Part 35 (2/2)
”It's funny, isn't it?”
Riley's voice snapped him from his thoughts. It broke the silence and made everything very real all of a sudden. Their roles had been reversed. And this time, Mattius was certain that Riley wasn't going to show him the same mercy that Mattius had shown him. The same level of forgiveness.
”I don't see much to laugh about,” Mattius said.
Riley walked slowly towards him. The soles of his feet thumped against the tiled floor, like an apocalyptic death bell ringing away. ”The way things change. The way things work out. It's funny.”
Mattius leaned his head back against the wall. He felt so ill. So sick. h.e.l.l, he felt ready. ”Just do what you have to do.”
Riley stopped, then. He crouched opposite him and looked deeply into Mattius' eyes. And Mattius saw something. He saw the loss Riley had been through. He saw the grief he'd felt at losing people so, so close to him.
And he saw the rage.
”You don't get to decide,” Riley said. ”You don't get to call the shots. Not anymore.”
He reached behind his back and pulled out a machete.
Mattius' stomach turned.
If Riley was going to torture him, then he had to be prepared to accept that. There was no dignity in war. It was the death of a soldier, and he'd chosen the soldier's life. Still, that didn't stop the sweat rolling down the sides of his neck. ”I won't beg. The only thing I'll beg is that you keep Kesha safe.”
”See, that's the thing,” Riley said, lifting the blade to Mattius' throat. ”She was safe. Before you came along. She was loved. She had people around her. Me. Jordanna. Chlo. It's only since you got hold of her that she's been in graver danger than ever before.”
”Don't pretend to me you knew how to look after that girl out here in the wild.”
”We pull together,” Riley said. ”We always have. And we always will. And yeah, we've lost people along the way. We've lost them to the dead, and we've lost them to the living. But no matter what, we always push back. We find a way through.”
Mattius sniffed up some bloodied snot. ”Then do what you have to do.”
Riley lowered the machete. He placed it on the floor right between them. ”Again, I don't think you're understanding what I'm telling you.”
He lifted Mattius' chin, so they were looking into one another's eyes.
”I hate you. For what you did to Jordanna. For what you did to Chlo. I detest you. And I wish you a life of pain.”
There was a pause. A pause where Riley's bloodshot eyes focused even more.
”But I've conquered my rage. I don't need revenge. Not anymore.”
He reached down and picked up the machete. He took a few steps back. Mattius could hear he was taking some long, drawn out deep breaths. He couldn't believe Riley had actually let him off the hook. After all this, he'd decided not to take out revenge on him.
”Then you're a stronger man than I had you down as,” Mattius said. ”And maybe you'll-”
He didn't finish what he was saying.
He didn't finish, because Riley brought the machete slamming down against his right shoulder.
He looked at it and saw the blood. The machete hadn't cut clean through, but there was a deep, gaping wound there, which was pouring out blood. He felt sick and dizzy. He couldn't process the pain. Not yet.
Riley pulled the machete out of his shoulder. Blood dripped down from the edges of it. The pain started to set in, to suffocate Mattius.
”See, I might've got over what happened,” Riley said.
He brought the machete down again.
Mattius' right arm was dangling on by a string of flesh, the bone cracked.
He pulled it back up. ”I might've made peace with you.”
He swung it again. And this time, the machete took Mattius' arm clean off.
It fell to the floor, and blood spurted everywhere.
Mattius could feel nothing but pure, hot agony burning through his right side, suppressing his breathing. His face was going cold. Every inch of his body was in pain with what was happening.
Then Riley pressed the machete right into the middle of his chest, right against his diaphragm. He looked into Mattius' eyes again, but this time, he looked totally calm about what he was doing.
”But this isn't for me,” he said.
Then he pressed the machete into Mattius' chest.
Mattius felt his skin tearing. He felt the muscles slicing under the force Riley was applying.
Slowly but surely, he felt another load of blood start pouring out of his body, and another source of agonising pain crippling him, making it hard to breathe, hard to see.
But he did see one thing.
Riley.
Riley was right up in his face now. He was getting closer as he pushed the machete further into him. Mattius tried to beg, but blood spluttered out of his lips.
All he could think about was the girl, and the woman. Chlo. Jordanna.
All he could think about was everything they'd gone through.
All he could think about was how sorry he was.
”This isn't for me,” Riley said, as the machete pressed right towards the muscles in Mattius' back.
Then, Riley smiled. And the rage and l.u.s.t for revenge really did seem to lift from his face. He looked totally rational. Totally at ease with what he was doing. Totally exorcised of all his demons.
”This is for them,” he said.
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