by Rufus Offor
‘I don’t get it Jill, I just don’t get it!’
‘You will, but right now you have to trust me. You have to be patient. If you stand up to your brother today, all the time that we’ve spent together will be in vane. He’ll win. The destruction and anger that he sprouts will be proven, justified. Is that what you really want.’
Jill’s words came in warm, calm rivulets, washing over Ben like bubbles in a hot tub, soothing his aching chest. He hated that she was winning him over, the anger rose inside him again and he made one last ditch attempt at getting what he wanted.
‘You’ve never really known me have you!?’ His voice was low, sly and suspicious. He snatched his hand away, ‘you just want me to be another one of your damn minions, that’s all it is! You’ve fucking brain washed me, your trying to take away the one thing that I’ve always been meant to do, it’s my fate and you’re trying to kill it for me.’ He stood, his face red, finger stabbing in Jill’s direction accusingly, veins pulsing in his neck, the anger reaching it’s pinnacle and his voice became harse and rancid. ‘Who the fuck are you to be nannying ME!? I’m big enough and ugly enough to be making my own damn mistakes! I don’t need you! You’ve done NOTHING but hold me back. You’re fucking evil! EVIL! You’re nothing but a manipulator, a traitor to everything that you ever taught me! Fuck you Jill! Fuck you AND the horse you rode in on!’
Jill slapped him.
Shock pulsed through Ben’s body, electrocuting him. His central nervous system crashed, his muscles stiffened and he put his hand up to his face to feel where Jill’s hand had collided with him. His eyes went wide in disbelief.
‘Wh… what the… how… you actually… hit me!?’
‘Feels kinda groovy doesn’t it.’ Said Jill smiling contentedly.
The waves of absolute mind pummelling shock racked Ben’s brain and body, making his head spin and his body tingle. He had to admit it… it did feel kinda groovy.
‘Yeah… it does… sort of… but why did you..?’
‘You were turning a bit funny there for a minute Ben. Thought a short sharp shock might help.’
‘You bloody well hit me! Weren’t you Jesus at one point, what happened to turning the other cheek and all that?’
‘Well you could turn the other cheek if you like.’ Said Jill giggling a little. ‘Anyway, that was a misquote.’
‘What did you really say then?’
‘I don’t actually remember saying anything of the sort. I think when it actually happened I was talking about tickling. Me and some of the disciples were trying to see if we could make each other wet ourselves through tickling, one of the rules was that you weren’t allowed to fight off the ticklers. I think it came from then but I can’t be sure.’
‘You really know how to mess with my head you know that… shit!’ Ben’s shock started to subside a little and the reality of his rant poked it’s way into his head, ‘… I just called you evil didn’t I.’
‘Yeah, I thought that was pretty funny. But not as funny as…’ Jill put on a fake Clint Eastwood voice, ‘…the ”Fuck you and the horse you rode in on” line. That was brilliant! Absolutely priceless!’ She fought to hold back a laugh.
Ben shook his head a bit, he looked at Jill trying to suppress her laughter and let out a giggle.
They both started laughing. Mildly at first but it soon built up momentum. Inside of a minute they were both rolling around on the floor making joyfully pained high pitched squeaking noises and holding their stomachs, laugh cramps making them convulse.
‘oooohh… Christ on a bike!’ said Ben through a tightened giggle throat, ’what the hell was I thinking!? Seriously,’ he squeaked very un-seriously, ‘what the hell was my head doing?’
‘I slapped you!’ Jill’s voice was at the point where only dogs could hear her. ‘Right in the face!’
They broke up again.
Fifteen minutes later they managed to gain some composure and attempted to claw their way up from the floor by using various pieces of furniture. At one point Ben toppled a chair and fell on his arse causing another uncontrollable fit of giggles.
Eventually they calmed down. Realising that their tea had gone cold. Jill put the kettle on again.
‘Seriously though Jill, I’m really sorry, I don’t quite know what came over me.’
