The Storm: Chapter Five
"Look what we have here my cherubs," the tallest of the trio said with a husky voice. A man, with a face far younger than it showed, matted afro hair, boils covering neck and torso, and an ear failing off.
"More food and a range of treats," cooed a woman beside him. Her olive-coloured fingers played with the hilt of a baseball bat that danced on the ground below. She flickered her eyes to me and smirked. Her lips parted slightly along with the edge of her cheeks.
"I wonder if different colours taste like different flavours," the final member of the trio giggled. She, a small woman with a black hole in her head where an eye once sat, wisps of thin fair hair and red burned hands. The Crank danced on the spot next to the other two, looking like she needed the toilet quite desperately. Her head titled a little to the right as if she was momentarily lost in thought. Probably was thinking about the eyes. What was with it with these Cranks and eyeballs?
The one-eyed giggled again and turned to her friends. "If I promise to clear up after this, please oh Eli will you let me have just one of the blue eyes. I will never ask of anything from you again."
"Clara, my sweet, shall we let little Daphne here have a little treat?" the earless Crank named Eli sung to Clara who now decided to inspect her nails. Or what was left of them.
"My dear, if Daphne promises to clear up then she may have a taste of one." Clara the Crank snatched up the baseball bat from the ground and twisted it in her palm. "But I want to taste them first."
Clara the Crank thrusted her bat in my direction. She took two steps forward and almost charged in my direction.
Up until this point, the unfortunate situation we had found ourselves in was only directed my way (and Lottie and Maggie's of course). For if they had inched any closer to the door way, they would have noticed Poe, Maya and Jamie pinned up against the wall hiding in the corner. Poe had tucked Jamie behind him, with Maya ahead looking like she was ready to take on Hell itself if they ever dared to take a step in here towards Maggie.
So, when Clara the Crank leapt my way well…
"Like hell you do!" Maya shouted as she sprung from her hiding place. Maya kicked out her foot and slammed into the Crank's outstretched arm. Clara the Crank was momentarily stunned from the surprise attack. She had not anticipated for there to more people. The baseball bat dropped from her hand and clattered to the ground, rolling away from her.
Maya wasted no time in the moment. She grabbed the injured arm of the Crank and yanked it down into a painful position, opening up the Crank's to allow for her to land an almighty punch square in the face. The Crank, now jolted back into reality, released a strangled scream in frustration. Her eyes lit up in a wild fury of madness and bloody spit drooled from the cracks of her cheeks down her neck.
"You're gonna pay for that," Clara the Crank snarled as she bared her teeth.
Her two friends behind her were at first stunned at the appearance of Maya. Their bodies frozen as they watched the scene unfold. However, it didn't take long for time to catch up and their movement to resume. I knew exactly what was going to happen, and I would not let Maya face it alone.
"Oh no you don't." I rushed ahead, snatched up the fallen baseball bat and charged toward the duo that were about to make their move.
With the bat now securely in her grasp, she swung over her shoulder and landed a direct hit to Eli the Crank. His head smashed into the side of the door frame with a loud crack. His body collapsed into a heap to the floor folding over in on itself like a book.
She didn't waste any time on her first victim, intent on ridding the other one before the Crank could get to Maya. She side-stepped over the body and charged straight for the one-eye Daphne with a red-filled rage. Again, she lifted the bat over the shoulder ready to strike the Crank when she got into position. She swung with all her might, a strength she had no known existed within her. The one-eyed Daphne dodged the first deadly swing, backing away from the war path. She hissed in rage as her target moved out of the way of the attack. She steadied herself and lifted the bat over her shoulder, determined this time to strike true. She swung the bat aiming straight for the head of the Crank.
However, the one-eyed Daphne anticipated her move and instead of dodging the deadly swing she caught it in her arm and gripped it firmly. The Crank grimaced at first, but it soon twisted into a manic smile revealing a row of blackening teeth and empty gaps.
"Aren't you making me work for my treat," the one-eye Daphne sneered with her disgusting teeth. A low growl erupted from the back of her throat, a warning to the Crank that they were crossing the line of no return. The one-eyed Daphne surged with uncontrollable, absurd laughter as her eyes lit up with wildness. The Crank, with her free arm, swung an elbow. It connected with her jaw and she felt an explosion of pain as she fell, her hand flying up to her face…
I stumbled back stunned. Small, black blobs formed in my eyeline and danced around as I attempted to recollect myself. Pain staggered up my face, and my head seemed to vibrate with the force of the impact. I was given only seconds as the one-eyed Daphne through the bat away and slammed her body into mine, tackling me to the ground. I felt my back smashed into the hard concrete, pain exploding everywhere from the impact.
