“Despite being a shithole, there are certain rules in the Settlements. One of such rules is respect for the Bosses. The Bosses are ruthless individuals, who had used the chaotic situation after the Event to their advantage and made a lot of money. All of them did things for which illegal and immoral are way too mild words of description. They surrounded themselves with the people they trusted and eventually grew into tight clans. Of course, lacking any connection with the aristocratic families from the Forbidden City or with the Emperor’s army, their power is limited, but in the Settlements, they are the kings.”

“Do they not bother the Emperor?”

She scoffed and shrugged. “As long as they pay taxes, they are just another source of income for him. How they get their money, nobody cares. The Bosses, however, differ among themselves, and while most of them have no regard for human life, they each have their own code of honour, to which they adhere. They are also all very touchy if one boss infringes on another boss’s turf. Usually, that means the annihilation of one of them.”

“Where does your company fit in this order?”

“My company, huh, nowhere really. We procure parts for some of the Bosses. They are good clientele, they pay fast and fair, as long as they are satisfied. On the other hand, if they are not satisfied…”

“Yes?” the Source asked keenly.

“Well…” Her mouth collapsed into a proud grin. ”Never happened to me, Sir. But I did hear all kinds of stories. The unsatisfied Bosses claimed the refund in the shape of double or triple the amount of money, heavy beating or -- this one is particularly cruel – if not fitted well, they’d cut off the same body part they requested from the artisan himself …they’d also kill, of course.

“I see. A cruel environment indeed,” said the Source, his voice trailing off thoughtfully.

“Was that,” she tilted her head to the side; “an expression of sympathy?”

“No, just an observation,” replied the Source without wavering in his tone this time.

“Right…so I was saying, yeah, we, and by we I mean small companies like mine, we’re a kind of payable servants to the Bosses, some are treated better some worse. My father despised them deeply and didn't want anything to do with them. In principle, if you don’t infringe upon their matters, they let you be. But this was also where my father and I differed. Either way, to get on the wrong side of a Boss, it’s not a good thing.”

“Filipova was one of the Bosses?”

“Oh, yes, Fillipova was…is quite a Boss. One of the most ruthless ones with a twisted sense of justice. Her entourage, I mean her thugs are composed exclusively of women, women of all kinds but all knowledgeable in a variety of ways to kill. I had fitted a leg for her and she was very satisfied with my work, giving me a substantial bonus at the time. I think she liked the fact that I was a woman and the head of my own company. She played for the other team, you see, ech…she liked women. Not that she ever tried anything with me, but I think she liked the idea of me and Akayev being together. Hmm, I’ve always wondered why…”She remained with this thought until a staunch silence from the Source reprimanded her to continue.

“However, there was a small problem. Filipova was raped when she was a child. She got her revenge years later, no doubt. There were rumours that once she became a Boss she found the man, who raped her, and kept him in the basement, torturing him for years. She did quite bad things to men that failed her in a much lesser way, so one can imagine. But that was not all. She got pregnant from the rape and bore a son. The poor bastard must have inherited his character and looks from his father, for he grew up one ugly, sadist motherfucker. His mom being a Boss, he felt entitled to whatever he wanted. He courted me, while I was already with Akayev. But intimidated by him and with Akayev being in his mother’s good graces he didn’t dare to do much.”

“What did he want from you?”

“To sleep with me or have me as one of his dolls. He’s a creep. Some of the women he dated disappeared. Akayev knew him well enough to keep him at distance from me. It made Filipov only more jealous and that was dangerous because Filipov was the only man in the Settlements, on whose doings Filipova was willing to turn a blind eye.”

“Did you sleep with him after you ended the relationship with Akayev?”

“Absolutely not. When I and Akayev stopped seeing each other, Filipov once attempted to kidnap me on my way home from a client. Luckily H was there and he…well, he smashed his face a little, or rather a lot. Hadn’t seen the creep since.”

“But then he became relevant again?”

Her eye sparkled and a mischievous grin set on her lips. “Kind of. I’ve always liked playing with fire.”

****

The drug was not part of the plan. Once they threw her in the cell she tried to reason, to sharpen her senses. When did he drug her? She was vigilant of her drinks. Could she have missed it and he managed to drop something in her glass? Perhaps one of his thugs did? She couldn’t stand up, so she crawled toward the wall. She was in a basement, but where? H was in one of the cells too, she remembered that much.

She smacked her cheeks a few times, struggling to keep her eyes open. Voices were heard from afar. Distorted voices and somebody was laughing. If H was drugged too….Fuck!

“Hanneghan, look at you, mild as a lamb...” A familiar high-pitched voice hit her ears. “Do you know that your precious boss is in the next cell? You’re gonna hear her moan!” A grisly laugh echoed throughout the basement.

She pushed herself up and leaned against the wall, pressing her palms on it. Pinpointing a spot on the whiteness of the wall she smashed her forehead full force into that point. Feeling warm blood sliding over her eyes she laughed uncontrollably. The pain momentarily cleared her senses. At the sudden sound of a key in the lock, she turned around and came face to face with Filipov.

He grimaced. “Eeeww, Stemetski, what did you do? Is that the way to await the man you will have between your legs tonight?” His high-pitched voice unpleasantly resonated within the cell.

