Chapter 18: Bloody Afternoon

Chapter 18
Bloody Afternoon

Grace walked out of the Honky Tonk before I did. She was smiling and patting her stomach, which was oddly still flat. I walked behind her, placing my credit card, which felt lighter, into my wallet. The waitress waved us happily out. At least, two people were happy.

“Well, I’m off to the library to do some research.”

“I’m heading back to class.”

“Well, I’ll call you later okay?”

“Alright.”

“Bye!” she yelled in a cheery voice as she walked toward the research library.

I walked toward my class. My phone began to ring.

Eason calling…

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hank. Jack is definitely alive.”

“What happened?”

“We found a woman gutted, ripped, and drained of blood.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s Jack’s MO. Be careful.”

The call ended.

I was unnerved. I could imagine what Jack could do with that blade, and that was the worst thing – imagination.

I walked toward class, and I felt a shadow follow behind me. I could hear a heavier set of footsteps. I closed my eyes and put my phone against my ear. The sound of people’s feet and their voices echoed off everything - showed me everything, but there was no Jack. I moved my phone away. All I had was a terrible fear gnawing at my stomach. If we couldn’t take him, how could I do it alone?

I walked into my lecture hall and took a seat. I’m a person who sits in a position and doesn’t move. Today, I fidgeted. I shifted my legs. I tried resting my head on my hand, but it wasn’t restful. I couldn’t pay attention. My notes trailed off the line. The door suddenly swung open. I immediately turned toward the door to see who it was. Just another straggler late for class. I heard metal clinking to my right. Just someone tapping their mechanical pencil tip against the table. My heart was racing. Jack was alive. He wanted me dead.

The bell rang, class ended, and I bolted from the room.

I heard that heavy set of footsteps once more.

Calling Grace…

Ring.

Ring.

Answer!

Ring.

Ring.

Footsteps.

Ring.

Ring.

C’mon!

“Sorry!”

“Grace!”

“I’m not here right now! Leave a message after the beep, and I’ll call you when I can! Beep!”

I quickened my pace. The footsteps quickened. I sprinted and so did the footsteps. I turned a corner and arrived at the back of the library. No one was around. This is where books from other colleges were transferred over. It was rarely in use. I held onto my phone. I held my breath. My phone was fully charged. I was at five bars of reception. All that noise and all that sound. I closed my eyes and listened. The footsteps drew closer. Closer.

Now!

I swung my phone.

I felt the air leave my mouth. Pain. I looked down to see the hilt of a sword in my gut. I looked up to see the agent of the Children from yesterday.

“You’re coming with me, Hank. Even if Ms. Anna lets you leave, the others won’t allow it.”

He must have seen the shock in my eyes.

“I’m just an ordinary man trained to fight. Not everyone has powers to fight against Affects and Aspects.”

With a wave of his arm, he threw me against a dumpster.

As I lay there, I began to hear my blood beating in my head. It was a powerful rhythm. I looked up, and I knew it wasn’t my heart.

That wicked smile. Muted footsteps.

Jack.

From another side, Jack slowly walked toward us.

I tried to crawl up, but my body would not move. The agent had knocked the breath out of me. I laid there and watched Jack walk toward us. His boots made no noise as they glided across the ground.

“I thought I killed you yesterday,” the agent stated.

“You’re too weak to kill me,” Jack replied as he walked closer.

“What do you want?”

“Just some fun.”

The agent drew his sword and charged toward Jack. He passed me. He was fast.

Those teeth gleamed.

The agent fell to the floor. His head rolled past Jack. His blade split in half.

Jack was faster.

He picked up the agent’s corpse: head and all, and continued toward me. He drew closer. Closer. Closer. He stopped beside me.

“Trash. Worthless trash.”

He threw the body into the dumpster. He then looked at me and smiled.

“Not today. I’ve had my fill.”

He winked and walked away.

I ran into the library and into the bathroom. I threw up into the toilet.

My phone rang.

Grace calling…

Chapter 15: Jack

Chapter 15
Jack

“Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

A flash.

Grace stood before me, clutching her sword against the man in black.

“Shadows?” the man’s mouth twisted wryly. “You don’t interest me.”

Grace suddenly slid back into me, and we fell to the floor. I could feel something warm drip onto my hands. Blood ran down Grace’s arm.

The man in black began to walk toward us, shaking the blood off a knife. It gleamed wickedly.

I tried lifting Grace up. “Come o-AHH!”

I was pinned against the wall, his hand crushing my throat. The cold metal tapped my face. A swift pain. He licked the blood from his blade. My head began to spin. Two voices – laughter and worry. I could hear Grace screaming. I could hear laughter, such terrible laughter. It all drowned out to a strange thumping. My eyes began to close.

Silence.

The man’s eyes opened white. His grip loosened, and we fell to the floor.

“Are you alright?” A man in a suit stood before me.

I was covered in blood. My back hurt. My throat still tried to reshape itself from his grip.

“Hank! Hank!” Grace ran toward me. “Oh my god.”

“It’s not mine.”

“We should leave,” the man stated.

“Who are you?”

“I am an agent of the Children.”

Grace helped me up.

“What do you want from us?”

“I would like you to come with me.”

“To where?”

“To meet my master.”

“And what does your master want?”

“Only to talk and to offer answers.”

“Well, we would like to be left alone.”

“Maybe Miss Lovenson would like answers to the event from twelve years ago.”

Grace’s eyes widened.

“Okay.”

The two of us followed the man. I turned behind me and saw the man draped in black on the floor. Blood flowed onto the street floor.

“Please get in,” the man in the suit stated.

He opened a door to a black sedan – luxury class. We entered the back seats, and he proceeded to the front. My phone began to ring. I looked at it curiously. It died yesterday, and I had not recharged it.

Eason calling…

“Hello?”

“How are you two feeling?”

“We’re fine.”

“I went to check this morning, and you two had already left. Where are you headed now?”

“We’re meeting with the Children.”

“What?!”

“Just to hear what they said. We listened to you too.”

Silence.

“We also met the man in black.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. He’s dead. An agent of the Children killed him.”

“Where’s the body?”

“Drive down Raleigh to Kensington. You’ll see a crashed cab and our dead driver.”

“Okay. Be careful about the Children.”

“Okay.”

“We’re here,” the agent stated.

The car stopped in front of an apartment high-rise. He ushered us in pass the lobby to the elevators and then to the tenth floor – the suites. We exited the elevator and found ourselves facing a door. The man opened the door, and we found ourselves in a suite the size of an entire floor. Before us was a crossed stairway. A woman holding an umbrella stood on the landing.

“Hello, Hank. Hello, Grace,” she stated. I had heard her voice before but where?

Suddenly, I heard a strange thumping in my head. Like the sound of a heart, but then, it stopped.

Ring. Ring. I looked at my phone.

Eason calling.

“Hello?”

“He’s not here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jack isn’t here!”

Text and Images © Jonathan Lee