Inter 1

The glass clinked gently against the ketchup bottle as the waitress scooped it up from the table, only a couple of ice cubes remained inside it now and they rattled around like a couple of dice.

Leon offered her a polite ‘thank you’ nod. After she left, the tall, sombre man resumed looking at his son as the youngster pawed over the half eaten burger on the plate in front of him. He rested his chin on his closed fist and quietly sighed.

“Come on Joey, please finish up.” He asked sympathetically.

The boy, thirteen years old with a scruff of thick black hair just like his Dad, had his eyes cast downwards at the plate with a half hearted tedium, and scraped the plate with the fork as he ignored his father’s command. He swirled the pool of ketchup around and traced out a long red line along the edge of the plate.

“I don’t need your mother thinking I don’t feed you properly.” The words came out as if he’d already admitted defeat. “And that was the most expensive thing on the menu.”

Leon picked up the mug of coffee, which had lost enough heat by now to make it barely drinkable, and held it in front of him. He would have to drop Joey off in an hour and so far this had not been the bonding experience he wanted. He’d been given two days to try and repair something that had been broken for far too long, something of a gift from his ex, but the whole time Joey had been in a bad mood. Maybe it was unrelated, but it still hurt given how hopeful he’d been about it. They were blood and Leon had been putting a lot of effort into their relationship for the last 48 hours to absolutely no avail.

Just as he brought the coffee to his lips, he was disturbed by something in the cup. Not a piece of food or foreign object floating on its surface, but a number of ripples, as if it had been disturbed. Leon looked up and around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to him nor could he feel anything under his feet. Everyone else also seemed oblivious. Leon looked into the cup again, and there they were, small, unexplained waves moving across the dark liquid.

From somewhere in the back of the restaurant, a plate could be heard smashing. Leon was the first to snap his head quickly towards the source of the noise. His eyes were wide, alert, and a small amount of apprehension was visible in the contort of his face.

Now Joey looked up too, first with a childish smirk but then, after a couple more plates smashed, a confused look. There was clearly something happening behind the swinging door leading to the kitchen and Leon both wanted and didn’t want to find out what.

He stood up, the other dozen or so customers immediately looking in his direction, expecting him to be the hero he supposed. It might have happened, he might have gone to the back room to find out what was going on, but the next sound that came from the back now though wasn’t a smash; it was a yell. And then a scream.

The colour sunk out of his face. Suddenly, he felt an undeniably powerful surge of responsibility for his estranged kid who still sat gazing at the source of the commotion.

“Get up Joey.” He said, reaching forward to grab both his jacket and his sons, pushing the latter into Joey’s arms as he got up stiltedly from the chair. “We need to leave!”

Leon spun on his heel and took two steps to reach the front door, beating all the other customers to it and making sure to usher his frightened son through first. As he did so, he took a final look back, but he saw something that took his breath away.

The kitchen entrance had been pulled from its hinges and the thing that appeared from the other side was not of this world. It had a long head like that of a horse except much larger, but instead of a smooth shape the outline was jagged and dragon like. It was mostly in silhouette somehow, despite the cool glow of many overhead lights in the serving area, but two eyes were set in the top half of the dark shape. They glowed a deep, exotic red, like two pieces of coal that glowed with searing heat. It terrified him because he felt like they were staring directly into the very depths of him and for a second he couldn’t escape.

Joey’s hand locked into Leon’s suddenly and he felt his son pull him, though did not hear the words he shouted, and suddenly he was able to move again, to pull away from the strange creature only a few feet away. Leon ran.

Chapter 15

Read from the start here: Chapter One

The house ahead of him blended in well between both of the houses next door. It was one of a terraced row of cottages, built approximately six decades ago during the last major development of the district, each one perfectly presented and designed not to stand out too much from its neighbours. Whenever he’d walked down these streets as a young teen, he imagined that behind each door lived the very model of happy family. Kids like him, perhaps with a sibling or two, but living under the care of two happily married parents. Not once had he considered that these people could have problematic lives and their own secrets and anguish to contend with, but even in his worst situations he was an optimist. It was the only thing that kept him going.

Dane strode across the street towards his destination from the other side, gripping his daughters ID card in one hand, briefcase in the other, while scanning the number on the brightly coloured front door. The two sets of digits matched.

A café about a hundred yards away up the street would have provided ample means to observe the new setting from a distance. From the roof he could watch his daughters address for any signs of activity, seek out weaknesses and escape routes, track its inhabitants, etc but he didn’t have any time to waste. If he wanted to take Cam down, first he must make sure his daughter was safe, and his rival was already making moves.

