The Tenth Night
Rae Edison
“We need to speed up the process.”
Rae stared incredulously at the other members of the group before glancing towards Veronica. It was rare that they deviated from the original plan, but here was one of the most uptight and careful members of the group suggesting that they do exactly that. The thought of Veronica running scared gave her shivers. If Veronica was beginning to feel the pressure, then god only knew what it was doing to the other members of the group. Rae had been uncomfortable from the moment that they had learned of Eriko’s disappearance, and this meeting wasn’t helping matters much. She couldn’t imagine how everybody else was feeling if even her own mostly level-headedness was beginning to wane.
“Don’t you think we should wait until Eiko arrives?” Nathan asked, the ever-sarcastic tone still present. Rae silently thanked every deity she could think of that someone else in the group was still acting the same as always. “I mean, she is a part of this group, even if her sister decided to do a disappearing act on us.”
Veronica almost snarled, focusing her attention in Nathan’s direction.
“And how do we know that she isn’t going to ‘do a disappearing act’ of her own?” she retorted, her glare strong enough to turn the will of even the strongest man into dust. “The answer is that we don’t, and we should plan in case of emergency. She wasn’t on time, so she won’t get a say in this. Understand?”
Even Nathan looked shaken. Veronica was like a wounded animal — pride and strength as intact as can be, even if her exterior had been scratched. As stupid as he could be, Nathan knew more than most that attacking someone when they were in this dangerous a state was almost suicidal. Once again, Rae found herself thank thing those above. The last thing that she wanted was the entire group in arms against one another. Psychopaths never made very good enemies.
“As I was saying,” Veronica continued, taking a small sip of her coffee, “we will have to jump ahead of schedule. Keeping to our tradition is no longer an option. The police have been alerted to what we have been doing — I have no doubt that this is due to that Japanese bitch — and we need to speed up things. They will be expecting us to strike within the same confines as we always do. This year, we’ll give them an early surprise.”
“And what if we’re not ready?” Rae asked softly, the fear evident in her voice. She still did not know of how to take down her prey, even after hours of just watching him. She wasn’t ready to strike this early into the plan. She needed at least another week before she would be able to feel confident enough to take on the man-mountain that had been assigned to her.
“Get ready,” Veronia snapped in reply. “We aren’t waiting for anybody, Rachel. You’re either in, or you’re out. And if you’re out, you’re a danger to us all.”
The table went silent. The only sound was the soft gurgle of the coffee machines in the background, and the gentle murmur of the other people sitting in the tiny shop. Rae swallowed, almost positive that the audible sound would give away her fear.
“Well? Are you in or are you out?” Veronica demanded, tapping her fingers across the table with a steady rhythm.
“I’m in,” Rae said, almost too quickly. She didn’t know of any other way to respond. She wasn’t ready, and she wouldn’t be ready for a good while, but she would rather face death by the firsts of her prey than torture by the queen of all things evil. At least one would be relatively quick.
“Good. Any other problems?” Veronica asked, almost challenging any member of the group to stand up and oppose her rule. As expected, no one did. Veronica’s lips curled up into a smile, and she stood.
“We go ahead with the plan in three days. Eriko will not dissuade us from acting. Our task needs to be filled out, for the good of the world. Dismissed.”
As Rae stood up, starting towards the door, she almost jumped out of her skin.
Eiko was standing in the doorway, empty bottle in one hand and the look of someone with nothing to lose in her eyes.
Rae stared incredulously at the other members of the group before glancing towards Veronica. It was rare that they deviated from the original plan, but here was one of the most uptight and careful members of the group suggesting that they do exactly that. The thought of Veronica running scared gave her shivers. If Veronica was beginning to feel the pressure, then god only knew what it was doing to the other members of the group. Rae had been uncomfortable from the moment that they had learned of Eriko’s disappearance, and this meeting wasn’t helping matters much. She couldn’t imagine how everybody else was feeling if even her own mostly level-headedness was beginning to wane.
“Don’t you think we should wait until Eiko arrives?” Nathan asked, the ever-sarcastic tone still present. Rae silently thanked every deity she could think of that someone else in the group was still acting the same as always. “I mean, she is a part of this group, even if her sister decided to do a disappearing act on us.”
Veronica almost snarled, focusing her attention in Nathan’s direction.
“And how do we know that she isn’t going to ‘do a disappearing act’ of her own?” she retorted, her glare strong enough to turn the will of even the strongest man into dust. “The answer is that we don’t, and we should plan in case of emergency. She wasn’t on time, so she won’t get a say in this. Understand?”
Even Nathan looked shaken. Veronica was like a wounded animal — pride and strength as intact as can be, even if her exterior had been scratched. As stupid as he could be, Nathan knew more than most that attacking someone when they were in this dangerous a state was almost suicidal. Once again, Rae found herself thank thing those above. The last thing that she wanted was the entire group in arms against one another. Psychopaths never made very good enemies.
“As I was saying,” Veronica continued, taking a small sip of her coffee, “we will have to jump ahead of schedule. Keeping to our tradition is no longer an option. The police have been alerted to what we have been doing — I have no doubt that this is due to that Japanese bitch — and we need to speed up things. They will be expecting us to strike within the same confines as we always do. This year, we’ll give them an early surprise.”
“And what if we’re not ready?” Rae asked softly, the fear evident in her voice. She still did not know of how to take down her prey, even after hours of just watching him. She wasn’t ready to strike this early into the plan. She needed at least another week before she would be able to feel confident enough to take on the man-mountain that had been assigned to her.
“Get ready,” Veronia snapped in reply. “We aren’t waiting for anybody, Rachel. You’re either in, or you’re out. And if you’re out, you’re a danger to us all.”
The table went silent. The only sound was the soft gurgle of the coffee machines in the background, and the gentle murmur of the other people sitting in the tiny shop. Rae swallowed, almost positive that the audible sound would give away her fear.
“Well? Are you in or are you out?” Veronica demanded, tapping her fingers across the table with a steady rhythm.
“I’m in,” Rae said, almost too quickly. She didn’t know of any other way to respond. She wasn’t ready, and she wouldn’t be ready for a good while, but she would rather face death by the firsts of her prey than torture by the queen of all things evil. At least one would be relatively quick.
“Good. Any other problems?” Veronica asked, almost challenging any member of the group to stand up and oppose her rule. As expected, no one did. Veronica’s lips curled up into a smile, and she stood.
“We go ahead with the plan in three days. Eriko will not dissuade us from acting. Our task needs to be filled out, for the good of the world. Dismissed.”
As Rae stood up, starting towards the door, she almost jumped out of her skin.
Eiko was standing in the doorway, empty bottle in one hand and the look of someone with nothing to lose in her eyes.