Thirty-One
Her Phantom
Sin
W e followed Sebastian to the older side of downtown. Where the crime rate was high and dirty shit went down. A place where he didn’t fit in, and I wondered what he was up to.
No kids walked down the streets, but they weren’t empty either. Homeless roamed, hookers were getting stoned, and pimps drove in flashy vehicles. Expensive ones like ours so we blended in, but it was a goddamn mess down here.
Without warning, the cab jerked to a stop. I watched as gas fumes coated the dark night on the other side of the street and the hormone-induced donkey got out of the taxi. He threw his arms up and tossed some money at the driver. The door slammed shut, and the cabbie gave Sebastian the middle finger .
“Jesus. The asshole causes havoc wherever he goes,” Saint mumbled beside me as Sebastian pounded a fist down onto the roof of the cab and it took off.
Its tires squealed, but Sebastian couldn’t care less. He turned his short, broad frame toward the alleyway. Dim lighting shone down on it, but he walked into the dark. Bastard will be sorry he did.
“ A-hm, ha-hm, ha-hm… ” I hummed as I turned off the car and got out.
Saint hummed along as he exited the car and fell in step beside me. “ A-hm, ha-hm, ha-hm… ”
We were night crawlers in action, stalking our mark—an egotistical jerk-off who feared nothing as he walked toward his fate and into a crime infested corridor. But he’d soon experience terror from us.
Saint and I wandered from the edge of the alleyway, spying from behind a brick wall. Sebastian met with a highly suspicious character wearing a black hoodie. Tattoos littered his hands as he passed him some pills in a plastic bag, and Sebastian handed him a wad of cash.
I knew it.
The donkey does roids. He pumped himself full of pills and didn’t pump weights at the gym. The asshole was a blown-up balloon full of hot air and we’d pop his ego flat .
The drug dealer made the exchange and left our prey with his illegal substance. The man with the hood over his head paid no attention to us as he strode out of the alley and down the sidewalk. Dollar bills circulated in his pea-sized brain until he met up for his next deal. Hopefully, a big drug bust.
Sebastian was too busy popping his pills as we came out of hiding and blocked the way he came. Saint stood beside me, and we locked our eyes straight ahead on our target. His drug addiction consumed the idiot. Time to gather his full attention with our favorite song.
I sang in a low unrecognizable tune, “ A-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go… ”
Finally, the fucker looked up. He didn’t even hide his pills, and within the dim lighting, I could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Good. He was nervous.
“What the fuck do you want?” Sebastian asked.
But we didn’t answer and took one step forward.
“What do you want? Candy?” Sebastian questioned in annoyance and stepped toward us. “Well, I don’t have any! Now get lost!”
Saint glanced over at me and crooned, “ heigh-ho, the derry-o— ”
“Get the fuck out of my way, you lunatics!”
Lunatics ?
This asshole called us crazy? Oh, he was about to meet his worst nightmare.
We quickly moved forward a step with a grunt, and the jackass jumped. Startled, Sebastian moved backward like a stray dog with his tail between his legs. Phony-ass bitch.
“Okay… Okay… You want money?” Sebastian asked as his voice trembled, and he extended his wallet. “Here. Take it.”
I shook my head.
“Okay, um…” He shoved his wallet back in his pocket and extended his drugs. “Here. Take my pills. I can get—”
I grunted and shot forward until a squeak echoed down the alleyway. Sebastian stumbled and lost his footing, falling to the ground. Saint laughed as Sebastian scurried back to his feet, and he repeatedly searched behind him. There was nowhere to go and no place to hide. He had no choice but to meet his fate.
We cornered our little donkey at the dead-end, with our masks surely giving him a fright. In the process of his pointless escape, he dropped his roids, and we trapped him up against a tall chain-link fence.
“P-please… I could give you anything you want. Just let me go. I—”
Not so big and tough now. Are you, Mr. Chamberlain?
I snapped my fingers, and he shut the fuck up. My head tilted to the side, and I watched as the fucker pissed himself right in front of us. I bet he wet his bed as a kid.
The lighting was enough to catch the embarrassment he felt cross his face. The shame he had excited me; it was a rush I had been impatiently waiting for, a thrill I took great pride in as Saint reached out and clenched his throat, his hand wrapping right around his windpipe.
“Fuc—” Saint didn’t let him finish as Sebastian gasped for air, and he struggled against his hold.
But he was no match for my buddy.
His hands could thrash, he could kick his puny legs, and he could fight. Saint would only squeeze tighter until he broke his trachea, but I’d love to watch. To observe as his eyes filled with fear of his oncoming death. All bloodshot and gross while they popped out of his head from the force. His face would turn red, and his mouth would be wide as he clung to hope for a breath of air. Then his body would go limp with the struggle he tried to keep up gone. Lifeless. Dead.
But I had no such luck.
So, I continued our song. “ A-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go… ”
Saint sensed the end and let go. Sebastian dropped to the ground as he brought a hand up to his throat. The other held up his weight on the asphalt as he panted at our feet. We peered down at him as he probably gathered his whereabouts after he almost blacked out.
“Jesus Christ!” he choked out. “You could’ve fucking killed me!”
Believe me. We want to. So fucking bad the idea of your death pained our souls.
“ We’ll catch the jackass and… ” Saint added.
“What the—AH!” I stomped on his left hand, cutting short his tangent and causing him to cry out in pain.
I sang, “ Crack some limbs… ”
Sebastian cracked like a twig. The delightful sound of another bone breaking filled the nighttime air as Saint stomped on his right hand before he could even hold himself up. The howls of agony were music to our ears as we heard another crack when his face hit the ground.
We bent down as Saint grabbed Sebastian by the hair, and we admired his ugly gravel-beaten face. The shitbag mumbled something incoherent, and I spit in his face. His low-life, useless existence deserved an end, but we couldn’t yet. We’d make sure he suffered in the meantime, and our girl could live without fear of him.
“ And never have him hurt again. ” I ended our song with a punch to his face and it was lights out for Mr. Sebastain Chamberlain. He went limp, and at least I got my one wish. But he deserved far worse.
“Grab his wallet. Make this look like a robbery,” Saint said as he pushed his face into a muddy puddle and flipped him over as if he was a rag doll.
“Got it.”
We peered down at the prick who hurt Liv with our fists clenched, ready to strike again, but we held back. This was all for her. To protect our girl from this monster who lived under the same roof as her. If she wouldn’t let us kill him for her, then we’d bide our time until we could. Sebastian was a dead man walking with broken hands, and he wouldn’t be able to use them to hurt her anytime soon.