‘Oh it’s fairly straightforward, you said it all yourself. You feel responsible for your brother and you’ll not be happy until you’ve dealt with him. The thing is though, if you do deal with him, he’ll infect you. You’ll become a little more like him. The pain that he’s given you will grow and you’ll never be free of the bugger.’
‘I still have problems with leaving you here.’
‘It’s too late for that anyway, they’re almost here. You’ll have to stay, which might mess your head up a bit but you can’t lose your cool. That is very important Ben. YOU MUSTN’T LOSE YOUR COOL! I cannot emphasise that enough.’
‘How bad is it going to get exactly?’ Ben’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘Well, there’s no real way to be sure but you may have to witness me getting shot.’
‘WHAT?’
‘I said… you may well have to…’
‘I heard what you said! I can’t do that!’
‘Yes you can Ben! And you will! There are more important things going on here than you know about. It is very important that you keep your cool and don’t do anything silly while today’s events transpire. If you don’t, a lot of damage could be done. Besides. I may die today, but I’ll see you soon.’
‘But it won’t be the same!’
‘No, it won’t, but that’s the beauty of it. The change will help you.’
There was a loud crack of gunfire from off in the distance beyond the castle grounds, followed, a few minutes later, by a lot more.
‘We’ve run out of time, they got here sooner than I’d thought and it sounds like they’ve got company.’ Said Jill, ‘quick, get in the cupboard and don’t come out until everyone’s either gone or dead.’
‘But...’
‘Ben… do this thing for me okay. It’s important!’
Ben gave her a pained expression but nodded his head in agreement anyway. They hugged and Ben slouched off and crawled into a cupboard in the corner.
Shoop’s journey had not been an easy one. The resistance that he and the Independents came across was far more stringent than anything they’d encountered during their quest. It was as if the Sphere had cottoned on to what they were doing. It didn’t matter though as Shoop’s abilities had despatched with all of the confrontations without any need for his cronies. They were starting to feel a little redundant, watching him tear people to shreds with his bare hands without even breaking a sweat. In fact, when he fought, it was as if the act of combat calmed the raging torrent of his sixth sense for a time. After any confrontation he felt a little bit calmer and was almost his old self, but not for long.
His bones still rattled and the aggression inside him quickly picked up pace. It was everything he could do not to start randomly massacring strangers in the street. Keeping control took everything he had.
By the time he reached the Isle of Skye he hadn’t had a fight for far too long. His palms were sweaty, his bones hurt and his temper was borderline satanic. On top of that, the sixth sense seemed to be increasing massively the closer they got to their goal and by the time they rowed up to the tiny beach on the grounds of the castle he was a shivering wreck. Curled up in a ball, jaw clenched in crocodilic proportions and his body was a tight ball of agony. His mind was breaking. He was losing control and he wanted to let his rage fly more with every passing second.
The small row boat crunched onto the gravel beach, Jim and Komodo jumped out to pull it all the way onto the land but as soon as Komodo started to pull, Jim upped and bolted up the beach like lightening.
‘Where the hell are you going?’ Shouted Komodo after him, not quite understanding what he was playing at.
‘Hey!’ He shouted ag
ain.
‘What’s happening?’ Grunted Shoop through the cold sweats and clenched teeth.
‘It’s Jim… he just upped and buggered off!’ Said Komodo scratching his chin, ‘Like a stray dog from a kebab shop! Weird that!’
‘We’ll deal with him later,’ said Shoop, ‘right now I’ve got to get to the vessel before I explode.’
Shoop hauled himself out of the boat and scrambled up the beach, using all his mental powers not to fold up and die on the spot. It felt as if he would quite literally burst at any moment, the pressure inside him was at the point of going super nova and, seeing a group of squirrels frolicking around under a tree near by, shot at them at such speed that Komodo and Yan didn’t even see him go. Whatever was happening to him had given him incredible speed, strength and agility. He was a blur and he hit the squirrels before they knew what was happening and erupted in a cloud of fur and entrails.
