Sidekick Returns

by Auralee Wallace

  He stood to face me. ‘Did you really think you could get away with blatantly disrespecting me?’ He made a tsk tsk sound. ‘You of all people should know I would never allow that to happen. But I will give you everything I promised. You can be a hero … after.’

  That snapped me out of my stupor. ‘After? After what? After I learn my lesson? After I take my punishment?’ I glanced up again to Ryder, her limp form spinning in the air. ‘She’s real, Dad! She’s a person! You are murdering a person to make a point!’ I couldn’t tell if I were asking a question or trying to explain to him how crazy this all was.

  ‘It was you who did this, Brianna. You.’

  Another spotlight clicked on.

  ‘Good evening, everyone.’ My eyes searched for the voice. Ricky. He stood atop the aquarium on a platform suspended above the water. He didn’t look like himself. The party boy was gone, replaced with someone sedate, maybe even fearful. ‘Tonight the party is coming to an end,’ he said, strain evident in his voice. ‘The party always has to come to an end … but who’s going to pick up the cheque?’

  Silence fell over the auditorium.

  ‘Who will pay to save the life of Dark Ryder? The one who has saved you all so many times.’ A murmur ran through the crowd. Ricky stooped to pick up a bucket. ‘Take your time,’ he said, walking over to the edge of the platform. ‘I’ll give you a moment to think about it.’ He dumped the contents into the tank. A dark cloud billowed in the water. Chum.

  Suddenly Jenny rose to her feet. ‘Uh uh uh!’ Ricky’s voice echoed. A security team moved to surround Jenny—a team which now included Doppelganger Ryder. Looking at her and seeing Ryder’s face, it was almost more than I could bear. Her eyes were blank. My father must have chipped her, despite what he had said about the technology being a step backwards, and now she, whoever she was, or had been, was just his tool. We were all just things to him.

  ‘Does she know?’ I asked my father. ‘Does Jenny know what you have planned?’

  ‘I’ve been wondering that myself,’ he answered. ‘She was told that she would save Ryder in this demonstration, but, of course, it won’t play out that way. I didn’t feel I could tell her the entire truth. She has always been more conflicted than you. But then again, she has more to gain, and more to lose, doesn’t she?’ My father pulled something out of his pocket. The device that controlled my sister. ‘Now, sit down.’

  I dropped back into the chair.

  ‘Her motivations are so complex,’ my father said, feigning thoughtfulness. ‘She’s always known you were my favourite. The one who was more like me. Part of her, I think, has revelled in having my love, to use your term. What do you think? Did she know all that I had planned? Did she choose not to warn you?’

  I didn’t have time to answer before Ricky’s voice floated around us again.

  ‘No takers?’ he asked. ‘I’m stunned.’ The crowd had gone deathly silent.

  Ricky looked down at something he was holding in his hand. Then a noise, a mechanical whir cut through air. Ryder’s limp body dropped a foot before stopping with a jerk. The crowd let out a collective gasp.

  ‘Stop this,’ I said, looking back to my father. ‘Whatever you hope to achieve, I can promise you—’

  ‘You are in no position to make promises, Brianna.’ My eyes flashed back up to Ricky.

  I had to get up there. I pivoted towards the aisle, but my father’s voice stopped me. ‘I will not hesitate to press this button, Brianna. The consequences for your sister could be devastating … irreversible.’

  ‘Well,’ Ricky’s voice boomed. ‘I have to say, I never had much faith in this city, but this … this is very disappointing.’ He looked down to his hand again. ‘But I don’t make empty threats.’ I jumped up then fell to my knees as I watched Ryder’s body plunge into the water.

  Chapter 53

  People squealed and ran like frightened pigs trapped in a pen. This couldn’t be happening. I shot up to my feet again, just in time to see a group of my father’s men moving towards me. I had to help! I threw myself at them, but I couldn’t get through. My eyes flashed back to the tank. Ryder’s dark form floated in the water. If the sharks didn’t kill her, she would drown.

  ‘Ricky!’ I screamed.

  I couldn’t tell if he heard my voice above the panicked din of the crowd, but he bent to his knees on the platform, watching Ryder struggle.

