DAMI

What Dami lacks in number, she makes up in a diligent plan.

As Josi noted, Seven's home is riddled with security. To get past that security, Dami needs to camouflage. Another opportunity to live up to her name. Except she won't be swapping her face for another, but simply blending in.

She waits one evening at the back of a nightclub after hours of tailing a couple of Seven's bodyguards. They spend their time in there just drinking, which is lucky on Dami's part. It dulls their senses. Then when it's about time for them to leave, she waits for the first guard to exit and uses him as her ticket in. She drags him out to the alleyway and exchanges her clothes for his own. And now she assumes his position amongst the rest of the guards.

They arrive at the mansion around an hour later, and with this chance, Dami sets the rest of the plan in motion. She has with her the blueprint which she religiously studied, along with a bag full of other trinkets, and a gallon of gasoline.

According to the blueprint, there are two wings: the east and the west. The lounge is where the guards gather when they aren't actively patrolling, which is located by the east wing. Since Seven is cowering in fear, that must mean he's somewhere by the east wing as well, somewhere close enough so his guards can protect him. Dami needs to split that dynamic up if she wants to get to Seven.

Compared to what she was put through under that dreadful organization, this will be a cinch.

To kickstart the plan, Dami finds a guard down the hallway who's too busy with his phone that he doesn't see her approach. Then she brings out her gun, and without so much as a warning, fires at him. This should surely cause a commotion, and commotion is just what Dami needs.

As expected, the rumor flies around the mansion within minutes. There's an intruder. The guards are on high alert, all scouring the building for clues that could help them catch the intruder.

Now Dami switches gears. The surveillance room is by the west wing, along with the man cave—both away from where Seven must be by the east. She pays a visit to the surveillance room first and finds another guard in charge of the place.

Before the guard even has the slightest chance to react, Dami pulls out a gun and digs it into the back of his head. "I need you to make an announcement."

The guard can't even move. His heart beats so loud, Dami is sure it will combust at any given moment. He slowly reaches for the intercom and clicks it on.

"Tell them the intruder is in the man cave."

The guard relays the message into the mic, and instantly the rest of the mansion receives it. His job is done. Dami first clicks the intercom off, then pulls the trigger and buries the bullet in the guard's head.

From the security footage, she can see the rest of the guards race down the halls from every corner of the mansion, all armed and striving to get to the man cave for what they think is the intruder. Now that they've all been drawn from Seven's side, this grants this specific mission a success.

Dami waits until the last of the guards make their way to the destination. Then she begins her own journey there, and once she's outside the door, she prepares a grenade. Not the deadly kind. Just smoke. She opens the door narrowly and tosses it into the room quickly. It takes no more than four seconds before it goes off, and from within the guards all begin hacking from the toxins.

That's step one. Step two is as easy. Dami slips on a pair of goggles as a measure against the smoke, makes sure her guns are loaded, then steps into the room. The smoke still clings to the air, making it the perfect mirage for Dami. From what she can see, the guards number in the twenties, all still trying to cope with the smoke. But she isn't planning on staging an attack just yet. Let the guards do the work themselves.

Once the door has been perfectly secured and locked, Dami brings out another gun and fires at random. She's not sure if it hit a guard, but that isn't what she's after. What she wants is confusion. And it soon ensues. The guards, now much less concerned about the smoke, all cease their coughing and grow alarmed. Dami decides to add just one last push. She shoots again, and this time, it brings a guard down.

Now comes time for chaos. The remaining guards ready their weapons and begin firing in all directions, desperate to bring down the intruder in their midst. They must not be aware that in their quest to do so, they're taking each other out. They're too blinded by fear to think straight.

Dami hides herself in a closet where only the sounds of the firearms can reach her. The bullets don't cease, even as their cries ring out continuously. Finally, it all begins dialing down. Only a few more guards must remain. Dami can handle a few more guards.

Just three in total. The smoke has fizzled out at this point, and now only a white tint remains. She takes notice of the guards before they do, and with that split chance she has, she guns two of them down and only injures the third. The guard screams and hits the floor instantly, all while clutching his damaged shoulder.

