All The Lost Souls
Daddy Dearest
Ruby
The hole in my shoulder was proving more of a nuisance than anything else. Even though Nathan had done an exceptional job with the fixing, my shoulder had gone stiff and now hurt whenever I even so much as blinked a sharp pain shot through my body, quite annoying. It was then that I made the promise to myself that I wasn’t going to move from my position on the couch.
Then the phone rang.
I gave an over-dramatic moan and slowly got up, the pain stabbing through right on cue. I trudged over to the kitchen counter where the phone rested, mocking me with its high-pitched wailing. I snatched it, wincing from the sudden movement hit the TALK button. Whoever this was, it better be good. “Hello,” I almost shouted into the receiver.
“Ruby, it’s your father,” Dad said, his voice as unwaveringly calm as ever. “I just wanted to confirm that you’re decent after this morning’s…mishap.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes Dad, I’m fully clothed,” I answered, “How long will it take you to get here?”
The door opened a heartbeat later. Dad stepped over the threshold, phone to his ear. “Quite good time if I do say so myself,” he said into the phone then hung up.
I sighed, hung up the phone and turned to face him. “Did you want something?” I asked in a bitter tone. I was really in no mood to talk to him, considering it was his stellar blackmailing skills that got me into last night’s situation.
“How was your little outing last night,” Dad asked. He was dressed in his usual attire, expensive black suit, dark blue tie and shiny, bald head. “Nathan gave me a good report.”
I wanted to punch him in the face for being either naïve, or a deliberate asshole. “Oh it was great,” I replied sarcastically, waving my arm in his face, in a not-so-subtle attempt to display the bandages. He didn’t appear to notice.
He raised an eyebrow. “Why are you doing that?” he asked, “Are you feeling alright?”
I snapped. “I was shot, you fucking idiot!” I yelled and gestured at the bandages on my arm. “Did Nathan include that in his report? I mean, seriously! How much of a bleeding imbecile are you to not notice the bandages covering the giant hole in my arm?”
Dad just stood and accepted the onslaught of my outburst. He blinked a few times at me and then spoke. “Are you done yet? Because I have another job for you.”
“You can’t be serious!” I shouted in disbelief, “No. What makes you think I would even consider doing another job for you after the first ended so well? In case you were wondering, getting shot isn’t as glamorous as they make it look in the movies.”
“I’m sure you’ll leave this encounter better off than your last one,” Dad answered, once again ignoring my outburst. “And I think I can persuade you to do as I say.”
“Well you can’t pull the “kick me out” scam again, because I honestly don’t care about any of it anymore,” I said, which was true. I was at the point where I simply didn’t care about my refuge anymore. If I was able to survive the docklands without losing my mind, I was stronger than I thought.
Suddenly, Dad’s face changed. It went from regular old Dad to the disgusting image of the infection that had sent my life to Hell in the first place. “Time for me to take the reins, I think,” the infection said. Even though it was still my dad physically talking to me, something else had taken over everything else.
“What do you want?” I asked, hatred filling my voice to the proverbial brink, “Get out of here right now!”
“No, I won’t be going anywhere,” the infection replied calmly. “Now you will be doing this job for me.”
“Or what?” I shot back. “Now get out of here now!”
Dad reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a handgun. “Or I will be forced to kill your father,” the infection answered. “Now you know me, and you know that I wouldn’t hesitate in doing it now, but that wouldn’t help my cause, would it?”
Panic ripped through me before I had a chance to think about it. I couldn’t have this thing kill my father, I just couldn’t. He may be infected but he was still my Dad. Then I had a flashback to the previous night. Nathan had been shot in the face, and he was absolutely fine, so I had a way out. “I know you can’t die from a gunshot.”
“Oh I can’t, but the moment I leave this body, it won’t have my particular healing touch, then he’ll die,” the infection said with a sick chuckle in its voice. “So, are you ready to consider my proposal?”
I was backed into a wall; I had nowhere else to go. I wanted desperately to be left out of this whole world, to remain blissfully unaware of all the terrible things that happen in this world, but there was the desire to protect my dad, no matter how evil he was. “Fine, what do you want me to do?”
“We need you to get in close to someone and take care of him,” the infection stated simply. “He’s made quite a nuisance of himself over the past few years. You’ll be in contact with Nathan the whole time.”
Dad reached into his inner jacket pocket, deposited the gun and withdrew a photo of someone who I assumed was the intended target. I snatched it from him and gave it a once over. It was a guy with average-length black hair that was messy and unkempt, with red streaks going through it. He was very attractive and had a very mysterious air about him. I recognized him immediately, it was the mystery guy who’d shot me last night.
