F*ck My Battle Scars

Chapter 6

The room is brightly lit with yellowish-white lights hidden somewhere in the cracks of the walls. There is a red carpet on the floor, guiding the visitors, surrounded by thick rectangular marble pillars. The rest of the room is covered in paintings, sculptures, and plant pots everywhere. At the end of the carpet is a brown hand-carved desk, with a big black leather chair facing the wall, but you could still see the bald scalp of a man sitting. Kay, still holding Aster, walks confidently into the room, keeping her eyes locked on the desk before her, completely ignoring the outrageous pieces of art surrounding her. She gives one glance at Aster, making sure he is okay, to see him fiercely playing with his fingers, nervousness gaining control. Before she can say a word, a hoarse voice raises, "I have been informed that our dear Demon of the night had received some unwanted guests..." The man pushes himself around with his foot, doing a 180 degree turn to face Kay and Aster with a smile on his face. The Head Man is bald and old, with a black suit and green tie. His hands are pressed together as his fingers are entangled, and a pair of tiny glasses cover his small eyes. Kay sighs; she hates it when he pokes his nose into her business. "Why do you care? The job was done. It doesn't matter who visited me." "On the contrary, dear Katelyn. It is your job to eliminate the targets and bring us the bodies without ANYONE from outside the Bunker to know. Yet! I received a very peculiar phone call. Seems like Brodwick has taken quite the liking for you, if he wants you to join him for the celebrations. As his escort, preferably." Kay smirks sarcastically. She nearly breaks it in laughter. "As if! That motherfucker left me for dead in the wildfire! And you think he has grown fond of me? Sir, my apologies, but your right mind seems to be sneaking out through one ear." Aster holds in a laughter, covering his mouth. The Head Man hisses, muffling under his breath, but he keeps his composure. Smiling, he says, "Whether it is true or not, it doesn't matter since he saw you. So, you will go to that party and find out what he knows. Potentially negotiate an arrangement." Kay's sarcastic smile instantly vanishes, and her deadly glare immediately rises. All she can say is an enraged what. The boss raises his shoulders, acting innocent, and tells her to deal with it since it is her mess. Kay is about to bounce onto him and rip his head off when he takes out a gun and assails her with bullets. Kay collapses, with her chest bleeding rapidly. She coughs out blood and is unable to stand up. Aster, shocked, immediately joins her and helps her to sit up while the Head Man returns to his desk. He sighs. "You have a talent to disappoint me, Katelyn. That's very, very sad. But I know you're a grown-up, and you'll do the right thing. Aster!" Aster, startled, stops what he is doing and listens, keeping his head low. "Be kind and clean this mess. Also, make sure Katelyn does as she has been told." "Yes sir.", replies Aster in a shy tone, grabbing Kay and leaving. They return to the morgue, where Duc is nasty working. As they enter, the horrible sound of a saw cutting through flesh and bones resonates. As soon as they open the door, blood squirts towards them. Kay, rolling her eyes, grabs her coat and covers Aster with it. "No need for the doll to be dirtied.", she says out loud. Duc, jumping on the spot, smiles, yelling, "You again, Kay? Didn't the boss call you?" Speaking, Duc turns around and sees Kay in a nasty state. Her head is dropped like a corpse, blood floods out of her, and gunshot wounds are opened in her chest. Duc's smile quickly vanishes as he removes his leather apron and latex gloves. He drops the saw and grabs his surgical tools while Aster gets Kay on a chair and helps her remove the coat. Duc cuts open her shirt to face a massive blood-painted desert of pale skin and old scars. "Ugh! Gross!" Kay rolls her eyes, groaning, as Duc begins retrieving the bullets. One by one, he removes them all before the skin has time to heal. From the side, Aster chuckles silently, saying, "Thank Goodness you do not heal as fast as you used to." "He is right! If you were, I would have needed to cut you open just for a single bullet. You would have been a bigger pain in the ass than these fuckers in the bags." Kay cannot help but chuckle as well. Duc has a very peculiar sense of humor. Very dark and obscure, centered on gory stuff, but she liked that. Duc takes a little while to fix Kay up completely. A while, during which Kay bowled, thinking about what the Head Man told her about Vladimir and everything else. "Do you think I should go?" Kay asks Aster, who is caught off guard. He looks up to her, then to Duc, who stares at him with the same expression of surprise. Both men look back at Kay while she stares intensely at Aster, waiting for his answer. "Well, what do you have to lose?" Kay doesn't say another word, but you can see she is considering. Duc drops his tools, claps his hands, and yells done. Kay slowly stands up and stretches for the muscles to stop hurting as they regenerate. She grabs her coat from the hanger and is about to leave when she immobilizes herself and says, "You better go pick up some of those fancy and incredibly uncomfortable outfits." Aster, shocked once again, stammers a shy what. "What did you think? You're coming with me!" Saying so, Kay leaves the morgue, abandoning frozen Aster and astonished Duc. He approaches Aster in silence before patting him on the shoulder and saying, with a friendly but mocking tone, "Someone has a date! Go make that face prettier than it already is."