Later that evening, Tani grabbed Kirsty’s coat and handed it to her. The hospital had decided that she was on the whole fit to go home. General Tani helped her as she struggled with her coat. She pulled away.

‘I think maybe it would be better if I moved I to take care of her,’ mused Tani, speaking to himself.

‘Not a good idea,’ said the nurse. ‘She doesn’t want to be helped. You saw what she was like when you tried to assist her with her coat. The best thing that you can do is to let her take care of herself, within reason.’

After a difficult drive back, Tani leant against the door and sighed with exasperation as Kirsty entertained herself by ringing the doorbell and giggling. Repeatedly.

From a greatly skilled fighter to a four year old stuck in a twenty-five year old’s body, thought Tani sadly, as the doorbell chimed again.

_______________________________________________________

The following morning, Tani felt tired and irritable. Kirsty had woken him up in the early hours of morning when it was still dark, by running into his room and jumping on him. It had scared the living daylights out of him. He did not have any children of his own, and looking after Kirsty, he realised why.

‘Are you sure you’ll be okay here on your own for a few minutes?’ asked Tani, zipping up his coat.

Kirsty nodded. Tani reached over and affectionately ruffled her hair with a grin and left.

_______________________________________________________

Katrica was watching as Tani exited Kirsty’s house. She nodded to the figure crouched down next to her, and emerged into view as the General faded more into the distance.

_______________________________________________________

Kirsty exuberantly threw open the door as the first knock resounded. Two teenage girls were on the other side. Katrica looked slightly stunned as the door bounced loudly off the frame from how hard Kirsty had thrown it open. Then an evil grin spread across her face.

‘Can we come inside please?’ she asked sweetly.

Kirsty nodded again instead of speaking and stood aside to let them in. Katrica noticed that the Corporal was even sucking her thumb.

This is even better than I expected! she thought gleefully.

The three sat down in the living room and Katrica gave Kirsty a look.

‘I know you don’t remember me, but my name is Katrica.’ She motioned to the black haired girl next to her. ‘This is Becca. Do you remember her?’

Kirsty responded by shaking her head.

‘You don’t remember her? Kirsty’s she’s your best friend!’

As Katrica uttered those words, she internally struggled to fight the cackle that was straining to break through. Kirsty gave Becca a nervous smile.

‘Hi,’ she muttered. Katrica leant forwards.

‘I’m going to tell you why I’m here. What do you think of General Tani?’ She paused, whilst the Corporal shrugged. ‘You love him, don’t you?’

Kirsty flushed, a shy smile playing on her lips, and asked, ‘how did you know?’

‘Call it intuition. Now, listen to me carefully. He is a bad man. He needs to be killed, because he doesn’t deserve to live.’

‘Huh?’ asked Kirsty, looking puzzled.

‘Look outside.’

Katrica and Becca led Kirsty out to the front door, where through the windows they could see Tani talking to an attractive woman who was walking back with him. The two teens exchanged another evil grin when they saw Kirsty’s horrified expression. Becca rested a hand on her shoulder.

‘You’re my friend and we thought you ought to know.’

‘Tani’s got lots of women he’s stringing along like you. None of them know about each other. Yet. They will soon,’ lied Katrica, whispering to Kirsty. ‘They’re all going to be wanting revenge on him, so you want to make your move soon. The sooner the better. Kill hi,.’

‘Yes,’ murmured Kirsty.

‘You will?’ asked Becca.

‘I will.’

Becca slipped something out of her pocket and placed it into Kirsty’s unrelenting hand. Becca told her to slip it into Tani’s next meal, and it would poison him to death.

‘What if it doesn’t work?’ asked Kirsty.

‘If something should go wrong, and he doesn’t eat it, then try some other method of killing him. Be creative, you can do anything you want, so long as it’s fatal,’ replied Katrica.

They left as Tani said goodbye to his female companion, who caught sight of the two teens hurrying out of the house, and planted a kiss firmly on Tani’s cheek.

Kirsty was still spying on Tani through the window and felt a burning rage boil up inside her. She looked down at the poison in her hand.

_______________________________________________________

As Tani entered the house and looked for Kirsty, the woman he was with hurried over to Becca and Katrica.

‘Cough up, I did what you asked.’

Becca fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. She handed it over to the woman.

_______________________________________________________

In the evening, Kirsty managed to distract the General by making him look for her ‘lost’ hair toggle. When he exited the kitchen, she slid her hand into her pocket to make sure it was still there. She withdrew the poison and emptied the small phial on Tani’s plate. She headed in the living room where Tani was still searching. She hid the phial.

‘I found it. It was in my pocket.’ Tani sighed loudly and wondered how he was going to do anything at all when Kirsty was repeatedly hindering him. He wearily ushered her back into the kitchen.

Had the General been paying close attention to his Corporal, he would have noticed that she was watching him very intently, as though inspecting him. As he took the first mouthful, she studied his expression not-so-subtly.

