INK: Red (INK Trilogy Book 1) (19 page)

"There you go," said the tattooist, pointing at the open door to a sparse but spotlessly clean bathroom. All Edsel wore was a pair of paper disposable slipper-type things, and he couldn't believe how much more he hurt after such a short walk. "Be quick, and be careful. Try to lift a foot up and then swap to the other while you sit, it will mean The Ink won't get as damaged."

"The Ink," muttered Edsel.

"Yeah, The Ink. This is a great honor you know? Once it's done you will be like us, one of us. Bishop thinks you are going to be a valuable member of the Manchester Ward, so don't let him down."

"I won't," said Edsel, shuffling carefully over to the lavatory then turning before he sat.

"A little privacy?"

"You have got to be joking. The door stays open, the gun stays pointed."

"Not exactly conducive to a man answering a call of nature, is it?" said Edsel, hoping the plan would go his way and the man would relent.

The man just shrugged. "You either need to go or you don't, no skin off my nose."

"Fine." Edsel sat on the toilet after lifting the seat, and panicked — now what?

Then it came to him, and he didn't like it one little bit.

Edsel squeezed down hard, trying to will himself to evacuate his bowels even though he didn't need to.

Here it comes, here it comes, this is going to be so gross.

Edsel picked out one of the wet-wipes and moved it behind and to his backside as if to wipe, but instead he caught the feces as it dropped. The wet-wipe was already released into the bowl, as he needed to be sure that he had his own excrement in his hands so he was sure not to miss.

This is not how they do it in the movies.

"Hey."

"What?"

"Catch." Edsel flung the wet lump of feces at the man's face and it hit the mark dead on. The man freaked out big time. Edsel was up and at him in an instant, his body screaming at the fast movement, erupting into agony, feeling the backs of his legs almost rip as he got up from the seat. He pushed his filthy stinking hand right into the man's screaming mouth then smeared the crap splattered all over the man's face into his eyes. The man staggered about screaming and Edsel dodged past him, shoving him from behind and locking the door behind him.

Damn, the bloody gun. No time. Bugger.

Edsel ran — down the corridor, away from the dreadful room they'd given him The Ink in, and to the back of the building. Locked.

He spun around, his body pleading with him to stop and care for the terrible pain that was threatening to send him unconscious, but he ignored it and just ran down the corridor, out into the main part of the church. It was empty, The Eventuals all out performing their duties for the day.

Edsel ran. Out the building, into a light drizzle; naked, tattooed red right up to his neck, one hand covered in his own bodily waste and he had only one thought on his mind.

Kathy.

He ran.

He kept on running until he made it home.

