Kraken was getting worried. No, he was getting fucking frantic. He'd already had Horror tap every security camera in the City back at the manor and he'd come up with nothing. There had been no police reports from what Lupo had said. It appeared that no one had even sighted anyone looking remotely like Jennifer in the last three hours.
At first both Horror and Lupo had been skeptical. They had shared Body's attitude that this might not be what it seemed. As time dragged on though and Vanya failed to appear either at Norton's or the manor they started to get concerned. Now they had thrown themselves into it as hard as they could without alerting Hargreeves.
As he rode his motorcycle through the street he kept trying to think of what might've happened. By no means was he the sharpest tool in the shed, he might even be outdoors. He should've been able to figure this out by this time though. It was a fucked-up situation and something might've happened to Vanya killed because he couldn't think fast enough.
Once more he went through his mind and looked at his options for the eight millionth time. He'd already driven past Jennifer's home and searched the place to find it empty. He then checked her usual haunts, only to find them devoid of her as well. So, it was some place that she hadn't been before. Great. Fucking fantastic.
Something niggled in the back of his brain. He paid close attention to it, since feelings like that were as important as hunches and instincts. There was one place he'd seen her in that he hadn't checked. Then again, it was pretty much abandoned. The only reason it had been full at the time was because it was the home of a one night underground concert.
Kraken groaned. Now that he thought of it the fucking irony was probably too much for her to resist. From what he knew of her she was just too cliché. It had been where he'd met and asked her out for the first time, and its remote uninhabited location probably made it ideal for…for…for.
For. He was leaving it there. He didn't know what Jennifer was capable of, and he wasn't going to find out. Quickly he switched his ear radio on and waited until Lupo picked up the signal.
"Hey," he growled, "Think I know where she is."
.
.
.
"You know," Jennifer said dreamily, "I met him here, right? The band was The Skuzz and they sounded like cats being tortured."
She smiled.
"I like cats being tortured."
With great care Jennifer laid her hand on Vanya's head.
"Human screams are better of course," she said, "And you're screaming a great deal. I think that the lack of bonds makes the psychological pain worse. What do you think?"
"Fuck…you…"
Jennifer took her hand off of Vanya's head and withdrew to survey her work. The nails had been put into her collarbones but it hadn't stopped there. She had been careful to take Vanya's jacket off beforehand, so that she could see her arms better. It was so fortunate that she had been wearing a black tank-top that day.
There were numerous other lacerations, burns, and breaks. Jennifer had hence spared her hands, since she heard that she played the violin and that was probably torture best saved for last, and done her toes instead. After that she had concentrated on the feet and leg bones. Candle wax burns were a favorite for her, as was acid. Still, she hadn't talked.
"You're disappointing," she said, "Come on, this girl isn't worth protecting."
"Already fucked…myself…over from…talking to you…earlier…not going to…bother to…do it…again."
Yeah, the burns on her lips were probably making speech hard. To Jennifer it didn't make much sense. She sighed.
"I've actually exhausted my ideas on you," she said, walking back to the table and taking off some blood-stained gloves, "I've never done that before. I should do it more often, you know?"
This time there was no response.
"I'm going to have to find out another way," she sighed again, "Which is difficult. I doubt I'll be able to get more of that drug. My supplier was very, ahem, specific that it was for you. Still, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Or bones. Or tendons, ligaments, aw, you get the idea."
Searching around on the table she picked up the revolver.
"Just in case though," she said, "I'm going to put one bullet in each of your arms and legs. One goes in the shoulder and one then the last one in the brain. If you talk I may speed it up, or I may not. I'm losing patience."
Jennifer turned to the camera and switched it off.
"I never record the actual murders," she explained, "They're not interesting. Just the torture you know."
She leveled the revolver and took aim. There was a bang and Vanya jerked forward. Three more bangs followed it, followed by corresponding jerks. Just when she was about to put one in her shoulder a voice said;
"Do that again and I'm going to have to rip apart that pretty face you fucking psycho bitch."
It was Kraken.
