THE TORMENTOR 2
THE MASKED
The Masked - Episode 21&22
( Where•are•you, Ixora? )
Book 2 in the Mindf+ck Trilogy
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With a swift swirl, Ixora landed another kick on Evelyn's face.
Her boot must be so hard cos Evelyn's tooth got crushed, entering her gum and causing her to scream again as pains travelled across her skull.
Mykel's eyes width already stopped, but Warren's eyes are still wide as he watched the torture.
It's her.
The girl he ruined.
His mind tuned out the sound of Evelyn's cries, and he placed his whole focus on Ixora who looks like she just got reborn in her persona.
She has a dark side—it has always been there, but she has always been trying to bury it too.
Even when she killed Anastasia and the man she killed in Capetown, she wasn't as ruthless as this.
The flame rising in her eyes could scathe anyone, and he's already getting burnt.
"Wasn't expecting to meet you here, you only texted me about the fire, you didn't tell me you'd mete out her judgement today. I never knew you already figured out her new face" Mykel broke the silence, entering the room and leaving Warren outside by the door.
"Dad made a fast move last night, and if I didn't make this move today, this bîtch would have flown out of the country" Ixora replied, bunching up her hair in a twisted bun.
She removed a pen from Rafael's pocket and hooked the bun with it to hold it in place.
Evelyn is still crying bitterly on the ground, the teeth in her gum so heartlessly painful as blood formed a drool out of her open mouth.
"Is he him? The boy you told me about last night?" Rafael asked, referring to Mykel.
"Yeah, the boy at the mill, owner of this ring." Ixora replied, raising her finger to flaunt the ring.
Warren's eyes twitched repeatedly by the door, and his chest constricted so much that he felt every part of the squeeze. He couldn't move nor talk, it's like everything is rendering him immobile.
"Mykel Thorne? Aren't you the son of Mr. Aleksandr Thorne? The mafia man" Rafael smiled.
"Yes sir" Mykel awkwardly replied, the words sticky in his mouth.
"I met your father at a bar some nights ago, he's cool" Rafael continued, patting Mykel on the shoulder.
"And you're the one who protected her at the mill back then? I should have met you earlier than now" Rafael continued, his admiration for Mykel so clear in his eyes.
Ixora smiled.
"I didn't play fair though...I trapped her with a deal. Told her I'd only save her friend from Russia if she gets engaged to me." Mykel confessed on the spot.
"And you think I couldn't have broken the engagement after Nadine returned if I didn't want it? We both want it, so quit that guilt" Ixora said.
Rafael smiled again and gave him another shoulder pat, then he returned his eyes to Evelyn who's still suffering on the ground.
"Oh you have no idea what you're about to encounter" Ixora said, dragging her up.
Mykel and Rafael took her from Ixora, then they both dragged her out of the room.
Ixora got her documents before following them.
Warren was already gone by the time they got out. It's like he vanished or something.
Mykel pushed Evelyn into the trunk of Rafael's car, then Rafael hopped in that car with Ixora.
"Meet us at home?" Ixora said, peeking out at him through the window.
Mykel gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Sure" he nodded, and she winded up as Rafael drove off.
Mykel looked around for any sign of Warren, but none was detected.
He doesn't have his number, so when he took his phone out to text him, he gave up.
He almost returned his phone to his pocket, but then he saw a new text from 'Beatrice'
Beatrice: We should meet, it's almost time.
He stared at the text for long before entering his car.
--
[Mykel's Place]
Warren had to leave when the pressure was getting much.
He's not the type to give in to pressure, but with her? He couldn't handle it, plus the heat.
And reality.
He had no idea how unprepared he was, till he saw her.
He ruined her—destroyed her totally, and now that she bounced back, she wouldn't possibly run into his arms, right?
He wasn't expecting that, actually. But the coldness surrounding her? It was lethal, and he wouldn't wanna even ruin her moment.
His rights and assets are already lost.
He's very sure she'd have started experiencing night blindness too cos ...
He actually...
He gave her the shot.
Yes he did.
