Lefty, despite the obvious threat
of the lamp, hazarded another step. It put the man within striking distance, so
Damian swung. Unfortunately, in his haste, Damian had forgotten to unplug the weapon
from the wall. As the weighted base arced toward his assailant's head, the lamp’s
cord went taut. Then, just as suddenly, it snapped free from the wall, flinging
Damian forward.
The lamp clanged harmlessly against
the bed’s frame, and a jolt shot up Damian's arm as he toppled. Some part of him
must have been expecting the fall, for he felt himself tuck into a roll. One with
the momentum, he let it carry him back to his feet. With a start, he realized his
attackers were behind him.
Damian spun, lamp-weapon in hand. Or,
rather, what was left of it. The base had snapped off and rolled away. It clunked
into the baseboard, causing Damian to flinch. His eyes went to Lefty, who was still
standing a step away. The man appeared even more menacing than before. Damian wasn't
sure how that was even possible, but it likely had something to do with the two
fresh cuts across the man's cheek.
The plug, Damian reasoned. It must have grazed him.
Lefty didn't acknowledge the injury,
but Damian was sure it had to hurt. It was
bleeding, after all.
“Sorry, I- ah... yeah,” Damian stammered.
To his surprise, Left grinned, though
it fit about as well as a dragon in a dollhouse.
Damian didn't have time to marvel at
the expression, however strange, because with the smile came a step and a grasping
hand. Damian ducked with speed that surprised him. Even more surprising, he thrust
the top of the lamp out in front of him like a spear. It jabbed into Lefty's gut,
pushing him back slightly.
The man grabbed the weapon, trapping
it and crushing the shade. For one awful moment, Damian was staring directly into
the man's burning eyes, eerie darkness with a dash of flame. The perfect recipe
for an arduous death.
Damian allowed instinct to control him
again. This time it yanked his arms away from the suited stranger. Damian didn't
expect the weapon to budge, but the crumpled shade ripped free. Lefty glanced at
the remains.
What happened next, Damian would someday
find even harder to explain. He had a great view of the events, perched–as it
seemed–high in his own head, viewing everything from a distance. He was the audience
for his own action film.
With the removal of the various parts
of the lamp, all that remained was the long, skinny midsection with a naked bulb
in the socket on top. Damian’s hand gripped the implement at the bottom and hefted
it, judging the balance. Then, his arm brought it up in a circle even as Lefty was
raising his eyes back to his prey.
The bulb caught the man flush to the
side of the head and popped. A bit of white powder puffed. Glass speckled the suit.
Lefty raised his knife, but whatever controlled Damian was quicker. Even as the
shards of glass were bouncing of the man's wide, muscular shoulders, the lamp whizzed
back around.
It raked across the man's face from
brow to chin, tearing the skin. Blood oozed out of the cut and down into Lefty's
right eye, partially blinding him. He swung with his knife where he thought Damian
should be, but Damian's body had already vacated the spot, swirling to the left.
The dance ended when Lefty stumbled
forward and Damian brought the broken bulb up under the man’s jaw. Damian rammed
it home and the tiny fires were snuffed out. A red flood burst from Lefty's mouth.
As the man fell back to the floor at the foot of the bed, Damian's hand darted out
to grab the knife. It parted easily from lifeless fingers.
New weapon in hand, Damian turned to
face Righty. The man wasn't laughing anymore.
19.49: Getting to Know You
3 days ago
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