Degenerates: Badlands Next Generation Read online

  Continuing past her fallen form, I took in the familiar scene spread out before me. It was always the same scenario with a few small differences.

  Tobias was holding Jamie’s mom in place, standing behind her to keep her from going anywhere. The dad was tied to a wooden chair that Maliki had positioned to ensure he had a clear view of where his wife was standing, and now where his daughter was pinned on the floor, her pussy fully displayed.

  “Alright, get this shit done,” I said to Ace, stepping out of the fray so I could observe.

  “Uh, yeah. Sure.” He crouched down in front of the duffel bag, rubbing the back of his head.

  Maliki and I shared a look overtop his kneeling form. That “sure” hadn’t sounded very convincing.

  I glanced at Tobias. His hazel eyes met mine, went to Ace, and then flickered back. This was his way of asking if I wanted him dead. I gave a slight shake of my head.

  Normally I’d have chalked this up as a loss, but Ace had only killed once before, so I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt and a nudge in the right direction. Sometimes a person just needed to be pushed towards their salvation.

  Moving back to where he was kneeling, I crouched down right in front of him, making sure he had no choice but to look at me, and asked, “Do you remember why you wanted to come here?”

  He paused his searching and met my stare.

  “To be one of you.”

  “No.” I shook my head and rose back up. “You wanted Maliki to find this place, to come here, because the bitch with the socks in her mouth falsely accused your brother of rape, and then,” I stepped to the side so he had a full view of the man tied to the chair, “This asshole beat the shit out of him with a tire iron.”

  Seeing my words had the desired effect, I kept going. “And you know what’s worse? The fact that he didn’t kill em!”

  “He smashed his skull in and left him half-alive for you to find with his goddamn brains spilling out.”

  Head nodding in agreement with everything I said, the memory of that day rising back to the surface, and he began digging through the duffel bag again.

  “Let’s not forget what caused all this,” Trix added, putting more pressure on Jamie’s chest where her boot still rested.

  “A lie,” Tobias sneered. “She wanted that dick and got caught in a lie when her hubby found out another man had sampled her pussy.”

  “He’s right,” I continued. “All of this is a result of one person’s choices. And you’re here to prove you can deliver the consequences that came with it.”

  Ace licked his lips and tucked a strand of his long hair behind an ear.

  Glancing up at me again, he asked, “How would you do it?”

  “If it were me…?” I thumbed my chin as if in deep contemplation, grinning slowly.

  I crouched back down, so we were eye level, and dug around in the duffel, pulling out a steel pick hammer.

  “I’d make him listen as I fucked his daughter, and then I’d do to him what he did to my brother.”

  “And the mom?”

  “I can stick her in the oven,” Maliki suggested. “She’ll die either way, and it’ll hurt like a sonofabitch.”

  “Yeah, Yeah. I like that idea.” Ace took the steel hammer from my hand and stood up.

  There we go.

  I watched silently as he moved around Trix, grabbed Jamie by the hair, and proceeded to drag her ass into her parents’ room.

  Mom and pops screamed on helplessly, Jamie’s pleas mingling with their muffled protest. Ace slammed the door behind him, and the level of noise dramatically fell.

  Her mother sagged into a puddle of helpless flesh, shaking her head back and forth.

  Thing’s could have been different had she of thought her lie through more thoroughly. But she didn’t, and now one of my favorite prospects were dead and another man lost the only blood he had left.

  All would be well soon, though. If Ace made it all the way in he’d have a family willing to destroy anyone that caused harm or posed a threat to his well-being.

  Who wasn’t afraid to retaliate against anyone no matter how big, how small, or how fucking insignificant they were.

  All of them for one of ours, that’s how it worked. Loyalty, fear, and undisputed power are what would make the Venom name notorious long before I perished and long after I was gone.

  Jamie’s mom vomited inside the bottom of the oven and had no choice but to bask in it.

