The Madness of Annie Radford

by Amy Cross

  “There are at least twelve of them,” Annie said, her eyes wide with fear as she looked up at the broken window. “Maybe more.”

  “This is insane,” Elly replied. “We don't have any choice, we have to surrender.”

  “No!”

  “We have to! We can't fight twelve heavily-armed soldiers!”

  “We're absolutely not surrendering!” Annie said firmly. “Just give me a moment and I'll figure out how we can get away. There has to be some -”

  Before she could finish, several small canisters were thrown through the broken window, hitting the floor and rolling as they began to spray a thick, noxious gas into the room.

  “Gas!” Annie shouted, staying low as she ran toward the door that led into the corridor. “Move!”

  As the gas spread, Elly hurried after Annie, who immediately slammed the door shut as soon as they were both out of the room.

  Looking along the corridor, Elly saw Katia shivering on the bathroom floor with tears in her eyes.

  “It's going to be okay!” Elly whispered, gesturing for Katia to join them in the corridor. “Come over here and -”

  “She doesn't speak English, remember?” Annie pointed out. “I'll -”

  “I'm scared!” Katia sobbed.

  “She speaks some English,” Elly explained to a clearly-shocked Annie. “She was just too frightened to use it earlier.”

  “I didn't know,” Annie whispered. “Why didn't I know that?”

  Getting onto her hands and knees, Katia began to crawl out from the bathroom. Tears were streaming down her face, and after a moment she froze, as if she'd heard something.

  Annie turned and looked back along the corridor, and she saw that faint wisps of gas were already starting to curl through the gap at the bottom of the door. At the same time, irregular bumps could be heard coming from somewhere far off.

  “What is it?” Elly asked, turning but seeing nothing. “Are they -”

  Suddenly glass broke in the distance, accompanied by the sound of voices shouting.

  “Into the bathroom!” Annie hissed, hurrying over to Katia and hauling her up, then dragging her along the corridor. “Hurry!”

  “Elly!” Katia shouted.

  “I'm coming!”

  Stumbling to her feet, Elly hurried along the corridor, ignoring the burning pain in her ribs. As soon as she reached the bathroom, she slammed the door shut, and then she turned to see that Annie was heading over toward the broken window. Immediately, however, another shot rang out, and Annie stepped out of the way just as a bullet blew open one of the cubicle doors.

  Katia screamed and ducked down, covering her head with her hands.

  “We have to surrender!” Elly shouted, hurrying over and kneeling next to the girl, then putting her arms around her in an attempt to keep her safe. “Annie, that's an army out there! We can't fight them! They'll kill us if we don't give them what they want! At some point we have to face the fact that we can't keep fighting!”

  “They'll kill us anyway,” Annie replied breathlessly. “They only want the girl. You and I will be left dead in the dirt.”

  “You don't know that!” Elly said. “We have to at least try!”

  Annie opened her mouth to reply, before turning as she heard voices in another part of the station.

  “They're inside,” she whispered, and then she turned back to Elly. “They're coming into the building through every entrance. We have to get away from them.”

  She paused, before looking up and seeing a hatch in the ceiling.

  “Help me!” she said, reaching up and finding that she couldn't quite get her fingertips onto the hatch's edges. “It must lead into some kind of attic or crawl-way space.”

  “And what are we supposed to do once we get up there?” Elly asked, still hugging the sobbing girl.

  “I don't know,” Annie replied, “but at least we'll have time to think!”

  “Is that always your plan?” Elly continued. “To just keep buying us shorter and shorter escapes so you can try to think of something better?”

  Annie began to jump up, desperately trying to knock the hatch open but not quite succeeding each time. Letting out a gasp each time she landed, she tried over and over, before finally turning to Elly again.

  “Will you help me?” she shouted.

  Elly hesitated, before hurrying over.

  “Give me a lift up,” Annie continued, still sounding out of breath as more voices shouted in the distance. “If we can get up there and get out, maybe we can steal their vehicle.”

