17. Man Down Part 1

Okay, so first of all, it's going to be a pretty long chapter.

Anyways, I'm basing certain scenes of this on Rihanna's Man Down music video, which contains SA in it, so trigger warning, then again, do we REALLY even need one at this point?

Also, I'd like to point out that I myself have NEVER killed anyone, neither do I condone murder, it's all for shits and giggles, you know?

Oh, and I've never taken cocaine neither, and I have no idea how it actually affects people and was too lazy to Google it, so I have based my main character's experiences mostly on how it's portrayed in the movies I've watched before. Or I might have read it in some book...

Anyways, carry on...

Robyn's P.O.V.

Swaying my hips to the beat, the music is so loud at this club where Kiara and I, and a few of our other girlfriends are having our girl's night out at. It's practically pumping in my veins, and we all have our drinks in our hands, dancing and grinding on each other.

The drugs in my system I have taken with Shady earlier, amplifying the experience for me. I feel like I'm floating somewhere far from reality.

I can't believe what I have done yesterday neither.

"Hey, Robyn, you cool, girl, you keep zoning out!!" Kiara waves her hand in front of my face.

I blink and smile at her, the whole reality of I'm actually outside of the house, partying with my friends at some club just feels so surreal to me.

It's like a part of my old life that I have long left behind, just having a regular night out with my friends like a normal person.

Not somebody who lets her boyfriend (?) whatever Shady is to me, coerce her into shooting somebody to death the night before.

I still can't believe that I've done that, like whatever happened to me?

Shady told me he wanted to go easy on me. That's why he made me use a gun instead of a knife. He said it would be easier that way for my first time, as with a gun there's a certain distance. A knife is more intimate.

I couldn't believe the adrenaline rush.

It was either what I have done or the effects of coke we've both snorted up our nostrils a half and hour prior.

Shade busted into our bedroom in his murdering "uniform".

A white hockey mask and denim overalls. White sneakers on his feet and black fingerless gloves on his hands.

"Tonight is the night, baby," he said evilly.

"Do I really have to?" I asked as I watched him sit on the bed and start to spread white powder all on our nightstand table and making it into neat lines.

He pauses and looks up at me from what he was just doing. Funny. He looked so concentrated making those four neat rows, it was almost cute.

He bites his lip, regarding me from hooded eyelids.

"Here. You ever done coke before?"

"Hell no," I pout a little, annoyed with him dodging my question. "You know I'm a good girl, I've never done any drugs until you started putting Ecstasy all in my drinks and all."

"Please," he narrows his eyes at me. "Bitch, you know damn well that you love that shit. And how good it feels when I fuck you on it. Now snort this shit up your nose. Right now."

I shrug and accept the rolled up hundred dollar bill he is shoving in my hand. I hold my hair out of the way, leaning in over the table.

"Cover one of your other nostrils, girl," Shady chuckles, so I roll my eyes and let go of my hair, pressing my pointer to my nostril instead, while putting the rolled up bill to my nose with the fingers of my other hand.

"Do I have to do all four lines?" I ask, kind of terrified.

"Nah," Shady smirks evilly, then he goes to hold my hair out of my way for me. "I ain't tryna kill you, baby. Not yet anyway," he seems to be in a playful mood today, which is odd. I think he's actually excited about making me go on a mini murdering spree with him. He actually winks at me at his dumb joke, and I just shake my head. "Just do one," he encourages me. "To help relax you and shit."

I shut my eyes tight and inhale the coke through my nose and immediately wince at how much it burns.

"Oh my God!!" I exclaim in pure agony, my eyes tearing up as I instinctively pinch the bridge of my nose as hard as I can.

"Don't be such a cry baby, Robyn," Shady pushes me to lay down on my back and he sits on top of me, pinning me to the bed and smirking.

He watches me as the high begins to slowly creep up on me. Wait, did I say slowly?

No, I lied, it hit me like a ton of bricks actually.

A feeling of complete euphoria.

I think I might have completely checked out for a few seconds.

When I come through, I'm still feeling good as hell. I watch Shady snort the rest of the lines. Then he sits next to me, rubbing my thighs.

"You high, baby? You feel good?" His voice is so far away, yet so close.

"Yeah," I let out in a whine, watching him lick his lips.

I feel my heart pumping fast, way too quick in my chest, and for a second, I panic, thinking it isn't normal and like I'm about to have a heart attack or something. There's also this weird heat rising everywhere in my body. Then it feels good again. I feel like I could take on the whole world, I feel like I could do anything, really.

