Body Job
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. Rick created the characters.
A/N: I AM NOT DEAD! Nor have I risen from the dead. To say my summer and senior year has been busy is the biggest understatement I've heard. But I did not sit idle every night! I wanted to wait until I had a good head start on this story because I still don't have much writing time/urge. But I realllllly love where this is going. For the first time in a while, here is a story by tori with some plot!
Also, S/O to my awesome beta: Maiden of Chains. Thanks SO MUCH!
PS: Will Solace will come into play VERY soon and won't leave once he's introduced, trust. I can't stand for my boys to be separated ;)
Six Years Ago
Crimson crept along the floor. It seeped down the walls. Some would say the way it splatted against the porcelain-white couch could be considered art. The police had a slightly different view on that matter, and the child with his knees curdled against his chest as he rocked back and forth in the corner had no opinion on it.
An officer walked towards the child hidden under the chimney. He was a trainee; his job was to stay out of the way while the 'real' police did their business. The new officer helped the child to his feet, noting the lack of clothes on him. He quickly took off his jacket and draped the pale child in it. It easily covered every inch of him.
"Are you okay?" No answer. "What's your name?"
"Zhang! Get your ass over here. No rookie sees this on their first job," a superior, awe struck officer shouted from the similarly blood-soaked kitchen.
"There's a kid here," Frank protested.
"Of course he'd go for the kid," another officer snorted.
Frank felt cold metal against the back of his neck. The click of an unloaded gun sounded directly behind his head. Frank winced. "Dead. That's how fast it happens, Zhang. Next time you want to bend down with your back exposed, alert your partner." Frank spun around and stood in front of his captain.
"He didn't-,"
Reyna held up a closed fist. Silence. She peered at the child in question and snarled, "Get a medic in here."
She continued on to the next scene after grimacing at the puddles of blood.
Frank didn't want to leave the child's side, but he knew their medic, Apollo, personally. While he couldn't stand him, he knew he was a completely different person with children.
The kitchen looked as if there'd been a war fought inside. Two females lied mangled and lifeless. The water in the sink was spewing everywhere, contaminating the crime scene. Frank almost turned it off before remembering to put his gloves on. His hands were shaking. An unconscious male was covered head to toe in blood. The only wound he suffered was a deep gash to his forehead.
"Why…?" Frank muttered with confusion.
"That's what everybody's asking," Reyna grunted, and with cold certainty, she announced the case. "Serial."
"And rape," hissed Apollo with venom, as if the rapist himself were breaking every bone in his body. Hesitantly, and with as much care as possible, he whispered to the boy. "You know, I have a boy your age, too. He likes to ride in the ambulance for fun. Do you want to try that?"
The boy didn't answer. Frank's attention locked onto the man. He had the same jet-black hair like the boy. The older female was a beautiful Italian woman, and Frank felt a pang of grief. How much earlier could they have arrived to catch the monster who did this to them? How much earlier would it have taken to stop him?
Frank felt a fire burst alive inside him. He gazed at the beautiful teenage girl who had such a long, happy life ahead of her. Silently, unbeknownst to his colleges, he made a vow. He'd stop at nothing to avenge this broken, torn family. He'd find the killer and put him behind bars. He wouldn't even hesitate to kill the monster.
With that in mind, he helped the semiconscious man to a sitting position. He took notes of his name, what he remembered, and every last detail of the crime scene. 1This was their serial killer. This same guy raped and murdered four other victims in the past month. He'd braid their hair and take a lock of it as a souvenir. Frank had been studying up on the case out of curiosity. He never imagined he'd get stuck in the middle of it.
The serial killer was named the Lord of Death because he'd rape the targeted child at any cost. He'd managed to kill triple the number of people he raped because they simply got in the way.
Now he was Frank's first target, and nobody forgets their first target.
. . .
6 Years Later
Smoke followed Nico as he walked to the old picnic table. Eyes sliding over a nearby car, he wrapped his lips around the cigarette and inhaled deeply, focusing on keeping the smoke in his lungs for as long as he could stand.
"You're going to kill yourself one of these days," Clarisse chuckled darkly. She wore a grin that could make any kid under the age of twelve run for the hills. In her hand, she swung her baseball bat, an ironic weapon considering she held two guns in her belt and one knife strapped to her inner thigh. If anyone asked her about her baseball bat, she'd hit them with it. The bat was named Chuck. "Fall over coughing, but nobody'll hear ya cause I'll be laughing my ass off."
Nico shrugged as he took another drag. "Laughing your ass off because you already made your tits fall off," Leo snickered endlessly. He shut up when she hit him in the gut with Chuck. Useful tool, Nico decided.