Dane casually approached the front door and hammered on it three times. A moment of silence passed, but then a voice, noticeably male, squeaked out from behind it.

“Who is it?”

“I need to speak to Pandara.”

“She’s not here, sorry.”

Something inside Dane’s head seemed to unclench, and he suddenly realised he’d been holding onto the hope of finding her this easily. The optimist inside of him had apparently never died.

“Then I’d like to speak to you. I have some information.”

A few long seconds passed, all the while Dane wondered if the unknown occupant would buy into the lie. Eventually, the telltale hiss of the servient lock signalled the door being opened from within. A narrow crack materialised between the frame and the door, through which a shaken man, Callum, appeared.

“What inf-“ Was all the man was able to get out before Dane brought his might down on the door, pushing both it and Callum backwards. The force of the hit was so hard that the door reached the end of its arc and immediately bounced back, giving Dane just enough opportunity to slip inside before it slammed shut behind him. The man was on the floor, looking at Dane with bloodshot eyes wide enough to mimic a cartoon character and a chin full of bristles. A half empty bottle of a wood coloured liquid fell to the floor, presumably from the guys hand, and spilled its contents onto the cream carpet.

“You’re with them aren’t you?!” Callum yelled, panic flushed through his entire face, as he quickly retreated on his behind, frightened. “You can keep the money!”

“What money?”

Callum paused as his back suddenly connected with the wall. Dane stepped forward and towered over him, briefcase still in hand, which Callum couldn’t stop staring at.

“Tell me your name.”

“…Callum.” The volume of his voice was now so low it was barely audible.

“Do you live here?”

“Yes, this is my house.” A nervous gulp accompanied his response.

“How do you know Pandara?”

“She’s my wife.”

Dane pulled out the ID card from his pocket and thrust it forward, holding it about six inches from Callum’s face.

“You’re definitely married to this woman?”

After flinching, he reluctantly nodded in reply. “That’s her, that’s Pandara. Technically we’re separated, but we’re legally still husband and wife.”

“Where is she now?”

“She doesn’t live here any more. She hasn’t for a few weeks, I don’t even know where she lives now!”

Dane paused and looked away. He’d come to this place so confident that he’d be able to find her, to rescue his own blood and keep her safe while he dealt with the situation, but he had failed. Instead, he’d found an ex husband who hadn’t seen her for weeks and no idea where to go next.

A wedding photo, large and elegantly framed, was hung up above the spot where Callum sat quivering. Pandara stared right at him with a huge grin on her face, a veil draped over her head and shoulders and a long, creamy white dress reaching down to the floor. He had no doubt now, after seeing this picture, that she was indeed his daughter. The picture on her ID card was a little pixelated and hard to distinguish but now, staring at the portrait, which was as clear as a freshwater pond, it was unmistakeable. She was the image of him, yet with much softer features. Most of all she had the same eyes, the same distinctive shape, striking green colour with a little crinkle in the corner.

The two dimensional Callum stood next to her looked like a different person; clean shaven, a toothless smile and proud. The photo didn’t even look that old, maybe two years and change, and yet the situation between the two people had transformed. Dane couldn’t help but wonder why. It was unlikely that the answer to that hid some sort of clue as to where she would go now though, and in fact he had no idea if this pathetic excuse for a person by his feet would be able to give him any more information, and yet it dawned on him that this was his last hope. There was no other solid lead to follow up.

“Look,” Callum began, suddenly a lot louder, as if summoning a little courage. “Are you with him?”

Dane didn’t reply. Instead he stared down menacingly, waiting for him to speak again. It was a trick he’d discovered a while ago. Frightened people, when left without any conversational direction to follow, always give away too much.

“You are, aren’t you?” Callum’s eyes seemed incapable of looking directly at Dane. “I recognise your case.”

Dane couldn’t stop himself. Instinct took over, and he reached out his arm to pick Callum up by the throat, raising him up until his legs dangled a few inches off the ground. Callum tried to pry Dane’s arms off but it was useless, so instead he tried to brace himself against the wall for some sort of relief, while he struggled for breath.

“Why did you meet with him?!” Dane’s voice was intense, but he refrained from turning it into a shout. The last thing he wanted was to attract any neighbour’s attention. “I warn you, if you lie now, it will be the last one you ever tell.”

Callum tried to reply but instead all he managed was a struggled gurgling sound. Dane loosened his grip ever so slightly.

