BREAKING POINT 2The guards nodded upon the judge's order and moved in instantly. Two of them lunged forward from the side, stepping over the box where Damien stood as they grabbed him by both arms. Kessler, not wanting to get caught in all of it, quickly deserted the space as the guards tried holding Damien down. “Sir, you need to calm down," one of them said, his second hand already reaching for his taser. “I'd advice to remain calm so that we proceed with–" “Get off me!" Damien snarled loudly, jerking violently against the guards’ hold. The force caused the guards to stumble backwards and the taser fell from the firsts’ belt. A wave of agony flared across his shoulder, sharp and burning as he fought against them, but it didn't slow him down. He didn't even register the pain. The rush of adrenaline through his veins had drowned it out completely and all that remained was the gut wrenching anger that filled his being. One of the guards rushed back toward him again, holding him as

BLOOD MEMORY 2“Insane?!" Damien shouted, his response immediate. “I'll show you fucking insane." Leaving his collar, Damien grabbed Brooks by the head, ignoring the man's struggle against the tight hold on his head. He tried to fight Damien off but it was to no avail. “This is insane." Brooks was still struggling when Damien just drove his head forward. A loud sickening crack rippled through the place as both foreheads instantly collided together. A large tear appeared on both Damien's and Brooks' forehead as Brooks cried out, his grip loosening slowly. But Damien didn't mind the pain or feel the warm liquid dripping down from his wounds to his nose. He didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He kept on slamming his head against Brooks', switching to both hands as he also threw punch after another consistently. He continued this way–head, right, left, head–until Brooks' resistance began to fade, his movement slowed and grip on Damien's arm weakened. “...you fucking killed her…” Damien

CONCRETE SILENCE 2Damien didn’t give any reply to the guard. He didn't even need to. But as he walked, something in his shoulders eased, though just a fraction. The thought that Jim was finally okay loosened the knot that had been tightening in his chest. “This way," the guard said as he pulled Damien around a corner. The moment they passed by the edge of the wall, Damien saw them. A group of men stood huddled near the far wall past a few cell rooms. They were clustered together like they owned the space, surrounded too by guards that stood nearby, but not too close to give any ideas. Still, they just watched Damien and the guard leading him. They and the men by the far wall weren't loud, and didn't seem aggressive. But there was something about them that seemed off. Something…Damien's eyes widened slightly as he saw it–the tattoos. The blank ink curled along their necks at the same angle they'd done on someone he recalled. They were identical, every single one of them, and seei

POWER PLAYS 1The air-condition hummed softly, filling the space with a chill that seeped past thick shit jackets and brushed coolly over skin. The floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city skylines rattled with the drizzle of rain pattering against the glass, mixing with the faint ticking of the large designer clock hung on the wall at the end. Apart from these, the conference room was… quiet. It wasn't the kind of comfortable quiet that came with a mutual understanding, one that would let ease seep in. But it was sharp and deliberate, the mind that seemed to press down on your lungs and make every small movement feel louder and tensed than it should be. Vanessa felt that way, pushing down the lump in her throat as she sat upright in her chair. She leaned forward slightly, crossing her legs as she rested her fingers lightly on the polished mahogany table stretching before her. Her posture was perfect, controlled and composed, each move calculated down to the smallest detail de

FRACTURES 1Sebastian barely spoke nor heard a single word since he walked in and settled in his seat. He couldn't even tell when the meeting had started but when it did, the voices in the room just blurred into a single distant hum, like an annoying static behind glass. The soft patter of the rain hitting the floor-to-ceiling windows mixed with the sound of Liang's voice, Vanessa's and the quiet interjections from the other executives that sat beside the Asian man. It all blended into something distracting and… meaningless. Why? Because his attention was elsewhere, traveled far past whatever was transpiring in the room. He had his head slightly tilted downward, she's fixed on the screen of his phone resting just beneath the table, on his lap. He rocked the upper half of his body back and forth as his thumb moved lazily across it, scrolling through the chats staring back at him. He swiped past picture after picture, his lips curling with everyone. He was about tapping on the next