Chapter 20: Blade of the Scythe
Jack slowly walked from his vantage point beyond the corner of the house. His dark cloak billowed about his feet. The scythe's blade glinted in the moonlight, catching Anna's attention. She stopped in her tracks, hands at her side. It was like she was waiting calmly for death to carry her away. That was fine with Jack. She stared deep and into his eyes as he approached her. It sent chills down his spine. He could easily sense the hatred in her eyes trying to rind it's way into his own soul. It was like she was trying to see into the very depths of his soul. Jack almost panicked until he remembered he was wearing the mask. He smiled to himself. That was what she was looking at, the mask. It must have her too terrified to move.
Standing in front of her, he slowly and dramatically raised the point of the scythe to the underside of her chin. He would scare the life out of her. Up close, her eyes were even more terrifying. They grinded into Jack, completely devoid of light, consumed by hatred. He was so scared, now the tables had turned. Now it was Jack who was unable to move...
Anna would make him pay. Grasping the opportunity she was just granted, she clutched her hand tight around the handle of the scythe and shoved the butt of it hard into Zack's stomach. She would destroy him. Anna yanked the scythe out of Zack's hands and quickly turned the blade back upon him. "You will die Zack. I will see to it that you die in the most excruciatingly painful way that I can think of. You will pay for killing Manna. You will suffer and I will laugh at it. When I am through with you, you will regret that you were ever born!" She twirled the scythe around and ready for the attack. Anna wouldn't kill him just yet. She would play with him a bit first to prolong his agony. That was always so fun...
During her speech, Jack had the time to compose himself. As she brought the scythe down to pierce Jack, he rolled out of the way. The blade caught the cloak. Jack tugged on it, trying desperately not to lose it. He kicked Anna in the leg and she fell to ground once again losing her grip on the scythe. Jack pulled the blade loose from the ground and stood up at the same time Anna did.
Here they were at the same place again that they began in, but this time Jack wouldn't be caught off guard. Quickly this time, Jack brought the point of the scythe up under Anna's chin. Completely surprised at suddenly being at the point of death, Anna froze. Jack said, in a deep boom voice that was his best impression of Zack, "Anna, you have committed many crimes against humanity. How do you plead your soul?"
"Shut the hell up and kill me already! Or have you gone soft you bastard. Kill me. I dare you too. You don't have the spine Zack. You know you can't! You are just a weakling. A foolish little man caught up in heap of trouble. Jack will kill you and you are terrified of dying. Or maybe you are even more scared that it will be I that kills you!"
Jack was sick of this, "Shut up!" He pushed the blade closer up to her chin, forcing her to stand on the tips of her toes if she did not want her neck pierced, "I am sick of you. You are the lowest scum on the face of this planet and I would like nothing more than to kill you. But as long as you do what I say, I won't kill you. All you have to do is be a nice, not evil, Anna, and I will let you live."
"I knew you were too scared. I knew you were just a weakling. A pathetic fool caught up in over his head."
Jack raised the scythe point even higher. A small trickle of blood ran down her neck as it finally broke skin. Anna could do nothing to defend herself, "If you move, your throat will be slit and you will die. This is your only chance. Now listen up and listen good. You had better be nice to Mary from now on. If you ever do anything to make her cry again, I will end your life. I would do so now, but Mary, for only reasons the Harvest Goddess knows, loves you. I do not want to hurt her by killing you unless you leave me no choice."
Jack dragged the tip of the scythe up the underside of her chin, just barely slicing the skin. The trail of blood down her neck quickened and for the brief moment fear flashed through Anna's eyes, but it was quickly drowned out by the darkness in her heart, "This is the gravest of warnings, for if you tell anyone at all of this encounter, I will kill you within the hour. Your life will be forfeit. But now, I want you to go into that library and tell Mary you are sorry. I want you to let her off work, and I want you to do it this instant. If you do not, your life is forfeit. Do you understand?"
Anna mumbled something incoherent. Jack pressed the tip of the blade even closer into her skin. The pain finally broke through to her and she gave in, "I will." She poured every ounce of her hatred into those two words as she tried to shove them down the Zack's throat. Hiding behind that stupid skull mask probably made him feel real important. She wanted to spit in his eye.
That was good enough for Jack. He pulled away his scythe and let Anna fall to the ground in exhaustion. That whole encounter must have taken more out of her than she was letting on. With scythe in hand he marched away back down the road and disappeared into the darkness, cloak billowing about him.