Twisted Empire - Episode 25&26

 

TWISTED EMPIRE

Twisted Empire - Episode 25&26

(Her Blade, His Neck )

________________________

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or reposted in any form, or by any means without a written permission from the author.

Copyright © 2025 

by Naomi Cindy B.

__________________________

The last utterance only cracked more fireworks in Teal's skull, and they're so powerful that her head nearly exploded.

He could talk about her criminal uncles cos yes... they're criminals who sells illegal weapons.

He could talk about her cos yes...she was once a thief who sneaked big paintings to forge their fakes.

But her parents?

Nahh.. How dare he mention them?

She won't allow that. Not tonight, not ever.

The iPad she's holding was the first thing she threw at him, but Four moved fluidly out of the way, and the iPad smashed on the wall.

She took the table lamp and flung it too, but as a night terror that he is, he also moved out of the way, and the lamp smashed on the flat screen, shattering the screen to pieces.

"Son of a cûnt!" She shouted, limping to him with painful steps.

She lifted her hand to his face for the purpose of a slap, but he caught the hand and dragged it down, then he intentionally hit his kneecap on her bandaged leg.

"F-+-uc-k!!...I hate you c+nt! I hate you!!" She shrieked as pains crushed her existence, and blood covered her bandage.

Four's hand found it's way to her throat, and just the way he likes, he belted her throat, holding her in a killer chokehold before slamming her back on the shattered flat screen.

She didn't make a sound, but hot shots of the painful breaths escaped her nose as their eyes clashed.

She should be fighting him right now, she should be making this cliff edge bleed on the face right now, but she can't risk it.

She's not fully strengthened cos of her ongoing healing process, and he already made the wound start bleeding.

If she tries to attack him like this, he'd surely target her wound again.

He's a type of bastard who'd do anything to get what he wants...even if it includes hurting her badly.

He has said it before, and he's only acting it out right now.

She stayed still, and her neck stings as his palm continued holding it in place, blocking air from her lungs and saliva from her throat.

"You were gonna slap me?" He muttered, his face concocting into something between a smirk and a snicker.

"The last person who touched me is rotting away in his grave right now, you might wanna keep those hands away from my face" he continued, his finger pads burning her skin as her back grated the shattered screen.

"How could you mention my parents, jerk? Ridicule me anyhow you want, but involving my parents? I won't take it from you no matter who you are! You have their legendary paintings in your secret room so you should accord them some respect! I won't have a coward speak low of my parents" she said, making sure their eyes are on point as she said each word with difficulty.

Her face is red as all blood circulated on the surface.

"Coward?" Four let go of her throat, and she stood on one leg as she faced him properly.

Her neck has his fingerprints, so she began caressing it with her own cold fingers.

"Yeah... coward. You locked yourself in your room for years? Only cowards exude that quality! I believe no matter what happens to humans, the best thing to do is talk it out with family or friends or educate oneself! But the fact that you lid up your own face inside your room for several years only means you're a coward! You passed the coward test with flying colours! And now I wonder if you're really fit to be the leader of the Maelstrom squad cos a coward shouldn't even step the military grounds at all! You should have stayed in your room forever and never come out. People don't deserve the curse of seeing your face!" She said without thinking.

She poured the words out at once.

She spit them out like balls of fire without minding who'd get burnt.

Well there's only one person she directed it at, and even if he burns to death, she doesn't give a damn.

And it seems it worked cos right now, Four is looking at her with coloured eyes, tight lips and knotted expression all in one.

He looks tongue-ripped, and she loves it. If only she could stay here and watch that look all night.

"I'll return to my suite" she said with unfelt calm, and then she went to grab the bag of antidote from the center table.

Now that the wound has bled, she'd have to reapply it so the healing process will start from the beginning.

That's how her uncles antidotes work.

Blood mustn't interfere with the process or it'd alter it.

She limped out of the unit, slamming the front door shut like she has a beef with it.

Even after she left, Four stayed where he is, and the redness in his eyes worsened every millisecond like he's gonna wolf out or something.

