Project Genesis

Project Genesis; Maddox

The hum of the machines was almost defending, the only other sound was that of Ester's labored breathing. I stared down at her. There was blood. A lot of it. The smell was sickening and made me throw up. Ester just laughed at me. "You get used to it, Maddox." She smiled up at me, through bloody lips. "Ya wanna know something?" I didn't reply so she kept talking. "I never really thought about how my story would end." She stopped to take a shaky breath. She was leaning against the tank, her long lags starched out in front of her. "I always figured it'd end in blood, but I never know how far I'd get. Ya know, if I'd really find her or not. I never thought past that." As I looked down at Ester my heart was smashed. She and her mission were the only things I'd cared about for the last six years. I'd modeled my life around them and now it was all over. I knew that I was just an extra in her story. That Ester was always the main character, the heroine or villainess, depending on where you stood. And I'd always stood behind her. Well almost always. "I'm sorry..." I looked at her puzzled, she'd never apologized for anything in her life. "Why?" It wasn't that she'd never done anything wrong, just the opposite. "For dragging you along with me. For killing that girl in front of you. Not for killing her mind you, just for doing it in front of you. And for coming to you that first night, I can't help but think it would have been better if I hadn't made it to you." Here she closed her eyes. "I loved you." She said it in a whisper as if she hadn't wanted me to really hear it, but had needed to say it. "I still love you, Ester." She opened her eyes and they stared up at me dark and gray. Then she coughed up a lot of blood.

## Six years earlier.

It was raining and had been for the past week. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock. It said it was well past midnight. I was sitting in front of my computer not really doing anything when someone started pounding on my door. At first, I ignored it, partly because I lived in a bad part of town but mostly because I didn't want to get up. But the banging didn't stop. So reluctantly I got up and went to the door. "Who is it?" I said putting my hand on the lock. "It's Ester, please help me!" Ester was a few years younger then me. At fourteen she looked more like twenty. She was tall and thin with a huge chest. Quickly I opened the door wandering what the hell she wanted.

Ester was holding her side blood seeping through her long fingers. "Please help me Maddox…" I pulled her inside and quickly shut the door. Then helped her to my couch. "What the fuck happened Ester?" She closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself. "Cecelia and I were walking home when they grabbed us. They shoved her into a car but I got away." She looked at her side and snickered. "Well just about." I pulled her shirt up and looked at it. The bullet had ripped a nice little hole in her side. "I have to get it out." She kind of nodded but was starting to slip away. Quickly I run into my bathroom to get my first aid kit, then to my bedroom to grab a bottle of vodka.

After giving her a sip I pored some onto her wound to clean it. "Ester, I'm going to take the bullet out now." She nodded weakly. Her blood felt hot and sticky on my fingers as I dug it out of her. Ester gave a small groan but didn't complain. I pulled it out and dropped it onto the table. It was 44 caliber bullet. Next I pored a little more vodka into the wound then stated to stitch her up.

Water sloshed into the sink as I washed Ester's blood off my hands. She was sleeping on the couch. Right after I'd finished she'd past out. I set on rim of my tub and thought. Just over an hour ago I was messing around on my computer and everything was alright. Now I had Ester shot and sleeping on my couch and her older sister Cecelia was gone. Cecelia was only a year younger then me and three years older then Ester. The two of them were almost always together. Cecelia always following the party and Ester always following Cecelia. When I first met them I'd thought Ester was the older one. She was more responsible and looked older. Constantly saving her sister and keeping them safe. Ester and I had quietly become friends as I didn't really like parties and nether did she. Both sisters were beyond gorgeous. They looked like angels descended form heaven. Well Cecelia looked like an angel and Ester like a demon crawled out of hell to tempt humans to foul deeds. I nervously ran my fingers through my short dark hair. "Fuck!" I cursed standing up. Slowly I went back into the living room.

Ester was still sleeping. First I checked to see if she was warm. A little feverish but that was to be expected. Next I checked the wound. It seemed to be doing alright. So I covered her up with a blanket and went to bed.

The next morning I was woken up by Ester she was sitting at my desk, using my computer. "Hey, you should be resting."

"No time I have to find her." Ester didn't turn or even glance at me.

"Come on you need to lay down and take it easy." I pushed myself up out of bed and pulled on my jeans.

"I can't. Cecelia needs me." Her eyes continued their scan of the screen.

