Summary: There are few things that can get Emil angry. Someone threatening his friends is one of those things.
Warnings: Blood, character death (do I still need to warn for this? I mean have you read the summary of this collection?), fist fight, a knife, a very bad person.
Emil didn't get angry. That wasn't who he was. He never raised his voice (except to let out manly shrieks of fear) and he would certainly not engage in fist fights. It was beneath him. He prefered to solve disagreements with words or gentle actions or... well, he could get a little mean when he was frustrated, but who couldn't? Anyway, you'd have a hard time making him angry (and you would probably like him even when he was angry), which was why the situation he currently found himself in was a bit absurd. But perhaps we should start at the beginning (so the author can get more time to figure out what the situation is)?
Emil had woken up late, allowed to sleep in for the first time since he started public school. The long sleep had done him good, he felt rested, energized, and he whistled as he made pancakes for breakfast. The sun was shining, the sky was almost clear of clouds, and when he was done with breakfast Emil decided that he should spend his day off at the park. Said and done, Emil washed off the dishes and left his apartment. The streets were full of people, everyone in Mora seemed to have the same idea as he had. He bought an icecream from an ecstatic woman who almost forgot to give him his icecream, too busy telling him about the troubles of being an author and how her next book was going to feature an icecream stand. Emil vaguely remembered her from somewhere, but couldn't place her.
He continued his walk, greeted people he met, stopped to pet a dog and quickly ran away when the owner noticed him. Eventually he reached the park and found himself a bench to sit on. He watched the kids play for a while before joining them for a game of "Who's afraid of the troll?", featuring Emil as the troll. The kids screamed when he ran after them, screamed higher when he caught them, laughed and then joined him as trolls. Eventually everyone had turned into trolls and they built a city out of sand they could invade, except the game shifted and suddenly they were all defending the city as cleansers. As the afternoon turned into evening the kids disappeared one after another and then Emil was alone with a young girl.
"The princess is caught in this tower here and there's a maze and it's filled with traps and beasts."
Emil helped her build the maze, using pinecones and sticks to build the monsters. They were just starting to make their way through the maze when a man arrived.
"Anna, it's time to leave now."
Anna grabbed her doll, turned to leave, but froze.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Robert, your mother sent me to fetch you. Come on now, it's getting late."
Anna walked closer to Emil.
"What's the secret word?"
Her voice was shivering and Emil looked between her and the man. Robert let out a sigh.
"Anna, we don't have time to play games."
Anna pressed against Emil's side, grabbed his hand. Something wasn't right.
"Hey, Anna, how about I follow you home? Together with Robert, of course."
Anna's grip around his hand hardened and she stared at Robert.
"Would that be okay with you, Robert?" Emil asked.
"There is no need, she has wasted enough of your time already."
"Oh no, no waste at all, I've had fun."
"Still", Robert's hand gripped Anna's arm, "I'm not sure her mother would forgive me if I brought an unknown man with me."
Anna whimpered and all alarms in Emil's head went off. He grabbed Robert's arm, squeezed it and Robert let go of Anna, glared at Emil.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"You're scaring her."
"This does not concern you, boy. Come now, Anna, your mother will get worried if we linger."
Robert pulled free of Emil's grip and made a new move towards Anna.
"I'm sure you can meet your friend again another day."
Anna glanced at Emil, seemed to consider her option. After a few seconds she grabbed Robert's hand, Emil knew it was the threat that her mother would worry that made her change her mind.
"There, that wasn't that hard, was it?" Robert asked.
Anna shook her head and Emil looked at her, looked at Robert.
"I'm sorry for all this trouble", Robert smiled towards Emil. "I'm sure I'll see you around one day. Right Anna, you want to go here and meet your friend again, don't you?"
There was something about the way he smiled, the way he talked to Anna and the way he touched her. There was something wrong with the way Anna's cheeks got paler and paler. Emil bit his lip.
"You know what, I insist on following you. I'm sure her mother won't mind if I explain the situation."
"You really don't need to..."
"Oh, I think I do. I think it'll make Anna happy. Is it okay, Anna? Can I tag along to make sure you get home okay?"
Anna nodded and Emil smiled.
"Then it's settled, I'll come along."
There was something about the way Robert seemed to disapprove of what had just happened. Emil couldn't describe the way Robert's face quickly shifted between rage and defeat, the way his free hand repeatedly clenched itself. Robert nodded, started walking and Emil tagged along, talked with Anna as they walked. After twenty minutes Anna stopped.
"This isn't the way home."
"It's a short-cut", Robert smiled. "Come on now."
