Beyond the Palms

by Amanda Aggie

  Elizabeth nodded and stood there, watching him unlock Thea’s cage. He extended a hand to help her out. A white-hot fury overcame Elizabeth, it took her sight, it took her humanity, it overtook her sanity, and the only thing that remained was the thirst for Alex’s blood. She tried to fight to stay calm, knowing that if he can get all of them out that she could leave and never see his face again, but it was too strong. Elizabeth became unsettled at the realization that Alex had come to save Thea, and not her. It flooded her mind, and she couldn’t contain the rage that ripped through her as she thrust herself forward and slammed into the propped open metal gate, sending it flying into Alex. Thea heard the bones crack from the blunt force as she fell back into the cage. She reached for the knife that was knocked out of his hand and grappled at the wooden handle of it as it landed on the floor. When she tried to reach up with the knife to stab him, but before she could bring her body to do so, she felt the point of a needle get thrust into her the side of her neck. Sleep overcame her quickly. She was weak and felt the life fleeing out of her. Her limited vision blurred and faded into the dark abyss.

  Alex extended a hand to Thea, who was knocked back on her butt in the commotion. Her face stuck in a silent scream in response to the terror that she witnessed. She shook her head to clear the image out and gripped his hand. Alex pulled her to her feet and hurried over to open Jack’s cage. The boy nearly ripped the keys from Alex’s hands to hurry and unlock the cage. When both of them were open and out without any restrictions of movement, he held a finger up to his mouth to signal them to stay quiet.

  Alex squeaked open the door; he saw that the convention hall was empty; everyone was in the other room. He could hear the screams that echoed through the closed door and knew they were occupied. He signaled them to follow as he trotted across the room to where the other cages were held. As he pushed open the door, he ushered Thea and Jack inside.

  “Oh, thank god! I am so glad you both are ok!” Eleanor said.

  “YOU!” John yelled at him.

  Alex shushed them as he held up the keys to show them his plan. As he began to unlock both her and John’s cages, they remained silent. The others in the cages next to them watched in silence, hoping that he would release them too. Once the two of them were standing among them, he pulled them in close.

  “Look, we can’t take everyone. We have to go. When I say go, you run as quietly as you can behind me and don’t look back, ok?”

  The rest of them nodded in agreement. When Alex opened the door and saw the others start to panic as they came to terms with the fact that he wouldn’t be saving them too. John leads the group out of the room to make sure the coast was clear, and Alex shut the door behind them.

  “Ok, follow me,” Alex commanded.

  A man walked into the room looking down at his phone from the elevator corridor. John noticed him before anyone else did and warned the rest to duck behind the back of the stage. As the man walked through the convention hall whistling, looking down at the light that came from the phone screen; he stopped short of entering the room where the rest of the members were. He looked up and turned to walk toward the room with the cages eager to peek inside. As he rounded the side of the stage, John waited for him to turn his back toward him and attempt to open the cage room door before acting. As the man turned the doorknob, John lurked up and trust his arm around the man’s neck and squeezed, his other hand clasped over the man’s mouth as he fell silently to sleep. John slid the man to the floor and released it. Alex jumped up to help him.

  “Here, let’s put him in one of the cages,” Alex said quietly and reached down to grab the man’s feet. John linked his arms under the man’s, and the two of them lifted the man from the ground. Thea ran over to open one of the cage doors as the two of them placed the man inside and locked the door shut.

  They hustled out of the room and across the convention hall to the bookcase tunnel that Eric had shown Alex earlier. Everyone scurried inside with John leading them on the way down. Alex trailed in last and ensured the bookcase door closed behind him. The concrete walls made the hallway that the cascading stairs were in feel much smaller than it was.

  “Look, I don’t have a whole lot of time to explain, but I need you guys to trust me. Now that we’re down here, we have bought some time. They won’t notice that you’re all gone until the second cage is moved inside, and they bring the first down here.” He paused to catch his breath as he descended the stories of stairs.

  “If we get separated, these tunnels lead down to the ocean, we’re going to take them. My cousin Jane has some of the things that they took from you, she looked for important things such as wallets, phones, passports, things of that nature. She will meet us by the outlet by the ocean. When we get there, I have booked flights for everyone to return to San Diego International Airport, and they leave in about 2 hours. She has the boarding passes with her as well. Everyone understand?”

  Everyone responded with reassurance.

  “When we surface, it is imperative that we get a taxi immediately. As long as we return home and lay low, my uncle won’t risk the other members knowing that you guys escaped or that someone out there knows about the Black Arbor Convention if they knew that they would revolt on him. He will come up with an excuse as to why the last two cages won’t be played out. With that said, you cannot, I repeat cannot report what has happened here. Not only will it get you all killed, but it will end up killing thousands of others as well.”

  John opened his mouth as if to protest, but he stopped. He would hear him out, once they were clear of this area, he would press for more information, but now he was satisfied enough to wait. As they reached the opening of the room and started to pile inside, John froze as he walked through the doorway and felt the cold tip of a gun barrel on his temple. It was steady, the man stood to his right and must have known they were coming. He turned to see who held it and put his hands up.

