by L K Walker
Ari was still. The last time she’d stood in that exact spot, Nate had kissed her for the first time. Just for a moment, she found herself dissolve into the memory, recalling how wonderful it had felt. Then, she pulled herself up and stepped forward.
As she moved closer, the seether rose, pulled out an empty chair and placed it on the far side of the room, next to the kitchen door. It was facing directly at Neveah, but far enough away that Ari couldn’t reach her.
“I would take the tape off her mouth, but your friend has a very limited vocabulary and, to be honest, I’m getting rather tired of the same expletives.”
Ari ignored him. “Are you okay?”
“Mmmmm hmmm.” Nevaeh nodded.
“Your father has a wonderful garage, full of tools. I would have settled for a bit of rope, but I think duct tape is the much classier option. I will have to thank him when he gets out of hospital. How is he by the way? Resting, I hope. Such a terrible tragedy. Must have scared your mother senseless.”
Ari fought hard to keep her emotions in check. She would gain nothing by giving in to them, well, not yet anyway.
“I’m surprised you showed up alone. I’m assuming the sentinel wouldn't have let you come to visit all by yourself. So you must have done a good job of ditching him. Tell me—how did you manage it?”
“I took him to the mall.”
The seether laughed enthusiastically. “Right—the classic way girls lose their boyfriends. I expected a bit more originality, but I guess the old tricks are the best.” The laugh died into a simper. “Take a seat.” His open hand signalled to the empty chair.
Ari did as he asked. On the table, next to Michelle, lay what Ari could only assume was the contents from her pockets. There was a small, nondescript bottle of pills and a taser. Michelle saw her looking at them.
“I had no choice. Please believe me. He’s making me do these horrendous things. I didn’t know what he’d done to your father until afterwards.”
“You seemed up for it in Melbourne.” Ari had no sympathy.
“I never thought it would go this far. I thought he liked me.” She gave the seether a venomous look as she screwed her nose in disgust.
“So what, kidnapping and torture are okay as long as the person asking is putting out?”
“It’s just …” But Michelle didn't finish the sentence.
“No possible excuse could make this anywhere near okay,” Ari said.
The seether’s smile grew as Ari became more irritated as if she was playing right into his hands.
“Please carry on, this is getting entertaining,” he said.
“It was fun at first. Exciting.” Michelle tried to explain.
“There’s something wrong with you if you think this has been fun.”
“When we got back home though, doing that to your Dad, I couldn’t… it wasn’t right.”
“But you did it anyway. He’s lying in a hospital bed. In pain. Because of you. You did it to him. The scars you inflicted will be on him for the rest of his life.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You were there. The neighbours saw you.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“Or what—did he threaten to ditch you?” Ari scoffed.
“No. He said he would hurt me.”
“What makes you think I won’t, after what you did to Dad.”
“Please Ari. If I didn’t, he said he was going to mess up my face.”
“Why didn’t you just run? Christ, you could have been long gone by now.”
“Where would I go?” she yelled back. “Where would I hide, Ari? There’s nowhere to go.”
Ari’s anger dissipated, and in pity took its place. How sad and pathetic Michelle had become.
The seether saw the change on Ari’s face. He walked over to the table and picked up the roll of duct tape casually twirling it around on his finger. Ari didn’t want to be restrained, that would be a bad idea. She scanned the room for an alternative.
Too late, he was already standing behind her. She waited to feel his hands grab her. To Ari's surprise, the seether walked by and kept strolling until he was standing behind Michelle. Using his free hand, the seether guided her hair back over one shoulder, exposing the nape of her neck. Leaning over, he laid his lips on her skin. Michelle closed her eyes.
“You loved every moment. We had so much fun together.” His teeth tugged gently on her ear lobe.
That same moment, the seether roughly gathered up both her arms. Michelle's eyes shot open as if doused in freezing water. Before she understood what was happening, he’d wound duct tape around both her wrists, binding them together. She screamed and thrashed against the restraints. She tried to throw herself off the chair but the seether yanked her back down and wrapped the tape around her waist.
“What the hell are you doing, you prick? I’ve done everything you asked.” Her screams were fraught with panic.
Only her legs were free, and she used them to her best advantage. She kicked furiously at the only thing she could reach, the dining table. The first decent kick sent everything on it flying in all directions, hammering down onto the floor like a lolly scramble. The second kick connected better and sent her chair crashing back into the seether. The impact hardly even swayed him from his position but was enough to aggravate him. He took a step to the side, and shoved the chair back against the wall as if it was a toy.
Standing in front of Michelle, he grabbed her by the chin, pulling her in close to him, so she was forced to half stand, half stoop, with the chair still attached to her abdomen. He crouched, so when he spoke they were eye to eye.
“If you behave yourself, I won't kill you now.” He planted one hand on Michelle’s forehead and pushed, shunting her back into the chair, which tipped and smashed against the wall.
“Now sit down and shut up,” he yelled at her.
Just to accentuate the last command, he tore off a small bit of duct tape and slapped it over her mouth, trapping a clump of hair. Michelle looked dishevelled and, for the first time since Ari had known her, she looked utterly defeated. She put up no resistance as the seether repositioned her chair and finished binding her feet.
