Page 15 of Neon Pestilence
The word echoes through my brain. It’s final. A command. And I realize right then that I’m no longer the one in control here.
I drop my head down in defeat. The wool of his suit rubs my face as his scent invades my senses, the perfect blend of myrrh and lavender.
Maybe it’s not so bad here after all.
Chapter 14
Tommy
“Where could she have gone then?” Tini screeches at me. She’s pissed, of course she is. We were supposed to have that Indy girl already tied up and waiting for The Doctor. Now we can’t even find her ass.
“I don’t fucking know!” I say back, not letting her have this one. “Youwere supposed to be the one to bring her here.” I grind my teeth together, annoyed at her taking her anger out on me.
I glance around, the scene before us looking like a witch's offering. Candles sit there, cold and unused, waiting to be lit. In the center is a single chair. Ropes lay on the ground around it, ropes that were supposed to be holding her down. Keeping her here.
“This has turned into a fucking shitshow,” she mutters to herself. “Can’t we just find another girl?” She looks up at me, eyes wide. I shake my head.
“No, that’s not how it works. It has to be the one he’s already marked,” I sigh, losing hope. It’s already night three, and we haven’t even done what we came here for. Fucking ridiculous.
My fingers curl at my sides, fists shaking. “Fuck this,” I mutter, so low I’m not even sure the wind heard it.
The flashbacks keep coming, images of bloody bodies falling around me, and I’m taken right back to that night. Exactly one year ago.
“Tommy!” She mutters as she takes her last breath. The Doctor stands behind her, a vile sticking out from her throat, and a trail of blood flows from her mouth. She’s gurgling, the deep red liquid choking her.
“Becca, wh-what?” A tear falls from the corner of my eye. I’m so fucked up on acid, I don’t even know what’s real right now. There’s no fucking way this is real. Right?
I choke on a sob as my breathing becomes heavy, the world around me melting into a fucked up macabre of blood and music.
I rush toward the masked man. But, he’s so much quicker. Before I reach him, I feel his body behind me, arms wrapping around my chest like some fucked up hug. Becca’s dead bodylies in front of me. A lifeless form where so much love and laughter used to bleed from.
My girl. He took my fucking girl.
I reach for her, trying anything to escape his hold. It’s useless. I can feel my energy dropping, my will to live leaving me. My princess, my love. I feel something sharp hit my neck, like a thousand tiny needles digging their way into me. I sob harder, unable to even react in a way that makes sense. Then I hear it.
She was infected.
A voice fills my brain, low and hungry, like the voice you would hear on the other end of a phone call during a horror movie.
“So you fucking kill her!” I whisper-yell, the anger rushing through me in waves. And then I hear him chuckle.
That was the night my whole world shifted; everything I thought I knew did a complete one-eighty. He told me he could ‘make it better’. Said that if I came back this year and took care of the next infected, I could see her again.
“Are you going to say anything, or just stand there like a jackass?” Tini’s whiny voice brings me back to the present. “At this rate, you’re never gonna see Be–”
I fly at her, any logical thoughts I had? Gone. Replaced with nothing but pure, unadulterated hate.
Fuck Hallow Lands.
Fuck Tini.
And fuck the fucking Doctor.
I tackle her small body to the ground without an ounce of hesitation. This chick has been nothing but a thorn in my side since I lost Becca.
Everything is always abouther…herbest friend…hersadness…heranger. Now, she’s going to realize it was always aboutmyBecca.
I’m on top of her within seconds, my hand gripping her throat. She’s gagging, I’m assuming from the lack of oxygen, but I like her like that. Quiet for fucking once.
