Red: What do you do when the rules cannot help you? (Rule Number 3)

by Teya Tapler

  “When I came in you were all alone,” a voice that Emil identified as Grakhun said. “He must’ve transcasted from there. He looked like one who didn’t like our rules.” Emil was the conversation topic now even though no one was mentioning his name.

  “He eluded all my trials to genetically die his hair,” Amanda chimed in and Peter made a grimace indicating his disapproval of Amanda. Then after hearing the end of Amanda’s statement smiled at Emil. Emil frowned back as everyone behind the living door said why they didn’t like him and that they knew something wasn’t right. There was a lot of anger directed towards Emil until someone, who audibly had a very few teeth, spoke.

  “I should’ve confronted him when he was still here,” Emil recognized Telagh’s voice. Then Mort shared his suspicions. The post mortem analysis of the way each one of the gang members had reacted to Emil went on for a while until suddenly Ranshen spoke.

  “And yet the only one who essentially did something was Lin,” he said. “She was the only one brave enough to defend us, and yet she’s the smallest one of us all. We have to be ashamed for allowing this to happen.” Ranshen paused. “You, my precious, need to rest. Now we’ll take care of you,”

  “Hide,” Emil whispered. “They’ll be leaving the room.”

  The rescue party took cover in the first closet to the right just in time before the people from the living room headed away. From their shelter Emil and Peter saw how Mort, Telagh, and Grakhun left the room and headed to the lab, their rooms, or the kitchen. Minutes later Amanda waltzed out and disappeared in the corridor. The only one inside the living room were Ranshen, Evan and probably Alex.

  Emil gestured to Peter and they moved towards the dining room and peeped inside. The room was empty; the dozen-guest long table had a red runner and two candelabra’s on top, all chairs were neatly pushed close to the table. The two men closed the door carefully and sneaked towards the sliding door separating them from the living room. They needed to see and hear what was going on.

  Peter frowned at the portraits of the two brothers facing each other on the opposite walls and put his ear on the sliding door separating them from the living room. After a while he looked at Emil and mouthed, “Nothing.”

  The other room was extremely quiet. That didn’t seem right. Emil quietly cracked open the sliding door and sneaked a quick look through the gap. He saw Ranshen sitting on one of the sofas, focused on something in front of him. He couldn’t see who was on the other sofa because it was turned with its back at him. Most likely Evan was resting there. There was no one else in the room. Alex must have left on one of his special ops assignments.

  “This will make you feel your best,” Ranshen raised a vile with a blue, pearl-like substance. The light and dark layers of the content floated around. Sparkles came out as those layers rubbed at each other, never mixing and always shimmering.

  Recognizing the poison Emil waved Peter that they have to act fast. He directed him to go through the door on his signal and went to the corridor. Peter took Emil’s place on time to see how Ranshen raised an old fashioned syringe and squirted some of its content to remove the air. The squirt looked like a pitch of pixie dust thrown into the air: the few sprinkles quickly dissolved and disappeared with tiny yellow flashes.

  Trying to remember what the content might be, Peter heard an explosion coming from the corridor. Ranshen got up leaving everything on the table and headed towards the sound. He opened the door and Peter saw him being hit on the head, then Emil entered the living room dragging Ranshen’s body inside.

  Considering that was his sign, Peter entered from the dining room and the two of them met in front of the other sofa. Evan laid there looking weak and fragile. Her face lit when she saw them. Emil and Peter smiled back and without saying anything the three of them held hands and Emil fired the transcaster gun to return to their team base.

  To everyone’s surprise the haze was red indicating that a location prohibitor had been placed at their destination point. It dispersed instantaneously and the group found themselves in the same place they were a second ago. Something had happened back at the team base. They started wondering what it was, how were Zander and Mary, what was lost.

  Approaching voices and footsteps in the corridor reminded them to hurry. Trying not to startle Evan, they looked at each other briefly and Emil dialed the location of Mary’s apartment keeping the same time of return. Going to the alternative team base was their only option. Hoping that it will not be blocked too, he fired the gun.

