Silence of the Nine 2 Read online

  He exhaled and they sat on a stone bench marked Francesca, which faced the vineyard. “Let’s see, when I first saw you, you were naked. Standing in front of the refrigerator. The skin on your back was shredded and I figured life would always be hard for you. And now here I stand, face to face with one of the most powerful women in the world. If that’s not an example of the strength of the human psyche, I don’t know what is.”

  She blushed. “You are too good to me. In another life, I would love to see the future we could create. As husband and wife.” She looped her arm through his and leaned on his shoulder. “But now, well, now, we do well in coke and money and we will have to respect that.”

  “You and your new drug connect have made me very rich.”

  “Then why not let me buy you out of Baltimore. I am willing to pay any price you want. Just name it.”

  “I guess I enjoy the business, Nine. What will I do without moving coke? Can you understand that?”

  “But you said you were ready to retire. So let me help you with that. The beaches of Aruba are calling your name.”

  He laughed. “The funny thing is if you want to overthrow me, you probably could.”

  “That is not true,” she exhaled. “Your connections with your associates have been in place longer than I have been alive. They would never work with me if you do not bless the union and step down.”

  “Then I guess you’ll have to be with me a little while longer.” He looked down at her. “You have a problem with that?”

  “Sadly, I do not,” she giggled. “It would probably be my pleasure.” She gazed at her vineyard.

  As they continued their conversation, Leaf looked out of the window, brewing with anger. He could never understand why she insisted on being in a personal relationship with Gates. But Leaf had plans for him and he couldn’t wait to put them into action.

  If done right, his wife would be none the wiser.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “A dammed saint, an honorable villain!”

  William Shakespeare

  Alice sat on the floor, with her knees pressed against her chest as she peered at her feuding cousins within her Aunt Victory’s house. Twenty white adult cats crawled around, leaving behind long strands of their white hair. It was on everything. The furniture, the carpets, the curtains and even the walls. When one cat tried to nestle next to her, she shoed it away with a stiff fist. She wasn’t there for cuddles, fucks or hugs. Her visit marked a more important reason.

  Samantha and Bethany were in a heated argument and her temples throbbed painfully. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the yelling or her light brown hair being snatched back too tight in a ponytail, forcing the corners of her eyes to reach upwards.

  She scratched her naturally blushed cheeks, her nails pushing against the raised scars on her face, compliments of the torture that Nine subjected her to for sixteen weeks, almost a year ago. The abuse included rape by strange men and beatings like she never imagined were possible. Despite that lesson, Alice still harbored ill will for Nine.

  As her cousins continued to fight, she pulled her knees closer to her body, causing her salmon-colored dress with tiny white bows embedded throughout, to spill to the sides of her thighs, in turn revealing her hairy vagina and pink center.

  Panties were a nuisance that Alice Prophet learned to live without.

  Although twenty-two, she had a knack for dressing like an innocent child, church girl gear included. No matter what she wore, her spirit remained dark and those who came within her presence only needed five seconds to feel something was off with her. Something was evil in her soul. Something iniquitous that even she couldn’t put a finger on.

  What was eating Alice Prophet?

  Suddenly the fight kicked up to another level as their voices rose. To outsiders the disagreement might seem outlandish, taboo and even ungodly. But the Prophets, they were raised in this type of environment and in their world everything made sense.

  At the end of the day two sisters, Samantha and Bethany, were fighting over the love of one man. Their brother, Noel Prophet. Since the Prophet way was to breed amongst themselves, thereby preserving the bloodline and keeping the money within the family, Prophet men were scarce and a hot commodity. At present, there were a total of four living Prophet men. They were Blake, his son Noel, Justin and his son Leaf.

  So if Bethany and Samantha were going to remain true to the rituals bestowed upon them by Kerrick, then they would have to marry one of the four, or find a man worthy of mixing bloodlines. But Blake was their father, Justin was disgusted by incest and Leaf belonged to Nine. The only man left was Noel and they were willing to kill each other for his love.

