The Force of Terror

Chapter 36 (Emily) - The Bloodstains on My Dress

Mother said that we should circle around the estate and try to approach our flat from behind.

‘Harry says that, at the moment, this is the safest place for us to be, but a smart woman won’t just believe what she is told without verifying it with her own eyes.’

We started walking along the path which follows the security wall encircling the estate. I still don’t know if it was a smart thing to do. It quickly became apparent that mother had been right in suspecting that hostile forces were lying in ambush inside the estate, but they seemed to have anticipated the security measures we would take.

Two men were waiting in the shadows near the multi-storey car park entrance. They stopped hiding when we were deep inside the canyon between the security barrier and the car park. There was no one else nearby, so they set off after us without even trying to be discreet about it. We started walking faster and got out of the canyon and into a small clearing where mother had set up the firing range.

‘This looks like a good place to have some fun. What do you say, ladies?’

Mother took hold of my hand, and I felt her whole body tense. From the corner of my eye, I saw that the men were now less than ten feet away.

When the prey starts to run, the predator instinctively chases it and goes for the kill. Mother concentrated on slowing down her walking speed. Without looking back, we continued moving forwards.

‘Hey lady, I was talking to you.’

After the clearing, the walkway tunnels through a utility building that reaches all the way to the outer wall encircling the estate. The path slopes down sharply to give easy access to the cellar underneath. I saw the black mouth of the tunnel getting closer. Going there with the men in tow was not a good idea. Near the entrance, Mother stopped, took out her phone and pretended to check something.

The men stopped six feet away from us. Wannabe beardless street punks with leather jackets that had ten thousand piercings. The jackets claimed they were part of something called ‘The Avengers’.

‘Oh my, oh my. Just look at that packet. Wouldn’t mind sampling some.’

‘You have taken the wrong jackets, idiots,’ mother said.

‘So, she can speak. Why don’t you and your little friend come with us? We have a little place just around the corner and have an interesting umm… proposition for you both.’

Mother let go of my hand, crossed her arms and spread her legs to get her body ready for the first position. ‘You two are new in this, aren’t you?’

Harry appeared from the canyon and started ambling towards us. ‘What do we have in here,’ he shouted when he was still forty feet away.

‘This is a private party, Paps. Find your own.’

‘Harry English, at your service. And I have one thing to say: Do you feel lucky, punk?’

Both of the men laughed.

‘Or what, old man? What are you going to do?’

‘You got me wrong. I’m going to do absolutely nothing but enjoy and watch the show. But to be fair, I have to tell you that the first team sent for Claire had six members. Three of them ended up in the hospital. And Claire, was it twenty men you killed last night and the first three alone with your meat cleaver? If you still have it on you, it might be entertaining to see it in action. Oh, and Emily here killed a couple armed men earlier tonight with her bare hands. I think that’s all. With bodies flying all over the place, it’s hard to keep track. But sending just the two of you; Rebecca must really hate you. She even gave you the wrong jackets.’

The men looked at each other uncertainly.

‘Who did you say you were again?’

Harry was now standing twenty feet away from the men. ‘English. Harry English.’

‘Emily, go stand there with uncle Harry. This won’t take long.’

The men were standing directly between Harry and us. I smiled brightly at them as I walked past. They did not smile back but kept scratching their heads while looking at me and each other.

‘Okay. Enough of this. Grab—’

Harry had already started walking toward us. He pulled out a pistol, aimed at something behind my back and fired. I could feel the bullet flying past my head. My smile became wider as I drew in more gunpowder-scented night air. Without missing a step, I walked next to Harry and turned around. Harry placed his arm protectively over my shoulders. Both of the men stood frozen and gaped at us. Behind their back, mother was in the middle of her ‘Flame of Terror’ -exercise. Personally, I could think of a few things more terrifying. In a moment, she lifted up her head and opened her eyes. They shone, but not in a good way.

One of the men pulled a pistol. Harry shot another warning shot above their heads.

‘A, aa. That’s cheating. Besides, I’m pretty sure Rebecca ordered you to bring her in, not kill her.’

The men looked at each other again.
‘Let’s go. I said this cult is full of lunatics.’

‘You people wanted to have some fun,’ Harry said, ‘So, let’s have some fun!’

Mother moved as silently as an assassin. Her flying kick hit the back of the head of one of the would-be kidnappers before Harry had finished speaking. The other man watched with a stupefied expression on his face when his friend suddenly flew forwards and landed face down on the ground in front of Harry. The man didn’t have to stand there confused for long. While Harry started beating the first man senseless, Mother grabbed hold of the other one and threw him over her back. He landed on the asphalt with a sickening crunch. Mother jumped on top of him and started landing punches on him more rapidly than a GPMG. After the man became less responsive, she got up and started kicking him. The man withdrew into a foetal position. Harry’s victim had already done the same.

Robert had killed Alex and Jonas quickly and nicely. What I now witnessed was pure horror. It was like mother and Harry were no longer human but some demon-possessed monsters that had risen from the furthest depths of hell. I could almost smell the sulphur in the air. I would have started to scream, but I was rapidly running out of air. Not entirely overcome by his lust for blood, Harry noticed my distress.

‘Hey, Claire.’

Mother stopped tormenting the man on the ground long enough to throw me the keys to our flat. They were a little bloody, and I quickly wiped them with the hem of my dress.

‘Go home, Emily. I’ll come there soon with Harry.’

Still struggling to breathe, I nodded and started running away.

The first thing that came to my mind was, that thanks to mother, my dress now had bloodstains. That hardly seemed fair, as I had been freezing in my underwear when disposing of the bodies just to prevent that from happening.

The second thing that came to my mind was Charlie. It might have been two o'clock at night, but I didn’t want to be alone at home, imagining what mother and Harry were doing to those men. Not that they did not deserve it, but they were still people, just like us, and should be killed nicely.