Page 37 of Fangs & Freaks
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Warrick’s voice booms as his chest heaves with ragged nonexistent breaths. His face twists with a fury that’s so raw it’s almost primal.
“Testy, aren’t we?”
He lifts his head, his eyes scanning the room as if he’s searching for the next target to inflict his wrath on.
The glass of whiskey is the closest to him. Picking it up, he throws it across the room, barely missing me as it flies past my head. My eyes track the glass as it crashes against the wall, sending shards of glass scattering across the floor as the faint remnants of the liquid contained inside splash everywhere.
“Well, there goes the matching set. Might as well break the other while you’re at it.” I turn back around, facing the glorious madman before me, waving my hand to the mess. “Oh, great.” I wave my hand at the fragments of glass on the floor. “We do have humans in the clubhouse, Warrick. Are you trying to add a trip to the ER to our budget when they inadvertently step on one of the jagged pieces of glass? Bold move. I respect the risk factor,” I goad him.
He sneers at me, his rage unrelenting as it consumes him. He takes hold of a chair, hurling it across the room. It hits the wall with a deafening crack.
“Don’t mind me, though. Please, continue. This isverytherapeutic—for one of us. I’ll have one of the prospects clean it up when you’re done. My skin is far too delicate to risk getting a splinter from the wood. They hurt like a bitch. I remember the last one I had as a human. I begged for them to just cut my finger off.”
Warrick lets out a guttural roar, letting me know he’s not a fan of my play-by-play commentary, but fuck if I care. This is the best entertainment I’ve had in decades. Maybe I should video it, then let it go viral on the web. I could make millions. Not that I need the money, but the anguish it’ll cost Warrick once he calms down and sees it will be priceless.
He picks up the laptop from his desk, chucking it across the room, and it lands with a thump on the floor.Yep, that’s unusable now.
Warrick growls under his breath, moving around the desk toward me, swiping the books sitting on the corner of it off with a single furious motion, sending them tumbling to the floor in a flurry of thuds.
Drawers are yanked open, their contents strewn across the floor in a chaotic mess. Papers flutter like wounded birds beforesettling in disarray. A lamp follows, its delicate base reduced to rubble in an instant.
His breathing grows heavier, each gasp a mix of exhaustion and unspent rage. He stops for a moment, standing amid the destruction he’s wrought. The room is unrecognizable—broken furniture, scattered belongings, and an eerie silence has replaced the chaos. But the anger still burns in his eyes, a wildfire not yet extinguished, even as the aftermath of his fury surrounds him.
He clenches his fists, his body trembling now, the adrenaline slowly giving way to something else—regret, maybe, or shame. His shoulders slump slightly as he turns away, pacing like a caged animal, his jaw tight and his hands bloody. The room bore the brunt of his rage, but it’s clear that this time Bellonna has really sent him over the edge.
I cross my arms over my chest as I stand and watch him throw his tantrum. “You know, I wasjustthinking this place needed something new done to it. Just didn’t think disaster zone was the vibe I was imagining,” I say, an almost cheerfulness present in my tone.
Warrick freezes, picking up his laptop, staring down at the ruined device as if even his fury couldn’t shield him from the reality of what he’s just done.
I click my tongue as I snicker. “Oooh, that’s a pricey one. What’s the resale value of a laptop in three pieces? Probably not great.”
It’s almost like a switch goes on in Warrick's head and his rage of destruction stops. His eyes scan the room, taking in the mess he’s made. His shoulders slump, and he looks down at the mess like someone waking up from a bad dream. He hates losing control, and he just did.
“Well, you’ve successfully destroyed the room. Feeling better? Or should I go hide anything valuable just in case? Nexttime, just yell into a pillow or beat the fuck out of a prospect. Cheaper, and I won’t have to call an insurance adjuster.”
“He’s still there with her. He’s ours, and she just waltzed in here and took him from us like it was nothing. We need to get him back. He’s ours,” he growls.
“Then call her. There’s a mirror. Somehow, it managed to survive your rampage. We’ll say it’s a sign. Call her. It’s not that hard. It’s just two words, repeated three times. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.” I chuckle.
“If it’s so easy, then you do it!” Warrick barks, and I give him a bow, ready to show him how a real man handles his issues- head on.
“Fine,” I reply, making my way over to the mirror on the wall. I always found it funny we had one in here. I always thought Warrick had a secret pretty boy image and liked to primp in front of it. Or maybe it was fate. Those bitches would know we needed one at this moment and already had it destined to be here. Surely if Bloody Mary is real, so are they.
“Well, what’s taking you so long? Scared?” Warrick’s deep voice fills my ears, and I bite back my remark.
“Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary,” I chant and wait, but nothing. She doesn’t appear, not even in the mirror. “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mar-” I call again.
She doesn’t appear, but her sultry voice echoes through my head.“Busy!”
Busy? What the fuck? Hell no!
“Where is she?” Warrick asks.
“She said she’s busy. But fuck that. Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary,” I call again, with more emphasis on her name. While I like games, I can’t let Warrick think this is harder than I said it would be.
Her voice rings out again. “I said I was fucking busy. But since you are so impatient, enjoy.”
Enjoy? What the fuck does she mean? Then it hits me like a punch to the gut. My body’s on fire. Slick and hard at the same time. It’s like there are a million nerve endings firing all over my body simultaneously. Then it changes and I feel like I’m being crushed, gripped so tightly as something moves along my body.