  Although the argument appeared to be about Samantha wearing Bethany’s clothing without permission, in actuality it was about Samantha not being allowed to participate in the upcoming illegal Prophet wedding.

  The day on which Noel would be wed to his sister.

  “Oh, girls, what’s going on now?” Victory yelled waddling into the living room, wiping her fingertips on a yellow hand towel. Her large frame jiggled as she moved briskly toward her daughters, her light skin reddening with each step. The black slacks she wore were covered with so much cat hair they looked white. “Prophet women are to be seen, not heard.” She proceeded to separate them by forcefully tearing them apart at their wrists. “Now stop this mess this instant! If Nine were to see you like this she’d surely shorten our monthly stipends. You see what has happened to your Aunt Marina and Uncle Joshua!”

  Bethany rolled her eyes. “Mama, Nine is not like that.”

  Victory frowned. “Is that why you two used to be close and now your relationship has suffered?”

  “It’s not like that. I have a life with Noel and she is running the family business so we don’t have time to kick it. But I never lost respect for her.”

  Give me a break, Alice thought, as she wanted to throw up in her mouth.

  “What this is about is Samantha! I’m tired of her coming into my room and stealing my shit!” Bethany was a smaller, younger and much more beautiful version of her mother but their features were still similar.

  “What are you claiming she did now?”

  “I came into my bedroom earlier and saw my new Dior blouse missing so I approached her about it. And she had it on, claiming it was hers. Why must she continue to go through my shit?”

  “I told you it’s mine!” Samantha yelled in her face, her teeth exposed in a snarl. Nothing like her sister in the looks department, her thin lips stretched as her unattractive face contorted in outrage. “You’re just jealous because Noel and I went to breakfast today without you!” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell mama the truth! You’re trying to separate us because you’re afraid you’ll lose him!”

  “I wasn’t angry, Samantha. But since we’re talking about it, I know you keep inviting him out to keep him from me. But he’s already made his decision. He wants me, not you!”

  “Girls, please stop arguing.” She looked down at her niece. “Oh, Alice, please close your legs. Your girl’s package is showing.”

  For spite, Alice opened her legs wider and Victory rolled her eyes.

  Victory focused back on her daughters. “Both of you need to go to your rooms,” she demanded. “And while you’re up there I want one of you to check on Isabel. God only knows what crazy ghost will take your sister’s mind hostage today.”

  “I can’t wait until Noel and I are out of here, then I won’t have to be subject to the bullshit,” Bethany said stomping away.

  When the young adults marched toward their rooms, Alice got up and followed Victory to the living room. “So what are you buying them for a wedding gift?” She clutched her hands behind her back.

  Victory’s eyes lit up. “A car,” she boasted. “A new Mercedes. I want to give it to her before she and Samantha take that flight to Florida to pick up the wedding dress from the designer.”

  “You have the money saved for the car?”


  “No but I’m sure Nine will give it to me,” she said confidently. “My daddy bought me a car when I married and I want her to have the same.” She began to daydream.

  “Have you given any more thought to what’s really important? That doesn’t include this wedding?”

  Victory plopped down on the sofa. “Not now, Alice.” She tossed the hand towel beside her. “Can’t you see that it’s the wrong time? Weren’t you paying attention to the status of my family? My girls are in love with the same man and it’s tearing us apart.”

  Alice paced her Aunt Victory’s luxurious living room. The wood scent of the logs burning in the fireplace filled the space as her soiled bare feet pressed against the thick cream carpet fibers. “War is around the corner, Aunt Victory!” She stopped. “A crazy woman is running the family fortune and I’m going to prove it!”

  “Then do you. Why must you bother me?”

  “I hate that you don’t care!”