“Pandara… *gasp* we talked about… Pandara.”

Dane subconsciously strengthened his grip, and watched as the man’s lips began to pale and his eyes widen. All he could think about was how this man, who promised to love his daughter and treat her well, had conspired to kill her with the help of a vicious, calculating monster by the name of Cam.

“To murder her?!” His volume rose a little but he controlled it… just.

“I can’t-!”

In an uncontrolled expression of anger, Dane swung Callum around and let him go with enough momentum to reach the empty space beneath the floating staircase at the edge of the hallway a few feet away, taking a hit in the shoulder from one of the steps before he landed.

Callum immediately brought up his uninjured arm to assess the damage, but Dane had already grabbed him again using his shirt, before coming to any sort of conclusion other than it hurt like hell.

“Answer me!”

“It was that man!” Callum spoke quickly and this time the two men looked directly at one another. “He showed me pictures. I didn’t believe she’d cheat on me for one second but… he showed me pictures. We were separated but I still cared about her, and I thought we’d sort things out. She even told me the same thing. But he turned up out of the blue and showed me it was all lies!”

Tears rolled down his cheeks. Dane didn’t relent; he’d seen far too many crocodile tears being shed by many a lying rat.

“He told me he’d do me a deal if I hired him right then to take care of her,” Callum stifled the sobbing as much as he could. “But I didn’t want to. Then he said that he couldn’t let me go free because I knew his face and the risk of exposing him was too high, so I begged him to let me reconsider. He agreed that he could leave me go if I hired him because of, uh…, client something, client confidentiality clause, something like that, so we could keep our business private. Then he made me transfer some money into his account and held a knife to my throat until I did so I had no choice.”

Dane had spotted it as soon as he’d laid eyes on the man, but it only made sense now; the thin red mark on Callum’s throat. It appeared to be about a week old, and was where the knife had bitten a little too deep for a showy threat, but taking things a little too far had always been Cam’s preferred style.

Dane dropped Callum to the floor.

“I didn’t want anyone to kill her, but he kept showing me the pictures, over and over…” Callum closed his eyes and went to another place inside himself for a moment. When he opened them again, he had calmed down a little. “I didn’t want to die, so I gave him all the money I could. I wanted to warn her, to tell her, but I thought if he didn’t go through with it, he’d know… then he’d come after me instead. That’s why I didn’t tell the police either! I’m so sorry…”

Callum’s eyes lingered on the bottle that was now nearly empty next to him on the floor. Dane watched him for a moment. He was on the verge of turning into a thug right now, to take out his anger on the man in front of him, who’d helped put his own daughter in harms way. However, as furious as he was, he was capable of seeing that the incident had been orchestrated by one person, and it wasn’t the one sat in front of him.

“Please understand that it was the last thing I wanted for her.”

He seemed defeated. However, a few seconds later, his face lit up, as if remembering something important. Callum looked up at Dane.

“But she’s alive! Y- They must have tried to kill her earlier on, but she survived. I saw her approximately half an hour ago.”

”Why?” Came Dane’s response, solidity in his voice.

“I’m still her emergency contact. I guess she hadn’t changed it yet, and so when the hospital took her in after the accident, they called me and asked me to collect her, so I did. I brought her back here because… I didn’t know where else to take her or what else to do.”

“Where is she now?”

“I don’t know, she stormed off. We argued…” Callum trailed off. Dane wasn’t prepared to wait for the information this time though.

“Did you tell her what you did?”

Callum shook his head nervously.

“Then I’ll make sure she finds out.”

With that, Dane swung the briefcase, aiming it at the back of Callum’s head. It immediately knocked him out, and his head fell down between his legs.

Dane stood up straight, trying to find a place in his mind where he could calm down. It was fruitless; this new information had bust things wide open, and yet he was no closer to finding his daughter. The fact that Cam had been involved wasn’t new information, but it bothered him to know that he had used his daughter’s husband against her. The ultimate betrayal. There was clearly no limit to the man’s villainy. Yet even knowing that, things still didn’t quite fit, like a broken vase glued back together. If Cam had wanted to simply hurt him, why didn’t he just kill Pandara himself? And why did he bring the briefcase with him to meet up with this guy? That wasn’t standard protocol, and usually the rifle was kept under careful watch as to ensure no unauthorised use. It felt as if Dane had somehow gotten even further away from the truth.

At that moment, a knock came at the door, but in contrast to his own just moments ago, this was one was quiet and calm. Dane decided he would ignore it, especially considering Callum’s passed out body lay in a heap right in the centre of the hallway. Instead he would sneak out the back garden, make his escape unseen, and resume his mission to track his daughter’s whereabouts. Somehow.