Sleepy I stumbled over to the computer to see what she was looking at. It was a web page about the recent kidnapping of young girls in the area. Apparently a lot of girls had gone missing with not a lot of explanation. "Ester let me help you." I leaned over and tapped something on the screen. "I was reading that." She said but was already pushing her chair away from the desk. "I'm better with this kind of things then you are." I glanced at her. "No offense." Ester stood up and pushed the chair towards me. "None taken and thank you." She set down on the edge of my bed and winched. Her brown hair had dried clots of blood in it and she kept messing with it. "Why don't you go take a shower while I look at this. You can borrow some clothes. There in the dresser over there. Take anything you want." She stood up and walked to it. "Thanks." With an arm load of clothes Ester left my room.

It'd been half an hour and I'd read most the information on that site. Ester was still in the shower so I decided to take a brake and check on her. I could hear the shower still on but I could also hear something else too. I could her crying. Knocking on the door I softly called out. "Ester you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." She called back, her voice kinda shaky.

"Take your time, I was just checking on you." I started to walk away. "Oh I found a few leads, we can talk about it when you get out."

Five minutes later Ester came into my room. She was wearing a pair of my sweats and a loose teeshirt. I noticed she wasn't wearing a bra either. Instantly I felt bad. Her entire world had just crashed around her and I was starting at her tits. Clearly she'd said something because she was pulling up her shirt. But I hadn't heard what it was. "So?" She was looking at me questioningly. "What?" I bumbled out. "Can you redress my wound?" Quickly I did so. It was looking good. Not infected or anything. "It's doing good." She dropped the shirt. "Good. So what'd you find out?" I told her everything I thought worthwhile. Which wasn't a lot but at least it was something. Just where the other girls had been taken from and when. Who they were and the people they were connected to. She set quietly and listened to everything I said. "So Ester, what's your plan?"

"Find Cecelia." She stated it plane and simple.

"I know. But what are you going to do now."

She thought about it a moment. "I guess I'll go back to Cecelia and I's place, then I'll go talk to everyone I can find that might be connected with the people that took her."

She was so damned ernest about it. I knew what I was saying and I knew that it might end up killing me. But I didn't care. "I'm going to help you." She started to say something but I cut her off. "I'm not asking if I can help you I'm telling you that I'm going to. Now where were you and Cecelia staying?"

"An old warehouse down by the docks."

"We're going to go get your things and you can stay in the spare room."

"Thank you Maddox. For everything."

Ester had quickly gotten used to 'getting information' out of people then disposing of them when she no longer needed them. It'd been something like three months since Cecelia was taken and we still didn't have a lot of leads. I was learning a lot about medicine and computers to better help Ester. While she was learning a lot about guns and 'integration'. I'd kept the bullet and put it on a chain to always remind me of, well I wasn't sure what it was supposed to remind me of, just as a keepsake I guess.

We'd found a link to a flesh trading ring and started to infiltrate it. But it was only small time and linked to a much larger operation.

## Three years later.

Ester came strolling in the front door, her short black, blood splattered boots hardly making a sound. She grinned at me. "Hey good looking, how's it going." She said then plopped onto the couch next to me and started undoing her braid. "You look happy." I said.

"It went well. I got the address of the warehouse and I'm pretty confident that its are place." She took both her .44's and set them on the table. I had a horrible feeling deep down in my gut. I was scared she was going to die. "I'm so excited for tonight." My head jerked up. "You wanna do it tonight?"

"Well, yeah. Why would I wait?"

"Because it's dangerous. You could die Ester!"

She put her hand on my arm. "Maddox, I'll be okay. If you want me to I'll wait until tomorrow night. Alright?"

"I think it'd be best that way you're well rested and at your best." She stood up. "I'm going to change. I'll meet you in your room." I watched her walk away. She didn't look that much different from back then. Only a little more defined. Her jeans were tight and she always had on tank tops with old bands logos on them. The only time she had on shoes was when she went out.

When she came into my room she had on short pajamas shorts and a big teeshirt. "Hey." She said and set down on my bed. To everyone else she was hard and cold. But around me she let her guard down and was the same funny girl she had been before Cecelia. "I have something for you." I opened my desk drawer and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. "Here." Ester took them and looked them over then put them on. "I like um. But why'd ya get um for me?"

I grinned and hit a few keys on my computer. Then a view of my room come on my screen. "When you wear them I can see whatever you see." I reached over and clicked a button on the side and they turned off. "You can turn them on and off. Take pictures and videos. Also there's a microphone in them so we can communicate whenever you want. I figure they'll help keep you safe."

Her smile was huge. "Thank you so much. Your awesome." She took them off and started to play with them. Suddenly her smile was gone and there was a seriousness to her voice. "Not just for these. But for everything. For the last three years you've taken care of me and helped me. I can never thank you enough."

I shook my head. "Don't thank me. We're not finished yet." Ester stood up and kissed me on the cheek. I turned my head and kissed her mouth. She stepped back and looked at me, her eyebrows raised. "What was that?"

