Andree and Julie pulled him down as he reached the front door. Andree traced three livid marks on his face with her nails. Grantham began to sob for breath. He kicked them away and bolted upstairs.
Lu was helpless in the hands of the girls who had seized him. There was a girl hanging on to each of his limbs, pinning him to the floor. His clothes were in ribbons and his face was a mask of blood where they had clawed him. He screamed on a high note with terror as they dragged the rest of his clothes off him.
Fan fought her way to him, pulling off the girls and throwing them on one side. “Let me get at the heel!”
she shrilled. “I’ll teach him somethin’. Get out of the way!”
The girls drew back, their faces savage and lustful. They crowded round again, as Fan knelt over the sobbing man.
“Get a knife, someone,” she shouted. “I’m goin’ to fix this guy so he doesn’t play around any more.”
A knife materialized from somewhere and was handed over the heads of the girls. Fan seized it.
Lu gave a horrible strangled scream when he saw the flash of steel, and when she laid hands on him he nearly went mad. “Don’t do itdon’t do it!” he screamed. “Nononoaaah! Aaaaah!”
The girls suddenly drew away, leaving him lying there. A long ribbon of blood ran towards them so that they drew further back, shuddering.
Fan, her eyes gleaming madly, shrilled, “What are you waitin’ for? Where’s the other one?”