New York City.

As the financial center of the United States, New York City held over 10 million people. Some of those 10 million people were billionaires who could decide the fate of countless with a single word. Some were white-collar workers who spent their days navigating through the stock market or the corporate structure, trading their time and health for paychecks.

Even more plentiful in numbers than both of those categories combined were laborers at the bottom of the social pyramid in the city. It was with their sweat and tears that made this city possible, but their contributions were neither noted nor rewarded. They lived in the cheapest housing, doing the toughest work for the smallest salaries. The politicians didn't care about them. The rich didn't care about them. They were doomed to live in insignificance, much like how they were doomed to die the same way.

The sheer size of New York City meant a lot could be going on within its corners without ever reaching the light of day. Away from the wealthier locations, cults like the Sect of Ascension could abduct countless people and turn them into dishes without repercussion thanks to the protection from higher-ups. Organized criminal syndicates infested the less policed areas. With countless connections with politicians, businessmen, and officials, these syndicates held free reign within certain neighborhoods. They recruited from the poorest neighborhoods and armed these cutthroats with handguns and rifles and even grenade launchers.

The NYPD simply saw no purpose in intervening. Many of their own officers were happily accepting the extra paychecks from these syndicates. Politicians and businessmen, whose interests the police were ultimately designed to protect, also needed some influence in the dark. The market was there. Remove one syndicate, and more would reappear.

One more step below these syndicates were countless criminals who walked in the dark. Many of them might hold identities in the light, but when no one was watching, they were all too happy to let their darkness show.

Ben was the prime example. On the surface, he was the proud, law-abiding owner of a gun store. In secret, he sold illegal weapons. Another layer down, he acted as the middle-man to individuals who wanted certain people dead and individuals willing to kill for money. He was the joint between the buyers and the sellers, and he helped match them together for a small fee.

In a neighborhood to the north of the city sat a bar. A man named Howard quietly parked his car behind the bar in the surprisingly sizeable parking lot. He hopped off and locked the door. This wasn’t the safest part of the city, but he has been here enough times to know the bouncers hired by the bar would teach any encroaching car thief a lesson. These bouncers, hired from the local gang, weren’t afraid of making people disappear, and they made sure everyone knew it.

As he made his way from the lot to the bar, Howard quietly tapped the luxury watch on his wrist. A slight pull on his shirt sleeves managed to fully bring the watch into the open for the world to see.

The moment he entered the bar, loud music consumed him. Across the bar, several dozen young men and women were dancing across the floor to the blazing music with not a care in the world. Many other customers were scattered across the seats and tables. In the middle of the bar, a lady with most of her skin out in the open swung around a metal pole, her eyes seductively scanning across the expressions of the men around her, searching for opportunities to make a profit.

The man glanced through the floor. His eyes expertly scanned across the single women in the bar, taking into account their expressions, sizes, and the amount of skin they had bare.

Finally, he made a decision. Rather, he found his prey. A brunette sitting at the counter with a pair of tight jeans and a black short-sleeved t-shirt that revealed the marble skin on her arms. She looked attractive. More important, she looked alone and vulnerable.

Howard quietly made his way past a pair of kissing couples and sat down at the bar counter. He gave a slight nod at the familiar bartender, who passed him a glass of beer.

“So,” With a drink in hand, he turned to the brunette sitting beside him. “what’s…”

“Please don’t say anything in the realms of ‘what’s a good girl like you doing in a place like this’.” The brunette growled with a scoff. “Cause that is so overused. Literally, in every movie I've seen, every guy that goes to a bar says this to the girls they meet.”

“Oh, I was just going to ask what’s your name.” Howard shrugged casually, emptying the glass of drink into his mouth.

“Who wants to know?”

“Let me introduce myself.” Howard held his hand out, showing off his expensive watch. “Howard Jones. 20. I’m an Associate of the Castro Bank.”

The brunette, as if impressed by his words, looked over him again. This time, her eyes lingered on his shirt and his cheeks, as if she was interested in him. The two started casually chatting.

With some conversation tricks, Howard easily learned a lot about this brunette. This brunette called herself Katie. Katie Lockwood. Even better, she was just 17. This brought a wicked smile onto his face. Not even an adult yet...just the way he liked it.

The two talked for half an hour before the brunette stood up to go to the bathroom. Using this opportunity, Howard reached into his pocket, pulled out a bag of powder, and spilled it into Katie’s glass while no one was watching.