  “That's crazy,” Elly said. “It'll never work.”

  “Trust me! And give me a leg up!”

  Elly was about to argue, but Annie raised her left leg and held her foot out. Sighing, Elly took hold of the foot and steadied herself, and then she gasped as Annie hauled herself up and grabbed hold of the hatch's edges.

  “This is never going to work,” Elly gasped as she watched Annie starting to pull the hatch aside. “You're going to get us all killed.”

  “I've got it!” Annie shouted, and a moment later the entire hatch fell to the floor, revealing a dark space above the bathroom's ceiling. “Katia, get over here! Climb up!”

  Elly turned and saw that Katia was still sobbing on the floor.

  “Katia!” Annie screamed. “You have to get up and -”

  Before she could finish, two armed men rushed into the room and grabbed her from behind, pulling her down and shoving her against the wall. Another man rushed at Elly and slammed her to the floor, and then a couple more hurried through and aimed their guns straight at the two women.

  “We were so close,” Annie stammered, looking up at the hatch with a sense of hopelessness in her eyes. “Another thirty seconds, and we'd have made it.”

  ***

  “Stop talking!” one of the soldiers said, shoving his gun into Annie's back and pushing her forward, causing her to stumble slightly as she made her way across the dirt outside the gas station. “I'm sick of the sound of your voice.”

  “If we'd reached the crawlspace, we could have climbed out,” Annie mumbled to herself, seemingly lost in thought as she walked with her hands behind her head. “We could have run. We'd have had a chance. Now I need to come up with another plan. There's still time. I just need to think faster and better.”

  “It's okay, Katia,” Elly said, looking down at the little girl as she was led by the hand toward a group of men standing near the black SUV. “Don't be scared, everything's going to be alright.”

  “Were these the only two?” the man ahead asked.

  “We've checked the place out,” the soldier behind Elly said, as he grabbed her shoulder and forced her to stop. “There's definitely no-one else inside.”

  “If we'd reached the SUV,” Annie said, “then we could have -”

  Suddenly she cried out as a soldier slammed the butt of his rifle against her head. Falling forward, she landed hard on her knees and then fell down onto her elbows.

  “I told you to shut up,” the soldier muttered darkly. “If Mr. Carlyle wants you to talk, he'll let you know.”

  With that, he kicked her hard on the side, sending her thudding down onto her belly. Crying out, Annie rolled over and raised her hands, as if to protect herself.

  “Please don't hurt me!” she stammered.

  “Are you still talking?” the soldier asked, raising his rifle's butt again. “Time for another -”

  “At ease,” the man in front of the SUV said. “I've got a couple of questions for these ladies, and they won't be able to answer if their mouths are full of blood.”

  “Please don't hurt us!” Elly said, taking a step forward. “I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding. We're not trying to upset anyone! Honestly, we're all on the same side here, and we're all just trying to get this poor young girl to safety.”

  “What about Gunnar Halvordsson?” the man asked.

  “Who?”

  “We found him dead a little way back along the road
,” the man continued. “He's a former soldier from Sweden, but for the past few years he's been making a living here in America. We'd been in contact with him, arranging to make a purchase. I'm guessing you two ladies intercepted Mr. Halvordsson first and killed him, and then you took the item.” He looked down at Katia. “It's okay, little princess,” he added. “My name's Mr. Carlyle and I'm going to take you somewhere you'll be looked after. There are some very bad people who are after you, but we're good people and you're completely safe now.”

  “We didn't kill that man,” Elly explained. “He just sort of... collapsed.”

  Carlyle turned to her and raised a skeptical eyebrow.

  “He did!” Elly continued, before turning to Annie. “Tell him! That guy just fell over and died, it was like a miracle. Tell him, Annie!”

  Sitting up, Annie rubbed the side of her head.

  “Whatever,” Carlyle said, “Halvordsson was just a means to an end. This way, we don't have to waste money paying the man.” He raised his gun and aimed directly at Elly's face. “What I'd like to know now is one final thing. Who do you work for? Which of the cults sent you here to steal the girl?”