"It was a just in case kiss." I said smiling up at her.

"Just in case of what?" She put her hands on her hips.

"In case you die tomorrow night."

Narrowing her eyes to slits she leaned down. "And what if I don't?"

"We can continue." As I said it my hands started to sweat even more.

"If I make it I'll sleep with you." Her mouth was maybe an inch away from mine and I went to kiss her again. But she pulled away. "Goodnight Maddox." And she was gone.

What I'd been thinking when I kissed Ester I couldn't tell you. It was the scariest moment of my life. It's not like I hadn't slept with my fair share of woman. Well not since Ester had moved in. I thought about it a lot and I'd never seen her with any men. Well expect for Holden. But he was her clean up guy. Whenever she had a body she needed to get rid of she called him. I laid down and closed my eyes. The world hurt tonight.

Dusk was just settling in as Ester walked up to the warehouse. I was watching from my computer screen. Carefully she eases opened the door. She had one of her guns in her hand and led the way with it. The first room she inspected was empty. "Hey, Ester." My voice crackled in her ear. "What?" She whispered back. "Turn on the infer red."

"There's infer red on these?"

"Yeah, I thought it'd come in handy."

"How do I turn it on." She was tapping the sides of the glasses.

"Second button down on the left." She clicked it on. Suddenly the screen was full of little spots of heat and darkness. Nothing of substance though. "This is so fucking badass!" Happily she looked around the room. Then I noticed something off to her right. "Ester stop. There's something moving to your right. About the size of a person." Carefully she slunk closer to them. It was indeed a person. Probably a guard. She clicked off the infer red and stocked after them.

I knew that Ester killed people, but I'd never seen her do it. The guard dropped like a stone when she shot him. "Hope no one heard that." She said looking at her newly made corpse. Clicking the infer red back on she continued to search for another room. Suddenly she stopped and I knew why. There was a huge mass of bodies on the other side of the wall. "Wholly crap." Her voice crackled in my ear. "That's a lot of people." She clicked off the infer red and stared to look for a door.

It took her a few minutes but eventually she found it. Slowly she pulled open the door and peered inside. The room was dimly lit by overhead lights. Cages full of women lined both walls. Some hung from the ceiling by chains others lay on the floor. "Fuck, it smells like hell in here." Ester said covering her nose. "Cecelia!" She yelled into the room. No one answered, the ones that could moved as far away as they could. "Cecelia, if your here it's me Ester!" Still no answer. "Ester you have to help these girls." I whispered. It looked like hell in there. Just the sight of it made me want to throw up.

Carefully Ester made her way through the room. At the far end there was a table with a woman laying on it. She was chubby with short greasy dark hair. "Are you alive?" Ester said and poked her. She groaned and moved a little. Then started to cry. Ester pushed at her "Get up." But she just laid there and continued cry. "Shut up." Ester shoved her again. "Stand up. You have to help these other women." She kept crying. "Get the fuck up and stop whining." This time Ester pushed her off the table. "If you don't stop and help them I'll blow your brains out myself!" At this she stopped and pulled herself together. "I'm Ester, what's your name?" She stood up. "Tina." She said it in a whine. "Tina, I need you to help me save the rest of these girls. Do you think you can do that?" She nodded her head. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Ester turned and started to walk away. "Wait!" Tina yelled "Why?" She called over her shoulder but didn't stop or even slow down. "I'm scared."

"So?" Ester was almost out of the room.

"What do I do?" She was almost crying again.

I heard Ester sigh deeply but she came back. "Here, if someone besides me comes, kill um." She pushed her spare gun into Tina's hand. Then walked out of the room without a backwards glance.

There was only one corridor so Ester followed it. She tried every door she came across but they were, for the most part empty. A few had a man or two in them. Which she quickly killed. Finally she come across one that looked different. It looked new. First she reloaded. Then leading with her gun she turned the knob and pushed it opened.

Inside was full of filling cabinets. There was a large desk and behind it a fat little man in his late fifties. "Come in my dear." He smiled a sleazy smile at Ester. Like he wanted to fuck her. It pissed me off and I really wanted her to shot him. "Hello." Ester sounded almost pleasant. "I was hoping you could give me a little information." He laced his fingers on the desk. "It must be very important information for you to have come in guns ablaze and kill… how many of my men?"

"I've killed eight of them and it is." She took a step closer and closed the door.

"What do you want to know? Maybe we can make a trade." Even his voice was sleazy.