  The bile bubbled and burned, filling the air with a stench that might have been bothersome if we hadn’t dealt with worse.

  Not long after, an onset of hypertension had blood spilling from her nose. In the end, she looked like a giant, roll of warm, pink flesh, dying slowly from asphyxiation. That didn’t seem too bad of a way to go to me.

  When Ace emerged from the bedroom, silence followed. After coming loud enough for all of us—including her parents to hear—I could imagine Jamie felt ashamed right now.

  Sweat dotted his brow; the hammer was clutched tightly in his left hand. I grinned at the predatory look on his face. This was one of my favorite parts, watching what was left of a person’s humanity wither and die as something heinous took its place.

  Going right up to Jamie’s dad, Ace flipped the hammer around so that the claw would be doing the damage.

  “This is for, Tucker,” he rasped.

  The man mumbled something that sounded a lot like, “fuck you,” Which was a valid rebuttal, also stupid as fuck.

  He’d gone despondent about twenty minutes ago. I couldn’t blame him; he knew he was going to die.

  I had yet to move out of the way when Ace delivered the first blow, and he swung a fuck of a lot harder than I was expecting. There was an immediate crack and bellow of pain. The second blow split the skull.

  The tenth hit had the man losing consciousness. Now that he’d gotten started, I let him go until he decided it was enough.

  Jamie shuffled out of the bedroom on the fifteenth, screaming like a wounded animal, launching herself in a sad rescue attempt.

  Tobias caught her around the middle, hushing her softly as she sunk to the floor much like her mother had, yelling some bullshit to her father.

  “I don’t think he can hear you anymore, sweetheart,” Maliki told her, readjusting his mask.

  I blocked her out entirely, focusing on the hammer currently obliterating a man’s head. I counted a total of thirty-two blows, all to the top and back of the skull. The force and severity of them caused numerous fractures—blood went everywhere.

  The result was something that scarcely looked human. It was definitely a sight I’d remember. Ace’s look of sheer devotion to his task only cemented the fact I’d made the right choice with this one. Chest heaving, shirt drenched in blood, sweat, and bits of something fatty, he walked backward, dropping the hammer into the duffel bag.

  “I’m done,” he rasped looking over at me.

  “I see that,” I mused, standing from the couch I’d gone to sit on.

  “What are you going to do with her?” Trix gestured to where Jamie was huddled on the floor in a puddle of piss.

  My lip curled at the sight of it.

  It was fucking pathetic.

  This whole ‘family’ was a waste of Badlands resources and oxygen. We’d come in and torn it apart with very little force, clearly doing everyone a favor.

  “Leave her alive, now she can feel how I do,” Ace replied.

  Trix, Maliki, and Tobias all looked to me for the final decision.

  “Works for me,” I said with a shrug. “Matter of fact…” Going to where she was huddled, I lifted her and started dragging her towards the back door.

  Tobias wordlessly opened it for me, moving to the side so I could get through.

  “Pleas—.”

  “Shut up.”

  I damn near tossed her from the porch. She looked at me, a mixture of terror and confusion as to why I took her outside.

  “Run,” I harshly demanded.

/>   Her hesitation lasted less than a second; she took off stumbling towards the thick patch of trees.

  “Where do you think she’ll go?” Trix asked, leaning against one of the porch posts.

  “Doesn’t matter. She’ll be dead in…I give it two weeks,” Tobias responded.

  “Less,” Maliki refuted.

  He was the one I was inclined to believe.

  “Let’s grab what’s salvageable, bag it, and get to the truck,” I ordered, turning around and going back inside the house.

  “Get your head together and help us,” I said to Ace. “I can’t have you zoning out after a kill. That reflects onto me.”

  He inhaled and exhaled two deep breaths, wiping his bloody hands on his even bloodier jeans.

  “You’re right. I just need—wait. I’m in?” he questioned, giving me a goofy ass smile.

  “Yeah—.” I stopped and turned my head. “Hang on.”

