The Red to My Grey

by William Dudley Berridge Tuckey

  I tensed up as I felt a malicious intent from the beast and psychopaths behind the creature.

  “Raul, you’re too soft. We should just kill them both right now, then the bastard would show up.” A young woman jumped down beside the beast, she would have been completely normal if it wasn’t for the severed human arm that she gnawed away at in her mouth full of sharp teeth.

  “Then he would simply kill us all Cin; violence will accomplish nothing here.”

  Click. Behind us a gun cocked itself back and behind it was detective Swan; he didn’t let the monsters and the gory scene get to him as he faced us.

  “Let them go and nobody gets hurt!”

  The woman laughed at his demands and rushed towards him, leaping into the air to try and kick him in the head, but then suddenly she was met in the air and punched to the ground. Johnson landed next to the detective, short of breath and hardly able to stay on his feet. “Johnny?” Risk yelled as he picked up the girl off the ground and threw her over his shoulder.

  “West? I-I thought you were dead…”

  “You two know each other?” I asked as the situation started to grow more and more wild. He explained they use to be partners in the crimes he used to commit, and they were separated after an accident where West was killed.

  “You bastard, I’ll kill you!” the woman threatened Johnson, although she barely remained conscious.

  *“Sigh.* This is getting us nowhere. Sniff. Sniff.” The talking beast then told everyone to run for it and seconds later deafening roars pierced the night. Next thing we knew there were beasts dropping down all around us, appearing from thin air.

  “You idiots, he wanted you to kidnap her so he could kill us all in one go!” David screamed at the freaks. I wasted no time and grabbed Angel. Johnny and the detective forced any creatures away from us and we all bailed into the detective’s car. As we gunned it away from the scene, I saw an all-in brawl between the freaks and the monsters. The talking monster, Risk and Cin, escaped that night.

  I knew from a phone call I received later that night from Risk who congratulated me on surviving the mess. The next morning the incident was all over the news, the headlines were ‘47 bodies found after sadistic massacre’. Sophia was glad we were safe after seeing us disappear last night while Dad shook his head at the news report.

  “He killed them all huh…I guess he’s still pretty protective of you Angel,” he said calmly.

  “The detective said that Sinclair was just lying in wait, so he could group us up and slaughter us.”

  “I doubt that, son; if he were searching for them, he would have already killed them. This happened because he acted on impulse.”

  I was busy talking with police and had the rest of the week off because of the incident. They made it clear to me they wanted me to keep my involvement in Sinclair’s case to a minimum and honestly, I was laughing on the inside the entire time because I knew there was no way as if that would ever happen. I was already in too deep to back out at that point.

  Chapter Nine

  It wasn’t all too long until Risk contacted me again. It was after I had finished work for the night and I was on my way home. He leapt off one of the two-story hotel buildings and landed on the footpath in front of me. He walked up to me and patted me on the back with a smile on his face.

  “What do you want? Shouldn’t you be in hiding or something? I think Sinclair might be out to kill you.”

  “Hmm na, who cares about that. I came out to ask if you want to have a race.”

  “Huh? Why would I want to have a race? I want to go home; it’s been a long day,” I whined as he was getting himself pumped up.

  “Well, when I was running from you, I noticed you were pretty fast. I thought it could be kind of fun.”

  “Dude, you kidnapped my girlfriend, of course I was going to be fast. That being said, why would I want to have any sort of fun with you?”

  “Hey, it wasn’t my idea to kidnap her. Stop being such a stick in the mud and race me already.”

  “Sigh. Fine, if it will get you off my case. Let’s do this then.”

  We set ourselves and said we’d run to the café down the road, about a kilometre. We bolted as soon as the next car passed, which was our start. I only just kept up with him as I sprinted so fast that my legs felt like they would give out at any second. I looked to his face which had a cheeky grin; everything else besides us was a blur. When we stopped at the front of the café, I pulled out my phone to see not even a minute had passed. My eyes widened at the thought that we might have just broken some sort of record. I struggled to catch my breath while Risk walked around with his hands behind his head, only breathing a tiny bit heavier than before.

