Neon is the Colour of Vengeance (Flappers and False Gods)

THE REAL HUGO

Alice watched Bobby idly as they stared out the window of Samuel’s penthouse. Rain fell in sheets, turning the bright lights outside into a blurry kaleidoscope of colour behind the stained glass. They hadn’t spoken in well over an hour, just keeping their perch by the window. It annoyed Alice; she was bored.

“You think he’s dead yet? Evan, I mean.” The gloat was clear in her voice.

Bobby pretended to ignore her, but their shoulders tensed, and their back muscles strained.

It was some time later when the little ping from the elevator announced the arrival of someone. Alice turned to look and was delighted to see Samuel followed by Hugo. Hugo looked awful. His hair was soaked, and he was shivering even in his suit. He limped slightly and his face was black and blue, there was a nasty gash that appeared to have almost split his top lip as well as a gnarly cut that bisected his right eyebrow. His expression was desolate. Good , she thought.

Alice made to follow as the men walked to Samuel’s office, but Samuel turned and shook his head. “I’ll talk to you later, kitten.” He didn’t sound angry, but he didn’t sound pleased either. He shut the door in her face with a snap.

“If Evan is dead, Hugo will kill you. I hope your pathetic little obsession is worth it.”

Alice hadn’t noticed Bobby move behind her and she gave a little start.

“It’s not an obsession. He and I are perfect for each other.” She was content for Bobby to think she had told Samuel because she was jealous. That would make it easier when she came for them.

“You don’t want him. You just don’t like being told no.”

“I always get what I want,” she said darkly. It was true, Alice wanted for nothing because she had been able to fight, kill, blackmail or simply pay for whatever and whomever she desired. The only person in the world who would deny her something was Hugo. It made her resent him even more.

“If Evan is dead, Hugo will kill you,” Bobby said again. There was an odd calm to their words, a certainty that should have scared Alice.

They endured the rest of the wait in silence, Alice lingering in the thin corridor outside the office, Bobby near the elevator.

When the door finally creaked open, both looked up expectantly. Samuel and Hugo shared a muttered word that Alice couldn’t hear, and then Hugo stepped outside closing the door behind him.

“Poor Hugo?—”

Her sentence was cut short by Hugo’s hands around her throat. He slammed her against the wall and held her there with the weight of his body. Her head spun from where it had clattered into the wooden panelling, and she was already seeing black spots as his tight grip cut off the circulation to her brain.

His face was a mask of pure rage, unlike anything she had ever seen before.

“If you ever try to hurt him again, I will kill you. I will tear you apart piece by piece.” He was so close his nose pressed into her cheek as he spoke.

She clawed at his hand and forearms desperately trying to loosen his grip. He dragged her away from the wall only to slam her painfully back into it. “Do I make myself clear?”

Alice looked to Bobby, but they didn’t move, seemingly content to watch the attack unfold. For the first time in her life, Alice was afraid.

“Do I make myself clear?” he snarled.

Alice’s eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her skull, her ears rang, and her head ached where it had been slammed repeatedly into the wall. She tried to nod with weak and jerky movements. She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t breathe, her life was slowly slipping away and the last thing she would see was Hugo’s face contorted and twisted, more monster than man.

And then, he let go.

“If you so much as look at me or Evan sideways again, I will end you.”

Hugo stepped back, and Alice slumped to the ground coughing as she dragged air back into her lungs. Her eyes watered and her head pounded, the sound of her own blood returning a rush in her ears.

Hugo was already stepping into the elevator when her vision cleared.

Bobby came to crouch at her side, utterly unconcerned. “That’s the first time you’ve met Hugo. The real Hugo. He has honest-to-God darkness in him, and you cannot compete. You’re outclassed, doll. Let it go, for your sake.”