  That time the haze was blue.

  Chapter 19

  “That is not,” Evan started talking the moment the blue haze dispersed.

  “Yes, it’s not our team base,” Emil said pointing around as he spoke, “but we’re safe here. Make yourself comfortable. The bathroom is over there, that is the kitchen and I don’t know what is in the other rooms.”

  “If you want to change into something more comfortable you can get some of Mary’s clothes from over there,” Peter pointed to a green closet door then both he and Emil sat on the sofa and evoked the hidden computer hive. Surrounded by virtual keyboards and multiple holographic screens they sunk deep into their work. Lists, images, charts, video streams, and grids flashed as the two men evaluated the situation. Evan didn’t want to bother them. Obviously they had bigger problems at the moment.

  “I’ll just stay here for a while,” she sat on the other sofa and hugged her knees. She was perched like a bird afraid to enter the new birdhouse that had shown in the backyard overnight, not knowing what it might find in there. Still weak, she was also under the influence of the events in the Inquisitor’s living room. The conversation when she tried to convince Ranshen, Mort and the rest of their group in her innocence was replaying in her mind, their faces moving vividly in front of her eyes. The change in her surroundings had happened too quickly and was too big for Evan to feel fully comfortable in the new unknown environment. She closed her eyes and rested her head on her knees ignoring the movement and the noises around her. Her mind needed a little bit more time to travel the time and space distance her body had covered in a few seconds.

  “Can someone help me here,” Evan heard Zander’s voice and opened her eyes.

  It was hard to believe that it was him. The previous day Evan was still wondering whether she would see him ever again and there he was standing just a few feet away from her. She didn’t know whether to smile or cry, whether seeing Zander was good or bad. Her feelings overwhelmed her and her eyes watered.

  Zander stood in the middle of the hallway with Mary holding tightly his left calf. He was facing the opened kitchen door, standing with his back towards them and before Evan could get up Emil and Peter rushed to help. Peter gently carried Mary to the bedroom. Emil and Zander followed ignoring or not aware of Evan’s presence.

  Evan quietly stood up, wiped her tears and moved in the same direction. She entered the bedroom and stood at the door next to Zander. No one noticed her presence. Everyone was looking at Mary. She was lying on the big bed, white as the sheets around her, eyes wide open staring blankly at Peter. Over the double dresser Emil was preparing what looked like a syringe filled with orange juice. In the mirror above, Evan saw his serious face.

  When the medication was finally ready Emil turned to Peter, all worries hidden behind his now calm face, put a hand on Peter’s shoulder and said, “She’ll be okay. This will help her heal faster and extract any medications and poisons from her bloodstream and internal organs. Whatever they’ve given her, should be cleaned in an hour.”

  Emil unbuttoned the top of Mary’s blouse and delivered the medication into her chest the same way Evan had seen in the movies adrenaline being delivered to jump start somebody’s heart. A muffled hiss filled the room as the orange juice disappeared from the syringe. When Emil lifted the applicator there was nothing indicating the place where the fluid had entered through Mary’s skin. She didn’t react. She was still staring into the direction where Peter stood before. E
mil gently pushed Peter to leave and headed to the living room gathering Evan and Zander on his way there.

  ***

  Evan was first to enter the living room and perched on the sofa as if she never moved. Zander, finally noticed her presence and sat next to her at a reasonable distance still not completely sure who she was. He looked at her disheveled burgundy hair, bruised face and crumpled clothes then stopped his gaze on her eyes. When he ignored the redness and swelling around one of them, those were the same deep brown eyes that had haunted him night after night and were the reason for him returning to her time on his own. Now she was sitting next to him. She was finally there. Evan was there. It was the same Evan he talked to in the car before the accident and yet she had changed. Her troubled face was telling him that many things had happened to her after their last conversation.

  “Who did that to you?” Zander asked quietly as he carefully took off the maroon lab-coat from her shoulders. He tossed it on the floor with disgust. She wore black jeans and t-shirt, her bare toes buried in the soft sofa seat.

