Syphon: Guardians of the Fractured Realms Read Free Page B

speaker’s voice, like something was rotting and decayed. The image that flashed through his head was of a midden under a hot summer sun.
    “Come now… No greeting for an old acquaintance? My, my… the manners are the first thing to go when you get shot in the face, aren’t they…”
    The voice trailed off as the outline of a person took shape from the shadows. As the outline became more distinct as the speaker approached him. Grabbing a chair, they dragging it with a metallic hiss closer to the bed.
    “Quite honestly, I’m a little disappointed. You see, my master had spent several months planning out that attack. They put quite a bit of effort into coming up with it. You honestly weren’t supposed to come out of that warehouse alive. But then that stupid bloodsucking mercenary just had to try and boost his reputation by being the one to finish you. I think you really did the world a favor when you tried ripping his heart out before his head exploded, but I’m getting off track here. Suffice it to say, if it wasn’t for him grabbing you and then expiring messily in your arms, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
    “Who are you?” he asked, trying to make sense of what the other person was telling him. For some odd reason, he still couldn’t make out the other person’s features even though they were only a few feet away. He felt like he was looking through a foggy window.
    “You really don’t know, do you? Maybe we were closer to our goal than we realized. Let’s just say that it’s not really that important at this point. What is important, however, is where we go from here.”
    His thoughts raced wildly through his head.
    My name is Samuel? At least that’s something. This guy knows me, but from the sounds of it, he tried to have me killed. He said I was shot in the face…? So why aren’t I dead. Was that where the bullet I coughed up came from?
    “Excuse me,” the other person snapped, slamming his hand on the bed railing, “am I boring you? Really… some people…”
    Samuel jumped slightly at the noise, trying to focus again on what the other person was saying to him.
    “Sorry, just trying to come to grips with fact that you admitted trying to have me killed. Forgive me if I seem a little distracted.”
    “Ah… No worries. Happens more often than you’d think when talking to someone who survived an assassination attempt. Now where was I…?” he asked, trailing off while he tapped his finger on his chin.
    “You were going to tell me why you wanted to kill me…?”
    The sound of his abrasive laughter set Samuel’s teeth on edge.
    “Heh… Do you honestly think that, just by asking me, I’m just going to blurt out why my master wants you dead? What do you think this is… A movie? That you’re going to trick me into some long-winded villainous monologue whereby you learn our whole diabolical plan? Of course that’d mean that, through some unlikely happenstance, you’ll somehow escape, only to return at some critical juncture to ruin it. My dear boy… The only thing that’s going to happen is…”
    As he trailed off, he leaned forward, bringing his face to within inches of Samuel’s face. Samuel sucked in a shocked gasp before gagging at the stench. The other person’s face was a mass of writhing worms and other insects. The short whiff he got smelled of sulfur and decay. Trying to hold his breath, he attempted to press himself deeper into the mattress in a futile attempt to get away from the monster’s face.
    “Your death.”
    As the creature said it, Samuel felt an overpowering itchy sensation coming from his left finger. He absently started to reach over to scratch it before the handcuff stopped him.
    “Oh no you don’t!”
    The monster grabbed Samuel by his neck and hoisted him off the bed. As he was lifted, his right hand was yanked down by the handcuff still attached to the railing. Coming up short, the monster took a step back, quickly yanking Samuel with him.