  ‘Ricky!’ I tried again. Unbelievably, this time, his face snapped in my direction.

  ‘Help her!’

  He hesitated a moment longer, then he reached his hand down. She was too far out. I flailed again at the men holding me. ‘Help him! God! Somebody help him!’

  Ricky leaned out farther, slapping the water, trying to get Ryder to come to.

  He was so focused on her … so focused …

  … He couldn’t see the shark.

  ‘No!

  The rim of the aquarium blocked some of the view, but I watched Ricky’s body jerk against the floor of the platform. He disappeared for a second, maybe less; then his body rocketed back away from the lip. His arm flew into the air, arcing blood from the stump where his hand should have been.

  The sharks tightened their frenzied circles, maddened with instinctual bloodlust.

  I whipped my eyes to my father. A smile touched the corner of his mouth.

  I felt my lips peel back into a snarl. ‘I will kill you for this.’

  I heard a man scream close by. My eyes snapped back to Jenny. She was fighting with the men surrounding her … but she wasn’t fighting alone anymore.

  Disbelief washed over me.

  It couldn’t be. It didn’t make sense.

  She was fighting with …

  Another pained screamed tore through the air, forcing my attention back to the aquarium. Ricky was on his stomach, dragging himself once again to the lip of the aquarium. Oh God, he was going to try again! A few of his entourage rushed to drag him to back.

  Just then, Jenny shot up towards the ceiling. The men beneath her screamed and cowered as the blast of the jets that propelled her skyward covered them in fiery air.

  I dropped my gaze back down just in time to see a woman, teeth bared, exploding through the smoke … headed straight for my father.

  Ryder.

  Chapter 54

  My father stumbled backwards into the chairs as Ryder fell on him. The device he was holding flipped into the air.

  My mind snapped puzzle pieces together. Ryder must have switched places with her doppelganger! And the only way she could have done that was if my sister had been helping her …

  The men surrounding me ran to protect my father. I staggered back and scanned the floor. I spotted the thin piece of metal, twirling on the marble tiles by the stage. I lunged for it, snapping it up, before someone could knock it away.

  I jumped to my feet.

  Ryder battled the men, striking out with everything she had. She was holding them off—had downed a few—but I could see it wouldn’t be enough. Her movements were too slow, weak. Just as I had the thought, I watched one of the men on the security team pull out a taser.

  ‘No!’

  It was too late. A flash of blue electricity blasted out from the man’s hand. Ryder collapsed to the floor.

  ‘Enough!’ my father shouted.

  My eyes darted about the room, trying to spot Jenny. I saw doppelganger Ryder’s body crumpled in a heap at the top of the aquarium. Jenny had gotten her out! But where had she gone? A flash of movement caught my eye. The exits. My sister’s blurred form flew from door to door, smashing them all open—the panicked spectators rushing through the openings. ‘Take her to the top,’ I heard my father order. ‘Put her in the restraint.’

  ‘No!’ I shouted. ‘It’s done. Everyone’s leaving, Dad! It’s over!’

  My father wiped his silk handkerchief over his face. ‘No, Brianna. It isn’t.’ He followed his men up the stairs as I ran for the exit where I had last seen Jenny. She was Ryder’s only hope now. Ju
st I as made it to the door, she ran back through. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s go!’

  I shook my head. ‘We can’t.’

  ‘Come on!’

  I pulled away from her. ‘He’s got Ryder.’

  Jenny’s eyes flashed back up to the top of the aquarium. Ryder, the real Ryder, was already being fitted into the restraint.

  ‘Please Jenny.’

  ‘We need to help her,’ she said. It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t quite a statement either. It sounded more like a plea. Jenny trying to convince herself that it needed to be done.

  ‘We can do this,’ I said. ‘You … you are amazing. You saved everyone here.’ I moved my hand around the now empty auditorium. ‘You’re better than him. Than all of us. You’re a hero, Jenny.’

  She searched my eyes, as though not quite sure she could believe me.

  ‘Girls!’ my father’s voice echoed over the glass walls. Both of us snapped our faces up to look at our father.

  ‘Would you please join me?’

  My sister and I looked at one another again. I saw the fear in Jenny’s face, sadness too … and worst of all, something that looked a lot like resignation. It didn’t matter if I thought she was a hero. She didn’t believe it. I couldn’t help but wonder what she saw looking at me.

