A Devil in the Dark

Chapter 3 - Blane

"Let's see what they have to say," I said to Vee. "We can surprise them from the bathroom."

If the men left, who knew where they'd go? On a normal day, I could have climbed into my car and followed, but on the way over, I'd noticed that the gas tank was almost empty. One more reason to chat in situ.

But Vee shook her head. "I have a better plan. Let's meet them at the front door."

Hmm, an interesting idea, and one that had the added advantage of cutting off their escape route should they try to run. And they'd left the door open, the fools. It only took a moment for us to slip out of the window and get ourselves into position.

"Knock knock," I called, loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to disturb the neighbours again.

Why not try the civil approach first? If they tried to scarper, then we'd overpower them. Bundling them back inside would only take a second.

Movement in the apartment stopped.

"Wren?" I called. "Are you there?"

Frantic whispers came from inside, and Vee giggled softly.

"They're trying to decide whether to climb out of the window, barge past us, or pretend they're meant to be here," she said softly. "Okay, the guy with the deeper voice is complaining that he won't fit through the window."

How unfortunate.

"Wren, it's Chad. Are you okay? Your door was open."

"Chad?" Vee mouthed.

"Might as well use the name of somebody I don't like."

"The smaller man's going out the window."

"Let him. We only need one."

"Are you sure?"

"It might even be better—no witnesses."

We stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind us just as the second man came barrelling out of the bedroom. He'd planned to flatten me, that much was clear, but he stopped short when he saw Vee. An enforcer and a gentleman? Or just easily distracted?

Whatever, we used his hesitation to our advantage. I grabbed one arm, Vee grabbed the other, and we pinned him against the wall. He struggled. Boy, did he struggle. His eyes said "fuck you," and his body said "steroid abuse." Muscles in his arms bulged, but anger turned to fear when he realised we were both considerably stronger than we looked.

"Wren, you look different. Have you changed your hair?"

He spat in my face. Well, if that was how we were going to play things... I kneed him in the genitals, then dodged to the side as he vomited. Mortals were strangely sensitive about that particular part of their anatomy. Thanks to the abundance of heat and fire in Plane Three, I'd built up a reasonably high pain threshold. Earth had a much more refreshing climate, which was yet another reason I hadn't been too sorry when my father relieved me of my previous job.

But the vomit smelled, and someone would have to clean that up before Wren came home. Thank goodness Joseph was duty-bound to serve me.

"That's not very friendly. Care to tell us what you're doing in Wren's apartment?"

"Go to hell."

"I've been there many, many times, and it's actually not as bad as you might think."

"You tryna be clever?"

"I'm asking the questions. Why are you here?"

Silence.

Vee tried a different approach. "We're just worried about our friend. Either you're also a friend, and you're worried about her too, or you're here for more nefarious reasons. Can you see our dilemma?"