Chapter Ten
The struggle lasted less than five minutes.
Amber rolled to the side as Mercury lunged at her with scalpel in hand. She screamed and kicked him in the stomach as she tried to dodge him, but he was hardly affected by the blow. Thanks to a rush of adrenaline, Amber managed to stagger to her feet. Mercury growled at her and backed her up against the elevator.
"I followed your friend's voice," he whispered, extending the blade of the scalpel towards the soft flesh of Amber's neck. "I scaled the side of the building and broke the window, expecting to see a graverobber." A deep chuckle tumbled from his lips. "Imagine what a pleasant surprise it was to find myself not only surrounded by Zydrate, but in the same building as Amber Sweet, the woman who destroyed my life and my reputation."
Amber was so terrified that she was not terrified. She was still slightly nauseated, but the current situation was so frightening and so unreal that the reality of it all had yet to set in. That was a mixed blessing – she would not be able to save herself because she was not able to think clearly, but she supposed she would at least die in a state of numbness.
"You'll feel everything," Mercury breathed in a voice that belonged to a monster. "I'm good at what I do. I know how many cuts you can make before a body fails."
The ripped Amber's flesh, and she gasped.
Her fingers drifted to the DOWN elevator button and depressed it. Mercury took the scalpel and dragged it down across Amber's collarbone – towards her heart. Before he could finish her off, the doors to the elevator slid open –
Too late, Amber remembered that the elevator itself was out of order and stuck on the first floor of the building. Mercury stepped forward; Amber staggered backwards and tumbled into the darkness of the elevator shaft.
Mercury tossed the scalpel down after her. Not exactly how he had imagined her death, but watching her fall down the shaft seemed to appease him all the same.