Stuart MacBride - A Dark So Deadly

‘Please don’t...’

‘Here, this’ll make you feel better.’ He pulled one of those plastic sports-bottle things from his jacket, the kind with a pop-up top so you can drink and cycle at the same time. He held it out. ‘It’s herbal water. It will cleanse away your sins. You’ll be pure and free.’ Gave the bottle a shoogle. ‘You want to be cleansed, don’t you?’

Ashlee stared past him, at Mum with her chains and her bruises. ‘I want my mummy.’

‘Come on, you need to keep your strength up. You’re going to be a god.’

‘If you let me go... If you let me go, I promise I won’t tell anyone. I swear! Just let me go and—’

‘Drink.’

‘You can keep my mum! Let me go and she’ll be completely grateful. Mum’s like utterly dirty and—’ The slap snapped Ashlee’s head to one side. Leaving her face stinging.

‘Shhh...’ He stroked her hair with his free hand. ‘New Mummy isn’t dirty. New Mummy will keep us all safe and warm and loved, with her pretty yellow hair and soft cosy lap. New Mummy loves us.’

‘You’re off your mental nut. We... Just let us go, yeah? Please .’

‘Don’t you want to be a god?’ He held the bottle to her lips.

‘GET OFF ME!’ She flinched back, till the chains yanked tight. ‘You’re completely a psycho! You’re utterly and complete— Ulk.’

He grabbed her face with his other hand, fingers digging into her cheeks, forcing her jaws open. Jamming the sports bottle in and squeezing. Bitter cold water flooded her mouth, full of bits and yuck and no way in hell was she swallowing that crap.

The chains clanged and rattled as she grabbed at his wrists. Sobbing. The whole front of her face burst into flames, burning from the inside out, as that horrible water burst out of her nostrils.

He grabbed her nose and squeezed it shut. Forced more water into her mouth. ‘I know it’s nasty, but it is necessary. You have to drink it.’ Held on tight. ‘You want to be a god, don’t you? You want people to worship you?’

Her fingertips scrabbled at his forearms. ‘Ghhhhhhhaghhh!’

‘Shhhh...’ He dropped the bottle and forced her mouth shut again, keeping everything inside. ‘It’ll all be fine. You just drink up.’

Ashlee bucked and thrashed, sending water slopping over the edge of the tank.

Can’t breathe.

Can’t breathe.

CAN’T BREATHE.

So she did the only thing she could do: she swallowed the horrible bitter water.

He let go of her face. ‘There’s a good girl.’ Smiled as she coughed and retched. Then scooped the plastic bottle out of the tub. ‘One mouthful down, six more to go.’

Oh God...

The walls pulsed and groaned, twisting round through ninety degrees before snapping back into place and twisting again. And again. And again. Like hammering back a quarter bottle of Marline’s gran’s voddy in one go. No coke or nothing.

Ashlee blinked, screwing her face up tight. Bared her teeth.

Don’t be sick, OK? Not again.

The bits were still floating all around her from last time. Because the manky bathtub water wasn’t bad enough.

His voice came from a long way away, echoing and slow. ‘How are you feeling?’

She could barely turn her head, it weighed so much. ‘Gnffffmmmmnt...’ Why wouldn’t her mouth work?

‘Good.’ His face swam in and out of focus, pulsing in time with the walls. ‘I envy you so much. You’re going to be a god. Isn’t that great?’

‘Plnnnnssss...’ Her chest was full of rats. Rats and seagulls. And bees. Scrabbling and flapping and buzzing deep inside her.

‘They’ll worship you and you’ll save them, because you’ll be a god.’

Rats, seagulls, and bees.

His voice faded away. ‘I have to go to work, but I’ll be back to check on you. That’ll be nice, won’t it?’ Faded away until there was nothing left but the noises in her chest. Scrabbling, flapping, and buzzing.

‘They’ll worship you: you’ll be a god.’

A hole opened up in the base of Ashlee’s skull, and the whole world fell through it...

It’s her eighth birthday, and all she wants is a pretty princess cake and the new Nerf Elite Hail-Fire blaster, cos you can shoot a hundred and forty-four darts seventy-five feet. Which is as long as a swimming pool. And it would be utterly cool, cos Marline’s got an Alpha Trooper CS-18 and that only holds eighteen darts.

But what Ashlee’s got is Mum and Dad screaming at each other downstairs in the living room.

She sits on the edge of her bed, picking at the scabs on her left knee. Peeling away the hard bits of skin, making the shiny pink under it bleed.

Then there’s a thump and a crash and the sound of heavy feet on the stairs.

Dad throws her door open. ‘You. Downstairs. Now .’

‘But—’

‘NOW!’ He’s bigger than a bear, teeth all shiny, and eyes like burned things. Hands like crushers as he grabs her arm and pulls her out onto the landing. Drags her down the stairs. Shoves her through into the living room.

A blue and red smear is all that’s left of her Princess Merida cake, sagging its way down the wallpaper by the window. The coffee table’s cracked and broken. Mum’s on the carpet next to it, on her hands and knees. Sobbing.

‘Tell her!’ Dad spits on the back of mum’s head. ‘TELL HER WHAT YOU DID!’

‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’ Her pretty yellow dress is all ripped up the side, showing off blotchy purple-and-yellow skin.

Dad drops down to one knee and pulls Ashlee round, so she’s got no choice but to look into those burned-thing eyes. ‘Because of your slut mother, I’m going to have to go away. That’s her fault. She’s making me leave.’

Ashlee doesn’t say anything, just stands very still.

‘I wanted to take you with me, and you could be my little princess, and we’d have adventures all over the world, and we’d be together forever.’ He smiles like broken glass. ‘But your mother’s spoiled it. And I’m going to have to leave you here. With her . And I want you to know, it’s all her fault. You could be happy, but she won’t let you.’

And then he stands and sweeps out of the house like a storm, crackling lightning and thunder, slamming the front door behind him.

Ashlee bites her bottom lip.

All she wanted was a princess cake and a Nerf Elite Hail-Fire blaster.

Mum cries and moans. ‘I’m sorry...’

Then Ashlee blinks away tears, turns, and goes back upstairs to her bedroom.

Slams the door.

Just like her dad.

Marline swallows, shudders, and passes the bottle of voddy. Hisses out a breath. ‘Gaghh...’

Ashlee takes a swig. God, it’s horrible . The stuff makes her teeth itch and her mouth fizz, numbing her tongue before she forces it down. Hot and burning. ‘Ghaaaa...’ She shakes her head from side to side as her eyeballs pop and crackle.

Then it hits her stomach like burning petrol, spreading its fire through her whole body.

Marline pops one shoulder up till it’s pressing against her ear. ‘Smooth.’

The car park’s empty, all the little people headed home for the night. Now there’s nothing left but empty spaces and security lights. All the shutters are down on the shopping centre’s windows.

Ashlee swings her feet back and forward, back and forward, holding onto the railing with her other hand. ‘What you wanna do?’

‘Dunno.’ Marline takes another scoof of voddy. Shudders. ‘Ghaaa...’ Holds the bottle out. ‘Ooh: you know Peter, right? Sits behind me in English?’

Oh yes. Peter with his squinty eye and his funny teeth. Peter with ‘ASSASSIN’S CREED’ printed across his school rucksack in flaky enamel paint.