Last year when he kidnapped her from the school pool and took her to the mossy forest.
Before she woke up, he already injected her, and only the guys are aware.
He almost began crying, but his one eye hurts, so the wounded eye took the brunt and started bleeding, staining the patch.
He brought out his ecstasy pills bottle from his pocket, pouring two into his mouth while caressing his mid-stomach.
He was still swallowing when Mykel came inside.
"You ok?" He asked.
"Don't throw a pity party" Warren replied, and Mykel smirked, coming closer.
"I love her" he said.
"Stop f+ckin talking" Warren replied, his one eye glary.
"I might have conned her into agreeing to the engagement, but that's because I was actually insecure. I thought her feelings for you would be reawakened the moment she sets eyes on you, so I wanted to make a move, and it was the only thing that came to mind" Mykel explained, and Warren stood.
"And what the f+ck are you explaining to me? Why didn't you fight me back yesterday? Why did you agree for me to stay here without putting up a fight? Why did you protect me on the concert night? The fûck are you hiding?" He said suspiciously.
"I promised to meet Mr. Rhodes and Ixora at home, so I have to go now" Mykel said quickly, exiting the house.
Warren fell back on the couch, his eye slamming shut as the second one hurts like hell.
--
[Stonia's Mansion]
Serena is in the living room, a cup of coffee in hand which she can't even drink from since she's so full of thoughts right now.
She's tracing her finger on the rim of the cup, and she's staring into space.
Stonia is on a call regarding the signing-over ceremony as she came downstairs, but when she saw Serena gawking, she ended the call.
"My love, thought you had class today? You're not going to campus?" She asked, and Serena looked up slowly, then she dropped her cup and stood.
"I've been thinking, the grocery store got burnt, and Elsa's body burnt to ashes with it, but her mask was found without getting burnt? How's that possible?" She said, and Stonia held her face.
"Oh dear, even after her death she's still stressing you out? If she's not dead, she's probably in coma somewhere, and she'd still die cos the fire isn't mild. I'm just happy she's gone, I dunno why you hired her in the first place" she said.
Serena forced herself to smile.
"Fine, I'll go to school then" she said.
"I'll see you at noon" Stonia replied, and she nodded, then she went upstairs to dress up.
She's gonna go to Dr. Fat's office first, so she dialled his line, but it's unavailable.
She dialled his office line, and ot was a resident doctor who picked.
"The hell is Dr. Fat?" She asked.
"You mean Dr. Argent? He went on a vacation" the doctor replied and hung up.
Serena scoffed, biting her lip.
"And he didn't tell me? Gawdd!!" She hardened her bones, leaving the house.
She was dialling Winter's line as she got into her car, but it's switched off.
"Bethel forsook the friendship for her brother, and Winter is now unavailable too?" She scoffed.
"I'm the one to blame for rooting with pests" she said, getting perfume from her bag which she sprayed herself with.
Her driver was holding his breaths in the front cos despite the perfume, she smells.
--
[Rafael's Mansion]
Thankfully, there's a backspace in the mansion where a doghouse is.
Rafael used to like dogs, but his work schedule made him stop, so the large doghouse is empty.
Evelyn is tied inside, sitting on the ground. Blood is still flooding her chest and mouth, and she's crying.
Her property documents are with Ixora, and she's nodding repeatedly as she checked them out.
"Wow, so these are the properties your mum killed your dad for?" she commented.
"You can have all the properties!!! Let me go" Evelyn cried, and Ixora's eyes lifted to her with force.
"You're audaciously sick, and I aim to treat that sickness" she said, then she got a fire lamp from a waiting tray of items.
She lightened it and threw it into the doghouse. The fire caught Evelyn's hair at the back, and she had to start hitting her head on the gate, trying to put out the fire since her hands and legs are chained.
"Please!!! Please!!!! Put it out!!! Put it...nhaa!!!"
Rafael got a bowl of water and poured it inside the house, cooling her off, but the fire already burnt a part of her scalm, and the flesh is out.