‘JESUS!’ exclaimed Komodo.
‘Aaah,’ sighed Shoop as the squirrel remains floated down to earth, ‘that’s better!’ he slumped down onto the ground and started shaking with his equivalent of a smile on his face, which looked an awful lot like he was trying to pinch out a particularly uncooperative bowel movement.
Jim was quite some way away by then heading to a meeting point that he’d managed to arrange behind Shoop’s back. It hadn’t been easy keeping his intensions to himself but Shoop’s worsening condition had made things easier for him. The woman in the red dress poured her poison into his ears with expert tones, lulling him into the belief that he could change his life. He could make things right, he could escape his wicked life and spent endless nights brushing his cheeks on those incredible thighs, sighing with contentment with every passing second of bliss.
He flew through the underbrush, eyes wide, drooling at the prospect of seeing her again, his heart fluttering like a hamster having a heart attack.
She’d put him well and truly under her spell. He hadn’t even thought it odd when she asked him about the vessel that Shoop was hunting for. It hadn’t occurred to him that it was slightly suspicious that she needed him to tell her exactly where they were all going and that she would meat him there. Her work had been done so well that he had offered up all the information without the slightest hesitation or inkling that she might be setting him up.
In his rabid desire to get to her he stumbled through the brush, tripping occasionally with a madman’s eyes blurring his vision. He made it the main gates of the castle walls, headed through them over a road and into the Scot’s pine forest beyond.
She’d told him to go in a direct line from the gate, into the forest and he’d come across a clearing. She would meet him there.
He fumbled away, tripping, cutting his face on a branch. Blood trickled down his face but he didn’t feel a thing, his desire was all encompassing, he was blind with passion. He was finally going to see her again. For a brief moment he wondered if she looked good in anything other than the red dress and then called himself a fool for thinking it. He’d pictured her in a dozen outfits on his journeys. Every quiet moment had him talking to her inside his mind, sometimes in jeans, sometimes underwear, she even looked good in a damn boiler suit, he couldn’t quite figure out why he’d dreamt that one up though. The weirdest one was her dressed as Nancy Reagan, wig and everything and it still gave him a boner.
He ran and ran until finally, without warning, the forest broke open into a sunlit glade with a slight rise in the centre.
There she was.
Standing in a beam of sunlight. The forest haze curling round her in rivulets, like she was floating under water, the wind playing with her hair curling around her face and framing it with ethereal expertise.
He dropped to his knees in awe. The sight was too much for his legs to handle and tears of joy began to trickle down his face.
‘I found you.’ He whimpered. He thought that he could die happy right there, which was quite ironic because that’s exactly what was about to happen. Except for the happy part.
‘I found you!’ he was sobbing now.
She was wearing a black cat suit. He hadn’t seen that one coming but it didn’t matter as she was still fabulously striking.
He let his eyes drink her up for a moment.
‘Hello Jim.’ Her voice was warm treacle. He shuddered at the sound of it. Talking to her on the phone had taken away it’s full power but faced with it in all it’s glory, the poor bugger turned into a puddle of obedience and worship. From his knees he bend forward as if in praise.
‘Are they here?’
‘Yes my love, they’re making their way to the castle now but Mr Winkle isn’t in a very good way, somethings happening to him.’
‘What?’ her voice was orgasmically silken.
‘I don’t know, he’s falling to pieces. The closer we got to the vessel, the worse he got. He could barely move on the beach.’
‘That’s excellent news.’ She said.
Then something happened. Some other voice came out of her, a voice he thought he knew.
‘I’m really glad you could make it Jimbo!’ The voice was shrill, nasal, foul. It made his skin crawl. He couldn’t understand what was happening and his face contorted into at least 14 different kinds of “what the fuck?” face.
‘Aww, you look confused mate!’ The shrill voice again, ‘don’t you recognise old friends.’ It was an insult to all that was right and good in the world o hear this vision speak with such vile tones, vile tones he recognised… it was CAT!
