by J B Cantwell
Too soon, the car was slowing down. I looked out the window, up at the towering building above.
Somewhere up there waited my resolution, my end. Or, at least, the truth.
Albert climbed out of the driver’s seat and opened the door for me.
I stepped out in my party gear, carefully picked out to not offend, to look low-key. I left my gun behind in the car. I wouldn’t need it, and they would probably just take it away at the front desk anyway.
Hannah held it out to me.
“Left this behind, boss.”
“You’ll never make it through security,” Valle said. “May as well leave them.”
Suddenly, Hannah looked nervous. She hadn’t been counting on cornering her torturer unarmed.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’s me he wants. Though he may kill you just for fun.”
“Trust me, that’s not what he does for fun.”
A chill ran down my back.
“Are you sure you want to come?” I asked.
Then she surprised me. She smiled.
“You bet. I’m sure he’s got a knife somewhere in that big, expensive kitchen of his.”
“Alright, then,” I said. Valle followed us out of the car.
“You ladies wait in the lobby, okay? I’ll call down for you once I’ve talked to him.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said. I wasn’t promising anything.
He opened the door to the building for us, and we walked inside. The first thing I noticed, other than the marble floors and soaring ceilings, was the security station that dominated the space. The guards wore scowls, and despite Hannah’s smiling, scarred face, they didn’t give an inch.
“Hello, Mr. Valle,” one of the guards said. “Welcome back.”
“Hello, Jack. Thank you. I’m going to head up to see Mr. Ross. My friends are going to wait for me here. I’ll call down when we’re ready for them.”
“Very good, Sir.”
Valle walked through the scanner, and several beeps echoed off the lobby walls. He held out his arms, seemingly used to this sort of thing. The guards used a security wand to check him, the beeping of it intensifying as it passed over his belt buckle.
“Okay, Mr. Valle. Head on in.”
“Miss. Your turn.”
I walked through the scanner; not a peep. The same happened with Hannah. We were all, decidedly, unarmed.
This is nuts.
But I followed Valle’s lead. He paused at a cushioned bench and chair off to one side of the lobby.
“You ladies wait here. I’ll call when we’ve come to a conclusion. But make sure it’s me on the line, not him. Understand?”
We both nodded.
“Be careful,” I said, as if a little extra care was all that was needed in a situation like this.
He smiled.
“You got it, love.”
He stepped into the elevator and disappeared from sight.
Chapter Ten
We sat there waiting for several long minutes, silence building up between us. I picked at my fingernails, anxious. Finally, Hannah spoke, but her voice betrayed her nervousness.
“So, how’s life in the penthouse?”
I looked up at her and was surprised to see real fear in her eyes. I had never known Hannah to be afraid of anything or anyone. She’d been tortured by Damien, so this reaction should’ve been no surprise, but I hadn’t expected it.
“Oh, you know,” I said. “It sucks.”
This got her attention. She lowered her voice.
“So, what’s it like? I mean, really. All that money.”
I took a deep breath.
“Well, there is a lot of money. I can do anything I want, sort of. I’m supposed to go to all these parties. Since they made me, you know, all this.” I motioned toward my face. “I’m supposed to represent Audrey. It’s her money, even in death.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. Your name’s Audrey now.”
“I’m everything Audrey now.” I looked down at my changed body, everything made to look like a woman when I felt like nothing more than just a girl.
“Tell me about it,” she asked, leaning back in her seat. I could tell by her breathing that she was having a hard time.
“Well, when I first woke up, I was angry; nothing was the same. Different face, different body, different voice. Everything hurt, but then they put me through another phasing, and I was suddenly done healing. I was complete.”
“And he just left you like that?” she asked. “What a mind-job, that guy.”
I laughed a little.
“Yeah, you could say that. So, after that, they brought me to the apartment and left me there. It was pretty weird. But then Janeen started coming every day, teaching me all these manners and how to wear high heels without falling over. Stuff like that.”
“How was the food?”
This time I laughed in earnest.
“What food? They barely feed me at all.”
“But what about that huge banquet at your place?”
“That was a special occasion. Most days I’m lucky if I get a leg of chicken or some cheese.”
“Still, better than us.”
I paused, realizing that I had already become so used to having the best of everything that I had grown out of touch with the reality of life on the streets.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. We’ll get you guys living somewhere nice if we make it through tonight. If food isn’t a problem for me to get, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to get. We just need to keep it secret somehow.”
Silence.
I looked back down at my fingernails, intending to pick at the cuticles. Then, I realized that they had been professionally manicured and looked perfect already.
“What was it like?” I finally said, trying to bridge the gap between us. “With the Champions, I mean. Why did you go to them in the first place?”
“They came to me, actually,” she said. “They knew about you and the Volunteers, and they didn’t like it. He didn’t like it. He wants to be in charge of everything, all the time. So, they offered me a way out of the Service, replaced my chip and put me to work.”
“Doing what?”
She looked down.
“Nothing good, I guess, eh?” I said.
