The golden sunlight of a New Zealand afternoon felt thick enough to taste, a heavy blanket of warmth that promised peace, but the air inside Klaza Manor had suddenly turned cold and electric. The single gunshot Brie fired at the end of the previous hour was not just a noise. It was the starting pistol for a nightmare that had only just begun.
Brie Leslie Klaza did not hesitate for a single second. Her elite soldier instincts, forged in years of combat and iron discipline, had already dragged her into full, lethal combat mode. She tapped her comms with a blood-stained finger.
LUCY WE HAVE INTRUDERS GET TO COVER NOW
Her voice tore through the comms like a serrated blade, sharp and absolute. Inside the approaching black truck, laughter erupted, a jagged and ugly sound that didn't belong in these gardens.
"Yo, this place is rich as hell, we hit the jackpot boys," one of the masked men said, his grip tightening on his submachine gun as he stared at the gold-trimmed windows of the manor.
"Shut up and focus," another snapped, his voice muffled by a tactical mask. "We grab the target and we are out. No distractions."
The driver grinned, his eyes wide with adrenaline and greed. "Relax. Look at this place. It's just a house full of girls and silk. Who the hell is gonna stop us? A maid with a feather duster?"
Brie smirked as she watched them from the shadow of a massive marble pillar. She felt the weight of her weapon, a familiar extension of her own rage. "Me," she whispered to the wind, her finger tightening on the cold trigger.
The truck did not slow. It tore across the manicured lawn, shredding the rare grass Lucy had spent thousands to maintain. Brie moved. No panic. Panic was for amateurs. She watched them close the distance, her heart beating in a slow, rhythmic thrum. "Come on… a little closer, you bastards…" she muttered under her breath.
She sprinted forward, her boots kicking up dirt, then dropped into a low, aggressive slide across the gravel. The burn ripped through her yellow trousers, searing the skin of her thigh, but she ignored it. Her arm came up. Steady. Cold. Absolute.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
"What the fu—" The driver's scream was cut short as the front tires exploded into a cloud of rubber confetti. The truck lurched violently, its heavy frame twisting as physics took over. Metal screamed against stone as the vehicle slammed into a decorative pillar, sending fragments of ancient stone bursting into the air like shrapnel.
"Out! Out! Move!" six masked men spilled out of the smoking wreck, coughing and swearing. One of them looked up and saw Brie standing alone near the fountain. He laughed, lifting his weapon. "Yo, it is just one girl? That is cute. Real cute."
Brie vanished from sight before he could even aim.
"Where did she go?" "Spread out! Find her and kill her!"
From behind a statue of a weeping angel, Brie leaned out with a predator's grace. Two shots. Two bodies dropped instantly, their blood staining the white marble. "Yeah… still laughing?" she muttered, her eyes scanning for the next target.
"CONTACT!" someone screamed, and suddenly the air was filled with lead. Gunfire erupted, shattering the angel's wings into dust. "Kill that bitch! Now!"
Upstairs, far from the chaos, the master suite trembled from the impact. Lucy Klaza did not flinch. She slowly pulled away from Linda, her expression calm, almost regal. Linda blinked, her breath still uneven, her skin flushed from the heat of their previous moments.
"Lucy… what was that?" Linda's voice carried real worry now, her fingers trembling as she clutched the orange lace of her uniform.
Lucy tilted her head slightly, listening to the rhythm of the bullets outside. "Gunfire," she said softly, her pink eyes glowing with a dangerous light. "And very stupid men who forgot that every rose in this manor has thorns made of steel."
Linda swallowed hard, the reality of the situation sinking in. "They are here? Inside the grounds?"
Lucy's lips curved into a faint, dark smile. "They came to my house. They interrupted my afternoon." Her eyes darkened until they looked like bruised fruit. "So now they die in it."
Linda's body reacted to the tone alone. It was a terrifying mix of fear and a deep, primal attraction to Lucy's absolute dominance. Lucy crossed the room with calm precision, her red heels clicking on the floor. She pressed a hidden panel behind a painting of her mother, and with a soft mechanical hiss, a steel locker revealed its lethal contents.
Linda's eyes widened. "You were hiding all that?"
"I was prepared," Lucy replied, her fingers grazing the gold-plated surface of a rocket launcher. She lifted the heavy weapon, shouldering it with the ease of someone who knew exactly how much destruction she was about to cause.
Linda stepped closer, her breath hitching. "Lucy… be careful… please."
Lucy turned her head slightly, her smudged blue lipstick making her look like a beautiful nightmare. "Worried about me, Linda?"