“Ms Freid, are you there?”

Dane froze. Somebody else was looking for Pandara. Might Cam have people under his thumb? The voice was faint, but Dane identified it as male. Possibly an older register too.

The knocking resumed briefly and again stopped. A thought tugged at Dane’s conscious; he’d been presented with a potential chance to glean some more information about his daughter, but it wasn’t without its risks. Besides, he didn’t want to have to dish out any more aggression than was necessary, and already he was accountable by one witness. But he’d been left with no other avenues right now.

Before he knew it, he was at the door and had created a sliver of a crack through which to peek through. In front of him stood a much older man, holding a small brown paper bag and looking very cheerful. As his eyes fell upon Dane, his expression changed from happy to wary.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was hoping to speak to Ms Freid. Is she here?”

Dane shook his head.

“Oh right. Well how about Callum?”

“He’s out right now. Can I help?”

The man looked down at his paper bag, and back up to Dane.

“Do you know what? I’ll just call back later. Thanks for your time.”

The man turned around, but Dane opened the door a little wider and reached out to grab his shoulder. Nothing too aggressive, at least not yet. Not until it was necessary.

“I might be able to help, why don’t you come in?”

The man had sensed Dane’s lie, he was sure of it. The man looked nervous.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just- this is where they live, correct?”

“What’s in the bag?”

“This? Oh, just some personal items, I was going to hand them to Ms Freid but as she’s not here I’ll come back later.”

“I’ll take them and give them to her when she’s back.”

“No, honestly, it’s not possible. I must give them to her directly I’m afraid-”

Suddenly, the man froze mid sentence and his face momentarily flashed with shock. He pulled it back quickly but it was too late; Dane had seen it. He immediately realised that as he’d reached forward to grab the man, he’d let go of the door which had now swung fully open to reveal Callum lying down inside.

“I’d better be going now, thank you.”

Dane was still resting his hand on the man’s shoulder, so before he escaped Dane’s grip, he squeezed his fingers and pulled him back towards the house. The visitor was clearly about to cause a scene but Dane had already discarded the case and used his now free hand to cover the guys mouth and was now dragging him quickly into the house, quietly shutting the door with his back after the two of them were fully inside. Dane let him go but stood between him and the only visible escape route.

“I won’t tell anyone what I’ve seen.” The man protested, but calmly so. He offered up no resistance or show of fear, presumably due to his age and the fact the odds were stacked against him winning. “Please just let me go.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Ms Freid’s doctor.”

“Why are you here?”

“I’m sorry but I can’t answer that due to doctor patient confidentiality.” Clayton replied, still in a very controlled manner.

“I’m her father. You’re going to tell me.”

“I can’t, it’s impossible. She’s not a child, I require her permission to talk about her condition.”

“Condition? Is she hurt?”

Dr Milne paused. Dane saw something of an internal debate going on inside the man’s head.

“Tell me or you’ll be joining your friend over there.” Dane gestured to Callum’s unconscious form by the stairs. He didn’t like how this was turning out at all. Despite everything he did for a living, his feelings on violence were complex and conflicting. Murdering people was a brutal, unforgivable business, and it was the only thing he knew how to do. He’d had told himself he had no other option in order to survive. This though was about convenience. He wasn’t some brutal machine who went around injuring those who got in his way, he was supposed to be smarter than that, but time really was of the essence and having the law chasing after him again was a risk that he couldn’t afford to take today.

“I can’t tell you.” Spoke the man after deliberating on his situation. “But… perhaps if you were to let me go, there may be another way for you to find out what you need to know.”

Clayton’s eyes never left Dane’s glare as he dropped the brown paper bag onto the carpet by his feet. “My my, I’m awfully clumsy today.”

The fear was definitely present in the old man, Dane could smell it, but even he was surprised at how ballsy the stranger was being. This man really did want to get out of here.

“I’d best be leaving here before my colleagues wonder why I haven’t come back. I’m due back very shortly, and they’ll surely alert the authorities as soon as they realise.”

Dane wondered if he could trust this man not to talk. He seemed smart, and he knew enough to be frightened, but could he risk his face getting out there? Especially with all the above ground work he had to do today.

The doctor made a couple of steps towards the door, passing beside Dane.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go.” Dane said, turning to face Clayton.

“I swear I won’t-“

And with a swift and unexpected movement, the briefcase connected with its second victim of the day.