She grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, the man yelping out in pain,
"Tell me this much and I'll let you go," her tone was sinister and demanding, "Where is Shaun?" the man craned his neck to look into her black blazing glare,
"Who's Shaun?" she rolled her eyes and groaned, he was from the authority alright,
"Don't tell me you all seriously revert to those gay nicknames? I'm looking for 'Jack the Ripper' can you tell me where the fuck I can find him?" the man continued to stare, she was on the verge of snapping not only his neck but her temper.
"He's in his dorm, number 11. Am I be obliged to know who is requesting him?" a sickening grin appeared on her face, she bent forward and whispered in his ear,
"Ruby mother fucking red." if you were in the street that night, be it the 12th of August at 2:35a.m, you would've been sent a shock to the heart at the loud snap of bone and ear piercing squeals of pain coming from a dark alleyway down the backstreet. However if you were somehow in that town on that night you'd already be accustomed to hearing things like that, you see the town let alone country where these events take place is no ordinary town for you see dear reader;
This. Is. Bat. Country.
''
The morning alarm went off as usual, roll marks as usual, everyone here as... There was something off... Everyone could tell just by reading the face of the general,
"I... I have some unfortunate news for us all, we lost one of our great members last night, one of the security here, a veteran of his trade, so for today we will work ahead whilst remembering the courage and greatness of Trevor, The Cross." tension rose within the crowd, The Thunder, Disco Honey and Jack the Ripper looked at one another, all their faces with the same word clearly painted across them, 'How?' Thunder was the first to speak,
"I'll meet you guys back in the dorms." Disco smiled softly, a small dent in the left side of his face, Jack however sat there motionless.
"Yo dude, you okay?" he brushed his dark brown fringe out of his eyes to take Disco's expression in full, the sun reflecting off his black lip piercing and right into Jack's eyes.
"Yeah I guess I'm alright, you go back with Bradie." Disco's eyes went wide and he leant forward, his blonde bangs hitting Jack in the face,
"Watch it Shaun, you know we're not supposed to use our names," Shaun (Jack) rolled his eyes and spoke back just as quietly,
"I know Andy, I know, but don't you get sick of it? Don't you wish we could call each other by our real names? For fuck sakes, your name makes you sound like a fucking poof." Andy (Disco) thought momentarily before nodding in agreement.
"Bradie (Thunder) and I will be waiting for you back in the dorm." he gave Shaun a squeeze on the shoulder before heading off in the same direction Bradie went, towards the dark grey apartment buildings, twenty floors high, twenty dorms wide with ten on each side of the corridor. Shaun stared off into the distance, his mind wandering in a endless universe, he knew where it would end up, right where the terror all began. He was never meant for this lifestyle, hunting down those needed to be taught a lil bit of justice, a smack on the back a clip to the ear and off they go. Well at least that's the way his dad described it after he learnt of his destiny already chosen and written in stone. He got out of his seat and proceeded down the cobblestone path towards the ten foot tall wire mesh fence, it felt like prison, the barb wire and electric paneling the cherry on top, but it wasn't prison, he told himself every night, it's the authority, a somewhat elite group of individuals chosen to fight against the general's skewed perception of evil. He sat down cross legged in front of the fence and sighed. The only way out was death, unless you were lucky and got assigned to a big tough heroic mission. A trace of laughter oozed out and he smiled, the only way him, Andy and Bradie would get out would be death, they were the bottom feeders, the weaklings, unlike Katherine. He buried his face in his hands, Katherine, she used to be in there, share the same room as Bradie, number 10, right across the hall from him and Andy. She got out, sent off on an assignment then somehow disappeared. Everyone at the authority believed she was dead, everyone except him, the general, Andy and Bradie. Mentally exhausted he went back to the dorm, Andy sat there unaware of his arrival playing Black Ops. Shaun walked over to the bed by the left wall and slumped onto the mattress, the springs sounding and ear paining chorus under his mass.
"Oh hey Shaun," he simply sighed in response. Slowly he drifted into sleep, that's when the dream... well memory came forward.
The guns fired around him, he could barely hear his father's voice over the missiles.
"Shaun, get down!" he wasn't supposed to be exposed to this violence yet, he was only fourteen. The sky turned orange, yellow and white in front of him, painful horrid shrieks came from within the bright light.
"SHAUN!" the voice was roughed and followed by gasps and bellowing tears. Her eyes, the bright blue grey showing such sadness it was burned into his skull.
"I'm coming Katherine!" he ran forward and was pulled back by a cord around his waist. His father. "Dad, let me go!" he shouted, tears began falling down his face. His father stared at him,
"She's collateral Shaun! Leave her here, we have to go!" collateral. How dare he...
"NO! She's my best friend, and that fucking authority is full of sick bastards!" he wriggled out of his father's grasp and ran as fast as he could. Katherine. She was alive, barely. "I'm here, I'm gonna help you," he picked her up and ran to the helicopter, yes his ass of a father was inside it, but so was help, help for Katherine.
The memory shifted, like always, years forward, he was at the academy, no choice. Sat between some blonde kid with a silver lip stud and a guy with brown hair and chubby cheeks, not to mention a strangely absurd Spiderman addiction. It seemed as if he'd be stuck there with a bunch of no hopes forever, that was until he heard her laugh. Brunette must have made a joke, she was sitting on the other side of him, two seats away from Shaun.
"Katherine?" he questioned and she leant forward, they hadn't seen each other for three years even though they regularly spoke and texted.
"Shaun, I'm not surprised, after all you're the only reason I enrolled. Hey Bradie did you know Shaun saved my life when we were fourteen?" brunette looked at him wide eyed in disbelief,
"Wow..." so that was it, the beginning of the end to put it simply, Katherine's end that is. She was shipped off one day to hunt down some weirdo who was weirdly obsessed with little kids, not for sex, for fun. Turning them into his puppets, it went well, until she disappeared. The general's voice still clear in his head,
"It appears we may have very well lost Katherine, Ruby Red."