When Katie returned, Howard watched as she finished the drink. His plans were decent. She would nod off and fall unconscious. He would catch her and make sure she was fully asleep before ‘helping’ her out of the bar and into his car. The man knew from experience that this was a good plan. Perhaps some would see him, but none would care.

Thirty seconds passed. Nothing happened. She’s a tough one...Howard thought to himself. Fine. I can wait.

One minute passed. Still nothing. Ok…don’t worry. Be patient, Howard! At the end of the day you will get what you want!

Three minutes passed. Nada...did my roofie pass its best used before date?

As the girl went to the bathroom again, Howard repeated the process, this time emptying the entire bag into the drink. This time, coupled with several more glasses of alcohol, finally knocked the brunette unconscious.

Finally...Howard whispered to himself as he caught Katie’s body, who was falling toward him. Rubbing his hand across her bare arm, he didn't hesitate to pull her out of the bar and into his car. Several bouncers watched as he moved but didn't give a damn. This happened all too often, and if anything, it benefited the business at the bar thanks to the repeat customers.

Howard drove all the way back to his apartment in the city, which was half an hour away. It took him a while to move the girl into the elevator and upstairs. When he finally got into his room, Howard rested the girl on his bed. He tapped her cheeks to make sure she was still knocked out before turning and entering the bathroom.

He was going to enjoy what would follow, but for now, he needed a shower.

The shower was relieving, but as the hot water ran down his body, all Howard could think of was how hot the girl outside was, and how he would enjoy mounting her and hearing her muffled screams. This wasn’t the first time he preyed on these girls, and he has never been disappointed.

Ever since Howard was a teenager, he knew he wasn’t normal. While other boys found themselves aroused by hot girls, he preferred to browse through the dark web instead, searching for torture videos. Instead of the sound of women moaning, he adored their screams. He enjoyed seeing them restrained, powerless and helpless and at his mercy.

By day, he was a successful Wall Street stock trader. By night, he was a sexual predator.

And this Katie outside...he could only imagine how she would react when she woke up and discovered the situation she was in. Oh, she must be so terrified!

Taking a breath of relief, the man stepped out of the shower. Instead of getting dressed, he wrapped a towel around his waist and left the bedroom, ready for a good old raping session.

His expectations were decent. The reality was a lot crueler.

The bed was empty.

“Hmmm...say what you want, but I feel like I deserve the Emmys for the acting!”

Howard snapped around in horror as Katie, the brunette who he thought he had drugged and knocked out, slowly spoke up from the side of the room. She was leaning against a wall and Howard didn't see her at first, not that seeing her now helped relieve him of his surprise and fear.

The girl stood tall. Her eyes scanned across his body as if he was some sort of prey and she was the predator. This moment, their roles were reversed, and the hunter has become the hunted. Howard didn't need to be a Wall Street elite to know things have completely gone out of his control.

This girl wasn’t his victim. She never was, and she never would be.

But the man wasn’t ready to admit defeat yet. With a sudden move, he grabbed onto the towel around his lower body and tossed it at Katie. Using the brief moments it bought, he leaped at his drawer. There, in the drawer, sat a handgun.

“Oh come on! My eyes!” Katie practically screamed at the sight of the naked man. If it was Caitlin or some hot girl that did that, she would be taking her sweet, sweet time, but as of now she just felt like her eyes were getting burned or carved out or both. Dodging to the side to avoid the towel, she drew her Glock and stepped forward.

Howard was still trying to pull the drawer open with shaking hands when he felt Katie’s Glock pressed against the back of his head.

“That’s enough. Now, turn around...actually, scratch that! Don’t turn around. Stay exactly where you are!” Katie instructed as professionally as possible, which wasn't professional at all.

Now held at gunpoint, Howard sighed and lowered his head in defeat. “Fine, you win, Katie. Just tell me, who sent you? I mean...it can’t be cheap to hire you, right? You must have had special training to ignore my roofies and fool me.”

“Roofies? What roofies?”

“The ones I poured into your drink!” Howard frowned at Katie’s confused tone. “You drank those!”

“Oh…” Katie understood. She has known a while ago that alcohol had little effect on her, likely due to the same reason that she could heal so quickly. In other words, the alcohol was never enough to knock her out. The only reason things went the way they did was because she pretended to be down.

As for the roofie...she had no idea they were a thing until now. Her body could literally take Kameron’s plant seeds and render them harmless. No reason some ordinary drugs could get past her body.