The car finally made its way to their table. Nico sighed heavily as he pushed himself off the picnic table. The man cranked the Volvo's window down. Nico raised his eyebrows expectantly, moving out of the way for the man in sunglasses to make his pick. Nico appraised the man, making sure he could trust him.
Nice car. Expensive sunglasses. The ring meant he was married, so he most likely wasn't a major pedophile, but Nico would never count that out. The man came with an SUV, so this clearly wasn't his first time. Nico vaguely remembered his red hair. Maybe he'd used a friend's car his first time. Maybe he didn't trust Nico to keep it under wraps. Nico was almost insulted. Thalia and Zoë worked their butts off scouting the woods for cops or detectives, though they rarely found the former. They had an agreement with the police thanks to Chris Rodriquez.
"Blondie," the man said, slipping Nico seventy-five bucks. Peering over his shoulder, he saw Annabeth's head resting on Percy's shoulder. She'd already seen somebody today. Most of the time, nobody had to go twice in one day unless it was a weekend. Nevertheless, Nico waved her over. She didn't seem surprised, just resigned. Most people came for her, Silena, or Percy. Nico never understood why he was such a favorite. Leo was the 'hot Latino,' but Percy was always willing to do more than any of the other guys.
Annabeth walked over as she forced her seductive smile onto her lips. Silena catcalled towards her from the bench, and Percy followed along. She started swaying her hips. Nico felt both pride and moral disgust; he didn't even have to coach her anymore. "How's it going?" she keened while the redheaded man popped open his passenger door. Nico peered inside, as did Clarisse.
"You have two hours. I'll hold on to her payment." Her payment was one hundred twenty-five dollars and he'd give it to her after he left. Only a number of times did the client demand a refund, and only once did Nico allow it.
Most clients already knew the rules. If not, then their person of choice would explain them. They were simple.
If they say 'παυεις,' you stop. If they tap three times, you stop and release them. Condoms are mandatory. No punching or maiming. No weapons. If you have questions, they know what's allowed and what's not. Keep the doors unlocked or we'll break a window at your cost.
Simple.
Annabeth's two hours were up quickly. It was only 6 in the afternoon, but her night was up. Most of the time, however, she stayed around and kept everyone company. She was one of the long timers.
Annabeth, Percy, Leo, and Piper all could be found at Half-Blood Hill any day from four to four in the morning. Technically, they closed at three, but if somebody wanted to finish an hour, they were around. Anyone could find either Grover or Juniper, who made sure everyone had food, clothes, or anything else they needed, at Half-Blood Hill from three to eight in the evening, though not of recently. Damn them and their marriage.
Nico could be found there almost any time.
Glancing at his phone, he motioned to Clarisse. With an overly excited grunt, she made her way towards the large white screen. It had holes in it now, but back in its glory days, it brought movies to the entire town. Nico didn't remember those days, but he'd been told plenty of stories about it. This place used to be packed and sold out every Saturday night. Nobody ever complained about a single thing either. It was a classic hang out.
That all ended six and a half years ago when a boy was killed in the popular drive-in. Half his body's blood was poured on the white screen, the other half was allegedly ingested by the killer himself. Nobody ever came back after that, and since then it was known as Half-Blood Hill, or HBH.
The Volvo was parked as far from the picnic table as possible. Half of the clients got as secluded as possible. The other half was willing to throw down right in front of them. Clarisse banged against the windows of the Volvo and one man's head popped up in surprise. Nico sighed and lit another cigarette, uninterested.
Annabeth came back grumbling. "Fucking ripped my shirt," she hissed, taking a seat between Percy and Silena. Her blonde hair was all over the place. As the Volvo rolled out of the lot, she tied it up in a ponytail that failed to control the mess. Silena rolled her eyes distastefully.
"I don't see why you won't let me fix you up after," she protested, twirling a lock of her own black hair between her fingers. Silena was always primped and pampered. She thrived on that kind of thing. She didn't look like the girl who'd hang out at Half-Blood Hill. She looked like a cheerleader who flirted with all the guys. Maybe that was where she got it. Piper and Silena definitely battled it out for the best flirter despite the fact that it didn't matter. Anyone who came by knew what they wanted before they even had a chance to speak.
"Because I don't give a damn," Annabeth said as she pulled out her architecture book. Silena gazed emptily at the blonde hair. Nico could see her heart screaming 'so much potential!' Silena had an elaborate on-the-go make-up and hair kit with her at all times. Nico didn't have the heart to tell her that it didn't make an ounce of a difference.
Leo was starting a fire as the night progressed. The Stoll brothers were huddled together, most likely plotting another prank. Nico cursed under his breath.
