Devil’s in the Details, page 1
Devil’s in the Details
A Novel by
Sydney Gibson
Edited by A.E. Vikar and Associates.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any content with cannot be used or distributed without the permission of the author.
Copyright 2016 Sydney Gibson
This novel is dedicated to the supportive readers who keep encouraging me to write more of what’s inside of my head.
To my parents, who were surprised that my days spent in a dark room was because I was writing a book, and still wonder why I don’t ever go outside.
To Donna, thank you for entertaining me when I ranted and reading the super early drafts of this mess and helping me fix the grammar mistakes.
To Kimberley, you know what you did! This is all your fault! Thank you for everything!
This story is told in two point of views. Look for the below images to signify a change in the character’s point of view.
Alexandra Ivers
Victoria Bancroft
Chapter 1
"Please, please, just work for me one more time." I turned the key in the ignition for the hundredth time, groaning and slamming the steering wheel with my fist when it clicked and did nothing else. Telling me that the old beat up mini cooper wanted me to give up like it already had. "Shit." I ripped the car keys out of the ignition and threw them into my bag.
I would have to take the damn metro home.
Sliding out of the old car, I slung my bag around my shoulders and kicked the rusted door closed. I was still three months away from being able to look at buying, or leasing a new car having just moved back to D.C. I let out a heavy breath looking around the hospital parking garage, hoping I could spot Stacy's car to try and hustle a ride home out of her. But her shiny red Honda was missing from its usual spot next to the elevator. I groaned, pulling out my cell phone and texting her to see if she was close by. It was almost three in the morning and I really did not want to take a late night adventure on the metro or play taxi cab roulette.
I started walking towards the bank of elevators when the phone beeped with Stacy’s reply.
-I left the hospital at one after the last rush. I can come back and get you if you want, Alex.-
I rolled my eyes. Stacy lived up near Springfield and it would take her at least an hour to get back to the hospital just to take me for a fifteen minute ride back to my apartment on the fringe of the capital. I sent her a reply to not worry, that I would take a cab. At least I wasn't still in my scrubs. Just a loose jacket, white V-neck and comfortable jeans, clothes I knew wouldn't draw too much attention from the night crawlers that lived only in the darkness of late night hours.
Dropping my phone back in my bag, I dug around until I felt my pepper spray and pulled it out. Linking the keychain canister on the strap, I rode the elevator down to the front lobby and left the stuffy, sterile confines of the hospital.
Outside on the streets of Washington D.C., I took a deep breath of the cold night air, letting the crisp cool air sting my lungs, removing the last pieces of stale hospital air from them. I was tired. It had been my fourth twelve hour shift this week and as much as I liked and needed the overtime, I still needed to get unpacked and settled in at my new apartment.
Turning right, I kept my eyes forward, smiling to the handful of paramedics and nurses smoking in the ambulance bays as I walked towards the metro station staircase. I was familiar with the city, having been born and raised just outside of it until I moved to New York in search of a big exciting life. Only to end up getting burned out and moving back to the smaller big city I was used to.
I trotted down the stairs, relieved but nervous to see the metro platform was deserted aside from a small group of men laughing over cigarettes by the bathrooms. There were two other people with me. A tired looking senate intern in a rumpled white dress shirt and khakis, balancing an overstuffed briefcase while his fingers flew across a cell phone screen. The second person, was a tall figure sitting on a bench reading a Popular Science magazine. I couldn't distinctly tell if they were male or a female since the aviators, USN ball cap and hooded sweatshirt covered most of their face. I sighed and turned back to the empty tracks, leaving them to their magazine and opted to move closer to the intern who looked safe.
I moved to stand near the intern, glancing back at the group of men laughing obnoxiously from their spot. Glaring at me with lecherous eyes when they noticed my attention was on them. I shifted my bag closer to my chest, gritting my teeth. I had my fair share of stares in subway stations, metro stations, bars, and even the occasional examination room while inserting a catheter.
I shifted in my stance, smiling softly at the young intern next to me who was staring at me with tired eyes. He returned my smile with a bashful one and focused back on his phone. My skin began to prickle as the air suddenly shifted around us, making me nervous. I glanced over to the group of men and saw they were staring harder at me, starting to push away from the wall they all leaned against to make their over to where I stood.
I turned back to the dark tracks, my right hand moving to unclip the pepper spray to palm it. I was too tired for this shit. Leaning forward a step I could hear the rush of wind signifying the incoming metro. All I had to do was take the front car and sit behind the driver where I knew there was a camera, and I would be okay. Maybe the douchebags that looked like white rapper wannabes would back off and return to hanging outside the piss smelling bathrooms.
Eyes forward, Alex, keep your eyes forward, the train is coming. I took steps closer to the edge when I felt the group come closer.
"Looky, looky, what do we have here?" The voice was heavy with false ego and cheap cigarettes. The voice fell directly behind me, and I flinched at the smell of a rancid mix of stale cigarettes and cheap cologne. "You lost? You need some help with directions?"