“You...you drugged me…”

“Yeah, that I did. “ He grabbed her by the chin, pulled her face closer to him, and licked the blood from her cheek. “Such a pretty face. What were you thinking, smashing it like this, mmm? Perhaps you thought I might not like you and just let you go?” He forced a loud laugh. “Tsk, tsk, tsk…you’re so wrong on that. Let me make you even more likable.”

His thug, who stood by the door nodded at his boss and let out the grisly laugh she’d heard before. She slid out of Filipov’s grip and stumbled into the corner trying to take some cover. Her body didn’t fully obey her. Filipov approached and grabbed her by her neck. He grinned while squeezing, exposing two of his gold teeth and the rest of his crooked ones. His eyes were the same as Filipova’s -- dark, mad eyes. He smacked her hard. She crashed against the wall and slid down like jelly.

“Ah, Stemetski, tsk, tsk, so long I have been waiting for this moment. Finally, I don’t have to consider my annoying cousin, and I can do with you as I please. Come, let’s have some more foreplay.”

He threw a punch at her, but somehow her body instinctively dodged it and he hit the wall. While he cursed at the pain she staggered into another corner. Either way, there was no escape.

Upset by the way she tricked his boss, the thug at the door moved towards her too. She avoided the thug, just to fall into Filipov’s embrace, who caught her from behind. He was short, but a sturdy brute and his arms held her tightly. He grabbed her by the hair and pushed her down on her stomach.

“Now leave, I want to enjoy this alone!” he commanded his thug.

The thug snarled and left the cell.

“Stemetski…tsk, tsk…just look at you. You know, it’s not that you are particularly fine, and frankly, I can’t understand what that wretched cousin of mine saw in you. But the fact that you ignored me for him and continued rejecting me later on, and that that dog of yours smashed my face, got me all the more excited about you…Sure, it passed some time, and –“

A thump on the hallway momentarily distracted Filipov. As all went quiet again, he pressed his knee on her back and continued: “I was saying….it passed some time, but you know how they say, revenge is the dish best served cold.” Saying that he began pulling down her pants, having quite some trouble with it as she twisted her body furiously. Satisfied with getting them down to her knees he neared his face to hers and took a long lick over it

“Mmm, your blood tastes so sweet… oh, tsk, tsk, and your panties…how did you know I love the colour black?” With a salivating grin, he reached toward them.

Her right cheek pressed against the cold floor and unable to move, she let out a helpless yell. All of a sudden, the pressure on her back was lifted, and she saw Filipov flying at the wall ahead of her. With blood dripping into her eyes, she turned her head.

“Are you okay?” H asked, standing next to her.

Never happier to hear his voice, she nodded, wiping the blood from her face. She looked up at him again, the gratitude and relief reflecting in her eyes were met with the madness inside H’s. She wasn’t sure if it was the drug or something else, but in the next instant H, who was much taller and stronger than Filipov, cornered him and began throwing punches. Filipov scrunched up against the wall and put his hands over his head. It didn’t help him much and soon he was too weak to defend in any way against H’s fists.

Ana stared, mesmerized by the intensity of H’s strikes, and let out an involuntary chuckle. It had been a while since she saw him in such a frenzy, perhaps once when she went to see his fight in the cage, when he had killed -- as soon as she realized the seriousness of the situation, she pulled up her pants and scrambled on her feet. She staggered toward H, who was on the top of Filipov, rearranging the bones of his face. Actually, there was no face anymore, only blood and soft tissue. Ana grabbed H by his shoulders and started pulling him away.

“H, stop!”

Without even looking at her, H pushed her away with quite some force. She stumbled backward and landed in Akayev’s arms. He steadied her, then ran over to H. With a lot of effort he managed to detach him from Filipov and pushed him against the wall. Confronting him with a stern stare he shouted at him to stop. At his shout, H’s mad eyes became clearer. With a glance at Ana he snorted, pushed Akayev away, and retreated away from Filipov.

Akayev squatted by Fillipov, grimacing in disgust as his fingers poked what was left of his face. “Fuck, Hanneghan, if he’s dead--“

A rasping sound came from Fillipov’s mutilated mouth and his whole body began twitching.

“Heeey cousin…” Akayev said with relief, pulling his face into a forced grin. “Geez, you were one ugly motherfucker before, but now….”

“He drugged us,” Ana gasped.

“Yeah, didn’t see that coming…Are you okay, beautiful?” He stood up, eying her with concern.

“Yes, fuck it…” She spat out some blood. “Let’s just go.”

“No, wait,” said Akayev calmly. He touched her face to wipe some of the blood, but she pushed him away.

“What the hell is going on here?” A tall, athletic black woman entered the cell. Her authoritative voice demanded an answer.

“Hey, Johnson, you’ve arrived just in time. It’s Filipov…he tried to rape her,” said Akayev, his eyes shifting at Ana.

“Yes, he did,” said Ana in a broken, whispering voice, while trying to tighten the belt on her pants. Her hands were shaking so much, she couldn’t hit the hole in her belt properly.

Akayev passed his hand gently over her messy hair. “Everything is fine now, gorgeous. You’ll be ok.” She looked at him with distress in her eyes and nodded.

The black woman looked shocked. “We need to tell Filipova,” she said dryly, casting a deprecating stare at Filipov’s immovable body.

“Yes, we do,” Akayev agreed and turned to H and Ana: “You two leave, I’ll take care of him. We’ll be in touch.”