Chapter 4. Skull

She laughed excitedly, hugging Jamal, her little brother. She had never been happier. She couldn’t seem to remember exactly why her parents threw the party but it didn’t really matter because they were all together. She’d missed them so much. Why was that the case though, she asked herself. Did she travel? Probably went to Jamaica for a visit. She needed to talk to her mother to help her get some answers. Why the party, for one, and why did it feel like she hadn’t seen them in ages. She saw her handsome big brother, Leon, walking towards her but was gone in the next second. Where had he vanished to, she wondered as she turned to look at where her mother had been sitting, laughing with her friends. But her mother wasn’t there anymore. She turned to where her father was but he wasn’t there either.

'Jamal?' She shouted her little brother’s name but she couldn’t find him. Then the people began to fade away. She looked around bewildered. Where did everyone go? Then she saw them…about ten men with fierce looks in their eyes. They had guns and arrows and swords. They all started towards her. She turned and started to run but she fell. 

“No,” Tanesha screamed loudly as she woke up from her dream and sat up.

She blinked at the bright light in the room she was being held in. She looked up and her eyes widened. Right there in front of her stood the tallest hunk she’d ever seen. Behind him stood about seven of her captors. But she didn’t even look at the men behind the hunk. Her gaze locked on the skull tattooed on the forehead of the hunk. He was here. Skull won.

Tanesha screamed!

Then for the second time in her life, everything went black.

***

Lt. Tyler Tyron Wesley, a.k.a. Skull, looked down at the girl lying at his feet in a faint and almost groaned. He knew it was the damn tattoo. He’d seen the way the girl had stared frightfully at his forehead just before she’d passed out. He couldn’t wait to get out of that godforsaken island on which they were to be for the next four weeks so he could get rid of that artificial tattoo. Ty knew he looked scary with the tattoo but surely it wasn’t that bad, he thought bemused. These sheltered rich kids sure could exaggerate, he told himself.

“Can anyone tell me why she fainted?” Ty’s voice boomed in the silence that followed the girl’s fainting, pretending not to know the real reason behind the faint. He felt he had to say something, and that was what came to mind.

To his surprised, however, his question was met with total silence. For a moment, Ty thought there was no one in the room besides him and the girl, till he turned around and saw all the men gawking at him. Some looked scared, others looked cautious. Great! They were obviously scared of Skull, Ty thought, stifling a grin. And they should be too…seeing as he’d rid the world of two of her wicked souls just two days earlier.

“Listen, guys, if we’re going to work together, you’ll have to start talking at some point.” He growled, a scowl permanently in place. He would have burst into laughter if he had that luxury. “Now will someone answer me please? Could it be that she’s fainted because she’s probably not being fed well? Is she ill?”

One of the guys, who had a deep scratch on his cheek cleared his throat and turned to face Ty. “Well, I’m guessing it’s because…” His eyes went to Ty’s forehead, then he swallowed nervously. “We told her about you so…” He shrugged, quickly looking away from Skull.

“Really?” Ty murmured. Of course, he knew the idiot wasn’t being truthful. It was obvious the girl had passed out because of his tattoo. But with the kind of reputation that he had, Scar Face couldn’t possibly tell him the sight of his tattoo brought on the faint, could he? Ty smiled to himself. The crooks were obviously scared because they didn’t know what to expect from him. Telling someone with a reputation such as Skull’s that they looked scary or ugly might just cause problems. “I see.” He said and crouched down beside Tanesha. 

The girl looked like she hadn’t had a bath in days, Ty couldn’t help but notice. But that tiny detail didn’t take anything away from the girl’s looks. She was gorgeous. She had really long hair, which was visibly all hers, really long eyelashes…which looked natural too. Ty had seen pictures of Tanesha before embarking on the mission and could say emphatically that her pictures didn’t do her justice. Even with no make-up on, Tanesha easily had the sweetest and most beautiful face Ty had ever seen. And that body… Fuck! Ty stood up abruptly and turned to face the guys.

“Now, there’s something that each of you must know about how I work.” He kept his scowl in place. “My victims must be kept in top shape for as long as I’m using them. I don’t start sending body parts till I really have to. You see, I’ve noticed that I actually get the best out of people if I’m able to send pictures of their loved ones, still looking well.” Ty began pacing. “There is nothing as effective as sending them a picture of a loved one who looks okay but is missing say…a finger or two…or an ear or something equally tiny.” Ty stopped pacing and faced the guys. “The idiot looks at the picture and tells himself… ‘I caused this. All I had to do was comply and…’” Ty turned his head to look at Tanesha. “‘My daughter could have been whole.’ They give you everything you demand then.”

He looked at the criminals, who were listening to him with rapt attention, and wished he could simply shoot each of them between their stupid worshiping eyes. 

“On the other hand, if the victim looks sick, shabbily dressed, and virtually dead, they give up. Why waste their time doing as is demanded of them by…ZONKAI when their loved one is virtually dead anyway?”

“Brilliant.” One idiot said almost reverently.

“How many times does she eat in a day?” Ty asked coldly.

“Once.” One man piped up.

Ty had to make an effort not to show just how pissed off he was by that answer. “From today forward, she eats three square meals a day, take a shower every day and…” Ty turned to look at what Tanesha was wearing. Leggings and a tank top. “Who does the shopping around here?” He asked.

“I do.” The youngest-looking guy amongst the six men answered. He looked not a day above eighteen and had the face of an innocent kid. What the fuck was he doing there amongst those killers, Ty wondered.

“Get her some warm clothes and more of what she’s wearing so that she can change whenever she takes a shower. Don’t forget to get her panties and a hairbrush.”

“Okay boss.” The young man said eagerly. “Do I get her a bra too?” He asked, drawing laughter from the men gathered.

“Knock yourself out,” Ty said, turning to leave the room. “Bring her to me when she’s showered and changed.