by Matthew Samm
“Remove his tongue,” Alix said flatly, feeling like this was one of those big decisions. She doubted it would make any difference anyway. Her father had been hand in hand with Mad Jack for years probably.
There was probably a detailed report somewhere that said exactly where Mad Jack and Hellcat would be at any time, but she couldn’t send him back without anything to show for it. He needed to be wounded by the encounter, to know that they meant business and they wouldn’t be pushed around by him. Would it raise the stakes? Probably, but the stakes were already too high. There was nothing left now but to see who survived.
Mad Jack smirked at her words. “You are a little savage, aren’t you, Alix?” He seemed impressed by her willingness to do the unthinkable. “She won’t kill him, but she’ll happily lop bits off.” He started applauding her.
Hellcat joined in, but then seemed to grow sad, her face falling in mock disappointment. “He’ll just draw them a picture then. He doesn’t need a tongue, does he?”
“Remove his hands,” Alix replied, although this time, the words stuck on the way out, exiting her mouth only with effort on her part.
This time, it was Hellcat who burst out laughing, jumping around and clapping her hands. “You’re all right, you are. You’re great fun!” When the laughter died down, Hellcat carried on. “You know, even if he had no tongue to speak and no hands to draw, he could still walk them to where we…”
“Enough!” Alix snapped; the authority surprising even her. “Enough, Hellcat. We have our plan.”
Hellcat didn’t shrink back like she did when Mad Jack spoke, but she did quieten down, retaining the sly smile across her lips.
“Is there anything left to discuss?” Alix asked.
“There is one thing, Alix,” muttered Mad Jack. “Who should we have do the chopping? Of course, I always happy to spill a drop of claret, but I wouldn’t want to deny you the honor.”
Alix felt queasy. Would she have to go through with it? Would she have to not just sign the order but carry out the deed? She realized that she would probably have to do it if she wanted them to respect her. She was in a different world now and the brutal acts had to accompany the brutal, if necessary, actions.
“I’ll do it,” piped up Isaac, all eyes turning to him. “I’ll do it,” he repeated.
“Agreed,” replied Alix, giving the order without thinking. She was relieved to be off the hook, but she hoped the others wouldn’t have noticed how eager she was.
Across the room, Mad Jack stared at her, unblinking. He knew.
24
They stood outside the cave. “I can hear you out there, Alix,” mocked her father. “The sooner you realize the mistake you’re making, the sooner we can clear this up.”
Alix felt queasy again. Her father had no idea what was about to happen to him. In the guardroom, a space at the end of the stone corridor leading to the cave cell, a fire blazed, the coals hot and white.
“Nearly ready,” said Mad Jack, poking the coals and sending a shower of embers into the air. Nestled in the flames was a cruel blade, curved downwards, designed for chopping lumps of meat from game. The blade was beginning to glow red and Alix knew Mad Jack was right. It wouldn’t be long before the heat permeated the entire blade, turning it into a tool for cauterizing as well as hacking.
Alix battled the nagging voice to cancel the action; to suggest they do something else, but she knew she couldn’t. Although the deed had not been carried out yet, the wheels had been set in motion, and Alix was perched atop a needles’ point. She had fashioned for herself some respect from the ragtag group of morally questionable rogues on the island.
The best way of shattering that earned respect was to go back on what she said; to allow her squeamish side to come into the light. Each time she wanted to cancel the plan, she’d fight it back down deep inside her where she knew the knowledge and questions would continue to gnaw and fester long after the deed was complete.
“It’s done,” said Mad Jack, shuffling the final few inches into the hottest part of the fire’s sun and twisting it slightly so all areas were fully engaged. “Are we ready for this?” he smirked, eyeing up Alix first and then casting his glance to Isaac. Alix looked away for a second. Isaac didn’t.
“I’m ready,” Isaac stated, his face fixed and hard, steeled for what he was going to do next.
“Good boy,” replied Mad Jack, clapping Isaac on the back and sending the young lad’s body jerking forward with the contact. “Remember, he’ll squirm and tell you all sorts of things to get you to change your mind. He won’t want it to happen, but he’ll know that it should, that’s why he’ll panic and give you all those delicious sounds we love to hear. He’ll know he deserves it, so he’ll know you’ll do it, and that’s what scares people like him. They never want their chickens home to roost. Go and tell him what you think of him.”
He withdrew the blade from the fire and held it up to the room, the glow casting shadows about the gathered faces and making each of them look like creatures from nightmare.
Isaac took the blade and held it close to his face, examining the heat and the burning, and Alix could see that his hatred burned as hot as the steel. Alix had hoped that perhaps Isaac would chicken out, that he wouldn’t do the thing she wanted him to, but looking at his face, she could see the truth. He wouldn’t falter. He wouldn’t hesitate. He’d bring that blade down on their father and savor every second of it.
She managed to keep her face firm as she stepped backwards, allowing Isaac to walk past her. “Jack, go with him,” she said, hating herself partly for saying it. “He’ll need you to hold our father down while he does it.”
“You don’t want to do that, Alix?” Mad Jack said, savoring the uneasiness he saw in her face.
