forwards. She aimed a kick upwards, knocking him in the chin and realising that his body had the same feeling as a slab of metal.
She stumbled backwards, avoiding his terrifying punches that more than invaded her personal space.
There was only one option, she had to lead him away.
Her mind was made up. She looked towards the window, ran towards it and sprung forwards, using the element of the wind from her splayed fingers to smash the glass, giving her a safe path. Terry was close behind as she landed outside. One last glance at the hall which contained her parents, she would have to think up some excuse for leaving early later.
She put her head down and began to sprint in a direction, whacking out her phone and dialling the number for Grim. Seriously, what kind of modern phone doesn’t have a contact book. When she had typed in the number, mistakes corrected, she pressed the green phone button and slid it against her ear. There were multiple subsequent beeping tones to tell her that there was no signal. Great. That’s what she got for running into a forest.
Trees hung above her like a holey parasol, casting shadowy patterns on the ground. Brown leaves crunched under her as she ran, making it impossible to hide. He would know exactly where she was from the loud sounds she was making.
After a while, she glanced over her shoulder, skidded to a halt and then looked around. He was gone.
There was a terrifying roar as he flung himself down from the top branch of one of the trees, heading straight for her. She dodged the landing, and the jab that followed. His hands clutched the sides of her shoulder, bringing her closer for a murderous bite with those giant fangs, but she slipped from his grasp and snapped her foot into his side. She leapt backwards away from him, and moved further on, using the wind to speed her up as it pushed her along like a small child might push a toy car across the rug.
But the high heels were really wearing on her, she was surprised she had managed as much as that with them, as it was. She could just see herself falling over in some cliché movie moment, at least she didn’t have glasses to fall off as well. That really would be generic.
Just as the thought of falling over and twisting her ankle popped into her head, she felt herself toppling to the floor. But as she looked forwards, it wasn’t the ground she was moving towards, but rather a huge river.
It soaked her. Invading every inch of that dress until she was shivering with what could soon be hyperthermia. Terry dived in after her, scuffling through the water like a dog trying to furiously paddle for a few moments, and then he stopped and stared. His mouth opened wide as he cried out in pain. His hands flailing desperately. A part of her wanted to help him, but then she remembered the threat he’d made against her parents. In a strange turn of events, his body slowly dissolved into a liquid and got mixed up with the river. Ew. She was swimming in human remains, or remains of whatever the hell he was.
The river became rougher, picking her up and dragging her from side to side. She avoided the rocks on the edge, and wondered where she would end up. There was no way she was getting out.....
A hand reached down and grabbed hold of her, pulling her out the water.
She coughed water as though she was puking and then looked up to thank Grim. But it wasn’t Grim.
Her eyes widened in shock as she looked up at a small man in a ridiculous looking suit.
“Good evening,” said Kensuke, before driving his foot into her face, knocking her out cold.
18
THERAPY FOR KENSUKE
Lights flashed in her eyes as she awoke, causing a pulsating pain to emanate from the back of her head.
Patience tried to lift her arms but they were knotted to the sides of the chair by a thin cord of steel. In panic, she tried to shift her weight from side to side to topple the chair, though it didn’t move even a little.
She scanned the room. Seemed to be a pretty standard affair. Torture devices hung on the dusty, brick walls like a set of ornaments, all of them caped in a thick layer of dark, crimson blood. There was an empty chair ahead of her free of any chains or tools, it looked a lot more comfy as well.
Where the hell am I, she thought.
A door opened to her right. She couldn’t see it, only hear the scraping of wood against the rough floor.
The man stepped into view, lowering himself onto the free chair and slipping a lit cigarette between his teeth.
“Want one?” asked Kensuke, displaying a newly opened box.
Patience smiled, lowering her gaze to the floor for a moment. “I’m seventeen, and I don’t have any hands free. Although, you could let them go so I can-”
“Punch me in the face?”