I clenched my jaw, staying silent. I knew from my past that being nice, or rude, would just egged these shit heads on.
The train was moving closer. I could see its bright front light reflecting along the dirty off white tile lining the tunnel.
I went to take a step closer to the edge, when I was surrounded and the face that went with the voice fell in front of me. He was a typical sleaze. Greasy looking with a thin mustache and beard, wearing a baseball cap with an unbent brim and layered clothing sprouting the logos of mixed martial arts fighters and obnoxious sports teams. He had beady brown eyes that squinted at me. The red edges of those beady eyes told me he was coming down from Oxy and would not give in very easily when I rejected his attempts of asking me out on a date or offers to safely escort me back to his place.
I flicked my thumb over the trigger for the pepper spray, feeling his other friends move closer and bump into me as they surrounded me. Shoving the scared as shit intern away from us.
The sleaze leader moved closer, "You a mute?" He scanned down my body in a way that made me want to take a scalding hot shower the moment I got home. "You a hot piece of ass. You looking for a date tonight honey?" He reached out to run his hand down my arm. I took a step back, bumping into one of the others behind me. Pulling laughs from all of them. "Ohh! Looks like she’s a little stuck up." The sleaze moved inches away from my face, "You ain't no better than us." He smirked, running his tongue over dry, cracked lips.
When he reached up to run his filthy hands down my face, I reacted and kicked him hard in between his legs. I watched him fall to his knees, his mouth was agape in the shape of a wide silent O, as he struggled for air, clutching at his balls. I half smirked at the small victory when he recovered enough to gasp out, "Fuck her up, boys."
I spun lifting my hand up to spray all of them when a hard fist caught me in the stomach, making me double over in pain. A hand suddenly yanked at my hair, lifting my head up to set it up for the hard open palm slap that struck me across the mouth. Splitting my lip open, making me cry out in pain and see stars.
I closed my eyes as I felt hands start grabbing at my arms and clothes, hands and fists striking me and sending jolts of pain through my body. One hard strike sent the pepper spray out of my palm and bouncing down the platform, disappearing behind a trash can.
I looked up to see the train come to a stop, the doors open and stare at me as if to beg me to break for it and run. But I didn't, I couldn't. I was being held back by the filthy hands of drug addicts.
I fell to my knees when my feet were knocked out from under me and closed my eyes, begging to whoever would listen that I wouldn't cry in front of these assholes.
Just read your magazine, Victoria, just ignore the shit heads in the corner. That's what I kept repeating to myself over and over. Ignore the shitheads who smell like piss, cigarettes, and burnt heroin. I had sized them up the moment I walked down the stairs to the platform. Them, and the poor overworked kid wearing the typical uniform of a tired intern. He was harmless, too busy swiping left or right on the dating app on his phone.
I normally didn't take the metro, but I had to tonight. The job I just finished had forced me to take unusual routes back home. A bus, a cab, a quick jog through the national cemetery, and now a quick three stop ride before I could collect my car and go home. I hated the metro, no matter the time of day or night. It was the true definition of a sardine can. People shoved together to share their sm
The brunette had caught my attention the second she stepped off the staircase. She did not fit anywhere in this scene. Clean clothes, nice messenger bag around her shoulder and the pepper spray clutched in her right hand like it would be a life saver when called upon, gave her away. Never mind the fact it was three in the morning in one of the most dangerous metro stations in the city.
I peered at the brunette through my aviators. She was beautiful, another thing that struck me right away. I rarely ever thought that about anyone, but this woman was beautiful. Her long dark brown hair was tied back and draped down her back. The angles in her face told me she had some sort of European blood running through her veins. The bright dark blue eyes held so much even in the tiny glance she gave me as she surveyed her surroundings. She had eyes that could be kind and fierce all at once, something I had not seen in a long time. It made me want to look at her again and for a little longer.
And even though her clothes were a bit loose on her, I could tell she worked out and kept her body in shape. Leaving me to believe that she was either an actress or a medical professional, considering the late hours and both professions had a hub on this side of town.
I turned back to the pages of my Popular Science when the brunette glanced back at me, I didn't need to draw attention. I would continue reading about solar satellites and wait for the train. Shuffle to the same car as the intern, and hope the shit heads didn't follow. I just wanted to go home, shower, burn my clothes and send off for my payment to be deposited while I ate ice cream.
But that's not what happened. The shit heads, as predicted, couldn't keep it in their pants and made a bee line towards the brunette. Cat calling, whistling and surrounding the poor woman.
Sucking in a breath, I kept my head down. Not wanting to get involved as they shoved the poor intern, who was on the verge of pissing his pants, away. Giving them more room to go after their target.
I clenched my jaw at what I saw, I couldn't get involved and hoped the shitheads would just harass her until the train came, chase her into a car and then giggle like fools as they took another hit of whatever shit they were on. It was a terrible thought process, but I had a long night finishing up a messy job and didn't want blood stains on my clean clothes.
