Mr. Gates’s face was covered in blood. Three claw marks, no less than an inch thick, marred his face. His wife sat across from him, crying, her make-up leaving trails of black down her face.
Penelope, amidst the tears and screams as well as the blood spatters on the walls, was smiling, her long claws stained with bright red. “Is he the Chosen One?” she asked for the umpteenth time. “Tell me and I’ll stop. Don’t,” she thrust her fingers into his thigh, smiling and laughing with her mouth open as his screams filled her ears, “and I keep going.”
“I don’t know!” Mrs. Gates screamed at the top of her lungs, her teeth gritted, and her face stained with tears. “What did you expect him to do when he watched you kill his girlfriend? He’s scared, so of course he’s going to hide.”
Penelope tilted her head in her direction, her claws still digging into Mr. Gates’ leg. After a long minute, she pulled up and extracted her claws from his flesh. She slowly walked to the other side where his wife was and stroked her finger down her cheek in a slow motion. She got so uncomfortably close to her face that Mrs. Gates could hear her excited breaths. “It wasn’t that hard, now was it?”
Mrs. Gates shook her head, her breaths trembling.
“But I’m afraid what you said is not going to work. You see, I need a pinpoint location as to where he is.”
“I told you, I don’t know where he is. I’m telling you the truth.”
“Are you though?” She straightened herself and stood in between them. “I grow bored. So, if you cannot give me the information I need, then you are of no use to me.”
The room got quiet. Neither of them talked, causing Penelope to roll her eyes. “Very well.” She walked to Mr. Gates with her claws out and stabbed him through his heart, sticking through his back. “The next time I ask you a question, answer it to the best of your ability.”
Mrs. Gates screamed as she saw her husband’s life ebb away. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she let the tears flow. “I’m so sorry, my love.”
Penelope bent down with her sick smile still intact. “His blood is on your hands. Tell Daniel the Dark King is going to be looking for him for the rest of his days. Tell him there’s no place he can hide that he will be safe.” A second later, Penelope was gone and Mrs. Gates was still tied to the chair, her husband already dead.