Chapter 4

Stu

Stu stared in shock at the man before him.

He'd only seen this man once and that had been when he was drugged up, meaning that he'd never properly seen his face. He took in the man, noting his thick glasses and the long, tan coat that he wore. It was strange how he was wearing the same outfit that he'd been wearing when Stu had first met him.

The smirk that the man wore on his face was extremely irritating but Stu didn't voice his opinion out loud. He didn't want to provoke him.

"Well, you two seem...shocked to see me," the man said, still smirking. "Now, how about I tell you what's going to happen."

"Yes," Stu said, standing up. "That would be good."

"Well, seems like you've got some of your confidence back Stu."

From the corner of his eye Stu could see Emily looking worriedly up at him. He ignored her and concentrated on the man in front of him.
"Have you missed me?" the man asked before Stu had a chance to say anything.

"Of course not," he hissed angrily.

It was obvious by the man's expression that he did not believe him. "Right," he said, giving one last look to Stu, before turning his attention to Emily. "Do you want to know who I am?" he asked her.

She nodded and the man smiled. Stu wanted to punch him right then.

"My name's Keifer."
"Is that really your name?" Stu interrupted.

Keifer's eyes went to Stu. "Stu isn't really your name. It's Stuart right?"

Stu scoffed. "Whatever."

Keifer smirked. "Now," he continued. "As I was saying before, you want to know what's going on here don't you." He didn't wait for them to say anything before carrying on. He was looking and directing his words at Stu as he spoke. "So, I'll explain. I want to know if you've really changed Stu. After all, it's been two years. You could have gone back to your old ways."

Stu shook his head. "No. I haven't."

"Oh, but you could just be lying, couldn't you? You're a good liar aren't you Stu. I just find it so hard to believe you."

Stu knew that he was being mocked but he ignored it. "Okay, how can I prove it?"

The smile that Stu was given by Keifer sent chills down his spine. "I was hoping that you'd ask that."

Both him and Emily watched as Keifer walked over to a small cupboard in the corner of the room and opened it.

He heard Emily gasp from beside him as a man was dragged out of the cupboard and thrown to the floor.

The man was wearing a suit that had obviously once been in pristine condition. It looked very expensive. However, now it was ripped and dirty.

The man's hands were tied behind his back, just like Emilys.

"Please," the man begged, grabbing onto Keifer's trouser leg. "I'll change I swear."

Keifer just laughed before kicking the man in the face, causing him to topple backwards. "You see, I don't think you will." His attention shifted back to Emily and Stu. "This man here's called Derek. He's my new friend. The best thing is that he's just like you used to be Stu. He's selfish, a liar and he uses people."

Stu really didn't want to know but he had to ask. "Why do you have him here?"

"You're asking all of the right questions today Stu. Well done." Keifer grabbed the man by his hair and dragged him over so that he was on the floor next to Emily. He then reached into his pocket and took out a pistol.

Stu flinched as Keifer walked towards him with the gun in his hands. However instead of shooting at him he threw the gun at Stu's feet.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Stu asked. A strange feeling was spreading through him as he looked down at the gun. However he couldn't quite place what the emotion was.

"I want you to shoot someone," Keifer replied simply.

"What the-? Who do you want me to shoot exactly?" Stu could see Emily looking up at him with tear filled eyes but he was scared to look at her in case she managed to place the feeling that he was experiencing.

"I'm a nice man Stu, so you know what? I'm going to give you a choice." He looked between Emily and Derek, a smile on his face. "Emily or Derek. It's your choice. Kill one and the other lives."

"N-no," Stu muttered, shaking his head back and forth. "I wouldn't. I-I couldn't."

"Stu, of course you could. I know what you're like. When we were on the phone together, two years ago, I remember you saying how you'd happily shoot me with a big smile on your face."

"That was two years ago. I've changed now. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Prove it then. Prove to me that you're a changed man. Pick up the gun from the floor, go on."

Stu did what he said and leant down to pick up the gun.

It felt surprisingly heavy in his hands. He'd expected it to be lighter.

"Now," Keifer said, taking a step away from Stu and closer to Emily and Derek. He was now standing to the left of Emily, whilst Derek was on the right of Emily. "Who are you going to shoot?"

"No one. I'm not going to shoot either of them. Why the hell would I?"

"If you shoot one of them then I'll believe that you've changed and I'll let you, and whoever's still alive, leave."

Stu was confused. "That doesn't make sense. If I killed someone, why would you know that I've changed?"

Keifer sighed. "Just get on with it Stu. We don't have all day."

"No, I'm not going to kill anyone. Not some random guy who you've picked from the street and definitely not my own sister!"

A sudden change came over Keifer and he walked over to stand above Derek's snivelling form. "You think that Derek here," he gave him a kick, almost as if to emphasise his point, "is just some random guy that I picked up off the street. Oh, no. What would be in that? Didn't I tell you? He's selfish, a liar and he uses people. Do you want to know what he did that made me want him?" Stu didn't answer him but of course he still continued. "He's what's called a porn king. He thinks that he's got a great website going. At least that's what he tells everyone on the phone. I clicked on it and you don't want to know what I found. Turns out that he's not an artist as he continues to say that he is. He's nothing but a dirty paedophile. He snatches girls off the street and says that he's going to kill them unless they take their clothes off and lets him take pictures." He turned to look briefly at Emily before turning and looking meaningfully at Stu. "Most of them are no older then seventeen. The same age as Emily."

As Stu looked down at the man on the floor he saw him in a completely different light. The suit that before had looked expensive despite the rips in it, now just looked dirty. That suit had been bought with dirty money.

"Don't you see Stu? He deserves to die. Kill him Stu, go on. If you kill him then both you and Emily can go home. It will be as if nothing ever happened."

In that brief moment Stu actually contemplated killing the man. It was no different from what Keifer had previously done. Maybe there was something right in it. If Derek was off the streets then surely it would be better. However all these thoughts were gone when Emily spoke up.

"You don't have to do this Stu. You're better then him."

He looked down at Emily and saw the pure confidence and love that she felt for him.

"Yes," he said, agreeing with what she said. "I don't have to do this," and with that he threw the gun to the floor.

Keifer sighed and walked over to the window. Stu saw what he was going to do before he did it but he didn't have the strength in him to move and stop him.

Keifer picked up the sniper rifle from the stand and aimed it at Emily. "Kill Derek or I'll have no choice but to kill Emily."

Emily started crying as she stared up at the gun aimed at her.

"No!" Stu shouted, taking a step forwards. He couldn't stand to see his sister cry and he definitely didn't want her to get hurt.

"Stay where you are Stu. You don't want to risk your little sister getting hurt now, do you?" Keifer moved a step closer to Emily, as if to prove his point.

"Don't hurt her, please. Just let her go. She's nothing to do with this."

"No Stu. Don't you see? She's everything to do with this. I want to know how much you've changed. Before you didn't care about anybody. Now, let's see if you care about your sister enough to kill a man. I personally think that it shouldn't be too hard for you. I can see that killing streak in you."

"I don't have a killing streak and I don't want to kill anyone."

"Oh, but you don't have a choice. So Stu, who's it going to be? Emily, your sister, who's never done anything wrong or Derek, a paedophile. Take your pick."