  Victory poured herself a glass of wine from the open bottle on the end table. “Why do you think I don’t care?” Victory giggled as the stem of the wine glass sat between her fingers. “Because I don’t jump on the bandwagon to condemn Nine just because you say so?”

  Alice stopped pacing and stood in front of her aunt, stuffing her fists into the curves of her hips. She gave her a cold hard glare because in her opinion, she was weak. Victory’s golden hair was pulled back into a tight bun; her light skin remained reddened due to the heat of the liquor coursing through her veins.

  “No,” she dropped to her knees and kissed her aunt’s leg before placing the side of her face upon it. She plucked a few cat hairs off her upper lip. “You are stupid because you don’t see that she is not a real Prophet…like us...even her skin color says it is so. You are stupid because grandfather, in his illness, made the decision of cutting us out of the will, when he loved us so much just months before he died, and still you refuse to act.” She looked up at her. “Think about it, Auntie. Who was fairer to grandfather than I? And yet I was shut out of the fortune entirely.”

  Victory stroked her niece’s hair lovingly. She was always so uptight and as her favorite, she wished she’d calm down.

  “Even if you believe that grandfather was in the right frame of mind when he left a slave who lived in the basement the family fortune, are you dumb enough to believe he left her everything without her manipulation? Shunning even his own children?”

  “My father never really liked me,” she admitted. “Although he was quite fond of you.” She sighed. “I think he disapproved of my weight, or my love for money.”

  “And there’s nothing wrong with it, Auntie. You have a right to desire what’s yours.”

  Victory sipped her wine. “You’re right. It does seem odd that he chose Nine. But if he put her in charge of the family fortune, then he must’ve felt there was a reason.” She downed the rest of the wine and sat the glass on the expensive table. “Besides, Nine is fair, Alice. Even your mother gets a small cut. You’re the only one who has been left out of the money altogether. Maybe you’re just jealous.”

  She raised her head. “Fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  “Oh, Alice, mind your tongue! It’ so dirty.” She shook her head. “For whatever reason, she hates you. And only you and her know why. I’m not sure what went down in daddy’s house between you and Nine but I do know it’s your business, not mine. And I’d appreciate if you leave me out of it.”

  “It’s my problem now, Aunt Victory, but it will be yours soon. Besides, don’t pin her picture next to Mother Theresa just yet. You’ll see her true colors any day now. Mark my words.”

  “You should be careful, Alice. Your actions could end fatally.”

  Alice crawled away from her aunt. She sat against the wall with her knees drawn to her chest. “She hasn’t killed me because in her sick mind, I remind her of home, in the dungeon, before the power. Before she lost Fran. But soon that will all change because she hates me.”

  “Why does she hate you so much? What happened in daddy’s house? And why won’t you tell me?”

  “Nothing happened,” she lied, refusing to tell the tales of how she and her late fiancé Hector raped Nine for sport.

  Hector met his fate a long time ago in a house fire. Fingers pointed to Nine, although nothing could be proven.

  “All I know is that one day she will make a decision that I no longer should be alive,” she continued. “But when that happens, who’s next? You? Your children? Your husband?” She placed her hand over her heart. “We are real Prophets! Not that black bitch! So let’s put an end to the charades now!”

  “Put an end to what charades, my dear cousin?” Nine asked entering Victory’s home. As with every place she went, members of the Legion were present. They included Antonius, her most trusted soldier, and two other men. “Mine?”

  Alice gazed at Nine before looking at Victory. “Hold up, you gave this chick keys?”

  “She has keys to all of the Prophet homes. Including your mother’s,” Victory said shamefully, too greedy to stand on her own two feet and demand some semblance of privacy.

  Alice stood up and stepped toward Nine. When she was within a breath’s distance, she moved her lips toward her earlobe. She wanted to be sure that only she and Nine could hear her next words. “You look real powerful now, Nine. But I remember a time where I was more powerful than you. If I try hard enough, I can even feel your wet tongue licking my dirty feet for a bite of chicken.” She giggled softly and lowered her voice even more. “So scared you pissed your pajamas.” She raised her head and looked directly into Nine’s eyes. “So you see, cousin, no matter how much power you wield today, you’ll never be bigger than me tomorrow. I will always own you.”

