The Shortest Straw
The ringing began, dull at first, but it gradually built up until the sound rebounded around on the inside of his skull. Alex groaned a little and tried to open his eyes to locate the source of the ringing. He felt his eyelids open but also felt the coarse material that they scraped against on their way upwards. When no light welcomed his despairing eyes he knew for certain that he’d been blindfolded. It was either that or he’d been blinded and he didn’t remember anything that could have blinded him.
Next on the top of his agenda was to figure out why he heard ringing in his head. Was it just on the inside of his head or was it from outside? He tried to concentrate when the ringing was intensified suddenly. He groaned audibly and the ringing intensified once again. His suspicions were correct; the source of the ringing was an outside factor. He waited a couple of seconds before the ringing intensified again but this time he forced himself to concentrate on what could have made the sound. It sounded like it was being struck… a bell. Someone was ringing a bell next to his ear.
He didn’t know why they’d do something like that but then he heard the bell ring again and it hit him hard. The pain lanced through him from the core of his brain, all the way to the ends of his eyes. He groaned a little louder than the last time and the bell was rung even more forcefully than the last time. He cringed but it had helped him figure it out. Pain. They were trying to get him to hurt for some reason.
The bell didn’t sound again straight away. After a few seconds Alex began to relax a little. It must have shown in his sitting posture because the next thing he knew the bell was being struck repeatedly and with impressive strength. Alex recoiled from the sound as if it were a physical assault when suddenly pain erupted from the outside of his head. Something sharp had hit the top of his head with force and Alex could see white spots in front of his eyes as his warm blood began to slide down from the crown of his skull to the rest of his face and head. There was another clang that reverberated around inside his head before silence.
A strong hand grabbed hold of Alex’s shoulder and pulled sharply. Alex fought back a gasp as he was forced to unstable feet. The powerful guidance of the hand continued and the owner of the clutching fingers almost dragged him along. Without much care or ceremony he felt himself being pushed down and backwards. His backside collided solidly with a tough, flat, surface. His wrist were seized and pulled behind his back before being tied with something thick a rough, most likely docking rope for one of the port’s sailing boats. He tired to move his hands but the bonds held him tight. His struggles were noticed however and the air escaped his lungs at an alarming rate as a fist with a mammoth amount of force behind it slammed into his gut. He gasped and panted for air for a few seconds before he spat out a thin, metallic liquid from his mouth. He ran his tongue over his teeth and tasted the liquid. Blood. Made sense considering his weakened state and the force behind the attack. The loud sound of metal leaving the surface of metal made Alex turn his head towards the direction of the sound. A heavy metal door opening if he had to guess. Soft footfalls came next, a pokegirl or human female, followed by two sets of heavier footfalls, either men or bigger pokegirls. He hoped he was dealing with three humans but he knew that the one who’d been torturing him so far was most definitely a pokegirl. Humans just weren’t that strong. One of the sets of heavy footfalls didn’t stop when the others did and, indeed, seemed to be growing louder. Alex didn’t move a muscle as they came to a halt directly in front of him.
Their breathing was slow and steady. This person was obviously very calm about the position that he was in. After all, Alex was the one blindfolded with his hands tied behind the chair he was sitting on. A strong, almost tangy, smell drifted over to Alex lazily. Aftershave. This was indeed a man, a big one if the weight behind his footfalls were any indication. A small intake of breath,
“You seem to have fallen into the wrong neck of the woods my friend.” Came the rough and gravelly voice. The smell of fish wafted through the air and assaulted Alex’s nose. He wrinkled his nose at the smell and the man took another intake of breath, more uneven than the first one. Alex’s reaction had agitated him, “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
A pun. Not only a pun but an obvious reference to Alex’s fight with the Cheshire early. It could have been only a few hours ago or even a few days ago but Alex wasn’t likely to forget it. His mouth twitched into a small smile as an idea formulated in his head. He widened his smile and heard the man take a different type of intake of breath, a lighter one. He was smiling as well,
“I see you’re not feeling too bad after your little head troubles.” The fish reeking man noted. Alex tried to chuckle but his throat was too dry. A low grating sound escaped him instead,
“She ain’t got my tongue… but I might’ve gotten hers.” He managed to rasp out. The pokegirl in the room growled deep from her throat. Alex made a mental note of her position from him by the sound alone. The pokegirl, quite obviously the Cheshire from earlier, hissed at him,
“You’re lucky to be alive you bastard.” She cursed at him. Another voice came from a little further into the room, this one soft and obviously female,
“Susan! Watch your tongue!” the girl demanded of the pokegirl in stern, motherly, tones. The pokegirl made a noise of discontent before falling silent. The man in front of Alex moved a little, something that Alex could faintly pick up on by the sound of his clothes moving,
“Go and wait topside Susan. I’m not having you screw this interrogation up just because he gave you a little cut.” The man commanded. The pokegirl made a sharp intake of breath, probably to refuse, when the girl spoke up again,
“Susan. You will go and wait topside for us.” She repeated. The pokegirl didn’t make a sound but Alex could sweat he heard a slight Pop! A teleportation if Alex ever did hear one. Alex turned his head back to face the man in front of him,
“If that Cheshire’s your pokegirl then I suggest you learn to control her better.” He said with a small smirk. The man chuckled lightly,
“You’re pretty confident for a man who’d tied up to a chair with a blindfold on. Who are you to comment on my pokegirl skills?” he demanded, his voice still quite calm. Obviously still thinks he’s in control… thought Alex as he slowly rotated his left wrist. The other man in the room chuckled,
“He’s an agent for the Agency. He’s been trained.” It explained with a chuckle. Alex noted the distance between him and the other man and chuckled bitterly along with him,
“That’s right… but so were you Ross.” He countered. Ross didn’t respond for a couple of seconds and when he did his voice was serious,
“Don’t try anything stupid Alex. Just answer our questions.” He recommended. Alex scowled but didn’t say anything as he kept rotating his left wrist back and forth. The man in front of his sighed and the stench of fish hit Alex again,
“Not that sibling rivalry isn’t fun or anything but can I just begin with the questions now? I didn’t finish my salmon sandwich.” He complained. Alex wrinkled his nose,
“Please do. Let them smell your bad fish breath.” He said cockily. The man chuckled,
“Nice… real nice.” He said patronizing. The fist slammed into Alex’s stomach and once again blood flew from between his teeth. The man flicked the blood that had landed on him back onto Alex’s face. Alex groaned,
“The cat…” he tried to say. The man leaned in closer, the smell growing stronger as he did so,
“Yes?” asked the man expectantly. Alex smirked,
“Punched harder than you.” Finished Alex with a sense of satisfaction,
“Smart move.” The man countered. Alex waited for the punch but the girl spoke before it could be thrown,
“Get on with the questions! I’m getting really tired of all this macho bullshit!” she shouted. The man in front of Alex sighed,
“Fine. First question is kinda redundant. We know exactly who you are.” He patted Alex’s cheek, “We want to know where your pokegirls are hiding. Are they ready to try and ambush us as we speak?”
