by A. P. Moraez
In the darkness of the room, still shaking a bit from the nightmare, Ash’s eyes landed on Eric’s form, snoring lightly. He smiled. It was ridiculous how fast he could get attached to some people, at times, but it was just how he was.
The urge to pee suddenly assailed him. He tried to go to the bathroom without making a sound, but that old board still creaked on his way back.
Ash cursed under his breath. Thankfully, though, Eric didn’t seem to have been disturbed.
His knee had just landed on the soft mattress when Ash winced against the light that had just illuminated the windows behind the curtains, next to his bed. It was way past midnight, and he knew for a fact that everyone, including Nate, were in the house today, so it couldn’t be him returning from one of his patrols through the city.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Ash leaned forward and gingerly spread the curtain open just a bit.
It was those cars again. Two this time; of those expensive cars which he’d seen last coming to the mansion last year, that day when it’d been raining.
Ash’s eyes narrowed as two men left the first black car, at the same time a man and a woman left the second one. Instead of going directly to the front door of the mansion, though, as the group of suited men had done that time last year, the group of four gathered behind the trunk of the second car.
Ash’s breath quickened, because surely whatever it is they were doing next couldn’t possibly be any good.
And it wasn’t.
Ash covered his mouth with both hands, trying to muffle his surprised cry, when two of the men, the blond one with the large shoulders and the tall, black one, slightly slimmer, threw the two sacks over their shoulders. Only, they weren’t sacks. They were people. Both had some sort of plastic bag over their heads and both seemed to be passed-out, judging by the lifeless way they just hung over their carriers’ shoulders.
What the hell was going on?
Soon, they vanished, crossing the front doors. Someone had already been expecting them, holding them open.
This was it. This was his chance to find out more. To finally get some kind of evidence that would facilitate him making a decision about his future. To finally know where they all stood, regarding their safety, under Leo’s roof.
The thought had barely finished forming in Ash’s mind when he found himself already at the bedroom door, ear pressed firmly against wood.
It wasn’t long before the steps came.
“To my office,” came Leo’s whispered words. They were all right outside, in the hallway. “And be quiet. I don’t want the kids waking up and seeing this.”
Too late. Ash was wide awake and sure as hell had seen everything. His limbs were shaking and his shoulders were tense as rocks.
What should he do? Go back to sleep and pretend nothing had happened? Or risk going outside to find out exactly what was going on?
At the same time a little voice inside his head told him he’d better steer clear of people who brought passed-out, possibly dead people inside a house filled up with kids, another voice told him he’d never get another chance to figure things out.
It had been months — months — since he’d set out to figure out what was off about this house and Leo’s family. Months of frustration after frustration at never getting any solid info no matter how much he looked.
The footsteps passed right in front of his bedroom door and started fading.
Leo’s office was to the left of his bedroom, which was more or less in the middle of the long hallway.
He could do this, right? He’d be careful. And if he heard any sign that someone was about to open the door to Leo’s office, all he had to do was run back to his room before somebody caught him.
White was the color of his hand, so tight he was clenching it around the doorknob.
He had to do this. It was the right thing to do. Depending on what he heard, he could grab Eric and get the hell out of there immediately. He could grab his friend and run, and maybe save both their lives.
Trying to get a hold of his nerves, Ash licked his lips and turned the doorknob.
The grating sound the door made as soon as he pushed it carefully open sounded like a grenade to his ears.
Ash froze, legs shaking, and kept his ears sharp to any sound that someone had heard any of it.
Once he was sure everything was still quiet and nobody was in the hallway beside him, he risked one step forward. Ash left the door opened just a fraction, so that he wouldn’t have to waste a precious second opening it in case he had to come running back to their room from the other end of the hallway.
With a fortifying breath, he started quickly on his way to Leo’s office.
The stained glass windows illuminated the hallway enough that he could see his way ahead, so he avoided hitting any sculpture on the way. When he reached the stairs that led downstairs, he leaned over the railing to check if there was somebody down there.
All empty darkness, aside from the moonlight illuminating everything through the much bigger stained glass windows up above.
Ash breathed a sigh of relief and marched on.
Relief that didn’t last. Not when he finally reached Leo’s office and pressed his ear against the door.
“So these are both his sons?”
“Yeah, boss, as requested.”
“D’you have any problems bringing them here? Were you followed?”
“No,” came a woman’s voice, probably the one he’d seen getting out of the expensive looking black car outside. There was an edge of arrogance to her voice. “They didn’t even know what hit them. Were probably still drunk from this one’s” there was a muffled sharp sound, and it sounded much like a slap of a flat hand to a cheek, “birthday party. We just got there, grabbed them when they were alone, and moved on. Most of the guests probably think they’re still there, fucking some bitch somewhere in the property.”
“That’s great.”
“What do we do now?” a male voice said.
“Wake them up.”
Ash was standing so still that somebody passing through the hallway could have mistaken him for one of the statues along the walls.
As he’d suspected, the men had been kidnapped. Leonardo had sent people out to kidnap other people. That was enough evidence that he wasn’t safe. It should’ve been enough to send him running already, but his inane curiosity didn’t let him.