"Please.... please.... Please...." She muttered, saliva pouring out of her mouth.
"Is that what your late mum did with Matron? Target rich men and get closer to them to snatch their riches. Now I get why your mother tried to seduce me at the bar" Rafael said.
"She was only trying to survive!!!" Evelyn cried, shaking against the gate and chains.
"Make me understand" Ixora replied, bending in front of the gate.
"Dad was planning to donate his riches to Creed foundation after his death, and mum saw the documents. He has me as a daughter and mum as a wife, but he wanted to donate his riches? Mum got angry and planned his death! At the same time, I was angry that Warren turned me down!! Matron was mum's friend, and when mum told her about our plan, we decided to use Warren and Ixora since Matron wants Elder Creed's riches too, and Warren might be an obstacle. So...we planned, we hypnotized you to testify, and it worked!!" Evelyn confessed.
"Looking at you right now has to be the hardest thing I've ever done, all my life" Ixora muttered, then she took another fire lamp, turned it on and threw it into the doghouse again.
Unluckily for Serena, the water Rafael poured inside the doghouse earlier contained a mix of gasoline, so her legs caught the fire first, burning viciously.
Her cry of agony resumed with teeth gnashing—fully fledged.
She was kicking and shaking and screaming, but that did nothing to the fire.
"Think about our friendship!! We were once friends, Ixora!! Please!!!!"
That statement only made things worse.
Ixora inserted her hand into the metal gate of the doghouse and pulled the remaining hair on Evelyn's head, hard.
Very hard, till the hair pulled off on her palm, together with a large part of Evelyn's scalp.
Her blood bursted, and the fire spread to her hips.
"No no!!!! No!!!!" Her blood spilled into the fire, and Ixora laughed, enjoying her pains than a spring show.
Her laughter surprised Rafael, and he took a look at her, the darkness in her eyes immeasurable.
She looks like a hell bell.
Daughter of darkness.
And the fact that he's not scared right now only means he knows what he gave birth to, and it'd be a lie if he says he doesn't enjoy this side of her.
Maybe he's wrecked too.
He smiled as he watched her laugh, and when the fire got to Evelyn's midsection, Ixora poured real water on her to put it out, and Evelyn fainted on the ground.
Half-burnt body, peeled burnt head, and agonized teary face.
"Gather enough energy, next round is coming soon" Ixora said, smiling at Evelyn's messed up body.
"You satisfying your rage enough?" Rafael asked her.
"Little by little" Ixora replied, then she held his arm and they both turned to leave, only to be met my Mykel who's standing behind.
"Glad to see you're satisfying your rage" he said.
"Want some lunch? Dad's a good cook" she replied.
"I didn't pay for this advert" Rafael said, and Ixora chuckled, leaving him to go hold Mykel.
She dragged him inside the house, and Rafael followed behind.
While Rafael cooked in the kitchen, Ixora took Mykel upstairs to her room.
She opened her wardrobe and brought out her own scrabble piece which has 'Mykel' on it.
"I kept it" she smiled.
Mykel brought his piece out of his pocket, biting his lip.
"I knew it" he said, and Ixora hugged him.
"Which we could go back to the mill for a date" she purred.
"A picnic at the mill? How's that sound?" Mykel asked, and she nodded.
"Of course, we'll do that before our wedding"
--
[Bova Street, Monty's Former House]
Since her father's death, Monty left the house but kept the memories intact on every inch.
She has been here with Ashton and Bronx since yesterday, and they've been doing the joint search for any clue, but they found none.
It's a big stacked house, so even with the three of them, they're only just finishing.
Nothing helpful found.
"I suggest we search for the second time" Ashton said.
Before he even talked, Monty already started from the beginning again.
The old computers and cables, the documents and blog devices, the wall signs.
Ashton joined her, searching frantically too, but Bronx just stood behind, his guilt ballooning.
He knows they're never gonna find anything. The cult never leaves traces on the victim. Never.
And to think he knows the leader and still searched for clues with them since last night, he could only see himself as cruel.
His fingers were cramping as he mustered courage.
