gag from his mouth, not giving him time to scream or beg or whatever the hell he planned to do as I bring my serrated steel knife up to his cheek. I look him dead in the eyes, sweat beading his reddened, wrinkled skin as if he was looking back at the Devil himself. "We're playing a game, Dean. You heard the rules, right? Nod your head yes if you did."
He then nods his head quickly. I remove my knife from his skin, "Alright then. You're first. Truth or dare."
"D-Dare..."
My eyebrows raise as I chuckle softly. "Wow, starting with a dare. I like it. Very bold." I respond as I stare down at him, "I dare you to lick the ground."
"T-The grou-?" He shuts up when I look back at him. Then with a trembling body, he presses his cuffed hands against the floor as supports to lean down til his nose touches the concrete. Then he sticks his tongue out and drags it briefly across the ground, allowing me to swing my foot into his temple. I held back since we were still playing a game and I wanted him conscious, but he still screamed as if I'd just knocked his head off his shoulders. I can't help my loud laughter, looking down at him with pure disgust as I lower my foot onto his neck to pin his face to the ground. The more he squirmed, the harder I pressed on his throat. "Shut up." I demand down at him through my smile, "It's someone else's turn."
It takes a few seconds for his mouth to semi-shut, trembling with whimpers of muffled pain. I move onto the next person.
"Euphoria." I look across to her, and her wide, watery eyes look from Dean up to me. "Truth or dare?"
She moves her shaking hand down on the ground, tracing a T into the floor. I take a moment of thought. "...Would you rather be a child trafficker or a child molester?"
Her eyes widen even bigger from my question as she quickly shakes her head no. "I didn't ask a yes or no question, Euphoria." I release Dean's neck with another kick then point to Austin with my knife, "Would you rather be like him or him?"
"I didn't know she was sixteen!" Austin bursts, and I flick my wrist towards him, making my serrated blade stick into the fake wall behind him, right beside his head.
"Maybe she would've told you if you hadn't gotten her drunk." I walk over to retrieve my knife, yanking it from the wall sharply, "Speak out of turn again, the next one won't be a warning."
I return to my seat and look across to Astraia, awaiting her answer. She cries silently before looking at Dean on the left, I guess answering that way. I look over at Austin, "Now, Mando, it's your turn. Truth or dare."
"...dare." He growls out.
I smirk and stand from my chair to walk over to him and crouch down at his side. "I dare you to carve your last name into Dean." I set the handle of my knife in his zip-tied hands, holding them firmly as I whisper into his ear, "Try anything and I will slit open your throat and your game will end right here."
I see his jaw clench through his skin before I stand and walk back to my seat. I watch with a smirk as Austin slowly begins to get up on his feet, shuffling and swaying a little as if he had vertigo. Dean begins to sob harder and beg for him to not do it as if a few cuts was going to kill him. I mean, maybe they were, depending on how deep Austin was going to do it.
Astraia looked away in horror when the blood was spilt on my basement floor. Austin cut his last name into Dean's forearm. I then gesture my hand out, and Austin moves towards me slowly before tossing the knife into my palm and returning to his spot on the right side of the room.
"Dean, we're back to you." I return to my comfy position of resting my chin on my crossed arms, "Truth or dare?"
"Please let me go, I'll tell you everything you want to know-!"
"I know you will, Dean, I know." I interject, "Now truth or dare?"
"...truth..."
"When you found out your company was working with Porsche, using your warehouses to traffick women and children for God knows what, why didn't you do anything?" I ask curiously with furrowed eyebrows.
"He bought out majority of my shares, he practically owns half of my company! He's the one you should be after!" Dean looks up at me with desperation and I click my tongue while shaking my head.
"I'll deal with Porsche when I have to. My client wants me to focus on you. And that didn't answer my question."
He pauses and takes a few deep breaths before shaking his head, "Turning a blind eye meant profit for both of us. I couldn't get caught in a scandal like that! What else could've I have done?!"
"What else could you have done?" I scoff, "Right. Instead, you'd rather get yourself wasted and high at the bar, having the time of your fucking life like you have no fucking care in the world, while families are getting taken from their homes and separated for free labor. Right."