His eyes widened in disbelief.
‘No… no! You can’t… but how the…!?’
Footsteps behind him, all around him, he was surrounded. It occurred to him then how stupid he’d been to run blindly into the forest, blinkers on and not check his surroundings. It was her. She’d blinded him with her words.
Men in dark suits appeared all around him out of the trees. He shook his head and smiled.
‘You’ve got better Cat. I have to say that new voice, that new face… you’ve improved your game a hundred fold.’
She went back to the silken voice, ‘Been a long time Jim.’
‘A long time since you destroyed my life!’ the confusion giving way to pure hatred. He felt like an absolute tool for falling for her whiles a second time.
‘You’re not still angry are you?’ She said in mock concern
‘Might say that!’ His voice naught but a grunt.
The Boss emerged behind her, ‘I’d like to thank you for helping us so willingly Jim, but I’m afraid you are going to have to die in a very slow and painful manner, you see, I can’t have people defying me willy nilly now can I. It’s starts to domino. So we’re going to have to take our time over you, you know, for example purposes.’ His voice was pure venomous glee.
‘How vomitously predictable!’ Said Jim and began to break down, sobbing and blubbing like a child. The Boss and his men didn’t quite know what to do with this. Jim was supposed to be this immensely hard killing machine, yet there he was, hands over face weeping like a smacked bairn.
Cat couldn’t quite figure it either. They all looked at each other in bemusement until, with stunning speed, Jim hurled a throwing knife into Cat’s neck and leapt at her, landing on top of her, grabbing the knife and twisting in inside her, tearing away at her neck muscles and scraping her jugular.
The Sphere agents could took a moment to recover from his weeping distraction but when they did, a volley of gun fire tore Jim to pieces, sending, flesh and shattered bone up into a cloud but not before he made one final twist of the knife, severing Cat’s artery.
Some of the men swore that the cloud of mashed gristle that Jim turned into had a smile in the middle of it.
Cat choked, gagged, wriggled, looked around for help but nobody gave it. She held her hand out to the Boss who just raised an eyebrow and said, ‘what goes around comes around dearie!’ And gave a slight smirk as she drifted off into hell.
‘What the fuck was that!’ said Komodo hea
ring the volley of gunfire in the distance.
‘We’ve got company!’ said Shoop, still shaking like George W Bush when he hasn’t got anyone telling him what to do but looking strangely excited at the prospect of conflict. Finally, his increasing lust for extreme and ludicrous violence was about to be realised. He could still feel the pull toward the vessel but the idea of a fight calmed him, made him feel a little more in control. He figured that the vessel would still be there when he’d finished and if he didn’t deal with the intruders now, then he’d have to when he came out. ‘Sod it!’ he thought, ‘violence it is!’
‘The Vessel can wait… we’ve got more important things to deal with. Komodo, head up that way, flank whoever comes through the main gate on the left, Yan head of to the right.’ The sneer that spread across Shoop’s face chilled both of them to their marrow, ‘I’m gonna meet them head on!’ Manic glee painted on his face as his voice, more gravel than human, croaked from his throat.
‘GO… NOW!’
They all ran of in their separate directions, Shoop with inhuman speed. In fact Komodo and Yan swore that they heard a pop as he broke the sound barrier.
The Boss and his men made their way out of the forest to the min gate, the Sphere all with their guns pointing in random directions, vigilant and on edge yet deadly. They had no idea what they were about to meet.
The Boss walked through the gate, looked down the path, nothing there, then a voice.
‘I’m afraid I can’t let you go any further.’
Shoop Winkle had appeared out of nowhere.
‘Jesus!’ said one of the Sphere agents, ‘Where the fuck did he come from!’
‘Shut up!’ The Boss spat back at him. ‘My dear Mr Winkle,’ his voice was black tar, ‘You’ve given me far more trouble than I would normally allow, why would you believe that me and my two hundred or so men will be doing anything other than tearing you to pieces until you tell what it is you’ve been up to this whole time.’