"Stop" he muttered, and Ashton turned, but Monty kept fishing.
"Stop!" Bronx shouted again, and Monty stood, glaring.
"What?"
Bronx's eyes shifted to Ashton, then he spoke.
"The bullet found on her dead father's body is a silver line bullet" he said, and Ashton's eyes widened too.
He understood immediately. Only one person uses that.
"What's going on?" Monty asked, looking from one brother to another.
--
[Satan's Heirs Hideaway]
"What did you say father made you do?" Carina asked, not ready to give up even after everything has died down.
"Not again, and this is why anytime I see you, my first thought is killing you" Konstantin said.
He's playing chess with Anfisa while Nadine sat beside him as their audience.
Capri is standing beside the wall, and his head is low.
"Talk to me! Say something motherfûcker! Who did Hawke make you kill! Who was it!" Chicago shouted.
Angrily, Konstantin pushed the chess board away and stood.
"Carina!" He yelled.
Chicago threw him a knife, and Konstantin quickly ducked, so Anfisa caught the knife and placed an hand on his shoulder.
"Calm" she muttered, then Chicago faced Capri again.
"I'm asking again, who did Hawke made you kill? Tell me! Open your mouth and say who it—"
"Mother!" Capri cut her off, and her eyes widened.
"What!" Chicago stepped back.
Konstantin doesn't look shocked since all the guys know, even Anfisa knows, but Nadine and Chicago? They're beyond it.
"Yeah...I killed mum" Capri repeated.
--
[An Ice Cream Shop]
Mykel entered discreetly, and since he already knows the angle he needs to go, he strode to the corner and sat.
A minute later, Beatrice appeared, sitting in front of him.
"I'm planning to tell the truth soon, so I just wanna let you know. I've carried the guilt for too long, I'm ready to pay" she said.
"I know I'm not the Thorne family son, I know I'm a Creed, but leaving Mariya and Aleksandr? That'd wreck them, their child died." he typed on his phone since Beatrice doesn't understand sign language..
Beatrice read from his phone and nodded.
"I know, but at the same time, the secret can't be hidden forever. You should know that" she said.
Mykel lowered his head.
--
[Three Days Later~Hello Hospital, Bethel's Ward]
Bethel looks like she's already tired of living, and she's only holding on with a thin thread as she lay in bed, expecting death anytime soon.
Her hospital gown is oversized like she was thrown in it, and that worsened her looks.
Clover is beside her, peeling apple on a plate.
"You said there's someone else with cirrhosis who'd keep you company, why are you the only one in this ward?" He said, sadness ridding his voice.
"He still has at least two months to live, I guess he doesn't wanna come stay at the hospital yet" Bethel replied, her voice barely heard.
"Him? A male? Is it someone I know?" Clover asked.
"Yeah, you'd be shocked" Bethel replied with a sorrow-filled smile.
Clover's phone rang, and when he saw it's Romeo, he didn't pick, but then it rang again, so he picked.
"What?" He asked harshly.
"It's time for the fight" Romeo replied, and Clover stood.
"Oh... you've gone feral" he muttered.
--
[Mykel's Place]
Since three days ago, Warren hasn't stepped out of this house. He hasn't seen the sun.
His appointment is set for surgery at the hospital, but he's not even ready to see. What's the use?
He's laying on that same couch, staring up deeply into space when Mykel came downstairs, ready to go style his hair.
It's 6:30pm, so the moon is starting to appear from the mask of the clouds outside.
Tonight is Stonia's signing-over ceremony, and it's starting by 7, but he's not attending.
He's gonna watch from the TV. Rafael has promised to take care of everything with Ixora.
"Wanna go style your hair too?" Mykel asked Warren.
Warren stood from the couch like he has been expecting that question.
He led the way out, and Mykel smiled slightly before following him.
They got in the same car, driving out of the compound together, but they haven't ridden out of that street when their car was egged from every angle.
Especially the windscreen, It blurred it completely.
Mykel lost track of the road line, and the car almost crashed into a side shop, but Warren quickly held the wheel together with him, bringing the car back to lane.