There was something about the way he looked at Emil. Emil placed himself between Anna and Robert.
"Anna, run."
"What?"
"To the nearest house. Run. Call your mother."
Anna took a step back and Robert stepped closer. Emil could see the bag hidden under Robert's coat, could see rope sticking out of it, and he took a step back as well, made sure he was still inbetween the two. Then Anna ran. Robert threw himself after her, but Emil grabbed him, threw him to the ground, landed over him. Anna's steps disappeared and Robert's knee hit Emil's stomach.
"You made me lose her", he hissed and threw Emil to the side.
"I knew there was something off about you", Emil's hand grabbed Robert's ankle, pulled him to the ground again. "How many before her?"
"Let go of me!"
Robert's foot hit Emil's nose and Emil winced as it broke under Robert's sole. He let go of Robert, pulled himself to his feet and tried to dry off the blood running from his nose. Then his fist collided with Robert's face. Robert stumbled backwards, regained his balance and threw a fist in Emil's direction, landing it square on Emil's cheekbone. Robert was strong, Emil noted before taking a new swing towards him. Robert dodged, Emil dodged, they stood up, were on the ground, stood up again. They ran, didn't run. Fists flew, kicks were exchanged. Robert tried to get away, Emil wanted to make sure he stayed, make sure he got what he deserved.
"How many before Anna?" he asked again.
Robert spat in Emil's face.
"Like I'm telling."
Emil managed to pin Robert to the ground again, hit him once, twice, three times in the face. Robert barely made any attempt to defend himself and Emil grabbed his coat, leaned closer, lifted Robert's torso slightly off the ground.
"What was your plan to get rid of me?"
"This."
Something flashed in the corner of Emil's eyes, sharp pain exploded from his stomach and he lost his grip of Robert. Robert pushed him to the side, there was another jolt of pain and Emil pressed his hands to his stomach, felt warm sticky liquid pour over them. Blood.
"It didn't have to end like this", Robert said, "but you insisted."
Emil could hear sirens in the distance and Robert froze for a second before leaning down and grabbing Emil's hair.
"A shame, you seemed like an okay dude, but I can't leave any witness."
Emil's eyes fell on the knife in Robert's hand and he tried to pull away, tried to defend himself, but he had already lost too much blood, too much strenght. Robert's eyes swept up and down the street before he looked at Emil again, and Emil made a new attempt to pull away. Robert pressed his knee against Emil's chest, pulled his head back. Emil felt the steel against his throat, his breathing got quicker and then blood ran over his throat, down his throat. He tried to scream, but there was no air to make the sounds. Robert still held him, the sirens were getting closer and Robert released him, ran, and Emil pressed a hand against his throat, rolled to his side, got up on his knees. He tried calling for help again, but the blood drowned the scream and he fell down again. Darkness. He tried to keep it away, but it pulled him in, engulfed him and in the end he let it take him.
A/N: At least he saved Anna! No, it's not his cousin Anna, it's another girl named Anna. It's a pretty common name in Sweden.
Also, the author actually had an idea for this story when she started writing it. The idea was that Lalli was supposed to be under attack from a troll and Emil was gonna go head-to-head with it to save his friend. Then the idea changed into "okay, let's write a bar brawl instead. Like, Emil protecting Lalli from someone who's hitting on him or something" and I was going to go with that but... Then the kids happened. This is why I usually don't bother formulating an idea before I start writing x.x
Also also, yes, the icecream woman totally is the author's ssssona. Or the author. That's why Emil vaguely recognizes her.
Also! The game "Who's afraid of the troll?" that they're playing is a Y90-version of a pretty common children's game here in Sweden (or at least it was when I was young) called "under hökens vingar" (under the hawk's wings), I'm not sure there's an english version of it but there probably is. In case you want to teach it to your kids the rules are pretty simple:
1. One person starts as the Troll and stands in the middle of a field. Everyone else stands on one of the sides.
2. The troll calls "The troll is coming!"
3. The others ask "Who's immune?"
4. The troll answers with a color (because that's the easiest way. You can come up with your own variations if you want to.)
5. Everyone runs to the other side! The troll tries to catch them (or infect them). If they wear a piece of clothing in the color the troll choose they're immune and can't become infected, but if they're not immune and the troll infects them they join the troll for the next round!
6. Repeat from 1 with more and more trolls for every round.
7. The game ends when everyone has turned into trolls. Or when one person is left, and in that case the last person standing starts as a troll for the next game.
Wow, that was a long author's note. Hope you enjoyed the story, and feel free to drop a note or something! I'll see you again in the next installation of "How do you want to die?"