  “They died my hair,” Evan said quietly.

  “Not that,” Zander tried to sound calm, “your face. Did Mort hurt you?” He clenched his fists ready to punish the one who had harmed her.

  “No,” Evan whispered and curled her toes.

  “No need to defend Mort,” Zander wasn’t giving up. “Did he hurt you?”

  “No… I did it.” Evan said and looked down. “After giving him the notebook, I needed a cover and that seemed right,” she nodded towards Emil.

  Zander suddenly wanted to hit Emil. Getting angry at his friend was a new emotion for him. He didn’t want to harm Emil because he had hurt Evan. Zander wanted to hurt Emil because hurting Evan Emil had hurt him as well.

  Zander’s head spun. After being away from work for a while he had forgotten how confusing their daily life was sometimes. The events Evan was talking about from her point of view had happened the same day while for everyone else that was more than two months ago. His mind still felt shuffled, slowly grasping the reality. For Zander it seemed that had happened much further in the past. He took a deep breath and put his hand on Evan’s shoulder.

  “You’re very brave,” he said. “I’m so proud of you.”

  Evan snuggled in his arms. She was finally home, safe and secure.

  ***

  “Hey, look who’s awake,” Peter’s voice made everyone look towards the hallway. Amidst the open plan corridor Mary was supporting herself against one of the walls, her other hand holding her head. The expression on her face was a mixture of confusion and a terrible headache, a result of her latest troubles. Peter got up and helped Mary sit on the sofa between him and Emil. She lay back sinking in the soft cushions, closing eyes and sighing with relief.

  “How d’you feel?” Peter asked quietly ignoring everyone else in the room.

  “Better than I look,” Mary said slowly and tried to smile, still keeping her eyes closed. The color was coming back to her usually rosy cheeks.

  “Would you answer a few questions?” Emil asked.

  “Let her rest,” Peter said protectively.

  “It’s okay,” Mary opened her eyes and put her hand over Peter’s. “I’ve to share with you whatever I remember.”

  “I’m all ears.” Emil rested elbows on his knees and grasped his hands together.

  “When the doorbell rang,“ Mary’s voice was quiet; she made frequent pauses and briefly closed her eyes every so often to remember the details. ”I thought that someone had ordered pizza and opened the door not looking through the eyehole… Everything happened so fast. The red-haired man pushed me at the wall with his hand on my throat. “

  Evan flinched and her heartbeat accelerated. She knew very well who that red-haired man was. She had spent more than a year with him and his companions. Her mind filled with memories. She remembered how every now and then one of the brothers would push her back at the wall and look at her with a mixture of hunger, lust and desire to kill her. Then, most often without saying anything, they would enjoy the fear in her eyes for a while before letting her go. Evan shivered as tossed her head as if unloading the bad memories off her mind. Zander felt the changes in her and strengthened his hug to help her feel protected and secure.

  “I couldn’t breathe and didn’t see much,” Mary spoke quietly, Peter holding her in his arms. “When I woke up I was in a room filled with red leather furniture with white marble and golden accents. Three men were talking in the distance around a huge white marble desk: the red-haired one, one with ginger hair and one with blonde hair. They seemed familiar to me but I wasn’t sure who they were. “

  “Those were Zull Mort, his son Kevin and most likely Ranshen. What you‘re describing sounds like you’ve been into the Chancellor’s office.” Emil said.

  “Right now I’m not sure at all,” Mary touched her forehead and looked down. “I’m still so much confused…I might have to tell you the same story again when my mind fully recovers and then it may sound very different,” she tried to smile.

  “Don’t worry. Just continue and tell us whatever you remember now,” Emil said.

  “Okay.” Mary said looking down. ”So, the three men talked in the distance. I was able to register that they’re talking but the individual words were not audible enough. They were too far and too quiet. A tall dark haired man joined them and their conversation became more heated after he mentioned Zander’s name…Then the red-haired one rushed to one of the walls and opened a hidden door. All of them looked in but didn’t find what they’re looking for. They said that only the bags were there...Then they turned to me. I was lying on a sofa or something… I wish I’ve escaped while they were still busy but I was too weak to understand what was going on.”

