Darkness Girl: Trickster God

Chapter Two: A Carpet of Stars

Mannering's heart felt like it was spinning in his chest. He ran through the corridors of the Coaxial Industries building, past empty cubicles and darkened offices. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he ran. It was as if he couldn't get enough oxygen into his lungs.

He stopped outside the door to his office panting heavily and resisted the urge to vomit. His fingers were wooden and clumsy as they fumbled with a large bunch of keys. He felt absurd for having locked his door now. The walls of his office were glass. He could see straight through them and out to the city beyond. They would offer almost no defence if his protector couldn't stop the silencer, but what else could he do? He got the door open on the second try and didn't bother locking it behind him.

Everything in his office was as he'd left it moments ago, but it was all strangely unfamiliar now, like a house he no longer owned. He touched the side of his desk to anchor himself to reality. The heavy wooden corner pressed painfully into his palm. Was his wife wondering where he was by now? He'd called her before he left. She probably thought he was still in the car.

Mannering picked up the phone. He realised that he wanted to speak to his family more than anything now. There were so many reasons he'd had to stay late tonight. They all seemed like so much empty paper now. If he survived, he realised he'd probably quit his job. It was a strange realisation at a time like this, but it suddenly struck him that his job didn't make him happy.

He pressed the phone to his ear. It was silent. He was totally alone. The receiver slipped from his fingers and clattered loudly to the desk. Mannering felt his strength leaving him. He leant back against the window and put his face in his hands.

She entered as silently as a ghost. He saw her boots through his fingers first. They were flecked with blood.

'Your protector is dead. I gave him the chance to run, but he was...loyal.'

In her mouth the word didn't sound like a compliment.

'He should have run. The outcome would have been the same in the end.'

The girl shrugged her shoulders as if to indicate that it didn't make much difference now.

'I don't know how someone so young ended up like you, but you can't change the world for the better with the edge of a sword. You make the world better by creating. Swords can only destroy.'

Mannering waited for her to respond, but she was silent. Her expression might as well have been a mask. She seemed so slight. He estimated that she was no older than his own daughter.

'What's your name, silencer?'

The girl cocked her head curiously.

'I'm going to die in a few seconds. I can't know the name of the person who killed me?'

'Regan.'

'Please, you're not just a silencer, Regan. You're a teenage girl just like my daughter.'

'Using my name won't stop me from killing you.'

'But all actions have consequences. I have a son and a daughter and a wife. They mean everything to me. Do you know what that feels like?'

Regan's eyes were devoid of emotion.

Mannering shook his head. 'No, I guess you don't. You have cold eyes. They look like they shrink everything good and beautiful in this world until you can only see what's hateful and ugly. You'll never be happy while you have eyes like that, Regan. In any other circumstance I'd find that rather sad.'

'I'll make it quick.'

Mannering turned to face the window. His office was on the top floor of the building. The lights of the city were spread out below him like a carpet of stars. He couldn't remember a time when the view had looked so beautiful.

'If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer not to watch,' he said. 'You know, I've never really appreciated—'

Mannering stiffened as the point of the blade pierced through the back of his neck and burst through his throat. Blood splattered onto the glass in front of him. His mouth fell open and he let out a tortured gasp that seemed to come from deep inside his chest.

Regan watched his reflection in the window. As she saw his eyes go dark, she withdrew the blade with one quick pull. The thick carpet muffled the sound of the body hitting the ground. Someone would probably find it in the morning.

She took the elevator down to the ground floor. The high-ceilinged atrium of Coaxial Industries was still brightly lit, but there was no one behind the security desk. She pushed a button on the wall to open the glass front doors and stepped through them into the night.

Outside, the gusting wind still had some of the chill edge of winter. Regan drew her jacket into her body. She crossed the road to the park opposite the Coaxial Industries building.

'You took longer than I thought.'

Kessler detached herself from the shadows of a bush. The moonlight made her white hair and smooth pale skin glow.

'You could have helped,' said Regan, nodding towards the sword at Kessler's side. It was a full length katana, and the sister sword to the one that Regan carried.

'Did you need help?'

'No. Someone warned him though. He'd hired a protector.'

They walked along a gravel path that took them into the heart of the park. Kessler had parked the car on the other side. The trees were hulking black shadows that leant over them and diffused the moonlight into near-pitch darkness.

'Is the protector in a state where we can ask him questions?'

'Depends if you want an answer.'

A brief look of annoyance crossed Kessler's face, almost too fast to catch.

'Then until we have another way to find out how he knew about us, there's nothing to investigate. For the moment, don't mention it when we talk to our employer.'

'We're meeting him in person?'

Kessler shrugged. 'He said he needed to see us. Wouldn't say why over the phone. Either way, save the unnecessary details.'

'I intend to. The target is dead. That's all he needs to know.'