He became unbalanced, so he had to hold the table for balance as the remote fell from him.

His head suddenly felt like a whole market is in it as it got so noisy, and his knuckles turned white as his grab on the table got wilder.

The words he heard throughout his stay in his room began replaying in his head like a ghost melody...

"Come on out, Four" (said my Yulia)

"Please just step out" (said by Pedro)

"You haven't seen the sun for how many years now, bro" (this was said by Axel)

"You haven't seen the moon or the stars, and the big dipper that you like" (said by Sierra)

Despite these persuasions, he stayed inside with no hope of outing till the letter with Teal's name slid into his room, and he had to come out for reasons best known to him.

But now...

Why does it feel like that same lady is out to unravel him?

He never allows anyone under his skin. Never.

Before you can get under his skin, he'd have embedded himself far below your endodermis like a worm, and that's why even if he spent all his life in his room, he knows just the right information about anyone.

He'd plan anyone's doom in silence.

To others, power is strength, but to him, information is—and the ability to mask up your intentions.

But why the f+ck is she disrupting the later?

By now, almost all is neck veins are out, and he's still holding the table edge as sweat soaked his face.

He left the table and walked fast to the painting room, kicking the door open and entering into solace.

He stood in the middle of the room and shut his eyes, allowing the paintings to calm him down as usual.

By the time he opened his eyes, his sweat and veins are gone, and the redness is gone from his eyes too, just a slight colouring right now.

He walked closer to his favorite painting — the big dipper, and he touched it, running his fingertips on the ink as usual.

Truly, every painting in this room has the Ambrose couple signature—a black butterfly.

But this particular big dipper painting has a smaller butterfly signature, and it looks almost childish.

A small smile tried to pry his lips apart as he stared at it, but he never allowed it cos his face froze back.

--

[City Of Athens, Mirza Hotel]

Morgan is n+ked, laying shamelessly in bed while checking out the gifts Quentin brought her.

They f+cked till midnight, and the bedspread is stained with c+m in many places, but she doesn't mind.

She just kept unboxing the gifts, and her smile kept going an inch broader as she beheld each item.

There's perfume, big-cup br@ to replace the one he destroyed last time, lace panties and body lotions.

"There was no need for all these, Quentin" she pouted as Quentin came out of the bathroom, n+ked too with water sheening on him.

"You said a Specialist called Allegra will allow you take these things into your barracks, so why not?" He said.

"I know..." She continued pouting, getting down from the bed and coming to him.

"But I don't want you to spent too much on me anymore. All these are expensive products, and you did too much for me when we were in Kalynda too" she said, her n+pples stabbing his chest.

"I love spoiling my girl?" Quentin caressed her bottom lip, and she chuckled, sharing a kiss with him.

He broke it fast, though.

"You said Allegra gave you two hours, but this is already 12 midnight!"

"So what? You don't expect me to come all the way from that base and spend just two hours with you. I'll just cook up a lie for her that the bike was problematic or something. I'm not leaving till tomorrow cos I'm still not ok with the three rounds you gave me" she replied.

"You're the Sheriff's daughter, and Kalynda might not be a big town, but news fly fast. What if someone reports you to your mum? You know she's hot-tempered" Quentin said.

"Wait...are you saying you want me to leave? You got another girl? Is that it?" Morgan stepped back, but he pulled her back by the arse.

"No no no... I'm just worried" he said.

"Let me worry about my own safety, and all you have to worry about is how to f+ck me till daybreak" she replied, smiling as she pushed all the gifts away from the bed.

She lay on it and her legs went wide.

"Come get your kitty" she winked, and he pounced on her, his hairy d+ck prickling her puxxy face.

"You won't even allow me shave, you weird thing" he said.

"I love when your hair pricks me down there when doing it, so always keep it hairy for me. Oh yeah!" Morgan sounded as he entered her.

--

[Military Base, Teal's Suite]

After rebadging the wound with the perilla leaves and bandages, Teal felt more at peace with herself.

She flung the antidote bag somewhere and lay on the big leather couch, taking out her phone.