The train came and I stood up. After rolling the magazine up under my arm, I took a few steps closer to the edge of the platform. Glancing at the group of men, one of them shot me a look, flipped me off and growled at me to keep my nose on my face. I clenched my jaw when I heard the disgusting words come out of the mouth of the one right in front of the brunette. I rolled my neck, my gut telling me that I couldn't walk away while my brain was telling me this wasn’t any of my business.
Then the shriek of a man who just had his privates smashed, pulled all of my attention to the group. The brunette had kicked him hard in the testicles, dropping him to his knees to cry like a baby. I smirked and laughed at the sight, mentally giving her a high five. Then I turned to see the first punch strike her in the stomach and the hard slap that followed.
I didn't think, I just acted after that. I didn't have sympathy for men like them.
I tightly gripped the rolled up magazine in my right hand and started walking quickly towards the group. As I moved closer the train arrived and stopped and when the doors opened I walked behind the intern, shoving him into the car, I heard him grunt as he fell onto his ass. Scattering the papers that escaped from his overflowing briefcase around the platform and train car.
When he was out of the way, I rushed towards the first man who flipped me off. Grabbing him by the shoulder, I spun him around. By the time he faced me to utter whatever nonsense, the heel of my palm met his nose with deadly force. Smashing the cartilage into the nasal bone, driving both into his brain. Killing him instantly.
Throwing his lifeless body out of my way, I grabbed the owner of the hand that slapped the brunette. Wrapping my fingers around his, I yanked and twisted. Hearing the delightful snap of his wrist, he screamed and went to hit me while shouting for his friends to help him. I glanced at his hand in mine and swung the tightly rolled up magazine against the inside of his forearm, shattering the bone in two. The sharp edges pierced through his skin, he fell to his knees screaming at the sight of his bones poking out. This offered me a clear shot to swing the magazine at his throat, shattering the hyoid bone with enough power, the bone shards sliced through his carotid artery.
He would be dead in seconds.
I turned to the third man, ignoring the gurgling sounds of the second choking on his own blood. This shithead still held onto the brunette, his face sheet white as he witnessed what I had done to his friend. He dropped the unconscious brunette, raising his hands up in surrender as her limp body hit the floor with a slap and a thud.
"Hey man, I ain't got no fight with you!" He stumbled back to run from me. I pushed my hood back, revealing my long pale blonde hair in a ponytail and hissed at him, "I am no man. And you need to learn that you never lay a hand on a woman."
His eyes widened and he turned to run. He only took a few steps before I snatched the red fire extinguisher from the wall next to us. Throwing it with deadly accuracy at the back of his head, I smirked when I heard the crack of his skull breaking open from the impact of the heavy metal can. I watched as he fell face first, hitting the floor with another crack. Breaking his own nose on impact and ending his misery like his other friend.
Looking down at the beaten brunette, I spotted the ring leader trying to get up and run from me. Clutching between his legs from the pain, I took a deep breath. My heart was still beating at slow, normal rate just as if I was back sitting on that bench and reading my magazine.
The train had left the station the second I pushed the intern in it, leaving me and the ring leader in stale silence. I walked up to him, kicking the back of his Achilles tendon hard. Dropping him back to the floor with a shriek, I crouched down to him. Tucking my aviators away and pulling off my hat, I set it on the floor next to him and away from the small pools of blood growing around us.
Staring at the piece of shit, I already knew what I was going to do. I stood back up, walking over to the trash can, I bent down and pick up the small can of pepper spray. Looking it over to see that it was police grade, I smiled. I then moved to stand on the side of the groaning man who was now crying as he looked around at all of his dead friends, "Please, man, please! You gotta let me go, I’m sorry! I won't tell no one about this!"
I sucked in a deep breath, the stink of blood heavy in the air starting to mix with the smell of death. A scent that was oddly calming when I was surrounded by it. Only for the reason that it was the one constant in my life I had known the longest. Bending down to the man I looked him dead in the eyes, watching his widened as he saw that I was a woman. "You're a girl? Holy shit...what are you? A soldier of fortune?"
I clenched my jaw, flicking the safety cap off the pepper spray, "I wish I could tell you that this is a lesson learned for you, but you won't be alive in the next five minutes to learn anything from it."
Aiming the tiny nozzle right at his eye line, I pressed the red button and emptied the canister in his face. I barely heard his screams, I had learned to tune them out a few years ago so I could focus on what came next. I grabbed his arms, twisting his wrists until they snapped, for no other reason than it made me feel better. I then dragged the screaming man to the edge of the platform.
Not bothering to look twice, I rolled his body onto the track, looking up to see the quick flicker of the next train's light on the tunnel walls. I stepped back, picking up my USN hat and tucking it in my back pocket before bending down to the brunette. When I went to check her for a pulse, I glanced up to see the black domed security cameras at each end of the platform. "Dammit."
Digging out my cell phone, I pressed my third contact as I checked to see if the brunette still had a pulse. She had one, it was light and thready, but there was one. Reaching up to brush her hair away, I cringed when I saw the purple marks forming around her eyes and cheeks. My stomach churning at the sight confused me. I never had a reaction to anything like I was now, looking down at this woman.
