Pumpking

Issue 11

"No! Don't you little shits go anywhere near my handbag—fucking melons never listen..." I sighed and grabbed the watermelon before it could march off. Melons were bloodthirsty. Pumpkins were good soldiers, squash were nasty little snipers, but melons were like highlander warriors; hungry to kill. I don't know why. And if left alone, the melon would cajole the pumpkins into a wave of destruction and violence.

I rammed my hand through the eyes and into the brain, tearing it out as the watermelon screamed in agony. It dropped to the ground; juices and seeds leaking from its ruined face. The pumpkins waddled back, "The next pumpkin to question me is going to be in tonight's soup. Get back into the kitchen."

I shook out my watermelon splattered arm and they finally obeyed. If I left the lobby they would probably revert back to normal vegetables.

My legs chose that moment to turn to jelly again. The sudden wave of energy flowing over me; adrenaline thundering through me. I fell and Whisper caught me lightly, melon juice splattering over his shirt as he did.
The effort of controlling my symbiote was getting too much. I wasn't calm, I was freaking out. I struggled to pull it back in, terrified that it would make matters worse.

"C'mon, let's get you outside to some air," He swept me up like I weighed nothing. Super-strength. That explained why his shirt was ruined but he wasn't even vaguely scratched.

He carried me to the car-park, setting me down lightly on the hood of a black jaguar. I gasped in air and felt light headed. He took my face in his hands and murmured something a few times before it sunk in, "Breathe slowly. Control your breathing."

I settled. Listening to my own heartbeat. Holy crap. The lobby had just exploded. "That man in the wrong clothing."

"Hmm?"

"There was a man in a heavy coat. You don't wear a coat like that in the middle of spring. And his shoes were old. I remember thinking he didn't belong—he exploded."

"You didn't see that."

"No. No... but I'm right aren't I?"

"You have good eyes," He stood back and I realized that we had been talking in a very small, intimate manner. His hands dropped from my face. For a moment he looked like he was going to say something else and then with an annoyed growl he touched his ear, "Shut up, I'm fine."

I blinked. His whole demeanour shifted. This was the second time I saw it. He went from something calm and concerned to unrefined, deadly. His movements became liquid. Like he was a snake inside a human skin.

"Yes, containment is the top priority. I want the techs on the scene before dawn. Find any plasmoid remains you can," He paused, listening to something, "Is he coming down then? No... I have more important things to do. He can handle the press. Isn't that what he enjoys?"

I pulled my knees to my chest, staring at the hotel lobby; people were already rushing around; trying to do... something. I should at least get back in there and try and help join the rescue efforts.

I shifted, moving to stand but Whisper caught my arm and held me back, shaking his head, "I haven't postulated yet. No. no, I need more data. Every stupid question you ask me delays my solving this case." He pulled out a small earbud and crushed it between two fingers like it was a bug.

"I should go and help them clean up."

"Don't be absurd."

"What?"

"You're in shock. You should lie down. Sleep. All this stress is going to give you premature ageing."

"Wait," I said.

It was too late; he hooked an arm around my waist and hoisted me over a shoulder. Like I was a sack of potatoes.

"I can walk!"

"Consider this forcible witness protection, then. Or perhaps advanced interrogation techniques?" He sounded like he wasn't quite sure yet.

"Put me down."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because if I put you down you're going to run off again and try to ignore all of this. And it is more than clear now that someone is targeting either you or someone you had in common with Tony Macgreggor. And while, yes, I will learn a great deal more about the murderer if he manages to take you into the great beyond; I will learn more with you still alive. But by all means, run back to that security mess the hotel is about to become, let yourself be spotted and killed. You might as well make the killer happy since you insist on your own misery and inconveniencing me."

He set me down then, imperiously.

I glared up at him, "Do you have any idea what an arrogant prick you are?"