Page 34 of The Reaper
It was pretty much the same wherever you went around here. Brinton Manor had lost its way a long time ago. But it was still our home, and we served these streets as if they were paved with gold. One day, we hoped they would be. The place itself might be in decay, but the spirit of the people hadn’t died, for the majority that is. The fucker we had in our warehouse waiting on us was a different matter.
Tyler, Will, and I started to unload the van, and Adam unlocked the doors to the warehouse, so we could set up. The old doors creaked open, rusty metal strained at the hinges as Adam prised them open and used a large rock nearby to wedge them in place. We pulled on our balaclavas, not that we cared about the mark seeing us, but because it made us feel powerful. Also, it looked fucking awesome on the videos we made when we were at work. The masks added that extra touch, an artistic edge, I liked to think.
We carried the weapons through into the warehouse, and a few stray birds flapped overhead, flying towards the rafters to hide, furious at our disturbance. The air stank of shit, piss, and sheer desperation. I heard a muffled cry and saw the guy we were here to take care of strapped into the chair that we’d bolted to the floor. There was a gag around his mouth, and when he saw us, he started to thrash in the seat.
“He fucking stinks,” Colton moaned as he put the weapons he’d carried onto the table at the side of the room.
Adam walked over to the corner where there was a hose, turned on the tap that it was attached to and said, “He’s been here all night. I’ll wash him down, not that he deserves any humanity from me.” And he pointed the hose at the guy, drenching him like he was hosing down a car.
The guy shook his head as the water dripped from his hair into his eyes, coughing and choking as it soaked his gag and made it harder for him to breathe.
Adam gave him a minute or two before he turned off the tap and asked Colton, “Is that better?”
“Your humanity towards my sense of smell is very much appreciated.” Colton grinned and picked up an ice pick, twisting it in his hand and turning towards me to ask, “If I stick this in his ear, will it pierce his brain?”
Adam huffed out a smile and shook his head. I got busy giving Colton a brief lesson on anatomy while Tyler and Adam set up the video, and then Adam crouched down to give the guy a speech about why he was here and how we were going to annihilate him for every sin he’d ever committed.
Adam liked to play the role of the enforcer. He delivered the verdict and then took pleasure in carrying out his part to bring about justice. I watched as he took his phone out of his pocket and lifted it to show the guy his screen. There was probably a photo of the couple or the old man on there. Adam liked to smack them in the face with the reason why they’d landed on the soldiers’ radar. A final reminder of who deserved revenge. Almost like he was reading them their last rites.
Tyler strolled over and picked up the meat cleaver from the table, and Will chose the Damascus steel hunting knife; he liked the effect etched into the metal of the blade, he said. Meanwhile, Adam sauntered over and took the baseball bat, walking right back to stand in front of the guy and stare down at him as he swung it in the air.
And me?
I chose the scalpel. It wouldn’t be the only weapon I’d use today, but it was a good start.
“Can we do without the music today?” Adam asked, turning to look at Colton. “I’ve got a splitting headache.” He lifted the bat up, swung, and whacked the guy over the head hard. “I think our guest might have a headache too.”
Colton laughed, and holding up the ice pick he replied, “I don’t think we need any music. I’ve got another way to make his ears ring.”
I stepped back and watched Colton get to work, testing out his theory from earlier as the guy’s muffled screams grew louder. Adam smirked, holding back for a moment, then he stepped up, swinging the bat hard and smashing the guy’s kneecaps. The guy was grunting, squirming, howling, and trying anything to free himself from our chair, but that’d never happen. He was here until we’d finished––and finished him in the process.
Tyler took his turn next, lifting the cleaver up and bringing it down hard on the guy’s thighs. He sliced into his flesh then yanked the cleaver out before slicing again. In this moment, seeing what we were doing, some might say we were like a pack of wolves. But to me, this wasn’t savage, it was a process, and we were artists creating our masterpiece. The masterpiece that was justice in its truest form.
I walked over to stand in front of the guy, my soldiers stood to the side of me, and I bent down to tell him why I was doing what came next. For me, it wasn’t about the act of violence or even revenge. I liked to add an element of irony to my contribution. An eye for an eye, perhaps. Or maybe, I’d had so many games played on me in the past, I liked to see the tables turned in the most specular and fitting way.
“You left that couple alone,” I hissed at him. “That woman had to watch her husband die in front of her eyes and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to help him. All she could do was cry tears as he left her. Tears that she’ll never recover from. Tears you put there. So, I think it’s only fair you cry some tears of your own.”
I took the scalpel and began my work, carving into his left tear duct, pressing until I drew blood. Then slowly, I cut a jagged line down his cheek, making tears of blood flow down his face. Tears that would never fade, just like hers. Once I’d done the left side, I moved to the right. Will stood behind, holding his head in place as the mark tried to pull away, screaming out in pain at every slice I made.
“I always thought an eye for an eye was a fair trade,” I said over the noise of his howling. “And it will be your eyes next, but I’ll choose a different tool for that job. Something that’ll be slow and painful. Excruciatingly so.” He squealed and howled like the piece of shit he was, and I smiled in satisfaction. “I bet you’re starting to rethink your life choices now, aren’t you, mate?”
I stepped back once I was happy with the effect I’d created. Will stepped up next with his hunting knife, but when we heard something crashing outside one of the windows of the warehouse, he stopped, and we all turned around.
Sensing what we were all thinking, Adam jumped to attention first, barrelling for the door with his baseball bat raised and ready to attack. We followed him, running towards the door to catch whoever was out there, because whoever it was must’ve had a death wish if they dared to interrupt us when we were working.
When we got outside, we saw Adam standing there, frozen in place, and under his breath he cursed, “What the fuck?”
When I looked past him, I knew why. There, dressed all in black with a hood pulled low to hide her identity, was Leah May.
ChapterSixteen
DEVON
She didn’t move or try to run away. She just stood next to a pile of old milk crates scattered on the floor around her and stared at us, her eyes blinking, full of innocence and apprehension. I could sense that her fight or flight mode was engaging, and she was choosing to fight. Even though the raven was her spirit animal, she never chose flight, not from what I’d seen, anyway. My little raven was all about standing her ground in this life. It was another thing that I admired about her.
We pulled off our balaclavas, and her chest heaved as she took deep breaths. Her eyes remained stoic, strong, and determined, as she looked at each one of us in turn, until her eyes landed on me, and then they shone with something else entirely.
“What the fuck isshedoing here?” Adam snapped, pointing the bat at her.
