To Die For (P49)

"So, what is it that you really want?" Ida purred next to me, as we sat on the sofa. Checkers had gone to the nearest shop to get some booze. There was several bottles of Melbourne Bitter in the house, but Ida drank like a fish and needed something heavier. I didn't know how long it would be before Checkers came back, so I was hoping to convince Ida that it would be a good idea to run away before he came back.

"Ida. We can run now. Checkers will be back any time soon, and I don't know when we'll have another chance to run. We gotta get outta here. Checkers kept making me work out and stuff!" I gasped. She raised an unbelieving eyebrow at me and stared. I started to sweat. "HURRY!!! HE'LL BE HERE SOON!!!"

"Shut up. He's takin' the car, and you're goin' nowhere. I still think you're quite soft. I was thinkin' that we could go around and kill someone. But until you fuckin' toughen up, you're stayin' right here." She took out a smoke and lit it. I stopped myself from coughing, as it wasn't best to cough when Ida was telling me off. It seemed that everything I did lately was nothing short of weakness. She was right. After all, I hadn't killed Checkers yet. He'd probably kick me into submission or something pleasant like that until I bled and begged for mercy.

"Can we kill Checkers then? I mean really do him over good?" I grinned, not realising that Ida would've totally guttered that line. She snorted. How strange. I thought that torturing men was her favourite hobby, next to drinking her face off.

"I'd love to see ya try. Even if he didn't kill ya, our bosses would be all over. I mean, y'know they wouldn't like it if you killed their valuable property. I mean, how many Checkerses are there?" She looked at me like she'd asked some kind of deep meaning of life question. I was glad that there was only one Checkers. The world didn't need any more of his kind around.

I could tell Ida was starting to get twitchy now. She had been without booze and smokes for a whole ten minutes now, and I was starting to get worried. Checkers didn't seem to have any addictions, at least none that didn't involve hitting a punching bag or kicking the shit out of someone. That was probably what he was doing. He was at the shop. Someone looked at him wrong, and Checkers sorted him out the only way he knows how to. That person would be bleeding now, and the cops would be coming and Checkers would be arrested and….

Yeah right. He wouldn't risk being caught for a few seconds of joy. He'd come back here and expect me and Ida to do it. He'd say it was a learning experience and he'd say that all the things I learnt I needed to use in real life. Sure, punching the crap out of a bag, killing another human for cash. It all makes sense. I was slowly being driven insane by a pair of retards. I needed an escape, and quickly.

For a few seconds, I seriously thought about going home. Then I remembered that my parents were dead. That wasn't an option any more, thank you very much. I could see that her plan had worked well. I had no escape whatsoever from her clutches. Damn, that woman was good.

After a few moments, Checkers returned home. He stumbled in the front door, a case of VB under each of his enormous arms for Ida. As for me… well all I got was a glare. Checkers looked at me with the biggest dirty look I'd seen in quite some time.

"Why are you just standing there. Couldn't you be learning how to shoot a gun or run around the house or something? Fucking kids. They're just getting lazier and lazier lately. Ida, do you see how soft Morty's getting? Guns'd be wasted on him anyway. Look at those shoulders. They couldn't even support a shotgun." He kept sneering at me. "Maybe we'd better leave that for when he's older and got some hair on his balls, eh?" He prodded Ida in the ribcage and snorted with laughter. I scowled for a second, then realised that I was still wearing the tag. I didn't fancy several hundred volts of Checkers brand electrify running through me. Stupid little fucker. Ida seemed to find it hilarious and joined in the laughter. I glared at her.

"So am I going to kill anyone today, or are we just gonna stand around like little pricks?" I yelled. I really enjoyed being able to yell whatever shit I wanted, and not needing to put up with other people. Checkers lifted an eyebrow. Oh, shit I thought to myself. I've gone too far. Soon Checky will be after me and I'll be sprawled on the ground as he bashes me to death.

"No. Not 'til you prove yourself" he chuckled. I was close to making a kill right then and there. After all there was a reason why they didn't want me near guns. I could just shoot Checkers. Two quick bullets and it would all be over. Of course Checkers probably wouldn't die. He'd just bounce up healthier than ever. Maybe he was a demon or something like that. He was just that fucking scary.

"So the only way I can prove myself…would be to kill something, right?" I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. I needed to get out soon and kill. Of course, if they left me and Checkers alone and left me with a weapon or two, I could have some serious fun. I avoided his glare. He could probably read my mind, but I didn't care anymore. After all, how much longer would I be stuck with him? I'd offed one boss already, one that had much more power than Checkers could ever dream of.

That was the other problem with being stuck out here. I hadn't seen a radio lying around anywhere. There was an old TV lying around here somewhere, but I hadn't seen a aerial or satellites dish. There were no newspapers to be found, and this was starting to get a little bit weird. It had been around three hours since Checkers went back, which meant we were probably an hours drive from civilisation, as he would've spent some time actually buying stuff. Of course if I had the skills, I would actually total up the speed of the car and see how far we were.

"Mortis! Fuckin' wake up!" Ida screeded. She was beginning to sound a lot like my mother, except my mum swore a lot more than she ever did. I could already smell the alchol on her breath and wondered why she didn't stick to vodka. At least it smelt slightly less worse than VB.

"Here. Drink this. Sure it's one'a them fruity gay drinks, but you'll like it all the same." Ida gave me a warm friendly smile, which made me shrink back. She only ever smiled like that if something was about to go wrong. She looked right into my eyes for a few moments, before I realised it was best if I just drank the stuff. It had a nice lemonly tang to it. Before I knew it, I was asking for more, and Ida was constantly dropping liquid in my mouth. I could tell there wasn't any poisons in it (it didn't taste weird) and besides, it wasn't Ida's style. Nope, her style would be to seduce me and do UNSPEAKABLE ACTS!

"This is some good shit!" I muttered to myself, not realising that Ida was once again getting me seriously drunk. My head was lighter and heavier at the same time, and I was beginning to slur. Suddenly, being around with Checkers wasn't so bad. I looked up and there he was looming over me. I looked at him all confused, until I realised he was like my coach or something.

Out of nowhere, Checker's fist came out of nowhere. I dodged, and nearly fell over. Since when was I this tipsy? I swung out with a missed shot, and ended up with a punch to the gut. I kicked him in the hand, as I slowly got myself back onto my feet. As soon as the world stopped wobbling, I let loose a few punches. Checkers grabbed onto my wrists and pulled me forward. I stumbled as I tried to kick the bastard somewhere that it would hurt. Checkers ducked as the world become fuzzier again.

"You'll never win a pub fight acting like that!" Checkers yelled from somewhere around me. I dived up, aiming my fist at his jaw. He head butted me, but I was too removed from myself to feel the pain. I grabbed his hand and yanked down, just as his other fist blasted into my shoulder. The force pushed me down, and I fell to the ground. I managed to spring up just in time before Checkers' foot started to kick me in the ribs.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I slurred. I couldn't believe it. Checkers- a trained fighter was once again picking a fight again. Sure, if I was Ida I would have no problem fighting while I was drunk. But what the fuck was wrong with Checkers? Was he becoming so weak that he had to pick a fight on children to win?

I didn't need to think about these things any more. Checkers let loose a mean left hook. There was an explosion of pain, and then the world turned black.