[Author’s note: This episode is from Daryl's point of view.]
The dreaded and hoped-for and certainly anticipated climax came on the fifth day. Rin still had said nothing of the cause of her present volatility or her plans to address it. As far as Daryl knew, she had spotted a cockroach and decided to move to an identical apartment a few blocks away. But he sensed that the growing tension could not endure, that it was a bubble of resentment and frustration. A bubble he was doomed to pop.
Even the smallest mistake could do it, and he wasn’t exactly one to tiptoe. But for some reason none of his missteps did do it, at least not for the first five days. By then, Daryl was tempted just to get it over with and weather the inevitable storm. He wondered if there was an appropriate way to go about popping the bubble, a best way. It was doubtful the result would differ, but he felt that getting it right was important. It was something he should know.
He supposed he just could ask Rin what was going on, but there was the danger that she would answer. Part of Daryl desperately desired the bubble to last forever, even if perpetually on the verge. As unpleasant as things grew, he always could pop it tomorrow. But as he had known all along, the choice was not his. At some point every bubble bursts.
Daryl had just finished making a particularly vigorous effort to satisfy Rin, and she appeared to be in a slightly better mood than usual. At the moment there was less anger than brooding, and she seemed more accessible than she had since the episode began. Daryl decided to try to distract her and maybe learn something useful in the process.
“Rin, can I ask you something?”
“You never seemed to need permission before,” she laughed. Laughter was a good sign, though this particular sarcasm smarted. He had waited for permission. Quite a while, in fact.
He lay on his side next to her, and gazed into Rin’s eyes. “You know that story you told me?”
“Which one?” She sat up on her elbow. It was unclear whether her mood had taken a turn for the worse.
Daryl kissed her before continuing. “The one with the King and Queen.”
Rin plopped back down, clearly disappointed, and stared at the ceiling.
“Oh, that. What about it?”
Daryl hesitated, but decided to try anyway. “Were you in it?”
There was a flicker in Rin’s eye, something Daryl hadn’t seen before. Not with her, at least.
“Is there a reason you ask?” Rin’s voice was anything but amiable. Daryl sensed a hint of suspicion in it. Yes, that was it. The flicker of paranoia. He had seen it when smoking weed with some friends. One of the girls had such a flicker just before she entered a paranoid state. It wasn’t much fun being around her after that.
Daryl winced. He would have even less fun around an invulnerable homicidal maniac who probably planned to kill him anyway and just, maybe, had lacked an excuse until now. He realized that the bubble finally was bursting. As with any climax, he was powerless to stop it.
Rin sat upright on the bed, studying him. There was something undefinable in her eyes. “Why would you think that?”
Daryl decided that tact was pointless now. He may as well go out swinging.
“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because one crazed immortal bitch told me a story about another?” Daryl didn’t curse much; it struck him as crude. He hoped the force of his response would catch her off guard, signal that he wasn’t afraid, and perhaps dispel whatever furor she was working herself into.
Instead, a cruel smile crept across Rin’s face.
“I see. That’s how it is. You think I’m her.”
Daryl stood up and pulled on his pants. “Yeah, I think you’re the evil Queen. Is that so goddamned surprising? You’ve murdered lots of people, hunt your own kind …” He raised his voice to drown out Rin’s predictable interjection — “oh, cut the shit, I’m pretty sure you’re one of them. And you beat and humiliated me the first time we met. Evil Queen pretty much sums it up.” By the time he had finished, Daryl was fully dressed.
Rin listened to his tirade with an amused grin. Nothing in his time with her scared Daryl as much as Rin’s present silence. When she answered, her face was inscrutable, her tone calm.
“What you say makes perfect sense. Except for three small miscalculations.” Rin had risen, naked, and now faced Daryl. She stood uncomfortably close to him, but there was no sexuality in her stance. She smiled maliciously. “Let’s count, shall we.”
She raised a finger. “One. If what you say is true then there must have been a reason I didn’t tell you. If it’s not, then you just insulted your master and teacher.”
Another finger emerged. “Two. If what you say is true then you just insulted a Queen. If it’s not, then you just insulted your master and teacher.”
“And third?” Daryl asked through gritted teeth.
Rin raised her middle finger, lowering the other two. “Three. Such an insult would be unforgivable by a Queen, a master, or a teacher.”
“So you’re going to kill me. You were going to anyway,” Daryl spat out.
Rin smiled. “Yes. No. Maybe. Now, you’ll never know.” Before he could react, Rin’s left hand was around Daryl’s wrist and her right index finger hovered a millimeter from his eye. She regarded him quietly for a moment, while Daryl struggled in vain.
“No, I think not. That will wait. I do not smash my toys, not after I worked hard to craft them to my taste.” Her hold tightened. “We will play a game, you and I. You will learn how little you know. And more important, how little you are. Then maybe I will kill you. If I wish it or you don’t wish it or maybe for no reason at all.”
“But perhaps you need a little motivation, a taste of the reward for failure.” Without releasing her hold, Rin dragged Daryl toward the kitchen, where she found a sharp knife. She then brought him back to the bed.
“Hold still.” She looked at him with wide innocent eyes. “This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me.” Laughing, she drew the blade across Daryl’s right cheek, opening a large gash. It bled surprisingly little. “Stop squirming and sit still or I promise it will get a lot bigger.”
Rin released Daryl, backhanding him across the bloody cheek and onto the bed. Then she smiled down at him. Daryl was clutching the wounded side of his face, and she tossed him a rag. As she reached for her pants with one hand, Rin pointed at Daryl with the other. “Do. Not. Move.”
