Logan stared at the plain looking two story house before him in shock. Children’s toys littered the grassy yard, a swing set sat rocking in a slight breeze, and several small dresses hung on the clothesline.
Once he got past that and really looked at the house he saw the inches of crud on the windowsills, the dirty, fogged in windows, the pale light that filtered through them barely enough to light the window ledges.
“This it?” Logan croaked.
“Yep.” Witchdoctor nodded, “Okay ladies and gents, here’s how its going down. We’re after the kids inside and the guardians. In case you don’t know how this works Logan, I’ll explain. For every four kids there’s usually one guardian. Being as some of these kids are novices there’s probably a higher ratio. There job is to keep the kid there, to stop him or her from running away. To do this they use intimidation, fear, and bribery, whatever they have to. Most of them are armed to a degree…”
“The standard issue for one is a snub nosed .38.” A tall, red haired man with pale blue eyes interjected.
“Thank you Derrek. Most of the guardians have preferences, that’s why they’re so go at what they do. Often times the guardian uses his ‘charges’ as much as the johns, maybe even more.” Witchdoctor paused. “Questions?”
“I think I get the picture.” Logan ground out, his claws itching to make an appearance and shred the sick fuckers inside.
“Remember, Angel wants all guardians alive. Maim, hurt, scar, but do not under any circumstances kill one.”
“What about a John?” Derrek asked.
“She didn’t say anything about ‘em.” Witchdoctor replied with a cruel smile. “Feel free to do whatever you want with ‘em.”
With murmurs of agreement, everyone climbed out of the dark, battered, old van. Keeping to the shadows was easy, especially when the nearest building was a good hundred yards away.
Logan stepped over an overturned tryke and slid toward a window. Inhaling he caught the smell of lust, of fear, and pain and growled softly. He could feel Wolverine wanting out, feel his darker side rising and let go.
Peering into a window he saw several youngsters huddled on the floor dressed in clothes better suited to a woman, their pale, perfect skin on display for anyone to see. He saw a tall, thin man standing talking to another man, his salt and pepper hair combed back from his face.
“Not pretty is it?” Derrek whispered softly as they watched the salt and pepper haired man approach a pretty blonde haired little girl.
Logan snarled as the girl looked up with a dark of fear but didn’t balk when the man took her arm and smiled at her. It was obvious to anyone with eyes what was about to happen and Wolverine took another notch of Logan’s control from him.
“Now!” Witchdoctor called and in a flurry of crashes and splintering wood the doors burst open.
Wolverine heard the screams, saw the kids grabbing for each other as the seven men in the room reached for guns. Grabbing the man closest to him he squeezed his throat until the man was nearly purple before throwing him across the room. Catching sight of the man dragging his ‘prize’ down a hallway, Wolverine darted after him.
Amid the girl’s screams and begging voice, the slam of a door seemed loud to Wolverine as he paused before it. He heard the lock slam into place, heard the sound of fabric tearing and ripped the door from it’s hinges. Splinters and bits of metal went flying everywhere as he lunged through the door, catching the man who’d picked the girl up and was heading for the bed.
A quick move and the girl went scrambling across the floor, her capture on the floor moaning in agony.
Wolverine growled furiously and let his claws slide out. Putting a knee in the man’s chest he leaned forward, pushing his weight into his diaphragm and slowly, oh so slowly suffocating him. When the man was purple, he eased the pressure slightly before his claws went to work.
Five minutes later, covered in blood and gore, he turned to stare at the girl who watched him with wide eyed fear. A low growl and he cracked his neck quickly, his claws disappearing as quickly as they’d appeared.
“You okay?”
The girl swallowed and curled tighter into a ball, the smell of her terror jacking up as he walked toward her.
“I ain’t gonna hurt you.” Kneeling next to her he grabbed for the blanket off the bed and wrapped her in it. “Come on, lets get you somewhere safe.”
“Home?” Tiny, hopeful the whisper did little to assuage the anger racing through Logan’s body as he stood, his tiny cargo in his arms.
“We’ll see.”
Carrying her out into the night, he set her next to the van and opened the door. Looking up he saw the other kids’ faces, most were streaked with tears, a few had bruises, but all held fear and hope. “Come on, in you get. We’ll get you somewhere nobody’s gonna hurt you again.”
After securing her into her seat, Logan stepped back.
“Welcome to our world,” Derrek slapped him on the shoulder. “We’ve got transport over this way.”
“The men watching ‘em?”
Derrek pointed to seven men huddled together, their demeanor like that of the children. “What’s Angel going to do with them?” Logan demanded.
“Make an example of them.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. She never does the same thing twice. Last time we took down a ring like this she castrated all of them and left them hanging in a run down warehouse. We went back a few days later,” Derrek paused and shuddered. “The rats had done their work. This time, I don’t think there’ll be enough left for the rats.”
“Good.”
The drive back to the warehouse was silent, each lost in their own thoughts as they went to face Angel’s wrath. Everyone within the vehicles knew that what was coming was deserved, each had dealt with any guilt long before, but this time they wondered how the man who’d accompanied them would react. Would he condemn or condone them for the deaths that were to come or would they have to explain yet again just what it was they did.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This chapter deals with very dark subject matter (in regards to the underground network of children slaves). Please do not read if you are easily offended or find the subject matter offensive.