His Angel

Chapter Five

"You have a name, don't you?" his voice was deep and irritable, but rather calm. Her eyes lifted just slightly, now staring at the edges of dark hair that hung an inch or two from his shoulders. Her lack of answer seemed to annoy him further, she could sense it in the air between them. She was in a state of shock, so frozen by fear that responding to him hadn't even crossed her stagnant mind. There was a rusted skull covered in vines of blood and green, it was across his inner arm, more visible to her as he suddenly leaned forward in the creaky chair, pressing his elbows against his knees, holding his gaze tight on the small frame tuckered against the facing wall. He witnessed how she shook, her fingers twitched as they gripped her knees, cheeks covered in a dusting of mud and messy hair. She was smaller than he thought she had been sighting her the first time, unconscious in Spike's arms as he carried her through the back doors of the building complex. Her face had still been draped by the thin cloth soaked in chloroform that had her body lifeless.

"YOU CAN SPEAK! CAN'T YOU?!" his sudden roaring snap made her entire body jumped, and she felt the exact moment her pants started to soak through with her own urine.

"Harmony" she whispered, licking her dry lips peppered in dirt. Tears encased her eyes and lay forced down her cheeks. She still refused to look him in the face, she was so fucking embarrassed by what had just happened, so terrified of him. She didn't want to answer, she didn't want to speak to him, but her resolve for silence was overtaken by the fear he would raise his horrifying voice again. The chair whined when he leaned back, staring at her between strands of fallen hair. He knew she had just soiled herself, but he really didn't care.

"Nice to meet you, Harmony," his words were hard. She certainly hadn't thought he meant it, not that she had been eager to be in the presence of him either. She hadn't even looked the man in the face since he had walked in, perhaps it was a engrained respect thing, or maybe her unconscious thought his face would be even more wretched than the rest of him and she wanted to shield herself from sighting it as long as she could.

"Zuni" the word fell from her lips. His eyebrows raised at her, puzzled, but was suddenly reminded by the dirty little hitchhiker that had been brought along with her.

"You mean that old, oversized rodent you came here with?"

"Please let her go... she's innocent" the young woman spoke, her voice waning.

"I will decide what happens to the rat" he responded, his tone glacial "Besides, you think she can live without you? I certainly wouldn't be dropping her at the pound, she'd be released on the street" Those words, they broke the damn. She had tried so hard to maintain emotionally collected, to remain as calm in his presence as she possibly could. But, she burst into tears, her voice quivered as she hicked, lifting a dirty sleeve to wipe the water from her cheeks. Beautiful Zuni, such an angel, begging for scraps on the street. She wouldn't last long, whether from starvation, old age, or an attack from a larger stray that saw her as their next meal. Zuni would have no chance. She bit her trembling lip, wishing she could just stop crying. All this hysteria of hers accomplished was revealing to her captor how weak she was, that he could break her easily. She knew it was true, but she thought it best to not let him be aware of that.

"If I decide to let her live, I'll let you know" he retorted, irritation palatable. She couldn't take it, being played around with like a helpless doll.

"You!" she cried, finally mustering the will to lift her gaze, looking him in the face. She could hardly see his eyes, but she could feel them digging into her like stakes. "You can't kill her! please!"

"YOU AREN'T IN CHARGE HERE!" He snapped

"She never hurt anyone!" Harmony hoarsely whimpered, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Don't you have any compassion?!" she asked, her voice cracking on the last word. The second that word had left her lips, she knew she had made a mistake. He got up from the chair, and walked towards her, grabbing her hard by the arm. He yanked it so she was brought to her feet, and she cried in pain from the way he twisted it, forcing her up against the wall with rough fingers around her thin neck. His eyes, she could see them now, so close to her own as he clasped tightly on her throat, restricting her ability to take in air. The irises, they were such a bright blue it sent a lash down her back just by looking at them. They held no emotion, and the darkened stains of skin below indicated many sleepless nights. His skin was so pale, it made him look like a corpse.

Without warning he leaned even more, glaring her right in the eyes. It was so intense, she was forced to look away, shifting her head slightly to the side.

"Compassion isn't a useful skill in my line of work" he spoke quiet, his breath hot against her cheeks. She knew the scent coming off him rather well, it was booze, it made her want to vomit. "When people like me act on compassion, everything comes tumbling down, because it makes us unable to do what must be done" She swallowed, choking from her restricted throat "Whether it's killing a dog... or killing a human being, it makes no difference" She strained her eyes back to meet his own, taking in shallow wheezes through screaming lungs. The look in those eyes, it was wild, like that of a hysteric. She could only think of a single word to explain those eyes. Monster.

He suddenly let go, and her legs gave out, sending her crumbling to the floor. She coughed violently, trying to force air into starved lungs, hands gripping throbbing skin that erupted across her neck.

"There is no escape from this place" he spoke candidly. Staring down at her, he saw as she raised her head between strands of hair, breathing fast and deep with a hand still around her neck. "If you attempt to get away, your fate will be no different than that of your dog"