‘Mmm, it’s nice, this,’ she said, hoping to provoke him into a reaction.

He shook his head.

‘At least one of us thinks so.’

Tani picked up the plate and scraped the contents into the bin. He walked into the living room, stroking Kirsty’s untamed hair as he passed.

‘You’ll go hungry!’ exclaimed Kirsty suddenly, not yet prepared to give up. Tani smiled.

‘I’ll get something I know I like later on,’ he replied.

_______________________________________________________

Katrica stepped through the door after Sonomanma had opened it and faced the Count who had been waiting expectantly for her.

‘What have you done?’ he asked, softly. ‘I don’t like the way you won’t tell me anything.’

‘That’s because you don’t trust me. I introduced Kirsty to Becca, who has provided the means to dispose of the General,’ she stated.

‘You gave that psychopath a murder weapon?’ hissed Takeshi, incredulously. ‘She’ll probably poison everyone in sight! Then get caught. |And if that happens, she could lead the police straight here!’

‘Relax, Count. She only had access to one phial of poison, which she gave to Kirsty. I made sure of that.’

‘And you’re sure that Kirsty will do the job?’ the Count queried, sceptical.

‘Yes, sir. Please,. Just trust me, everything will work out fine.’

‘They better.’

_______________________________________________________

The next day, Katrica and Becca went to see Kirsty, to find out whether she had taken care of Tani. When the door opened, they were horrified to see the General standing on the other side. Katrica set her features into what she hoped was a warm smile.

‘Uh, we’re here to see Kirsty…’

‘Who are you?’ demanded Tani.

‘My mum works at the hospital Kirsty was in, and she asked me to bring her in for a check up.’

Tani shrugged and went to fetch Kirsty, who looked overjoyed to see them. The two girls practically dragged Kirsty away, wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the General as possible.

‘How come you didn’t poison him?’ snapped Katrica, when they were far enough away.

‘I tried,’ replied the blonde, looking sadly at her own feet. ‘He took about one mouthful and then decided he didn’t like it and threw the rest away.’

‘Could she drive?’ murmured Becca in a low voice.

‘Yes,’ whispered Katrica. They both thought the same thing together. ‘Kirsty, you’ll have to stay with us for the rest of the day…’

_______________________________________________________

Katrica called Kirsty’s house late in the evening, confident that Tani would still be in, and disguised her voice. She told him that he was to meet her at the back of the hospital in the car park where Kirsty would be waiting, and then hung up.

When ten o’clock struck, Katrica and Becca pulled Kirsty into the car park. She was reluctant and had to be dragged along.

‘I dunno, I don’t like the idea of this,’ the Corporal protested. Katrica turned around to face her.

‘So you want him to get away with treating you like this? Don’t you want to get your revenge on him before it’s too late? Just think of all the other women that will want to kill him. You had already decided that he ought to die, and just failed to do it. You can’t back out now.’

Kirsty sighed and allowed herself to be dragged along.

_______________________________________________________

Instead of doing what he had been told over the phone, Tani went straight to the main desk to inquire about Kirsty. The woman behind her desk looked puzzled.

‘She wasn’t due in for a check-up, today.’

‘What? No, two girls came in, saying that their mothers worked here or something…’ his voice tailed off. The woman behind the desk was shaking her head at him.

‘I’d better go look for her,’ he said to himself, feeling a sharp stab of panic at his chest. He threw open the back door and entered the car park. It was entirely empty except for one dark blue car. The windows had been blackened, so whoever was inside - and he was certain he could make out a silhouette of somebody in the driver’s seat - could see him, but he could not see them. It was most unnerving.

I’ve been set up, he realised, looking around. The person on the other end of the phone said that she would be here, in the car park, and she was not. I’ve been set up…

The General started as the car suddenly began to rev its engine. Tani started to walk away, out of the car park, feeling extremely anxious all of a sudden. He kept shooting looks over his back at the revving car.

_______________________________________________________

Katrica watched on in excitement as Tani came closer and closer to the exit of the car park. She heard the screech of tyres on the tarmac as Kirsty put her foot down heavily on the accelerator, and raced at Tani.

He screamed and tried to dive out of the way. He stumbled, and slammed heavily into a brick wall. Pain shot across his body. Kirsty sped the car along the road, past him, and then stopped suddenly. Skid marks over several metres long were left in the road as the Corporal hammered on the brakes.

Tani heaved himself away from the wall and ran down the pavement. He kept on looking behind him, half straining to see through the blackened windows, and half keeping an eye on the decreasing distance between him and the person trying to kill him.

His breath was coming out in sharp bursts. His chest was tight with fear and he noticed that he was trembling from head to foot. He could hear the roaring of the car’s powerful engine behind him, getting louder and louder as it grew closer to him.

The front bumper of the car knocked lightly into his calves, serving as a warning. It was nearly enough to knock him to the ground. He stumbled slightly.

