Dangerous life

Dangerous life
Hera POV

After driving for hours, I finally pull outside a building.

It's a familiar one , except for the wrong reason.

It's the same peeling paint, same rusted door where I clawed my way out years ago.

It's the same place Amelia's screams echoed, begging and pleading.

Stepping out of the car, a weird feeling overwhelms me. It's like I have time traveled back to those dark days.

Before I can take a step forward, a loud scream echoes, carrying on the wind like a ghost's wail.

I don't need to second guess whose scream that is, not with the clear instructions I gave Ghost and Shadow last night. A smile paints my lips. Good, let him suffer and have a taste of the hell he put Amelia and all those other women he forced himself on through.

I spot Ghost and Shadow waiting by the side door.

One look at them and their faces scream tired.

"Morning my soldiers. You don't look so good." I comment. Ghost doesn't say a word. Shadow grins.

“ We stayed up the whole night keeping an eye on that bastard.” He replies.

“ You don't look good yourself.” He adds and I have to give it to him, he really is observative.

“ Had trouble sleeping.” I throw in an excuse. They don't need to know I stayed awake hushing Lily and getting consumed by guilt.

"How is our guest? I hear he is well taken care of?” I ask, fighting a smile that threatens to erupt on my lips.

Shadow grins as if catching my humour.

“ We have had men keeping him busy since last night. He is singing a different tune now, not the arrogant one from yesterday."

I scoff, "He still has the energy to scream, huh? Tough guy."

Ghost shifts and I spot something akin to discomfort flickering in his eyes.

“ MG, don't you think we are going too far?” He asks, his gaze pinned on me.

Shadow jabs his ribs, hard enough to make him grunt.

"The hell it ain't. That man is a monster. He has done so much evil than we can count. Did you forget, he has been targeting the club. Snake is gone thanks to him.”

Something inside me snaps at Ghost’s words. It feels like an old wounds ripping open.

"Too far?" My voice rises, shaking with the rage I have bottled since Amelia's name crossed Finn's lips last night.

"Nothing he goes through compares to what he did to Amelia. Every night—every damn night I close my eyes and wake up to her screams. Pleading for mercy while he laughed. He tortured her and once he got tired, killed her in cold- blood.”

The words pour out, my tears stinging but not falling. Ghost flinches,his face paling, and even Shadow quiets, eyes softening.

"Nothing that happens to him can be considered enough for all the evil he has commited.”

Ghost swallows, nodding slowly.

Without sparing him another glance, I step inside the house.

Inside, I spot Finn looking like the mess he is. A man I don't care to look at adjusts his pants before walking out, leaving me behind with Finn.

His designer shirt is now torn, skin mottled with bruises blooming purple and black. One eye is swollen shut and lips split. On the lower side, he is wearing nothing save the chains binding his legs.

He looks up— or tries to and our gazes meet.His eyes widen and I see the fear in them. That look on his face is priceless.

"You bitch" he rasps, voice wrecked and chains rattling as he strains. " Why don't you kill me? just kill me. End it."

I stop a few feet away and cross my arms, letting him see the ice in my eyes.

Seeing him reminds me of the hell we went through in this same place in his hands.

"Kill you? Why would I do that?I don't plan to dirty my hands with your blood.”

His good eye widens, breath hitching. "What…"

"I want you to feel it," I cut in, my voice dropping low with venom.

“How those women felt. The ones you raped, broke and buried alive in their own terror.

You remember Amelia, right? her screams as she begged? Because I fucking do. Every fucking night."

He whimpers, fear gripping him right like a vine.

"Guards," I snap to the two shadows in the corner. I don't know where the hell Shadow and Ghost found them. I don't care about that either, only getting my work done.

"Drag him out."

They move fast, unchaining him roughly and hauling him up by the arms.

Finn thrashes weakly and I find pleasure in seeing him weak and helpless. He should have known that whoever kills by the sword, dies by it someday.

