Blood and Roses (Tainted Hearts 3.5)

He smirked, daring me to fight him. His hard face was my worst nightmare. He could have been a beautiful man…but now he was just ugly.

My eyes moved to the left, toward the stairs. I watched as another bulky man dragged Sophia down. She was crying so hard, her little body shaking so badly that I was scared she would hurt herself.

She tried to reach for me, but the man slapped her into silence. “I found another young one.”

“There are only two here. This one—” He kicked me between my legs. “And that little girl.”

Another voice joined in. “Nothing left here. We should get going. Bring these two to Boss and he will decide their fate.”

I was pulled up by my hair. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the man assaulting Sister Grace from behind pull out from her body. She was bleeding profusely, and his male part, now soft, was covered in blood. She sunk to the ground, and I watched in horror as the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at her head.

The gunshot was louder than anything I’d ever heard. It went straight through my broken heart, and I heard Sophia screaming.

Everything that I knew…was now gone.

The floor of the abbey was covered in blood.

All the sisters now laid on the ground…used…broken…bleeding…dead.

They…who devoted their lives to the goodness of others, they died such a painful death. Every teaching the sisters had preached to me was wrong.

Even good people suffered sometimes. And sometimes, it was the good people who suffered the most, while the bad ones continued to live their lives. There were no retributions.

Innocence was taken in the cruelest way. They took the heart of two young girls and smashed them to the ground.

The one holding onto Sophia wrapped his fist around her hair and pulled her feet off the floor. “Let’s go.”

She tried to reach for me again, her little arms begging for me to hold her. Protect her. I staggered onto my feet as I was pulled by the hair too. My scalp burned, and I could only imagine what little Sophia was going through.

A gun was pressed into my neck. The cold barrel caused me to tremble, and I limped forward.

We walked out of the building, and I could only watch as the man continued to mockingly slap Sophia. He could tell I was angry, fuming at his actions.

He did it purposely to tease me, knowing that I was completely helpless to save the little girl who had woven her way into my heart. My little princess.

A small growl escaped past my lips when he slapped her again before letting her go. Her knees hit the ground hard, and she cried out, curling her body into a ball.

He grabbed her arms, shaking and pulling her back up. His leg moved, and I knew he was going to kick her.

I saw red.

Ignoring the agony going through my broken body, I twisted around and grabbed the gun. His shock was short-lived as I kneed him hard between his legs and tore the gun from his hand.

He sunk to the ground and screamed like a little girl. I took satisfaction in his pain and kicked him again. There were screams, but before anyone could grab me, I pointed the gun at the one holding Sophia.

When everyone froze, I knew instantly he was the leader of this group.

My vision blurred, and I shook my head, trying to keep myself straight. I could barely stand up. My knees weakened, and I locked them together.

Taking a step forward, I tried to hide my wincing. “Let her go,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

He smiled in the dark, his teeth flashing sinisterly. “Or what?”

“I will shoot you.”

“Go ahead, doll.”

“Let. Her. Go!” I screamed, taking another step into his direction. The gun was right over his chest. I didn’t want to miss his heart.

“Maria,” she whimpered, her sniffles breaking my heart further.

“Make me let her go, Maria,” he taunted, his lips curling up when he said my name.

When I didn’t move, my heart pounding too hard in my chest, he laughed. “You know what she’s going to be turned into?”

When I didn’t answer, he grabbed her jaw and bent down, licking a dirty path up her cheek. “A little fuck toy for us. Just like you’re going to be.”

I raged, my fingers feathering over the trigger.

“Maybe we will fill you up so many times that you might even pop out a baby or two for us. Perfect. We will train them just like we’re gonna train you to be the perfect little slave.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And this one, she’s going to be the perfect slave,” he continued, now referring to Sophia.

That was the line.

I pulled the trigger. The gunshot rung through my ears. The force of the gun going off pushed my body back, and I fell to the ground. My eyes squeezed shut as another wave of agony went through my body.