the archangel, book one - strings that bind

I was really starting to hate being upside down.

My ankles were aching from the rope straining against them, attaching me to a tree branch. My head felt like it was going to explode from the blood pooling in my head. But the worst part was the disorientation. Looking at Vincent and his packs of ugly goons laughing as they recorded me was already hard enough when I wasn’t suspended two feet in the air.

Vincent pocketed his phone and walked over, tugging on his black leather jacket to fit better on his thin frame. He flashed me his signature piss-coloured grin as he knelt down on one knee in front of me. “God damn, your face is red. You alive?”

Unfortunately, I thought. But I kept my mouth shut and just stared at the grass.

“What? Nothing witty to say this time? But you had so much to say on your way here!”

Not caring, I started to count the many blades of grass. Each blade was more than twice the size of the grass blades in the city, but it made sense. This part of the forest wasn’t exactly near the main road.

“Man, you’re really no fun today, Michael.” He slammed a fist straight into my abdomen, but all that achieved was rocking me back and forth, making me lose track of where I’d been counting. I decided to start over from zero.

“Hello?” He waved a hand in front of my face. “Did you pass out with your eyes open or something?” When I still didn’t reply, he sighed and turned away, looking back at his pals. “Guess we could go see how Ramona would-”

“Hey, jackass.”

Vincent turned back, and I spat, straight into his face. It landed square in the middle of his forehead and ran down his face. His pals froze momentarily, then started laughing even louder than they had been before.

“Smells like you’re long overdue for a shower,” I commented. “You’re welcome.”

Vincent wiped the spit off his face with his left hand and reached into his pocket with his right, pulling out a small spring-powered pocketknife. He brought the point to my cheek, looking at me with pure venom, and I stared apathetically back.

“This has been long overdue,” he snarled.

Behind him, one of his buddies ran up, phone in hand. “Vincent!”

Vincent kept glaring into my eyes, but his eyebrows scrunched up in irritation. “Uh… I’m clearly fuckin’ busy here.”

The newcomer looked almost scared as he offered the phone to Vincent. “It’s Jin. He’s asking for you.”

Jin? I thought. Wait, isn’t that…

Vincent sighed, turning to look back at the kid. “Tell him to leave a message.”

His friend shook his head. “It’s urgent. Just… answer it, man, come on.”

“Give me that, you fucking pussy.” Snatching the phone out of his hand, Vincent stood up and began to speak politely into it.

“It’s me, sir… wait, are you serious? Sorry, of course… where’d they last see her?... Where in the red light district?... Got it.” He pocketed the phone and turned back to me, his lips forming a sinister smile. “Lucky you. I’ve apparently got a prettier face to cut up. We’ll pick this up another time.”

Walking back towards his goons, he began to bark commands. “We’re heading to the red light district! I’ll text you the address in the group chat.”

The kid glanced at me. “Um, what about him?”

Vincent turned up his palms, flashing his usual grin- oh, god. His dentist must hate him.

“What about him?”

I didn’t bother watching as his pack disappeared off into the trees. When I reached my hundredth blade of grass and could no longer see any of the group in the distance, I bent myself in half, doing a hanging sit-up as I reached for my ankle and pulled a small folding knife out of my sock. Flicking it open, I began to saw away at the rope.

It took a minute, but eventually I slammed into the forest floor with an unceremonious thud. Instead of getting up right away, I opted to look up at the soft evening sunlight streaming through the forest roof. Red, orange, and yellow leaves were being shed from their branches and fluttering to the ground-

And suddenly they all turned green, and it was the rays of a bright summer afternoon streaming through the branches and leaves. Sophia’s blond hair spilled over her shoulders as she gazed down at me. Her bright blue eyes were crinkled into a smile.

“Whatcha looking at?”

I gasped and immediately sat up, looking behind me- but no one was there. The forest had returned to its regular autumn colours. I groaned and flopped back to the forest floor. Obviously, that hadn’t been real.

But a small part of me really wished it had been.

Holy shit, you are pathetic.