It's all over now. I have a chance to do something worthwhile. Aiden needs me and I won't let him down.

~~~

He pulled up into the drive and couldn't help but smile at the seeming normality of the situation — a nice country home full of provisions and a shot at a decent, hopefully boring life.

So much for the plans of men.

CHASE

"Don't move or I'll put a bullet in his head right now."

Edsel had walked into a nightmare.

He was whistling as he got out of the car, the normality of the sight of Bob's home, the sun shining, the plants in full bloom, bees buzzing about busily, all of it allowing him to believe for a moment that life really could be normal. Happy.

Then his heart had frozen as he walked into the kitchen and saw Bob laying by the stove, blood staining his shirt where his heart once beat, now still forever.

Sorry Bob. I'm really sorry.

Bishop had one arm tight around Aiden's neck, the other held a gun to the boy's temple.

Edsel's world crumbled around him.

I've lost. Lost everything. Again.

"Let him go," said Edsel, surprising himself with how calm he sounded.

"I don't think so, do you? I must say, you look like you've been busy. I wasn't really expecting you back, I assumed you would have been killed the minute you tried to... to what? Get revenge?"

"Something like that."

I got it, fat lot of good it did me.

"Well, no matter. Whatever you did it won't make any difference; you wasted your time."

"So are you. What do you want with the boy? Isn't it me you're after? To finish the job?"

"Oh, we are well past that point my friend. No more Ink for you. Just The Void I'm afraid. You know, I almost didn't bother following you when I saw you heading away from the city, but something told me I should. Now I'm glad I did. When I saw you leave on your own, looking all mean and serious, I just knew that you'd try something stupid, but I can honestly say I didn't expect to see you again, not alive anyway. Aiden and Bob here? Well, we had a nice little chat until Bob decided to try and be a hero, so I had to take care of him. Aiden's been good so far though, haven't you?" Bishop ruffled Aiden's hair; Edsel tried not to show his shock when Aiden just winked at him.

For a kid that's going to get his head blown off he's awfully calm.

Bishop went to move the gun back to Aiden's temple but his arm hung motionless in the air above the boy's head. A look of total surprise came across Bishop's face as veins bulged and his face contorted with the effort of trying to move.

Aiden moved Bishop's hand easily from the hold around his neck and shouted, "Run."

They ran.

Out into the bright afternoon, Aiden going first, Edsel taking up the rear, looking behind them where Bishop was already out the door and pointing the gun.

"Behind the car," shouted Edsel, just as a bullet whizzed past his head. Aiden ducked down on the driver side, and Edsel was there a split-second later. "Good to see you buddy," whispered Edsel hurriedly, before opening the rear door and Aiden jumped in. Edsel yanked open the driver's door and tried to keep low while turning the key in the ignition. The old Suzuki spluttered to life just as the windscreen on the passenger side cracked as a bullet made contact.

This is never going to end. Never. Stupid, they followed us home earlier. Idiot!

Edsel crunched into first gear and turned the wheel sharply to the right, spinning on the gravel drive before finding purchase. He headed toward the gate, gaining speed as fast as possible.

"Keep your head down, lie flat on the seat. And hold on."

Edsel was in third by the time they got to the gate and he spun the wheel hard to the left, not quite making it and catching the hedge. He plowed on through, finally getting back onto the lane, and floored the accelerator as he moved into fourth gear. Edsel glanced in the rear-view mirror and was dismayed to see that there was already a car behind them. It looked like there was more than one of them inside.

Bishop's got company. Not good.

"How many are there? And are you alright? What did you do back there?"

"I'm fine, you look terrible though. Good to see you Edsel; glad you made it," said Aiden, smiling yet looking terrified at the same time. "There was just one man with him. He was out by their car, keeping watch. They parked it around the side of the house and they messed up Bob's lawn. He went ballistic. Then they killed him."

"I'm sorry about Bob, silly old sod. Did they hurt you?"

"Not really, no. That man, Bishop? He was just a bit rough. He knew I was Awoken though, but didn't know I could do what I did. He's quite powerful but I had the element of surprise. I did good, right?"

"Good? You did amazing buddy, amazing. I really thought it was the end for the both of us back there, but... Hang on, here they come."

A fairly rugged Jeep gained on them fast and rammed into the back — Edsel struggled with the steering wheel as he almost lost control of the car.

You have got to be kidding me. There will be a spaceship or something next, or men on motorbikes.

Again. And again. The Jeep kept pulling back a little then speeding up to them and ramming them from behind. The poor Suzuki was going to come apart soon — it looked like it was only the rust that had been holding it together in the first place.

