Page 2 of Scarred Sacrifice
Banging echoes again and again.“Mor! It’s important,” I hear Eden call out. I blink before rubbing my eyes, exhaling a breath.
“What is it?” I ask, squinting. I lean up on my elbows and look down at the tangle of legs with mine.
Eden walks in, her eyes taking in the scene before her. She sighs, rolling her eyes. “Do you think you could not keep all the lap dogs to yourself? Some of us would like to get laid too, you know,” she complains.
I smirk as I look at the three sleeping men in my bed with me. “I highly recommend having all three at once. Daniel here has quite the tongue.” I sigh at the memory while my fingers play with his hair.
“His name is Nathaniel,” Eden corrects me.
“Close enough.” I shrug. “So, what is it that has you charging into my room at the crack of dawn?” I ask as I sit further up the bed.
“It’s eleven am,” Eden quips. “Anyway, we’ve had an influx of member applications.”
I roll my eyes. “We always have an influx of applications,” I point out as I reach over James. At least, I think his name is James. Maybe it’s Jack or Jamie? Reaching for the packet of cigarettes and lighter, I pull one out and light it before looking back at Eden. “You can’t moan at me for smoking. I’m in my own room,” I point out, knowing how much she hates it.
She scrunches up her nose at the smell before she continues. “Amongst the applications is Isabella Sparks,” she states. I pause with my cigarette a millimetre from my lips. Eden smiles and nods. “Right?”
I scramble as I give the men a swift kick to wake them up as I clamber out of bed completely naked. “Get out!” I bark.
“But Mor,” one of them complains.
“Don’t say my name unless I say you can. Now go get showered and make some breakfast,” I demand sharply.
“Lunch,” Eden corrects me. “We are closer to lunch than we are to breakfast,” she points out. They don’t respond. They just do as they are told. I can’t help but admire their naked forms as they leave.
“You treat them like sex objects,” Eden states, taking a seat on the armchair as I walk into the shower.
“And that’s a problem because? It’s okay for a man to do it, but not a woman?” I counter as I stand under the hot spray.
“It’s not okay for anyone to do it,” Eden argues.
“Okay, back to the matter in hand,” I say, steering her off that topic. “Why has she signed up?” I ask, intrigued.
Isabella Sparks is the daughter of a businessman, Henry Sparks, owner and founder of Sparks Enterprises. He’s rich and powerful, with a long string of endless rape allegations against him; all that miraculously disappears. The women suddenly drop all charges, and when we have tried to contact them, they are nowhere to be found. Of course, he spins it that it’s women just after his money. Well, all except one: Maria. When we foundher, she was a mess, broken, couldn’t sleep, and feared for her life. She feared that if she slept, he would send his men for her. We took her in and helped her. She was doing well, growing stronger, until she went to the market one day and didn’t come back. Police found her down the side ally of the market with a needle sticking out of her arm. Apparent overdose. She never took drugs, but that didn’t matter to the police. They just saw it as a sad and desperate girl who ended her life. I was there when the police were called, and I saw her body slumped between two trash cans like she was nothing more than garbage. Her haunted blue eyes seared into my very soul, and I vowed that I would find a way one day to seek vengeance for her and the other women that have never been seen or found again.
“She says she has information,” Eden answers, drawing me out of my thoughts.
I reach for the shampoo and start washing my hair. “We will need more than that before trusting her. She’s been Daddy’s little princess the entire time. I find it hard to believe that she suddenly wants to stab him in the back,” I point out as I rinse my dark brown hair.
“Yeah, I know. But we have to at least meet with her to find out more, right? We can’t just ignore it,” Eden adds.
I finish washing before I turn the shower off. Stepping out of the shower, I grab a towel and wrap it around my body before I walk through my room and open my wardrobe. I pull out a black tank top and black skinny jeans before grabbing my underwear. I drop the towel and start getting dressed.
“Jesus Christ, I get it. You’re fucking hot. I don’t need you to shove it in my face,” Eden scoffs.
“It’s just a weapon, remember that,” I remind her as I pull on my jeans.
“Yeah, I know. It’s the one weapon we have as power over men,” Eden mutters, rolling her eyes.
She pauses for a moment as she looks down at her lap. “What is it?” I ask.
Her gaze flickers up to me. “Do you ever think we will find love?” she asks wistfully. I roll my eyes. She has always been the romantic of the group.
“Love is for fools…” I start.
“And fools end up dead. Yeah, I know, I know,” she sighs. “But do you ever think those fools died happy, at least?” she adds.
“No,” I answer bluntly. “You don’t need a man to be happy, and you certainly don’t need love. Well, not in the way you want it,” I state as I zip up my boots.
