THANK YOU FOR OVER 200 READSS
"no one here to save you, yet?" damian mocked, straddling a chair that was set in front of magnolia as she tried to hide her shuddering. her muscles were involuntarily jumping and tensing due to an electric shock machine that was stuck to her arms.
"what, you sad that no one wants to be near you?" she shot, flinching when they lifted a hand near the remote for the machine.
"no. it's depressing to see you still have hope," they said, wrinkling their nose and forcing a cocky smile.
magnolia pressed her lips together. she didn't know how long it had been but it felt like ages. hopefully minx and puffy had kept niki in the dark about her disappearance, she didn't want her to get hurt. or worry. a worried niki sounded like a nightmare.
"why are you keeping me?" magnolia asked, finally being serious. damian was surprised and blinked in bewilderment before turning down the machine.
"i don't like you," they stated, a deep-set frown on their mouth but not their eyes. those looked complicated.
"that's all?" magnolia asked angrily. her chair scooted forward as fought against her bonds, fueled only by rage.
"you have tortured me for hours and not even let me sleep because you don't fucking like me??" she shouted.
damian reeled back, obviously not expecting a reaction to this extent.
"you don't understand, then, i can explain-"
"don't fucking even, halfwit! i employed you, you did shit and i overlooked it, you quit, then messed even more shit up! what is enough for you-" magnolia was cut off by them slapping her across the face. she heaved a breath in to continue but they pressed their hand over her mouth so hard her teeth cut into her cheeks.
"i've been trying to get over you for so long and you don't even have sympathy for me?" they hissed, eyes widening. magnolia coughed onto their hand, getting spit and a small bit of blood on their palm. damian withdrew quickly in disgust and wiped it off on her sleeve.
"get over me? you never loved me," she lashed. "you have mommy issues and i was the first woman to actually try and help you." a swift backhand caused her chair to teeter on one leg for a second, pulling the small wires taut.
"no. no, you knew what you were doing and were always playing hard to get because your other girlfriend died and it would've looked bad if you moved on that quick!" they demanded, pointing an accusing finger.
"as, fucking, if. i acted the same around you as i did with any of the other new people. you were around me all the time, you had to have seen it!" magnolia shouted back.
"NOT- not like you did with me. you were always teasing me and poking fun and giving me special little things to do," damian spat, refusing her words and the memories. "i was like a little dog that did your fucking errands and you would always always do little... i don't know, shit at me. you always made me try to like you more than the rest."
"you were new in the company, i was trying to make you feel welcome!" she screamed, leaning forward as much as she could. "and name a single thing i did that was flirting!"
"i never even said you flirted, you're admitting!"
"you implied it, dick-in-a-door!"
"well you never even spoke about our relationship after you left so i guess it doesn't matter to you!"
magnolia looked at them incredulously.
"what fucking relationship? you self appointed yourself as my personal assistant and spoke as the little devil on my shoulder for ages."
"you can't just act like we were nothing," damian hissed, grabbing her jaw again and forcing her to look at them. the look in her eyes was almost intimidating.
"you played me like an instrument, lay me out like a children's keyboard mat then stepped all over me."
"that's a great analogy but it's also false," she deadpanned. "i never loved you and my past actions will agree with me."
damian puffed up like an angry cat and stormed out, completely forgetting the wires and electricity that could easily get their emotions out.
magnolia watched them slam the door through the spiderweb mirror and sighed, twitching involuntarily as the lowest setting still was on.
carefully, magnolia lowered her head and raised her shoulders. she strained her neck to reach even one of the wires, fortunately biting one and peeling the patch off. she didn't let go of the wire and managed to peel away the other three patches with some clever maneuvering.
she let her head fall back at the bliss of peace and closed her eyes, grunting softly as exhaustion overwhelmed her.
"please get here soon," she whispered to the ceiling, closed eyes watering a little when the door swung open again behind her.
niki walked down the stone staircase one foot at a time, quick and calculated like the trained infiltrator she was. her gun was pointed ahead, as was her flashlight, and she watched the cobwebby walls get dirtier as she went farther.
she reached an end soon after and found herself in front of a well lit, metal door. upon inspection, it didn't even seem like it was booby trapped.
niki pulled down the handle and opened it up, gun and flashlight blaring into the... break room? about ten people were inside but only three looked up.
"ay, dude what's with that?" one with a buzzcut asked, pointing at niki's hands. she blinked in surprise and sputtered a little.
"i'm... new. didn't know if i was getting the address wrong or not," she bumbled, positive she was about to get shot and dumped in a harbor for such a shit excuse. buzzcut smiled warmly, though, and waved it off.
"surprised you got sent through that one, it's difficult to figure out," they laughed, beckoning her to come over to the couch they were on.
"yeah, i uh, i got it sooner or later," she lied, putting away her flashlight but letting her gun lay comfortably in her hand.
"good for you. if you don't mind me asking, what had you join?" niki froze then shrugged. they nodded knowingly and pat her arm.
"don't bore the poor girl into quitting, she probably just needs the money... or something." a latinx in the corner who was playing on a scuffed up nintendo ds glanced up to survey niki and her mildly tech-y outfit.
"yeah. you aren't serious about the boss up there, right? they aren't great but the pay is," a mixed woman asked. she had been getting a coffee when niki first came in.
"are you guys only worried about getting paid, then?" they all nodded in agreement.
"not in a 'imma be rich' way, though," the latinx person clarified. "my sister is getting into college if i have to kill someone."
"same, my mom's got medical bills due soon," buzzcut said, an eyebrow piercing glinting when they furrowed in worry.
"you weren't sent by them to clear out people who aren't loyal, right?" niki shook her head immediately and they relaxed again.
"don't you guys know about the other mafia gang that y- we're supposed to be fighting? they have like homes and financial security and stuff," niki said vaguely. everyone's attention now seemed to be on her and she was starting to sweat.
"sounds nice," a scene boy sitting on the counter commented. "might hit them up when my contract ends." the mixed woman nodded while looking at him happily.
"it's great to meet you all but i do need to get to the boss. they said something about a hostage and how i'm gonna watch over them for a little bit?" niki said hopefully.
"oh yeah, we do have that lady."
"she's pretty. sad that she got on their bad side."
"mhm. go through that door and into the cart, it'll take you in the direction you need," buzzcut piped up, pointing to show the way.
"well, thank you so much. it was really nice to meet you all," niki said wholesomely before leaving the room quickly.
"that was definitely a rando, yeah?" the person holding the ds asked once she was gone.
"oh yeah. but i hate this place so i kinda want it to go down," buzzcut laughed lightheartedly.
"cheers," the mixed woman chuckled, lifting her coffee mug in their direction.
"if shit goes down, i don't think i'm even gonna answer a distress call for the main area. that girl looked pretty capable of bringing the place down," the scene boy shrugged, his last statement a joke but resonating with some of the people in the room.
something was up with her. she definitely had a few tricks up her sleeve.
damian is obsessed with magnolia but is just barely self aware and it makes for a weird mix. they copy her ideas to make sure she notices, they 'act out' (aka murder civilians in cold blood) for a reaction, they say they don't love her back in the hopes that she will react badly so they have a reason to be all upset with her but don't get the response they want and lash out because it doesn't fit the narrative they have in their head.
at least that's how i see it :) hope you're all ready for maybe four or so chapters more because this is wrapping up soon!!
have a lovely day/night <3
-Cat ^•o•^