  Everyone except for Ace having heard what I just did, we filed outside, leaving him to follow.

  “What the fuck is she doing all the way out here?” Trix asked.

  I didn’t answer; even from this distance, I spotted the inverted cross inked on the side of her face.

  As she darted across the backyard, she noticed us for the first time.

  I saw the exact moment she realized that she had just exposed herself to a group far fucking worse than whatever had sent her running in the first place.

  Chapter Two

  Duo

  This girl was lucky I loved her.

  I could think of a million other things I’d rather be doing than keeping guard while she got laid.

  Again.

  Hearing a can drop, I laughed around the last apple slice I’d just sucked into my mouth. Her muffled moans slightly increased in volume, disturbing the crickets chirping away nearby.

  Pushing off the wall of the warehouse, I stretched my arms above my head, lazily rounding the corner, smacking right into a sturdy form.

  “Holy shit,” I choked out around chewed up bits of fruit.

  Reeling back, I placed a hand over the heart that had just about escaped through my chest.

  “You okay?” he asked, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

  “Fuck, Luce, I thought you were Dad.”

  “If I were you’d have been screwed. You’re slacking, sis. You should have heard me coming long before I got here. I even stopped to talk with, Annie.”

  I wanted to punch the smirk right off his damn face, but he was right. I should have heard him. Had he been our father I’d be back on a rigorous training schedule before I could so much as bat an eye.

  “Whatever,” I grumbled; refusing to tell him he was right.

  “Speaking of someone being screwed…” Smirk still in place, he moved around me to the front of the building.

  “Don’t you dare peek you pervert,” I hissed, grabbing for his beefy arm.

  He brushed me off as if I were an annoying fly. “Addy I’ve seen, Butch, fuc…” Catching himself, he shook his head and laughed. “You’re right. I shouldn’t watch.”

  Narrowing my eyes at him, I stepped into his personal space. “I really want you to finish that first sentence.”

  If Butcher was messing around on Nyx, I would decapitate his balls one at a time, fry them up in a skillet, and then shove them down his freaking throat.

  She had blinders on when it came to him.

  I didn’t.

  I’d heard crazy stories about Uncle Cobra when he was younger, and it seemed the twins were following right in his footsteps.

  Both hid all their inner problems in the form of vices, Cameron in an entirely different fashion. He was also a sweetheart whereas Butcher had a plethora of attitude issues.

  Luce peered down at me, smiling, completely unfazed by my temper flaring.

  “Anyone ever tell you that you’re a lot like mom, all unnecessarily hostile and violent?”

  “Psh, way to change the subject.” I moved back and crossed my arms.

  He mimicked my move, cocking his head to the side.

  “Knock it off,” I huffed irritably.

  I hated when he did that.

  Lucifuge looked so much like our father it was borderline disturbing. They had the same hairstyle—faded on the sides and long on top—inked, solid build, and tall.

  Mom said he acted like him too, which was even more disturbing because all the girls his age had begun to take notice. I could go my entire life not hearing about my brother’s wild sexcapades and be just fine.

  We stopped talking, sharing a knowing look when harsh whispers drifted from inside the warehouse.

  Three minutes later there was a faint squeak, and then the steel door slid open, its track making a soft whirring noise. Butcher stepped out, shirt tossed over his shoulder, and still adjusting his pants, face set in a hard line. It softened, splitting into a smile the second he glanced up and saw Luce.

  “You done for the night?” he asked my brother, pulling his shirt over his head.

  “Yep. Are you?”

  “I finished.” He grinned, and they did that guy handshake thing.

  “You two are disgusting,” I snapped, fully aware what they were discussing.

  “It’s part of life, Addy. Sadly a part you won’t ever be allowed to experience. Poor, princess,” Butcher sighed, patting my shoulder with his sweaty hand as they walked by.

  I glared at their backs until they disappeared around a bend in the path, disk lights guiding their way.

