Page 42 of The Sea Witch’s Son (The Villains of Wolf Hollow #1)
Chapter 41
MARLIN
The matriarch loves a good theme.
All the power-hungry figures in this town do, although Queen Mary takes it to the next level. She’s not an actual queen, of course, her parents simply had a warped sense of humour when they were choosing her name.
Clearly, she took it to heart.
Checkered marble tiles line the entirety of the front foyer, the black and white squares reflecting off the angled mirrors hanging from the ceiling. Long red drapes tumble down the paned windows, casting sunlight along the playing cards carved into the bright red walls.
Diamonds and hearts are the only red suits in a deck of cards and those are the only suits the Queen allows painted on her walls .
Shouts of outrage rumble down the great hall. The glass mirrors start to shake, their reflections melting and merging into an incoherent mass of red and black.
I pause, listening to the corresponding screams.
“ Please, I have a family. I’m begging you-
“OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”
A loud thud, followed by silence.
Pivoting, I head towards the small black door at the end of the hall. It looks like something out of a gnome garden, a tiny arched doorway that could lead you to wonderland.
I crouch down and duck through the narrow frame, barely making it past without rumpling my suit. Brushing any potential wrinkles free, I stand up and survey the extravagant throne room laid out before me.
Set up like a church, the rows of wooden pews are filled with bodies dressed in the cheapest cotton. They’re made to look like peasants, each one wearing an identical expression of horror as they stare at the elevated platform.
A massive guillotine perches upon it, the wooden planks painted with hearts oozing blood. The blade has been replaced countless times since the French Revolution while the rest of the contraption has been restored to its former glory.
A deep, booming voice washes over the audience.
“John Rabbit, approach the stage.”
“I wasn’t late! I swear I wasn’t late!”
The screaming creature gets dragged up the stairs, its shaking body held by the executor himself .
“By jury of the king, you are hereby sentenced to death.”
“No!”
The poor thing weeps and cries as its head gets lodged in the lunette. The executioner cackles with glee, his pudgy face full of delight when he reaches for the release handle.
“OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”
The blade goes hurtling towards the ground. Another scream rings out and the blade slices down.
The dismembered head bounces down the stairs and rolls to a stop at my feet. Picking it up off the ground, I stare at the bunny who had the misfortune of being Jack Heart’s toy.
“After all these years, you’re still playing make-believe.”
Tossing the head to the side, I watch it bounce against the other stuffed animals lining the pews. Each one dawns a crude marker smile and patchy clothing that looks horribly handmade.
Holding back a grimace, I turn from the clumsy sewing attempts to the boy who never quite became a man.
An unflattering blush creeps across his face, the unfortunate sight only made worse by the scowl pinching his bushy brows together.
“I’m not playing make-believe. I’m performing.”
I sigh heavily, “Nobody comes to watch your performances, do they?”
“The Queen comes to watch my show every evening.” Beady little eyes narrow, “Unlike you, I have a mother who gives a shit about me. ”
“Oh, Jack.” Climbing the stairs, I walk past the mountain of decapitated toys, “Nobody likes a mama’s boy. I’ve heard it is the least attractive feature a man can have.”
I come to a stop right in front of him. A wide smile spreads across my face as I stare down at him.
“Besides his height, of course.”
A vein bulges in his forehead as the short man glares up at me. Despite being the tallest kid in fifth grade, Jack soon fell down the rung of intimidation when it became clear the poor sap took after his mother.
Only coming up to my stomach, what Jack Heart lacks in height he more than makes up for in hair. Wild and unruly, the curls stick up in every direction like a desperate attempt to reach the next shelf. His head is slightly too small for his plump body and the royal cape hanging off his shoulders is doing a poor job of hiding that fact.
“At least I don’t have those ugly ass stretch marks.” His teeth snap together in a sneer, “Your back is fucking disgusting. My mom always said-
“I am not too concerned about your fascination with my body.” My lips peel back into a smile, “Or your mother’s for that matter.”
“I didn’t say-
His words get cut off when I shove him backwards. The crown sitting atop his head goes crashing to the ground and the Heart prodigy follows suit. Grabbing his cape, I wrap it around his neck until those beady little eyes are bulging from their sockets.
“I must say, you have the loveliest playroom.” Tightening my grip, I start dragging him towards the guillotine, “So many toys at your disposal. It must get overwhelming.”
“It’s not...” He’s panting, wrestling against the thick material of his cape, “...a playroom.”
“We will have to agree to disagree.”
I drop him on the ground and watch him try to crawl from me. It’s a pathetic attempt, the fumbling movements don’t get him anywhere before I pull him right back.
“Here’s the thing, Jack.” Pressing a foot into his spine, I pin him to the ground, “You can play pretend all you want, but the Dragon does not take kindly to those who steal from her. No matter how spoilt they are.”