“That's better.” The seether sat down and turned his attention back to Ari. “Now, we can talk. You and I need to find an understanding before more people get hurt, or worse.”
Ari flinched.
“You should be thankful. We could have easily killed your parents. A bit of gratitude would be nice.”
“I assume I have Michelle to thank for that. I imagine as manipulative as you've been, she still wasn't ready to kill anyone for you.”
Ari scrutinised Michelle, whose face, which since being bound had a look of torment, now softened. Ari could feel her guilt subside slightly.
“You weren't sure if we’d arrived back yet, were you?” Ari asked. “I know you can't afford to kill any of us yourself, not when there’s a chance we’ll be close enough to get to you.”
The seether's confidence slid for a moment, but then his arrogance returned.
“Well that's not quite true is it? I assume your little sentinel friend told you I can't take a life while there’s anyone around who might want to finish me off.” He paused slightly for effect. “But we may have found a way around that.”
The sentence sent Ari reeling. If he could kill without being compromised, then he was unstoppable.
“You're bluffing.”
“Is that right?”
She couldn't tell if he was lying.
“You have to be bluffing. Otherwise, you would have done it already.” God, she hoped she was right. She thought of Nate. The seether was at his leisure here, hardly exerting any energy. Nate would be using all of his energy trying to track them down. If they fought now, Ari was under no illusion as to who would tire first. She couldn’t let it happen.
“I thought I would give you a choice, before I start slaughtering innocents. If you help me, I won’t kill anyone. In terms of le
verage, it ain't bad?” His eyes were intense. “Now, how about we come to some sort of arrangement? And Ari—this will be the last time I’ll offer it.”
“What do you suggest?” Ari asked.
“You help me give people an attitude adjustment, and I promise not to take a life. If you need more incentive, I’ll even throw in leaving your family and your precious little friends completely alone. Hell, if you want, we can leave New Zealand and go somewhere else. See the world. Preferably, somewhere with a much bigger population.”
“Wouldn't I just be delaying the inevitable? If you get your way, my family and friends have no hope anyway. You want to destroy us all.”
“That sentinel of yours needs to learn to keep his trap shut,” he snapped. “How about, if you do what I say, then they get to live their mundane lives for who knows how long. If you don't, I go on a killing rampage, and none of them will survive the week.”
Ari pictured her parents’ faces. They would never want her to choose them, not if it meant damning the world. But what about Nevaeh? She couldn't bear to look at her friend. She’d be the first to suffer, and he’d make Ari watch.
thirty-three
“No.”
When Ari finally voiced the word, if she hadn't felt the sound reverberate in her chest she might have thought someone else had spoken.
The seether stood, incredulously silent.
“I won’t help you,” Ari clarified, worried her meaning had somehow been missed.
The fury on his face was answer enough.
“You will do as you’re told, you pathetic little girl.”
Ari had never experienced so much anger. It spilled from her, and she exerted no control over it. Nevaeh and Michelle became more agitated. The seether, noticing the change, stripped the tape from Michelle's mouth, pulling out the trapped strands of hair. A barrage of profanities flew at him. He smiled and ripped some new tape, slapping a strip back over her mouth, so the insults became incomprehensible once again.
Nate had warned her to manage her feelings, but the seether knew what buttons to push to get the responses he wanted.
“Wow. Even I can feel that.” His eyes were unfocused and maniacal, trying to lay claim to the unseen emotions. He wandered around the room until he found what he’d been looking for. Under the side board was a large kitchen knife that had lain on the table next to the Taser. He drew the blade along one of his long, thin fingers, forcing it through his thick skin, which split under the pressure and released a thin line of blood.
“It's nice to see your father keeps his blades sharp. Perhaps I’ll have to thank him in person.”
“Stay away from my family.”
Wiping the blood on his pants, he stalked past her, stopping on the opposite side of Nevaeh. Ari could see her friend’s face reflected in the blade. Dread clouded her eyes. Next moment, the eyes were gone, replaced by a glinting shaft of light as the seether waggled the knife to get Ari’s attention.
He ran his left hand down Nevaeh’s face, an almost intimate caress.
“Well, Arianna, how about we find out if I can kill without any side effects?” The blade rested on Nevaeh's collar bone, her skin whitening under the pressure.
“No, no, wait. There has to be a better way.” Saying no to his proposal was one thing, but dealing with the reality of that decision was something else. “Just wait, we can come to some arrangement. Let’s talk about it. Why don't we sit in the lounge? These two can amuse themselves here for a while?”
“I told you, I wouldn’t offer it again.” The seether was smug, tensing the knife on Nevaeh’s skin then relaxing it again.
“Please, I've changed my mind. Just talk to me. We can sort something out.”
“Come now, Arianna. You don't expect me to believe you, do you? Why would I trust you? You have made it abundantly clear how you feel about the whole thing.”
“Please.”
