Too Bad, So Sad.

chapter nine: hell to pay

Trion Greece's office was torn to shreds, books all over the floor and files thrown off a mahogany desk and furniture broken. Trion Greece was prepared to jump down someone's throat–he looked deranged and feral. Salem, unfazed to her Father's state, stepped into the office not paying any mind to the angered mess. She calmly stood in front of her Father waiting for his hissy fit to be over. Trion Greece's eyes had no light to them; they were dark and harsh. He stared down at his daughter in disgust, his nose snobbishly upturned. His hand placed behind his daughter's neck pulling her close to him–Salem still did not react. I reached for my gun– my breath caught. Trion grinned eerily, kissing her forehead and then releasing her from his grip. She backed up maintaining eye contact with her Father. I took my hand away from the gun, crossing my arms while observing Trion Greece for the man he is. His eyes now brightly lit and filled with intrigue. His gaze when peering down at his daughter appeared creepy and perverted. I felt a lump in my throat, witnessing his "love" for his daughter made me uneasy.

Trion broke the silence asking "Why didn't you kill Eden?"

Salem shrugged, "She's not my issue to deal with now is she? I'm not even meant to be born so why should I deal with family affairs? If I do deal with such affairs it'll be on my own terms.” Salem scanned the room, "You gave me permission to kill her and I didn’t. Get to the point. You don’t care enough about her for this to be your first question. Get on with it."

"Fucking hell." I heard him mutter under his breath. My feet moved on its own positioning itself to be in front of Salem just enough to prevent any altercations. Trion Greece's face morphed into an amused expression. I bit the inside of my cheek suppressing my eagerness to shoot this man in the head. His attention went back to his daughter. He clicked his tongue "How many times do I have to tell you you're my daughter not anyone else's." Salem moved, I was now behind her. I was confused until I realized Salem was going to act out. I took a step back letting whatever was going to happen happen.

Salem played with a loose damp curl and said: "Get to the fucking point. You're aware I killed Thursday, Jenz, and Iven, and you want to know why I killed all three of them, right? So why are you tiptoeing around the subject? Wanna know why? I'll tell you. They were selling our shit on the side attempting to grow their own business off our supplies and not only that they were going to tell Denver Quenzel that I have a deathly fear of water. They were going to tell Denver Quenzel how to kill me and I won't stand for that so yes I killed all three of them and no I'm not remorseful."

"I see. You killed all three of them for no reason." Trion replied dryly.

"You don't care." Salem stated, her nostrils flaring. She jabbed at her father's chest,  "You only care about your personal feelings. I’m doing my job." Salem started taking a deep breath. She pushed him backwards, he lost some of his footing. Salem backed off, her eyes sharp and unforgiving. “You've told me to never get distracted by others, by my own desires, but you are allowed to get distracted and to discard all your hard work for your desires. You have always been a hypocrite but you at least upheld your principles surrounding work until now. You haven't done your damn job in three years so you wouldn’t know what doing your job means. You are a deadbeat."  Salem pushed and her pushing made me terrified of the reaction.

"I wouldn’t know what that means? Are you insane?!" He screams, grabbing a vase from his desk and smashing it onto the ground. His neck veins were out, his eyes were twitching and bulging out of their sockets, he looked feral. "I built this organization off my back, I got all these people on my side and you simply managed to get them to trust you but I did all this work for years. I am the reason why we’ve created an empire. I taught you all I know. I am the reason you are alive!" He grits his teeth, "You are who you are because of me you ungrateful piece of shit!” He belts out.  “I know when to make a call. Never say that again. As for your fear? That stupid fear caused by the passing of your Mother.  No, I don't care. You should get over that fear of yours already, it's childish and only makes you weak." Trion spat.

Salem laughed, "You know what's childish?" She tugged her Father's suit jacket and held a fist–brass knuckles nice and sharp aimed at his stomach. Trion's eyes widened, he collected himself and pointed a gun to her head. She laughed louder, I could tell even her own Father was petrified. He removed the gun from her head slowly–he looked as if he was seeing a reflection of himself in Salem and that frightened him. I thought that was the point but I guess it's more complicated than I originally believed. Salem released him stoically –she was giving him a taste of his own medicine and that was why I didn't intervene. I knew better. "Your fit you just had is childish and you only got enraged because I'm not like you, I’m better than you. Because I did the job you couldn't. Because I killed Thursday and he was your favorite. But you taught me to get rid of pests! So I suggest you deal with this loss like you made me deal with my Mother's death because it was a gift. Well, here's your gift: the death of your plaything." She toys with her rings, eyes locked on her father. "Is my fear childish? No. Neither is your fear of dying. You fear death and you kill people. Isn’t that funny? Isn’t that pathetic?"

"I fear death?” He laughed, “Now where did you get that idea from, huh? Me? Afraid of death? I’m a God. I’ve blessed you with life and power and you accuse me of such a debilitating thing. Your fear is what makes you deserving of death. You are pathetic. But I love you enough to look past that detail, I love you enough to rule over my empire. I love you enough to let you leave this office alive even though you have disrespected me. Watch yourself, you won’t get another pass.”

Salem ran at her father punching his side with her brass knuckles "You forget that this organization is MINE now. You're pathetic for relying on your eighteen year old daughter to run an organization you so proudly created because I'm more competent than you are. Don't forget that you cheated on your wife only for your mistress to kill herself. She didn't love you. And you don't love me. This meeting is over. I'm going back to do more paperwork and then I'm going to hold a meeting with some of the people who went out to gather Intel on Malcolm's whereabouts. And I know you’re afraid of death for sure because when my mother killed yourself you became paranoid that something so small could make you want to die and in that paranoia you knew that it could be me that ends your life. You should watch yourself from now on because it is me who owns this empire now. Goodbye."  Salem turned her back on her wincing Father, exiting the office doors, a coldness surging within. I smiled at him walking out backwards to observe his visible pain. He glared at me, sickened by my presence and shaken by his daughter's threat. Trion Greece is reduced to nothing just like Eden was. They aren’t so different as I believed.

“I hope to see you again and talk to you.” I say leaving the office.  Everyone that has ever harmed Salem will die and I'll make sure of it. After all, it's about how you play the game of life and I intend to win. No, Salem and I intend to win. There’s hell to pay.