Mascara

Mascara - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Year 2012

“Go ahead and waste your time,” the old man spat, his faded eyes glowering venomously. “I'm not telling you any—AAH!” His words broke off into a screech of pain.

“You might want to reconsider that.” Jie Ke nodded sagely. His mild tone was nothing but a guise, Danny knew, noting the malicious quirk of the corner of his lips. He was enjoying this.

“Yamete, Jie Ke-nii-san,” Chaos urged. “This is not peaceful behaviour!” His purple-and-silver eyes glowed pleadingly.

The group had barged into the provision store and almost instantly Xiao Mi had flung the shocked shopkeeper and held him down for interrogation. Danny wasn't happy with such callous treatment, but her life on the pirate ship had rendered her familiar with such things.

Chaos had been vehemently against such violence, but everyone else (except maybe Xiao Mi, since she was brain-dead) knew such means were necessary. Danny suspected that Jie Ke actually greatly enjoyed the man's pain; it didn't surprise her that he was a sadist. He wasn't any ordinary man, after all. That thought did not comfort her at all.

The concierge had been forced to go with them, having known too much about the Mascara. Also, the team needed a quick escape anyway; it was clear that going back to the hotel meant facing the police and a huge bill for the broken glass doors.

The concierge was now clutching the edges of her baclava nervously, her hair as neatly tucked in as always. Completely out of sight, if she had any hair at all.

“He's a tough one,” Danny observed in a detached sort of way.

The man was clenching his teeth, though his moans and hisses of agony could be heard. Beads of sweat rolled down his wrinkled face. Danny had to remind herself that he wasn't technically an old man in pain, but a demon controlled monster.

“Ah-ah.” Jie Ke shook his head in mock resignation. “Looks like I have to intervene. Xiao Mi, you may stop beating him up now.”

The old man's torturer silently ceased her punches; and Danny knew, with a suppressed shudder, that those punches hurt, judging from the way the old geezer's body practically shook with each blow. Xiao Mi, the petite woman, didn't have ordinary strength. The old man was a tough one.

“So you won't say, eh?” Jie Ke asked curiously. He sighed. “Ke xi.”

His long, slim fingers gripped the defiant old man's chin and lifted the man's face to look into his eyes. The faded eyes of the old man then met the black eyes of Jie Ke.

A shudder traversed through the old man's body; a mere tremor. Xiao Mi continued holding him down with her foot, her face blank. The old man's pupils dilated and his eyes widened so much that Danny could make out the pink of his eyes. Jie Ke continued staring back into the man's eyes, a small smile forming wickedly on his lips...

Then, as suddenly as it happened, the man's body went limp, his eyes dimmed and he opened his mouth and spoke. “I work for my fellow Mascara, and my future rulers.” His voice was dispassionate and toneless, as if he was reading from a passage. “They speak to me of a successful future where we have won – but traitors live in their midst. Lord Chance, the son of Lord Robert, came back in time just to find me—” At this, the old man's croaky voice rose in unmistakable pride. “To bring those traitors to him and to justice.”

“How wonderful for you,” Jie Ke commented wryly. “So where were the, ah, traitors taken to?” He had not ceased eye contact with the man. Danny suspected – no, knew – that he was responsible for the old man's mysterious stupor.