Page 18 of Ravaged By the Dark (The Righteous 2)
The sound of bone-crunching sent a shiver of excitement down Arek’s spine as he laid another fist into the limp form. The man used to have a face. Now he was reduced to blood, bone, and brain matter. Body-fluid splatter coated Arek’s face and hands, and still, he let his fist fly. He stood breathing a little heavily, and as he took in the lifeless form in the dirty alley, he felt a tiny bit better. Arek picked up the guy’s discarded cell. He loved that it was an old-school flip phone, no fucking passwords to figure out. Looking through the messages, he found his next victim.
Arek’s thumbs flew across the screen.
Yo, I got a dozen extra friends tonight. Meet me at my usual spot.
He waited, and a few minutes later, a one-letter responsewas sent back, “K.”
Playing cat and mouse was always fun. He leaned against the wall and lit his smoke. Taking a drag, he slowly released it into the warm night. He watched it swirl above him and swore under his breath at what an ass he’d made of himself with Renee. He loved her name. He wanted to fucking growl it in her ear as she came all over him.
Man, he screwed up. He’d be lucky if she spoke to him again.
Who the fuck flirts by saying they plan on fucking other women?
He shook his head. She had a kid, or at least he figured it was her kid. A single mom in his world? He should leave that alone. It was like a sacred ground kind of thing he and his world shouldn’t touch.
Nope, none of that mattered. He wanted her and didn’t care if that made him an asshole. The question was, how to win her over? He couldn’t use his normal tactics. That was obvious. But he had no idea how to be boyfriend material. Boyfriend? Was that really what he was thinking? Could he even be exclusive? What the hell would that even look like with his lifestyle?
“What the fuck?”
Arek’s head snapped to the left, and halfway down the alley, he spotted a wiry guy gaping at the body.
“Don’t look at me man, I found him like that and tried to save him. I was just trying to figure out who to call,” Arek said casually. He butted his cigarette out on the wall and stuffed the butt in his pocket. “I don’t exactly like the Po-Po. You know this guy?”
The guy, simply labeled as X in the contacts, was obviously buying his story and stepped closer. X’s eyes were saucers as he took in the gore.
“Yeah, I knew him. He just messaged me. What the fuck happened to him?”
Idiot, don’t you know you don’t give more information than needed?
“No fucking idea.” Arek made sure that his bloody hands couldn’t be seen in the extremely poor light.
“Man, that is fucked up. I’m gonna be sick.”
Arek almost felt sorry for the guy as he puked his guts out. X had a gun stuck in the waistband of his jeans.
Idiot and an amateur.
Arek was on him in two strides. He stripped him of the gun, and as X spun, he placed the barrel between his eyes. A soft trickling sound reached his ears a moment before the ammonia smell of the guy’s piss curled his nose. Sure enough, the front of X’s pants was now wet. He hated piss and shit and puke, but it didn’t matter who he killed—they always did one of the three before the deed was complete.
“What the fuck are you doing, man?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Arek stared into the man’s terrified eyes, the corner of his mouth curling up. “Don’t bother answering that. How about we play a game, and if you win, you get to live, but if you lose…you can figure out the rest.”
“Sure man, I like games. You wanna play like Playstation?”
Arek laughed. That was the funniest answer he’d ever received.
“No,” Arek stifled his chuckle. “This is an information game.”
“Oh, like Jeopardy or some shit?” Arek suddenly wanted to bang his head against the wall. He ground his teeth, praying for patience.
“I want information,” he tried again. “I’m going to ask you a question, and you answer. It’s that simple.”
“So, where does the game part come in?”
Arek’s mouth fell open.
“Are you for real? Just answer my fucking questions.” The guy still looked confused but nodded. “Alright, first question: who is the leader of the Syphon Kings?”