"I'm looking for my older sister." She pulled out the picture she always carried with her. "Her name is Cecelia, she was taken three years ago on April 12th at 1:21 am. The people that took her shot me." I saw her hand move as she lifted her shirt to show him the scare. "And I have information that your people are the ones that took her. Now if you give her back to me I'll leave right now and you'll never see me again."

He shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry my pretty but I can't give you any information and your in no position to demand anything." Ester turned away from him like she was going to leave. But instead she picked us a chair and wedged it under the door. "Now I'm going to make it incredibly simple for you. You tell me what I want to know or I'm going to kill you and everybody else here. I don't give a shit who they are I'll kill them in the most brutal ways you can imagine. Because you see the only thing in this entire world that matters to me is finding my sister." Here he clapped. "Very admirable sweetie. But I'm not going to give you anything, but my cock. And as for your killing spree it's reached a stop. For you see I've set off my alarm and all my men are on there way here now." Ester walked around the desk to stand behind him. Then pushed her .44 against his temple. "My name is Ester not sweetie."

She clicked on the infer red and watched the men gather outside the door. Then she started to fire. Each shot hit someone and soon they were all dead. She'd clicked off the infer red. "There all gone and your all alone." She leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Now do you think you can tell me what I want to know." He shook his head vigorously. "If I give you anything they'll do worse then just killing me." Taking her other gun Ester pressed it against his hand then pulled the trigger. He screamed like the devil. "Give me something!" She yelled at him. "In that filling cabinet over there. It's organized by year and date." Keeping one gun trained on him she started to go through the cabinet. I noticed that they were color coded. "Those, the light blue ones." I said. She jumped. "I forgot about you." She whispered back. Quickly she thumbed through them. Finally she found the right folder and opened it.

Inside there were pictures of girls attached to files. Third form the top was Cecelia's. I heard Ester gasp at her sisters picture. It said that she'd been taken for and sold to a company. But it just said G. "Who's G?" Ester pointed both her guns at him. The angry clear in her voice. If I was that man I'd have been scared shitless. "I can't tell you!" He bellowed back at her. "You can and you will!" She screamed back at him and pulled out a knife. Quickly she shoved it into his thigh and twisted it. He yelled and cried and bagged her to stop. He grabbed at her. But all Ester did was pull it out and cram it into a different spot in his lag. "Tell me now or I'll fucking kill you!" She was yelling. "She's all I have to live for and you will tell me where she is!"

It took her hacking off all the fingers on one hand to get him to talk, but he did talk. By that time I had thrown up. How Ester could do this I didn't understand. "It's a company called Genesis. They work in bioengineering. They call and ask us to pick up people. Certain people. And we do it. They were supposed to get you too but they fucked up. That's all I know I swear." He was crying. Ester put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry but I believe you." She pulled the trigger.

On her way out Ester stopped and gathered up all the women. Tina had let them out and they'd all gathered around and been waiting for her to return. Tina came running up. "You came back." She was so excited. Ester pointed toward the door. "It's the way out."

"You saved are lives." Tina looked up at her. Her eyes big and pleading. "It's not why I came but I'm glad I did." She started to walk away. "Come on." And they all followed.

I was pacing around my living room waiting for Ester to get home. I'd been two hours since she'd turned off her glasses. When she finally did come home that women Tina had followed her. "I was so worried about you, Ester." I said while hugging her. She kinda hugged me back. "I'm fine." She set down on the couch and put her head in her hands. Tina tugged on my sleeve. "She's been in a very bad mood since we left and dropped the rest of the girls off at the hospital." I walked over and set down next to her. "It went well Ester. Why are you so upset?" I put my hand on her shoulder. Shoving my hand off she jumped up. "Why am I so upset? Why the fuck am I so upset?!" She screamed at me. "I'm so fucking pissed off because she wasn't there! I thought it was over I thought I'd found her!" She grabbed the edge of the table and tossed it across the room. Tina squealed and scurried out of the way. "And all I got was this!" She threw the file at me. "All it is, is a name and there's no info out there about it!" Anger bubbled out of her and seeped through the room. "Ester calm down. We'll find them alright and you saved a lot of people tonight." I took her hand but she pulled away. "I don't give a fuck about them. I… I just want Cecelia…" Suddenly her eyes filled with tears and all the anger vanished. All that was left was a scared sad teenaged girl. Turning away from me she said. "I'm going to bed. Good night Maddox." Then walked into her room and shut the door.

I'd introduce myself to Tina and told her she could sleep on the couch. I tried to explain that Ester was just upset and having a hard time. Then told her Ester's story. Maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe it wasn't my place to say anything but I felt like I needed someone that knew. Someone to talk to. With no where to go I said she could stay a few nights with us. After we talked for a while I told her I was tired and was ready to go to bed. Picking up the folder I said goodnight then went to my room.