She began dressing, keeping an unblinking eye on Daryl. “First, I’m going to answer you. You belong to me. I own you. Whether I feel for you or not, and whether you feel for me or not, remember that. I spared your life once and spurred you to manhood as well, you ungrateful little shit. Then I spared your life a second time and gave you even more. Now, I’m going to spare your life a third time. By all rights I should cut off your cock, but I may have use for it and those enormous balls you seem to have. How many times does that mean I spared your life?”
Rin had finished dressing and walked over, smacking Daryl’s face three times lightly as she counted aloud on her fingers. “That’s three more than I’ve spared anybody else. Remember that, worthless little boy.”
Daryl dared not say anything, though the pain in his mouth would have made speech difficult anyway. Perhaps he had assumed too much. Had Rin cared for him in the slightest? It was easy to forget what a dangerous creature he played house with, to believe that her apparent affection — such as it was — was enduring or special, to imagine that he was special.
Was this the same fatal trap which had eaten so many before him? If she truly was the Queen, then even an immortal King had fallen to her, perhaps deceiving himself in the very same way. What hope could one such as Daryl have? It was so easy to confound indulgence with love, and being her pet with being her equal. He was horrified that such thoughts even occurred to him. He sounded like Rin. Was that the true price of being with her? Not death or exile or betrayal, but to become like her in all the wrong ways.
“Here is how this will work,” Rin explained. “I need to leave town. You will not find me. Even if you do, you will not recognize me. Understand what this means.” She gave Daryl a sharp look. “I could walk up to you in the street and seduce you and cut your dick off. I could be anyone you meet, and you never will know. If I want to kill you, you will die. But you know that already. Nod agreement.”
Daryl nodded.
“I’ve wasted enough time potty training you. Now you take your exam. You have to find me. If you can’t find me by the allotted deadline, I’ll come find you. If I’m in a good mood. you’ll never know who slit your throat. If not, well we’ll get reacquainted like we originally were meant to. Maybe it will take weeks or months or years. Maybe I’ll replay all of our fondest moments, but with you screaming.”
“What’s the deadline?” Daryl asked, ignoring the rest. It was too important a question to allow himself to be distracted.
Rin laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant laugh. “What would be the fun in telling you that?”
“Better get moving.” She grabbed Daryl by the hair and pulled him out of bed. Instinctively he tried to hit her and broke his thumb in the process.
“Ooh, did you get a boo-boo? Should mommy make it all better? Get the hell out of here.”
Suddenly Rin shoved Daryl back onto the bed. “No, you stay here.” She packed her bag, gave the place a quick once over, then spoke to him from the doorway. “I’ll make it easy for you. In five years, I’ll be where I was born. There, now you know you have at least five years.”
Rin was about to leave when she turned back. “Don’t disappoint me. If you can’t find me, I will be very disappointed.”
“But how?” Daryl stammered, as he broke into a fit of coughing.
Rin snorted derisively. “Why the fuck would I tell you that? You do understand the concept of a test?”
“You know there’s no way I can find you. I won’t even recognize you.” The calm manner in which Daryl voiced this objection belied his mounting aggravation and the knot in his stomach he refused to acknowledge. He wasn’t sure what game Rin was playing or how far she intended to take it, but he really just wanted to get the damned fight over with. The bubble finally had burst, and now he was prepared to weather the storm within. Couldn’t she just get on with it? Why did everything have to be so complicated?
“Well, as I told you when we met,” Rin scolded, “best not to get lost then.”
Daryl groaned. “I didn’t get lost. You threatened to leave.”
“Threatened? You seem very optimistic. And you did get lost. You opened your mouth, and the next thing you knew you were alone in the wind.” She clasped her arms together. “Poor, poor, Daryl. What will he do?”
Before he could reply, she gave him a stern look. “As I told you then, if you are foolish enough to get lost, just do what you did last time.” She smirked. “Unless you had help then, help you no longer have access to.”
Daryl had no idea what she getting at, but he found his growing frustration difficult to suppress. Prudence cautioned that now was not the time to further anger Rin. But prudence was a fool. Now was precisely the time to do so. Now, before he was left dangling in the wind with an impossible task and the perfect excuse for Rin to kill or abandon him for good.
“It took me 10 years the first time. I don’t have 10 years,” he objected.
Rin scrutinized his face. “Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. You probably don’t, though.” She considered for a second. “Think of it this way: you have less time, but you also have a clue. Besides, a lot has happened since then. Your experience must count for something.”
She gave an exaggerated pout. “Unless you’re claiming I was a bad teacher. Is that what you’re saying, Daryl?”
Before he could frame a response, Rin looked away.
A moment later, her face lit up. “I have an idea how you can find me and save me a lot of trouble in the process. Maybe.”
Seeing that Daryl was about to reply, she pointed at him. “Sit down and shut up.”
“I’m already sitting. And why the hell would I help you if you’re firing me?”
Rin gave a light laugh. “It’s good for your health, Daryl. I can do a lot worse than firing you. Besides, you begged me to tell you how to find me.”
Daryl was about to protest, but thought better of it. If she was going to storm out, then learning what he could before then would be of more value than any satisfaction from having the last word. Besides, when did Rin ever not have the last word.
To his surprise, she suddenly appeared sad.
“Ok, I’ll give you another reason then,” she offered with a reluctant sigh. “If you really want to find a way to hurt me, you can ask my pursuer. She’s the only one who knows how. Of course, she may kill you.”
In response to Daryl’s puzzled expression, she elaborated. “She’s hunting me. Do you understand what that means? She’s the reason I’m leaving.”
Rin gave him a bitter parting smile. “That and my asshole ex-boyfriend.”
And then she was gone.
Ah, so someone is pursuing Rin! This is an interesting twist.