  “I don't know anything about any cults,” Elly replied frantically.

  “Excuse the language, M'am,” he said, “but that's just bullshit.”

  “I don't!” Elly said firmly, looking around as the other soldiers came closer and began to form a circle around their prisoners. “We've stumbled into the middle of something we don't understand. Or I don't understand it, at least. And we're definitely not trying to get in anyone's way. What do you even want with Katia, anyway? Maybe it's something good!” She turned to Annie. “Did you consider that, Annie? Maybe these are the good guys?”

  Annie stared back at her with an expression of contempt.

  Elly waited for a moment, before turning back to Carlyle.

  “Maybe you're the good guys,” she added, although there was some hesitation in her voice now. “I could be willing to believe that, if you... I don't know, if you showed it somehow.”

  “We are the good guys, M'am, yes,” he said, with his gun still aimed at her, “but I'm afraid that's bad news for you, because it means you're the bad guys. We can't allow anything to stand in the way of this pretty little girl becoming the vessel for our master's journey to his new form. So that puts me in the unusual position of having to apologize to you, right before I pull this trigger.”

  “No,” Elly said, shaking her head, “please, there has to be something we can do to fix this.”

  “You said he,” Annie whispered suddenly, turning to look at Carlyle. “You're talking about the entity, right? And you referred to it as he. Why? Does he have a name?”

  “You don't need to know,” Carlyle replied.

  “I do!” Getting to her feet, Annie ignored the soldiers who immediately aimed their guns at her. “Tell me about the entity. He's talking to all the cults, isn't he?”

  “We're the only true followers!”

  “I'm sure the other cults think the same,” Annie pointed out.

  “The other cults are fools and liars!” Carlyle snapped, clearly furious at the suggestion. “They've been tricked into false beliefs, but that's their problem. The entity is guiding us. It's watching over us. We're on the right path, and that's how I know that we'll triumph.”

  “I need to know what this entity is trying to get you to do,” Annie replied. “Where are you supposed to take the girl?”

  “Get on your knees,” Carlyle said, before turning back to Elly. “And you too.”

  Elly immediately did as she was told.

  “I don't want to die,” she whispered, with tears in her eyes as she kept her hands behind her head. “Please, God, I don't want to die. This is the second time I've had a gun pointed at me in twenty-four hours. I'll be a good person, I swear, but please get me out of this!”

  “The entity is waiting for you somewhere,” Annie said, taking another step toward Carlyle. “Where?”

  “Get on your -”

  “WHERE?” she shouted. “TELL ME RIGHT NOW!”

  “Someone else cover this other bitch,” Carlyle muttered, turning and aiming his gun at Annie's face. As he did so, some of the other soldiers aimed in turn at Elly. “When we got here,” he sneered at Annie, “I wasn't looking forward to killing anyone. Now I can't fucking wait. No-one told me it was gonna be this much fun.”

  “Tell me the whole plan,” Annie continued. “That's what guy like you do, isn't it? You've won, so you might as well gloat and tell me everything.”

  “Seriously?” he scoffed, before adjusting his aim slightly. “Okay, whatever. You die first, bitch.”

  And with that, he pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Ten

  “No!” Elly screamed, trying to lunge forward as the shot rang out.

  A fraction of a second later, a bullet swung sideways through the air before clattering helplessly to the ground.

  Annie stared at the smoking gun.

  “What the hell?” Carlyle said, furrowing his brow. “I just -”

  Suddenly he froze, as a trickle of blood began to dribble from his left nostril. He lowered the gun and wiped the blood away with his other hand, but then more blood came gushing out.

  “What is this?” he gasped. “I'm not -”

  Before he could finish, an unseen force blasted him off his feet and sent him crashing against the rocks nearby. At the same time, a similar force did the same thing to all his men, knocking them over like skittles and blasting them several meters across the rough ground. Some of them hit nearby rocks with such force, their bones could be heard crunching.

