Medusa's Eye

12:00 P.M.- September 20th, 2002- Huntington Beach, California

A piercing scream filled the basement of the Avenged Sevenfold mafia ground- once owned by Maximus Sanders- as a blonde smashed into the cement wall. “Tell me bitch, who is Medusa? And where is she,” Vengeance snapped, a few strands of the blonde woman stuck in the gaps of his fingers. The woman cowered in fear as she heard the penetrating clicks of Vengeance’s white leather shoes against the concrete floor.

“Answer me,” Vengeance growled as he squatted down to stare into the blonde’s bright blue eyes. Nearly a week had passed since Maximus Sanders’s last words. In that week, the Avenged Sevenfold could not find a single hint about Medusa; she remained a mystery. Now that a week was about to pass, all the Avenged Sevenfold were in a frenzy. Not a soul had escaped the Avenged Sevenfold till now.

The woman shuddered as she rested her back against the cool cement wall. Her name was Tasha Dillingham, Maximus Sanders’s new mistress of the month. She was the last mistress to be interrogated and the last hope for the Avenged Sevenfold. Unfortunately for Tasha, she knew and heard mostly every important conversation Maximus had during the month, including the conversation about a “Medusa”. Tasha would never forget the day she met the elderly man, Zeus. Unlike the lewd mafia men, Zeus had treated her gently, and he had not touched her. “Mr. Sanders, I advise you to never reveal the existence of Medusa to this mafia world. Please never ever say that name aloud. Tasha wanted to return Zeus a favor- to keep Medusa a secret- but at the moment, everything felt impossible. Tasha felt the trepidation of death, one more blow and she might as well be dead.

Camera Room

“Wow, how intense,” Synyster Gates chuckled sardonically. “Hmm...” M. Shadows grunted as he stared at the screen before him. The blonde in the screen knew something. It was obvious from the way she seemed to press her lips together as Vengeance gnarled at her.

“Do you think that could be Medusa,” the Rev questioned as he sat beside Johnny Christ. “I don’t think so,” Johnny sighed as he typed away on his computer. Seven days straight, Johnny had been hacking into mafia databases and searching for the word “Medusa”, but none could be found. It was as if Medusa didn’t exist at all.

“Hey V? Zacky V? Do you hear me,” M. Shadows called out through the mic in the camera room.

Avenged Sevenfold Basement

“What,” Zacky Vengeance answered as Matt’s voice echoed through his transceiver. Keeping his emerald eyes on the blonde, he stood up slowly. Zacky Vengeance had always been a great man-handler -not that it was something to be proud of- but he had done enough to scare the mistress in front.

“Is she still not saying anything about the whereabouts of “Medusa”?”

“Yup. I’m getting a bit impatient. Actually, I’m already on the verge of killing her,” Vengeance smirked sadistically.

“Then kill her,” M. Shadows’s voice echoed loudly in not only Vengeance’s ear, but the entire basement.

Tasha Dillingham pressed her lips nervously as she watched Vengeance smirk, “Roger.”

“Y-you don’t p-plan on k-killing me, r-right,” she stuttered as she scooted herself closer to the cold cement wall. Twenty was still a young age to die. Tasha never planned on dying that early. In fact, she had many dreams she had yet to accomplish. After her term as a mistress for the Sanders clan, Tasha had planned to leave and find herself true love, a home, and a family. She was supposed to live up to her eighties, growing old with her future husband.

“Well, you heard what Shadows said. I can kill you. I mean... I’m not the most patient man in the world. More like the most impatient man. I don’t like waiting for answers. You seemed to have them, but you won’t tell me. So... I guess I’ll give you five seconds. Five seconds and then... no answer... good-bye,” Vengeance grinned as he took out his black, roulette pistol. The faint clicks of the trigger echoed in the basement.

“I’m going to start counting now,” Vengeance sang tauntingly as he pointed the tip of the pistol at Tasha.

“Five”

“Four”

“Three”

“Two”

“One”

“Ze-”

“Berry’s Auction,” Tasha screamed out frantically. Her worn body shook with fear as Vengeance lowered his pistol slowly away from her head.

“What about it,” Vengeance inquired with amusement. The blonde mistress in front of him finally spoke. He didn’t care if what she was about to say would be “lies”. If it were lies, he would get the chance to pull the trigger of his gun.

“Maximus met this mafia man there. That man was a real gentleman. He didn’t touch me. He treated me a drink, but he never once told me to go sleep with him or anything. After meeting several times, Maximus said he was looking for an assassin. That guy... he told Maximus that he had great connections. Medusa was the assassin’s name. That’s all I know.”

Vengeance furrowed his eyebrow with disappointment. The mistress wasn’t Medusa and she didn’t exactly know how Medusa looked as well. “Well... do you know that man’s name,” Vengeance questioned.

“Nope,” Tasha lied through her teeth. Her heart pounded nervously. That would be the only thing she would be able to do for Zeus. Keep his name covert.

“Well... you aren’t much of bitch as I thought you would be. We’ll have you stay here for a few days while we make sure what you said was true. Good thing we have good connections with the Berry brothers,” Vengeance grinned as he placed his pistol back in his pocket.

Tasha groaned softly to herself. Although through the interrogation, she had tried to save what Zeus had worked for, but in the end, things were slowly starting to unravel. The end of the interrogation Tasha’s greatest regret. She had won nothing.