  “You know that’s not true, right?” Nyx said, finally appearing in the doorway.

  “I don’t care about any of that.”

  It was a partial lie; I did want that, one day.

  I was twenty-two years old and hadn’t been remotely serious about anyone.

  Well, there was one guy. An up and coming acolyte I’d been crushing on, but he threw up when my Dad asked to speak with him. That ended whatever could have been between us real quick.

  He not so mysteriously came up missing shortly after. I hadn’t attempted anything since. If a man cowered in front of Daddy and couldn’t handle my brand of crazy, then he wasn’t for me. I wouldn’t change to placate anyone, and my family was not replaceable, so he had to be prepared to handle everything that came with it.

  “I know that’s not true, but I’ll pretend to believe you.”

  “After what I just did in honor of our friendship? You don’t have a choice,” I joked.

  She smoothed down her long, dark ponytail, and adjusted her boobs inside her tank top. “How do I look?” she asked when finished, holding her henna covered arms out to the side.

  I batted my lashes and smiled. “You look gorgeous. Like you just got fucked against a shelf in a storage warehouse.”

  Laughing, she flicked me off and pulled the door closed behind her.

  “So what was Butcher’s problem?” I asked her as we started up the path my brother had just gone down.

  “I heard what Luce was about to say.”

  “Hmm,” I hummed. “And what did he say in response to that?”

  “Nothing,” she sighed. “And that’s the problem.”

  “Nyx…” I trailed off.

  In times like these, I found it was best not to say anything at all. She and I had been over this a hundred times.

  I didn’t understand the dynamics of their relationship and no longer tried to. Nyx wasn’t just my cousin. She was my best friend, my sin-sister. The private diary no one would ever be able to crack, the strength I needed when I felt I wasn’t strong enough.

  After growing up inseparable, I knew her. She kept her feelings safe-guarded when it came to Butcher. On countless occasions, I’d told her she could do, and deserved, so much better than what he was offering.

  This had to be a negative side effect of first love because she was far from a doormat and Uncle Grimm and Aunt Arlen adored her, as did her baby brother.

  We rounded the bend in the path and came up behind
Luce, Butcher himself, and Annie.

  Her I expected to see, I was the one who told her to wait here. The other two should have been farther than this by now.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, wedging myself between Luce and Butcher so I could see.

  “We don’t know yet,” Luce answered.

  I followed his stare to where Mom was talking to one of the acolytes who had removed their mask.

  A few porch lights from acolyte dwellings shined into the clearing they were standing in, illuminating them perfectly.

  “She looks….worried,” I noted.

  “And like she’s about to murder someone,” Nyx added from behind me.

  Only one of those was normal for her. Mom wasn’t a worrier, not often anyway.

  “Cali!” Dad called her name, his voice booming across the space.

  At his approach the acolyte Mom was speaking to, respectively bowed her head. Dad ignored the woman completely, focusing solely on Mom. He wrapped his arms around her middle and forced her to turn into him.

  She protested for a solid five seconds before he said something that had her putting her hands on his shoulders.

  This wasn’t anything new. They had never hidden their oddly endearing way of loving each other. I’d moved into one of the cabins on the compound for that reason alone. Hearing your mom and dad go at it like jackrabbits nearly every night was traumatizing.

  I squeezed past Luce and Butch to go find out what was going on since none of them seemed inclined to do so.

  Nyx followed only after Butcher tried to take hold of her hand.

  Dad saw me first, repositioning Mom so that she was tucked under his arm.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, glancing between the two of them.

  “The kids snuck off the compound, and no one knows where they are,” Dad replied, “Jesse and Makayla are missing too.”

  “When you say kids, is Samael included?” Nyx inquired.

  “He went too, sweetie,” my Mom softly responded.

  “Yeah, I thought so,” Nyx quipped. “I’m gonna go find my mom,” she then said to me.

  I nodded, watching her set off in the direction of the main house.