  Nine giggled and twisted a long strand of hair from Alice’s ponytail. “You are like a video game to me, Alice. One I enjoy playing. Very much. But when I am done…when you no longer amuse me…I will throw you away and get another, one with better levels and challenges. And there will not be a thing you can do outside of bowing at my feet where you belong.” She kissed her on the cheek. “Still think you are more powerful than me?”

  Alice wiped her kiss off and stomped away.

  ****

  Isabel’s Room

  Although she was moving, Alice’s entire body was tense as she walked down the hallway. Her fists, her forehead and even her stomach were rolled into huge knots. She felt as if her cousin had gotten the better of her. How dare Nine speak to her so brashly, as if she were a genuine Prophet? She couldn’t wait until she brought that tight smile off of her perfect black face.

  After being irritated beyond belief, Alice decided it was time to relieve some of the traction on her brain. So she moved toward her favorite room inside of her Aunt Victory’s house. The one belonging to her eccentric cousin.

  When she made it to the door, she twisted the gold knob with the eagle accents around the perimeter. Once open, she peeked inside.

  It was Isabel Prophet’s room.

  For all intents and purposes, she was labeled the craziest of the Prophets. And considering the members of the family were immersed in dysfunction, that was saying a lot.

  Alice blinked a few times and the corners of her mouth still managed to stay in a frown, until she saw Isabel’s face. Slowly the curves of her lips raised and presented a smile.

  Nine was now the furthest thing from her mind.

  Isabel was sitting in the corner of her beautiful purple and gold accented room. Soft curls sprouted from the edges of her long braids, which ran down her back. The baby blue gown she was wearing was long enough to cover her entire body.

  She was sitting in the classic Prophet pose, on the floor, knees drawn into her chest, revealing the pinkness of her center. Although there was never a meeting about how to perch like a Prophet, the position seemed to provide the Prophet women with a sense of calm.

  Upon seeing her cousin, Alice walked fully into the bedroom, closing and locking the door behind
her. “Get the fuck over here,” Alice demanded. At the moment, she was reminded of a time when she was able to boss Nine around, and her pussy moistened with thoughts of yesterday.

  Like the old Nine, on her hands and knees, Isabel crawled toward her. Once at her feet, slowly she rose until both cousins were face to face. Eye to eye. Exchanging breaths.

  Isabel’s stare was flat, revealing no emotion.

  What is going on behind your eyes? Alice thought.

  Not even when Isabel raised her hand and slapped Alice in the face so hard her neck snapped to the side, did Isabel’s expression change. At the moment, she was without a soul and still something was there. Deep inside, behind the chest cavity, beneath the organs, where it could remain protected from those who meant to take more from her than she could give.

  The blow of the slap forced Alice to her knees. As if she were given silent orders, she raised the bottom of Isabel’s gown. Placing her mouth against the center of her pussy, she could smell a strong pissy odor that drove her sexually insane.

  The nastier the coition the better, to hear Alice tell it.

  Isabel looked down, placed the bottom of her foot on the top of Alice’s head and said, “Lick it clean. Leave not a taste of my juices behind.” In this room, behind that door, Isabel was in charge. The combination of the poor attempt to downplay her own beauty and the acting out of her wild mind, all made her fascinating.

  And yet she was a sexual deviant.

  Any nasty, vile and depraved feat imaginable, she’d done it all. Most times against her will. Having her body used for pleasure by her father and his friends since the age of six had caused her to run cold when it came to sexual acts with men. She viewed them as mundane rituals done to please men enough to leave her alone. After some time, when they stretched out the walls of her womb, her mind began to speak out via loud loops of crazy colors. Each demanding that she react violently at a whim.