~Mild Language and Violence~
Micheal Abbott hid his disgust, revulsion and hatred for the older man beside him well. The man with the scraggly brown hair, and the gaps in his rotting teeth, and his greasy, oily skin. The remains of lunch on the corner of his mouth, down his ill-fitting shirt. Micheal stared out the window, trying to ignore him all together.
You can't pick and chose your family, unfortunately.
"What time is it?" He asked in his infuriatingly gruff voice. Micheal checked his watch, drumming his fingers impatiently on the dashboard. "One minute to go." He replied coldly.
"Do you have what you need?"
"You ask this like I haven't done this before."
"Just checking, that's all."
Micheal opened his door and got out. "Well don't." Then he slammed it shut. He walked into the alley, sticking close to the walls and shadows, which was mildly difficult with midday sun beating down. It would have been hard for the man in the car, but Micheal was good.
There she was.
Just like she was every day. She was consistant.
She was a small girl, slim. She would be easy. She was pretty, he had to admit. Probably the prettiest he'd seen in a while. She smiled at him breifly as she passed. He turned as soon as she was behind him, clamping down the cloth with chloroform over her mouth. She shrieked, kicked out. Shit, she was strong. She stomped on his foot, drove her elbow into his belly, smacked the back of her head against his nose, all the while her nails dug into his arms holding her there. Micheal ignored the blood dripping from his nose, and pressed the cloth harder on to her face. She still sturggled and screamed, but it was lessening. The she slumped against him, her eyes closed. Micheal held her up with one hand, and shoved the cloth in his pocket with the other. He then grabbed the cable tie from his other pocket and tightened it around her slim wrists, just above the thin gold bracelet on her wrist. He threw her over his shoulder, his hand on her waist to make sure she didn't fall off, then he walked back to the car. Blood was running down his face from that damn headbutt. He dropped her in the boot, then got in the front.
"What the hell happened to you?" He asked.
"She was a fighter." Micheal replied. He laughed. They drove to the empty, borded church they were currently squating in. There was nothing around for four miles each direction. "Go get her." He said, then stalked to up to the church. Micheal sighed and grabbed the roll of duct tape, preparing himself. He walked to the boot. She was banging. She was awake. He ripped a long peice of duct tape off, then opened the door.
"You bastard!" She screeched, launching at him. He wrapped the duct tape around her mouth, but she still screamed. She swung her legs at him, aiming for his groin. He smacked his palm against the side of her head with a great amount of force and while she was dazed, he picked her up, shut the boot and quickly walked to the church. He sat her down on a mouldy pew and secured her legs to the side, her wirsts to the shelf on the pew infront that was for hymn books and bibles. The whole while she glared at him. He cleared his throat and walked away from her, unsure of what to do. "The message has been sent out. In three hours, we cut off her arm." He said, and the girl started thrashing. "Really? You had to say that so loudly?" Micheal asked, annoyed again. Hatred boiled in his chest. He shrugged and walked over to girl, and before she or Micheal could even react, took out his knife and slashed it across her bare arm. She didn't scream. She didn't even move. She just looked up at him with such hatred and disgust that Micheal was slightly impressed. "Was that necessary?" Micheal asked, crossing his arms across his broad chest and leaning against the wall. "You hit her. We can do whatever we want to her."
"I hit her because I had to. That? That was just rude." Micheal said. He stared at him, tutted then left, cursing them all to hell, apparently. Micheal went to his bag and pulled out pure alchohal and a bandage. He sat down next to the girl. "If I take off the tape, will you scream?" She shrugged. Micheal bit his lip, then gently pulled the sticky grey tape off. He winced when he saw her bleeding lips. "Sorry." He mumbled. She didn't say anything. He took out a knife and she lurched back. "I won't hurt you." He said, but she still eyes him questioningly. He cut the cable ties around her legs. "This is going to hurt." He said, then dabbed the alchohal onto the cut. She hissed and bit her lip, but that all. He bandaged it carefully. "Thank you." She said softly. She shook her head sadly. "My family don't have much money." Micheal's heart sank.
"What?"
"We did, but my dad lost his job. That where you took me from, work. We're broke. And I'm going to die because of it." She shook her head bitterly, her eyes watery. Micheal's heart hammered in his chest. "But-"
"We were evicted yesterday. My god, I'm going to lose an arm. Also, your nose is broken, you may want to get that checked out."
"Broken? Really?"
"Yeah... I'd say I'm sorry, but you hit me first."
"That's true... I did."
"I don't suppose you'd let me go?"
"I..."
She shook her head. "I didn't think so." She said. She turned on the pew and rest her head against it, stretching her legs out. Her hands were shaking. "I'm sorry." Micheal said quietly.
She snorted. "How many girls have you said that to? How many times have you done this? Is it an act? Good cop, bad cop kinda thing?" She asked, her wall back up. Micheal got up and went back to leaning on the wall.
"48th. You're the 48th. It isn't just girls, by the way. It's men and women and boy and girls."
"That doesn't help anything. You're a monster."
Micheal looked at his feet and swallowed. "I know. I've never apologised for it, not to anyone." She turned to look at him, then the door burst open and He walked in with a cleaver. "Oh my god." She said, involuntarily by the looks of it. He stalked up to her, grabbed her wrist and sliced the cable ties. "What the hell are you doing?" Micheal asked. He felt something. He never felt anything for his victims, and yet.
"It's been long enough. No reply."
"It hasn't even been an hour and a half!"
He grabbed her upper arm and dragged her up, she punched and scratched and screamed and he turned around and backhanded her which made her scream evern more and then she looked at Micheal. "Please." She mouthed. Then He threw her against the wooden table at the front and held her arm down. He raised the cleaver as she tried to pull away. "Your time is up, Ethel Gallows." Ethel closed her eyes as he brought the cleaver down, but it never made it. She opened her eyes as as she heard a grunt and the grip on her arm leave. Micheal had tackled the man and was holding the cloth with chloroform over his face. The man had his hand wrapped around Micheal's throat, Micheal coughing and sputtering. Ethel ran over and kicked the man in the face. His hands fell to his side as he lost conciousness. Micheal grabbed his arm and started running, barging through the door to the outside- no, not outside.
Aphrodite stood before them. "Love is a beautiful thing." She said, clasping her hands together. Ezra giggled and wrapped her arms around Dexter. "That was horrible." He said looking pale. Ezra pulled away. "Why did he kidnap me?" She asked. Dexter's stomach dropped. "I made it your lives without magic. I made it accurate as possible." Aphrodite said, smiling. "As you all passed, I will speak to Hades. Goodbye. There was a flash of colour then Aphrodite was gone. So was Ezra's smile. "What?" She asked turning to Dexter. He opened his mouth to explain. "You kidnapped and killed innocent people for money?" She asked, looking scared and angry and confused and betrayed all at the same and Dexter's heart broke in two. "It was a long time ago-" Ezra shook her head and air-walked. She was outside and it was dark and raining. She wandered, not sure where she was. Then she saw the sign. Cemetary Road. She was already drench and she knocked on the door. Skulduggery answered, still in a suit. It was then that Ezra started crying. "What? Whta's the matter, Ezra? Its late, are you alright?"
Ezra shrugged. "I need my big brother." She said inbetween sobs.
Okay this is so much fun to write! I hope you're enjoying it!
