Heartbroken

"Wha-" Lucas stuttered, trying to take in this situation.

Rose strutted in and pushed him aside. She looked to the left and met a messed up Ashe who was standing on the side like an innocent girl. Nobody would have suspected she had brandished a knife at a man not so long ago. 

"Why are you here, little girl?"

Ashe's eyes went wide. She didn't hold back or even try to protect him this time, "He kidnapped me and was about to rape me, miss."

Lucas shook his head, "I didn't even! What—"

Rose turned around and slapped this man on the face, her face in the epitome of disgust, "Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Don't you want to know why I'm here?"

Lucas looked up, his face burning from the slap, "Why?" 

Rose dug into his bag and shoved a file into his face. The file slipped down from his face and lay on the floor. Because Lucas could move, Ashe dashed for it and picked it up. 

She opened the file and took the papers out to read what was written. 

"Oh God…how does no one know this?" she looked up at Rose, her savior, in surprise. The papers in her hand were parts of a case file. A case filed against Mr Lucas Trenner. Reported to be the owner of 17 female abuse crimes across the world. 

Rose slapped his face again, "How did you get away with it, you perv? I knew you were fishy when I checked the HR files of the employees. You were the only one who got a direct entry into the company."

Lucas grinned wider, "You didn't expect this from me right? Because I'm good looking, well-educated and have nice manners," he counted on his hand, "The others thought that too!" He laughed and looked at the two girls, "And with the amount of money I have, I could even kill you both and get away with it. You two know too much." 

"The only killing that will happen today will be yours," another fourth voice spoke from outside the hotel room. Ashe looked outside and saw a tall lady in heels and a black coat standing with a phone in her right hand. She pressed the dial button and looked at Lucas with rage. Ashe recognized her! 

"Who are you?" Lucas asked. He had come for one girl and two more amazing ones followed automatically? But look at the irony. He was supposed to feel happy, but instead he felt like running away. 'Girls are starting to get annoying in this generation,' he cursed to himself. 

"Doesn't matter. I've called the police. You'll get what you deserve soon. No more running away," the woman said. Her eyes shifted and fell on Ashe and smiled. Ashe smiled back. It felt like it had been so long since she had seen her. As much as Ashe hated Darren, she wished Tasha had taken care of him well. 

"It's good to see you Tasha," Ashe finally said. 

"Back at you, kid," Tasha said and screamed when she saw Lucas trying to make a run for it. Tasha lurched forward and pushed Lucas back into the hotel room. He fell backwards with a thud.

That's when Ashe remembered how she opened her eyes in this room in the first place. Thinking about it, she figured out that he had put her to sleep using chloroform. And like she had expected, she saw a tiny bottle of it on the bedside table. 

Lucas finally got trapped in his own net as Ashe put him to sleep, at least until the police came by. 

Rose nodded and walked out of the room, grabbing the files, "Good you two are here. I'll be taking my leave now."

Tasha extended her hand and stopped her, "Not so easily." Tasha looked at me meaningfully. Ashe gulped, understanding. They had some lady talk to get over with. 

Ashe walked out and stood against the hotel wall, lost in her own thoughts. Where were the other six? Did they take the Inexas down? She was about to leave when Tasha called her again, "Ashe. Wait for two minutes and we'll leave together."

Ashe agreed. She had no idea how else to get out of here anyway.

Inside, Tasha closed the door and cornered Rose.

"Who are you and why are you in Systema Games?" she rumbled, trying to tear her apart with her gaze. Tasha had lived her life in secrecy for the past few days, scared that these 'Spiders' would catch her. She even destroyed her SIM card and deactivated her credit card, scared they would track her using these. 

She was a New York ghost now. At least until she figured all this out. So instead, she lurked in the streets of New York, trying to solve the mystery by herself. All this while, she had been wasting her days recklessly. But earlier that night, she finally got a lead. 

This woman. Rose. Tasha knew she was connected. 

"How are you suddenly the HR after Haffar's death?" Tasha questioned her, "There was not even a single interview for you either. Did you replace Haffar because…you were the one who killed him?"

Rose gasped at this crazed woman, "What are you saying? What did I ever do to you?"

Tasha laughed, "Don't try to act all innocent here." She reached for her pocket and took out a glass jar. Rose's breath stopped as she saw what was inside. 

A tiny spider running inside, black as the night, its fangs sharp as jags. 

"Then how did this spider fall out of your bag? I've been following you for a few days because your sudden replacement was quite funny. You're one of the so-called Spiders aren't you? Going around killing people. What do you guys have against System Games?" 

Rose was speechless. She waved her hands, scared and totally crept out, "You've got the wrong person, I don't know how that thing came out of my bag. Really, I don't know what you're talking about. Please, I'm innocent." 

Ashe opened the door and peeped inside "Ladies? The police is here."

Tasha let out a breath and pocketed the jar. She'd have to continue her interrogation later. In the next few minutes, five to ten police officials filled the room along with some of the hotel people and inspected the room. 

They hauled Lucas away alright, but only before the head of the police group approached the two women and one girl standing to the side, "You three. You handled this man together?"

The three nodded and Ashe spoke, "He kidnapped me and I bet he tried to rape me."

"I have his previous offense files for female abuse. If this girl wasn't strong enough, she'd be gone by now," Rose added in. 

The man laughed, flipping through the pages, "Come on. Some guy must have helped you out. You don't expect me to believe when you say that three ladies handled this raged criminal on your own?" He closed the file and looked at them incredulously. He was instantly met with three pairs of eyes burning right through him. 

'God, they're scary,' the man thought to himself. The third was only a little girl, yet even she gave off that killer vibe right then. He regretted saying that and felt like he was being burnt alive. 

He laughed nervously and backed off, "Ahaha, okay, okay. I'll believe it for now," the man said, deciding to back off so that he won't get roasted too.

After they were gone, Tasha told Ashe to follow her to her cab. Before they left, Tasha and Rose shared an uneasy glare. 'I'm onto you,' Tasha mouthed, threatening her.

Rose was unfazed as she smirked. She dug into her bag and dangled another spider in front of her. Tasha widened her eyes, So she was right! Rose was a part of the Spiders. No wonder she joined Systema Games! She was sent in as a spy.

Tasha was about to pounce on her but then she stopped as she witnessed something horrifying. Rose popped the black spider into her mouth and bit into it. Tasha watched in horror as Rose menacingly chewed on the spider, smiling all the while. 

'I'd like to see you try,' Rose mouthed back as she wiped her mouth from the liquid and walked past Tasha and Ashe, going on her way. Ashe was studying the intricate pattern of the chandelier and comparing its crystal placing with the Golden Ratio Spiral before she turned around and tugged Tasha's sleeve, "Why are you standing still like that? Aren't we going? I'd like to meet the boys to see if they're okay. Then Saye." 

Tasha couldn't break out of her daze. That Rose…she just ate a…spider…

"Tasha? Are you listening?"

Tasha nodded, "Yeah, you want to go back to the mansion yes?"

Ashe was about to say that they weren't in the mansion anymore when someone turned up the volume of the TV in the hotel lobby. It was one of those news channels. 

Tasha and Ashe stopped breathing at the same time as they watched their brother appear on the huge TV screen and read the headlines. They only read what was written because the rest of the world suddenly turned deaf to them. All they could see was their brother's name and body on the screen.

[CEO OF SYSTEMA GAMES JUMPS FROM SUICIDE BRIDGE DURING POLICE ARREST]