  “See, that was fun, right? Ha-ha-ha.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. Huff.” I replied in between breaths.

  I was only beginning to realise how much of a carefree guy Risk was. We sat down on a bench to rest a bit and I spoke with him. I felt like I was in less danger with every passing second I spent conversing with him.

  “You know I’m sure you could have guessed, but I haven’t always been like this.”

  “Yeah, I figured. Johnson said you were once friends?”

  “Yeah, we were, but then…I guess you could say that I died. We were waiting to fight some gangsters, the fight never happened and instead we were chased through Fellbroke by one of those monsters. As we ran, Johnny jumped a fence and I went to follow. Johnny got away, but I was hit with a car that was thrown by the monster. I died two days later from my injuries in hospital and life went on for everyone else.”

  “This hospital, it wasn’t the one out on the outskirts was it?” I asked already knowing the answer.

  “Yeah, it was. So, you’ve been there? Then you should know exactly what kind of stuff went on there. Next thing I knew I woke up covered in blood on a hospital bed and Sinclair was explaining what happened to me.”

  “He brought you back…I doubt it was out of the kindness of his heart. What did he do to make you want to kill him?”

  He softly laughed and looked up to the moon with his bright red eyes.

  “He trained me to use my body how it is now. So, I’m both really fast and strong. Chuckle. I could even be a superhero if I wanted to be, but instead he made me kill people I had never even heard of…more than anything I just missed my parents.”

  “Why don’t you be one?” I asked half seriously.

  “What? The whole superhero thing? Get out of here, you think I could? Na, I see my parents every so often and they’re always happy to see me, that’s good enough for me,” he answered his own question before I said anything.

  “And what are you planning on doing after you kill Sinclair?”

  “Well, I guess I’ll do the same thing you’re trying to do. Find some nice girl, find my own place for the both of us and settle down. I’m getting the vibe you don’t think I can pull off killing him.”

  “You don’t really seem like a killer and the whole revenge thing doesn’t really suit you.”

  “Chuckle. I wish I could agree with you, but I’ve bloodied my hands a few times too many. Well, I should get going. The others are probably shaking in their boots waiting around for me in the open. See ya around, Wade.” Just like that he took to the rooftops and disappeared from sight. I walked the rest of the way home and when I entered through the front door into the lounge room, I noticed the house was quiet. Celia was sitting on the couch with Kitten; they were laughing with one another. I found it odd that they weren’t in their room.

  “Hey, what’s up? Where is everyone? The house is pretty quiet,” I asked, and they told me not to worry and to go try to relax. I didn’t question it too much and after changing out of my clothes drenched in sweat, I rested in my bed. I was flicking through my phone, trying to find any articles related to all the incidents involving Sinclair, both past and present. No matter where I looked, I found no solid connections or he seemed unrelated. I gave up looking into it for the ti
me being and listened to some music and shut my eyes. I was feeling hungry, so I didn’t relax for too long and instead I went to make myself a sandwich in the kitchen. As I walked through the hallway, I passed Nami, Sophia, Anne and Angel; they were all in towels after getting out of the bath. Angel nervously waved at me and I did the same, only to keep walking. I got my sandwich and the house became loud again as the girls fooled around in the lounge room after they were dressed. I went to my room and Angel was lying on the bed in one of my shirts. Her hair was still wet from the bath and dampened the bed.

  “Have you been running again lately? You look more tired than usual,” she asked me as she climbed on top of me.

  “Yeah, I was. On my way home tonight, but I wasn’t in any sort of danger or anything.”

  She hugged me and rested her head beside mine. I could have fallen asleep right then and there if it wasn’t for a loud abrupt scream from Sophia coming from down the hall. “Oh Jason!” We were used to hearing this by now, but it never got any less uncomfortable to hear. I stepped out of my room as I opened the door and yelled down the hall, telling them to shut up. As I did, I turned around to see Celia who had done the same. We couldn’t help but laugh as we faced each other.