“I was going to go for strangle, but that’ll work too.” He dropped the cigarette to the floor, crushing it with his square boot and dragging the chair closer to her. His face was directly in front of Patience. She could smell his rancid breath striking her nostrils with their foul aroma.
“What do you think of my dungeon?”
“Bit dramatic, isn’t it?” she said.
“Doesn’t it just make you scared, to know that so many people have lost their lives here. Normally, it only takes a few minutes alone for them to start begging for their lives to end.”
“After a few minutes of talking to you, I can see why.”
He scowled before wrapping his hand around the bottom of her chin so that her sight was fixed directly upon him. She tried to control her breathing, tried to show no signs of fear. Oh God. Her heart was beating so fast. She hoped he couldn’t hear it.
“Look at that,” he said, directing her head towards a red stain on the wall, “that is all that remains of the last person in this room. He sat in that very chair when he died, painfully.”
Patience resisted the urge to screw up her face as she tried desperately to come up with a clever quip to undermine him. “I bet it’s not even real.... I bet you used tomato ketchup, like they do in the bad movies.”
His shoulders sagged as his confidence left him and he released his hold on her. “How did you know that? Is it really that obvious?” Patience tried to look like she had known the truth all that time.
“Any amateur can tell the difference,” she lied, “at least I can see you put the effort in, I suppose.”
Kensuke didn’t respond. He slunk backwards in the chair and looked into the empty corner of the room.
His eyes were blank with a torrent of memories, like he was being filled with flashbacks of a life he had wasted.
“I’m not very good at this, am I?” he said, almost sobbing, “I should have stayed at the bakery.”
“You were a baker?”
“I made the best ‘Momma’s Multi-layered Chocolate Fudge Cake this side of the country. It was to die for.”
Patience frowned. “What happened?”
“An inspector came in and told me that the conditions were unsafe, something about keeping pet rats in the kitchen. I don’t know what he was talking about. But he threatened to close me down, so I followed him home, snuck into his bedroom when he was asleep and…. he fell over and banged his head. It was so exhilarating, and embarrassing.”
“And so you turned into a wannabe assassin?”
Kensuke shrugged off the comment as though he didn’t even care anymore. “I suppose so. I just wanted to be good at something again, something I enjoyed. I thought killing would be it.... but it seems I’m not even cut out for that.”
“Not everyone is. Hey, don’t cry.... don’t do those crocodile tears.” It was like talking to a three year old. “Everything’s going to be alright, you’ll see. Just let me go and we won’t hear of this again, you can go back to your bakery and just put this down to trying something new.”
“Okay, thanks. It’s been a long time since I actually had someone to talk to, most people don’t listen.
Even when I have them strapped to a chair while I threaten to torture them, they carry on mocking me.”
There was still
a beam of light from the door, but it seemed to get blocked for a moment before going back to normal.
“I’m sorry, can we just put this all down to a misunderstanding.”
Patience nodded. “Of course.” He undid her restraints, allowing her to move again. “Thanks, I really appreciate-”
There was a flash of silver, a spray of real blood, and Kensuke’s head rolled out across the ground. His mouth had remained wide open as though he was still trying to form the words with his lips, despite being dead.
Patience jumped up, kicking the chair back and instinctively sweeping to the side to avoid any incoming attacks. She looked at the executioner. A tall, slim woman, with well-built arms and a hard, stern face.
Her red hair hung from her neck like coiling snakes, and her eyes stabbed into her like a sharp point.
“Are you a good guy.... or gal, even?” asked Patience hopefully.
Viper smiled. “No, my dear,” as she spoke, Patience could see her forked tongue, “while I have just lifted you from the clutches of this disgusting heathen, in no way shall I even pretend to be working as a force for good. No, my employer has a need for you.”
“At least you’re being honest.” Patience made a run for it, setting her sights on the door as she tried to be fast. She was almost there.
Viper’s hand shot outward like a bullet, flipping her over so she landed on the ground awkwardly. She thought she might have broken something, it would heal.
“I can’t let you do that,” she said, “you’re very important to us. Please, don’t