I look at Astraia, now pissed off from his answer although I'm not sure what he could've said that wouldn't have pissed me off anyway. "Truth or dare, Euphoria."
She drags her shaky finger across the ground again in the shape of another T. I stand up from my chair and observe everything on my tool cart. "Which do you think would hurt worse?" I ask, holding up the coil of black barbed wire in one hand and the kitchen knife in the other. More tears fall from her eyes before she covers her face with both of her hands as if that was gonna make everything go away.
"Don't make me repeat myself." I warn and this makes her point to the boning knife in my right hand. I look over at Austin, "Truth or dare?"
"T-Truth..." he stared at the weapons in my hands like his life depended on it.
"Which of them should I use this on?" I ask, "Dean or Astraia?"
Austin looks back and forth between the two before glimpsing down at Dean's bloody arm. He then looks back over to the only girl in the room, "Her."
I set the barbed wire down on the lower shelf of the tool cart, "Dean, truth or dare."
"T-Truth-"
"Do you agree with him? I should use this hook on Astraia?" I ask, and for a slight second he doesn't do anything, but then he starts nodding his head fervently. I then look across to Astraia. I walk between the two men straight to her, making her crawl back a little and raise her arm up to block herself from me. I only grab her wrist and pull it away from her while bringing the knife down to her face, raising her chin up with it. Her pretty brown eyes were so big and glassy and red and her eyelashes were so clumped and her lips looked a little more plump from all her crying. "And Astraia, truth or dare?"
This time, she mouths the word "truth" instead of writing it into the ground. I step behind her and crouch down to whisper lowly into her ear. "Which of them am I killing first, little angel?"
"But you said you'd use it on her!!!" Austin yells and my eyebrow raises, "I recall asking if I should. I never said that I was."
Astraia then turns to me and sets her hand on her chest as if choosing herself as her answer. I only laugh at her ridiculous attempt. "Don't act like it's hard. You can do eeny meeny miny moe for all I care. Just don't try to act like you're a fucking saint as if you weren't just trying to suck my dick last night," I grab her chin and force her to look back at the other two men in the room, growling in her ear, "You're not innocent either, Euphoria Astraia Mai. Now pick one."
She cries a little harder before covering her face again and shaking her head no, refusing to answer. I clench my jaw with annoyance before standing and grabbing her by her wrist and practically dragging her across the room. Both men begin to plead for their lives as I yank her towards Dean. My voice raises to a yell for the first time tonight, hell, the first time with her at all. "Who's it gonna be, Euphoria?! Huh? This bastard?!" I grab her again and pull her to the other side to tug her toward Austin, "Or your knight in shining armor, huh?!"
Her arched back heaves with sobs as she only keeps her head towards the ground, her hair covering her face. The room is loud as I take deep breaths, looking down at her back and wondering what the fuck I should do before my temper truly boiled over. I crouch back down and grab her by her hair to raise her head back up. "Fine, you don't want to choose, I'll choose and you do it. Make it easier for both of us," I force her to look at Austin's crying face while I situate the boning knife in her tiny shaking hands, "Since this is the man you wanted to cry to, he'll be the first to go. Look at the first person you've killed, Euphoria. Remember it next time you want to disobey me."
I then force her body forward roughly, making her push the blade into Austin's abdomen. Her mouth is wide open with no sound escaping as the room finally goes silent again. She lets go of the knife when I let go of her hands, and she begins to bawl while crawling back away from him. I stand up and pull the long knife from his body as he coughs up blood and stares at Astraia with a look of shock and fear on his face. I set the blade on the rag on the tool cart before walking back over to Dean who watches in shock and horror as well. I grab him by the cuffs around his wrists, pulling him back to his cage after opening up the fake wall again. When I return to the room and close it behind me again, I find Astraia now completely against the shelves, staring at Austin's bleeding out.
I walk over to her and reach down for her, receiving immediate resistance as her eyes refuse to break from his. I grip her tighter while pulling her to her feet where I can wrap my arms around her and force her towards the stairs. Her struggling against me eventually weakens to where I can pick her up and take her back upstairs. She wouldn't need to be around for the cleanup process. I'll handle the rest.