The time is some minutes past 1am, and yet...she's still not feeling sleepy.

She almost decided to go join the others at the intellectual hall, but she discarded the idea very fast.

She didn't  start with them, so going by this time would just disrupt the peace of the class.

Besides, Four tutored her well, so no need stressing herself.

She began scrolling around on her mobile contacts.

There are only certain phone numbers saved.

Rook's, Brent's, her uncles, Shannon and April, then her late parents.

Yes...she still has her late parents line even though it's not in existence anymore.

Sometimes she just loves calling the lines to hear the disappointing... 'the line does not exist'

She sighed and looked up at the ceiling as if she can see them.

"Why did you both have to betrothe me to a unlikable jerk like him? Is that like my punishment for letting you both die cruelly in the forest that night? Huh?" She muttered, biting the side of her lip.

She was about to turn off the phone when she sighted the last number on her phone.

Correction; the first number.

Her uncles made sure to put Four's number as the first one on speed dial even before she left her hometown, and it's still there for a reason she doesn't even know.

It's saved as just 4—he's as insignificant as that anyways.

"YOU'RE A COWARD!" 

The words she said to him sounded in her head, and she sighed.

"He shouldn't have talked about my parents that way. He deserves it" she muttered, but then her eyes widened.

She sat up on the couch.

"How do I go to the mission? I can't take permission from the General again, it has to come directly from Four himself but I've ruined every chance! Damn!" She shot, standing from the couch.

She began limping around the room, thinking about ways to retrace her steps.

She said too much, so there's barely anyway to fix this.

"Gawd!!" She covered her face with her palms, falling back on the couch.

--

[Next Morning]

Dawn cracked like an egg, and morning slipped in easily. It's a snow-free morning, and it's the start of a new month today, but the weather is cold as usual.

The Privates look exhausted as they lined out of the intellectual hall, some holding jotters and others holding sleep in their eyes, waiting to be dozed off.

Brent is actually swaying as he walked, and Rook had to hold him very tight so he won't fall.

Theo is far behind them, and as he watched Rook's arm around Brent, his fingernails whitened like he lost all blood, and he had to quickly look sideways.

"Wait for me, dummies!" Shannon ran after the two.

Allegra appeared in their path, and she grabbed Stormy by the arm, dragging her to a side.

"Good morning" Stormy said.

"And what's good about the morning? Where the fûck is your dick-starved friend? I gave her two hours but she's not back yet? Since last night?" Allegra replied.

"She probably has a problem with the bike, Morgan never breaks promises" Stormy replied, and Allegra scoffed.

"A problem with my bike? I've been using it for a year and my bike is one of a kind with the warranty! No problem, and you're giving me shit?" Allegra replied.

"I'll call her" Stormy quickly said, getting her phone.

Immediately she dialled Morgan's line, Allegra saw April and Skye few inches away, and she literally flew there, blocking them.

"What is it, Allegra?" April asked.

Well... that was replied with a punch to April's face from Allegra.

"The f+ck!" Skye pushed Allegra back, and Allegra punched him too, giving him a sharp jaw cut.

"You both think you have the right to supervise the Privates? Specialists aren't allowed to supervise, and even if that rule changes, I'll be the only one with the supervision rights cos you both are nothing both lowly dirty dogs who lost their sparks already!" Allegra snarled.

April pushed Skye aside, then she came forward with bloody lips and tainted smirk.

"Save today's date in your head, you'll never forget" she said.

Allegra didn't get a warning before April grabbed her by the hair, smashing her face to the ground.

Allegra rolled on the steps, but the moment she lifted her posture, she dragged April down with herself, kneeling her in the neck before landing two blinding punches on her face.

April bled from underneath her teeth, but despite the pains bursting through her blood, she raised her legs behind, scissoring Allegra's neck and flinging her away.

Allegra thudded on the snow heavily, and April removed the thick rubber band in her hair, forcing it into Allegra's neck and choking her with the pull.

Allegra's legs wriggled on the ground, and her eyes rolled as blood pooled in her face, coating it.

