Page 18 of Deadmen's Queen

“And the key?” I asked.

Alan shook his head. “I swear, I never gave it to him. It was on my belt the entire time. Never went missing. That’s not on me.”

“Really?” I scoffed, leaning back and crossing my arms over my chest. He squirmed uncomfortably. “If you’re lying…”

“I'm not!” Alan blurted out quickly, almost desperately. “I've told you everything I know!”

“Let's hope for your sake that it's enough,” Bast snapped. He stood up and walked over to us, leaning down so he could look Alan in the eyes. “Your job was to keep watch over those students, but instead you let a dangerous man terrorise my girl for weeks. You didn’t ask questions, you didn’t raise any alarm, and you sold off her safety for fifty quid a time. I’m not happy, Alan. And neither is my friend.”

Alan’s eyes flicked to me, and I smiled coldly. He swallowed and looked back at Bast, murmuring something I didn’t catch. Bast laughed and straightened up. He looked over at me.

“He said, he’s sorry.”

“Did he?”

“I don’t think he is sorry enough,” Bast said, stepping back. Alan’s eyes grew even wider.

“No, I am! I’m-”

“I’m going to call an ambulance, Alan. They’ll be able to deal with those stab wounds in your legs and all your other injuries. But if I ever find out you’ve done something like this again, or if I find out you’ve lied to us, next time, I won’t need to call the ambulance. I’ll just call the morgue.”

Bast nodded at me and walked out of the kitchen. I walked around Alan who was watching Bast walk away.

“What other injuries?” he shouted after Bast. “What other injuries?”

I twirled the knife around my fingers and grinned under my mask.

“Let's find out, shall we?” I lunged forward and buried the knife into his shoulder. Alan screamed, a raw, guttural sound that echoed through our tight space. I pulled the blade back, blood following the groove of the steel as it left his wound. “That's one,” I said simply.

“No, enough! Please!” He begged, his voice hoarse. I chuckled dryly, finding some twisted satisfaction in his desperation.

“You put my girl in danger, Alan. Do you really think that’s enough for what you did?”

“Your girl? But I thought she was his?”

“She belongs to us both.”

“That’s fucked up- fuck!” I sank the knife into his other shoulder.

I watched as Alan’s body jerked in response, a strangled cry catching in his throat. I twisted the knife, leaning in to whisper, “Who's fucked up now?”

He whimpered, blood gushing from his fresh wound and pooling on the tile floor underneath him. His face had turned a sickly pale colour and sweat was pouring down his head. His eyes met mine and I could see the fear in them. Good. He should fear us. No one fucked with what was ours.

Bast appeared in the doorway, gloves on and Alan’s phone at his ear. “Yes, ambulance please.”

Alan opened his mouth to yell, but I stepped around him and clamped my hand down over his mouth and nose. He went rigid, then tried to shake me off, but I pulled him back against my stomach, holding him there. I dragged the knife down his chest, slicing through the thin shirt and drawing blood. He squealed in my hand, which was rather stupid, because it meant exhaling air when he couldn’t technically breathe any back in. Bast continued speaking.

“Yes, I think someone’s being attacked in a house on Ridgeway Street. Number thirty five. I can hear screaming. No, I’d rather not give my name, it can be dangerous in this area. Please hurry.”

He hung up, and I released Alan who gasped for breath.

“Let's clear out,” he said simply, and I nodded in agreement. We had to get away before the authorities arrived.

Alan sighed in relief, then screamed again as I sank the knife into his side, before kicking him over. He crashed to the ground on his side, still bound, weeping as his blood pooled slowly next to him.

I crouched down and ran my fingers over the knife handle protruding from his side.

“I wouldn’t move about too much Alan, and it would be a bad idea to pull the knife out before the ambulance gets here. We wouldn’t want you to bleed to death before they arrive now, would we?”

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