  Mary stopped talking, looked at Peter, hid her face in his chest and continued talking from her hiding place. He clasped his palms behind her back.

  “When they approached me I was quickly surrounded… and pressed down at the sofa with two pairs of strong hands… I think I cried, or at least I think I tried to cry because I don’t remember the sound coming out…Then they put something like an oxygen mask on my face and as the smell of carnations came to me I felt a pinch in my right arm and a fluid entering my system…It made my eyes heavy and I … I don’t remember anything after that, except seeing Zander and hearing his request to hold onto his leg.”

  Evan touched gently her inner left arm and tears filled her eyes. The episode when she was strapped to a chair against her will played in her mind one frame at a time pausing on the most terrifying moments. Her breathing quickly changed. The events from her not so distant past presented her with their gift of frightful memories wrapped with terror. Her heartbeat accelerated, she got agitated and pushed Zander’s arms away. Evan ran into the bathroom and closed the door with a bang. Peter, Zander and Emil followed her with their eyes while Mary sobbed silently.

  “Zander,” Emil said calmly,” there’s something you need to know about Evan.”

  Zander gave Emil a puzzled look the one he usually had when experiencing problem sorting through his troubling thoughts. That time his imagination was trying to piece together what could have happened to Evan and what was Emil refereeing to. Horrors ranging from Evan being asked to murder someone with bare hands to Evan being raped rushed through his mind.

  “When she was with the Inquisitors,” Emil started,” she was forced to get a three dimensional tattoo on the middle lair of her skin on her inner left arm. It’s an extremely painful process. They’ve also dyed her hair against her will, and from what I have seen there, they’ve most likely used an irreversible DNA altering hair die.”

  As Emil talked Zander hit both of his knees with clenched fists and puffed noisily. It was getting progressively difficult for him to stay calm and collected.

  “She should be okay physically, but she had been through a lot of mental and verbal abuse over the last year and a half of her life. Please be patient with her. Otherwise s
he’s the same Evan you know and remember.” Emil said.

  Zander got up without looking at anyone and approached the bathroom. He knocked on the door. No one responded. He waited for a second or two then knocked again a little bit louder. No one responded.

  “Evan, it’s me Zander.” He said hands pressing and twisting the doorknob trying to open the door slowly – it was locked from inside. No one responded. Zander squashed his ear against the door and a soft sobbing came to him from a distance.

  “I just wanted to,” he said slowly then made a pause before continuing. A heavy thud followed by a loud rumble came from within. Something heavy fell down followed by multiple lighter pieces. Zander didn’t finish. He imagined Evan trying to kill herself because of all the things that had happened to her. He wanted to stop her from doing it. She should not harm herself because of events outside of her control. Zander wanted to tell her he still loved her, that for him she was still the most beautiful girl in the world, and so many other things. He didn’t want to be late. He had to save her. Zander pushed the bathroom door with all his strength and pried it open.

  There in the middle of the light green double bathtub he saw Evan lying on its bottom with her feet in the air, wrapped with the brown and white checkered shower curtain. There were multiple bottles with bathroom cosmetics spread around her in the tub and all over the floor. The rest of the small bathroom didn’t look right too. The brown fluffy rug was thrown over the toilet and the brown and white checkered towels were all unhooked, some lying on the floor others peeking from the light green sink.

  “You okay?” was all that Zander managed to say. He was not sure what he’ll find once he removed the bathroom curtain.

  “I-I felt dizzy,” Evan started with her soft voice,” and tried to steady myself. I might’ve hold onto something I shouldn’t have,”

  “Yeah? Are you okay?” he asked again, now standing over her, helping her detangle from the curtain and climb out of the bathtub. Taking a step to the floor Evan wobbled and Zander helped her sit down on the tub’s wide edge to stabilize her balance for a second.