"So, what's the plan?" said Aiden, finally sitting up, leaning forward.

"First, hop in the front, and then get low. It's safer than being back there when they ram us."

Aiden moved into the front quickly and sat down.

"Seatbelt."

"Right." Aiden buckled up and kept his head low.

What a day. What a life. And what the hell are we going to do now? I thought this nightmare was finally over.

Edsel raced through the lanes, overgrown hedges on either side clipping the car, ripping off the wing mirrors and smacking at the already cracked windscreen. He had no idea where the lanes went so was driving blind, and fast.

At least they'll be in the same boat. Gotta think Edsel, have a plan.

They sped on. Luckily the sun was behind them or Edsel knew he would have crashed by now. A signpost indicated a junction up ahead where the narrow lane met a main road and he could really get up some speed. But for how long? Bishop and whoever he had with him would be on them soon enough — they had a lot more power in their vehicle than he did. Edsel met the junction at full speed and hung onto the large steering wheel as he dragged it hard to the right to take the turn.

He righted them and pressed hard on the accelerator until the pedal was down as far as it would go. The speed crept up, but nowhere near fast enough — already he could see that Bishop was gaining on them.

Edsel leaned over and opened the glove compartment. "Okay, you're gonna have to use this." Edsel showed Aiden the gun he'd taken from the church. "Ever use one?" Aiden just stared at him like he was stupid. "Okay, sorry." Edsel fiddled with it while trying to focus on the road, then handed it to Aiden, keeping it pointing forward.

"Do not point it at me, or yourself, ever. It's good to go, just pull the trigger. Now, don't aim for them, aim for the wheels. I'm going to slam on the brakes and you shoot the tires. Okay?"

"What if I miss?" asked a worried looking Aiden, the pressure of the situation clearly getting to him in a big way.

Poor kid, bet he wishes he was at home being bored with Martha. Wish I was.

"Then shoot again, and again, until you hit one. Don't think about it, just point and shoot."

Edsel moved the car over to the right hand lane then slammed on the brakes and they were thrown forward. The seatbelts restrained them and before the other car could react they were alongside it. Aiden leaned out the window and shot at the driver side wheels.

Crack.

He missed.

Crack crack.

"Yes!"

"Got it?"

"Got it," confirmed Aiden.

"Good job buddy."

Edsel drove off as fast as he could, taking the weapon off Aiden then throwing it out the window.

"Hey! What did you do that for?"

"Out of bullets. There were only three."

"What? I could have missed, why didn't you say?" said Aiden, voice rising higher and higher.

Edsel smiled at him. "Would that have made it any better? If I'd said you had three shots and that was it?"

"Hmm, doubt it," said Aiden, smiling back. "Now, what was the plan again?"

"We're going home," said Edsel defiantly.

"Home?"

"To Bob's, that's going to be our home, right?"

"Our home? You mean you and me? Really?"

It nearly broke Edsel's heart to hear so much hope in a child that had been dragged into such a nightmare because of him. He had to find a way out of this, he simply had to. "That's right buddy, you and me. Home."

Edsel took the next right turn and made his way back through the lanes in the direction of Bob's house. It took a few wrong turns and a little bit of bickering over which lane to take — they all looked the same — but they made it.

Now all they had to do was wait for Bishop and whoever was with him to show up.

Looks like I'm going to kill Bishop after all. Hopefully.

The second Edsel saw Bishop he knew he would have gone back for him eventually — there may not have been satisfaction, but it had to be done. Bishop had to die for what he'd done to Kathy.

HOME

On the way back Edsel explained what he assumed would happen, but said he would tell Aiden later about his own adventure earlier in the day, not wanting to get into it at the moment.

Edsel guessed that with their car out of action then Bishop and his partner would make their way to Bob's on foot, so they could get the Seat that Edsel and Aiden had arrived in that morning. It felt like a lifetime ago. Could it really only have been that morning when they pulled up at Bob's and the silly old sod had pointed his empty shotgun at them?

Crazy.

If they were quick then they could get back to the house, hide their car, and hopefully have an actual plan of action by the time The Eventuals arrived.

It wasn't much of an idea, but then, he hadn't had a good one since the nightmare had begun and they strapped him down and started tattooing his feet.

They finally managed to navigate the lanes until they realized they were back on the road leading to Bob's house. A few minutes later Edsel drove a route he felt like he'd already seen a million times. There was the gate again, there was the quaint old house, the flowers and the gravel drive, the blooming borders and ancient oak trees shading the lawns.

It had probably only been twenty minutes since he'd last seen the exact same thing but now it took on a sense of foreboding, rather than optimism and a feeling that life might just turn out alright after all.