Tani fell backwards onto the bonnet and rolled off, and landed on his feet. He instantly took off the in opposite direction. He could already hear the driver getting ready to turn around and make another assault on him. In Tani’s fear, he was already starting to get exhausted, and his chest felt like it was about to burst. His legs collapsed from underneath him, and he staggered sideways into another wall, hurting his shoulder. He snuck another look behind him, and rolled out of the way, diving head over heels just merely seconds before the car crashed into him.

There was the awful grating sound of metal against brick as the car piled into where Tani was a split second ago. He took off again, fleeing for his life, not daring to look back, even once.

_______________________________________________________

Katrica was still in hiding, having watched the whole thing. Tani running down the road with Kirsty almost teasing him. She did not seem to be taking her job that seriously.

She heaved open the door and tugged the Corporal out of the drivers’ seat by her arm. She complained and called out in pain and pulled her arm free.

‘What?’ she snapped.

‘You need to kill the man,’ growled Katrica. ‘Not play foolish games with him. Teasing him. If you do that, then you’ll be lowering yourself to his level. Do you want that?’

‘No.’

‘Then stop it,’ Katrica was trying to hide her seething rage at Kirsty not doing what she was meant to be. She knew that Kirsty had her moments acting like an adult, and then as a child, and knew that if she raged at the Corporal, then she would more than likely get upset and not co-operate, no matter what Katrica said. ‘You need to try again tonight. Okay?’

‘Yes.’

‘You’ll actually kill him this time?’ asked Katrica.

‘I’ll try,’ replied Kirsty, uncertainly.

______________________________________________________________

Kirsty was in her bedroom, smoothing the creases out of the duvet cover for the double bed she slept in and lit the candles that were strategically placed. She flicked off the main lights and admired the effect she had created. It had a romantic and sexual feel. Just what she had been aiming for.

She looked at her own reflection critically in the mirror, and adjusted her blonde hair. She was wearing a long, flowing nightgown. It was low cut and offered more than a subtle view of her cleavage. It reached down to her ankles, and had long slits up the sides, all the way to the tops of her thighs. The sleeves covered her hands, and flared out. It was almost skin-tight on her; it came very close to caressing her body, and accentuated her figure.

She slid open the bedroom door, where she saw Tani on the other side, obviously about to check on her. His eyes widened as he took in her outfit.

Kirsty smiled seductively at him as his gaze intimately roamed her body. He took in her long, sleek legs and bulging breasts. He reluctantly pulled his eyes up as Kirsty placed a hand on his chin and forced him to look into her eyes. He took a step closer. She snaked one arm around the back of his neck and pulled him to her. Their lips were about a centimetre away from each other when she paused, teasing him. She knew what effect her outfit was having on him, and wanted to make him as aroused as possible before completing her move. Tani seemed to have different ideas, and pressed his mouth to hers, giving her a long, sultry kiss. She pulled away as he tried to slip his tongue into her mouth and grabbed his wrists. She pulled him into the bedroom, and sank down onto the bed. Tani gulped.

Kirsty lay down on the duvet, pulling Tani with her, so he was almost lying on top of her. He dipped his head down to meet her and kissed her again. She gasped and uttered a small moan as Tani lowered his head and kissed a line down her neck, and onto her breasts. She pulled his head back up from her chest and forced him onto his back, where she straddled him.

Tani had started to pant in his excitement as Kirsty ran her delicate hands up and down his muscular torso. Her breath burst out of her noisily as Tani slid his hands onto her waist and started to work their way up. She was lost in the moment, as Tani’s fingers fluttered up to her breasts. She had gotten so caught up in the intimacy she had forgotten what she was meant to be doing. She leant forwards, in the pretence of wanting to tease him some more, whilst her hands groped for a spare pillow. She allowed him to French kiss her as her fingers curled around a corner of a pillow. She pulled away, and held it down over his face, trying to smother him.

The intimacy instantly shattered as she tried to hold the feather pillow over his head and asphyxiate him.

Tani forced Kirsty off him and attempted to draw air, struggling against her as she fought with all her might to keep the pillow over his nose and mouth. He grabbed her wrists and forced her hands off him, making her recoil in pain.
She cried out and tried to break her hands free. She managed to get one arm out of his grasp and slapped him roughly around the face. She grabbed the General by his shoulders and pinned him down onto the mattress. Tani had his hands holding her by the tops of her arms, trying to force her off him, but all to no avail.
Kirsty overpowered him and forced the cotton material over his face, cutting off all oxygen. He was still thrashing around, but more from the lack of air rather than trying to throw his deranged Corporal off him.
After a few minutes, he felt as though all the air had been sucked clean out of his lungs, as though the inside of his body was a vacuum. He knew he was going to die in a minute if he did not get Kirsty off him. He was writhing underneath her, and summoned the strength to rip the pillow off him, and drew breath. He sat up, panting heavily, taking advantage of Kirsty being stunned into making to reaction. She recovered and started to try and force him back down, but he grabbed her and threw her away from him. She fell off the bed and landed heavily on the floor, hitting her head on the bedside cabinet. One of the candles that she had lit fell off. The small flame had flickered and died.
Tani had flinched at the sound of Kirsty’s head against the cabinet and hesitantly clambered off the bed to see if she was alright. The woman was messed up enough as it was, without him knocking her across the room and making things even worse for her.
She looked up at him, with her big blue eyes, which had a sad, hurt air in them. Tani ignored it, wondering how she could feel hurt when she was attempting to murder him.
‘S-Sorry,’ she muttered, stammering. She sat back on the bed with Tani and leant forwards to kiss him again. He turned his head, so her lips pressed against his cheek.
‘No,’ he replied, casting her a stony look. ‘You just tried to asphyxiate me, for God’s sake.’