Alex held his head back and let out a hoarse laugh,
“Did you guys not find my earpiece?” he asked. The man in front of him didn’t speak for a second,
“What earpieces?” he asked, confused. Alex laughed and turned to where he’d established Ross was standing,
“Your searches have gotten sloppy brother!” he declared. Alex twisted his left wrist a final time and his left arm slipped free. Ross shouted a warning but it was too late. Alex pushed off from the ground with now rested legs and cleared the chair entirely. Once landed Alex kicked out and his foot connected with the chair as planned. The chair left the ground and a second later there was the sound of splintering wood and cried of pain. Still going according to plan.
He turned on the spot quickly to get his bearings on his mind mapped layout of the room. When he was sure about which direction he was facing he ran forwards quickly. He heard the woman gasped somewhere ahead of him and Ross’ footsteps behind him and knew he’d chosen correctly. He carried on going until he could hear the woman’s jewelry, probably a necklace. With that trigger he side stepped and rolled around the side of the woman, spinning so that he was facing her back. With strong authority he grabbed hold of the loose end of rope and wrapped it around the girl’s tender neck. All groans of pain and footsteps suddenly stopped. Alex took this as an opportunity,
“If either one of you so much as moves a muscle then I snap her neck like a twig!” he shouted to the room in general, the silence losing him his mind map of the room. The girl struggled to breathe and Ross decided to speak up,
“Alex… let’s not do anything hasty… think about what you’re doing!” he advised his brother. Alex growled and pulled a little more on the rope, the girl struggled vainly,
“Don’t bullshit me Ross! I know what I’m doing! I’m going to walk out of this place with her or she dies before she hit the floor!” he roared, again, at the room in general. The other man seemed to be getting up, if the sound of wood hitting the floor was any measure. The man growled low at Alex,
“Let my sister go you piece of-“
“You really think you’re in the position to demanded anything?!” Alex interrupted, “’Cus she fucking well doesn’t!”
Ross shouted over the both of them,
“Calm down Alex! We can talk about this! If you kill her then you’re a dead man! You can live through this!” he shouted. Alex cackled, almost crazy with the idea of dying at the hands of his brother,
“I’m dead anyway! This is my Slutten Ross!” he roared. Ross took a step forwards,
“You fool! Why did you accept the mission?!” he challenged. Alex tugged at the rope,
“Take another step and she dies!” he threatened. A shiver ran down Alex’s spin and he realized his mistake too late. Yuka. Alex looped the rope back over the girl’s head and pushed her forwards. But before he could bolt in the direction of the door powerful hands wrapped round his shoulders and two sharp points latched into the soft skin of his shoulder. He screamed in pain as his brother’s trusted Vampire sucked the life from his shoulder. Without thinking he lashed out with his fist, one of his knuckles connecting with Yuka’s nose. The pokegirl let out a vicious cry and let go of him. Alex, although dizzy and confused from the loss of blood, still knew where the door was and he bolted for it now. His hand grabbed the handle after a second or two of floundering and he yanked it open more by will power than by actual operation of the handle itself. The door yielded and Alex slipped through it as soon as he thought he possibly could. Once on the other side of the threshold he pulled the door shut quickly shut behind him and finally managed to find the lock, more by dumb luck than by design. With that done he turned and began to make his way down what seemed to be never ending corridors of metal grating.
The brig’s door flew off its hinges violently and went clear across to the other end of the corridor. The incredibly pissed off Vampire stood in the doorway for only a second before she was recalled by a red pokeball beam. Ross stood in the doorway instead and shook his head,
“This was supposed to be a simply interrogation Jordan! How did you manage to fuck this one up?!” he shouted at the bigger man. Not only was Jordan taller than Ross but he was also bulky enough to be a body builder. Ross himself wasn’t a small man but he was towered over by Jordan. Jordan smiled a little,
“We hold all the cards though Ross. He’s not got any pokegirls. He’s bleeding badly. He’s still wearing your Succubus’ charmed blindfold isn’t he?” he pulled the woman close to him in a bear like embrace, “And we’ve got a Vampire. A Vampire is better than a Hound for tracking blood for Sukebe’s sake! He’s stuck on a water bound tanker ship. You’re brother is totally trapped Ross.”
Ross shook his head,
“No. This is his Slutten mission. He’ll still hinder our plans.” He explained. Jordan grunted,
“Then we move the plans forwards. But Ross… I want him found.”
“Consider it done Boss.”