Shady makes me sit up and pulls me onto his lap. He starts kissing up my neck and behind my ear.

"Do you love me, baby?" He whispers into it, biting on my earlobe.

"Shit. I think I do," I concede. "Do you love ME?" I pull away slightly and look at him with puppy dog eyes.

"I think I love you too," he smirks, playing with my hair. "But you know what would make me love you even more though? If you was just like me. If we could do things together, have similar... hobbies, you know what I'm saying?"

His "hobby" is killing people though.

But then, that's what he wants me to do too, apparently...

"Okay," I reply, agreeing way to quickly.

Looking back at it, I think in my current state, I would've agreed to anything.

"Aight then," I smirks and gets up from the bed, pulling me along with him.

.........

He brings me to this abandoned building. It looks like a crack house. Plenty of those in Detroit.

I understand that this is where he does most of his killings. Not specifically this particular building all of the time. Just places exactly like this one. He drags his victims in here and does whatever he wants to them.

I don't know how I don't feel bad about this at all...

"Aight so, repeat the plan to me again, Robyn," Shady urges me. You see, right now, we are only here to scope the place out. Make sure it's ideal for what we are going to do here later.

Afterwards though, he is going to drive us to some bar or a club or something.

Shady examines me critically. He's made me get all dolled up for this... occasion. He came home the other day with more short dresses for me to wear and he even brought me some makeup to put on. Don't know if he bought it or stole it.

"So um... I go to a club and find some poor bastard that's attracted to me and I lure him and bring him back here and then we... kill him?" I ask, it honestly sounds simple enough to me. Except for the whole... I'll have to kill somebody part.

"Exactly what I want ya to do, girl," Shady smirks evilly. "Now see, I normally prefer to kill bitches. Worthless fucking sluts. But... you being a woman and all, I'd think you would rather kill a man. And I'm all for it. I'm an equal opportunity motherfucker, you know what I'm saying?" Oh, he's DEFINITELY in a good mood today. Does finally corrupting me for good really makes him this happy??

"Not really. I never know what you are saying, Shady," I giggle nervously, starting to get a bit panicky again.

All of a sudden, his whole facial expression changes to a really mean one and he grabs my jaw.

"Remember something though," he says through gritted teeth, bringing my face close to his. "You lure whichever motherfucker you pick, Robyn, or whichever motherfucker picks you. Without. Actually. Touching. Him. Do. Not. Let. Whoever. It. Is. Put. His. Dirty. Ass. Hands. On. You. Cause if you do then your ass gone be dead right next to him, got that? You are still my chick even if you about to be faking it like you are single out there. But don't forget who you fucking belong to."

"Okay, Shady, damn!!" I attempt to laugh his threats of nervously but his grip only tightens on my jaw. "I said, OKAY!!" I practically shriek now, my voice going up in a panic.

He regards me for a few more seconds, and I honestly don't understand why the hell he is looking so angry at me, I mean, it was HIS idea for me to use my looks to lure some guy and yet he wants to act all possessive about it now. And yet, it's still kind of...

"Aight, as long as we understand each other," Shady then says pulling me to him and kissing my lips softly, in stark contrast with how he's acting with me right now.

Motherfucker is truly bipolar, I swear to God...

But yes, what I was trying to say just now is that it is kind of hot.

.........

Half an hour later, I'm grinding on the dance floor against this one guy that's been checking me out ever since first laying eyes on me.

I don't have an opinion on him.

He might be attractive or not, I don't know.

Shady is lurking somewhere at the bar, throwing drinks back.

He's got a white shirt and some baggy pants pulled up over his overalls, dude really thinks he's either Superman or Spiderman or something, having his costume on underneath regular clothes. The hockey mask stuffed in his pockets.

He looks just like a regular guy. And apparently this is how he usually picks up his female victims too. At bars and clubs, having them come back with him to his car, making it like they are going to his house or a hotel room to have sex. Only to drive them to some abandoned building instead and...

Wait, what is going on right now?

I get pulled out of my thoughts when I feel the random guy I picked placing his hands on my hips as he pushes me up against the wall.

Shit.

Shady wouldn't like that, like at all. I had probably already crossed the line by grinding on this man earlier, but then again, how else am I supposed to lure him?!

He is crossing the line right now for sure, he turns me around to face him and he is way too close for comfort.

I'm actually panicking right now, and not just because of how Shady qould react to this, I am just not comfortable at all, and I feel like this is seriously blowing off my high.

"Wait, hold on," I shake my head side-to-side, pushing the guy lightly but firmly in his chest.