_______________________________________________________

Tani awoke the next morning feeling somewhat apprehensive about Kirsty’s actions. His chest still burnt from the lack of air when she held the pillow over his face. And it had all started so well…

Kirsty was already awake before Tani, and had just lain in bed with a feeling of terrible guilt washing over her. She only had half an idea of why she felt so guilty, and presumed that something must have happened the previous night. She strained to remember.

_______________________________________________________

Kirsty had pulled Tani into her bedroom and had teased him by not immediately kissing him. He had pressed his lips against hers and the pair sank onto the bed. She could sense his becoming more and more sexually aroused with every second. They fondled and stroked each other’s bodies, both of them lost in the moment. Both captivated by the intimacy, the anticipation of the intercourse to come.

The next thing she knew, she was on the floor, with a huge ache in the back of her head. She had sat on the bed next to Tani again, and made another attempt to kiss him. He pulled away, so that her lips only grazed the side of his face. He muttered something about her trying to asphyxiate him.

_______________________________________________________

She felt confused, and got up, trying to find Tani. She half wanted to ask him about the previous night and what happened, but was worried about what he might say to her.

Kirsty had managed to locate Tani in the kitchen, having a rummage through the fridge. She quietly made her way up behind him and coughed. He started and hit his head. He nearly swore, but thought better of it. Kirsty made have an adult’s body, but she had a child’s mind, at least most of the time.

He closed the fridge door, and turned around to face her as she muttered a good morning to him.

‘Kirsty, listen…where were you yesterday?’ he asked, studying her expression.

Kirsty shrugged.

‘Come on, I know you remember. Where were you? That girl - Katrica, or something - she said you had an appointment. But I know for a fact that you didn’t.’

‘I was at the hospital,’ replied Kirsty, not entirely meeting his eyes.

In truth, Kirsty could remember Katrica and Becca coming to meet her, and she remembered spending the whole day in their company…but the evening was a blur. Something about a car….a speeding car, and a figure in the road, who nearly got killed. She wondered who the pedestrian was. She was also curious as to the identity of the driver, and thought that they were unsafe to be around.

‘I’m not stupid Kirsty.’

‘I was at the hospital, I told you.’

‘Kirsty…this is important. When I went to the hospital to come and pick you up from your alleged appointment, the woman behind the desk said that you didn’t need a check up today. So I went out to the car park at the back of the building, and somebody tried to kill me. Do you understand?’ said Tani.

‘Somebody tried to kill you?’ repeated Kirsty, horrified.

‘Yes. Somebody in a car with blackened windows was determined to run me over. I could’ve died yesterday. So, just tell me…where were you, when I was risking my life?’

_______________________________________________________

Kirsty could remember seeing Tani in the road. It came back to her at Tani’s words. She could see clearly, in her mind’s eye, he was in the middle of the road, running flat out, fleeing for his life. She still failed to realise who the driver of the car was, and continued to think about them. She watched, as though a film was being played in her head as Tani rolled over the bonnet of the car and pounded the ground with his boots in his desperate struggle to get away. She watched him, stumbling into a wall, and narrowly escaping being pinned to it. There was a lurch, and a horrific grating sound as the car piled into the wall.

_______________________________________________________

‘Well? Answer me, Kirsty.’

She looked deep into his eyes.

‘In truth…I don’t know. I can’t remember.’

Tani gave her a sceptical look and studied her expression. Her tone of voice claimed that she was lying, but her expression told him that she was telling the truth. What possible reason would she have to lie to me? though Tani. A horrifying thought came to his mind. He did not want to consider that. There was no way it could be true.

He thought back to the previous night, where he thought that they were going to make love, and then suddenly, she got violent. She had attempted murder.

Was it her? he wondered. Was it her in that car?

He swallowed, still looking hard at the Corporal’s face. He turned away, refusing to believe that Kirsty could be capable of trying to kill him.

_______________________________________________________

Kirsty sat in the living room for the majority of the day, flicking through the television channels, and amusing herself by hindering Tani as much as possible while he was trying to clean the house. Several times he came close to yelling at her, and only came to his senses just in time. Mainly by repeating to himself ‘She’s just a kid’ underneath his breath.

