A Case of Fury

Chapter 19

Fury whirled on Case in shock, his hands falling off the railing. "You erased his memories!?"

Bright sunlight lit up the street below, bringing into focus all its cracks and filth. It was windy as ever on the rooftop, the wooden board going tap-tap against the metal bars in regular intervals. Case sucked on a candy he'd bought earlier. "That's exactly what I did."

The expression on Fury's face could only be described as horror. "You did what?"

"Have you gone deaf or what?"

Fury collapsed to the weathered roof, leaning back against the railing. "And after all that effort too?"

"What effort?"

Fury's despair lasted only a moment. The next second he was up on his feet, shaking Case by his shoulders hard enough to displace something in his body. "WHY? why did you do that? Who gave you the right to do that? How much did you erase?"

"Just his suspicions about us, and everything that lead to it," said Case, trying to unclasp the hands on his shoulders. Fury had a death grip; he couldn't even lift a finger.

"WHY?" Anger was laced in Fury's voice. His arms began trembling, and Case's own body shook from the passing tremors. Once more he was amazed and terrified by the infinite void of Fury's anger, a stretching expanse of blackness with no beginning or end in sight. Fury's fingers drilled into Case's shoulder, trying to hurt him. Fury's strength was pushing him to his knees and it took Case all of his own strength just to stand upright.

"Why? Why? Why? Why would you do that? Why would you do that without telling me," Fury was asking. Nothing could sate his anger. It was simmering and mounting like a tsunami of night. "Why would you do that when he was so close to the truth?"

The strain in Case's body was no joke. Fury's strength was inhuman, whether he realised it or not. He thought Fury could even crush his shoulders with just his fingers. Case let out a pained breath through his mouth, spitting out the candy. "You are hurting me."

"And are you about to cry? Are you about to call for your mother?"

"The contract forbids you from hurting me."

The fingers let up. It was unimaginable how often he had to remind Fury of the pact. Wasn't the pact supposed to be binding? Something Fury cannot disobey no matter what?

"Didn't realise grabbing your shoulder could hurt you," said Fury nonchalantly. "Sometimes I forget how fragile humans are."

Good. So he was probably not trying to defy their contract.

Case shook off Fury's hands and he let him. "If you are finished expressing your thoughts on the matter, you may leave."

"Oh, but I'm not!" said Fury gleefully. The next second he caught Case by his neck and swept him off his feet, just like he did on the night they met. Fury dangled him over the railing, holding him up by one hand. Case's vision swam. His feet were searching for purchase several stories up in the air.

Fury hadn't completely cut off his airway, putting most of the tension from his weight on his lower jaw. Case took in a rasping breath, scared of how far the drop was. "What are y-you doing? I just said you can't harm me."

"I'm not harming you," said Fury with simple honesty. "Is it hurting anywhere?"

With both his hands, Case held onto Fury's assaulting arm for dear life. His shoes were kicking in the air, trying to reach the railing, but Fury had lifted him too high up.

"Now, listen to me, I've become something very close to a human, so I can't hold you up forever," explained Fury. "So let's do it quickly."

"What do you want?" asked Case shortly. His neck was beginning to suffer from the drag of gravity.