The Grand Viper

22. Eye for an eye

The lipstick painted my pale lips red as I looked into my eyes. A light of vengeance was the only spark that lit my eyes to a certain extent. My body looked skinnier than before and my soul was dead. The stench of the dead which had been killing me for the past week was something I was slowly getting used to. It didn't smell anymore like I was used to it- used to dealing with death.

I walked out of the apartment and found a limo waiting right outside the door for me. Sitting in luxury made it seem like the half-hour drive merely required two minutes to reach. The same building and the same extravagant decorations caught my eye but this time it was even more than before. Guests were flocking into the huge building and everyone was being thoroughly checked at the entrance.

I tightly clenched my thigh when I felt the cold metal press tightly on my thigh. Just as I was calculating the ways to get in, Theodore started walking towards me with a smile.

"I never thought you would make it." He smiled, placing his hand on the small of my back.

"I couldn't miss this auspicious day," I replied as he started escorting me inside the building. Just when we were about to go through a metal detector, he whispered something in the guard's ear. When I walked past the detector, it didn't beep or raise suspicion of any kind. 

As we entered a familiar hall, I could notice Reece with his fiancée busy talking to the guests at the party. This view was further fueling the spark within me.

Theodore brushed my hair behind my ear and whispered, "Use it for later, kitty. It will be useful."  He then proceeded to touch my hand which had unknowingly turned into a fist. I couldn't even feel the nails digging into my hand even though my skin was bleeding.

I looked into his eyes and said, "I want to kill them all. I want to make them feel pain as much as I did. I want to"

"Shh kitty..." he whispered in a low growl, "Our time will come."

"You will give them what they deserve right?" I asked, my eyes getting redder from the anger I was feeling inside.

He affectionately looked into my eyes and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. "They will. Don't make this hard for me, Ruby."

"Where is Victor?" I asked.

"I'll take you to him and don't pull out that gun unless I tell you to."  He said as he took me to a quiet corridor. "Trust me on this Ruby." I looked at him skeptically and eventually looked away without answering.

With each little step, I could feel the heaviness dawn upon me. As if it was the end of something or maybe after this I was sure to end it all for myself at least.

Let me get my hands on Victor for once.

Theodore knocked on a huge furnished wood and when he heard the words to come in, the door opened to reveal Victor puffing his cigar on the royal chair in his study room.

As his eyes met mine, a smirk spread across his lips. "Very good, Theodore." 

I flinched when I heard the huge door shut right behind me. I turned to look at Theodore who nodded trying to assure me everything was okay but I could feel my blood boil from the adrenaline rush I was feeling inside.

"So you are Vincent's daughter." He stood up from his seat and walked towards me.

He looked at me from top to bottom and averted his eyes to Theodore. "She takes after her mother. No wonder you seem familiar."

My hands immediately moved. Soon, the room was filled with a loud slap against his cheek. His jaw tightened as he glared at me.

"Fucking bitch-" He held his cheek and commanded, "Kneel!"

I spit on his face instead and just then I felt  Theodore's strong hands pushing my shoulder to make me kneel.

I shouldn't have trusted him.

Before I could fight any further, a cold metal touched the roof of my mouth. Victor stood in front of me with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Aren't you a feisty one? Just like your mother." He said. The way he was talking about my mother was making me want to cut off his tongue. "But your father won her heart. You know I let him go even though he betrayed his friend."

"I thought I could use him as a business partner. But your father didn't want to taint his reputation by getting a little creative with business."

He stopped and removed the gun from my mouth. "You aren't scared, are you?"

A smile crept on my lips as I looked at him and mocked, "Sorry to ruin your expectations motherfucker."

He struck me with his gun leaving a deep cut on my cheek, "This bitch has the nerve to act like that in front of me." He scratched his temple with the barrel of the gun and turned to look at Theodore, "Bring me my whiskey. This bitch is testing me."

He gulped the whole drink in one go and continued," Oh-" he said as if something struck in his mind. "Let me tell you a story."

"There were two friends who had known each other from the day they stepped on the school grounds. Despite the adversity, they decided to build an empire. But one day, they encountered a beautiful siren. She mesmerized them both with her beauty but chose only one. Then he decided to betray his friend for the siren's words were more important than his friend's. Guess what the betrayed one does?"

He paused for a moment and continued, "He sent one of his deadly weapons to do the deed." He walked up to Theodore and patted his shoulder. "A weapon worth having."

"Theodore?" I stuttered faintly under my breath. "It's... it's not true right?"

When Theodore avoided my eyes, I knew the answer to my question. Victor grabbed my hair and made me look at him. "He's a loyal dog. He killed his mother when I ordered him to."

I looked at Theodore whose eyes were wandering everywhere but where they needed to be. Just then, I noticed Victor stumbling as he tried to walk, his speech was slowly getting slurry.

"Now, Ruby." When I felt Theodore's grip loosen at my shoulder, I immediately took out the gun from my thigh and stood up, pointing it at Victor.

"You can't kill... meh." He slurred.

"Shut up!" I shouted as I pointed my gun at him. As I pointed my gun toward him, I could feel all my anger work on the top of my fingers, ready to shoot.

"This is for ruining my life!" I screamed as I shot the gun. The bullet penetrated his chest, right into his heart. A light amount of blood scattered faintly on my bruised cheek. I could feel the heaviness in my chest lift as I looked at him lose his life, on his knees in front of me.

"Ruby?" a familiar voice called out to me.

Just as I turned around, I saw Reece standing at the doorway looking at me completely taken aback by what he had just witnessed. His hand was wrapped around a gun, pointing at me. 

"Now we're getting even." I smiled as I looked at him.

***