He had kept a close eye on Kirsty, to make sure that she was not going to do anything out of character, but she seemed to be behaving normally, or at least as normal for her. He had decided that if anybody wanted to come and see her again, he was going to follow her. He had been thinking about it whilst working, and was sure that it had been Kirsty in the car. Kirsty who had tried to kill him. As awful as the thought was, he was determined to get to the bottom of the situation, no matter how physically ill it made him feel.

In the afternoon, there was a knock on the door. Cursing softly to himself, Tani wrestled the television remote from Kirsty, who was trying to slide it into the video recorder, and answered the door. Standing on the other side, was the attractive woman he had seen not that long ago.

‘Hi,’ she said, with a big smile across her face. ‘As much as you know I’d love to be able to see you, I’ve actually come for Kirsty.’

‘What do you want with her?’ asked the General, his suspicion obvious in his tone.

‘No need to be like that with me. I know how hard it is for you to look after her. God, a twenty-something trapped inside a pre-schooler’s body. Not a fun prospect.’

‘You can say that again,’ retorted Tani, looking at his feet.

‘Exactly. I could tell that you were suffering, and so I thought that I might take her off your hands one afternoon. Take her out somewhere fun,’ replied the woman, trying to maintain eye contact. But Tani felt slightly uncomfortable, and was not to willing to look at her.

‘Yeah, okay then, let me get her.’

Kirsty’s smile froze and faded when she rested eyes on the woman who she thought Tani was stringing along. When Tani turned away, the woman leant forwards towards Kirsty and whispered ‘I’m with Becca and Katrica. You can trust me.’

_______________________________________________________

Tani was watching as the woman led Kirsty away. He waited until they were almost out of sight, and then slipped on his coat and boots, and deftly crept after them.

He hid out of sight, and watched as Katrica and Becca came into sight. They walked over to Kirsty, and the other woman, who seemed to have made her excuses to walk off. Tani started to try and get a bit closer, to get some sort of idea as to what the girls were saying. But he knew that he was running a great risk of being caught.

Tani leaned out from his hiding place to get a betted look at the three women. Katrica glanced in his direction and he swiftly pulled himself back, out of sight. Had she seen him? He dared not sneak another glimpse, and turned back. He silently slipped away, thinking that he would have been better off not following Kirsty.

_______________________________________________________

Katrica fixed the corner of a nearby building with a penetrative glare.

‘What is it?’ asked Becca, trying to make out what her friend was staring at. ‘What have you seen?’

‘I thought I saw somebody, watching us. Spying,’ she replied, not giving Becca her eyes.

Kirsty listened to the exchange and stared at her feet. She felt uncomfortable. She was certain that she was losing her mind. She vaguely remembered conversations with these two girls, all of them about murder. They had kept asking her: why has she not killed ‘him’ yet? Why was ‘he’ still alive? When was she going to try and dispose of ‘him’ again? Will she succeed?

The Corporal thought about ‘him’ and wondered who ‘he’ was. She remembered some of her conversations with Tani. The General had spoken to her about attempts on his life, and had made it sound like it was her who had been trying to murder him.

That’s ridiculous, thought Kirsty. I love him, I’d never try to murder him…would I?

‘Kirsty, the Count is not happy with you. He’s still alive,’ said Katrica frostily. Her voice broke into Kirsty’s thoughts.

‘What?’

‘Tani!’ exclaimed Katrica. ‘You need to kill him!’

Him! The realisation slammed into Kirsty violently. She looked at Katrica with fear in her eyes.

‘No!’ she exclaimed. ‘No, you can’t make me hurt him!’

She tried to run away, but Katrica held tightly onto her wrists, and pulled her close. Katrica glanced at Becca and nodded. She pulled out a penknife and held it to the Corporal’s throat.

‘We didn’t want to have to do this, Kirsty,’ Katrica said softly. ‘But if you don’t co-operative…then you’ll give us no choice. Understand?’

Kirsty swallowed nervously, and nodded, the skin on her neck gently grazing the blade. Katrica released her, and Becca slipped the penknife back into her pocket. Kirsty backed away, clasping at her neck.

‘You have to do this Kirsty,’ demanded Katrica. ‘Or else Count Takeshi will deal with you personally.’

Kirsty looked blank.

‘Trust us,’ started Becca, ‘you don’t want that to happen.’

‘Go home,’ ordered Katrica.

_______________________________________________________

Tani listened carefully. He thought that he had just heard the door open. He saw Kirsty make her way to the living room and followed her in.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked, slightly apprehensively.

Kirsty shrugged, and Tani sat down next to her.

‘What were you doing?’ Another shrug.

‘Just with friends. Not much,’ she replied, staring at the floor.

He gave her a look, trying to read her expression. She looked down, and slightly weary, for some reason. Tani did not really want to speculate why. Lately, he had been worried about the thoughts going through his Corporal’s mind.

Kirsty got up, and without so much as a backwards glance at Tani, went into her bedroom, and did not emerge for several hours.

_______________________________________________________

When she finally came out, she found Tani in the bathroom, leaning over the tub, with water filling up to the top.

