returned. “But look at us! We’re taking those meanies’ plan and we’re turning it back on them! How surprised are they going to be when you turn up on their doorstep, Glen? Can you imagine the look on their faces?”
“I … I don’t know if I’m up to this,” said Glen.
“Not on your own,” Milo said. “But with our help you can do it. We’ll make sure.”
Glen blinked. “You’d … you’d do that for me?”
“Of course.”
Glen started to smile, then stopped. “It’s because you want me to go away, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
Scowling, Glen turned back to Abigail. “I don’t think I can do this. I can’t kill someone. I thought I could, I thought I’d just pass it on to you, but … I can’t. A few days ago, I shot someone – a bad man. For a moment, I thought I’d killed him. It was dreadful. He was a serial killer, but I felt dreadful, anyway. I’m sorry, I just don’t have it in me. But you have lots of people here that work for you, right? I can pass the Deathmark on to them and they can kill your friend for you.”
Abigail shook her head. “The Deathmark can be passed on once, and no more. Lautaro Soto passed it to you. Whoever you pass it to next – they die. No loopholes. No exceptions. And, by the looks of it, Glen, you don’t have an awful lot of time left.”
Glen looked at his hand, at the black trail that was swirling faster. “I know.”
“But, lucky for you, Ralphie and Ossie don’t live far. Isn’t that lucky?”
Glen stood up, clutching his hand. “We have to go! We have to go now!”
“Sit down, sit down,” said Abigail. “I don’t know where they’d be this early in the evening. I know where they’ll be tonight, though.”
“We can’t wait that long,” Glen said.
“Of course you can. You stay here and I’ll be back when I know more. This is a busy bar and I am a busy lady. Enjoy the atmosphere.”
She gave them another smile, swung her feet off the chair, and hopped off and walked away.
Glen hesitated, then sat back down, and Milo leaned in. “You accepted the Deathmark?”
“Did I?” said Glen. “Oh right, yeah. Yeah, the old guy may have said something about … uh, what was it? In order to pass the Deathmark to another person, that other person has to willingly accept it. Or something.”
Amber glared at Glen. “You said you were attacked.”
Glen looked hurt. “I was!”
“You said you were attacked by a creature.”
Glen nodded. “Or a creature-like person, yes.”
“I’m sorry? What? What’s a creature-like person?”
“It’s a, I mean, it’s a person that looks like a creature, obviously. Like a, y’know … an old person.”
“You said creature.”
“I meant old person.”
“And you accepted the Mark?” said Milo.
“I didn’t know what it was!” Glen said. “This old guy comes out of the shadows and attacks me—”
“Attacks you?”
“—or talks to me, or whatever, and he says he’s about to die, will I take this Mark of Death to its intended target, a terrible person called Abigail who’s been hiding in this bar in America … What am I supposed to say? No?”
“Yes,” said Amber. “You’re supposed to say no.”
“Well, I’d say no now,” said Glen. “Obviously, I’d say no now. I’m in possession of all the facts now. But back then I wasn’t. And he seemed so harmless and he … he reminded me a little of my granddad.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
“What? My granddad was very important to me growing up.”
“So just because he reminded you of your dearly departed grandfather—”
“Oh no, granddad’s not dead. He’s just living in Cork.”
Amber glared. “He told you to kill someone in America and you said yes.”
“My granddad?”
“Soto.”
Glen paused. “I suppose I did say yes, yeah. But I’d never been to America and I’d always wanted to go. This seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
“You,” said Milo, “are an incredibly stupid person.”
Glen slumped in his seat. “Whatever.”
Amber stood, and Glen’s mouth dropped open.
“You’re abandoning me?”
“I’m going to the restroom.”
“Oh. Uh. Carry on.”
Sighing, she walked away from the table. She found the restroom, which turned out to be delightfully clean, and on her return trip she passed the dance floor. She saw Abigail, flanked by two burly members of staff, pointing to a woman doing her best to avoid eye contact. The staff members walked up either side of the woman, said a few words. The woman shook her head stiffly. The people she’d been talking to, her friends, took their drinks and moved away. She watched them go, pleading with her eyes.
The staff members took a firm grip of her elbows, led her to a room in the back. They nudged her gently through the open door and she immediately turned, tried to leave, tried to talk, but she was crying too much to get the words out.
Abigail was joined by the other children. The way they smiled sent actual shivers down Amber’s spine. Six of them, six beautiful little children, walking for the room now. The staff members moved away. The woman stepped back, hands up to keep the children at a distance. Her knees buckled. She was in hysterics now. The little boys took thin knives from their pockets and the little girls took thin knives from their purses, and they went into that room and the woman started screaming and the door closed.
Amber hurried back to their table. “The kids are killers,” she said, interrupting whatever Glen was saying to Milo. “The kids,” she said again. “The children. Abigail. I just saw them go after a woman with knives in their hands.”
Glen frowned. “Seriously?”
“Yes, Glen. Seriously.”
“They’re actual killers, like? Actual murderers?” The moment he said it, panic set in. “We have to get out of here. We have to leave. Don’t we? Who goes first? We can’t make
