The Half and the Whole: Tori by Nicola Collings (fiction novels to read TXT) 📕

She’d had this teddy bear when she was 3 years old, a present from Drug, before tragedy struck.

It was this piece of her old home she held onto as she drifted into a peaceful sleep, and dreamt of the future.

Tori was awoken by voice shouting somewhere in the distance. They were muffled, and Tori was too comfortable, too happy to want to remove herself from the warmth of her bed.

The choice was taken from her, however, when her door burst open to blind her with light from the living room.

“You bitch! You sick, twisted psycho! You fucking bitch...” Tori sat up to see a blurry figure at the door...two blurry figures, in fact.

“Tori, erm, sorry, she kind of barged her way in!” came Drug’s apologetic tone form behind the struggling girl.

Tori got out of bed, still wearing her black dress form the night before. “Who...?” she started when she looked at the girl properly, through the thick folds of sleep.

Wait, she recognised this girl...

“BITCH! How could you!” the girl cried, tears causing the make up to run down her face in tears, her sobs wracking her body which was restrained by Drug. If Drug wasn’t there, Tori feared this girl might fly forwards and tear Tori’s eyes out.

Her clothing confirmed she was form Boundary.

“You know this freak?” Drug raised an eyebrow, struggling with the girl.

Tori nodded. “How can we get her to calm down?”

“Fuck knows...maybe, ah! I dunno!”

Tori moved towards the girl. “Look, we can talk about this, what’s your name?”

The girl let out a shrill scream. “WHAT DO YOU THINK, BITCH? WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK? YOU’VE KNOWN ME FOR YEARS, YOU KNEW HER FOR YEARS AND NOW SHE’S DEAD!”

Tori paused. “Wait, who’s dead, just calm down, we can sort this!”

The girl cried, going slightly limp in Drug’s arms. Still sobbing, she let Drug drag her to the sofa and sit her down onto it.

“Now,” said Tori, standing over her. “Tell me what’s going on?”

“She’s dead...you told her to go and die...and now she’s dead!” the girl looked down, sobbing.

“Who?”

“Penelope!”

Tori’s blood ran cold.

Go die in a hole...

Could she have... no!

“What happened?” asked Tori.

“We followed her from prom, after those...terrorists showed up. We thought we’d escaped! But Penelope was...she was...just walking...she wouldn’t speak to us... She just, lied down in the street and...” the girl paused, sobs taking over. “She let a car drive over her! We just watched...”

Tori was silent. As was Drug. 

“Aunt and Uncle...” muttered Drug. “You must have... like a gift or something...”

She really wasn’t in the mood for this. Of course the very idea that she could have some sort of weird power was absurd! The look, however, on Drug’s face was not reassuring; it was as though he was thinking through something, as if things made...sense to him.

Seriously! Five minutes into her new life and she got this?

“Right, get out! Don’t come back here again, I don’t need this!” Tori said to the girl whose name escaped her. The girl didn’t move.

“I should go to the police, have you arrested...” the girl muttered.

So much for the weird power then!

“Well, not on The Wynde you won’t, and if you don’t want a bullet in your skull, then you’ll leave my sister alone.” Drug was suddenly on his feet and looming over the terrified girl.

Tori stood behind him now, watching the girl pause before standing up, shakily, realising she would not achieve what she came to The Wynde to do. As soon as the resigned look fixed itself to her face, she turned tail and left, her high heels she’d taken pride in hours before now cutting into her feet, angrily.

“Well, power or not, you should know that they’re not unheard of.” Drug said, turning to Tori. “In any case, I have to go; we’re playing a gig at Duskgate Mansion for a couple of nights. If you need anything, just come and find me, you’ll be let in. Everyone is let in. You’re among friends now.” Drug smiled, warmly, not relieving the sense of tension tightly knotted around her stomach.

Part 3: Re-shaping the Cracks

Living on The Wynde was not what Tori expected. In fact, it was extremely different. She could cope with the cosy flat, the lack of money, but it was the people that startled her. It was like they moved and breathed together. Like one beating heart. People smiled, said hello, asked her to peruse their stock in the market streets. It was friendly gestures and the relaxed atmosphere that broke her out of the comfort of the strict regime of Boundary. No one would dare say hello to a stranger in the street. No one would dare accost someone or try to sell them something; in fact, the idea of market stalls crowding the already claustrophobic streets would be unheard of!

Tori was wandering a particular street where boutiques lined either side and rows of shelves with books crammed into them and other objects were squashed in front of shop windows that were as equally as crammed. She’d just past a small group of strange looking people- one of which carried an unconscious woman- when a small child ran past. Having almost taken Tori off her feet, the child stopped, a look of horror on her face.

“Sorry Miss, are you ok?” she cried.

Tori smiled. “Sure I am, don’t you worry.”

The kid smiled and ran off, through a smaller alley way between the shops. Tori smiled to herself. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard?