My head starts to spin.

I don't think I want to do this at all. Any of this.

Don't want some random guy all up on me. Don't want to kill him for it neither.

I just want to go home with Shady and cuddle or something. Have him fuck me into oblivion. Love me for just being me and not what he clearly wants to make of me.

Speaking of which...

Where's Shady anyway?! I don't even see him anymore?!

I frown to myself and quickly make my way out of the club, stepping out of one of the back door exits.

As I am walking, I can feel somebody else's presence behind me, so I quickly turn around.

It's that damn guy from the club. No surprises there, I guess.

"What do you want?!" I ask him with an attitude.

The guy looks me up and down with contempt.

"You know, I hate bitches like you," he states coldly, walking up to me. "Teasing ass bitches. How's that act like they wanna put out, then leave a nigga with blue balls."

"Boy, get the fuck outta here," I laugh at him, attempting to walk away.

But he grabs me and throws me against the wall.

"Stop!!" I scream, but he quickly covers my mouth with his hand.

I start to panic and hyperventilate when I feel his hand go under my dress and into my panties.

Where the fuck is Shady, why don't he do anything?!

When I realize that no rescue is coming, it dawns on me that I will just have to act fast and help myself.

So, as hard as I possibly can, I knee this motherfucker in his groin, causing him to groan and back away from me slightly. I then slap his face as hard as I can and start running.

I don't look back at all, just run on pure instinct. And yet, he catches up to me.

He tackles me to the ground, getting on top of me. I claw at his face with my fingernails. One-on-one of how to deter a rapist, cause him as much physical pain as you possibly can to distract him.

Doesn't seem to work on this guy, though.

He punches me in the face hard, then slams me back to the ground.

Only to get finally shoved off of me.

"Fuck you, motherfucker!! Don't put your hands on my bitch, you hear me?!" Shady's voice, out of nowhere.

Oh, so NOW he wants to funally show up?!

I am so mad at him, I could kill him. How COULD he leave me all alone on a situation like this?! And all for what, so he could change into his overalls, really?!

I want to slap the shit out of him, and yet, I am just so relieved to see him right now.

So, all of the anger I was just about to direct at him, gets now directed to this fucking guy from the club.

"Fuck you!! You sick fuck!!" I start violently kicking the shit out of the dude with my feet while he is laying on the ground. "Fuck you, you need to die for this!!" I exclaim.

"So then make it happen," Shady suddenly whispers in my ear.

He wraps his arm around my waist and pushes something into my hand.

A gun.

"Damn, baby," he chuckles, closing my fingers around the handle of it (shit, it's a lot heavier than I thought it would be) and centers one of my pointer fingers on the trigger. He directs my arms to aim directly at my target, then let's go of my hands and places his own back around my waist. "I'm sorry," he suddenly says, and it strikes me as so odd. Because Shady never apologizes ever. "I should've just gave you this thing to carry for protection," he says, referring to the gun. "But," he kisses my cheek. "I ain't want you to off yaself by accident, knowing how you ain't never used one before. But it sure would've came in handy, won't it? To defend yaself from a piece of scum like this. I'm sorry I ain't come sooner either, but I'm here now," he adds. "So just fucking shoot him."

I hesitate.

I've never killed anybody before after all.

It doesn't come naturally to me as it apparently does to him.

"I... I don't know, Shady," my voice breaks.

The guy on the ground coughs violently, looking up at me with such terror in his eyes.

"Robyn," Shady speaks angrily into my ear. "This motherfucker was gon violate you. In the worst way. You really gonna let that slide?!"

I guess we no longer planning to take our victim to an abandoned Detroit building anymore.

Shady wants me to do this right here, right now...

I remember in that moment, something Marshall used to tell me about Shady. How he is the devil on his shoulder.

And he was so right. That's exactly what Shady is.

And he is so hard to resist.

"Do it, Robyn," he whispers into my ear again. His voice so low and husky. "Fucking kill him."

I shut my eyes as tightly as I can.

Then I pull the trigger.

The gun jerks in my hand. The sound that comes out of it is that simular to popping open the cork on the champagne bottle, but muffled, due to a silencer Shady had previously placed on it.

The impact of it almost sending me flying backwards and landing on my ass though.

But Shady holds me up.

"That's my girl," he says happily.

He turns me around to face him and kisses my lips passionately.

***

Back to more present times, yeah, that girls night out with Kiara and our other friends.

I almost feel normal.

'Almost' being the key word.

Shady held true to his promise though.

