Plaything

The man smirked across the table at her. “So, you finally caught me?”

Maisie gripped her coffee cup tighter, willing her pounding heart to calm. “Sure did,” she replied, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “The cops are on the way.”

He laughed. It sounded too loud even in the din of the café; loud enough to draw a censorious glare from the woman forking cake into her mouth at the next table.

“They are,” Maisie said with authority she didn’t feel. “Should be five minutes away by now. I covered all the bases this time. You won’t get away."

The man said nothing, just stared, a smile still quirking the corners of his mouth.

He was too confident, Maisie thought. She checked the time on her phone, conscious of her hand trembling; refusing to look at his reaction.

Any minute now.

“Do you want to know what happened to your sister?"

The question tore through the silence between them.

Maisie took a steadying breath, exhaling slowly. “You won’t provoke me. I got you here. Whatever you are, I know you can’t do shit in this form.” She gestured at his human visage, supressing a shiver at the thought of what it hid.

What it became once it fed.

“True.” He leaned in with a huff of delight. “A lot can happen in two minutes though”.

“Oh yeah?” Maisie said. “There are too many people here. You wouldn’t dare.”

His smile was all teeth. “Are there?’

“Are there… what?” Maisie asked slowly, feeling a creeping panic digging its claws into her.

“Too many people?” It gestured around the deserted café, all peeling walls; water dripping through the roof. Maisie squeezed her eyes closed against the sight.

“Did you think I’d let you get away?”