Kiss and Die

Chapter 116

‘Which flat does she live in?’

‘She lives with her grandmother on the fourth floor, flat B. No one is invited in there. She says she’s ashamed of the place. She always comes here when Kin Tak teaches us Mandarin,’ Lilly said.

‘He was teaching her too?’

Lilly nodded. Mahmud stood in the doorway. ‘I’m sorry.’ He had a key in his hand. ‘She does anything Victoria Chan wants her to. And more, much more. I didn’t realize she was killing men until now. Can I come with you?’ Mahmud handed a key to Mann. ‘Here is the key to the apartment. I can help. She will listen to me.’ Mann eased on his clothes over his bandages.

‘No Mahmud. You stay here. I promise we will do all we can to help her. Lilly, you and Michelle stay here too.’

Mann and Daniel left Michelle’s apartment and walked down the flights of stairs to the fifth floor. David was waiting for them. Mann looked at him and nodded. ‘You know who it is?’ David nodded. ‘I saw them in the shadows of the stairs, kissing when they thought no one saw. If she is the woman who murdered my brother I have to come with you.’

‘No, David, you stay here and guard this entrance with Daniel. I need to go in alone. I don’t want any mistakes in there. This is my one chance to get my friend out alive. If we make a noise, if we frighten her, it could be the end. I will call you if I need help. Just be here and be ready.’

‘Here, Mann, have my gun?’ Daniel took it out of his holster to give to Mann. Mann shook his head.

‘I trust Delilah now more than ever. I can’t afford to make mistakes.’ Mann had taken the feathers out of her hilt; she was clean, sharp. She was in his hand as he placed the key in the apartment door. ‘Which is Flo’s room?’ he asked Mahmud.

‘First one on the right.’

Mann turned the key and pushed the door. The place was dark. Inside was the fuse box, he tripped the main switch. He took out his phone, he found the light setting. A tiny bright beam shone out from the back of the phone. He shone it straight ahead into a small kitchen at the end of the hall. The smell of ham cooking hit him. His light glanced over a patella as it shone glossy from the top of the pot, the place was still steaming, the walls wet. He walked inside. The door closed behind him; he let it go.

He opened Flo’s door and flicked the light around the room. The room smelt of old, it smelt of neglect. He scanned it, it was full of human bones, bleached white, stacked in the corners, laid across the floor at the edges of the room. The bone dust covered everything. Flo was slumped in her chair. Mann inched closer to her. He shone his torch into her face. Her eyes stared back, bulging from her head. Her mouth gaped open. Around her neck was a ligature.

He heard the sound of wailing music coming from the next room. This was one of his nightmares: a corridor with no doors, no beginning and no end. Somewhere along it he could hear the sound of crying. He felt his way along in the total blackness. He could not see his feet. He did not know how high the ceiling was above him. The heat bounced off the walls. It ran down his face; it stuck his shirt to his back. He ran his finger along the wall and touched something wet and sticky. He smelt blood. He smelt panic. Mann stopped. His heart raced, the blood pumped in his ears as he strained to listen.

Nina was crying.

‘Nina…’ Shrimp could barely speak. ‘I can help you, Nina. I will do anything for you. Please, don’t do this to us.’

Mann moved along the corridor in the dark. He didn’t want to alert anyone to his presence. He felt his way in the darkness. His shirt stuck to his wounds, stinging now from the sweat in them. But he didn’t notice. He had one purpose left for his body, one more thing he asked it to do. His fingers tingled with adrenalin as he gripped Delilah tightly in his hand and called out.

The candle flickered a ghostly sheen up the white tiles and over the faces of the dolls.

Nina sat on top of Shrimp and felt along his ribcage.

She picked up the scalpel and cut along the bottom of his rib.

‘All right, Nina.’ Shrimp struggled to talk through the pain. ‘You kill me now but understand one thing, Nina…’ Nina cut him again twice more. She lifted the section of skin and exposed his ribs ‘…I will love you forever.’

He couldn’t talk any more. Nina picked up the skewer. The pain shook his body and he gave one deep cry; all the pain and all the love found a harmony in the last few seconds of his life. Nina slashed through the artery in her left wrist. There was a pause and then blood shot out and covered the wall behind and extinguished the candle and, in pitch darkness, Nina pressed the point of the skewer into Shrimp’s heart.

‘Shrimp?’ Mann’s heart pounded in his ears as he waited for an answer. There was none. He felt along in the pitch darkness. He came to the second door and he turned the handle, pushed, and stepped into the room. In the darkness he called out again. From the far end of the room he thought he heard what sounded like Shrimp’s voice. Mann inched forwards. At the far end of the room he felt a curtain beneath his fingers and behind it the solid feel of a door. He felt for a handle and turned it.

The door opened and the heat from the room stuck in Mann’s lungs along with the smell of atomized blood as thick as a cloud. He heard the sound of dripping. His fingers tingled with adrenalin as he gripped Delilah tightly in his hand. He took another step and his foot touched something on the floor. He shone his light into the room. Hundreds of pairs of eyes stared back at him. In the middle of the room were bodies. Nina slumped forward, naked, her long hair hiding whoever was underneath. Mann knelt down beside them. Mann saw Sheng, what was left of him. He pushed Nina over. She rolled to one side on top of Sheng.

Mann’s heart broke when he saw Shrimp. His chest was opened. His ribs showing. He was covered in blood. He wasn’t moving and a skewer was deeply imbedded in his heart. Nina’s weight had driven it in. Mann looked closely; there was the faintest sign of movement; the heart was still beating. Shrimp was hanging on.

‘I’m here, Shrimp. Stay with me. Hold on. You’re going to be all right.’

Mann turned and shouted out for Daniel Lu. He looked back at Shrimp. The heart was barely beating now, growing fainter every beat. He knew he shouldn’t remove the skewer but it’s all he wanted to do. It was killing Shrimp and he couldn’t stop it.

‘Shrimp, stay with me. For fuck sake listen to me and stay alive.’

He looked around for something to pack inside the chest cavity to try and stem the bleeding that was filling the cavity with blood. The nearest thing he could find was Shrimp’s shirt. He grabbed it, pulled it to him and gently folded it around the knife. He cursed his useless hand. He needed more. He reached for Shrimp’s jacket, to tear out the silk lining. He turned back. The heart had stopped beating. Mann tried to tear more of the lining free. Something hard in the pocket stopped him. In the inside pocket he found a syringe pouch. He tore the pouch open with his teeth and bit off the top of the packet. He pulled off the cap and then he plunged the epinephrine syringe straight into Shrimp’s heart.