  “Hey, give me a sec, okay?” she said to me in a friendlier tone than what I was used to.

  “Um okay, sure.”

  Celia brought Kitten out of her room and went inside mine for a little while, until things eventually quieted down. Celia was wearing some blue denim shorts and a black t-shirt while Kitten basically wore the same, but with black and blue stockings.

  “That was some scary stuff you two got yourself into last week.”

  “Yeah, it was…I saw there was an article about us in the newspaper after the incident. It’s kind of scary to think that eventually all of Fellbroke’s gonna know our names if we keep getting caught up in this stuff,” Angel trembled as she spoke, and we were able to see just how uncomfortable she was with the tension in the air that lingered after the incident. I wasn’t sure what to say to her. I was confident that I was capable of stopping anything too bad from happening to us, but at the same I felt I wasn’t strong enough as a person to promise her anything. I became lost in thought until I noticed the girls were staring at me, including Angel who was leaning against me.

  “Wade, are you alright?” Kitten asked me after I came back to my senses.

  “I’m sorry I zoned out for a bit, what were you saying?”

  “I asked if you two are feeling any better since that night?”

  I didn’t really know how to answer for the both of us. I didn’t have to though as Angel spoke up about her thoughts on the past week.

  “The past week has been scary. Every time I go to work, I think about how I could be kidnapped again or more of my Dad’s monsters could up and appear to hurt those I love…it’s terrifying, but I’m trying not to think about any of that, so I keep on smiling,” she said softly.

  “Sorry Angel, we didn’t mean to open up old wounds.”

  “It’s okay, Celia, you’re just checking up on us the same way we would for you.”

  “Giggle. Angel you’re so humble and honest, beautiful to top all of it off, but here you are in nothing but a plain old t-shirt. I wonder how you do it sometimes, that’s all.”

  “Thank you very much Cat…” She laughed anxiously while pulling down on the edge of her shirt with a rosy blush in her pale face. It was at that moment Anne walked by and saw her like this. She barged into the room from after peeking through the door and tackled Angel against the bed.

  “You? When are you going to be leaving already, freeloader?” Celia yelled at her.

  “That’s not very nice blondie, come to think of it you’re the only blonde in this house.”

  “Ms Anne, that’s a sensitive topic for her,” Cat tried to simmer them down.

  “Why? Because Amy’s not around anymore? I’m just surprised she was the only one to inherit her features.”

  “You knew my mother?” Celia asked in utter disbelief; she wasn’t aware of everything I knew.

  “Yup, only for a short time though, and I never really talked to her all that much, but she always smiled at me. You look a lot like her, those big yellow eyes and that beautiful long blonde hair. The only difference is I haven’t seen you smile yet,” Anne was stern with her. I wasn’t really sure why. Celia looked to the floor, trying not to let her get to her, although it was far too late for that. Anne kissed her on the forehead and everyone in the room couldn’t hide the panic in their expressions.

  “M-Ms Anne what are you doing?” Cat stuttered with nervous sweat running down her face. Angel and I went dead silent as we watched things play out. Celia stayed quiet and she stared Anne in the eyes. Her face was red, and she was very upset.

  “I hate you almost as much as the old bitch that has my dad on a leash.”

  “I’m sorry, it was meant to be a joke. I acted without thinking.”

  Slap. Celia smacked Anne’s hand away as she tried to pet her on the head. Celia looked to the bandages on her hand as it trembled, and a single tear fell from her eye as she walked out of the room. Next thing that could be heard was the door being slammed behind her as she walked into her room and locked the door.

  “Celia! Open the door! I can’t get back inside my house without the key! Sigh. Is it alright if I stay here tonight?” Cat asked us after being locked out of Celia’s room. We both nodded hastily.

  “She hates me now, doesn’t she? Can’t say it feels good,” Anne said softly to herself.

  “I warned you. I’m sorry, she’s not usually like this,” Cat tried apologising for her.