‘I see you’ve decided to bravely step out of your room,’ he stated, not looking at her.

Kirsty shrugged.

‘I was kinda tired,’ she replied, in a hesitant tone.

Her conversation with Katrica had been floating around in her mind. Both girls, Katrica and Becca had wanted her to kill Tani. In fact, she had been threatened to do it. She remembered how Becca had held the penknife to her throat, whilst Katrica said that they would kill her if she did not obey. She shivered.

And there was Tani, leaning over a large bathtub, filled with water. She would never get another opportunity like this. Questions kept buzzing around her head, like ‘what if I can’t kill him?’ and ‘what will Takeshi do to me if I fail?’ She shook her head clear of her thoughts.

Tani felt Kirsty’s hand on the back of his head, gently caressing his soft hair. He felt a bit hesitant, remembering Kirsty’s random violent spells. Her fingers worked their way down his neck, sending shivers down his spine.

The next thing he knew, Kirsty had grabbed a hold of him, and was roughly plunging his entire head under the surface of the water. He flailed madly, trying to get Kirsty off of him, but she pressed her entire weight through her arms and onto Tani’s head, determined to drown him.

He managed to force her off him, and sharply turned around to restrain him. He was breathing heavily, rivulets of water dripping down from his face and hair. He blinked drops out of his eyes as he struggled with the blonde.

Her strength was uncanny. She had almost gotten him pinned against the side of the bath, his face coming dangerously close to the surface of the water once more. In his desperation, he saw no other way to get her off him except for using force. He kicked her in the shin and pushed her backwards. She stumbled, but kept her balance. He straightened up, and snatched at Kirsty’s arms again to try and prevent her from attacking him once more.

She pushed him into the bath, and leant right over the side, clasping his throat, holding his head under the water again. His fingers curled around her wrists, as he tried to break free from her grasp, but she refused to release him. He could feel the oxygen being slowly squeezed from his trachea.

His remaining breath burst out of him as his chest felt fit to explode. Bubbles rose to the surface of the water. Tears had started to trick down Kirsty’s face as she continued to try and murder the man she loved.

Tani managed to break free from her wrists, by prising her fingers off his neck and bending them back until she relented. She backed off a bit, holding her aching fingers as Tani heaved himself out of the tub.

‘No!’ she whispered, and started forwards once more.

Tani fended her off with a vicious backhand slap, which rendered her shocked. She gaped at Tani, and then fell to her knees in front of him, staring at his feet. A red hand mark glowed on the side of her face where the slap had landed. He swiftly moved out of the bathroom, turning back to face Kirsty as he went past, and walked into his bedroom.

She followed him and watched as he pulled out a suitcase and started throwing clothes from out of his wardrobe onto the bed. All kinds of thoughts were swirling around in his head. He was certain that it was those two girls, Katrica and Becca that had been telling her to kill him. There was no other obvious explanation. He had seen them talking to them this afternoon, and then she tries to kill him. But why would they want him dead?

What could those two gain from my death? thought Tani, confused.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked, timidly.

‘What does it look like?’ snapped Tani, still dripping water. ‘I’m packing. You need serious help, and I sure as hell am not the man to give it to you. So I’m going to move back into my house, and once I’m settled…’

He walked closer to Kirsty, and leant down so his mouth was level with her ear.

‘I’m going to get you locked up.’

‘No!’ wailed Kirsty, ‘no, you can’t do that!’

She tried to beat him, landing light thumps on his chest and torso, crying once more. She draped herself on him and rested her head on his shoulder and sniffled.

‘Don’t lock me up. Please…’

‘You’re not right in the head. You’re a danger to people around you, and probably a danger to yourself,’ replied Tani shortly.

He moved Kirsty off him, where she sank down onto the bed. She looked at the clothes that had been carelessly thrown into the suitcase and started to lift out one shirt. Tani spotted her and slapped her hand away.

_______________________________________________________

Katrica and Becca had crept near to Tani’s house, to try and get a look at what was going on inside, whether Kirsty had yet accomplished her task. They ducked down further out of sight when the front door opened, and Tani came storming out, carrying a full suitcase, with Kirsty clinging onto one arm, in tears and trying to pull him back in.

‘Kirsty, get off me! I’m going, and that’s final.’

‘No, no Tani, don’t go!’ shrieked Kirsty.

‘You’ve got to do something,’ whispered Becca, looking at the scene. ‘Otherwise other people will be wondering what all the noise is about.’

‘If she would just let him go, then it might be okay. But if she carries on..’

‘Exactly!’ replied Becca. ‘Go and do something!’

‘You want us to get seen by Tani?’ questioned Katrica, incredulously.

‘Not really,’ Becca replied.

‘Shut up then.’

_______________________________________________________

Tani had pulled free from Kirsty, and left her standing outside her door, watching his retreating figure. She turned and saw Katrica cautiously making her way over, with Becca hesitantly following.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ she snapped, looking furiously at the Corporal. ‘Making a huge scene! And why is he still alive?’