After spending a good two hours trying to find anything about Genesis. Anything at all. I gave up for the night and got into bed. But I couldn't sleep I kept seeing Ester killing people. A very large part of me had hoped that she hadn't been joking last night, about sleeping with me. I would never admit it to her or anyone else but Ester scared the hell out of me. Sometimes I thought that she didn't actually care about me. That I was just a tool for her to reach her goal. So maybe there was a little part of me that was happy the Cecelia hadn't been there. If she had been it would all be over.

With my thoughts muddled I was just starting to sink into an exhausted sleep when I felt something cold next to me. Startled I set up. Laying there next to me completely naked was Ester. "I promised right?" I was speechless. There next to me was my wildest dream come true. Slowly my eyes took in her every curve. Form her soft brown hair cascading across the pillows to the delicate sweep of her neck. Her perfect, enormous breasts to the curves of her hips and down her incredibly long lags. Slowly I reached out and ran my fingers down her chest. "Are you sure?" I asked shakily. "If I wasn't I wouldn't be here." I took a deep breath and leaned down to her tits and started to suck at them. She made little moaning sounds. Which made my heart jump. After a little while I started to move down her body. I stopped at her scar and kisses it. It seemed like a link between us. I pushed a her hip lightly. "Roll onto your back." She complied quickly and I moved between her lags. Then started to lick her. "Wholly shit! That feels so fucking good!" She pushed her hips up to meet my mouth. "You've never had anyone do this before?" I asked stopping for a minute. Putting her hand in my hair she pushed my head back down. "Don't stop and no. I've never gone this far." I hadn't thought that she'd had sex before but I wasn't sure. I was so very happy I was her first.

After I'd gotten her off I crawled up her and pushed my hips against hers. I took it slowly at first. It was easy to see that it hurt her but she'd told me not to stop. "Are you sure your alright? We can stop if your not." Looking up at me she smiled. "I'm okay." And for the first time she kissed me. At the same time she bucked her hips up against mine and pushed me the rest of the way into her. As she did it she bite my lip so hard that it drew blood but I didn't stop her. I waited until she was ready to move.

Being with her felt more incredible then anything else in this entire world. She was perfect in every single possible way. Now she was sleeping next to me still completely naked. As I stared at her slowly moving chest I for the first time admitted to myself that I was in love with Ester.

## One year later

Over the last year Ester and I slept together almost every night. We never talked about what kind of relationship we had we just were together. Tina was sort of living with us. I don't know how much Ester liked her. But she tolerated her presence in are home. We'd found a few good leads on Genesis and Ester was supposed to meet with someone who knew about them tonight so we were getting things ready. I'd done some updates on her glasses. So Ester was excited to try them out.

The man she was supposed to meet with was a dealer. He set up deals between Genesis and different flesh rings. Ester was posing as a representative of a new ring looking to get involved with Genesis. He'd taken the bait and agreed to meet with her at a restaurant along the waterfront. I knew Ester was going to dress up but I had no idea what to expect. Before Cecelia had been taken she used to dress up a little for parties. I hadn't seen her in anything but trashy jeans, tank tops and boots since then.

Ester came strolling out of her room. She was dressed to the nines in a skin tight red dress, with no bra and sky high black pumps. The dress was lacy and only had one sleeve the other side was off the shoulder. Her brown hair was curled and styled. She had on just enough makeup and red lips. Normally she wore makeup but it was a little more rocker then this. Ester looked like she'd just walked out of a movie. "Holy shit!" Was all I could think to say. "How do I look?" She asked turning around to give me the full view. "You look incredible Ester." I stepped closer to her. "I didn't even know you owned clothes like these." She laughed. "I didn't until early today. I stole um at this nice store uptown." I shook my head and laughed at her. "You look good Ester." We both looked at the sound of Tina's voice. She'd come in without knocking. "Thanks." Ester stepped away from me, then went back into her room.

Before long it was time for Ester to go. When she left she'd been carrying her shoes because they were tall and hard to walk in. I was sitting at my computer watching through her glasses. Tina was sitting on my bed talking to me. The restaurant they were supposed to meet at was nice. Like they wouldn't have let us in. But damned if they didn't open the door fast for Ester in the dress. I could tell by the way people were staring at her that Ester was strutting like a peacock. After sitting at the bar for a few minutes a man approached her. "Hello beautiful." He set down next to her. "Hello yourself." She said back. Smiling he looked her up and down. "I never expected my new contact to be so lovely."

"Why thank you. I appreciate the compliment."

He stood up and held out his hand. "Would you like to join me outside where it's a little more private?"

