Safe and Sound

prologue - travis

My hand clenched around the handle of the dagger as I looked down. So sharp, so shiny - I could see my own reflection in it, staring back at me like a stranger. There was a tension in the air that was sickly, the kind that settled deep into your bones and twisted your stomach into knots. This wasn't how I'd pictured my life, but here I was, already in too deep to turn back.

When I joined the FBI, I thought I could make a difference, be one of the good guys. But it didn't take long to realise, the good guys didn't always win. And when I realised just how fucked up the justice system can be, I started to look for ways around it. Ways that people would get what they deserve. That's how I ended up here. I hadn't left my job with the FBI, but it was my side job now. This was my new life.

I took a breath, and shoved open the door in front of me. The room was dimly lit, and smelt horrible. Like people had been killed in this room. Who was I kidding - they had been.

In the centre of the room there was a chair, a man tied to it. He was covered in dried up blood, and he looked up at me as I walked in. His eyes were filled with plead.

"Kelce." I felt a hand on my shoulder, but didn't flinch. I turned to see Vincent - the man who'd brought me into this life, the man who ran this whole organisation. "This is the guy." He murmured, nodding towards the guy in the chair. "He's a child trafficker. Real piece of shit. We've been after him for months, the FBI couldn't touch him, too many loopholes in the system. But we can."

I looked down at the dagger, then back up at the man. The word 'trafficker' made my stomach turn, and the word 'child' in front of it set a fire inside me. I'd seen what men like him did to children. Mostly girls. And I'd seen the girls they left behind - either killed, or absolutely broken. Their innocence stolen forever. The law had let this dickhead slip through its fingers too many times.

What I was about to do, he deserved. I knew that. But fuck, murder.

"Show us you belong here, Kelce." Vincent said, and he took a step back towards the back of the small room, leaving me alone, facing the man in the chair.

The dagger suddenly felt heavier in my hand, and every part of my body screamed at me to turn around, and just walk out. But I was in too deep, and I knew that. There was no going back.

"Please– let me go. Take me to prison– I– I don't care just– just don't kill me. Please." The man in the chair whimpered, his entire body shaking. I could see the panic in his eyes. Fair. I'd feel the same way if I was about to be stabbed to death. The difference was– I'd never do anything to deserve it. He did. There was no mercy for people like him.

"You know he deserves this, Travis. You know what he's done." I heard Vincent's voice from behind me, low but encouraging. "Do it."

I stepped forward, my heart seemingly beating everywhere in my body except my chest. I was about to cross a line that I'd never be able to return. After this, that was it. I'd be a murderer. There was no coming back from that.

I hated that I wasn't more afraid.

I stepped closer again, so that my body towered over his, and I pressed the dagger lightly to his chest.

"Please– please. Don't do this." The man shook his head, his eyes filling with tears. "You don't want to do this."

I hesitated. He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't right, either. People like him deserved to die. I knew that.

I forced myself to picture the girls, the innocent children, ripped from their families, their homes, and had things done to them that I didn't even want to imagine - but forced myself to.

That was enough for me. My heart pounded, and without a word, I drove the knife deep into his chest. He gasped, and blood began to seep through his clothes. With a breath, I twisted the knife, feeling the resistance of muscle and bone as I dug it deeper into his chest. His head lolled to the side, his mouth hanging slightly open as blood trickled out slowly. Within a second, his life was gone. The man was dead. I'd murdered him.

The life had drained from his face, but still, I twisted the knife again, getting a scary amount of satisfaction out of this. I pressed my lips together, then tugged the dagger out, and stared at it as blood dripped from it onto the floor, a few drops onto my shoes.

I stepped back, letting the dagger slip from my hand with a small crash to the ground. Vincent stepped forward, and clapped a hand to my shoulder. "Welcome to the family." He approved, and I turned to face him. "You did good, Travis."

I didn't respond. I couldn't. I just gave a small nod, and Vincent reciprocated, then turned and walked out, leaving me alone with the body. I stared down at it, watching as the pool of blood beneath him expanded. I wiped my hands on my pants, then turned around, forcing myself to walk away .

I'd killed someone. The line had been crossed.

That was four years ago. Now, I run this mafia.