  “No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t just do whatever I want with whoever I want. I’m such an idiot…why am I like this?” Anne continued to put herself from down from the guilt.

  “Anne, are you okay?” She hushed me as I asked.

  “I’m fine! – I’m fine I mean. I’m just sick of screwing everything up.”

  We all noticed the noise from down the hall had been quiet for a little while now. We looked to the doorway to see Sophia in nothing but her bra and panties.

  “S-Sophy? Why are you here?” Anne panicked as she saw Sophia’s eyes burning bright red.

  “Anne!” she screamed slowly and furiously; she knew what happened and was less than impressed. Anne was then dragged away by the back of her shirt into the bathroom and a splash could be heard a few moments later along with some muffled yelling.

  “Mama?” Angel said as she watched her walk off.

  “I see where Angel gets her looks from now…does she do that often?” Kitten was covered in sweat at this point.

  “Simmer down Kitten, a woman like her would eat you alive,” I scolded her.

  “Right, sorry,” she apologised as she ran her hand through her blue hair.

  My bed was cramped with three people that night after Angel insisted that Kitten should sleep with us. I had a lot on my mind as I tried to sleep, how I could make Celia feel better, but also my meeting with Risk earlier that night. Three became four when I woke up that morning. To my left was Angel fast asleep and to my right was the bedroom wall. On top of me was Anne, out like a light. I went to get up, but she squeezed me tight as I moved myself. I saw Dad walk by my room and I got his attention by knocking on the wall.

  “Eh son, do I need to ask about this?” He pointed to me as Angel and Anne smothered me.

  “This is not harem, just pull me out already,” I said in a frustrated tone and he yanked me out of bed with one arm while holding his coffee in the other.

  “That’s a relief then, I was afraid I was going to have to lecture about this kind of stuff, it’s pretty awkward ha-ha-ha,” he laughed as upbeat and moronically as ever.

  “Sigh. Thanks, you know what happened last night, right?”

  “Huh? What happened? Wait, Wade did you really have a foursome…?”

  “No! Get it out of your head, old man!” I went on to explain why Celia
was upset and he finally managed to get up to speed of the conversation. Dad had a set of keys to every room in the house, so he unlocked Celia’s door to see her asleep on her bed. When she slept, she looked like a whole other person entirely and it was the longest we could stare at her without being yelled at. I grabbed Kitten’s things and placed them next to my bed and I started getting ready for work. I made coffee for both Dad and I. After I was finished, I washed my mug in the sink and I went to turn around to talk to Dad.

  “Hey Dad, what time do you think you’ll be home today?” As I said that I saw Celia; she hugged me without saying anything. “Celia, what’s wrong?” I said to her as I tried to look to her eyes hidden beneath her hair.

  “Hug me back or I’ll split that stupid lip of yours.”

  I didn’t say another word and did as she asked. She hugged me for about a minute or so and then walked away. She passed the girls that were just waking up as they were walking through the hallway. She smiled warmly at Angel, and Kitten was ecstatic.

  “Celia, I’m so proud of you! You’re being cute and nice to others!” she yelled in an excited tone.

  “Go home Kitten, I’m taking a day to have some me time,” she said as she closed her door behind her.

  “What’s with her?” Anne asked as she filled a glass of water at the sink.

  “No idea,” Dad and I answered simultaneously.

  I went to work that day like usual and I met up with Johnson in the main lobby of the building and we used the elevator together. I didn’t tell him about my meeting with Risk last night and instead talked about what happened with Celia, both the good and the bad. He didn’t say anything, but he was worried about her as he shook his head. We went to our offices and we noticed Mr Smith touring someone around the office block.

  “Hmm a new employee I suppose?” Johnson said after a quick glance over his office wall.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said casually.

  “And here’s the finance section where our employees, Johnson and Wade, handle and keep track of the company’s spending,” Rex introduced us to a young woman in a navy-blue suit and skirt with dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail. I looked to Johnson and he did the same to me and then we stared at the girl.