Page 110 of Carnage
I turn around to look at Rue, but his expression is calm, like he’s not affected by Leon’s disgusting words at all.
“Yeah, he said he still wanted me to be his first.” Leon chuckles darkly. “I mean, I’d love to tap that ass of his, but he’s worth more to me on the market. How many times do you think I can sell his virginity before it’s obvious? I was thinking at least three times.” He nods. “Five? You think? I can always try, especially if I drug him so he doesn’t talk. Might as well get my money’s worth after all the trouble he’s caused me.”
I can’t wait to make him bleed.
“Nah, I can tell when he’s lying. He’s desperate to get away from the unhinged dude and sees me as a hero. Too bad he’ll be getting fucked by the grossest man I’ve ever seen the next night. Yeah, rich fucker but he’s kind of fat and has oily skin. That’s why he has to pay to have boys brought to him. He’s disgusting.” He pauses. “Do I feel bad? For what? Making a living is hard on the streets. I’m lucky I’ve found a way to make it a little easier. If this works out, I could get in with some of the bigger operations supplying people for rich men’s kinks.”
He laughs again, and as he does, Rue’s hand tightens around mine. I turn to look at him, and his expression is hard now. “Make it hurt.”
“I absolutely will, precious.”
Leon ends the call seconds later and goes to put the phone on the nightstand, so that’s when I swing the door open, rushing across the small room toward him. He barely has time to react before I have my hand around his throat, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the wall behind him.
“What the fuck!” Leon shouts. “No Neck!”
“He’s already dead,” I snarl, tightening my grip until he coughs. “You thought you could hide from me forever? You thought I’d let you get away with it?”
“With what? Who the fuck are you?”
“Oh, come on, Leon. You know me. I’m the guy you fucking lied to, twice. We had a deal.”
Fear floods his eyes as he struggles against me, but he’s not the strongest guy in the world. “No. How did you—fuck. Rue.”
“That’s right. Rue. Who you think is too naive to figure out what kind of loser you are. Well, you’re wrong. He knows and he’s also smart enough to play you like a preschool video game.”
Before Leon can say anything else, I slam my fist into his face. It’s like someone takes the lid off my can at that point, and I lose it, my eyes clouding over with rage. My body goes on autopilot as I pummel Leon.
He’s moaning and trying to protect himself, swinging wildly or clawing at my arms, but nothing he does can calm me down.
Then I feel Rue’s hand on my back, bringing me back to the present. When Leon sees him, eyes swollen and barely able to hold his head up, he scowls.
“Fuck you. You weren’t worth any of this trouble. You’re nothing but a piece of ass.”
I raise my fist to bash Leon’s teeth in, but Rue holds up a hand, signaling to me to wait. He opens my jacket and unsheathes my knife.
I don’t say a word as I watch Rue in awe.
“Your opinion of me is what’s worthless, Leon,” Rue says, his voice calm and measured. “I’ve listened to you say horrible things about me, but even worse, I’ve heard your plan to have me raped for your profit. There are few things worse than violating someone sexually. I hope you know that to me, all of this was worth it. Because of you being a vile human, I met Carnage, who’s everything, and yeah, I’ve willingly let him fuck me.” He grins. “Lots of times.”
Leon groans and spits at Rue, but it’s all blood at this point. Rue chuckles.
“Gross. You didn’t let me finish. Meeting Carnage was wonderful for me personally, but in the bigger scheme of things,we got to rid this city of more trash. Guess what, Leon? You’re next.”
Rue plunges the knife straight into Leon’s chest. My jaw drops in surprise. I did not expect that. He twists the blade, smirking at a groaning Leon.
“It hurts, right? I bet it hurts being raped too. Or being sold by someone you thought cared about you.”
Rue pulls the blade out, then stabs Leon again, not shy about inflicting pain. He pulls the knife out a final time and hands it to me.
“Finish him. I want to watch him die. I want to know it’s over for good.”
“P-please, Rue,” Leon grunts. “I-I’m sorry.”
“You’re not though. Ten minutes ago you gleefully told someone on the phone that you couldn’t wait to sell me to the highest bidder. You only cared about ‘rescuing’ me so you could get back to your devious plans. Well, fuck you, Leon. I win.”
With that, I drag the knife slowly across Leon’s neck, making sure he feels his skin opening up, his veins and arteries being severed, warm blood gurgling from his wound.
He grabs his neck as I drop him to the floor, and Rue stands next to me as we watch him struggle. Desperate to live, Leon crawls towards the door, but even if he made it to the hallway, he wouldn’t make it much farther than that.