They drag him across the floor, leaving a smear of blood.

Shadow falls in step beside me as we head to our final destination.

"Everything is ready, MG" he murmurs.

I nod, throat tight.I had given them clear instructions on how to prepare our last playground.

When we reach out destination, it's Just as Shadow reported. The hole is ready.

The excavator that did such an excellent job stands nearby, engine rumbling softly like a waiting beast.

Finn’s eyes darts from the hole to me. He shakes his head, panic starting to take over.

“Wait…wait, please. You can’t do this. It’s a crime to kill someone!” he screams with the little voice left in him.

I smile at his words because they sound ridiculous coming from his mouth. The man has taken countless lives, ruined countless times and he has the audacity to yap about crimes?

I watch him with a calm that I don’t really feel. “A crime?” I repeat.

“Didn’t you know that when you killed Amelia?”

He freezes, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.

“ Now you are speechless? You didn't know that it's a crime to throw someone in a hole and leave them to die there?”

He shakes harder now, stumbling backward. “Hera, please, I’m sorry.. ”

“You’re not sorry,” I cut in. “You are scared. And that’s good. You should be scared, you asshole.”

I gesture at the guards. “Throw him in.”

They grab him, dragging him toward the hole. Finn screams, kicks, tries to fight, but it’s useless. He doesn't have the strength to escape their grip.

“Please!” he shouts. “I’ll confess! I’ll tell the police everything. I don't mind going to jail, just don't kill me please.”

I walk closer, my voice calm and sharp. “There’s no one left to tell. The people you should apologise to are dead.And I am not the police, Finn. I’m just… returning the favor.”

The guards shove him. He hits the bottom of the pit with a hard thud and lets out a broken cry.

I step at the edge and look down at him.

“ How does it feel, Finn? That's your new home. Enjoy.” I say then burst out laughing.

I climb into the excavator. The metal seat creaks under me. My hands wrap around the levers and the machine roars to life.

Finn’s voice cracks as he begs.

I lower the arm and scoop the first load of soil. The bucket tilts and the soil pours down on him. He screams followed by coughs.

I laugh, not out of joy, but release. It feels right, like everything is finally finished.

Another scoop. Another pour. His voice grows weaker, swallowed by the sound of falling earth. Soon, it’s just the noise of the machine and the calming blowing through the land as if celebrating my victory with me.

When the last of the soil is packed down, I shut off the excavator and climb out. My boots crunch on the dirt that now covers him. I stare at it for a long moment, my chest rising and falling slowly.

“ This is for you, Amelia.” I whisper, a lone tear slipping down my cheeks.

After years, everything was over now.

“Ghost,” I call, turning toward him. “Clean the area.Make sure there's no trace of our presence left here.”

He nods and starts barking orders.

Shadow steps beside me, quiet as ever. “It’s done, MG.”

I nod, still looking at the ground. “Yeah,” I whisper. “It’s done.”

No one will plot against my family and definitely not hurt Lily.

After everything is done, the three of us move to my car, ready to leave behind this chapter.

I feel a burning stare drilling my back. I don't need to turn around to know it's Ghost.

"Spit it out," I say, "Whatever's on your mind."

"That person back there... is that you, Hera? The real you?” He asks.

I don't know what to make of his question.

"What do you think?" I shoot back, glancing at him. His face looks troubled.

He rubs his jaw.

“ I don't know. I never thought there could be anyone more ruthless than Viper.” He mutters.

“ You mean Mason?” I ask with a scoff.

“ That dude is all muscles but a soft heart. It takes a devil to fight one and Finn deserved it. I still think it's not enough for all the lives he claimed.”

Ghost nods, quiet, but I see the unease linger. It's like he is shocked, too shocked for a man who has lived a dangerous life for the better part of his life.

Shadow leans forward from the back.

“ What about Helena? She needs to pay for betraying the club and working with Finn.”

I smile, unbothered.

“ I have a feeling Viper is taking care of her now.”