She shook her head, and I was shocked to find that she had tears building up in her eyes.
“I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” she said.
Suddenly, I trusted her again, this broken shell of the girl I’d known, feared, even. Whatever it was that she’d endured, it had changed her. Not for the better, exactly; she was just different.
“I get that,” I said. “I have things I regret, too.”
She looked up at me, one small tear breaking free and trickling down her face.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yeah, really. I have a list of people I’ve killed, too. You’re not alone.”
She looked down again, seemingly ashamed.
“What I did was worse than murder. I interrogated. I tortured. Not Kiyah, though. The boss wanted her to herself.”
I tasted bile at the back of my throat.
“That’s insane.”
She shrugged, then looked up.
“This whole thing is insane.”
Silence fell between us again, and this time neither of us broke it.
My heart was beating faster and faster with every minute that passed. I couldn’t know what would happen once we got up there. I was trading my life for the lives of so many others. Would he murder me? Torture me? Would I be able to fight him off? To kill him?
Breathing started to become more difficult, and my head swam, dizzy. Minutes turned to quarters, quarters turned to halves, and soon we had been waiting for nearly an hour.
I was exhausted from all the panic. So tired that, when the phone finally rang, it didn’t compute in my head that it was Valle calling.
The ringing echoed across the lobby, once, twice. A guard picked it up, spoke briefly, then
held out the receiver.
“Is one of you Audrey?” he asked.
I took a look at Hannah, fear and revenge competing for position on her face.
“That’s me,” I said, watching her. She looked up, then nodded.
I stood up and walked to the guard’s station, picked up the phone from his hand, and held it to my ear.
“Hello?” I nearly whispered.
“Audrey,” Valle’s voice said. “We’ve struck a deal. Come on up.”
“Okay,” I whispered. I handed the receiver back to the guard. “They say I should come up.”
“Of course, Miss,” he said. He confirmed the plan with Valle, then motioned us toward the elevator.
I walked back to Hannah, who looked more than scared now. Petrified. I wondered if she would be able to peel herself up from the couch.
“Are you sure you want to come up?” I asked. “You don’t need to, you know. I’ll find a way on my own.”
“No,” she said. “It’s time for me to face him.”
I nodded.
“Let’s go.”
The elevator opened into a hallway with plush, red carpeting, perfectly groomed as if no one had ever stepped onto it before. There were only three apartments on this floor. Valle had told me it was the one closest to the elevator.
I looked back at Hannah.
“You ready?”
She smirked.
“You?”
“I guess not,” I said. I turned back to the door and knocked loudly.
I hope I’m strong enough.
I had to be.
Footsteps.
The door opened. It was Valle.
I looked up at him quizzically. He nodded, a signal that things had gone well.
Still, we were all unarmed, and I was willing to bet my life that his place had plenty of weapons, instruments, for him to use. We were at a distinct disadvantage.
But for what? Murder? Freedom? What was he expecting?
I crossed the threshold, and Valle took my hand, just briefly, and squeezed it. A sign that he thought everything would be okay.
But I knew better. At the end of this meeting was my neck in a noose, and we all knew it. And that was if I was lucky.
Lucky. Is that what someone could call my life over these past months?
Damien stood, back turned to the door, looking out his balcony window. We were fourteen floors up. Not the penthouse, but close.
Valle led us into the room. I could see that Hannah was shaking, and my own hands weren’t exactly still.
“Okay,” Valle said. “They’re here. Make the call.”
He stood in front of us, a gesture of protection. But we both knew that Valle could offer us little in the way of security.
Damien turned and, seeing us both waiting, picked up a receiver on the other end of the room. He stood waiting for what felt like a long time as the other end rang.
Finally, “Let them go,” he said to someone. It could’ve been anyone. “Yes, all of them.” He paused. “Then untie them. You can put them out. They’ll figure it out.” Silence. “Yes, I’m sure, you idiot. Now, do as I say.”
He slammed the receiver down, then looked up at me.
“Come here, girl,” he said.
I took a step out from behind Valle, then started the walk across the great abyss of his apartment, my feet sinking into the bright white carpeting. I wondered what he had in store for me, but part of me knew already. I walked slowly, but soon enough I was standing right before him.
Now that I had come so close, I felt less nervous than before. I had been face to face with this snake before, and he’d never had the better of me before now. This was the first time I’d ever willingly approached him.
“And here she is,” he taunted. “The star of the evening.”
He put one hand to my cheek, and I was forcibly reminded of the spiked ring that had adorned my mother’s dismembered finger.
He moved in, then slowly, ever so slowly, raised my chin until our lips touched.
It was disgusting. He tasted of whisky and cigarettes. Then, his lips parted, and he forced his tongue into my mouth. I tried to pull away, but he had me by the hair now with both hands. He tilted my head back until I was staring at the ceiling. I was vaguely aware that his lips were still on me, too distracted by the fact that I was completely helpless as he held me.
I wanted to fight, but how? He seemed to enjoy me squirming beneath him, and he held me tighter.
