AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That’s right, Vincent’s test. A test to see if I’ll end the guy’s life. If I don’t, he’ll assume the Rippers left the threat. If I do, it goes someway to proving we didn’t. “Last chance, otherwise I’lllet the butcher here cut you open with aspoon.” I emphasise the last word with a nod in the butcher’s direction. “At least my way, you’ll never see it coming.”
He drools some more, and because my patience with this whole situation is starting to wear thin, I twist the clamp, stretching the muscle further out from his mouth.
He squeals like a pig giving birth, then with eyes soaked from his silent tears, he nods his head, submitting.
Releasing the clamp, his limp tongue swings by his chin. “That looks painful,” I say, dipping my head towards him.
I hear Travis huff under his breath.
The man grumbles, and I just catch the word ‘unknown’. “What’s unknown?” I ask, leaning forward as if that will enable me to hear him better.
He mumbles again, lapping his tongue in and out past his presumably numb lips. “We don’t know who…”
His body sags, exhausted. “You don’t know who, what?”
He sucks in spit, his head hanging low. “We're… given instructions, then… released,” he says.
Released?From where?
When he doesn’t say anymore, I let out a huff then scrunch my fingers in his hair, yanking his head back to look at me. His eyes are closed, but his throat wobbles underneath a tattoo of a clock with no hands. He’s served time inside. Is that where he was released from? “Who gives you instructions?”
He lets out a sob when I let him go. “Please, don’t kill...” he doesn’t finish his sentence.
Fuck’s sake. “Do they know Rippers are working with Sodom Saviours?” I ask it matter-of-factly, but the fact of the matter is, this guy isn’t going to speak anymore.
He has an ear missing and various openings across his arms and torso, courtesy of the butcher. His head is flopped to his chest. He’s already given up.
I wait but he doesn’t respond. “Fine.” Turning back to the table, I spot Travis shift in his seat. I don’t look at him this time. It’s been a while since I did this, but I know what I have to do. And so does he.
Grabbing the smallest knife, I place the clamp on the table, then turn and walk back to the man. I lift his chin with my left hand, placing my right one behind his neck.
When his eyes finally meet mine, I quickly pull my right hand towards me, nicking the carotid artery on the left side of his neck.
His body convulses before he even registers what I’ve done, the blood supply to his brain quickly spurting from him.
“I hope it was worth it,” I whisper.
His body then slumps over a blood puddle.
I turn around and spot Vincent stood at the entrance to the barn. “Nice of you finally join us,” I say, wiping the hanging man’s blood from my hand onto his shirt, the sound of his blood still slapping the ground behind me.
“I was enjoying the show,” he says, confirming what I knew already. He’d been watching the entire thing waiting to see how I handled it. “But you’re right, now that I’m here, let’s talk.” He turns, directing Travis and I through the entrance.
We follow him and come to a stop by our bikes out front. “Did I pass?” I ask, lighting a smoke as I look back inside the barn seeing the butcher unhook the man I just killed.
Travis holds out his hand for my smokes.
I place them in his palm.
Vincent lets out a mocking laugh. “On this occasion, yes,” he says rubbing the back of his neck. I’m guessing he’s surprised I did it.
“On this occasion?” I question. He doesn’t answer. “Vince, let me be really fucking clear for a minute.” I pause drawing from my smoke, blowing it up in the air. “Rippers didn’t send thatpackage. You have no reason to test us.”
He shrugs his shoulders as Travis perches on the seat of his bike. “Like it or not, I needed to make sure you weren’t double crossing me.”
I balk. “Double crossing you? We’re about to go into business with you.”
“Business you don’t want,” he quickly replies. When he sees I’m not going to respond, he slightly lowers his head as he continues. “We knew he was the one who left the threat.”