  “You don’t have to do this,” John said to the young man, his voice shook, but his body remained still.

  “That is where you’re wrong. You see, I won the bid on your blonde whore over there.”

  He cocked the gun towards Eleanor, who still stood on the stairs. Her eyes were wide with fear; her feet were frozen to the step she stood on.

  “Did you think that we would just let you leave?” James continued. He paused to laugh at their idiocy.

  “Oh, Mr. Alex, where are you, bud? Why don’t you come down here and join us?” James said to the dark hallway of the stairs. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. John could hear the ringing from being in such close proximity. When someone answered, they didn’t say ‘hello’; instead, it was an ‘I’m on my way.’ James took the phone from his ear and shoved it in his back pocket of his jeans without wavering the gun in his left hand.

  Alex pushed his way to the front of the line, past James and John.

  “I’m here. James, you don’t have to do this. These are good people; they don’t deserve this. Let me save them; they will stay quiet, I’ll make sure of it.”

  “Jesus, Alex, how stupid can you be? Can’t you just accept your role for once in your life and do what you’re supposed to? I mean look at you, you were given a silver platter. You were handed the right to lead even though your father didn’t think you deserved it. The man must be rolling in his grave and just completely disgusted in you and what you’ve done. There was a time when I looked up to you, but now I think the world would just be better off.”

  “You’re right; we see things differently. It doesn’t change the fact that you were my best friend. We have changed as we have grown older and formed different opinions about life. You’re still family, and family would do anything for each other. Please, put the gun down, you’re the one who introduced Thea and me. I finally found someone that I care about, any other family I would have looked the other way. I could’ve released all of those cages, but I didn’t, the only people I helped are her family. You’ve told me repeated
ly that I needed to find someone and that one day I am going to have to let people into my life. I did and looked at what happened.”

  “I told you that you needed to find someone because you’re going to have a to produce a successor. Not for love.”

  The group heard the sound of footsteps echoing down the stairway and getting louder as they approached. James directed everyone out of the stairwell and lined them up against the wall on their knees, including Alex. When his Uncle cleared the doorway, Alex saw the smirk on his face.

  “How did I just know this was going to happen?”

  He looked at Alex for an answer. Alex saw the gun that was in his right hand. The one person that Alex considered to be family and that he thought loved him, was going to kill him.

  After his mother died, his uncle was the only person who wasn’t ruthless, and his uncle had a motto that Alex still believes in today, the few over the many. His uncle told him it was the only reason he could stomach what happened in the convention hall, and the only reason he could condone what his father did. He told Alex that it was ok to have compassion, and it was ok to want to save people instead of hurt them. He pushed Alex to live this way of life and was successful up until his father became sick, then he changed and wanted Alex to be immersed in it again. Alex now had a hunch that it was because he didn’t want James to take his position, and Alex didn’t blame him.

  It wasn’t just that James was dangerous, but he also was worried for daughter’s sake. The only reason James had stopped was when Alex’s father had stepped in. James didn’t respect Eric the way he did Alex’s father, but it would’ve been enough to keep him in line. Alex’s plan solved both of those problems; he just had to convince his uncle enough to allow it to work.

  “Uncle, I can explain.” Alex’s voice broke, and he stuttered as the fear set in more with every second that passed.

  “I saw you at least killed Elizabeth, that a step. In all honesty, Alex, we can’t keep doing this. Someone is going to see your weakness and decide to do something about it, and I can probably guess that its someone in this room. I have tried, time and time again to make you realize that reality of what you’re dealing with here. You continue to not listen to me and push every ounce of my sanity. I don’t know what else to do with you. It’s not my decision now though, you broke Convention law, and it will be their authority to do as they see fit.” Eric explained.

  “Please, hear me out.” Eric raised the gun and pointed it at his nephew.

  “On your feet, Alex, I can’t save you now. You have gone too far.”

  Alex’s uncle nodded at James, giving him the ok to pull the trigger.

  “WAIT!” Alex screamed.

  “I have Jane!” he continued.

  His uncle held up a hand to James, who took his finger off the trigger of his gun but continued to point it at John’s head.

  “What do you mean you have my daughter.”

  “Uncle, please, these people don’t deserve this. You always told me to leave this life behind me and start over new. I care about these people. Please don’t do this. They won’t say anything about what happened here I can vouch for it. I will make sure of it. I can get Jane out, and she can go to college in California and live a normal life. She knows what happens here, and she cares about Jack. She’s waiting for us and wants to go with me. Please, if you won’t save them for me, save them for her. She won’t forgive you if you do this. Jane will at least have respect for you if you let them go and if you let her leave with me.”

  Eric’s thoughts went haywire. James saw the sternness that he had coming through that doorway, wasting away.

  “No, if you won’t tell the Convention and let them punish Alex, if you let these people leave, I will make sure they all die, including you, Eric, for conspiracy. Your daughter will be orphaned and will have no choice but to submit to me.”

