Page 9 of Perilous

“What does that have to do with me?” I growl.

“Alltargetsmust be eliminated, Peri,” Luc says.

He squeezes my shoulder and nods.

I now have to kill the man I poisoned.

* * *

We siton top of an old stone wall. Rumors of history and horror all around us due to the fact thatSAis old as fuck. I’m not really a history guy. Chasing the past means you’re going in the wrong direction of life.

Demo scored a twelve pack of some fancy, European beer that’s twice the alcohol of a normal beer. I’m moving through my second bottle, drinking the stuff like it’s water. The thought of killing never bothered me once.

Except now…

I grit my teeth.

“Give me an empty bottle,” I say.

“Got to take a piss?” Demo asks.

My eyes gravitate toward two guys walking together. One has a bag over his shoulder. The other is in a hoodie, hands animated, talking about something important.

“Do we know them?” I ask.

“How the fuck would I know?” Vic asks.

“Peri, go lift weights or go to a bar and pick a fight,” Tyrant suggests. “You’re worked up. They’re testing you, that’s all.”

“I’m with Peri,” Demo says. “I was a crucial part with thattargetand now I’m pulled off it? You know what? Fuck it. I’ll do it.”

In a matter of a second, Demo grabs the bottle from my hand and throws it. It hitsHoodie Guyright in the face, his nose exploding open, his head snapping back, hands grabbing for his face, leaving him stumbling back and falling to the ground.

“Fuck,” Tyrant says.

“Great throw,” Vic says.

Bag Guylooks in our direction.

“Whoever threw that! Fuck you! You fucking pussy!”

Demo throws himself off the wall without hesitation. He’s like a pissed off bull charging at a red piece of cloth.

I stand up and step back off the wall, which leaves me with ground to walk on and a path to follow. All the while Demo is sliding down toward the narrow, paved walking path where all hell has broken loose.

As soon asBag Guyrealizes it’s Demo he’s called afucking pussy, he drops to his knees and puts his hands together.

Demo doesn’t give a fuck about this guy’s begging. He charges forward and in one motion, grabs the guy’s head and pulls it forward as he brings his knee up into the guy’s face. The sound is a sickening crunch.

I take one look atBag Guyand I swear on my life his fucking nose has been moved to under his left eye. His mouth opens, revealing his two front teeth are gone.

He falls back down to the ground, dazed, groaning and weeping.

This is my doing. My annoyance and the rage I’ve been letting pent up. Like a flickering flame and Demo a can of gasoline.

He turns and looks at me, grinning. His left knee is covered in blood and one ofBag Guy’s fucking front teeth has literally stuck into Demo’s jeans.

There’s pure hatred in his eyes. Pure evil. I glance down at the two guys on the ground. Both are alert and trying to figure out what the fuck happened and why.

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