‘I - I tried! I really did! He just won’t die!’

Katrica and Becca exchanged nervous glances.

‘Takeshi’s going to have a fit when he finds out,’ whispered Becca to Katrica.

‘You think I don’t know that?’ retorted Katrica, irritably. She cast her friend a quick glare and reverted her gaze back to Kirsty.

‘Get your act together,’ she hissed. ‘You need to dispose of him and quickly. I can’t tell you how important it is that you succeed.’

‘I’m trying!’

‘Very trying.’

‘I - I might as well give up now!’ exclaimed Kirsty suddenly. ‘Both of you think that I can’t do it, and I reckon you might be right! I don’t care what Count Takeshi does to us! He can kill us all for all I care!’

Katrica let released her fury and struck Kirsty around the face, in a way that was reminiscent of Tani slapping her. Kirsty was almost bowled over, as a flashback of Tani striking her entered her mind. She fell to the ground in front of Katrica, and held onto the teenager’s ankles, sobbing and begging.

‘Don’t hit me! I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ she grovelled, getting the bottom of Katrica’s trousers wet from her tears.

‘Get up, for God’s sake!’

Katrica pulled her up and dragged her away. She forced Kirsty back to Takeshi’s Castle with her, and then shoved her into the dungeon. The Corporal looked around, and saw that hundreds of weapons of all sorts lined the walls. Katanas, broadswords, axes and knives. Katrica left her inside, and waited by the door with Becca. Kirsty pulled out a katana and waved it experimentally. She listened, and heard the two girls talking outside the dungeon door.

‘She’s so stupid, she’ll never manage it,’ whispered Katrica.

‘I could’ve told you that ages ago.’

‘I know she’s brain damaged, but damn! I can’t think of anything more idiotic than her. She’s dumber than everything.’

Kirsty felt a hot rush of anger at Katrica’s words, and headed towards the door, still holding the katana in her fingers. She faced Katrica, and lunged. Katrica failed to get out of the way in time, and felt the tip of the weapon penetrate her side. The blade worked its way in and out of her flesh multiple times, mutilating her figure. Katrica’s ruined body collapsed to the ground as she bled to death.

Becca looked horror-struck at Kirsty as she lowered the blood-soaked katana, and raised her view. The teen turned on her heel and ran. Kirsty headed back inside the dungeon and looked through the hundreds upon hundreds of weapons. One caught her eye, and she made her way over to it. She picked it up, admiring the way that it glinted in the semi light.

_______________________________________________________

Tani awoke with a start. He fumbled with his bedside light, and flicking it on. The sudden burst of light after being accustomed to the darkness burnt his eyes. He squinted at the clock and saw that it had just gone midnight.

Who the hell would be banging on his door at this time of night? he thought.

He heard a crash of thunder, and listened to the sound of rain pummelling the roof. He opened the door and felt his heart miss a beat, as there was a flash of lightning.

The lightning illuminated her face. Kirsty was standing on his doorstep, soaked from head to foot from the heavy downpour, and her knees were bent slightly. She was looking at the floor, but then gave Tani her eyes. He wondered what she had been doing to get herself into such a state; rivulets of blood was seeping from her head, and trickling down her blonde hair, in messy red streaks.

There was a roll of thunder, which, in Tani’s mind, completed the eerie atmosphere, as he lowered his gaze and saw what Kirsty carried in her hands. He took a step away from her, backing into the doorframe. He felt a molten wave of fear crash over him as Kirsty raised her arms, and prepared herself for her final attack on the General.

Tani screamed and ducked out of the way as the heavy blade of the axe destroyed the doorframe. He backed into his house, tripping over the edge of the rug and falling to the floor. He landed on his elbows and winced in pain. His breath hissed out from between his teeth. He shouted out and rolled over as the axe splintered the floorboards.

He quickly raised himself to his feet again, and ran, as Kirsty lumbered after him, still hefting the brutal weapon. He turned back to face her as she swung the axe again, and managed to move out of the way, just in time, so that the sharp blade only raked down the front of his pyjama top, instead of through his flesh.

Blood seeped through the material of his top, and he pulled it open to reveal a sharp line that had been scored down his entire torso. He slowly backed away as Kirsty advanced on him menacingly. Since she had started trying to kill him, this was the first time that Tani really feared for his life. The other times, it had just been a matter of overpowering his deranged Corporal, and getting the hell away from her, but this time, he knew it was not going to be as easy.

He managed to get out of the way in the nick of time, dismayed at the mark Kirsty’s axe had left in the wall. She swung it through the air at him again.

‘Why are you doing this?’ he screamed. ‘You’re a goddamn psychopath!’

Kirsty threw the axe to the ground and grabbed the front if his top, holding him firmly against another wall.

‘Don’t call me a psychopath,’ she warned, looking closely at him. He had started to sob in his fear. Tears were sliding down his cheeks.

‘Why are you doing this to me?’ he repeated, more calmly.

