38- Fatal Findings

38- Fatal Findings
Zach screamed and cowered away from them both, the whites of his eyes looking strained and streaky. Aisha wouldn't allow Zach to run, surging forward to grab his face in her hands.

Zach hyperventilated, unable to catch his breath. Something in her enjoyed it, the rough sounds of his terror bringing her alive. He would know what it was to be alone and afraid. Aisha pressed a calming hand to his cheek, needing him to answer her.

Zach panted as he slumped into her arms. He resigned himself, at least willing to get it off his chest, "Evan said we would just be toying with her. Teasing her. We had all been drinking half the day already and he'd had some bath salts on him too." Imset listened from behind, as he studied Aisha's reaction.

"He said we should dose her. Some shit he took off his dad's work desk at home. She was so calm. Every time someone told her to do something, she did. Just harmless fun. Until it wasn't."

"There were more present than just you three?" her voice was a blade.

Zach didn't even hesitate, immediately he named every person who had been present when Aiko was degraded. Aisha turned to Imset and didn't even need to speak before he vanished, returning with half a dozen shaken men. Some passed out. Some vomited. Some immediately began to pray.

Aisha's body tensed but she made no facial expression. She could hear ringing in her ears as her pulse beat a frantic pace against her veins, "Start with his head first." She pointed to a random male.

Imset was always filled with a sense of joy as he did what he loved to do: punish the wicked. Never would he lose his love for his job, as it was as natural to him as breathing. If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life? Or some such mortal phrase. So many souls had passed through his hands, it was impossible to keep track of. Imset cut deeply at the throat flesh, repeating the motion until the head fell to the floor with a thud.

He stared at the body in shock for a moment, realizing he hadn't shielded Aisha from the act at all. Things were so fragile between them, he should have done anything except hacking a head off right in front of her like that.

He glanced at Aisha, fully prepared to see her disgust-- if she was even still standing there. Fear would have sent her running through the palace to get away from the monster that he was. But her unblinking eyes said something else entirely. Dimmed, tears building in the rims, she managed a small smile. She'd really just watched him kill and smiled like she wasn't covered in the man's blood? She'd seen him torture Josh... seen him taking vengeance at work... But her lack of a reaction still managed to surprise him.

"What the fuck is going on?!" One of the men yelled, charging for Imset and being thrown clear across the pyramid. The only sound was the wet thwack of his head splattering open.

That made everyone docile.

"Evan just played with her for a little, teasing her, ruffling her feathers. It was kind of fun having that control over her. Look I-I know it was wrong... I get that...but I wasn't in my right mind! None of us were!"

Aisha's world went sideways. High or not, it hurt. She looked behind him at the other men who had been a part of this-- who had helped Evan do this horrific thing to her sister. Someone pure, who burned with happiness bright enough to blind. Someone who was more like family than any she'd ever had. The pain and anger seemed to strip right through her high and suddenly she sobered again.

"And that day in the library with me? Were you high then? When you were all so willing to do it again?"

He couldn't make eye contact with her, tears coming down his eyes in rivers, "I-I said there's som-something wrong with m-me. I-I need h-help... but I'm not lying when I said, she was unconscious but very much alive when Evan's dad took her!"

Aisha's heart completely cooled. She wanted him to feel what Aiko had felt. She wanted all of them to feel that fear. To know that no matter what he did, no one would be there to help him. No matter how loud he screamed, no one would save him. Had she called out for Aisha in her final moments? Aisha's mind suddenly imagined all the ways her friend had probably suffered. Her mind began to splinter. There were so many of them and only one of Aiko. It was a terrible thought that burned her up from the inside. Rage, as hot as hellfire coursed through her until she felt like fire was shooting from her nostrils.

"I want...his heart, Imset," she ordered, pointing to one of the huddled men. She didn't care which one her finger landed on. They would all wish they were killed quickly.

"NO! You said you would help me! Please!" Zach begged on his hands and knees, crawling towards her as he backed away.

"Did I?" she smirked, "I said I would help... I never said I would help you."

"W-what?"

"I am helping every woman at our school. Every woman you ever meet at a party or in a club. I'm helping all your girlfriends. And your future wives. Hell, I'm probably helping your future children too. I'm helping everyone...but you."

Aisha watched Imset drag a man over to the altar and lay him flat, roughly grabbing his throat to hold him still. He kicked and struck out with his fists but nothing affected Imset. The boy wiggled and fought, trying his best to get out of the hold. Whether it was Imset's power or blind fear, none of the other men moved.

Aisha imagined it for Aiko. That she would be desperately trying to run even if her body was drugged. Aisha imagined her mind begging the gods or anyone listening to help her. But no one had. Hot tears streaked down her cheeks. Her head began to spin. She felt her chest closing in. Then the dagger plunged into the man's chest, carving at the cavity until Imset freed the heart. And the body stilled.

The loud screams and moans of the remaining ones burrowed into her head. She began to shake and held out to the wall for support. Imset was there in an instant, arm around her waist for support. She studied his face which was streaked in blood as his eyes burned red, but still his expression was soft. She wanted to push him away, to hate him. But she needed this closeness. He wiped at the tears on her cheeks, a trail of blood smearing under his finger. Leaning in closely, he whispered, "Go. I will finish here. You do not need to stay."

He motioned his head back towards the bedroom, but Aisha shook her head, "I can't. I have to make sure they suffer." Her whimpering voice broke his heart, "I will see to it. Do you think I would not punish them?"

She nodded her head weakly, feeling all the energy burned out of her. She fiddled in her pocket until she found the baggie once more.

"Okay, I will rest a bit and return?" she watched him as he debated. Part of him wanted to say no, she was already putting herself through so much. But the other part knew he was already on such thin ice with her as it was. He nodded and released her towards the door.

Aisha stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, the horrific screams leaking through the open doorways. She didn't have a single thought. No, she didn't allow herself to have a single thought. This time she took two pills out and swallowed them with a handful of sink water. Her head was so silent, it was scary. This is what it was to embrace that dark part of herself. This is what was underneath all that rage? The ability to kill and not feel a thing...

Who was she to decide who lived and who died--who was evil or not? Who was she to scratch their names off of the great list? But then she reminded herself that there were those who made decisions about other's lives well before her. Whether it was by their own hand or another's, there were murderers in the world before she was even born. And there would be murderers to come after her. And her heart, no doubt would be weighed in the underworld against the feather of Ma'at, as they all were. And she would fail. Her heart was heavy, indeed. But at least if she were to suffer for eternity, she would take these men with her.

It was then she noticed the silence that fell around her. Aisha took a breath, steadied her heart, and returned to the chamber, just as Imset was prying a full spinal column from Zach's back as his eyes rolled back. She ran her eyes across the room, bodies lay in various states of dismemberment, blood splashed across the walls and floor.

Imset dropped the body quickly and scanned the room for any survivors. Satisfied, he pulled her to follow him back out, "Come, you need to wash this off."

For a moment her mind went back to the last time he told her to wash something and her face flushed. She couldn't help but be reminded. As twisted as it was, especially as the pills started to settle into her system. He glanced back, jaw clenched, "This time I mean, you." He pointed back to her. She looked down to see herself covered head to toe in blood as well. When had it even happened? She hadn't felt a thing touch her.

Her mind began to run away with her. She didn't notice Imset had stripped bare or placed her in the shower at all, only coming back to her sense once his strong arm positioned her under the hot stream of water.

"You need to relax," he said, keeping a good distance between their bodies, "You're shaking."