He sat in the Rocket-Aire for over thirty minutes, feeling his guts twist and his heart rip to shreds. Gradually, the tears subsided, and the bone-jarring sobs eased off to gentle shudders. With his thumb and forefinger, he rubbed the tears out of his eyes. He sniffed the snot back and blinked rapidly, trying to pull himself together.
He produced Stella’s PDC, activating the sign-in protocol, he held it up in front of him and did a face scan. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when the big green checkmark appeared, and it began logging him in. He had feared he might be locked out of the device, possibly by Stella, but most likely by someone else.
They’d had a pact that both would have access to the other’s device, just for an occasion such as this. That way, one could make sure that compromising data couldn’t get out about them. The only pitfall to the agreement was the unlikely event both met their demise simultaneously. If that were to happen, there wasn’t much that could be done.
At that point, what would it matter?
What did it matter now?
Nevertheless, he began dutifully deleting data that were for his eyes only. Pictures. Messages. Datagrams. He hadn’t gotten far when he came across a video file that had been made just the night before.
His cop instincts came alive. Whatever was on this file, it’d been made after Stella had disappeared. Had Stella been able to capture some footage that might give some insight into what had happened to her? If not, then where had it come from?
He activated the file. Seconds later, a hologram appeared in front of him. The first thing he saw was the silhouette of a man, his face concealed in shadow.
“Hello, Special Inspector Matt Burlington!” The shadow figure sounded quite jovial. “If you’re watching this, then you’re no doubt a lucky man. More than likely, your viewing of this cinematic jewel means the little Irish bitch you’ve been bedding on the sly has failed in her mission to eliminate you.” His voice took on a somber tone. “And while this is regrettable on my part, as I would’ve enjoyed knowing that you met your demise by the same dainty hands that probably jerked you off … in my many years, I have come to learn a lot. And one of the things I’ve learned is that there are worse things than dying. And you, Special Inspector, are about to experience just what I’m talking about.”
“This motherfucker loves to hear himself talk!”Matt scowled at the hologram, but the unidentified man was talking again.
“Matt, without further ado … for your viewing pleasure. Please enjoy our feature presentation.”
The picture faded to black momentarily before transitioning to another scene. This one was better lit and far more revealing. Too revealing! Matt’s face slowly turned the pale, sallow color of a corpse. He watched in shock and disgust as vomit churned up in his stomach. He felt it rising quickly, and he had to grab for the door handle in an outright panic. He just got his head outside of the vehicle before a stream of chunky yellow puke erupted from his mouth.
What was playing on the floating hologram right above the steering wheel caused him to gag, cough and spew out a second helping of yesterday’s meals. He hadn’t seen this coming. Not in a dozen millenniums would he have ever expected to see the abomination he was witnessing.
He heard the sound of Stella moaning, and he threw up again. Only this time, it was mostly bile. He had nothing left in his stomach to toss. He needed to get his shit together.
He forced himself to look at the hologram again. It was like watching a nightmare in living color. His beautiful Stella, naked and on all fours, was positioned in the center of a bed. Behind her, a hairy … werewolf? No, that wasn’t it. It was half-human, half-man, yes, but it was less of a cursed creature of folklore and more a product of genetic manipulation. And whatever it was, it was taking great pleasure in defiling the woman Matt loved.
Matt watched in absolute disgust as the creature took his beautiful red-headed pixie from behind as if she were a bitch in heat, and he made no attempt whatsoever to be gentle and compassionate. He was exuberantly ramming a huge, monstrous phallus in and out of her. It looked like a huge, oversized human cock, save for the reddish-pink color and the canine knot at the base. What’s worse, she seemed to be enjoying it. Soft, contented little mews escaped her lips as the unnatural organ ravaged her.
Matt watched as that bulbous growth repeatedly bumped against her wet, pink folds, threatening to penetrate her with each forceful contact. He wanted to turn it off, look away, but he wouldn’t. This was meant to taunt him. It was a sucker punch to the gut … a body blow … and he felt it. He would take it, and he would roll with it.
He let the rage he felt grow with each thrust of the creature. It became like cancer eating away at his soul. He let it burn his insides, but he refused to let the flame consume him. Instead, he used it to steel himself, like a blacksmith of old, shaping molten iron. Watching it all, the creature’s smirking, Stella’s hollow, dead eyes … those images would be branded on his psyche. The thought that someone was doing this to her just to get to him … it forged a new man. A man who would stop at nothing to avenge this. He didn’t care what it cost. Those responsible would answer. Not to the law. Not to the courts. They would answer to him. There would be justice. Real justice. Street justice. Justice for Stella.
He felt his entire