Oh, great. You’re back. I was starting to hope I’d finally gotten rid of you.

Wouldn’t you be oh so lonely without me? Considering that everybody and their mother is out to get you right now.

I’d rather be locked away in one of those psych ward marshmallow rooms forever if it meant you were out of my head.

Careful what you wish for. If I wasn’t here, who’d be here to make all the right decisions? Like letting us get fucked up by a scrawny malnourished freshman. Oh, wait, that was your choice.

Enough. I don’t need the whole spiel again. You already know why I’m enduring this.

Think about how easy it would be to snap those twig arms. Gouge out his eyes, so he can’t see. Break his spine, so he can't walk-

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

My right shoe began to vibrate. Slowly, I unclenched my jaw, and took a few deep breaths. Then, I sat up and removed my shoe, reaching inside for my phone. The caller ID was an unknown number- likely a spam call.

I’m answering.

No, you’re not.

Too late!

Wha- why the hell do you want to- oh, god, whatever.

I put the phone up into my ear, expecting to hear an automated voice speaking to me in Mandarin or warnings about issues with a non-existent package.

“Hello, Michael.”

My eyes widened in shock. The voice speaking was immediately familiar.

I gritted my teeth. How the hell had he gotten my number?

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...I know you’re there. Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“You called me,” I reminded him.

“Fair enough. I need a favour.”

A favour? Funny. Is that what he’s calling it?

“What can I do for you, your highness?” I asked dryly.

“Look-” The caller cut himself short and sighed. “Never mind. I need you to find someone in the city. Her name’s Isla. You know her, right?”

“Isla…” I frowned. “I don’t know her. Sophia’s best friend, right? Always looks like she wants to murder someone?”

“Yes. It’s not a secret that she’s associated with some… interesting people.”

‘Interesting’ is one hell of an understatement. That’s Jin Ikari’s daughter.

“She disappeared from school earlier this morning,” the caller continued. “Her father has been turning the entire city upside down looking for her. They even shot up a restaurant.”

“Why? What the hell did she do?”

“That’s not your concern. You just need to find her and get her to safety before they do. You know what could happen if they find her first.”

I didn’t say anything, but I knew. It wouldn’t be pretty.

“Based on reports, she was last seen in-”

“The red light district?” I finished.

The caller paused. I could clearly picture his confused expression.

“How did you… whatever. Just make sure you contact me when you find her, and I'll come pick her up. And remember, if you don’t…”

“You publish the file, my life is over, yadda yadda,” I said. “Can I stop talking to you now, or is your voice going to keep grating on my ears?”

A beep! beep! notified me that the call had been ended.

I pocketed my phone and stood up, taking a hair tie off my wrist. I began to tie my unruly black hair back into a high ponytail, and reached down to unzip a pocket of my cargo pants. Producing a black bandana from the pocket, I began to tie it around my neck and began to stretch in preparation. This wasn’t going to be easy.

Finally.

What?

Oh, nothing.

I finished tying the bandana, bringing it up to cover the bottom half of my face.

Was just thinking… I might actually get to have some fun today.

Ha. Don’t get ahead of yourself, asshole.

----------------------------------------

Pain and darkness.

It was the two things the man could feel and see. His eyes were blinded by tightly bound cloth. His forearms, calves, and abdomen were duct-taped to a fixed wooden chair, though his hands were free. His body was bruised and battered from blow, after blow, after blow, after…

Footsteps, creaking the floorboards in the roof above. He tensed, feeling sick, but also relieved at the same time. He’d been going insane with nothing to accompany him but his dark thoughts.

Two heavy sets of footsteps. An opened door. And then-

“Mr. Jay Yang?”

“...Y-yes?” His mouth was as dry as sand.

“We’re with the police. Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”

First came shock, then came a crashing wave of relief, a wave so great it made Jay burst into tears. Finally, it was over. Finally, he would be free…

And then, immense pain. For a few seconds, it was all he was aware of- that, and the raw guttural scream that came from his mouth. He breathed heavily, trying to bring himself back to reality as the blindfold was removed.