The Crank was now on top of me, clawing at my face with her red, blistered fingers. She burrowed her blunt nails into my skin, forcing the nails down my face as she tried to pluck out my eyes. I battered them away as hard as I could, the only action I was able to do as she sat on top of me. I placed the palms of my hands faced down and pressed down as firm to protect my face from her blunt nails. The Crank snarled in response. Drops of saliva trickled down the edge of her chin onto my forearms.
I would not give in to the Crank. I had come way too far to be taking down by someone who was too far gone with the Flare. I would not let this death be my legacy. I refused for my memory to be destroyed like this.
"Give me what I want!" the one-eyed Daphne screeched into my ear, her voice shrill and high. I refused to respond to her which only in turn made her even angrier. Her face flushed in bright anger, a vein popping at the corner of her forehead. The Crank heaved heavy breaths as the rage intensified, the wildness in her eyes a blaze.
The Crank's nostrils twitched in frustration. Then, without a second thought, she threw open her mouth, spit flying everywhere and bit down on my arm as hard as she could. Her black teeth sunk down, puncturing skin. I could feel a warm sensation trickling down my forearm. Drops tripped onto the tips of my lips and snaked to the inside of my mouth. A metallic coppery taste. Blood. A chocking scream escaped me…
In a moment of clear ire, she screwed her free hand into a ball and pounded the head of the Crank as hard as she could. In the process, a black tooth ripped from the Cranks mouth and flew across the concrete floor. The Crank's nostrils flared, her mouth still open wide, mixture of blood and saliva pouring from the corners of the one-eyed Daphne's mouth onto her forearms. A low rumbling sound vibrated from the back of the Crank's throat.
The threat meant nothing to her.
While the Crank was occupied with the eyes, she wriggled her leg into the right spot and kneed the Crank in the stomach hard with the point of her leg. The Crank grunted and doubled over from the impact. Now free of the bombardment, she took this moment as an opportunity to continue with her attack. She hooked her arm over the Crank's head, thrusted her back upwards up off the ground and twisted until the pair rolled until the roles were reversed.
Confusion first raced across the one-eyed Daphne's face before it was replaced by the wildness again. The Crank struggled beneath her. She wrenched and thrashed as she attempted to free herself from the firm grasp. The Crank's attempts were futile. She was far stronger, faster, and deadlier. There was nothing that would stop her now.
"You should have known better then to mess with us," she hissed to the Crank.
The Crank stopped struggling, the realisation settling into her mind. The wildness of her rage very quickly succumbed to the pure terror that now radiated from her body. What had once been the predator had now so very swiftly had become the prey. A wicked smile twitched at her lips as she relished from that feeling. The way the Crank still tried to wriggle free even though she knew that it would not work. She could almost laugh at the fact. Almost. She still wasn't done yet.
The Crank must have known what was coming for she started to scream. A horrific, piercing wail of pure terror. She scoffed in response, annoyed that the Crank was trying to call for help. Her screams were cut short when she freed her hands and placed them round the Crank's blistered neck.
She squeezed, feeling the pressure of the Crank's heart beating under her finger tips.
The Crank gasped for breath as her voice was cut off. No sound came from her apart from her strained attempts to will air back into her lungs.
The Crank clawed at her wrists and face. With every last effort, the Crank tried in vain to remove her fingers from her neck.
Do it.
She lifted the Crank's head up from the floor and slammed it down. The Crank's hands immediately dropped from clawing at her face. They fell to the side of the Crank's body into a twitching spasming fit.
She closed her fingers tighter. The Crank's eyes slowly filled with red as the oxygen was starved from her brain. Her eyes fluttered deciding whether they should stay shut or not.
Again.
Bash.
Again.
Bash
Kill the Crank.
Crack.
The Crank's eyes were shut. Her face motionless. Her arms still.
She freed the Crank's head from her grasp and let it drop back down to the ground with a heavy thud. A pool of blood forming behind her like a distorted halo. The remanets of life pouring out on the sun-cracked ground.
She pondered for a second. The moment capturing her. She did not care for what happened. No deep unforgiving emotion swelled within her. She didn't even feel guilty for it. She stared at the silent Crank, studying her face. It was half stuck in terror and half stuck in a moment of tranquil, wedged between two worlds that was unsure of entering.
Unexpectedly one feeling came to her. An unacquainted sense that settled in her gut. It knotted itself into an impenetrable web of comfort that would hide until it was needed again. She smiled, the corners of her mouth twisting upwards as she embraced the new welcoming feeling.
For she felt satisfied…