“No. As you said, some things have to be done, but I’m not going to enjoy this. Besides, he’s scared of you.”
“He should be,” said Mad Jack absently, his eyes turned to fix on Isaac’s back and the cave cell beyond.
The door opened. Alix heard her father from inside.
“It’s you, Isaac,” her father said, showing no signs of fear. “You want to say something about the hovercraft? How is your neck?”
Isaac didn’t say a word, merely holding up the glowing blade.
Alix peered around Mad Jack’s body, seeing her father’s face; his reaction to the steel. She saw confusion. She saw disdain. He didn’t think Isaac would use it. He thought it was merely theatrics designed to scare him. He was so certain of his own standing and power that he thought, even here, on Strangeways, that he was untouchable.
Then Lucien saw Mad Jack, and there was a change in his face. The fear folded his features and his shoulders slumped.
“Evening, Lucien,” whispered Mad Jack.
There came no reply from her father and when the door closed, Alix didn’t see what was happening within. She knew it had begun when the pleading started. She knew it was in process when the screaming started. That was when she left the cave.
Alix didn’t keep track of how long she was outside. It felt like hours, but it couldn’t have been. In the distance, Alix saw the moonlight filtering down through wispy clouds and shining on the moat, the stretch of water separating the mainland from Strangeways. It was their own prison door; a natural barrier that kept the mainlanders safe from them.
She clutched her chest involuntarily. She was no longer a mainlander. She no longer belonged to New Manchester. She’d thrown it all away for a half-brother and to stop her father. Should she just kill him? Maybe it would be easier. The pain inside from her loss ached. Maybe it would be better to stop him with utter finality. Allow the police to storm Strangeways and kill everyone here; to end all of it.
She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, allowing the crisp air to chill her lungs and breathing out the vapors. She imagined her self-doubt entering the breath and the visible steam flowing from her mouth and nostrils signified the doubt exiting her body. It was a powerful visual for her and soon, she began
to reclaim some of her self-belief. She arrested the depressive spiral she foresaw.
Next, to her, the cave cell door opened and out strode Mad Jack, wiping his hands on a rag he’d found from somewhere inside. “Thoroughly enjoyable, Alix. He’s a lot quieter now. Not quite harmless, but a lot less threatening.” He spoke ‘harmless’ in a faux London accent, the word coming out as ‘armless’. He chuckled at his joke but stopped when he saw Alix wasn’t joining in.
She was still different. She wasn’t one of them yet, and for a moment, he’d forgotten that. “Dom has patched him up. He’ll be out in a few minutes and then you can have a word with him. Wouldn’t expect much back though.” With that, Mad Jack began walking down the hill, back to the compound. Alix heard his whistle on the breeze as if he was going for a morning stroll.
The others began filing out. First Dom, who carried an old briefcase style bag. A flag of bandage stuck out from the sides.
Next came Isaac, who didn’t even look at Alix as he walked past. He wasn’t whistling and Alix could see there was less enjoyment in his face than there had been on Mad Jack’s. He wasn’t like them either, but she could tell that with enough practice, he could be.
After Isaac, came her father, his face in shock, his eyes staring vacantly at her, giving away the traumatic effects taking place behind his eyes. A waterfall of dried blood had stained his lower lips and chin, but there wasn’t too much.
The cauterizing effects of the heated blade had done their job. His hands were wrapped in bandages and a betrayal of dark, red spots seeped through the stub ends. Again, there wasn’t much, but it was a clear giveaway that the hands had been taken by force.
Hellcat came last, her face grim. She held Alix’s father under one arm, shuffling his confused body forwards.
Alix felt a revulsion of her being so close to her father. It sickened her almost as much as the deed itself. It symbolized crime winning to Alix, and all of her training told her it was wrong. Alix needed a minute to remember the goals of why they did it. It was another test for her. She forced herself to put the emotion aside and ignore the fact Hellcat carried him. It had to be done, and just because Alix couldn’t stomach the person holding him now, the goals didn’t change.
Hellcat marched Lucien past Alix and they travelled down the hill away from the cave and back to the compound.
As they neared, Alix peeled off and headed to another holding cell. It was merely a store cupboard, but there was a locking mechanism and they’d stashed the pilot in there. She opened the door and flung it open. Her emotions were raw. “Up,” she growled, her tone expecting compliance.
He stood.
She waved him forward. “Follow me.”
He did so. Alix didn’t fear him. He wasn’t a threat. Even if he tried to attack her from behind, she knew she’d destroy him in combat, even if he managed a sucker punch and even if she wasn’t wound up so tightly she could snap. She hoped he didn’t decide to try his arm, but she hoped he didn’t for his sake more than for hers.
The pilot followed her instructions without hesitation. She led him to the hovercraft. “Start it up,” she ordered him. “I’m going to bring out my father. You’re to take him back to New Manchester and make sure he gets to a hospital. Do you understand?”
The pilot nodded.
Alix knew he would not now be tempted to fly off prematurely. He would wait for his boss. He would do exactly as she asked. “Good,” she said, pointing to the cockpit.
