Page 92 of Inbetweeners
“Don’t forget you’re rolling it backwards,” Phoenix said. “Don’t throw it at me, no matter how tempting.”
Emmett glowered and tossed the ball between his legs. He turned to see it trundling down the centre of the lane.Oh, that looks…okay.
Phoenix came up at his side. “Looking good.”
Emmett stood in stunned shock as the ball hit smack into the centre of the pins and they toppled. All of them.
“I did it!”
He threw his arms around Phoenix and hugged him. And Phoenix hugged him back.
“Well done. We can go now. I was going to make you keep playing until you managed to do that.”
Phoenix held his hand all the way back to the bike. Was being crap at bowling all that was needed to make the guy like him?
“You had any messages?” Phoenix asked.
Emmett checked his phone. “No.”
“Nor me.”
“We haven’t given much thought as to how we’re going to tackle Greyson and the woman.”
Phoenix handed him a helmet. “Tricky when we don’t know what they are.”
“Do you think we’re supposed to stop him or…kill him? Them?”
They set off on the bike. “No idea. But he’s not interested in talking, is he? He’s a murderer. Just asking him to stop isn’t going to work.”
“Could you kill him?”
Phoenix took a long time to answer that question. “If he’s a demon, can he be killed? I don’t know of a way. If he’s…one of the other species Tar mentioned, vampire or werewolf or something else, I don’t know how to kill them either, other than what I’ve read in books or seen in films. And are we judge, jury and executioners? We weren’t told that was the case so I don’t think we are.”
“We could restrain him and call Tar. If he’s human, ropes will work. Or cable ties. Maybe they work on demons too. But if he comes at us with a knife? How do we defend ourselves? We weren’t given any weapons, but it doesn’t feel fair that he can just kill us.”
“I think we should watch the house tomorrow and see if either of them comes out. We could speak to the neighbours to see if they know them.”
“What do we do if he’s already out killing someone and we get a message from Tar?” Emmett said.
“Then we can go in the house because we know at least one of them isn’t there. We have a better chance against the woman. Plus, we’ve not been in time to save anyone yet so…”
“I don’t want…”
“Don’t want what?” Phoenix asked.
“I don’t want this to be over.”
Emmett held his breath while he waited for Phoenix to respond, then gave up and exhaled.
The moment Emmett pushed open the door, he could smell something cooking. When he and Phoenix walked into the main room, the light was low and the table had been laid. Cat reclined on the back of the couch, and Rashid and Harry were busy in the kitchen.
“You’re back!” Harry said.
“What have you been doing?” Phoenix asked. “And how?”
“I can do more and more,” Harry said. “Rashid can handle things too now. Though not outside the flat. We tried to take the rubbish out, but neither of us could. We’ve made you a meal as a thank you.”
“Thank you for what?” Phoenix asked.
