Page 48 of Spider

Rage shrugs. “I was just out collecting.”

Ghost sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Show me.” Rage unravels the towel, revealing an eyeball. “Rage, that’s a fucking eyeball,” Ghost points out.

“I know. This guy has green eyes. I don’t have that colour yet,” Rage states with a smile playing on his lips.

“Well, I’m happy that you’ve completed your fucking collection, but what I’m more pissed about is the fact that you’ve just walked through a crowd of over one hundred people with a bloodied towel,” Ghost fumes, pacing back and forth.

I bite down on my bottom lip, fighting back my smile. “No one will look for him. He was part of a small gang out of town. He is wanted up and down the country. It will be no surprise that he ended up dead. Pissed off a lot of people,” Rage adds.

“Oh well, that’s alright then!” Ghost yells. “How do you know all this? Are you stalking your prey before you cut them up like a damn serial killer?” Ghost asks.

Hawk coughs back a laugh.

Rage frowns and pulls out his cell. “No, I have an app,” he says, turning it around and showing him. “It’s a bounty hunting app. It’s how I know how bad that person is and whether they will have a question about their deaths,” he points out. Ghost’s mouth opens and closes. “Anyway, I haven’t technically killed anyone. I’ve just harvested,” Rage defends.

It’s too much. I burst out laughing, and as I do, Hawk and Acid do the same.

“I’m glad you fuckers find it so amusing,” Ghost mutters. “Can you just not do your harvesting on our doorstep where all our DNA and witnesses have been?” Ghost asks.

Rage nods. “Sure thing, Pres. Anyway, that Rev didn’t know what to do with the body, so I helped him out. Chopped it up a bit so it’s easier to transport. In return, he said that I could keep the eye.” He shrugs.

“How you get laid is beyond me.” Hawk laughs. “Dixie know about this?” he asks.

“Yeah, you know she does. As long as I don’t do the killing, there isn’t a problem, as long as they stay in the basement. Shenever wants to see them,” he explains. Pausing, he looks to me and Acid. “You two friends again now?” he asks.

Both of our smiles instantly drop. “Not so much,” I answer.

“Why?” Rage presses. “You guys fuck different women all the time. What’s so different about you fucking Nova? It’s just sex.” Rage shrugs.

“I wouldn’t refer to Spider fucking Acid’s sister as just sex,” Hawk advises Rage.

Rage shrugs. “Well, it wasn’t like Spider hurt her. He protected her when it mattered. Acid should be grateful.”

“Just leave it, Rage,” Ghost sighs. “But the pair of you need to sort your shit. Rage has a point. Now either fucking make up, or fight until you do,” Ghost snaps.

I look at Acid and see his arms are crossed over his chest, the pissed off look on his face clearly showing he’s still not ready to forgive and move on. “You always were a stubborn fucker,” I tut, shaking my head purposefully to provoke him.

Acid shakes his head. “I know what you’re doing.”

I take a step towards him. “Do you? Tell me, what is it that I am doing?” I ask.

“You want me to fight you, to get it out of my system, but I won’t. I ain’t ready to forgive you yet,” Acid seethes.

“Well then, if you ain’t going to forgive me, then maybe I should go and see your sister. See if she’s ready for round two.” I wink and turn to walk away, knowing that would be enough to tip him over the edge.

“Motherfucker,” he growls, right before I feel his fist slam into the back of my head, making me stumble forward.

I smile and turn to face him, my fists braced. “Come on then, you want to have it out? Let’s fucking go,” I sneer.

Acid removes his cut and holds up his fists. “I beat your ass before, and I will happily do it again.” Acid smiles.

“I let you win last time. Now it’s fair fucking game,” I growl.

Acid moves first, taking a swing with his right fist. I swerve out of the way and counterpunch him with my left. He grunts, but counters it with his left, hitting my cheek. I stumble back a little but quickly right myself. Rearing my fist back, I slam it into his nose, hearing the cracking sound of his bones echo around the room. He doesn’t flinch. He just comes for me, landing a few punches. My beaten body had only just healed from the last time he gave me a kick-in. Each punch he landed felt 10 times more painful than the last, but I wasn’t about to back down. We were like for like, hit after hit.

After our years of growing up together, fighting together, we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Our knuckles were split, our bodies were bruised, Acid’s lip was split and bleeding, and I could feel the blood trickling down my face. Our white T-shirts were now covered in claret, and both of us were exhausted and swaying on our feet, too damn stubborn to back down.

Ghost eventually walks in between us, stopping the fight. “Enough. We need to go,” he orders.

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