How the Night Hides Scars

Chapter 6 | Induction

CW: Sexual activity, Swearing, Mentions of death and body parts, hints of torture

He handed me a pile of folded clothes along with a box of hair bleach and purple hair dye. Before I could ask what was going on he grabbed my arm and started to lead me out of the office and into a small bathroom.

"Get changed then let me know when you're done so I can do your hair," he ordered.

"Why does my hair need to be dyed?" I asked confused.

"It's just a streak. It's part of the uniform for females. The males have to dress somewhat nice and the females have to have a streak of their hair dyed." he explained. "Akemi doesn't have one because she's an attack dog. The only people who see her don't live to tell about it" he added closing the door.

I unfolded the clothes and put them on. I wore a dark green and plum sports bra under a mauve and slate-colored cropped hoodie. I had berry-colored leggings that went to the top of my knees and a gray belt to go around my waist. For shoes, I had simple black and white sneakers.

"Artemis," I called out. "I'm dressed," I added.

He walked in and looked me up and down.

"Damn you look good!" he chuckled.

I smiled as he placed me in front of the mirror and put my hair in a ponytail and started to read the directions on the bleach. He put small streaks in my hair and set a timer.

About 25 minutes later he rinsed the streaks out towel dried my hair and put the dye in. I immediately grabbed my phone to play a game but felt a hand on my waist. I looked up at Artemis who smirked and got close to me. He put both of his hands on my waist pulling my backside closer to his front.

"What are you doing?" I chuckled looking up at him.

"We haven't finished what we started in the car. We've got an hour. I want to have some fun with my girlfriend." he whispered in my ear.

"Since when am I your girlfriend?" I responded sarcastically.

"Since you let me kiss you in that mechanic shop all those years ago." he said placing me on the counter.

Before I could let out another sarcastic remark he pressed his lips to mine. I kissed back and let him slip his tongue into my mouth. I wrapped my hands around his neck. He reached for my pants and started to take them off.

Just then the door opened and a female with blond hair with blue highlights walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt the induction sir but Thea- " she stopped mid-sentence when she saw what was going on.

I blushed and hid my face as Artemis got off of me embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry!" the woman said running out of the door and closing it behind her.

Artemis ran out behind her and I just went on my phone until he came back. Without another word, he rinsed the dye out and dried my hair. He brushed it out and put it into a ponytail before taking me back to his office and locking the door behind him.

He motioned toward his desk and I sat down across from his large office chair as he sat across from me. He pulled several objects out of his desk drawer. A large map of what looked like a mansion, a walkie-talkie, and a wedding invitation. The map had several Xs on them in multiple different colors.

"The mission today is simple." Artemis started. "The groom of this wedding took out a large loan from me, Almost three times as large as the one your father took out. He hasn't paid back a cent and has blocked my phone number. I don't want to kill him, not yet. But I'm going to give him a little scare today." he chuckled.

"What's the plan?" I asked curiously.

"I'm just going to give him a little reminder. I have someone from the team, Thea, on the inside as a guest," he said pointing to a pink X on the map. " Moon, the girl from earlier, will be working with Ryan our tech expert to turn off the lights for about a minute," he said motioning towards a blue and green X." In the darkness, Thea will let out a few blanks from a gun and escape. I have Pheonix, our muscle posing as the head of security." he continued pointing at an orange X. "Now you will be located on the roof overlooking the wedding making sure that none of the outside guards come inside." he continued drawing a purple X on the map. "Do not be seen. I'm giving you a walkie to communicate with Pheonix. If things go south I'll need you to make a decision. You can either call a code rouge through the walkie and let Pheonix take care of it or -," He placed a small gun on the table. "You can knock the guard out with this. It has tranquilizer darts in it"

I let out a small sigh of relief glad I wouldn't have to kill anyone if something went wrong.

"Jade," Artemis started. Do you understand the mission? I will be monitoring the mission from here along with Cliffton." He continued.

"Yes sir." I nodded.

"Good. If you mess anything up I will not hesitate to punish you." Artemis said sternly.

I swallowed hard. "I understand sir" I responded.

"Good. It might not be as harsh because I love looking at that pretty face of yours." he chuckled.

"What do you m-mean sir?" I asked nervously.

He stood up and motioned for me to follow him. He took me to another closet with a deadbolt lock on it. He pulled a small key out and unlocked it. He opened the door and turned on a light. I gasped.

In the closet, there were shelves lined with jars. In every jar was a different body part. I saw eyes tongues fingers. I almost puked.

Artemis smiled and picked up a jar labeled 'Tracy'. In the jar was a single hazel eye floating.

"This was the last lookout's eye. She couldn't keep an eye out so I took one." he said looking at the jar " I have her hand and tongue too. She stole money from me and then tried to run to the police. I couldn't have that." he laughed.

I backed up. What had I gotten myself into? This man was insane! I had to lean against a wall just to keep myself from passing out

Artemis put the jar back on the shelf and locked the closet. He walked over cornering me by putting both of his hands above me.

"I won't give you a punishment that harsh but then again, I shouldn't need to punish you should I?" he growled.

"N-no sir" I stuttered.

"Good. Now grab your stuff and follow me. There should be a small bag for you in my drawer" he said walking away

I did as I was told quickly and followed him out of the office. I hoped deep down that nothing would make me mess up.