Page 76 of Hollow

“You are disgusting.” Dimitri spit.

“You have no idea. Hell, the military contracts alone that I hold would foam at the mouth for something like you.” Patrick gestured to Jack. “An unfeeling, unkillable creature on the battlefield could really cleanse an area when the right buyer needs to swoop in to claim the resources of some war-torn land. Well, war-torn once the propaganda machine paints the right narrative.”

“This is all very fascinating, your evil villain speech, or whatever,” Jack said, taking a step toward Patrick. “But you don’t hold the cards you think.”

“That so?” Patrick waved the electronic box in his hand with his thumb firmly pressed to the dead man’s switch.

“It’ll take seconds to cut your head off and retrieve that little device,” Jack said, shadows slithering toward Patrick.

“I can hold out,” Dimitri rasped.

“Careful,” Patrick said, backstepping as the shadows encroached around him. “This is synced to my fingerprint. Without me⁠—”

“Oh, goodie.” Jack tilted his head, adding this ominous flair to his appearance as shadows swelled behind him, drowning the terrain in darkness. “Looks like I get to sever a hand, too.”

“Well, shit, you’re filled with a real fire, aren’t you?” Patrick nervously chuckled.

Hunters cautiously shifted, guns aimed at the shadows, at Dimitri, at Jack. None of it would matter. Jack would swallow them all in the darkness before they could fire, but he was surprised they held their ground without breaking ranks or impulsively firing off rounds out of fear.

“Maybe you could easily dispatch me and my men,” Patrick said, holding up the small electronic box. “But once I’m dead, once my forces on the ground here are dead, my tech team off-site is just going to enhance the neural signal hitting little ole Dimitri there, and believe me when I say he’ll be begging for his… Well, begging until his head pops clean off from the pulse of energy.”

“You would not risk your assets,” Dimitri snarled. “You need me.”

“Yes, but I need my life a lot more,” Patrick retorted. “So, if it comes down to a bluff, I’d rather blow your fucking head off than risk my neck, you piece of shit woodland freak.”

Jack clenched his fists, doing everything in his power to contain the wrathful force of the Nuckelavee. The spirit raged within him, syncing to his own fury, and wishing nothing more than to respond with violence. Unlike Jack, the Nuckelavee didn’t possess self-awareness; it didn’t consider consequences. No, this spirit of spite sought to satiate these slights with slaughter. Jack couldn’t exactly disagree, doing his best to contain his shadows for Dimitri’s sake.

“Besides, I’m very much of the mindset that if I can’t have the monster, nobody can. I’d rather scour the world for another Leshy than start off my legacy with a fucking loss.” Patrick cackled—actually fucking cackled like some maniacal psychopath. “You see, I knew you were quite unstoppable, but your little monster crush? That is an easy weakness to exploit.”

Jack didn’t know what to do here and now, how to stop Patrick, how to stop the chip embedded in Dimitri’s head, how to stop the hundred-something hunters surrounding them. Yeah, he could go to war no problem, but Patrick was right… If he fought back, Dimitri would pay the price. He struggled to focus as Patrick continued his taunting laughter, only just barely starting to contain himself as he clutched his ribs dramatically.

“So, I’m going to give you one opportunity to surrender, one chance to kneel,” Patrick said, pointing to the ground. “You do that, and maybe just maybe, I’ll let you two share the same cell so you can cuddle between missions.”

Dimitri growled, forcing himself to his feet.

“Please. Grand gestures of bravery really are pointless.” Patrick released the button and laughed as Dimitri dropped to the ground in pain.

“Stop,” Jack pleaded, his voice filled with distress. “Please. I’m begging you.”

Patrick glowered at Jack, smiling as Dimitri writhed in agony, crying out.

“Doesn’t look like you’re begging,” Patrick said, completely straight-faced without an ounce of emotion. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll teach you to beg, isn’t that right, Dimitri?”

Dimitri roared, refusing to surrender to the pain surging through him. His body twisted in on itself as electricity sizzled, and the high-pitched frequency held a long, sharp, piercing sound that even started to sting Jack’s ears. Jack grimaced, his body shaking from the horror he witnessed, knowing there was nothing he could do to help.

Once Patrick was content that Dimitri had learned his lesson, he pressed the button again.

“I can do this all day, but I lack the patience for soft torture,” Patrick said. “I want an answer, and I want your submission, or the next step is telling my boys to start hacking off chunks of Dimitri.”

Jack’s jaw fell wide, hidden beneath the pumpkin, but his shadowy expression mimicked the horrific reaction on his face.

“What?” Patrick shrugged. “He doesn’t need his hands to track quarry for us. Hell, he can go without a lot of appendages when scouting for other little monsters.”

Jack ground his teeth, wishing nothing more than to slaughter Patrick, to kill every person here. But any move he made to oppose Patrick would hurt Dimitri, would kill Dimitri. Jack had no options, no countermoves, no plan around this horror, so he did the only thing he could.

Jack dropped to his knees and lowered his head.

“Good boy,” Patrick said with smug satisfaction, looking down on Jack and Dimitri.