Mac stood above me, gun pointed straight at my face.
'I really want to shoot you in the head, Nine Lives,' he snarled. 'You have no idea how much I want to shoot you in the fucking head.'
'Be my guest.' I screwed my eyes closed, waiting for the impact.
'But that would be no fun,' he said. 'I mean, orgasms are great, but they're so much better after a little foreplay, don't you think?'
'Shoot me or shag me, Mac… make your mind up.'
He ground his foot on my hand. I could feel jagged edges of bone scraping against each other in my little finger.
The screams and gunfire from above were intense now. I imagined the Blood Hunters pouring through the front door, slicing and shooting the boys, smearing themselves in fresh blood and bellowing their victory.
'It's all over, Lee. There are too many of us. I'll be back in charge of the school within the hour. Maybe I'll celebrate with another crucifixion. What do you think?'
'Not very original,' I replied. 'You want to supersize it. How about a flaying, perhaps? Or maybe a dismemberment? Surprise me.'
He squatted down on top of me, and leaned forward until my broken nose was almost touching his stubby little burnt wreck of one.
'I will, Lee. I promise you that. Now get up and dump the hardware.'
He stood up and let me rise, keeping his gun on me as I let the weapons and ammunition drop to the floor.
'Now we wait for the commotion to die down so I can go claim my prize,' he said.
'What about David?' I asked. 'Won't he have something to say about you taking control?'
'David's my problem. Let me worry about him. You worry about me, Lee. Worry about what I'm going to do to you, Norton and that little shit Rowles, and anyone else who survives the fight. There's gonna be a bleeding tonight.'
There was something different about Mac, and it wasn't just the injuries and the missing hand. He was taking real joy in the destruction happening above. He seemed more feral, less in control. His one good eye sparkled with barely concealed madness, very different from the power hungry thug I'd known before. He used to be unpredictable; now he was just plain scary.
'Mind if I sit while we wait?'
Mac opened his mouth to reply, but a burst of gunfire from the doorway silenced him. I saw the Blood Hunter by the door struggling with someone, heard a bone-crunching snap, and a man's lifeless body tumbled down the stairs to land at our feet.
'Yeah, why not,' said Mac, ignoring the corpse. 'Pull up a box of grenades. Let's bond.'
I turned into one of the side rooms, looking for something to sit on.
'On second thoughts,' said Mac. 'Let's not and say we did.'
Something hit me on the back of the neck, hard, and the world went black.
As I lost my grip on my senses the last thing I heard was Mac laughing. It was the insane cackle of a triumphant madman.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I spluttered as the water poured down my face. Ice cold, it brought me round instantly. I was lying flat on my back on wooden boards. I wiped my eyes and looked up to see Mac standing above me. I could see cloths and pulleys suspended high above him; I was lying on the stage in the school assembly hall. I could hear lots of other people moving around, the hall sounded full.
'Wakey, wakey, Nine Lives,' he said. 'Shake a leg. Rise and shine.'
I put my hand to the floorboards to lift myself and found that my little finger was twice its normal size. It had a sharp point of bone sticking out of it above the knuckle. The drugs were wearing off, so when I put pressure on that hand it hurt. A lot. I gasped and gritted my teeth. Wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing how much pain I was in. I suspected the drugs were still dulling a great deal of it; my broken arm still felt okay. As long as I didn't do anything stupid, like throw a punch, I'd be fine for a while. I used my elbow to lever myself up into a sitting position.
The hall was to my left. Along one side all the surviving boys and girls, and the men who'd been fighting with us, were lined up. They were kneeling with their hands on their heads. I scanned the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted Rowles, Norton and Mrs Atkins, all safe and sound. Green was there too. There were about thirty surviving children and ten men. Bob was not among them, but Mrs Atkins' new man, Justin, was. Guards stood over them with guns and machetes, making sure they didn't try anything. The wooden balcony that ringed the hall on three sides was empty. There were roughly sixty Blood Hunters in the room, each and every one of them glistening with the very freshest blood. They were all staring at the stage. At me. Nobody was speaking.
'Show time,' said Mac, with a grin.
I had two options. Stay silent and risk letting them know how terrified I was, or take the piss and try to appear confident.
'Go on then,' I replied. 'Do us a dance. Show us your jazz hands. Oh, sorry, forgot. Jazz hand.'
His grin didn't waver. 'Get up.'
As I did so I saw that David was sitting behind us on the stage, on his throne. He looked as immaculate and unruffled as ever, apart from where my knife had ripped the fabric of his suit.
'Welcome back, Lee,' he said. 'As you can see we have taken control of your school. It amused me to organise a little assembly. We might sing a few hymns later, would you like that?'
'Fine by me, as long as we don't have to sing Morning Has Broken. I fucking hate that song.'
I was thinking fast, trying to work out the angles. There were guards in the wings at both sides. Behind David the stage stretched back into darkness. There was a fire exit door back there, but I'd never make it. There were three entrances to the hall itself: two sets of double doors on either side of the room and a fire exit at the back. All were guarded. There was no way out of here. Whatever Mac and David had planned I was stuck with it.
'I was going to bleed you in public,' David said when I had gained my feet. 'Make an example of you to others. But Brother Sean persuaded me otherwise. He has big plans for this place. He wants me to allow him to create a religious retreat here for our brethren. New recruits will be sent here for study and contemplation. Our wounded and old can find shelter here. He would run this endeavour for me. He even wishes to create a blood bank. The children you've watched over would be kept under lock and key, bled regularly but kept alive; a resource for the faithful. I and my chosen acolytes would continue our travels, taking the word to the world outside. I like the idea. What do you think?'
'Sounds lovely,' I replied enthusiastically. 'You could even have a cricket team, play the locals. Hildenborough are quite good, although you may have just slaughtered their first eleven.'
David chuckled indulgently. 'I thought you'd like it. But Brother Sean has some strange ideas.' Here we go, I thought. 'Even though we have taken your school by force, subdued your army and seized your weapons he feels bad for you.'
'I'm sure his heart bleeds,' I said, looking at Mac. His face gave nothing away.
David continued. 'He has this quaint notion that he needs to prove he's better suited to run this place than you are. I can't imagine why.'
'He's always had inadequacy issues,' I said. 'It all goes back to his childhood. Bed wetter, you see.'
'I see. That explains a lot,' said David, winking at Mac.
'I told you how it works, Lee,' said Mac. 'You want to be boss you've got to challenge the leader and beat him. Prove you're better. You never learned that lesson. But you will now. You're the leader of this place now, so I challenge you.'
I laughed incredulously. 'What, to a fight? You and me? Are you joking? I've got a broken arm and a broken hand. I fall down if I try to run and I can't even make a fist. What kind of victory would that be? You might as well wrestle a puppy, you fucking idiot.'