Then they hopped out, only to see they've been surrounded by several street thugs, led by Romeo.
Romeo is sitting on a car trunk, smiling like a selfmade champion.
"Oh...you both are buddies now. Even better. It's finally the reckoning day, and you both better forget every possibility of getting out of here alive" he said, then he faced Warren.
"I told you I'd make you experience seasonal death, it's finally time" he said, then he faced Mykel.
"Long time no see, Mykel Thorne. You'll be getting more than an hammer" he taunted.
The two guys just stood there, staring at Romeo like he's some rapper.
The street thugs behind Romeo moved forward at his order, and the closer they got, the higher Warren's rage built.
His hate for himself made the rage build madly fast, but the ring on Ixora's finger contributed too, and the way she totally ignored him.
Everything contributed, and when the rage finally finished building to explosion point, the street thugs got to them, so he unleashed everything on them.
He removed his eye patch, leaving his wounded eye bare as he gobbled them up, throwing death-trap punches and sick kicks.
Romeo has good taste cos the thugs aren't the soft easy-to-eliminate ones, but still, can anyone stand the rage in his bones right now?
Impossible.
He drew out his scalpel. It's been a while since he used it, and when he began tearing them apart with the blade, blood filled the fresh road.
They began pulling out dangerous weapons too—machete and daggers included, but as they tore him, he tore them uselessly like papers, targeting death points like the neck, the head, and the heart.
While his right hand used his scalpel, his left hand used his punch...two at a time.
Ixora's face in his head turned him even madder, and he tasted blood and grief and metal on his tongue as he stabbed four eyes.
He was stabbed on the side of his stomach, but he didn't remove the knife before tearing off the nose of that thug.
The whole of Mykel's shirt is already bloody and tattered, and he's just as brutal as Warren.
He has a weapon too—brass knuckles, and at every punch, teeth flies off.
He kneeled one, then he elbowed another before pounding his head inside with his brass.
Blood spilled again.
Romeo is still sitting on the car trunk, watching like a king and eating popcorn.
He has paused his popcorn though, cos he's starting to see that Mykel and Warren have the same stamina.
He dropped his popcorn and jumped down from the car, but before he could move an inch, a car stopped on the road, and the rest came out.
Konstantin, Capri, Ashton, Anfisa, and Chicago!
Chicago ran seamlessly to Romeo, grabbed him by the hair and tilted his neck.
She dug her teeth into his neck like a vampire, his neck vein hanging on her teeth as she pulled at his flesh.
Romeo could have died on the spot, but Clover jumped out of another car that just stopped on the road.
He ran into the fight, pushing Chicago away from Romeo, then he secretly inserted Tina's phone in Romeo's back pocket. The phone is already on.
"Go to Hello Hospital, Bethel is dying bastard!" He shouted.
Romeo held his seriously bleeding neck, and when Chicago tried going for him again, Clover blocked her, so she switched to him, thrashing the fûck out of his existence on the tar.
By now,the others already joined the fight too.
The sound of how Konstantin is breaking bones.
The sound of how Ashton is tearing flesh.
The sound of how Capri is ending lives.
The sound of how Anfisa is throwing lives away.
How Mykel and Warren are shedding blood like water.
Everything symphonized the road like a funeral rendition, and it was phenomenal cos every one of them have rages to unleash.
Every single one has anger.
It got worse when Lydia joined the fight too from nowhere. That one isn't interested in fight, she uses her gun, shooting down the motherfûckers since they're too much.
As the fight went on, a ninja woman came to view from a car across the road, watching Warren.
--
[Chocolata Maxima Function Hall]
The signing over ceremony is gonna start in some more minutes, and the hall is already staggeringly full.
Nadine is part of the guests, and she's waiting in wild anticipation.
She got a text to come here and meet Ixora, and she has no idea who it's from, but she had to come see things for herself.
Though... she's wearing a face cap to hide herself from Stonia.
At exactly 7pm, Stonia made her entry with Serena, both beaming like it's their happiest night alive.
