They Called Her the Devil

Chapter 5, Kate

I was roused from my dreamless sleep by a sharp kick in the gut from the huge rebel. The pain was instant but not overwhelming; I had felt far worse. His face was twisted into a smug expression as he dropped an apple on the floor in front of me. He was obviously still mad about last night.

"Enjoy your beauty sleep Devil?" he sneered "Or was the floor not up to your high standards?"

He aimed another kick at me but I sprung to my feet dodging it at the last possible moment. Lightning fast I swept my foot behind his and pulled leaving him sprawled on the floor. He grimaced obviously in pain.

"Comfy, isn't it?" I retorted. The look of fury on his face was priceless.

         Rising to his feet he swung his arm out to backhand me across my face but I ducked easily, infuriating him even more. I could tell he was just about to reach his breaking point when a voice from upstairs ruined my fun, summoning him to the kitchen. I learned from the voice that his name was Ian.

Ian shot me a dirty look as he left which I responded to with a wink. I could see him mentally telling himself he couldn't kill me; it was hilarious.

         I ate the apple he had thrown me wishing I had some chocolate. Looking around my prison I noticed I had about 10 feet of chain attaching me to metal spikes the rebels had driven into the concrete floor. I couldn't quite reach the cot to steal a few pillows, or the sliding glass door to escape. I could however reach the tiny bathroom.

I washed off my face and re-did my braid tucking pins into my hair, further restraining it from my face. I don't know why I bothered having long hair, it was a pain in the ass to maintain and I always had to pull it back or it would get in my way. But that small vain part of me wouldn't let me cut it.

         It was weird being idle this late in the day, normally I got up at dawn to train before breakfast. Training was my source of peace; I spent every free moment I had in either my gym or my shooting range.

         It was unnerving having no clue what the rebels plan for me was. It was clear that they meant to keep me here. They were fools if they thought it would work, you might as well try to staple water to a tree. I had the most powerful organization in the world hunting for me, not to mention my unique set of skills.

         I spent the next few hours daydreaming about how I would kill my captors when I escaped. I finally decided on turning them against each other until they were at each other's throats. It would take time and effort but the end results would be worth it.

         Just as I started contemplating weapons Xander Silver himself descended the stairs into the basement. He was clearly trying to project an air of casual confidence; he was the one in control here. The confident swagger worked for him as he walked towards me, a winning smile on his face that would have melted the hearts of most normal girls. I wasn't fooled; he clearly wanted something.

"Devil" he greeted me. He seemed to be attempting friendliness. Probably to lure me into a false sense of security.

"Xander" I greeted in return slowly rising to my feet. We both stood there staring at each other, each analyzing the other looking for weaknesses. Not that I had any. He finally broke the silence.

         "I assume your wondering why we've brought you here." He said looking me directly in the eye as he said it.

         "Not at all," I lied perfectly, hiding my yearning to know their plan for me, "I figured out your idiotic plan ages ago."

"You figured it out," he said obviously not convinced, "what exactly did you figure out?"

Then it clicked. The Silver Order had no chance of taking down The Legion on its own. So they decide to take on its leader by kidnapping me and holding me for ransom.

Of course they would need some sort of collateral so my father didn't back out of the deal. It would have to be The Legion's missiles.

They were powerful enough to wipe out the human race with the push of a button. Nobody would mess with the Silver Order if they had such powerful weapons.

"Obviously you're going to ransom me to my father for his surrender," I said, he seemed unimpressed, "you're trying to get his missile codes as collateral."

At this he seemed surprised, "And how did you figure it out," he asked.

"It's the only logical option," I said, too bad it wouldn't work. "But I'm wondering what happens after, what's your plan for after we surrender?"

"You and your father will get a fair trial and most likely go to prison" he said.

How could someone be so naïve? We wouldn't go to prison; we'd be dead. The Legion had blackmailed the entire government and killed countless people. Fortunately it couldn't come to that.

"And what happens when my father doesn't pay?" I asked.

I knew there was absolutely no chance of the Legion signing over its missile codes for something as trivial as my life.

Xander seemed taken aback by this. Typical, he had been raised by loving parents, "Do you really think your own father would do that to you?"

I simply responded with the brutal truth, "I don't have a father, I have Death himself."

He paused for a moment before saying, "I know the feeling," his tone had become sad, gone was the confidence he had shown moments ago, "my father died a year ago."

"I know. Bomb strike right?" I un-guiltily remembered cheering at the death of John Silver. He had been a brilliant leader and his death had made life easier for the Legion.

"Pink mist," he stated blankly, "I was 17, I only escaped because of the child locks."

Pink mist was one of my favorite weapons to use; it was a type of bio bomb that only killed humans, leaving everything else undamaged. I could even be calibrated to only kill adults; the Legion only used child locked bombs because they were easier to 'acquire'.

I considered using the moment to exploit Xander's weaknesses but something inside me stopped me. I could use this moment to gain sympathy; if he felt bad for me he might hesitate to kill me in the future.

"I find the best thing to do is to live how he would have wanted you to, that's what I do for my mother." I confided, my words dripping with fake empathy. Luckily he fell for it.

"What happened to her?" he asked, not knowing the gravity of his statement.

"She was killed by Gold Order soldiers," I lied "she went down fighting though, took out four men before getting shot." I pushed the real memory out of my head telling him the story I had invented; she would have wanted to be remembered this way.

"I'm sorry," he replied, he actually seemed sincerely sorry about my mother's death. Pathetic. "That's when you took over as second in command, right?"

I felt a twinge of annoyance at the words 'second in command' I was nobody's second in command, but he didn't understand. "Yes, that's when I became the Devil." I told him, fondly remembering my rise to power.

"Do you have a name, or is it just Devil?" he asked in an I've-been-wondering-about-this-for-a-while-but-am-going-to-pretend-I-just-came-up-with-it kind of way.

"No my parents just named me Devil," I said sarcastically, "Of course I have a name."

"And that would be...?" he asked. I was surprised he wanted to know rather than dehumanizing me like most.

But rather than giving him what he wanted I replied, "Wouldn't you like to know," a smug smile tugging at my lips.

Just them before he could berate me further I heard shouting from upstairs. One word rang out louder than the rest. Attack.

***

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed chapter 5! How do you think Kate's mother really died? Who's attacking? Will they win? Please vote and comment, I really want to know what you think.

-Jade