  Wincing, Annie dropped down onto one knee.

  “What happened?” Elly asked, looking around at all the downed soldiers. “What... I don't get it, it's like with that guy earlier, what... I don't understand.”

  “Sorry,” Annie murmured, still down on one knee and getting weaker and weaker, “did I forget to tell you that I can do that now?”

  “What did you do?” Elly stammered.

  “I picked up a few tricks over the years,” Annie continued, struggling to her feet and then taking a couple of faltering steps forward. “Even a complete nut-job can be right now and again, I was experimenting a lot. I think having heard the voice meant that something was unlocked in my mind and -”

  Stumbling, she dropped forward and landed hard on her hands and knees, as if the sheer effort of toppling the soldiers had left her seriously weakened.

  “Did you kill them?” Elly asked, horrified by the sight of all the prone, still men all around on the ground.

  “No,” Annie gasped, “they'll be fine eventually. I just knocked them out.”

  Elly stepped over and looked down at one of the soldiers. Blood was still running from his nose and mouth, and his eyes were bulging slightly from their sockets.

  “I'm not so sure about that,” she said, crouching down and checking the man's pulse, before looking around and seeing that all the other soldiers seemed to have the same injuries. “Annie, I think these men are actually dead.”

  “Of course they're not dead,” Annie replied. “I told you, I only stunned them.”

  She glanced at one of the nearby corpses, then at another.

  “Oh,” she added, before shrugging and turning to walk away, back toward the frozen and terrified Katia. “Well, we all make mistakes.”

  Stopping next to the little girl, she crouched down and looked into her eyes.

  “It's okay,” she explained, “those nasty men won't hurt you, not anymore. We're going to get out of here. You're safe, okay?” Reaching out, she took hold of Katia's hands. “I promise. This cult most likely slowed all the others down, so we have a chance to escape. Plus, there's now one cult less on our trail, so that's good news. Right?”

  She waited, but Katia simply stared back at her with tear-filled eyes.

  “You're in shock,” Annie continued. “I get that. It'll pass, you just have to be a littl
e patient. And don't be scared. Above all, whatever you do, don't be scared. Got it?”

  Katia stared at her for a moment longer, before turning and watching as Elly approached. After a couple of seconds, Katia slipped her hand away from Annie and hurried past her, making her way toward Elly and then clamping her arms tight around her.

  Annie turned and watched.

  “She's just a little girl,” Elly said, her voice trembling slightly with fear. “We have to get her somewhere safe. Somewhere she won't have to experience things like this.”

  “She's experienced worse,” Annie replied. “She should be used to death by now.”

  “She's a child!” Elly hissed.

  “Only to look at!” Annie snapped. “Or maybe in her head, I don't know. She has the brain of a child still, but she's lived through some awful things. This should be nothing to her.”

  “It's okay,” Elly said, reaching down and ruffling the hair on top of Katia's head. “We're going to get out of here right now. I'm going to find someone who'll look after you.”

  “We'll take their car,” Annie muttered, looking past Elly toward the black SUV, then glancing down at her own watch. “It's been a couple of minutes since Carlyle died. That's not quite long enough.”

  “Long enough for what?” Elly asked.

  “I want to go,” Katia sobbed, hugging her tighter. “I don't like those nasty men!”

  “I know you don't, honey,” Elly replied, watching as Annie got to her feet and walked back over toward the spot where Carlyle had fallen. “I don't either. And we're going right now, aren't we Annie?” She waited, but Annie simply knelt next to Carlyle's body. “Aren't we, Annie?”

  She waited, but Annie didn't reply. Instead, she stared down at Carlyle's dead face.

  “Annie, what are you doing?” Elly continued. “I already told you, he's dead! They're all dead!”

  “I didn't mean to kill them,” Annie replied, as if she was lost in her own thoughts, “but since they are dead, I might as well make use of the situation.” She checked her watch again. “Another couple of minutes should do it. I have to time this just right.”