His system was working overtime to keep track of the conversation and distance of the voices, so that he’d know if someone was about to open the door.
Ash panicked for a moment, as everything seemed to go quiet. In the quiet he couldn’t know if someone was about to open the door or what.
The quiet didn’t last, though. Soon, there came more sounds of skin connecting with skin, followed by loud, deep coughs.
“Welcome, boys,” came Leonardo’s deep rumble. “Happy birthday, Ramiro.”
“Fuck you,” a male voice rasped out.
“Tsc,” Leo responded. “Your papa surely taught you better manners.”
“What d’you want from us?” came another voice. As Ramiro’s, this one was also sluggish and weak. Probably the result of being drugged and carried around a city in the trunk of a car.
“Well, well,” Lazarus said, voice low, “First of all, I wanna know where my shipment is.”
“It’s not yours. Papa told you: fifteen more million or the deal is over.”
“Hmm… that’s not the deal I remember we agreeing to, boys.”
“They tightened security last second, Lazarus. You know how these things go. Papa had to hire twenty more man and bribe a bunch more people than he thought he’d need.”
“Not my problem. You know I don’t give a fuck about such… minutiae. What I give a fuck about is people trying to milk me out of my money. We made a deal, I’m keeping my end of it. I’m sure your papa already got his fill of the harem he bought from me last month. Do you think it’s easy to make people disappear? You don’t see me bitch
ing about tightened security.”
“C’mon, man, you know it’s not the same. The government doesn’t spend as much resources to keep track of people as they do coke.”
“I don’t care. I’ve already held my end of the deal and I can’t accept… refunds. I want my shipment, and I want it now.”
“Well, too bad, you ain’t getting it. Not before transferring more dough to Papa.”
“I see,” came Leo’s resigned voice through the thick wood. There was a small pause. “Ivan, drag both downstairs. The rest of you can go home for the day.”
“You son of a bitch, once Papa hears abou—”
Whatever it was Ramiro was saying, he didn’t get to finish it. Ash heard all he could possibly need. He had to run. He started to turn around to do just that at the same time a grunt came from inside the office, probably Ramiro’s reaction to being punched in the face.
Ash’s legs were shaking and he couldn’t breathe. He’d barely had time to take one step back, still partially turned to the door, when it was flung open.
ALL EYES WERE on him and there was no way he could explain why he was standing there, clearly spying on what he was beyond sure was a group of criminals.
The woman was the first one to react to his unexpected presence, her lips coated in carmine lipstick contrasting sinisterly against her dark skin.
“It seems one of your pets got lost, boss.”
Ash’s eyes slid from her and took in first the tall, black man he’d seen earlier from his bedroom window, then the blond, broad-shouldered man who he didn’t know. Both looked at him with expressions that were a mixture of apprehension and amusement, matching exactly how the woman was regarding him. Ivan, the guy who seemed to follow Leo everywhere he went and that Ash had talked to but once or twice the whole year he’d been here, was standing next to his boss, looking nothing but pissed. Right in front of him, facing each other, tied in two office chairs, were Ramiro and what Ash supposed was his brother. Ash’s mouth got dry as sand when he registered Ramiro’s face: a mess of blood and small cuts. Two of his teeth had been yanked off by the force of the punch he’d gotten.
When Ash’s eyes finally landed on Leo’s face, he shivered and oh my God, help me.
For the first time since Ash had first seen the man, there was no little smile, no glint of amusement in his eyes, no warmth or openness in his body language. Nothing.
Leo stalked forward until he stopped right before Ash’s quivering form. When his right hand lifted, Ash flinched. The aggression he’d been expecting didn’t come, however. Leonardo just rested his warm hand against the side of Ash’s neck. The man could probably feel how wild his pulse was; how afraid he was.
“Oh, Ash, you really did choose the wrong night and time to venture out of your room.”
“Please, don’t h—”
“Shhh.” Leo placed a finger against Ash’s lips. “You’ve got yourself in enough problems for the night. Please don’t wake any of the other kids. You know what will happen if you do.”
Ash clenched his jaw and fought hard against the tears threatening to squeeze out of his eyes. He’d die, but he’d die knowing he didn’t give this man the satisfaction of knowing how shaken he was.
“Ivan, you know what to do,” Leo threw over his shoulder, eyes never leaving Ash’s. “Hurry, I don’t have all night.
“The rest of you, go home.”
The three other people left in silence, mere shadows in the night as they descended the stairs. The faint noise of the front door creaking open and then closed again reached Ash’s ears right before there was some shuffling noise coming from behind Leo, who had his back to his office.
Ivan had each of his massive hands grasping both brothers by the biceps. At some point, both of them had had their mouths duct-taped. They were big men, both of them. Still, Ivan dragged them with no effort past Leo and him, toward the stairs. They watched in silence, turning slightly as the trio passed by them, as both brothers tried to get Ivan’s hands off of them, kicking their captor’s legs. Ivan kept on his way, unbothered. It was like watching pigs being carried to the slaughterhouse; pigs that knew what was about to happen.
