Stella the Zombie Killer

Stella the Zombie Killer Part 23

This is the first episode of Stella the Zombie Volume Killer Volume Two. I will leave a link in the comments section so that you can find the whole book. I hope you enjoy.

'Craig's missing. He's not been seen since he went to Ben.' The woman was tall, taller than most men, middle-aged, powerful, hair cropped close. An ugly scar ran down her bare left arm from shoulder to wrist. She walked with another man in a cramped space, a landing of sorts, a small, flat wooden floor between the flights of steps that surrounded them. A narrow square of darkness, just a banister's width away, stretched above and below them through the wooden stairs. Absently, the woman let her fingers stretch out from her palm, trailing her nails on the banister, touching the air, feeling the currents of the drafts, remembering freedom. She carried on, 'He's out of control, Kyle. You know it.'

'He's useful, Claire. You know that.' Kyle was a tall man, taller than Claire, his face and body angular, cruel. He had a habit of tilting his head back, just slightly, so that he could look down on whomever he was talking to. He looked down at her now, his glare running the length of his beaked nose and straight into her eyes.

She didn't flinch, just pushed the tablet device she held between them towards him. They paused at the bottom of another flight of wooden steps. The screen showed the devastation at the Victoria and Albert Museum. They watched as the angel's laser slashed the sours down, row after row of them.

'And now he's set that off. Tash was always going to come home when it got too much, when she didn't have anyone to look after her, but now we've got that to deal with,' said Claire.

'Things always need dealing with. How long ago was this?'

'A couple of hours.'

'Is Ben still there?'

'Of course he is. You haven't told him to do anything else yet. He's your little robot; he'll do as you say till you tell him to stop doing it.'

'Jealous?' Kyle smiled as he said it.

'Of that freak? Hardly!'

'We're all jealous, Claire.' He reached out a hand to smooth her cheek. Just a hint of a gasp escaped her mouth. 'We all want to be number one.' Kyle relaxed his fingers, letting them drop from Claire's face but leaving one, his index finger, pressed into her cheek. He began to drag his fingertip down to her jaw line, leaving a V of slightly reddened flesh in its wake. 'We all see ourselves at the centre of our own universe,' he continued. 'Ben just wants a little attention, that's all. Anyone could have given it to him at any time.' He moved his finger along her jaw line till it was pressed firmly against her chin. 'Someone to point him out and say well done. That was it.' Kyle shrugged and gave Claire's chin a little shove. She stood firm, only allowing her head to move. Kyle smiled at her. 'I just happened to give it to him first.'

'And does that make you his master or his mother?'

Kyle smiled. 'In a way, I suppose I'm both. Whichever it is, he wants to impress and that's something I can use.'

'Then use him. You know what he's like when he's left alone too long. He finds ways to amuse himself.' Claire suppressed a small shudder.

'You shouldn't let him scare you. You know I'll never let him hurt you. Ben knows the line. If he crosses it, I'll deal with him.'

Claire looked up at Kyle and nodded. She held her breath while she did it, keeping her neck rigid and the nod firm.

'It looks to me,' said Kyle, turning his attention back to the tablet's screen, 'like they need a joiner.'