“Either way, you are correct in that someone wanted you dead.” Katie continued. “You messed with the wrong people’s daughter.”

After the whole mess that was Meat Lovers, Katie and Caitlin made their way back home. Katie was fine either way, but Caitlin was perfectly content with having nothing but bread and milk for the near future. The two spent the rest of Saturday together, mostly on Caitlin’s bed.

On Sunday morning, Katie took Caitlin to her safe house, the one she took from Arnold. They stayed there until noon when Katie got a phone call from Ben.

A while ago, Ben sent Katie to assassinate Arnold, one of his competitors, a seemingly impossible task that Katie completed with ease by literally stabbing herself in the belly and walking into Arnold's mansion. From that point on, Ben put this mysterious brunette onto his asset roster. Finally, she had a chance to shine.

Howard has been preying on women in that bar for years. At least a dozen women fell victim to his hands. Making matters worse, he would take videos of them being assaulted. If these women made any attempt to bring him to justice, he threatened to release them to the world, with copies sent directly to all of their family members, colleagues, and friends. Oh, and one copy for everyone in their high school and universities too!

Whether he would or could do it was another matter, but in the end, every woman chose silence. What was done was done. No need to dwell on that and risk even more.

Except one of these girls wasn’t to be messed with. Her father was a local politician. Not powerful enough to have private armies at his disposal, but still influential enough to put out a bounty. When he saw his daughter running home crying, the father found out what happened and placed a bounty on Howard. He might not have an army, but he had plenty of money.

Things went all the way down to Ben, who went through the profiles. His agents on the streets managed to track down Howard and observe a pattern in his actions. Howard would visit a certain bar at a certain time every week, looking for girls of a certain profile.

Katie happened to match that profile, so Ben had Katie pose as bait at Howard’s favorite bar, knowing he would be there Sunday night. She was just going to knock him out in the bar and carry him to somewhere quiet for some good old torture session, but instead, he took her straight home, and now Katie found herself in Howard’s room with a gun to his head.

“Ah…” Howard nodded as he did his best to find whatever narrow path there was to escape. “Look, Katie, if that is your real name…how much are you getting paid for this bounty? 10K? 20K? You know, your middleman is probably taking 90% of the bounty, and guess what? You’ll be risking your life for a fragment of what they earned! You’ll be fighting for scrap!”

Katie smirked, but she remained silent. She wanted to see how this would play out.

Howard took Katie’s silence as a chance to turn her. With hope in sight, he continued. “I have 200K in my checkings account! Let me go, and I will give you all of them! See? That’s a much better deal than anything you were offered!”

Howard was a businessman. He believed everyone in the world had a price. And this Katie? She was literally a woman risking her own life ro seduce him! How high could her price be? What loyalty did she have?

But Katie wasn’t someone you want to do business with. No one has ever been in her shoes, which means no one can ever understand her thoughts and desires. Do business with her and you will almost surely be disappointed. That was what Howard quickly found out.

“Here’s the thing, mister.” Katie scoffed at the offer. “I am not doing this for the money.” She leaned forward so close to Howard that he could feel her breath on the back of his neck. Something that made him flinch. “Here’s a fun fact about me. I like to hurt people. I like to see people beg and scream and die. Consider it as a turn-on for me. Why? I don't know, but what's done is done.”

“But I don’t like hurting innocent people, not because of the fear of repercussions, but mostly because that makes me feel just a little guilty. Just a little.” She paused, as if she was debating with herself. “Next to none...either way, I really don’t like such burdens in my pleasure sessions. It brings a foul taste to an otherwise entertaining process.”

“But taking care of assholes like you...it makes me aroused and it makes me feel like I’m contributing to society. I'm not contributing anything in reality, but it makes me feel like that.” She suddenly smiled warmly, like a friendly girl next door who was just saying hi. “To make a long story short, you are really screwed, my friend.”

“Now, mind telling me where all those tapes are?”

Howard gulped. He was a dead man. Whether or not he told the girl what she wanted to know, she wouldn’t let him leave this mess alive. Discreetness was the whole reason she was here and not the police.

“I will never tell you!” Now completely hopeless, he declared viciously. If she wouldn’t let him live, then the least he could do was take a jab at her. Give her and her client a final 'fuck you'. “Go fuck yourself, Katie! Kill me if you want, but I will never talk!”

And then Katie smiled.