The hole in my shoulder was proving more of a nuisance than anything else. Even though Nathan had done an exceptional job with the fixing, my shoulder had gone stiff and now hurt whenever I even so much as blinked a sharp pain shot through my body, quite annoying. It was then that I made the promise to myself that I wasn’t going to move from my position on the couch.
Then the phone rang.
I gave an over-dramatic moan and slowly got up, the pain stabbing through right on cue. I trudged over to the kitchen counter where the phone rested, mocking me with its high-pitched wailing. I snatched it, wincing from the sudden movement hit the TALK button. Whoever this was, it better be good. “Hello,” I almost shouted into the receiver.
“Ruby, it’s your father,” Dad said, his voice as unwaveringly calm as ever. “I just wanted to confirm that you’re decent after this morning’s…mishap.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes Dad, I’m fully clothed,” I answered, “How long will it take you to get here?”
The door opened a heartbeat later. Dad stepped over the threshold, phone to his ear. “Quite good time if I do say so myself,” he said into the phone then hung up.
I sighed, hung up the phone and turned to face him. “Did you want something?” I asked in a bitter tone. I was really in no mood to talk to him, considering it was his stellar blackmailing skills that got me into last night’s situation.
“How was your little outing last night,” Dad asked. He was dressed in his usual attire, expensive black suit, dark blue tie and shiny, bald head. “Nathan gave me a good report.”
I wanted to punch him in the face for being either naïve, or a deliberate asshole. “Oh it was great,” I replied sarcastically, waving my arm in his face, in a not-so-subtle attempt to display the bandages. He didn’t appear to notice.
He raised an eyebrow. “Why are you doing that?” he asked, “Are you feeling alright?”
I snapped. “I was shot, you fucking idiot!” I yelled and gestured at the bandages on my arm. “Did Nathan include that in his report? I mean, seriously! How much of a bleeding imbecile are you to not notice the bandages covering the giant hole in my arm?”
Dad just stood and accepted the onslaught of my outburst. He blinked a few times at me and then spoke. “Are you done yet? Because I have another job for you.”
“You can’t be serious!” I shouted in disbelief, “No. What makes you think I would even consider doing another job for you after the first ended so well? In case you were wondering, getting shot isn’t as glamorous as they make it look in the movies.”
“I’m sure you’ll leave this encounter better off than your last one,” Dad answered, once again ignoring my outburst. “And I think I can persuade you to do as I say.”
“Well you can’t pull the “kick me out” scam again, because I honestly don’t care about any of it anymore,” I said, which was true. I was at the point where I simply didn’t care about my refuge anymore. If I was able to survive the docklands without losing my mind, I was stronger than I thought.
Suddenly, Dad’s face changed. It went from regular old Dad to the disgusting image of the infection that had sent my life to Hell in the first place. “Time for me to take the reins, I think,” the infection said. Even though it was still my dad physically talking to me, something else had taken over everything else.
“What do you want?” I asked, hatred filling my voice to the proverbial brink, “Get out of here right now!”
“No, I won’t be going anywhere,” the infection replied calmly. “Now you will be doing this job for me.”
“Or what?” I shot back. “Now get out of here now!”
Dad reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a handgun. “Or I will be forced to kill your father,” the infection answered. “Now you know me, and you know that I wouldn’t hesitate in doing it now, but that wouldn’t help my cause, would it?”
Panic ripped through me before I had a chance to think about it. I couldn’t have this thing kill my father, I just couldn’t. He may be infected but he was still my Dad. Then I had a flashback to the previous night. Nathan had been shot in the face, and he was absolutely fine, so I had a way out. “I know you can’t die from a gunshot.”
“Oh I can’t, but the moment I leave this body, it won’t have my particular healing touch, then he’ll die,” the infection said with a sick chuckle in its voice. “So, are you ready to consider my proposal?”
I was backed into a wall; I had nowhere else to go. I wanted desperately to be left out of this whole world, to remain blissfully unaware of all the terrible things that happen in this world, but there was the desire to protect my dad, no matter how evil he was. “Fine, what do you want me to do?”
“We need you to get in close to someone and take care of him,” the infection stated simply. “He’s made quite a nuisance of himself over the past few years. You’ll be in contact with Nathan the whole time.”
Dad reached into his inner jacket pocket, deposited the gun and withdrew a photo of someone who I assumed was the intended target. I snatched it from him and gave it a once over. It was a guy with average-length black hair that was messy and unkempt, with red streaks going through it. He was very attractive and had a very mysterious air about him. I recognized him immediately, it was the mystery guy who’d shot me last night.