Gods and Monsters

Ep.7: The Purple Vice Exchange (No.15)

Episode 7: The Purple Vice Exchange (No.15)

Created and developed by Danny Richards

RAF Twinoaks - Sevenoaks, Kent

Click.

The kettle had finished boiling and Charlie stepped away from the table as Jared's head rolled around on top of his neck, dazed. The crazed lunatic who had come close to killing them only minutes earlier began to speak, "Y'know, Charlie. That last blow really knocked me for six, pal. They say you should never go for the head first as -" Mike swung hard and connected with the side of Jared's face, hoping to shut him up. Jared remained unfazed, chuckling to himself now, "As you can never feel the second hit!"

Steam filled the air as Charlie poured the kettle into his cup, stirring his spoon in the mug to make the perfect brew. "I really must pop down to the Ravenscar Institute and ask your brother what he put in that serum to make you so deranged, Jared," Charlie said. "I mean, you've been shot and beaten and you still keep that same Cheshire cat grin on your face."

"What can I say; I suppose I'm just an optimist." With that, Jared began whistling the tune to Always look on the bright side of life before calling out to Rachel. "Ehh, what's up Doc!"

Rachel spun around, now starting to recover from the fact that she had killed one of the attackers when the hangar was assaulted, "Bite me."

"Gladly," Jared replied, his tongue flailing around his lips as he kept his gaze on the beautiful blonde.

Sitting down on the opposite end of the table, Charlie glanced around the hangar again, admiring the work that Clark had put into this place. The single room was brightly lit up considering there was but a single window crudely cut into the door, with large lights hanging from the high ceiling. "Why are you even protecting Eugene, Jared? What's his endgame?"

Jared pretended to sniffle. "He's like a father to me. He took me in when no one else cared for me." The sniffle turned into a wail which again changed into that sick, manic laugh of his. "If you're asking me why he didn't stay dead, I don't know. All I know is he's obviously got something planned that he doesn't want you lot around to see."

"I don't believe you." Charlie said slamming his mug onto the table.

Scarlett moved closer to Charlie now. "C'mon Charlie, even if he does know something, he's not going to tell us no matter what you do. We'll speak to Broderick once we're out of here and work out something."

Looking across the table, Charlie stared deep into Jared's crazed eyes. There was an aura of fearlessness about him that was increasingly unnerving. He should have been a lot more scared, given his position. Instinctively, Charlie wanted to look away from Jared's gaze but forced himself to hold, remembering that the creature in front of him had been more than happy to try and kill them a short while ago.

Bastard.

A thin plume of smoke poured out of the kettle as Charlie picked it up and moved back towards the desk. The others stepped back, not willing to interfere. He lifted the kettle and poured half the contents into Jared's lap, watching with grim satisfaction as he twitched and writhed slightly. Jared's face almost turned the same colour of his suit. "You might think you're the one in control here," Charlie told him, "but you're not. You're flesh and blood like anyone else no matter what that serum did to you. And I can hurt you very, very badly."

"Take your best shot!" Jared spat.

Lifting the kettle, a trickle of boiling water dripped down onto Jared's suit trousers again. "Charlie!" Peggy shouted as she stepped out from the side room she had been getting changed in, "What the hell is going on?"

"No, Peg. You can't let him get away with this. He knows what Eugene is up to you and I can get it out of him. I know I can!"

She moved closer. "Through torture? Charlie, we have systems in place. The police can handle this through legal means."

"Handle this? You mean like how they've handled the investigation into Nick's death?"

Peggy's blood went cold. "That's low, Charlie." He knew as soon as he said that he'd gone too far. This was what Eugene did to people though. He knew how to get under their skin.

The silence echoed around the large hangar with Jared unfortunately the one to break it. "Well, this is awkward." Charlie stormed back over to the red headed runt, raising his fist ready to smack Jared off his chair when the sound of a phone ringing stopped him. The team listened carefully as they pinpointed that the ringing was coming from inside Jared's jacket. As Charlie reached inside the jacket pocket, Jared made some comment about him getting a bit touchy-feely, but Charlie ignored it, instead looking at the phone as it displayed "Private Number" on the screen.

Answering the phone, Charlie waited for a moment before speaking. "Eugene?" he asked.

More silence, until the Scotsman on the end of the phone spoke. "Hello Charlie," Eugene said, "How many years has it been since Ecuador; two, three?"

"Six." Charlie replied dryly.

A throaty chuckle came from the other end of the phone. "Wow! Has it really been that long? Gosh, I remember it like it was yesterday!" There was a pause as Eugene moved something about in the background, however Charlie couldn't tell exactly what. "You know, Charlie, I must admit I'm impressed that you managed to survive the bounty. Rest assured, I'll remove it for now as I'm sure you've learnt your lesson, eh?

"Listen here you little shit," Charlie spat as he moved away from the others. "You should have stayed dead when you had the chance. Now I know you're back, I will hunt you down and make you pay for everything that you've done."

Eugene simply laughed. "Oh, Charlie, I would love to give you a round of applause," he said, his voice full of venom that burned straight into Charlie's ear as he spoke, "but then I'd end up dropping your friend Broderick's head. Poor sod. Screamed all the while as the saw cut through his flesh and bone." Another chuckle from Eugene now before he abruptly stopped. "Keep your eyes from prying or you too might lose your head."

With that the phone went dead. Charlie felt numb as he dropped the device to the ground. He and Broderick had been friends for years, and now he was just...dead. All at the hands of Eugene. Charlie wasn't sure how, but he was going to make that sonofabitch pay for all the lives he had taken. Once and for all. The others stared at their defeated friend while he stood in the corner of the room. Then, without saying anything, Charlie simply walked over to the hangar door, opening it, before he walked outside and took one of the bounty hunters vehicles, leaving the others at the abandoned airfield.