He's allowing me to spend more time with my friends.

Probably because he now knows that he's truly got me, and I am not going anywhere, but who cares...

"Robyn!!" Kiara calls out to me again and she grabs my hand. "Come here, girl. We all need to talk to you."

They all pull me aside to one of the backrooms at this club.

I look at all of them at once, examining the determined looks on their faces.

Kiara, Jennifer, Lisa and Destiny. They all look serious as hell about whatever it is they want to have a conversation with me about.

"What the hell is this, a damn intervention?!" I laugh, attempting to ease the tension but it apparently doesn't work at all.

"Yeah, actually it is, girl," Kiara says seriously. "You need to leave that white boy alone. Marshall is controlling you, Robyn, and we can all see that."

"What?! Y'all crazy or something?!" I blurt out.

"Robyn!! Don't even try to play me!!" Kiara claps her hands in my face. "He is fucking changing you, and you are not the same anymore."

"I'm not about to listen to this shit," I frown, walking away from them.

"Not so fast, girl!!" They all tackle me.

Then ex, Chris, walks in.

"Hi, Robyn," he says sort of sheepish like.

"Seriously?!" I exclaim, looking at my friends one by one. "This is what Y'all thought would pull me away from my boyfriend? This cheating ass dude?!"

"Robyn, I am so sorry for playing you in the past. But you really are the one for me," Chris states.

"Girl, just talk to him," one of my other friends, Jennifer, practically begs me.

"Okay, sure," I reply. Just to get them all to back off of me.

"Um, actually, sike... no!!" I then exclaim. "Fuck all of y'all!!" I run out of the room and out of the club.

Chris follows me.

"Yo, Robyn, wait!!"

God.

Why is it giving me a feeling of déjà vu?!

"Fuck off, Chris," I mumble, as I keep right on walking.

"Nah, Robyn, hold up, for real. I'm sorry for everything," he says catching up to me and turning me around.

I stare down at his hands on my waist like they are poison, but his touch is not necessarily unpleasant. Although I don't feel for him anymore how I used to, there's no denying that there used to be history between us. Before he fucked it all up.

"That's nice, Chris," I sigh, looking into his eyes. "But..."

He cuts me off by kissing me. It's completely of the blue sky, so he really catches me off guard with that.

When I come to my senses, I don't want it.

Like at all.

"Get off me!!" I exclaim.

"Yo, get off her!!"

Oh God, not again...

A sense of déjà vu.

Shady.

"Fuck are you doing, Slim, where you spying on me?!" I exclaim.

"Fuck yeah, I was," he replies back, walking out of the shadows. "Just wanted to see what you would do of I left you alone, and guess what, bitch?! You are a slut just like the others. Let me leave you alone for one fucking second and make it like I ain't watching you, and what you do?! Ya out here, making out..."

"HE fucking kissed ME!!" I exclaim.

"Wow," Chris looks from between the two of us. "I don't even need this shit for real. I just did what Kiara practically BEGGED me to do to get you away from that white boy, Robyn, but I don't need no bullshit ass drama in my life, so I'm good," he grumbles.

He attempts to walk away.

"Not so fast, homie," Shady gets in his way.

He looks at me coldly. Challenging me.

"Time to really test ya loyalty right now, Robyn," he says, and I know right away what he means, and my blood runs cold. He can't be for real right now...

"What's it gonna be, bitch?!" He taunts me.

"I..."

"Make ya fucking choice right now, Robyn!"

The fucking devil on my shoulder, once again.

"Okay," I whisper. "Chris, come here," I now say much more loudly to my ex-boyfriend, but my eyes are directly on Shady.

I pull Chris into me and hug him. He seems confused at first but then just goes with it.

Until I pull out the little switchblade knife Shady has given me earlier and drive it into his stomach repeatedly.

I've never done this before. Used the knife, I mean. I don't really know where exactly to stab to hit the vital organs, I just go on instinct.

Now there'd blood everywhere, and I am still so fucking high.

"You did good, baby," Shady smiles proudly.

My second murder is seriously not that much difficult from my first one.

But there's a complication this time.

The kind of a compilation that gets my man's head bashed in.

My best friend.

Kiara.

She follows us, truly determined to save me from myself. That is what true friends do, I guess.

Too bad that I no longer even wish to be saved...

Aaaaaand, the whole situation of Marshall being tied up to the bed is still not fully explained neither even of I had promised y'all that 🤷🏾‍♀️ but oh well lol. At least I had hinted in it this time, and we are like almost there...