And that’s probably what’s gonna happen to me too.
Left hand still tightened on Ash’s right shoulder, Leo used his other one to close and lock his office’s door.
“C’mon,” he murmured, right before he turned Ash around, toward the stairs. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Please, I didn’t hear an—”
“Of course you heard. You heard all of it. Please don’t try to insult my intelligence.”
They were already downstairs. Instead of going to the dining room and the kitchens, though, they followed a hallway Ash had never truly paid attention to.
It was pitch black, aside from the little light coming from the few stained glass windows that were too far above his head to really help him to not stumble along the corridor.
“What are you gonna do with me?”
Leo’s silence was telling. Ash’d rather have been screamed at, beaten, bloodied. Leo’s silence registered in his overactive mind as nothing more than a death sentence.
When they finally reached the end of the dark hallway, Leo put his finger to the digital panel on the door. There was a beep and a click, and the thing opened.
“Down you go.”
Ash’s chin had never quivered as much as when the first overhead lamp flickered on and he registered the otherwise sterile corridor he found himself in. Lifeless, empty, underground, away from the rest of the house. The perfect spot to drag someone you wanted to kill.
He should plead again. Plead for his life. Deep down, though, Ash knew it was useless, so he chose not to, as Leo had said, insult his intelligence. He had heard every single thing that went on upstairs, and everyone knew it.
They’d just passed the middle point of the long corridor when Leo stopped him. The man had never unclasped the firm grip he had on Ash’s right shoulder, so when he finally did it, Ash winced in pain.
“Get in.”
It was a bright room. All white marbles, including the strange pit in the middle of the room. Both brothers had been tied to metal chairs right on its edges.
The door behind him clicked shut and Ash whirled around, beyond petrified, only to see Leo locking it behind him.
Ivan was at the other side of the sparse room, rummaging noisily inside a locker on the far wall, all made of probably the same metal as the shiny operation tables next to it.
Ash had seen his fair share of violence, poverty, death; his fair share of crazy. Still, nothing had ever scared him more than the presence of freaking operation tables inside a hidden basement of a mansion that was owned by what was becoming very clear to him was a psychopath.
He didn’t dare breathe too loud, nor did he dare move. He just watched as, leaving him alone — at least for the time being — Leo made his way to the two brothers, both with their fronts turned with their sides to the wall where Ivan was still shifting things around inside the cabinet.
Leo didn’t say a word for a second. Then he leaned forward, hands inside his pants pockets, and sighed heavily. “It’s a shame, boys,” he said. “I really didn’t want things to come to this.”
Both brothers struggled against the restraints and tried to talk back, but all that came out were muffled, indiscernible words.
Leo smiled for the first time that night and his eyes filled up with malice. “I’m sorry, I won’t allow you to talk yet. First, we’re calling papa.”
Leo leaned back to his full height and turned half-way toward Ivan, who had finally found what he’d been looking for. The man had what looked like an expensive, professional digital camera.
“Almost ready?”
“Yeah, just have to finish hooking it to the computer and then hanging it on the support.”
“Great,” Leo said, no hint of any kind of warmth in his voice. He went back to the two captives. “In a few moments, I’ll call your
Papa and we’ll… try to resolve this situation in the best way possible. With your cooperation, of course. If he fails to answer the phone, you both die.”
The two men stopped struggling against the thick gray rope tying them to each of their chairs for a moment, eyes bugging out like frogs when you squash them.
A cold, emotionless smile touched Leonardo’s lips for the briefest of moments. “If you boys are religious at all, this would be an excellent time to start praying.”
Leo turned away from them and landed his cold eyes on Ash for a second before he turned his attention to the laptop Ivan had opened and turned on, then laid on a table nearby.
“Perfect,” the man murmured to no one in particular.
The screen showed the two men, perfectly illuminated by the intense light coming from two spotlights coming from the opposite wall, where they hung next to a big projector screen.
Leo went to another table close by and pointed some kind of controller to that screen, and it promptly lit up, immediately showing the camera’s feed of the two brothers, which still had their eyes bugged out and seemed to have gone a few shades paler.
Once everything seemed to be to his contentment, Leonardo turned to his employee. “Thank you, Ivan. You can watch by Ash’s side, for now.”
The burly, muscular man nodded and, for a moment, all of Ash’s field of vision was filled with his broad shoulders and chest. The man, for some reason, threw him a smile and a wink once he came to stand next to him. Then silence.
“Well, I’m calling your daddy now,” Leo teased, voice getting higher in pitch, as if he was deeply amused by the situation. From where Ash was standing, a little to the side and behind the two tied-up men, the light coming from the spotlights were kinda affecting his eyes, too, so he couldn’t see as much as he wanted. And he wanted to see Leo’s face. He needed to know if the man could actually be this nonchalant at the face of such a horrible, criminal situation. At the same time, the voice inside his head told him not to be stupid; told him that nothing had happened yet; nothing even close to what he suspected the blond man was capable of.