I tried to kick him, to knee him, to step on his feet, anything. Never had I wished more for one of Janeen’s high heeled shoes.
“This wasn’t the deal,” Valle said. I couldn’t see him, only the ceiling. “Get your hands off her,” he said, grabbing onto one of Damien’s. For a moment, he released my hair, but it was only to throw Valle to the floor. I took the opportunity of my changed position and his distraction and managed to knee him in the groin.
He grunted angrily and bent over in pain. He didn’t let go of my hair, though, and he took me down with him. Still holding tight, he threw me onto the floor.
My head snapped backward, and I hit the edge of a step in between the living room and dining room. I rolled over, clutching the back of my head with both hands.
“Get off her,” Valle said, crawling closer.
“No! Valle, stay away!” I yelled.
But he didn’t listen.
“I’ll give him what he wants, Valle!” I shouted. “You stay out of it. Get Hannah and get out of here!”
He made it to his feet, then bent over in front of me, offering his hand to help me up.
He never saw him coming.
Damien had risen, and he had something in his hand, though I couldn’t tell what. A moment later, though, it didn’t matter. Damien swung his arm and slammed the object against Valle, right in the temple.
I could almost hear the cracking of his chip beneath the skin, and I watched him as he fell to the floor beside me.
I looked up, hoping Hannah would be coming to our aid, but what I saw surprised me. She stood in the corner of the room, staring at the wall. I could see from where I lay that she was shivering with fear, and her body was wracked with sobs.
“Hannah!” I called, pleading.
She looked over, but she didn’t move from her spot.
Damien had me by the hair again, with both hands lifting me up off the floor. I screamed in pain.
“Ah, isn’t that nice?” he said to Hannah. “It’s a nice sound, I’ve always thought.”
“Leave her alone!” I shouted at him. “She’s never done anything but help you!”
“True,” he said. “But then, who cares?”
Valle was up on his feet again, blood pouring from his nose and mouth. His eyes were weirdly blank, almost like he couldn’t see properly anymore.
“Keep … hands … off …” he stuttered, moving vaguely in our direction. He stumbled, almost falling to the floor again.
Damien released me, and I fell to my knees.
“Just a minute, my darling,” he said to me.
The world seemed to move in slow motion. I could hear every distinct beat of my pounding heart, feel every muscle as oxygen came in and out of my body. My vision was blurry, but with those unfocused eyes, I saw every moment of Damien’s slow movements, every attempt Valle took to hurt him.
Valle stood up before him, trying desperately to punch at Damien, who laughed.
“Oh, old friend,” Damien said. “You really don’t know the first thing about fighting. You’re a genius, sure, but that won’t help you tonight.”
Then, one of Valle’s poorly aimed punches landed on the side of Damien’s cheek, hard enough to knock his head backward. He stumbled, nearly falling over, himself. His face changed from mockery to fury, and it was only in the last moment that I saw him pull a knife from his belt. He grabbed Valle, turned him around, and in one fluid movement, sliced him across the neck.
Valle’s eyes grew wide. He spit blood and held his hand
s to his neck.
For the briefest moment, I thought it might be fixable. Couldn’t we just have him sewn up like anyone else? It took several long, drawn out seconds for me to realize that, any second now, my dear friend would take his last breath.
This was why he had sent that last jammer with blueprints. He had known this, or something like this, would happen one day. Though, perhaps he hadn’t realized just how soon it would become a reality.
I lay motionless, unable to think clearly, to get to my feet, to protect myself, my friend. I just lay there, helpless. This would be the end. Of me. Of the Volunteers. I wondered if Damien had actually called to have our friends set free.
What an idiot I’d been. Where was the proof?
It didn’t matter anymore. I was about to feel my own pain. The violation of my body that surely awaited at Damien’s hands. Maybe he would torture me, too. I wondered if I would lose fingers or toes, hands or nose. The list of things he could do to me was long and terrifying.
I was struggling to sit up, to face him, and I was so distracted from my own pain, from watching as Valle bled out all over the pristine, white carpet, that I never saw her coming.
She was like a little ghost, running full tilt toward Damien, fingers extended like claws. She picked up the knife from where Damien had dropped it on the floor, jumped onto his back, and drove it deep into his shoulder.
He screamed in agony and anger, but he couldn’t get her off him. She had her legs wrapped around his middle, one hand clutched around his neck, the other on the knife, which she drove into him again and again.
His fury overwhelmed his pain, and he stood straight and ran backward, slamming her into the wall once, twice. On the third impact, she lost her breath and her grip, sliding down to the floor. Damien turned, picked up the knife and stabbed her, searching for her chest, but only cutting her superficially on the arm. He was distracted now by the blood that was pouring from his own wounds. He tried again, hitting her shoulder.
Grunting in frustration, he backed up, trying to focus on her, getting ready to make another attempt.
“No!” I shouted.
I had found my feet and ran for them. I gripped my hands around his neck from behind, but he was strong. Stronger than I’d given him credit for.