He scuttled away, his training taking over as she watched him perform his automated pre-flight checks.
Alix headed towards the compound, throwing the doors open and striding in.
Hellcat had only just arrived, and her father was continuing to look around as his brain fought to comprehend the horrors he’d just been through.
Alix strode towards him, not breaking stride. She grabbed her father by the arm, spinning him around and in the same movement pushing Hellcat backwards.
Hellcat moved backwards, losing her grip from Lucien’s arms and giving Alix a venomous look as she did so. She didn’t like being pushed. She didn’t like not being the queen of the island anymore. Alix knew she’d have to deal with her one day, but not today.
Alix looked at her father in the eyes, her face close, her hands gripping his chin as she moved his head in front of her. When her fingers touched his skin, she felt a revulsion in herself. The man she’d grown up with, suffering what he had, even if he deserved it, made her feel sick. She slapped his face lightly, making him focus. “Dad,” she said. “Dad, can you hear me? Focus.”
His eyes gradually came together and started to fuse onto a target; her face. They seemed to well with tears at what had happened. He made a few grunting sounds, possibly trying to speak, but gave up as he realized he couldn’t now make any comprehensive sounds.
Alix recognized she had his attention. She recognized he was seeing her. “You’re going home. You’re going to the hospital. They’ll get you checked out.”
He nodded at her.
She took him by the arm and led him out to the hovercraft, while the others stood back and watched them go. As she exited the compound building with him, she felt the rush of the hovercraft engines, the air swirling around the open space.
When they reached the craft, Alix spun him around and pushed him against the hull. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to him. “You’re not my father anymore.” She felt tears threaten to well in her own eyes. “Make up whatever story you want, but don’t come back. Don’t make an issue out of this, father. You had my mother killed. You had Alice killed. You were going to kill Isaac. What’s happened to you is the least of what you deserve.”
He glared back at her, the hatred strong in his eyes and shutting off his physical pain momentarily.
Unspoken words flowed between them. He would not let it go. He would not be content with making up a story, feeding it to the people and writing his future for the Wardens. He’d come back. He’d make sure they all died. He needed his total victory, and, at that moment, Alix read it all clearly.
Likewise, her unspoken words flowed back. ‘You deserve far worse than this, but you’re my father,’ they said. It was the reason he was being released. Despite all the plans and the self-preservation, for Alix, he was being released because he was her father and she couldn’t kill him. One day it might come to that, but not today.
Alix nodded gently, a telepathic conclusion drawing between them. She turned him around and helped him into the hovercraft. His eyes never left hers as she drew his belts across his chest and fastened him safely into the plush seat.
Afterwards, she exited the vehicle and stood at the side, the door open to the elements, the engines whipping Alix’s hair across her face and around her head like Medusa’s. They gazed at each other as the hovercraft left the ground. She watched it fly away and embraced the growing silence as the engines quietened.
She felt Isaac’s presence behind her. “You alright, sis?” he asked.
She said nothing for a moment, not turning to look at him, merely watching the craft edge ever closer to the horizon and beyond her field of vision. Eventually, she turned to look at her half-brother. “No,” she said. “I don’t know what to do now. Everything’s changed.”
He brought her into his arms and gave her a close, brotherly hug. “Thank you,” he whispered.
She stiffened at first, knowing what Isaac had just done, but at his words, she folded into him, allowing the pressure to float away for a few moments. “He’ll be back, you know. I don’t know when, but you’re not safe yet. None of us are.”
She felt him nod in agreement. “True but look at us. We’ve never been safe. We’re as safe as mom and Alice.”
Those words crystallized her resolve. Her father had tried to kill all of them. He’d done it because he felt invincible. He’d done it to advance his position of power. He was evil. “You’re right, Isaac.” She continued to hold him, before finally pulling away and turning to face the
same way, holding his hand.
As the sun began to climb into the sky, Alix took stock. She’d beaten Mad Jack. She’d saved her brother. Despite how she felt inside, she had achieved what she’d set out to achieve and even though she was nestled on Strangeways, an island populated by criminals, she knew she was on the side of justice. She’d done the right thing.
“Well, Isaac, if nothing else, he’s lost his family. I know, somewhere inside, that’ll eat away at him. It’s nothing less than he deserves.”
“You’re right, sis. You’re right. Come on. Let’s go eat. I know Jack has a deer ready for cooking.”
She smiled. “Deer for breakfast. Not the strangest thing that’s happened to me today.”
They both smiled and with their arms around each other, turned towards the compound.
The war was coming, but they had won round one.
REMINDER: If you have a moment…
Thanks for picking up a copy of ‘Strangeways’. It took many hours to bring it into existence and I’ve loved every moment.
I would heartily appreciate if you could leave an honest review once you’ve read.
If you enjoyed the story, great! Your review will help others enjoy it also.
If you didn’t enjoy the story, sorry, but I should know where I need to improve.
Thanks for being a part of this journey.
Cheers
Matt
Also by Matthew Samm
Novellas
Sand Dweller
Canal Dweller
free from www.matthewsamm.com