  Eric thought it through; there were only two ways out of this. One, he let his nephew, who he loved like a son die, along with the boy his daughter liked and his family. Two, James would die, no one else besides Eddie knew about this, and he could cover it up, Eddie would listen and keep his secret. The last sentence James made was enough for him to decide on route two. He was finished fearing this man.

  “James, do it,” Eric commanded.

  Alex protested, but the actions had already been put into motion.

  James smiled and turned his back towards Eric, and pointed the gun at John. They heard the gun cock back and clicked in the concrete room. When the silenced bullet met its target, the man fell to the ground. The hole that the bullet made spilled thick red fluid and stained the concrete floors. The shock left those who survived in silence, mouths agape, eyes wide as they stared at the man on the floor. James was no more.

  Alex breathed in a sigh of relief and looked at his uncle.

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me; you keep my daughter safe. I will handle everything upstairs. As far as they know, you turned down your position, and James disappeared after finding out that he could ascend, running away from his duties too. Therefore, they will hold a vote tonight before they leave. You will stay in contact with me, and you tell Jane that she still has to call me every night, ok?”

  “I will.”

  The sounds of Eleanor crying filled the air. Alex turned towards the family, Thea and Jack were in such shock that they couldn’t look away from the blood pool that formed on the floor and John had already started to drag the body over to the incinerator.

  “I’m going to throw this douche-bag in here, and then we need to get going.”

  Alex agreed as he rushed over to help him lift what was left of James into the open hatch. Once the door was closed, John walked over to Eric and shook his hand.

  “Thank you, I know I should hate you for putting us in this situation in the first place, but thank you for not killing us.”

  Eric nodded, he wanted to speak, to say something but the words wouldn’t form in his head and he assumed that would suffice. There probably wasn’t anything he could say that the Dawson’s would forgive and forget what has happened here. However, he trusted his nephew to the extent that he would keep them safe, especially now that he knew what could happen if he fails.

  John walked over to his family and hugged them all, trying to calm down Eleanor.

  “Are you guys ok?” he asked.

  Jack and Thea silently nodded, Eleanor continued to cry as her jagged uncontrollable breaths echoed. He pulled her to his chest again. He was used to seeing sights such as what they just witnessed, and was used to the constant adrenaline; they weren’t. He sensed there would be a lot of therapy in the future.

  With James’ body disposed of. Eric needed them to go so he could return to the convention hall and continue the event. Eric’s hand shook, his nephew took the gun from him and set it down.

  “You’ll hear from me soon.” Eric said, looking at his nephew, “But you guys need to leave, go get Jane.”

  “Ok,” Alex nodded his head, understanding the delicacy of the situation.

  “Come on, guys, let’s go, this way.”

  Alex turned on the light on his phone and led the way down the tunnel. The rest of the family followed after him leaving his uncle alone in the room.

  21

  The Tunnels

  As they made their way through the dark galvanized tunnel, the darker it got as the light from the room faded into black. They were silent as they walked the path guided by the small light from Alex’s phone. The sound of mice scurrying was the only thing besides footsteps and breathing that they could hear.

  When the tunnel dead-ended, Alex looked up and saw a hatch that looked like something that belonged in a submarine. He saw a metal ladder that was led against the side of the tunnel and moved it to the hatch, hooking the ends of it to the metal rim. He climbed up three rungs before trying the turn the circular handle to the hatch.

  “You’re sure that this hatch isn’t underwater, right?” John asked.


  “Not even a little. I have never seen what is on the other side of this.”

  Thea remembered seeing the weird metal pipe on the beach when she went walking. She thought it might have been a sewage pipe end. She had looked down into the grate on the surface of the beach and saw nothing but black. That had to be the opening, it was the only thing that remotely looked like it could be, and over the last few days, she had covered every inch of that beach within a mile’s distance.

  “I know where it lets out. It’s on the beach, but it looks like it’s covered during low tide. There’s a grate on the top that we would have to open up too.” She announced.

  “How far down did it look?” Her father asked.

  “I’d say at least 20ft if not more. I didn’t see any steps or anything down the tunnel either. I’m not sure how we would climb up there.” She replied.

  John grabbed the light from Alex and looked around the room. A few minutes later, the rest of them heard the squealing of metal; they looked in his direction. He was pushing a metal door closed. When he had it in place, closing off the tunnel, he turned around the gave the phone back.

  “I know what they planned to do. These people have thought of everything. They knew if they had to escape, they would potentially be followed. If they did, they would be able to shut this door from the inside, and it would take ages to cut through that thick of metal. They probably figured that it would give everyone enough time to climb that tunnel one by one. However, if there aren’t steps to climb, they must have had another way. It’s low tide right now; if we can’t get up, we will wait until the tide comes in tonight, and it will fill this compartment with water, and we swim up the pipe and out.”

  “Ok, no offense, babe, but not all of us can hold our breath for a long time or can swim that well,” Eleanor said.

  “Do you have a better idea?” He asked his wife.

  “How about we get the hatch open and go from there?” Alex suggested.