Ester places her hand in his and stood up. "I'd love to." And she followed him through a set of french doors.

They set at a table right by the rail overlooking the water. "It's beautiful out here." She wasn't looking at him but at the water. "It is. But not as beautiful as you my dear." I heard her giggle. Yes, Ester giggled! I had never heard her giggle in my entire life. "Thank you." She took off her sunglasses and set them on the railing facing the table. "As much as I'd love to keep hearing you say sweet things about me. Let's get down to business."

He grinned at her. "Yes let's. So how many do you have in stock usually?"

She nitted her eyebrows in thought. "At the moment I have one hundred and twelve, Mr Olsen."

"Call me by my first name Colin, miss Blare."

She set up more all the sudden and I realized I couldn't see Colin's hands. "Alright Colin." I didn't like the idea of him putting his hands on her.

"I like the sound of those numbers. But you see Genesis also wants certain people. If I call you and ask you to pick someone up can you do it?"

Ester smiled. "Anyone you want."

"Good." He was about to say something else but a waiter came up and asked if they wanted drinks. He ordered for both of them. Two martinis. Ester sipped her's like a queen. "So miss Blare. After we eat would you like to go back to my place."

Ester raised her eyebrows. "That's a bit presumptuous. Don't you think Colin?"

He laughed. "I didn't mean like that. I meant to talk about business and finalized things."

Ester put her elbows on the table, laced her fingers and put her chin on her hands. "In that case I'd love to."

The rest of the meal they flirted and said suggestive things. It pissed me off more then I can possibly put into words. I couldn't be mad at her though because she was just doing what she had to. Tina was still watching with me. "Looks like she's having fun." She said. "She just pretending. It's what she has to do."

"I don't know it really looks like she's enjoying it."

"Whatever." I said it kinda pissy.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you." Tina looked really sad. She often looked sad. The slamming of a car door brought my attention back to my monitor. Ester had just shut Colin's car door and was stumbling up to his front door. She'd drank a lot at restaurants. Once inside he offered her another drink and she excepted it. She'd set the glasses down on a table so I could see most the room. They were sitting on his couch talking a little about business but more about how beautiful Ester was or as he'd started to call her by her fake name Lacey.

Music droned into the room and made it hard for me to hear what was being said. But I knew he was trying to get into her pants. Well skirt I guess. Tina said that Ester was so going to sleep with the guy but I firmly believed that she wouldn't. That's when he leaned in and kissed her. I tried to say something to her but since she didn't have the glasses on she couldn't hear me. Soon his hands were all over her and he pulled her dress off. All Ester had on were a pair of lacy black underwear and nothing else. A moment later and those were gone to. He was completely undressed as well. Here is where I shut off my computer.

"What the fuck is wrong with her?" I ranted. Tina put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

I set down next to her. "It's just so fucked up."

"What is?" She asked.

"Things with Ester."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"I don't know." Here she kissed me. Pulling away I looked at her. She was by no means as beautiful as Ester. Her body wasn't toned at all in fact she was really chubby and her chest was small. But she was here and I was heart broken. So just like Ester I spent the night fucking somebody else. Only mine sucked.

The next morning Ester came bounding into my room happily. "What do you want?" I asked fully aware of the venom in my voice. "I got a lot of information last night. He totally bought it." She didn't seem to notice my tone at all. She'd put her guns on my desk when she'd come in. Happily she put her hands on the end of my bed and started to crawl up it towards me. "I was thinking we could celebrate." Here she pulled off her shirt and tugged my pants down. I didn't stop her at all even though I felt that I probably should.

"I'm glad I have you." She said her head laying on my chest. "Last night sucked ya know. I mean you were watching so I guess you know what happened."

"Yeah, you fucked him." I said sitting up.

She set up too. "I imagined it was you the entire time. That was the worst thing I've had to do so far. But it was for Cecelia."

Suddenly I felt bad. The only reason she'd fucked him was for Cecelia and I'd fucked Tina because I was mad at Ester for it. "I slept with Tina last night because I was mad at you for sleeping with Colin." I said it so fast that I wasn't sure I'd said it at all. She stood up still naked and stared down at me blankly. "Oh." Then she called for Tina to come in. Walking to the foot of my bed she smiled at Tina her gray eyes like stones. "I told you how I felt about Maddox, so why'd you sleep with him?" Tina was staring at Ester's naked body not saying anything. "Answer me. Now." She said now sternly. "I was mad at you and I wanted to." Tina swallowed.

Ester turned her back to Tina and put her hands on my desk. "I saved your life Tina."

"But your a bitch!" She screeched. "You think your so cool hunting for the people that took your sister not caring about anything or anyone else. When shes probably dead. I fucked him because you deserve to be hurt!"