Saliva drooled out of her lips, and by the time the rubber band got cut, she was already powerless.

April pounded her face into the snow again, twice, thrice...

Repeatedly till Allegra's blood escaped her nostrils and face, colouring April's fists.

All these while, Skye just stood and watched like a spectator. 

So far his girlfriend is winning, there's no use interfering.

April stood and kicked Allegra's body out of the way.

"Told ya to save today's date, don't forget it" she said, then Skye finally pulled her out of the face.

Allegra coughed out blood, eating snow in the process.

Her bike drove to a stop beside her almost immediately, and Morgan came down from it.

"Specialist Allegra?" Her eyes widened.

"Specialist! Someone help!!"

--

[Teal's Suite]

Teal felt the easiness in her leg this morning. 

The healing process went well, and now she can walk without limping, though there's still lingering pains inside, but she only has to wait till the end of today. They'd disappear.

And another cool thing? Her uncles are here, and they didn't come empty-handed.

They came with a bike for her as if they read her mind. It's a new model, colour brown.

That's the only problem she has with it. Why does it have to be that shady colour?

Well she'd enjoy riding it, and she'd imagine his face as the tyres.

She has a pretty smile on her small face as she checked out the details, and she was giggling as she held the handlebars.

"Vroom!!" She made the sound with her mouth, biting her lip as she giggled again.

Uncle Dave and Paul are just behind her, watching with larger smiles.

"Seeing her smile warmly like that makes me happy. I can't get over the fact that she's her father's carbon copy. She inherited everything about that man, including the smile type" Uncle Paul said.

"I know, right? But doesn't she still blame herself for their deaths? It's not her fault, but she wouldn't listen" Uncle Dave replied, taking a sip from his can of warm draft beer.

"Has she ever listened to anyone?" Uncle Paul replied, and Dave laughed.

His laughter made Teal face them.

"If you think I've forgiven you for sending me here just because of this bike, then erase it" she said.

"The bike is yours, big lady. It's not to buy forgiveness" Dave said, and she made faces.

"Battery!" Rook's happy voice made her look ahead, and she was overjoyed to see him coming with Brent.

"Rookie!" She hollered, rushing to give him a tight hug.

"How's your leg?" He asked.

"It's healing, thanks to the antidote. I'm barely feeling any pain right now" Teal replied, and Rook breathed in relief.

"I missed you Battery" he said.

Teal scattered his hair, making him giggle before she hugged Brent too.

"The tutorial was boring without you. Sergeant Kash was so hard on us and he made me stand from 4 to 7am just because I was sleeping" Brent complained, and Teal laughed, stroking his hair too.

"You're like a child despite these manly features" she said.

"You're the only one who understands me" he replied, and now it's the uncles turn to laugh.

"He's interesting" Uncle Dave said.

"Hey!" Shannon appeared, and she didn't expect it when Teal pulled her into a hug too.

"That's totally... unexpected" she said with a smile, hugging her back.

"Glad your leg seems fine" she said.

"Very fine, where's April?" Teal asked.

"Skye has been stealing her time, she's probably with him" Shannon replied.

Brent pushed Shannon away from her, taking her place.

Shannon pushed him too, and soon, the two began fighting for space.

Teal exchanged glances with Rook, and they laughed at once.

The uncles watched from a distance, knowing that even if a lotta people hate Teal for her bossy, domineering personality, there are still people who love her like this.

--

[General's Office]

Four wasn't surprised when he met Sergeant Kash waiting inside the office with Pedro already.

Pedro is someone who likes undressing the truth face-to-face, so he probably brought Kash to clear things up by himself.

He took his seat beside Kash, and Kash stood to salute...

"Sit down" For said before he could do it, and Kash sat with a simple bow.

"He called to ask why you get low salary monthly, gist him" Pedro said sassily, and Kash went silent at first, bracketing his fingers.