  ‘Now,’ my father ordered.

  I sighed. ‘We are in so much trouble.’

  Chapter 55

  ‘I would choose your next move, very carefully, Jennifer,’ my father called out as we climbed the stairs. ‘I won’t hesitate to kill Ryder … or your sister.’

  ‘Let me handle this,’ Jenny said when we stepped onto the grated metal floor covering the tank.

  ‘I’d love to,’ I replied. ‘But I think this particular lesson is for me.’

  Our footsteps echoed over the water as we walked to where my father stood by the large opening in the floor.

  ‘Well, here we are, Dad,’ I said, trying to keep my eyes on him and not on Ryder. I’d fall apart if I looked too closely at her. ‘What do you think, Jenny? Can you take him out and reach Ryder before she drops?’

  She nodded. ‘Shouldn’t be a problem.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ my father replied. ‘I press this button here,’ he said, turning around the device Ricky had held, ‘and Ryder dies instantly. Electrocution. I believe in contingency plans.’

  I closed my eyes. Of course. Why not?

  ‘I’m curious, Brianna,’ he said, pacing back and forth a few steps in front of Ryder. ‘What do you think of your hero now?’

  I didn’t answer.

  ‘A bit pathetic if you ask me, but still more than you deserve,’ my father said, watching Ryder’s twisting form. ‘A pathetic hero for a pathetic city.’ I tensed, but Jenny held me still, hand on my shoulder.

  My father turned to his security team. ‘You can go now. This is family business.’ He then motioned to Ryder’s double collapsed on the floor. ‘And take that with you.’

  Two of the men hoisted her body up and they departed into the shadows at the far end of the aquarium, following the trail of Ricky’s blood.

  When they were gone, my father turned back to us to speak, but I cut him off. ‘You know what? I’m not in the mood for another lecture. Are you, Jenny?’

  She shook her head no.

  ‘I mean, family loyalty? What crap. None of this was ever about us. It was all about you. Everything is about you.’ I shook my head. ‘I’ve been giving it some thought, though, and on some level, I think I understand.’

  ‘Brianna—’ he warned.

  ‘Somewhere along the way, you made a choice to do a despicable thing, and instead of owning it, you convinced yourself it was for family.’

  ‘Brianna!’

  ‘After that, it must have just gotten easier and easier.’ I shrugged. ‘But it wasn’t for us. We were just a concept, a scapegoat, a justification. We—’

  ‘I am building a legacy!’ he roared. I flinched. ‘Why can’t you see that?’ He took a step towards me, his fists clenched. ‘I am changing the course of history! The St. James name will echo through the centuries.’

  ‘What is it you want to hear, Dad? What is it you want me to do?’ I let my hands drop to my sides. ‘You win! I can’t stand up to you. I never should have tried. I should have stayed in my gilded cage, looked pretty, thought about fluff, and never once questioned how you were footing the bill!’ My voice cracked. ‘I get it. You’ve proven your point. Bremy St. James is a joke.’

  Silence fell over us.

  ‘Do what you want to me,’ I added, ‘but let Ryder and Jenny go.’

  He laughed. ‘Ridiculous.’

  ‘What do you want!’

  Jenny stepped forward. ‘I know what he wants.’ I couldn’t see her face, but there was something in her voice that I did not like at all. ‘Don’t you see, Bremy? He planned this scenario from the very beginning. He knew I had helped Ryder. He knew we would turn on him during the show. She looked back over her shoulder at me. ‘He knew everything, right from the start.’

  ‘What?’ Cold dread seeped into my limbs. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘He wanted us to get to this moment.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You still don’t get it?’ She laughed in helplessness. ‘Come on, Bremy! To see if you’ll press the button!’

  I looked down at the device in my hand. I had forgotten I was holding it. ‘What?’ I asked, barely above a whisper. ‘No.’

  I turned back to my father.

  ‘Tell her!’ I shouted. ‘Tell her that’s not … this isn’t,’ I said, holding the box into the air, ‘what you want.’

  He looked down, shaking his head. ‘Not exactly, no.’