Ester's voice remained calm and even the entire time, which was far more frightening then if she'd been yelling. "The thing about saving someone life is it gives you the right to take it back." Ester spun around, gun in her hand and blew Tina's head off. Her brains splatters the wall behind her and her plump body fell in a crumpled heap on the floor. Where she pissed herself. I couldn't take my eyes off Ester. Tina's blood spotted her olive skin with little red dots. She looked like a monster. "Ester…" I whispered her name. She glanced at me and for a heart stopping moment I was sure she was going to kill me too. But instead she spoke. "Clean up your mess." Was all she said then picking up her other gun left my room. A few minutes later I heard the front door slam shut.

First thing I did, well after throwing up was call Holden to help me clean up. After he got there I spilled my guts. Told him everything. Held nothing back. I don't know why, I just needed someone. Even though he was technically Ester's friend. After we'd cleaned everything up we decided to sit and have a drink together. "You have no idea how much Ester cared about you. Do you?" Holden said sipping at his drink. I scoffed. "I don't understand her."

"Even before she cared about you that's why she came to you that night. Because she trusted you."

"I know and I ruined it didn't I?"

"I would hate to be you."

"Why?"

"Because you held greatness in your arms. You felt eternity and lost it. You had something that no one else ever had and you gave it up. For what? Because you were angry with her? You've lost her. Even if she comes back it'll never be the same. I love her too but she doesn't love like the rest of us. To her love is something infinitely special and once it's broken it can't be fixed." He finished his drink. "I should be going." And he left.

What Holden had said stuck with me. He was right. I didn't know how right at the time.

## One year later

I hadn't seen Ester since that day. She never came back for her clothes or anything. I tried to keep tabs on her but it was hard and most the time I had no idea what was going on with her. A lot of flesh rings had been disband and there were things that made me think it was linked to Ester.

It was raining the night Ester came back. Like that first night she showed up at my door covered in blood. Only this time she wasn't alone. There was a man with her. He had his arm draped over her shoulder and was leaning heavily on her. "He needs help." Was all she'd said. I let them in. He'd been shot twice. Once in the shoulder and once in the lag. It turned out his name was Alex. He and Ester had met when she was taking down a flesh ring. Apparently he was looking for his younger sister Hanna and they'd agreed to help each other. So for the last eleven months they'd been searching for there sister together. They'd found out through Colin that Hanna was taken by Genesis as well. "So who shot you?" I asked as I stitched his lag up. "One of Colin's guards." Ester answered.

"Why?"

She sighed. "I became compromised and Alex came in to save me."

"Are you okay?" I asked looking up at her.

"I'm fine. He just found out who I was."

"How?" I'd finished stitching him up and was putting things away.

"I don't know. But Alex and I are close to finding there lab."

I turned to Alex. "You should get some sleep." He kinda nodded but was already almost asleep.

Ester covered him up then followed me into my room. I set down on the foot of my bed but she just stood. In the same spot as she had when she killed Tina. "You can stay here as long as you want. Your rooms still the same I haven't touched it." She shook her head. "No Alex and I already have somewhere to stay."

"Ester you both can stay here. Colin is probably looking for you."

"I doubt it."

"Why?"

"Because I killed him."

I stared up at her. "Oh."

She turned around and started to fiddle with the things on my desk. "I miss the sunglasses. It was nice having someone watching out for me. I mean Alex has my back to the death but that's different."

I stood up and walked over to the desk and opened the top drawer. "I still have them. In fact I've made some improvements. If you want to you can try them out." I took them out of the drawer and held them out to her. Slowly Ester took them. "I wish we could go back." She said turning them over in her hands.

"How far back do you want to go?"

"Two years."

I swallowed. "If it's what you want then I can go back. It'll be like the last two years never happened."

Ester put the sunglasses on. "Good. Then I'll be in my room." She walked to the door. "Goodnight." And she closed my bedroom door.

It was weird having Ester living back in the house. It was weirder having Alex there too. He slept in her room on a couch. The two of them were very close. They went out most nights and Ester took her glasses with her. I'd made a pair for Alex as well so I could monitor him too. I now had two screen to watch. It turned out Alex was incredibly nice and I really liked him. He was a year older then Ester and his little sister was only twelve when they'd taken her. Which put her at thirteen now. I felt bad for him. Things didn't go back to how they were before. Things between Ester and I were strange but what did I expect? Everything it just go back to normal? But having her back in my life like this was better then not having her in it at all.

## One year later.

"It's almost over." Ester said leaning over my shoulder so she could see the screen. "We found them. Can you believe it?"