Unlike the rest of the times when Dami would have gladly engaged in battle, now is not one of those times. She doesn't even wait for the last guard to finish mourning his shoulder. She picks him up and delivers a sick punch to his face to get him to settle down. And it does the job. The guard is left swallowing down the soaring pain.

Dami squats down to his level. "Where is he?"

The guard clearly can't think straight, but he must know his agony will worsen if he doesn't answer. ". . . bedroom."

That's where Seven has decided to hole himself up it seems. Dami delivers the final blow and puts the guard out of his misery. She surveys the man cave only to find the floor riddled with lifeless bodies. Still not enough. Not until Seven's own body is amongst them.

The trip to Seven's bedroom lasts a couple minutes, as it's all the way in the east wing. She climbs the stairs and finally makes it to where the room is, just on the other side of the wall. There must be more guards guarding the place. Dami isn't sure how many, but it matters little. They will all meet their end.

She fetches from her pocket a switchblade and tosses it to the floor as a means of distraction. Then she waits. And waits. Until the first guard takes the bait and comes to inspect who or what is behind the wall.

Dami acts instantly. She grabs the guard by his shirt and slams him against the wall, and before the guard can defend himself, she fetches another pocket knife and digs it into his neck. The blood is warm. It's familiar. It coats her hand down to her wrist.

The next guard comes knocking on death's door, because Dami switches gears to him. With the same pocket knife, she tears his throat in half, and again the blood pours forward, staining much more than just her hand.

The last two guards, sensing the nature of the situation, round the wall with their guns already out and ready to shoot. Dami uses the corpse as a capable shield against the barrage. Then once their guns have run out of juice, she lets go of the body and throws the pocket knife at the one to the left.

As for the one on the right, she grabs his head and slams it against her knee. Still not enough. Dami throws him on the floor and climbs on top of him, then begins landing blow after blow.

She goes at it continuously, until the guard's nose fractures. Until his skin becomes raw. Until all that's left to see is his blood. But Dami still doesn't stop, even after the guard meets his end. She keeps up the attack, one after the other—each punch landing on the guard's disfigured face.

It isn't until a couple more minutes later that Dami grows satisfied. She tucks her pocket knife away and heads for where Seven's bedroom is, unguarded. She has no way of knowing if there are more guards inside the room. So to make sure, she uses another corpse as a shield, then gives the door a try. The fact that it's unlocked must mean Seven has backup within.

And Dami's deduction is proven correct. As soon as the door opens, the bullets come flying. But the shield absorbs all the damage. Dami shoves the corpse at the source of the barrage—which seems to be just one guard only — to end the assault. Then while the guard struggles to regain his balance, she hurls her pocket knife at his head. Now the last of Seven's mighty army has just perished.

In the middle of Dami's tussle with the guard, Seven made a run for it. Dami first prepares her gun before going after him. She steps out the bedroom and spots him down the hallway. A bit further away, but it's no real issue to Dami.

She targets his right leg, steadies her aim, and fires. As expected, Seven takes the hit and falls to the floor screaming. But when he sees Dami approaching, he continues his struggle down the hallway, dragging his body across the floor, desperate to escape the devil behind him.

Dami doesn't bother running or sprinting. She keeps the same casual strides as she heads for Seven, because try as he may he can't escape. And even when she catches up to him, he persists. Dami grabs his shirt and throws him against the wall, all while he weeps for his leg. Or his life. Or both.

"P-please, spare me," Seven whimpers. "I don't want to die. I'll do anything. You want money? I'll give you all I have. Or is it Idris you want? I'll bring him to you. Just, please, let me go."

Dami squats down. "Where were you fifteen years ago, October 27th?"

They never seem to get the gist at first, until they get a good look at her eyes. Seven, however, doesn't grasp any of it, even with Dami's mismatched eyes there to clue him in. He just sits there dumbfounded, confused. Dami's anger rises from the darkest pit of her stomach. He's forgotten about it all. Everything. He's forgotten everything.

In a fit of rage, Dami grabs his hair and slams his face down on the floor. "Apologize." But Seven is too busy mourning the pain. So Dami slams his face down again. "Say it." And again. "Say it." And again, until Seven's teeth shatter.

