The Karma Study

Chapter 6 - Nature vs. Nurture

Teddy

I saw her. And she looked as devastating as ever. My little devil says it's the bad man, Khal, and I look forward to putting him in the ground again. I can't seem to figure out how it was possible, but I know her mind is sharp, if she says it's him— it's him.

Khal hurt me a lot.

When the little devil told us about the things he did to her, I remember relating to her on a deeper level than the rest. I wasn't just horrified like they were, I was hurting. Hurting for her, hurting for myself. Because I knew, I knew more than they did. I related to every single thing she said on such a deep level, I knew exactly what blade she was talking about when she called it his favorite little knife. I remembered how the serrated edge carved into my skin, the stink of the slice of the blade and the cut of his words.

The bad man would often put me in a cage, something similar to a dog kennel, but the walls of the crate had power running to them. Anytime my skin would press against them it'd shock me. That's how I was trained to function on no sleep for days at a time. I think the longest I went awake was nine days, but eventually my body finally crashed and despite the pain I didn't have enough strength to peel myself from the electric currents. I remember how it felt to have my body slowly fried and not being able to fight against it. The current was so strong it felt like I was being cooked from the inside out.

I think about that time of my life pretty often. How controlled I was by the bad man. I respected him of course, that's what happens when you're beaten into compliance.

I was his puppet for so long, we all were. And what happens to puppets when they lose their master? Perhaps that's why my brothers and I have devoted ourselves to the little devil. She was the one to cut the strings.

We need to get her out. If it were possible I'd trade places with her. I know all the horrible things he's done in the past, so I know what he could possibly be doing to her right now.

Is he putting her in the electrically charged kennel? Or perhaps he's got her in the electric chair? There is a high possibility that he has her blind folded in a silent dark room with a constant threat of a cattle prod if she dares to move a muscle.

Each idea of torture or interrogation method Khal could be executing just makes the rage under my skin burn brighter and brighter, I'm sure my skin is crackling and steaming.

"Teddy?" Brandon's voice pulls me from my rabbit hole of thoughts and I blink up at him. "Are you doing okay? Looks like you're about to go off the deep end?"

I push my hair back into a low bun and stand from the kitchen chair I was sitting in, "I'm already there." I roll my neck and pop my knuckles and find Drake in the corner of the kitchen. Nodding to Drake I say, "Let's go pretty boy. We have some flesh to collect."

I barely register the others calling out to me, but I don't have time to just sit and wait for them to locate Zoe. I need to move, I need to do something. The only time I ever feel productive is when I'm either drilling my cock into Zoe's pretty little cunt, or when I'm drawing blood. Admittedly, sometimes they go hand in hand. But for the time being, I guess making heads roll across the pavement of Seattle will be sufficient.

Drake hops into the passenger seat of the SUV, and I am actually a bit surprised by the bold move. Typically people are never comfortable enough to sit this close, I honestly expected him to get in the backseat.

"So brave," I scoff as I start the vehicle, "Willing to be so close to the crazy one." Drake chuckles, but doesn't answer for a few minutes.

Once we are on the road and I'm speeding to my next massacre, Drake says, "I don't think you're crazy Teddy."

I furrow my brows but I don't look at him or respond, just waiting to see if he'll continue.

"I just think you feel, and you aren't afraid to show it openly. And that kind of honesty scares people. But I don't think you're crazy." Drake says, not looking at me as he talks, keeping his eyes fixed on the view outside of the windows.

I know my little devil doesn't think I'm necessarily crazy, but she is my flame. My identical but opposite. It's a culture shock to hear that Teddy fucking Karma isn't crazy from someone who, as far as I can tell, is relatively normal.

Instead of responding I let my mind carry me back to my little devil. I miss her. I miss the warmth she brought to the manor, and the delicious taste of rage that was layered on her skin.

Knowing her, she's probably warning everyone off of her, telling them she has her own Devil at home who can't wait to dig his claws into them. Let them see just how much hurt I can truly cause.

I won't be stopping at the perpetrators themselves, no, I'm going after families and then the family's families. Innocents be damned. Nobody is innocent anymore. Everyone bleeds, and the world must burn.

"I think she'll have them all dead before we even find her. I am almost willing to bet money that soon she'll just show back up at the manor asking us why the fuck we thought she needed saving." Drake says, with an honest laugh in his tone.

"I hope she sits pretty and lets us do our thing. I want her to see how much destruction a band of kings will cause when their queen is taken." I say with a smile on my lips. "Also, she'll find it totally sexy when I roll in there holding a bag of hearts for her."

Drake laughs again, but he doesn't disagree with me.

I take a quick turn around the corner and throw the SUV into park in the middle of the street. Drake checks over his weapons once more and looks at me patiently. I scroll through my phone looking for a song to play.

I turn the volume all the way up before rolling down all the windows to make sure everyone can hear "Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics blast through the streets. I slide out of the driver's seat and let my feet land firmly on the ground.

I look to my right and Drake is already standing next to me, gun cocked and ready for my say so.

I watch the pedestrians quickly clear the streets and run into different storefronts seeking shelter, but nobody can hide from Teddy fucking Karma.

I swing my machete over my shoulder and stare directly into Drake's eyes so I know he'll comprehend my instructions.

"Only spare children." I held up one finger for him. "If someone says they know something, take them hostage." I stretch out a second finger. "And last," I hold out a third finger.

"I am fucking crazy."