The Monster's Mighty Den

I look at Sienna's tear stained, mascara-smeared face. She still can't see me. The spotlight is too bright on her. But she must recognize my voice and know that it was me who bought her.

The men take her down from the platform. She still fights as she's removed from the stage. The curtain falls and the lights in the room go on announcing to everyone that it's the end of the night.

Axel chuckles. "Told you," he mutters as I resume my seat.

"Fuck you," I say, the excitement I feel in my gut something foreign. Something I'd forgotten.

One hour later, Sienna is delivered to my penthouse by the same two men in about the same fashion as when she threw that fit on the stage.

I'm standing at the window with my back to the elevator when I hear the doors slide open. I sip my drink, watching the lights of the strip in this city that never sleeps.

A city of vultures.

Hungry.

Always hungry.

Always looking for innocent flesh with which to fill their bellies.

I'm hungry, too.

I set my empty glass on