"Cassie and Shannon...they have a sick father who's living with life support in the hospital. They were barely surviving when I met them. Cassie worked in an ad store cos she didn't go to school, and Shannon couldn't finish schooling. I liked Cassie at first sight and i decided to marry her, then I suggested she sent Shannon over to the military so her expenses would be taken care of in the base." He explained.

"And?" Four said.

"And I offered to pay for the monthly maintenance of their father's life support machine. I made a deal with the government, so I only get quarter of my salary, and the remaining part is payed directly to the hospital account" Kash explained.

"Entertaining love story" Four muttered dryly.

Kash eventually left the office, and Pedro ordered for the largest gin bottle which was brought by one of the sergeants by the door.

"I said we'd talk over gin" the old man smiled.

"About what?" Four's face went flat.

"The years you spent in your room?" Pedro replied, pouring him a cup.

Four rolled eyes.

--

Uncle Dave and Paul finally decided to leave at 10.

They'd have to ride a taxi to the airport for their flight.

Luckily, they found a taxi at the cantonment garage, and they were about to enter when the taxi was stopped by a bigger car.

Yulia came out of the car and removed her big black shades, then she walked closer to the two.

"It's been a while, inseparable Dave and Paul" she smiled.

"Do we have something to talk about, Lady Yulia?" Dave smiled back, but Paul remaining frank.

"Your baby is my son's wife, and though they're still hating on each other, I think you both owe me drinks anytime we meet" Yulia replied.

"We weren't there when you made a deal with her parents to get Teal married to your son, we were only following their wishes. Whatever secret is between you and her late parents, keep it hidden if it's a secret that's gonna hurt Teal. I'm a criminal, and killing anyone who hurt her is as easy as cake" Paul said.

"Loosen up, Paul. It's just a drink" Yulia said, hiding a lot under her velvety voice as she opened her car door.

"Hop in" she tilted her head towards the car.

The uncles got in, and she returned her shades to her eyes before joining them.

--

[Communal Dinning]

It's dinnertime, and it came as early as 6pm today, surprisingly.

The Privates literally jumped on the dinning tables.

They're already filling their mouths with juicy foods, and at the same time, gists flew about.

"I heard someone beat Specialist Allegra up" Brent said, twirling his pasta with his fork.

"Someone?" April asked innocently, taking a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

Everyone on that table is eating pasta.

"Yeah, anonymous" Brent replied.

"Well I hope she stays wounded forever" April replied, and Skye smiled beside her, knowing she's just feigning innocence.

"Soo..the president's son is arriving in the city tonight too" Brent said again.

"Seriously? I can't wait for the next mission tomorrow. Maybe he'll be handsome enough to take my d+ck" Rook jovially said just when Theo is passing by that table.

Theo settled on the table behind then, and Brent leaned closer to Rook.

"I can feel the energy shift, what's up?" He whispered.

"Nothing, and don't ask again" Rook replied.

Brent looked back at Theo for a bit, noticing that his right hand is trembling a bit.

"He has hand tremor?" He muttered.

"What?" Rook asked.

"Nothing" Brent replied, concentrating back on his food.

"It feels so good to be back!" Teal's loud voice boomed as she joined the table with her tray of food.

She has veggie lasagna and burgers in her plate, different from everyone.

"I've been waiting for you!" Shannon smiled up at her.

"How's your leg?" April asked.

"Hey April, my leg is fine, the wound only has to close up" Teal smiled.

"I finally got to meet you, Lady-T" Skye spoke.

"Oh... April's boyfie? Nice to meet you" Teal replied with an hyperactive tone, and Skye nodded at her.

"Her smile is contagious, I love it" Shannon said in admiration.

"So you're not going for the mission tomorrow?" Rook asked.

Teal's happiness got robbed away instantly. 

Yeah...she's not going, cos she had a messy exchange of words Four, and...

Wait...

Her eyes shadowed, and a tricky smile pilfered into her features.

"What are you thinking?" April asked.

"You have a makeup kit and any new girly clothes I can borrow?" Teal asked.

"Yeah...I have lots in my footlocker, makeup kit too" April replied, and Teal forsook her food.

She rushed out of the hall, and everyone exchanged glances.

