Page 11 of Hunt Me
I wink.
Typical, he heard a squealing idiot and assumed it was me.
Fucking men.
‘Oh, I’m sorry. Did I ruin your knight in shining armour look?’ I ask, beginning to get pissed off. ‘I can always go find somemore of these…’ I wave my bat at the body wailing and clutching his balls, ‘I’m sure there’s way more down here for you to save me from.’ I bat my eyelashes, twirling my bat.
Whatever look of surprise was on his face a minute ago has been replaced by a dark look in his eyes as he begins walking forward to wipe the blood from his weapons on the sniffling man, who is still crying and clutching his balls.
‘So she can use that thing,’ nodding to my bat. ‘Noted.’
‘You really think I’d be walking around alone this many years later not knowing how to use a weapon?’ I ask both intrigued and annoyed that he assumes so little of me.
‘Wouldn’t be the first,’ I catch him muttering.
I’m the one to scoff now. ‘You’re an ignorant fuck, you know that.’
I turn my back on him, stepping around the corner of my dry tunnel to escape him. My temper rising as I can’t help but let his assumptions get to me.
In an attempt to distract my rising anger, I return to the flickering light that caught my eye before. In getting closer, I can now see a hole halfway up the wall with bricks littering the floor around it.
I breathe deeply filling my lungs with the fresh breeze.
‘A way out,’ speaks the rough voice of the Skull.
I sigh. What a bright one he is.
He strides past me, crouching beneath the opening, cupping his hands, ‘let’s go then little deer.’
I cross my arms. There is no chance I’m going anywhere with this nut job. And there is absolutely no way in hell I am letting himhelpme.
‘Did I or did I not just see you smash up a guy's balls there? With the same weapon you are still swinging about in that pissed off fist of yours?’ He nods to my bat.
‘What’s your point?’ I snap.
‘Well it’s not like you’re some defenceless princess that needs a knight in shining armour right?’ He air quotes and I don’t miss the way he is throwing my earlier statement back at me.
Any protests I have are cut short by the sound of distant splashing.
I assess my current options — There’s one Skull who allegedly is an unhinged murderer, yet seemingly does not want to immediately off me. Or who knows how many twisted sewage dwellers charging towards us. Really there’s no choice unless I want to embrace death.
I sheath my bat and the Skull makes a noise, sounding satisfied with himself.
I remind myself that I can hit him with my bat when we are outside of the tunnel.
My steps are fast as they run towards the crumbling wall, and he braces, cupping his hand out below him, but I ignore it. My boots hit brick as I kick off the wall and stretch up, catching the sharp, jagged edge of the opening. I pull, hauling myself up, and kick up a leg, hooking it onto the flat surface and using my strength to make it through the opening before rolling over onto my side.
Two calloused hands land on the brick, and the same plain skull mask comes into view from the tunnels' dark shadows. He shifts through the opening and crouches next to me, leaning forward.
A feeling of familiarity washes over me, and I get lost in it. But just as quickly as it came, it disappears as a hand comes into my eyesight, snapping me out of my wandering thoughts.
‘Let’s get cleaned up,’ he says as he holds a hand to help me to my feet. And I can’t help but notice how gentler his grip is now compared to before.
Chapter Six
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Ruaridh
