Ate had warned him that it would be hard. And he’d believed her. But he hadn’t expected this terrible rush of warm nostalgia. He hadn’t been ready for his heart to balk at the idea of destroying a home. Leaping down from the rooftop, he landed in the street below and moved quickly, clinging to the shadows as he made his way to the back of the shop. His partner, Blush, was on duty alone tonight. And while he knew that the front of the shop had a security camera set up, the back door had nothing. He’d made sure of that long ago when he’d offered Inked Heart up as a potential meeting place for the Dark Kingdom.
After some time, he had made it unseen to the back door and crouched there for a moment, listening. Blush always played black metal when she had a customer. And it was always at volumes designed to wake corpses. But now? Silence. Which, if he knew his partner, meant that she’d be busily going over the books. One last check before heading home.
Irritably wiping the tears from his eyes, Haumea stayed within the shadows, watching the door and listening. This would take excellent timing and a lot of concentration if he didn’t want to alert the whole neighborhood. After a hour of patient waiting, he was rewarded by the sound of a tiny click as the back door was unlatched. Haumea moved then, darting for the back door, thanking Metallia that Blush was a creature of precise and exact habit.
His shoulder hit the door as it began to open, sending him bulling through the entry. A soft, pained grunt told him that he’d timed things almost perfectly. The door had caught Blush on the head, briefly stunning her. Working quickly, he kicked the door shut and pounced on the woman who stood there, blinking owlishly, shaking her head to try and clear it.
Clamping one hand to her mouth, Haumea pulled her back against his chest, his other arm pinioning hers. Blush was slight, wiry. Maybe against Kekipi she could have fought back and wriggled away. Not so with Haumea. His own bulk and augmented strength meant that she could struggle all she liked and not bother him in the least. And struggle she did as her senses cleared and she realized that here was someone who was going to hurt her badly.
Squeezing his hand against her jaw as she tried to rip free to scream, Haumea could feel the delicate bone structure crackle a little as he increased the pressure to keep her silent.
He thought about talking to her, trying to calm her, then dismissed the idea. That was a human idea. And Ate wanted that part of him to be sacrificed for the greater good. Instead, he held Blush tight and concentrated on drawing the energy from her body. It was a pity that he had never been taught to pluck out starseeds. That would have been a finer offering to his Goddess. But the glowing energy orb above their heads would have to do. And as the orb grew, he could feel Blush’s struggles weakening. He waited a little longer, let the orb get a little bigger. Then, he gave it the mental command to send it hurtling for the Dark Kingdom. Only when it was gone did he carefully ease his grip on his soon-to-be-former partner. Taking her head between his hands, he gently smoothed the skin and then, with a sharp turn, twisted her head upon her neck and broke it. Letting the body drop, he wandered through the shop, idly knocking over chemical bottles and turning random tattoo guns on, letting them whirr and vibrate madly.
It was time to make an end.
Rummaging through the back cabinets, he found the box of matches that Blush had kept for lighting her aromatherapy candles. Lighting match after match, he dropped some in the spilled ink, others in the small bin of cleaning rags. More for the furniture and machinery. And soon enough, the shop was beginning to burn. As he stalked back towards the body he’d left on the floor, he hunted out the smoke alarms and ripped them from the walls.
The last few matches were saved for Blush. He didn’t stay to see how she caught fire. Haumea was already out the door, tears streaming silently down his face as he shut the door behind him and hurried away, leaving Inked Heart burning behind him. And as he ran, he pulled a scrap of paper from his fuku and the phone he’d stolen from Blush during his escape. He would text first. After all, it was late and Ate was likely busy.
Matisha
Last human tie is gone. When do we start?
- H
- H
