SECTION 5
Just before the charging man hits, I manage to free my knife. Dodging slightly to my left, I hold the knife towards him and watch as he bears down upon it. He sees it in time to lean away from it, but not in time to avoid it completely. Blood gushes from his right shoulder as he lunges past.
Somehow, I’ve managed to keep hold of the knife. I almost lost it with the impact, but I gripped it anew before it left my hand. Now I am ready, and I watch, eager to finish this fight, as my assailant turns to face me.
“Just you and me, creep,” I snarl. A lousy line, I realize, but here in the back streets of Cabbagetown, it somehow seems appropriate.
He snarls back, without bothering to say anything. He doesn’t strike me, I suddenly realize, as a person who would ever have much to say. Not even if faced with death.
And that’s what it becomes, quickly and without ceremony. He leaps towards me, but swerving easily, I slash another wound into his right arm. Cursing at me, and snorting like an enraged bull, he whirls and charges again. This time I make no attempt to move. Holding my knife at his charging throat, I wait for the blade to do its work. In a second it is over, and my would-be killer lies dead at my feet.
The sight of a dead man does not please me. Leaning to my left, I vomit at the knowledge that I have killed. I roll the body into the hedge and walk through the door.
I wait in the entranceway for the others to join me. The fight has been short, but by the end, all of us were in a position to strike. That level of alertness comforts me, because I know we will need all our skills should we ever get to Amber. Compared with what we might find there, fighting some amateur Toronto toughs is nothing at all.
Together once more, we climb the stairs. Leading, I come to the top and look around. In front of me is a bathroom, to my left a living room, and to my right a bedroom. I see no kitchen, but I presume one gets to it through the living room. The bedroom door is closed, but both the bathroom and the living room are open. I can see no one from where I stand.
Obviously, the living room is the more attractive place to start. It is open, and I can see most of it from where I stand. Few surprises are likely to greet me there. But the closed door lends the bedroom a special appeal. Mysterious places are more exciting than known places, if only because we have no idea what is in them. Towards the semi-known or the unknown, then, I must choose to go.
If Derek chooses to enter the living room, turn to Section 9.
If Derek chooses to enter the bedroom, turn to Section 6.