  ‘Not exactly? What are you—’

  ‘What I am interested in, my dear,’ he said, ‘is testing, once and for all, to see where your loyalties lie. I certainly know they’re not with me.’

  The room swayed. ‘You can’t mean …’

  ‘A choice,’ he said. ‘You can only save one, Brianna. Ryder or Jenny. Who will it be?’

  Chapter 56

  My stomach clenched. I was going to be sick. Everyone … everyone was right. I never should have pursued this. I should have left. Gone to Nepal. Gone anywhere but here. What had I been thinking? He wins. He always wins!

  Tears swam in my eyes.

  ‘Give it to me, Bremy.’ I turned to Jenny. I couldn’t see her through my tears, but I felt her hand grasp my arm. ‘I’ll do it.’

  I gripped the thin metal in my hand. ‘No!’

  ‘I’m tired of living this way,’ she said, hand on her chest. ‘That day when I took you to the lab … when you said you would help me? I knew what he had done. It wasn’t hard to find the report. I don’t want to live with him always being in control of me. I can go back to the way I was.’ Her face crumpled. ‘We can go back.’

  ‘He said it might hurt you even more. That … that there might be damage.’

  ‘I’ll take the chance,’ she said. ‘Give it to me.’

  ‘No, I don’t think so,’ my father said. ‘I would like Bremy to do it. That is the deal.’

  Tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t watch Ryder die, but I couldn’t risk Jenny’s life either.

  ‘It will be okay,’ she said. ‘Seriously.’

  ‘He’s lying,’ I said, wiping the tears from my cheeks. ‘He won’t let Ryder go.’

  ‘Maybe, but what choice to we have? He won’t let me go either. There must be other devices, other ways to shut me down. You’re not the only disloyal daughter.’

  I shook my head frantically from side to side. ‘I can’t do it. I won’t. And I won’t let you do it either.’

  ‘Three.’

  My eyes snapped to my father. What was he doing? Jenny moved towards me, but I stepped back.

  ‘Do it, Bremy,’ Jenny ordered. ‘He’ll let Ryder go. He’ll let you go. It fits his twisted logic.’

  ‘Two.’

&nbs
p; My eyes flashed back to him. God, no. He was counting down. ‘I can’t. Don’t do this.’ I turned back to Jenny. ‘Don’t give up.’

  ‘One.’

  Chapter 57

  Jenny’s eyes met mine as her mouth opened in a silent scream. I reached out for her, but she dropped to the floor.

  A primal wail tore up through my chest.

  Jenny. My sister …

  She had lunged for me. She was so fast. So very fast. Her hand had clamped down on mine, pressing my palm into the button.

  Jenny.

  I fell to my knees, scooping her head into my lap. ‘No, no, no. I’m sorry,’ I murmured as I brushed the hair from her face. ‘This is my fault.’ My fingers found her pulse. It was faint, but it was there.

  ‘Well,’ my father said, ‘I wouldn’t have believed it. You and your sister are truly fascinating creatures. You never fail to surprise me. Of course, you didn’t get to choose. I’m afraid our deal is forfeit.’

  ‘Let Ryder go,’ I said flatly. ‘Let my friends go. Then let us leave with Jenny. You will never see us again.’

  My father smiled.

  ‘Let her go!’ The words tore through my throat, echoing around the cavernous room. I was done. I was so done with this man. I gently laid Jenny’s head down and got to my feet. ‘Just let her go.’

  ‘Come now, Brianna. I think you know the lesson is not quite over.’

  I looked at my father and suddenly everything went very still.

  All the noise, distraction, and pain I had been feeling was gone. Like someone, a divine power, had snapped its godly fingers, and it was just gone. Time slowed around me and the world faded away. It was just the two of us now … in a vacuum of space. My heart slowed, near to a stop.

  I suddenly understood. Everything had been leading to this moment. I had thought my destiny was to spend my life fighting my father. Thwarting him at every turn. But I was wrong. We were too much alike for that to ever happen. We weren’t made to spar. We were all in … every fight. We went into every battle as though it were the last.

  The burden I didn’t know I had been carrying lifted from my shoulders as the imaginings of all those future years of conflict, of struggle, of losing to my father over and over evaporated into nothingness.