Corrupt (Devil's Night 1)

“It’s just a crack house, Rika,” Michael assured. “Not a rape site. Relax.”

They were kidding? I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling.

Assholes.

My stomach was tight with knots, and I inhaled a few deep breaths to get my nerves under control.

I watched as they all squeezed kerosene on the walls, floors, and around the debris, and even though it didn’t take a genius to guess what they were doing, I kept my concerns quiet. I wasn’t sure if I was having fun yet, but I didn’t want to argue or try to stop them and lose the foot in the door I’d somehow gained.

Not yet, anyway.

“Fire up!” Michael called out. ”Time to clean out the garbage.”

They all came to stand next to me, all of us facing into the house, and I watched as they lit matches, the glow of the small fires lighting up their masks.

Michael’s hazel eyes flickered in the light, and my heart skipped.

Digging into my middle pocket, I pulled out my matchbox and lit a match, the burst of flame consuming the tip.

I smiled to myself, looking around at all the shit on the floor and thinking about all the bad stuff that had probably happened in this house. Given the amount of drug debris laying around, I guessed violence had come with it, too. People had probably been abused here.

Maybe even children.

I turned my head right, seeing Michael watching me. Looking to my left, I saw Kai and Damon staring at me as well. Will held up a cell phone, clearly recording what was about to happen.

I stared ahead, knowing what they were waiting for.

I tossed the match, the small ember bursting into a four-foot flame against the wall, and I let out a breath, feeling the heat against my body.

All of the guys then tossed their matches, the small house turning into an inferno of yellow and red. Heat flooded my veins, and I smiled.

“Woohoo,” Will praised in a low howl, filming every inch of the living room going up in flames.

Slowly, we all turned and walked out of the house, Damon carrying the duffel that Will had carried in, his hands too busy recording the spectacle now.

Should he be doing that? You didn’t really want evidence floating about when you broke the law, after all.

“Make the call.”

I looked up to see Michael tossing Kai a phone as we all pounded down the stairs.

Kai took the phone and walked off, while I quickly glanced around, keep my head down to make sure there were no witnesses.

The neighborhood still looked dead.

I watched Kai as he walked about twenty feet away and lifted up his mask, talking into the phone.

“Do you know what you’re doing yet?” Michael asked Will.

He turned off the phone, stopping the recording, and stuck it in his pocket. “Not yet,” he answered as Damon walked past him and stuffed the duffel into the back of Michael’s car.

“Alright, we’ll do Kai, then Damon,” Michael told him. “Figure it out by then.”

Figure it out?

And then it hit me. Kai, Damon, then Will. Which meant Michael was done.

I turned, staring up at the house, the flames already visible through the second floor windows.