By the time Dami brings his head back up, Seven has lost his nose to a fracture. His lips have busted open, and he bleeds profusely from both his mouth and nostrils. But he still has the strength to follow Dami's orders. "I'm sorry . . ."

Dami jerks his hair back and makes him look her in the eye. "Do you know who you're apologizing to?" When Seven doesn't answer, she continues. "Verona was her name."

"Verona . . ."

Again, Dami's anger rises. How dare he speak her name? She slams his head on the floor once more and leaves it there. Seven struggles to pick himself up with his own strength, but he barely has any left. He succeeds, though, and has to lean his head against the wall.

"You put a bullet in her," Dami continues. "While she stood there crying. While you all laughed."

Now that Seven has steadied himself, he gives Dami another look — straight into her eyes. Dami can see the exact moment when things click for him, because his swollen eye widens. He even drops his mouth open, as the shock is too great. Then it slowly turns to horror, and then to regret. Seven begins weeping.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It was all Bruno's idea! It was his idea to capture you all! Please, believe me."

Dami just watches him weep. Does he think his tears are worth anything? That she will somehow pardon him just because he feels remorse? A remorse for show at that. He weeps for himself only, because of the judgment he knows Dami will bestow upon him. He doesn't actually feel any guilt, just regret that his past crimes have come back to bite him in the ass. They're all the same.

Dami brings out a dagger and offers it to Seven. "Here," She taps her left eye. "Dig it out."

Seven stares at the weapon, then at Dami, as if he hadn't heard her correctly. But all she says is, "I'll add your eye to my collection."

Seven's chest begins heaving. He's so consumed by fear that he doesn't follow Dami's orders. And if there's one thing Dami hates, it's stalling. She pulls out her gun and fires at the wall, just mere centimeters away from Seven's head. It makes him jump, but it also sobers him up, because he knows he'll be next if he doesn't do as told.

Seven takes the knife and brings it up to his eye which has been shut close, as if he's praying for deliverance from this nightmare. But the nightmare won't be over until the objective is complete, and Seven is the objective.

So with more tears, he sends the blade into the socket, hands trembling along the way. He screams at the impact—each second as the blade sinks in deeper. Until the eyeball finally detaches.

Dami spares the eyeball only a second worth her time, then turns back to Seven who is still writhing from the pain. "Laugh."

Seven, still quite shaken from the gun threat, swallows down the agony and—through more tears—begins laughing. A laugh filled with no joy. But it appeases Dami. She lets him continue on for as long as she likes. Then she readies her gun once again and gets ready to complete the mission. A bullet straight to Seven's head.

But Dami stops before she can pull the trigger. Once the bullet buries deep, that will truly be it. No, that can't be it. His death can't be instantaneous. That would be taking the easy way out. So Dami reroutes and thinks up a different plan.

The living room is just perfect. After Dami drags Seven down, she strips him of his clothes and binds his hands down with a rope. Just as tight as she'd tied Six down to that chair. Except there's no furniture this time. Once the rope has been secured, she douses his body in gasoline from head to toe. Seven must be aware of what fate is coming for him, because he begins sobbing once again.

"Please, I'm begging you! You can't do this to me!"

Dami most certainly can. And she most certainly will. She even creates a long trail out of the gasoline, which leads up to Seven's body. Then she lights a match and sets the trail ablaze.

Seven tries his best to escape—dragging himself across the floor. But he's nowhere near as quick as the fire. It meets him in a matter of seconds and engulfs his body instantly. Dami simply stands and spectates. She tunes into his screams, the smell of burning skin, the smoke emitting from his body. Seven struggles against the flames until it chars him down to his bones. Now his corpse just lays there, still shrouded in those thick flames.

Dami empties the rest of the gasoline around the interior. It isn't until she's off the premises and out the gate does the fire engulf the mansion in its entirety. She turns and watches the flames, how it has grown in size under the night sky.

Every last one of them—they have all paid the price, one after the other. So Dami basks in the view. While the journey may not necessarily have been an easy one, she made it to the end. And while the scar may never heal, this will surely soothe it. Now she's free to put it all behind her. It will take time, but she will work through it. One step at a time.

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