A young man, no older than twenty-five, stood bent down before him so that they were eye level. He wore an expensive black Italian suit with a blood red dress shirt and midnight black tie. His ears held an excessive amount of piercings. A small smile was on his face as he held the source of Jay’s pain- a pair of pliers holding a bloody fingernail. His fingernail, taken from his right index finger.

“Just kidding!” The man’s almost friendly smile widened, but there was nothing behind his dark eyes. “You didn’t actually think it was going to be that easy, did you?”

Despair flowed through him- an emotion the man recognized easily, causing his smile to grow. He let the fingernail drop to the ground. In the corner of his vision, Jay could spot his accomplice, a behemoth of a man, standing silently against the wall, watching.

“You could be free though, Mr. Yang.” His attacker circled behind him on the chair, and leaned in close, whispering in his ear, running a finger down his arm. “It’d be so simple. You just need to tell us what we need to know, and…” He tapped his finger on Jay’s duct taped forearm. “We’d just let you go, and we can forget this ever happened. Back to your wife, your son. I’m sure they’re worried sick about you.”

In spite of everything, Jay managed a dry, humourless laugh. “What a fucking joke. You’ll just gut me and bury me in Bronwynn Forest once you get what you need. I know who you people are- no, I know what you are.”

“Hmmm?” The man appeared in front of his vision and bent down in front of him once again. “And what might that be?”

“Spineless, demented dogs,” Jay spat. “Acting like they own the world until they get a real taste of fear.”

The man froze for a few seconds. Then, he burst out laughing. Jay stared at him at bewilderment as he struggled to get his laughing fit under control, walking off behind him. The sound of scraping against the floor got closer until the man placed a metal chair down facing Jay.

He sat down in the chair, catching his breath. “Oh, shit, sorry. Just couldn’t get over how corny that was. A real dramatic monologue!”

A flash of metal, and suddenly Jay was howling in pain. The man had stuck a knife into his thigh, right behind his kneecap.

“Fear, huh?” The man slowly began twisting the knife as Jay gasped and whimpered. “You’re right, though. Everyone loves to act tough until they’re faced with real fear. That’s when we see who they truly are, and what they’re actually capable of. If you ask me-” The man yanked out the knife, and Jay almost blacked out, but he was grabbed by the chin and brought to meet his tormentor’s eyes. They were wide open and piercing, as if he was looking into Jay’s soul.

“Fear is the most pure emotion there is. And the most human. There’s no faster way of figuring someone out.” The man released Jay and leaned back in his chair. “I have to say though, I’m impressed. Maybe it comes with the pride of being an executive of a high class tech company like Futurebound, but you’ve last way longer than most people would down here.” He beckoned to his accomplice in the corner, who began to approach. “You’re definitely strong willed. Someone with strings of steel.”

Strings? Jay thought, confused.

He glared at the man. “Try whatever you want, however long you want. I won’t break.”

The man sighed. “Everyone breaks, Mr. Yang. People are like… puppets on a million different strings. If one string doesn’t budge…” The accomplice handed the torturer a tablet, which was brought to face Jay. “You just need to pull another.”

On the screen was a woman and a teenage boy, bound to chairs the same way he was- his wife and son, which caused Jay’s eyes to widen in shock. “How the hell… but I told them-”

“You told them to leave the city if you disappeared or were killed. Left them a runaway kit or something similar. And that was smart. A+ for thinking ahead. But…” The man shrugged. “Your son had different plans. Wouldn’t leave without you. We caught him trying to sneak into one of our buildings looking for you. Stubborn little shit, just like his father. All we had to do was leave a little tip as to where you might be…”

Jay’s heart pounded. His eyes clenched shut. His voice shook as he spoke. “You really are all true to your name. You’re Demons.”

The man’s lips stretched into a twisted grin. “There it is. There’s the fear. Now…” He leaned forwards. “Tell me everything you know about Futurebound Industries. Especially… the Skeleton Key.”