It was almost midnight by the time she’d finished absorbing the environment. She was sure she knew the way back to Drug’s flat, but she guessed it’d be a matter of looking for land marks in the blackened maze. There were still a lot of people thronging the street, yet when Tori took an alleyway that led to another alley way, the silence and lack of life disturbed her somewhat.

It was when she heard the sounds of laughter and a woman screaming when Tori finally became scared. She turned a corner to see a group of men standing over a woman. Edging closer, being careful to stay concealed in the shadows, Tori could make out the woman dressed in the style of The Wynde, however, the four men dressed in pastels and jeans- something that was seen commonly on Boundary.

Tori tensed, watching as the men circled their prey and proceeded to kick and maim the woman, one of the four managing to silence her screams by pulling her to her feet and clamping a hand over her mouth. Still watching, Tori watched as the men closed in around her.

The woman was turned with her back to the men, one of them hugging her to his chest. Pushing her to the ground on her front, one of the men laughed.

He crouched down behind her.

The woman got into her knees and was kicked down again. The men closed in even tighter as Tori heard the sound of ripping the threads of material go flying from the scene.

It was when Tori heard the puffs and groans of pleasure coming from the man who was now straddling the woman, in amongst folds of clothing...

Fear pushed itself to her heart which sped up immediately, making Tori gasp. Silence fell. She could sense the men stopping and turning. Tori turned and half-ran, half- crept away, trying to be silent, but failing when her footsteps echoed on the brick walls.

Yet, no matter how far Tori ran, no matter how deep into the darkness she found herself sinking into, the laughter and sounds of slurred voices filled with adrenaline were not far behind. It was like the Boundary followed her to the Wynde and wouldn’t leave her alone until she was firmly within it’s perfect, white fingers.

When silence finally fell, Tori stopped funning and felt the cold darkness press in on her skin. Her panting breath was the only noise, yet Tori wasn’t about to relax. Now she had no idea of where she was, let alone how to get back to Drug’s apartment. And despite her now walking, her heart still hammered her ribs, more from fear and adrenaline.

The alley ways became eerie and mist created a thick blanket over the cold air.

Silence...

“Ah! There she is, the little bitch!”

The male yell made Tori gasp and jump. She tried to run, but turned a corner and went smack into a tall, dark haired man, looming over her.

“Hey there, little emo.” The man laughed. For a moment, Tori’s mind seemed to distance itself from the situation. A little emo... in a city of emo’s... seemed redundant somehow.

It was when she felt someone push her to the floor, the hard concrete smashing her cheek bones. Fear paralysed her and no matter how strong the urge to fight back, to struggle free, to run for her life, she remained beneath the heavy bulk of the Boundary citizen’s body as it thrust it’s virile member into her.

With each hot wave of pain, something stirred within her, getting bigger and stronger each time. Fear still clung to her veins as she let out a tiny whimper and tears fell from her ashen face. Maybe the tears were not for the fact she was being contaminated, being made dirty, but for something else... new and inhuman inside her...something scary...something that had already killed Penelope...

Something dead...?

But Tori’s fear was on the brink of leaving her. Something hot and violent rose to the surface, causing Victoria to fling back her head and let out a scream that vibrated off the hard, jagged walls, through the veins of The Wynde.

The men’s laughter stopped abruptly. Victoria lay there, unable to move, possibly from the utter shock of what had just taken place. A small part of her, however, was looking up at the four men- at the fear in their faces that had been, minutes before, belonging to Victoria. 

The anger was now bubbling in her throat. She turned herself onto her back, leaning on her elbows.

“Go die in fire, you son of a bitch!” Victoria growled at the man on top of her, still straddling her, his penis now as limp as soft leather. Victoria, already confused yet more occupied with her anger, watched in fascination as the man got up and took a small, metal object from his pockets around his ankles.

Then, Victoria noticed something strange. As he stood, the rapist’s face became pale, and his eyes went from the dark brown they were to an electric blue; almost the same pigment as Victoria’s own. Not only this, but bright blue veins spread from his iris’, to the whites, to his tear ducks and down his cheeks and temples. It looked like a disease, but it spread down his neck, the angry blue-purple veins itching and crackling.

The rapist held the lighter in the air, as if to click it. Before he could, he sobbed.

“Joe, what the fuck are you doing?” One of his companions yelled, yet not moving to help him.

 “What...why can’t we...what the fuck?!” yelled one of the others, who were now murmuring in fear.

They could only watch as the rapist lit the lighter, whimpered, then dropped it at his feet, watching as the flame caught his trousers and his wet boxers. As the flames licked the bare skin of his legs, he began to cry.

Victoria stood, watching the man, unable to move or save himself...just stand there, in pain, feeling every ounce of it...as he slowly died...

When his ashen body fell to the floor, still festering in flames, Victoria looked at the other men, who looked back, drenched in fear. She willed them to stop talking and they did.

It hit her like a heard of bulls when Victoria finally came back to her