"It's taken us all a long time and there was no way I would have found her if it wasn't for the two of you." Alex said from my other side. They were both staring at my screen. A video of what looked like a very quiet laboratory was being fed to my screen. The laboratory was Genesis. The three of us had found them along with a little help form Holden. The plan was to sneak in and try to find Cecelia and Hanna. Without making to much noise. We didn't have the power to take them down, but hopefully we were strong enough to save the two of them. Holden and I had gotten a van to take Ester and Alex to the lab and watch over them. So incase they got in trouble we could help them out. I didn't know how much help I'd be under fire. I'd never killed anyone before. I wasn't sure about Holden. I didn't really know a lot about him. But Ester trusted him and that was enough for me.

Both Ester and Alex were about ready to jump out of the van they were so excited. We'd parked a little ways away but close enough to see the laboratory. The two of them now stood outside the van waiting. I tapped Ester on the shoulder. "Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" She looked at me kinda funny. "I guess so." We stepped out of ear shot. "What's up?" She asked fidgeting with her guns. "After you get Cecelia back what are you going to do?" It was probably one of the scariest questions I'd ever asked. "I don't know."

"Do you think you'll still want to live with me?"

"Maybe if Cecelia wants to."

"I don't want you to leave Ester."

Ester shook her head, her eyes looked incredibly sad. "Can we please talk about this afterwards?"

I could see tears in the corners of her eyes. "Of course. I'm sorry if I upset you Ester."

Wiping at her eyes she said. "It's alright. After today everything is going to be alright." Suddenly she hugged me. "Is everything okay?" Alex asked walking up. "Yeah we're fine right Maddox?" She said and patted me on the back. "Good, because Holden and I are ready to go."

The two of them crept along the side of the building. Holden monitored Alex's screen and I watched Ester's. They made it in safe, then split up. Both were doing fine and neither had come across anyone. Alex was the first one to find anything. He'd come across a lab. It was starch white with a few tables. There was a man bending over one of the tables working on something. Alex crept closer and we realize that it was a person they were working on. He had there chest cut opened and was doing, something. Alex aimed his gun at the man. "What are you doing?" Slowly the man turned around. He was covered in blood up to his elbows. "Who are you?" He asked evenly. Alex took a step closer. "My name is Alex and I'm looking for my little sister Hanna." The man nodded. "Hanna, she's fourteen, short black hair right?"

"Yes!" Alex exclaimed.

"I know her. "

Alex shook his gun at him. "Take me too her!"

The man walked over to a sink and started to wash his hands. "Alright." He glanced over his shoulder. "I admire your spirit young man."

"There's someone else I'm looking for as well."

"Who?" He said turning off the water.

"Her names Cecelia. She was taken six years ago."

He nodded. "She is special. She's in the main lab but I can not give her to you."

"Why?"

"Because she was chosen."

"But…" The man held up his hand cutting Alex off. "I can not tell you anything else about her but I will take you to your sister and you may leave with her."

"Why are you just giving her to me?"

"Partly because I don't want you to kill me and partly because we are finished with her."

Alex tried to ask him more but he didn't give anything else. So he just had to follow the man.

I told Ester the basics of what had happened with Alex. She'd found a terminal and logged on. It had the floor plan and she easily found the main lab. Ester now stood outside the lab. Carefully she pushed open the door. Inside there were ten large round tanks. Each with a computer terminal and each with someone, something inside. Slowly Ester walked around the room. All the sudden she stopped dead in her tracks. Inside one of the tanks was a beautiful women with huge white wings. Ester put her hand on the tank and whispered. "Cecelia." That's when blood suddenly splattered the tank. Holden and I watched as Ester's hand slid down the tank leaving a bloody trail. The glasses hit the floor and broke.

I was out of the van and running before I could even think over what was going on. I reached the room and burst through the door. Inside there was a mass of bloody footprints leading to each tank. I found a man in a white lab coat by one of the tanks. I didn't even wait for him to turn around before I shot him in the head. When I found Ester she was leaning against the tank. Cecelia above her looking like an angel coming down from heaven to take Ester's soul.

So that brings us back to the beginning. Ester wiped the blood off her mouth. "Did Alex find Hanna?" She asked. "Yes he did." She smiled. "Good." Her eyes drifted closed for a minute, then snapped back opened. "I think this is a fitting end." More blood bubbled on her lips. "You can't save me this time Maddox." I couldn't find any words anymore. Suddenly her entire body jerked wildly. Then went completely still. A glossy film had covered her gray eyes. I squatted down next to her and closed her eyes. The one thing in this world that I'd loved and she was gone. Leaning down I kissed her bloody lips goodbye.