"What's she up to?" Brent muttered.

Skye received a text almost immediately... From Axel.

•Meet me at the training ground.

"I'll be right back" Skye stood, and before April could follow him, he was already out.

April sighed as the rest devoured the rest of their food in silence.

From one of the middle table of the hall, Abbey and Paine sat, and Abbey is holding his phone up.

"I'm not seeing Morgan and Stormy anywhere" he said anxiously.

"They're probably with Allegra, heard Allegra got beat up" Paine shrugged.

"Whatever, I'm posting Morgan's full video now" Abbey said.

"Press the button, scatter the base!" Paine laughed.

"1...2...3!" Abbey counted before pressing UPLOAD.

--

[Master Sergeant's Unit]

Thanks to his electrical engineering skills, Four was quick to replace the broken flat screen with another.

He fixed it himself.

He's in front of it right now, navigating the screen again.

The president's son will arrive to the country in an hour, and he must still visit the president's mansion tonight after his arrival.

He has to be ahead Usman this time.

Tomorrow, he has to win.

He set a timer for the arrival of the president's son.

If he's arriving in an hour, then in thirty minutes time, he has to be on his way to the president's mansion.

He dropped the remote, and the doorbell rang.

He strolled leisurely to the door and checked the intercom to see who.

The person he saw made him scowl deeply.

He has seen several shades of Teal, but this one is new.

She's wearing full makeup, and her lips are insanely red with lipstick. It fits her though.

Her lashes are extra dark with mascara, and she made obvious touches on her brows too.

There are star sprays at the corners of her eyes, and her backless top is not too tight, but the skirt is short...barely reaching her mid-thigh.

He pulled the door open, and Teal flashed him a full smile which nearly blinded him.

Her plan is to play the game of seduction with him till he'd allow her to join tomorrow's mission.

She heard somewhere that seduction would crack even the hardest man open.

She didn't talk—no sound, she just kept walking towards him, making sure her fingers are ready.

She'd seduce him, make him high on her touches, then when he agrees to let her join, she'd stop and escape.

Perfect.

She stretched her hands forward, holding his bulgy arms and tracing the veins on it with her fingertips.

He's wearing a flannel shirt, so it was easy, and Four himself didn't make a move too.

He's watching her through his lashes, but there's a smirk on his lips that refused to disappear.

Her hands moved to his chest, unbuttoning the first button of his shirt and bringing her lips there to kiss his skin. Her lipstick left a print.

He didn't move.

She licked his chest skin up to his neck, and she ran her warm tongue over his Adam's apple.

her heels  added to her height, so she's tall enough to reach him.

She kissed his Adam's apple wetly, and her lips left prints on it too.

All these while, the door is open, and they're by the door, both standing while she ministered on his body.

She kissed the side of his neck and licked up the imprints she left, painting chills with her tongue.

Still...she heard no sound from this man. Is he a tree?

Seriously? 

She moved to the next level, sliding her hands down his body with wild abandon, to his thighs. 

She left heat on his laps with her smooth palms, and she made sure to hold eyes with his fiery eyes as she moved from his thighs to his back where she drew invisible line on his backline with her short nails.

He's still staring down at her like she's some bird starving for grains.

His eyes are unreadable—as usual. Holding nothing to detect.

She bit her lip, then she moved her mouth to his ear, biting it teasingly.

"You're so hellishly hot" she whispered, biting his ear softly again.

He's supposed to make a move now unless he's celibate.

Why is this man still like this? 

She mastered the moves well before coming here so why?

She didn't stop, she's not a loser.

She licked his neck vein, riding her soft hands back to his laps.

She caressed his thighs, masterfully.

Her hand touched his gun in the process, and she held it.

The deadly weapon is poking his slacks pants from his front pocket.

"Your gun is hot too, like the owner" she whispered, caressing the gun while biting his neck gently.

And then the first word came, unexpectedly from him...

"That's not a gun, Teal" he said, calmly.

"Ohh...shit!" 

TBC.

Next Episode 

Previous Episode