Linda hesitated, her heart hammering. "I… I don't want to lose this. Any of this."
Lucy grabbed her chin, her thumb tracing Linda's jawline before pulling her into a deep, searing kiss that tasted of wine and impending fire. Linda melted instantly, her knees going weak.
"Stay here," Lucy said softly against her lips. "Be a good girl, and do not ruin that uniform. I like it on you. I want to be the one to take it off you later."
Linda nodded slowly, her mind spinning. Lucy handed her a heavy pistol from the locker. "If they get past Brie, you shoot to kill. No hesitation. Do you understand, מאמי?"
"Okay… okay…" Linda whispered, her fingers closing around the cold metal.
Lucy stepped out onto the balcony, the wind whipping her blue hair into a frenzy. Below, she saw the chaos. Brie was a blur of yellow, flipping over benches, shooting mid-air, moving like a storm through the smoke.
"BRIE! CLEAR THE RADIUS!" Lucy's voice boomed over the estate.
"Oh hell no—" Brie barked into the comms, diving headfirst into a rose bush to escape the blast zone.
"She has a launcher! RUN!" one of the gunmen screamed, but it was too late.
Lucy inhaled slowly, her body becoming perfectly still. She looked down at the men who dared to bring violence to her sanctuary. "This is my house," she whispered.
She fired.
The rocket screamed through the air, trailing a plume of white smoke, and slammed directly into the truck's fuel tank. The explosion swallowed everything. Fire bloomed in shades of orange and pink, a violent and absolute erasure. The remaining gunmen were gone in a heartbeat.
Inside, the sound of the destruction still echoing in the walls, Linda lay back on the bed. The fear had lasted only a moment, quickly replaced by something far more electric. The smell of gunpowder drifted through the open window, mixing with the scent of Lucy's perfume. The vibrations of the blast still lingered in her body, making her skin tingle.
Her hands moved without hesitation, sliding under the orange lace, her back arching as she surrendered to the adrenaline. "God… this is insane…" she whispered, her mind replaying Lucy's voice, her control, her absolute power. "Why is this turning me on so much…"
Outside, the smoke was thick and black. "BRIE! THE TRUNK! GET THE GIRL!" Lucy's voice cut through the ringing in Brie's ears.
Brie groaned, dragging herself out of the dirt. She was covered in soot, her forehead bleeding, but she was alive. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you… psycho…" she muttered, her voice raspy. She ran straight into the heat.
"She is still alive! Shoot her!" a wounded gunman tried to lift his arm.
Pop.
"Talk less," Brie snapped, dropping him with a single shot without even slowing down. She reached the mangled wreck of the truck. Inside, she saw her. The girl with the black curls and heavy makeup, looking like a broken, soot-covered doll. Roni. Bound. Barely conscious.
"Hey… hey…" Brie said, her voice dropping the aggression for a split second as she checked for life. "Stay with me, alright? Don't go to sleep on me now."
There was no response. "Great… love that for me…" Brie muttered. She cut the ropes with a clean motion of her knife.
"Boss said… bring her alive… we are screwed…" a dying man groaned nearby, his breath rattling in his chest.
Brie glanced at him with pure disdain as she hoisted Roni over her shoulder. "Yeah? Then maybe you should've asked for a better salary before you signed up to die in my garden. Rot in peace, asshole."
She turned and ran. The heat was climbing, the secondary fuel line screaming. Brie pushed her muscles to the limit, clearing the blast radius by mere inches before the second explosion hit, throwing her forward onto the grass.
Brie hit the ground hard, Roni falling beside her. Her chest heaved as she coughed up black smoke. She turned, her hands shaking as she reached for Roni's pulse. "Hey… hey… breathe for me, goth girl. Come on… don't do this to me…"
High above them, behind the glass of her room, Gina Melody stood frozen. Her hands were pressed so hard into the wood of the windowsill that her knuckles were white. Her eyes moved between the fire and the sight of Brie—bloody, exhausted, and heroic on the lawn.
Something cracked inside Gina's chest. The jealousy she felt for Lucy was still there, but a new, sharp, and unwanted spark of worry was rising. "Why do I care…" she whispered to the empty room, her voice trembling. "She is just a maid. She is the bitch who kidnapped me."
But her eyes wouldn't leave Brie's form. Her chest tightened painfully, a sensation she couldn't control. "Don't die… please… if you die, I'll never get to kill you myself."
She froze at her own words, her breathing quickening. "Shit… what is wrong with me…"
The fire crackled in the distance.
"Oh no…"
TO BE CONTINUED...