‘Because…’ she whispered. ‘If I can’t have you, then nobody else can.’

‘What?’ asked Tani, looking incredulous. ‘That’s stupid!’

Kirsty slammed his head into the wall, holding onto his jaw with surprising strength. Tani saw a hint of her former strength, which he had hardly seen anything of since she was hospitalised.

‘Don’t call me stupid!’ she screeched at him, holding his jaw so tightly, he would not have been surprised if the bone would shatter soon.

Tani was thinking furiously how to get out of this situation with his life still in tact. Kirsty had such a strong hold on his chin.

He slammed her away from me, and then tried to run away from her as fast as he could manage. Kirsty paused to pick up the axe again, and the stalked him through the house. Tani continued to run, not daring to look back, knowing that even if he did, he would not be able to see anything; the tears he was crying were blinding him.

He staggered into his bedroom, and struck a cabinet with his shin. He cursed vulgarly, holding onto it, trying to clear his vision as Kirsty blocked the doorway. The only exit. Tani fell back, onto the bed and only just managed to scrambled out of the way in time. Kirsty’s axe head slit his pillows and sliced the mattress. She hefted the heavy object once more, and made an accurate swing at Tani, catching his back. He cried out in agony and fell against the wall. He wondered how many more times he was going to be pinned, his survival determined on whether he could get out of the way of Kirsty’s fatal blows in time. He could feel his blood trickling down his back in small rivers, and staining the wall behind him.

Kirsty positioned herself so she was directly in front of him, so he had no way to get around her, and then teased him with the thick blade of her axe. She ran it over his neck, almost tenderly. She seemed to love the way that Tani’s breathing had risen considerably in his fear. Tani tried not to allow himself to be subjected to what his body might look like after Kirsty had finished with him, but it was not easy. Images of his mangled, bloodied body kept flickering into his mind. Kirsty’s eyes flickered, glinting evilly. She pulled her arms back.

Another shrill scream burst from Tani’s lips as Kirsty’s arm heaved forwards. He managed to duck under the blade again, but this time it came much closer to hitting him. He kicked out with long leg and caught her in the midsection, winding her. He used this to his advantage and pushed her away from him, trying desperately to get some escape. Kirsty however, would not be subdued, and as he started to make a break for the door, she lashed out at him, and slashed right through the flesh and muscles in his left leg.

Huge, racking sobs had possessed Tani’s body in giant convulsions. He felt lifeless, weak beyond believe, and he knew that it was not going to be long before Kirsty succeeded in killing him. He was making a pathetic attempt to run, his legs clasping at the huge slash in his legs, dragging his injured limb along the ground. He kept looking back, at Kirsty, terrified out of his wits.

It did not take much for Kirsty to catch up with him, despite she kept obsessively holding onto her axe. When she reached him, she grabbed his shoulders, and started to push him back, forcing him to topple onto the floor.

He fell back, the blood from both the wound in his back and in his leg causing his blood to spread all over the wooden floorboards. He had his legs apart and Kirsty slammed the axe into the floorboards, between his ankles. She struck again, between his knees, and kept attacking the ground, getting nearer and nearer to his crotch.

Tani moved one hand in the path of the axe as an attempt to protect himself. The blade sliced through skin, meat and bone, tearing off his entire index finger. Pain soared through his hand, and up his whole arm as more of his blood spilled out of his body. It had the effect he was after though, because the axe in Kirsty’s hands slowed to a stop just before she could do any worse damage to him. The small thud of his amputated finger was nearly enough to make him sick.

He managed to roll out of the way and stand up, rising swiftly behind Kirsty, who had not realised what was happening in time. He snatched the first thing that came to hand - an ashtray that he only had for when he was under unbearable stress - and smashed it on the back of her head. She went into a slump, knocked unconscious. The axe resounded noisily as it slipped from the Corporal’s feeble grasp.

Tani dropped the shards left in his hand and forced his battered a bruised body over to the phone, where he dialled for the emergency services.

‘Police,’ he said when the operator picked up, ‘an ambulance, somebody, anybody!’ He gasped in pain and squeezed his eyes tightly shut as more tears threatened to fall out.

Within minutes, paramedics and police officers were swarming all over his house, dressing his wounds, tending to the Corporal, carefully handling the axe Kirsty had used and the ashtray Tani had struck her with. Kirsty was placed on a stretcher and carried out, Tani urged to go into hospital to get her wounds treated. He would have preferred to see her in a straight jacket before he went anywhere near her again, but alas, it did not seem like anybody had one.

_______________________________________________________

It had caused Tani great pain to see his Corporal struggling to fight against the sleeves of the straight jacket that were being forced over her arms after the check up at the hospital, and it hurt even more when she was dragged away, kicking and screaming, her shrieks so loud they were almost deafening.

‘It’s for your own good,’ whispered Tani, a dull ache throbbing in his many and various wounds. ‘You’re a danger to others and yourself. Goodbye, Corporal Kirsty, I will always remember you.’

THE END