“Let’s be honest. You know a lot more than you should, which doesn't work in my favour, seeing that it's your species I'm trying to manipulate here. If you'd just worked with me from the start, then you may have been able to save your family and friends a lot of pain and heartache. We might have been able to strike up a bargain. But it's a bit late now.” His cruel smile returned. “I’m not completely heartless though. I'll give you the choice. Before you, sit two of your peers. You can choose which one survives. Whoever you choose can walk free. I'll cut their restraints now, and they can walk out the door.”
Michelle's eyes widened, and she renewed her fight against the restraints. Ari understood—Michelle had immediately assumed it wouldn’t be her. It was logical. Ari would save her friend. But for Ari, the decision was not so easy. The gravity of it pressed down on her shoulders. She sat still, only blinking when she had to. Her breathing was shallow and quiet. Thoughts thundered around her head, making it difficult to keep track of anything.
Nevaeh was obviously the clear choice, wasn't she? Of course she was. But Ari couldn't bring herself to say it. She wouldn't be choosing who lived, but who died. Nearly two minutes passed before she slowly raised her head to find Michelle and Nevaeh glaring at her, their eyes eager to convey what they could not say. She didn't look at either of them. She couldn't bear to see their fear.
Instead, she looked at the seether, directly into his cold eyes. Ari felt like she was looking into two black holes, stripping her of her fortitude.
“I can't make that decision. I can’t condemn someone to death.”
Ari glanced over at Michelle and Nevaeh, their eyes burned into her.
“You must choose one or I’ll kill them both,” the seether bellowed at her.
“I—I can't.” Terror impeded her thoughts. She needed more time. “I need water.”
The seether let her stand and walk away. Ari felt anxious turning her back on him and with each step she took she expected him to stop her. Alone in the kitchen, she took a glass from the cupboard and filled it from the tap. Without conscious thought, she lifted the glass to her mouth and drank greedily. With a life on the line, here she was having a drink. Ari wondered why he would allow such an obvious stalling tactic.
He needs me to make the decision. He knows what will screw with my thoughts and make me angry, angry enough to let my emotions overrun me. She thought back on the conversation and could see the anger spilling out of her, but she had ignored it. The seether needed her to choose one. He knew it would riddle her with guilt, with grief, push her over the edge. Perhaps, even anchor the anger and the grief in her, making her susceptible to his charms. He was finding a way to make her into a weapon. One that didn't require her consent.
One foot at a time, she headed back towards the seether. As if in a dream, she let her hand trail along the edge of the stainless steel bench. It felt cold to the touch, and she fixated on the feeling. As she passed the knife block, her hand trailed up the edge of it, moving over the empty slot and grabbing onto a well-worn handle, one that matched that on the knife the seether had brandished. It slid gracefully from its holder with minimal friction. Looking down at it in her palm, she felt an odd sense of relief. Her fate was in her hands. Nate's presence drifted into her consciousness, just dancing around the edges. He would work out where she was soon, if he hadn’t already.
“What have you decided?” the seether asked, as she reappeared. His expression changed when he saw the knife. He no longer looked cocky or in control.
“You can't win,” he said as if in reply to some unspoken comment. “I would destroy you before that knife came anywhere near me.”
Ari didn’t say anything. She turned her wrist, looking down to see the hilt locked tight in her fingers.
The seether seemed panicked by Ari's calm facade.
“I swear, I’ll cut them both down before you take your first step.”
“I know,” was her only reply, her voice melancholy. Her mind felt numb and her limbs heavy. I can keep them safe. She repeated over and over until the words mingled into nonsense.
It wasn’t his face she wanted to see, and her eyes trailed across to Nevaeh. Ari watched a single tear run down her cheek. Nevaeh knew her too well. She’d guessed what Ari meant to do. Ari allowed a smile to flicker across her lips. From then on, she didn't take her eyes off Nevaeh’s. Looking to her for courage. She turned the knife back in on herself and gripped the handle with both hands, hesitating only for a moment as Nevaeh’s eyes widened and tears fell like raindrops from her chin.
Ari closed her eyes as tightly as she could and braced herself for the pain. She plunged the knife with all her strength.
What followed made no sense. There was an eruption of noises. Excruciating pain ripped through her whole body. Then, it all went black.
thirty-four
Ari regained consciousness, her head throbbing. What had happened? She shouldn’t be here? Opening her eyes, she found her chin was flush to her chest and her focus directly on her stomach where she’d held the knife, where it should have pierced her abdomen. She looked for the blood. But there was no trace, not even a drop. She pawed at her shirt but could find no cut. She took an inventory of the rest of her body. Carpet scratched at her cheek as she shifted her head around. Her knees and feet were close to her face as if she was in the fetal position and her head was throbbing. Reaching up to see if it was okay, she knocked her hand against the wall behind her. Since it hadn't been there moments before it was safe to assume smacking into it was the reason for the blackout. A shot of pain lurched through her other arm when she attempted to use it to prop herself up, she dropped it back to the floor only for it to splosh in warm, thick liquid. A pool of her blood had formed, streaming from a knife shaped wound on her forearm. It hadn't been the target, but it had still bitten deeply.