“ I’m an actor!” The scream explodes from his mouth, “And I didn’t touch your fucking drugs. I would rather cut off my arm than buy from you.”
I tilt my head, watching his thick jowls swing angrily.
“I almost believe you.”
Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, I shove him headfirst into the lunette. The lock clicks into place, trapping the man who’s about to scream his head right off.
“I am a busy man, Jack.” Rolling up the sleeves of my shirt, I wander over to the release handle, “I do not appreciate my time being wasted.”
“ What are you doing?! ”
The high-pitch squeal echoes around the playroom, nearly putting a smile on the painted faces in the audience, “Take me out right now!”
“Did you show the same mercy to John Rabbit?” Holding back a smile, I click the handle into place, “I don’t think so.”
“I didn’t take your fucking drugs!”
“Again. That’s not the answer I want to hear.”
I pull the release and the blade drops.
Jack’s scream sends a rush of adrenalin through my system. I wait as long as humanly possible before hitting the emergency brake the matriarch had installed for this very reason.
For all her faults, the Queen understands the importance of a slow painful death.
The blade screeches to a stop a hair length from Jack’s neck. The sharp edge is almost grazing the skin, just a couple centimetres shy from penetrating his flesh.
As soon as he realizes his head is still attached to his body, the heartless prodigy bursts into tears.
“P-Please let me go. I-I’m begging you.”
Crouching down, I marvel at the tangled state of his hair, “Tell me what I need to know, Jack. Or you will end up no better than Mr. Rabbit.”
The beautiful irony of the situation seems lost on the imbecile stuck staring at the ground.
“I-It wasn’t my fault.”
“Hao Yu says otherwise. ”
More sobbing ensues and I wait for him to pull himself together.
“I-I said I would never buy from you. N-Not ever.”
Looking at my watch, I let out a sigh, “You bullied me first, Jack.”
“You put snakes in my fucking backpack!” He’s screaming again, trying to rip his head from the thick blocks of wood, “I couldn’t sleep with my window open for months . I hate you and your disgusting serpent of a mother.”
I hit the release and the blade drops.
My efforts are once again rewarded with a soul-piercing scream. I hit the brake, and the blade comes to a shuddering stop, embedding itself within the thick tissue of his neck.
“STOP IT!”
“Tell me what I need to know.”
I watch the blood ooze down the edge of the blade and splatter along the floor. Jack’s legs are flailing, desperately trying to fight the wooden blocks holding him prisoner.
“I said there’s nothing on earth that would make me buy from Marlin Seaborn. I said fuck the drugs, they can’t be that good anyway.”
“Not what I want to hear. Goodbye, Jack.”
“LET ME FINISH!”
Blood continues to trickle down his neck and onto the floor below. There’s quite a puddle forming, the metallic tang adding to the fluff balls floating through the air.
“You have thirty seconds. ”
“But that was the point, he said. I would buy the drugs from him and not you, so that way I could still get the high.”
“You need a lot more than a high, Jack.” I lean down and wiggle the blade lodged in his neck, “When did you start working with Hao?”
He whimpers, “I didn’t even know Hao was involved. I just know the guards would drop off a sample package once a month and I would e-transfer the money.”
I pause, looking at the stuffed animals lining the pews. Everything about the setup is basic and simple, but most of all, it’s lazy.
There is no effort in the animal’s clothing nor in the faces hastily drawn with marker. It’s the act of a spoilt child, a man who has never needed to use time or effort to achieve his goals.
Jack Heart is guilty of buying the drugs and using them, but he’s just a fall guy. A way to keep the Dragon off someone else’s scent for a little while longer.
“Where did you e-transfer the money?”
“Some offshore account, I don’t know.” A whine slips out, “Let me go.”
“Give me a name.”
“I don’t know his fucking name!”
“How do you know it was a man then?”
“His username was some weird macho shit.” His voice breaks as tears start to flow again, “KillTheBeast717 or something like that. P-Please, Marlin. Don’ t do this.”
More blood pools out as the blade leaves his neck. I lock it back into position at the top and give the handle a wiggle to make sure it doesn’t have a quick release.
“I look forward to your next performance, Jack.” Giving him a pat on the back, I make my way back across the playroom.
“Wait. Marlin, wait!”
He shakes the guillotine with such force the blade swings dangerously at the top.
“You need to let me go.”
“Do I?” Casting a smile over my shoulder, I meet his bloodstained eyes, “Last time I checked, your mother comes to watch your shows every night. If only I had a mother who cared as much as yours.”
“Don’t leave me like this!”
“Sorry, Jack. I’m afraid our time together has run out.”
Pushing the tiny black door open, I duck through and let it shut out the anguished screams coming from inside.
Another successful performance by the Jack of Hearts, and dare I say, he suits the victim much better than the king.
Although he was not the only one delivering a performance today.
It would seem the bumbling fool was not so lost, after all.