Serena literally bathed with perfume. She bought several bottles and bathed with it to mask her smell.
She has no idea how she's supposed to handle this before Dr. Fat's arrival, maybe she's gonna have to continue bathing with perfume.
She's scenting like a perfume store as the applauses from the guests took her and Stonia to the front.
Stonia let go of her, and she had her seat in the middle of the company staffs.
Most of them squeezed their faces cos of the excessively strong perfumes smell coming from her.
Stonia climbed the podium, her smile radiating as she stood with the VAS.
"My daughter might be studying biology, but trust me she's multi-talented and versatile. My bestselling frost chocolate...I got the recipe from her when she was 15, cos she has always been in love with cocoa. Then I promised myself that even if she wouldn't take over, her name will be on my headquarters till I die. And that's happening tonight, join me to welcome my beautiful daughter... Ixora Rhodes, on this stage.." she spoke, and the applauses resumed again.
Serena stood, holding up her dress.
She stretched her hand to Stonia's secretary, and the man helped her up the stage where she walked majestically to Stonia.
Stonia hugged her, the smell of her variety of perfumes almost choked her to death, but she didn't mind.
The secretary opened the paperwork, and thank gawd she has mastered Ixora's signature, she was able to sign correctly.
The reporters were snapping pictures of every process as she signed the four paperwork, then one of the reporters who's wearing a wide hat raised her hand.
"Yes?" Stonia's secretary said.
"I have a question for miss Ixora" the reporter replied.
Stonia and Serena looked up.
"The day you went missing at the mill, was an unforgettable day, wasn't it?" The reporter asked.
"Of course..." Serena blinked.
"So what's the date? And what were you wearing? Where is the mill located at?" The reporter asked.
Serena almost cussed at the reporter, but then she held back since she's sure she knows the answer.
She asked everything from Ixora before they returned to this country.
"It was December 15, I was wearing a knitted sweater on a white gown, and the mill is located at... Beverly Hills" she said.
Stonia's eyes flicked, and Serena smiled awkwardly.
"It was December 1st, and she was wearing a jean jumpsuit and a hoodie! The mill is right beside the slaughterhouse at the second street!" Rafael said, entering the hall.
The reporters turned the cameras to him, and Stonia just stood there, planted on her spot as her throat bobbed.
"Dad...what are you... saying?" Serena said, concealing her shakiness with another awkward smile.
The hell is going on?
"Aren't you a sinful bîtch, Serena Martinez?" The reporter took off her wide hat, and her blonde hair poured out as her face got revealed.
It's Ixora!
"Holy shit!" Nadine shouted, taking off her cap .
Serena couldn't hold her shock, she wasn't breathing as Dr. Fat also came in with her granny from Serbia.
"How're you doing, Serena?" The granny asked sarcastically, and Serena shook her head vehemently as the reporters cameras returned to her face, flashing her like a paid ad.
She turned to Stonia, holding her arms desperately.
"Mum...you believe me, right? They're lying. I'm your daughter, you said it yourself!!!...I'm your —"
That was all she could say before Ixora took off her shoes and suit, then she ran up the stage.
"You shameless whore! Fuckin slût! Smelly cûnt!" She furiously cussed, running towards her.
The hall erupted with screams from the guests and reporters who're feeding their hungry cameras...
Serena hid behind Stonia, but that didn't save her cos when Ixora got to her, she pushed Stonia away.
The guests yelped.
* Ow shit!
* What!!
* Oh no!!
"Yes!! Xoxo wound her! Bloody her up! I love you!" Nadine shouted supportively from the crowd.
Serena began running out of the stage, but that was fruitless too cos Ixora removed the belt from her own suit trouser, curving it on Serena's neck from behind and pulling her back with it.
She easily threw Serena on the stage pulpit, and the pulpit shattered completely. One of the glasses pierced Serena's lip, splitting it into two...
"Ouuaahhhhh!!!!!"
TBC.
Interesting😘
ReplyDeleteInteresting pls we want more
DeleteMore pls 🥺
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