Kiss and Die

Chapter 115

Shrimp saw the light from the door when Ruby went into the other room. He turned and saw Sheng staring back at him, slumped, disembowelled, his intestines splayed out around him.

Shrimp pulled frantically on his arms to try and free them. He twisted his head to look up. He was chained to the wall behind. He pulled on the chains but couldn’t budge them. He looked down at his injuries. His body was being sliced open bit by bit. He heard the Indian music playing from the other room; haunting, a woman wailing. It was the same music he had heard on the stairs. He saw his clothes in the corner of the room. His gun was there, his microphone. He couldn’t reach any of it.

Nina returned. He could see her properly now. She was naked. Her long glossy black hair fell all around her shoulders to her waist. Even now he loved her. Even though it made no sense. ‘Please Nina, let me go…’ She came towards him with her hands holding a small object.

‘Kiss Rose, Shrimp.’ She held the dried parchment face of the mummified baby next to his mouth. ‘This was going to be your baby. You were going to be special. You were going to want to live with us forever, me and Rose. But, maybe this was the only way for us.’

‘No, Nina, we can still make it work. We can still get away from here. Please, Nina, let me go. I will help you. I love you. I will do anything it takes to help you. Don’t kill me, Nina.’

‘It’s too late for both of us, Shrimp. Don’t worry, I won’t let you die alone. I will come with you.’

Beside the bed she laid the scalpel and the skewer.

Ruby went quiet for a few moments and Shrimp watched her moving around the room. She lit a candle in the corner. She placed her dolls around the bed.