Warning: Scenes of violence and sexual assault are depicted in this chapter please do not read if these types of scenes are unsettling to you

Sapphire tried her best to be discrete as she searched the club frantically looking for Carin. Thankfully, she found her just as she leaving with some tall man. She followed them outside into the cool night, trying her best not to be seen. A sleek black car had pulled up in front, and the two stepped inside. The man told the driver ‘I’ll be five minutes wait here. I forgot something.’. Sapphire went inside her own car and marked down the license plate of the vehicle. She knew she couldn’t just yank Carin out the car and the driver clearly worked for the man, so the persuasion route was also dropped.

She turned back to the dusty duffel bag lounging lazily on her back seat. She took a deep breath and opened it, staring down at the costume inside. “Hello old friend.” She got changed and soon as she finished the black car started to move. She tailed them for a few minutes until they reached a seedy hotel. The building was like its occupants, broken, but yet it hid an even worse tale. The man was practically dragging Carin inside, and once they walked in, Sapphire got out of her car. The doorman looked at her first with confusion, then realization dawned on him as her recognized her mask. His face palled as she spoke “That couple, where did they go?” Sapphire wasn’t the intimidating type. Her presence too meek, and her frame too meager, but her actions had true weight. The doorman’s hands trembled as he pointed. “Up those stairs, first room on the left.”

She ignored the quivering man and she strode up the stairs. Her past self nagged out leaving witnesses, but she wasn’t that person anymore. The floorboards beneath her creaked as they were beaten down by the tide of her anger. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that the door was halfway open. Carin was lying down on the bed, breasts exposed. The man loomed over her as he stared at his prize. The second his hands started to reach down for the supple flesh, Sapphire pounced.

She yanked the man’s arm, throwing him down to the floor, and his body slammed against the hardwood. The man froze, disoriented. She crushed his chest with her knees and clamped down on his throat. Her nails already drawing blood. She bore into his cloudy eyes. Her voice crackled as she spoke. “How could you do something so repulsive.” She spat on his face at the word. “This woman doesn’t know what you’re paying her for. What, do you think it’s okay because she won’t remember? Well guess what shithead. I will remember for her.” She swung her fist down, but the man caught her. He took her surprise as leverage as her threw her over so her was now on top. His hand gripped her throat. “I don’t care what you think about all this. Your past doesn’t matter here. You can’t intimidate me. You don't even have a weapon.” Sapphire bit down into the man’s forearm. He recoiled in pain as blood trickled down his new wound. Sapphire roundhouse kicked the man square in the jaw, and he fell to the floor. He scrambled back up, punching her in the stomach. He lunged at her, but she dodged and grabbed the lamp off the nightstand. She cracked it over his head and shards of glass pierced his scalp. He passed out onto the floor and laid there in a pool of his own blood. Her heart sank as she began to realize what she had done, but turning back to a dazed Carin, she knew she was at the very least justified.

She found the girls bra on the other side of the bed and dressed her. She swept her up in her arms and the poor girl only stared at her sleepily. Her heart ached as she carried her out of that horrible place. She set her down in the passenger seat and called an ambulance for the man. She wasn’t going down that road again. Carin had fallen asleep, and the drive back was filled with the soft sounds of her snoring and the rough pounding of Sapphire’s heart in her chest.

Once back at her own home. Sapphire laid Carin down in her bed. She took off Carin’s costume and dressed her in a grey t-shirt and black sweatpants. She tucked her in and she went into the bathroom. Her mask was as gaudy as ever. The Sapphire encrusted Mardi Gras style had always been a strange choice, but your fashion sense is always terrible when you’re young. The once red blood now dark and caked on started to take her mind back, but she cleaned herself off and got changed before the feeling could return. She opened her bedside drawer to get her medication, and her pistol caught her attention. The sleek black barrel bore into her soul as the implication of her thought finally rested in her mind after crawling up from her heart. She snatched her medication and slammed the drawer shut. Carin stirred slightly as the sound. It was the girls decision, not hers. She peered back at Carin as she left to sleep on the couch. Tomorrow, she would tell them.