Page 79 of Misery
The ride to Ivar's feels endless and too fast simultaneously.
Every red light tests my control.
Every slow driver makes me want violence.
The suburban streets blur past—normal houses with normal people living normal lives, no idea that monsters walk among them.
Thiago's there.
At the house of the woman I'm protecting.
The woman I?—
No. Focus.
I know what he's doing.
It's what I would do if I were him.
Remove obstacles. Clear the path. Make her vulnerable and isolated so she has no choice but to accept protection.
Classic isolation tactics—remove the support system, become the only option.
He's going to take her parents.
My phone rings through my helmet.
Vanir. "His car's parked two blocks from Ivar's. Hasn't moved in ten minutes."
"Any sign of him?"
"Negative. But there's... wait. Smoke. Is that... fuck, there's smoke coming from Ivar's house!"
I gun it and take corners too fast, almost clipping a minivan, the driver honking as I blow past.
I don't fucking care. Hell, I can't care.
The smoke is visible from three blocks away.
Black and thick, but wrong somehow.
Not the whole house—just the garage.
A distraction.
Classic Thiago.
Draw attention to one place, strike another.
I don't go to the front.
Instead, I circle around through the neighbor's yard.
Their roses scrape my jacket as I push through.
The back door is open, lock picked with the same technique Thiago taught me twenty years ago.
Three pins, then the tumbler, slight pressure on the cylinder.
