Darkness Girl: Trickster God

Chapter Forty: The Sickness of Evil

Forester had never felt more alone in his life. As he looked from Regan to Gareth, standing with his lone enforcer, he wasn't sure which one was worse. Gareth looked like a man who'd been running, only to find himself trapped in a dead end. Forester could see the horror written on his face as he watched every one of his plans get torn to shreds by the force of nature in front of him. 

Regan watched him with unwavering eyes. The knife in her hand was steady. 

Forester watched as Gareth glanced from side to side, like he had momentarily misplaced the solution to all life's problems, and was hoping for it to suddenly present itself. He looked down at Eva, and his eyes lingered on her.

Forester felt his stomach twist. Eva was sitting behind Gareth with her legs splayed apart, tracing invisible patterns on the floor. When she noticed Gareth looking at her, she blew a raspberry at him and giggled. 

Gareth gave Regan an up from under glance that looked like he'd practised it in the mirror.

'You can't bluff me. I know you're here for the girl.' 

Regan started to walk forwards. She moved slowly, but each step had a sense of dreadful finality about it. 

Gareth shook his head. 'Do you want me to kill her?' 

'These are your last seconds alive. You can do what you want with them.' 

The light reflected off the bloody knife in Regan's hand. Her eyes didn't leave Gareth's face. 

'Eva!' 

Forester's head whipped around and he stared at the other end of the room. Sarafina was outlined in the doorway. She'd swept aside the plastic curtain and she was looking at Eva with a stricken expression. Her face was unnaturally pale, and there was a wildness around her eyes that reminded Forester of someone standing on the very edge of a high precipice. 

'I told you to find the fusebox and stay there,' Regan hissed. 'Your job was only to cut the lights.' 

Gareth looked at Sarafina like she'd risen up out of the ground. 

'Sarafina, you made this happen?' 

He rubbed his face with both hands, then looked up at the roof and drew a long, deep breath in through his nose. When he looked down again, there was a look of relief on his face. He looked like a gambler who'd suddenly realised the game his opponent was playing. 

'You're finally growing up,' he said. 'I didn't think you had it in you.' 

Sarafina looked from her sister to Gareth. Her dark eyes flashed angrily. 'Don't you even speak. Not a word. I want my sister back.' 

Gareth held up his palms in a gesture of surrender. Forester noticed that his whole demeanour had changed. He looked calmer now, as if he was suddenly back in familiar waters. 

'Okay, you've got me over a barrel. That's your right. You earned it,' he twisted his watch on his wrist and glanced at Regan. 'I had you pegged as the kind of girl who'd let her world go down the toilet before she asked for help. I never thought you'd get wise and bring in a ringer like this monster.' 

He took two steps to the side, as if to separate Regan from his discussion with Sarafina. The enforcer with the tattoo was still watching her nervously. 

'We can do a deal,' said Gareth. 'You can have your sister, and we'll call ourselves square. You walk away, I walk away and everyone's happy.' 

'And the drugs,' said Sarafina. 'You stop dealing them. As of this moment, your operation doesn't exist.' 

For a moment, Gareth looked like he would refuse. He turned away and ran a hand through his hair, then he took a deep breath and threw his hands up again. 

'Fine. You sure know when you've got all the cards. I'm out of the drug business. Do we have a deal?' 

Sarafina paused for a moment, like she was weighing up whether or not to trust him, then nodded. 

'We have a deal.' 

Forester felt a rush of relief flood through him like a drug. He glanced at Sarafina and gave her a grin as he stood up and started to walk towards Eva.  

'No.'

Regan's voice hung in the air like a drop of ink in the water. 

Forester's skin suddenly felt cold. He could feel everything slipping away. He stopped walking and stared at Regan. She still hadn't taken her eyes off Gareth. 

'There are no deals you can make. No promises or bargains or threats. All of your struggles are just the pathetic attempts of a worm on a hook trying to extend its own worthless life.' 

Gareth's cheeks went pale as his eyes flickered between Sarafina and Regan. The enforcer next to him looked like he was going to throw up. 

'It's over,' he said. 'We did a deal.' 

Regan started to walk towards them down the centre of the room.

'Let that thought comfort you in the next world.' 

'Regan! Stop!' Sarafina shouted from the doorway. 

Regan didn't seem to hear her. She walked towards Gareth and the enforcer like the three of them were at the centre of their own tiny universe. The enforcer looked at Gareth, then at Regan. There was a look of animal desperation in his eyes. 

'I'm not going to die here,' he said. 'I'm not!' 

The enforcer shuddered as if something had snapped inside him. In an instant, he broke and ran towards Regan. The muscles in his neck stood out against his skin like ropes as he swung the ball and chain in his hand. The iron ball tore through the air towards Regan's head as the enforcer screamed at the top of his lungs. 

Regan's movements were fluid as she evaded the crushing blow. Forester saw a flash of metal and there was a sound like a wet blanket being torn in half. 

The enforcer's screams of fear transformed into screams of agony as his weapon went flying across the room trailing blood. The heavy iron ball hit the wall with a crash that shook the room, as the enforcer clutched the bleeding stump where his hand used to be. 

Regan didn't pause. Before the enforcer had time to think, she slipped around him and ducked under his guard. Her expression was impassive as she reversed her grip on the knife and neatly opened a deep, hideous wound across his stomach. 

Forester watched in horror as the enforcer collapsed to the ground with a choked cry. It was obvious, even to him, that the wound was mortal. Blood was pumping from the deep gash in the enforcer's stomach, and his breath was coming in shallow gasps. His eyes were fixed on the door with an expression of longing. 

'I don't want to die.' 

Slowly, he tried to drag himself along the ground. The movement caused a fresh wave of blood to gush from his stomach and spread across the floor. Tendons stood out on the back of his hand as he gripped the floor in one last, desperate attempt to hold on to life. 

'I don't want to die.' 

The enforcer shuddered and lay still. 

Forester clamped his hand to his mouth. He felt a sick sensation spreading through his body and seeping into his bones.

Regan stood over the enforcer's body, looking down at it like it was a broken doll. She didn't seem happy or sad or angry. Her expression was simply indifferent.

Forester turned away. The longer he watched her, the sicker he felt. He realised that he couldn't stand to look at her anymore.