"Idiot one and idiot two!" he yelled. "Shirts off."
They both flipped him the bird and unbuttoned their flannels. Around eight, there were two cars in the drive-in. Nico milled around and sat by Leo, not enjoying the warmth of the fire, but also not enjoying how alone Leo was.
Leo had a knack for getting into their worst situations around here. "How's the arm feeling?" Nico asked, leaning against the tree as he put out his cigarette.
Leo grinned up at him and winked. "Why? Want to test it out daddy?"
Nico rolled his eyes and cringed. "Thank the gods you aren't gay. You'd get beaten up every time you hit on a guy."
Leo chuckled mischievously. "It's fine. I just hope I don't dislocate it again. It took Clarisse four tries to pop it into place. I knew I should have just waited for Calypso."
Nico felt the tugging sensation of a smirk beginning to form on his lips, but he promised Piper he'd stop letting Leo see. It wasn't his fault; everyone else found the idea of Leo having a girlfriend…frankly hilarious. Nobody had heard of her before. Seventy-five percent of the teenage population in their town went to one of two public schools. A small percentage went to the private school, and even so, they had one person at every school. Not a single soul had heard of the name Calypso. Her story just never made sense. She had no last name. He always said he'd bring her by sometime and then she'd bail because her father caught her sneaking out. And finally, he had one picture of her that proved she was miles out of his league.
He wasn't lacking in the looks department. He simply had the maturity level of a middle school boy, and this girl looked somewhat mature enough to see it.
"That guy wants to try the chains again," Nico explained. "Rachel said he was willing to double his offer."
Leo rolled his eyes. "Why can't Rachel hand him off to Percy? Percy's better at the kinky shit anyways."
It was a dumb question. Nico let out un-amused laughter. "You know why Rachel won't send the dangerous shit to Percy."
Leo let his shoulders drop. He focused on stoking the fire and muttering curses under his breath to their red-headed spy.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare was the daughter of the richest guy in town, who was never home. She was their eyes to the private school and to the secretly closeted rich men. Most of the time, Nico's business was used for closeted gay men. They watched the straight men more closely because Nico's prices were higher than the usual hooker, and normally there was a reason these men didn't go to a strip joint or deep into the city to find a 'real' prostitute. However, Nico's girls were willing to do just about anything, and there was little to no chance of being caught. In his eyes, his business was better, but that wasn't the case with many straight men. They often got the pedophiles and stalkers out here.
Still, it was hard to get the richer, snobbier men to come to HBH, but then Percy accidentally spilled his secret about his line of work when he and Rachel had embarrassingly attempted at dating. It was still awkward between the two. Percy was the one to end it, but Rachel still was pining after him day by night and night by day. She'd never send him anything outside of the norm, which was ironic. Nico considered Percy to be their most flexible guy.
The sound of a truck's engine caught Nico's attention. With a groan of distaste, he stood up and patted Leo on the back. "Stretch next time."
"I did!"
The crackle of the fire wasn't even enough to distract Nico from the obnoxious engine rumbling in front of the table. He glanced over his shoulder, itching to get back to the cabin and catch some sleep. The cabin used to be the storage unit for the drive-in. When Leo came along, he added some major upgrades. Now it had electricity, which Nico was half sure was illegal, a TV with a DVD player (no cable), a working kitchen, and even plumbing. The Stoll brothers managed to steal just about everything in there for them, even the luxurious couch. In the back room, which Nico had deemed his office, was off limits to everyone. Only Nico had the key to that room, though he suspected Leo had picked the lock a few times, which sent his nerves on end even thinking about it. Leo was certainly capable of doing that. The Stolls were as well, but even they weren't stupid enough to do that. Nico was the king of followed-through threats.
"Hey faggot!" the driver of the said truck shouted. His passenger laughed and slapped his knee, nearly spilling their cheap beer. These were Nico's least favorite customers.
Nevertheless, Nico made his way to the window. "We just want a quickie."
He grit his teeth because they went through the same stupid routine every time. "We have blowjobs, two hours, or all night. That's it."
"Queers always so damn self-righteous," the driver slammed his beer against the dashboard. He threw it at Nico's feet. "Fine. Give us two blow jobs."
This was the most infuriating part. "We're all out of girls right now."
"What kind of fucking pimp are you?" the passenger said, spitting out his window. Nico's hands clenched. He looked at the sky, wondering if he sounded as stupid as he felt.
"A blowjob is a blowjob," he hissed.
"Give me a damn discount."
"30 each." That was the regular rate, but they didn't need to know that. Rachel had set this up. It wasn't often she recruited such…un-classy clients, but these two had come to her. She was good at reading people. These two rednecks didn't want to admit their attraction to men, so Nico had to say they were out of girls no matter if they were or weren't. It was humiliating, but they came at least once a week. He wasn't going to turn down such constant money.
They handed over the money. Nico would give it to the guys after. For short cases such as blowjobs, they kept the cars close by. These two in particular just went in the bed of the truck. Most would stand outside the car, but either way it was obvious if they tried to do more than thirty bucks worth.
"Stoll's!" Nico motioned. The twins caught sight of the clients and tried not to show it in their faces as they followed the truck to the side.
Most of the clients wanted blowjobs. It was well worth the money for the clients, since it wasn't too out of the way, and of course, 'professionals' did it. The only problem was that it wasn't too profitable for Nico or his staff. Nico would only get ten out of it. The twins would only get twenty. That was enough to get by. They only truly had excess money to spend if they went all the way. Most did, but the Stoll brothers weren't very high in demand.
Nico closed up shop around three that evening. It was a slow day. Annabeth was waiting around for Percy to finish up. "It's annoying, you know, having your best friend be the most popular client."
"He gets an average of three a day," Nico agreed. Percy, thankfully, wasn't on the clock every day. He worked about three times a week despite coming to HBH every day. "Even Luke never got that many requests."
Annabeth stiffened as she looked at Nico. "Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, he mostly just did what I do now, but you had to start somewhere," Nico shrugged.
Annabeth smiled softly, her rosy cheeks growing redder by the second. He would never understand her obsession for Luke Castellan. He was a great guy, but she barely knew him. Sure, he took her under his wing for a grand total of a week before Silena came along. He did that to every newcomer. Nico knew the treatment. He never took offense to it; that was just the way Luke was.
"And I'm sure you had even more than Percy, huh?" Annabeth teased. It was a harmless thing to say. Everyone joked around up on HBH. Nico didn't take his anger out on her, but he loathed the question. He only loathed the question because he loathed his answer.
"That was a long time ago," Nico whispered somberly. Most of them were around in the 'glory days." Nico was their star, everyone knew it. Newcomers always requested him, but Luke was good at keeping the details and numbers quieted. Only he knew the specifics of his past and he intended on keeping it that way.
Annabeth's features hardened into the more familiar expression. She rarely smiled for anyone but Percy anymore. Her grey eyes glittered in the night while the last car drove away. Percy and Clarisse walked over, neither speaking a word.
"He's bleeding again," Clarisse snarled with too much joy. Nico pressed his lips into a firm line.
Percy limped over with a clenched jaw. It was unclear whether he was annoyed with the brutal girl or in pain. "We ran out of lube and he wouldn't stop," he laughed like a baby had just eaten its own booger. Nico cringed inwardly. "No biggie. I'll need a few days off though."
"I'll cover your ass, like always," Annabeth shoved his shoulder. "Sure you don't want a ride home, Neeks?"
He waved his hand. "I'm good. I have bills to pay and shitheads to call." It was the truth. Most nights, he did the work while he hung out with the gang. Today, though, he spent too much time arguing with a customer about what was considered abuse.
"Bye guys." Percy and Annabeth climbed in the front seat of their car. It took them three years to save up for that car with both of their incomes combined. In their eyes, they found it more worthwhile to share a decent car rather than buy shitty ones. Nico agreed and secretly gave them a larger bonus every month. In return, they gave everyone rides home. Clarisse hopped in the back and he was alone with a dwindling fire.
The area used to be a lot nicer. Now it was mostly worn out dirt in a clearing upon a hill. He remembered the days where his mother would take him and his sister to watch the movies. His father never went. He called them childish wastes of time. Maria disagreed full heartedly every time.
Nico walked through the cabin and into his office before he collapsed onto his bed. It had black sheets and an old blanket from his childhood, which happened to also be black. The inside of his bedroom was spacious. Bedroom, however, was a loose term. He had a total of one bed and one chest containing his minimal clothes. In the other corner sat his art supplies. He was saving up for an easel. Right now, everything he drew was in his sketchbook that was running very low. His mother used to paint these elaborate scenes and elegant portraits. Nico ached to try his hand at painting.
But it was five in the morning. He didn't even have the energy to slip into the shower before his eyes fluttered closed.
A/N: I reallly need some feed back on this one. It's darker, but who doesn't just die for a dark story?
How do you think I'm going to portray Will Solace in this? Goody goody or baddy daddy? ;)
Ahh I just love a story where I can be sexual from the start. Since I have little time to write, I'm going to need some love before I post! LET ME HEAR YOUR GOOD AND BAD REVIEWS! Next should be up in a week or two...unless you coerce me pleasantly!
