“I have no idea.”
“We’ll just stay here and wait for the prisoners to arrive then.”
Kralen nodded and stood by Emily’s door.
Chapter 30 - The Island
“Quite the storm,” Mark said, trying to break the tense silence in Emily’s ante-chamber.
Kralen nodded, “They get those here.”
“I wish we could come here and train in this. The rain is insane.”
“How can someone all of a sudden just not talk?” Silas asked. “I mean… if her voice is gone, she could at least mouth words. She doesn’t even try. Even if she can’t talk, we know she has the ability to nod and maybe even write.”
“She has a voice,” Kralen reminded them. “She screamed when we first tried to pick her up.”
“I try not to think about it,” Mark told him. “It gets too frustrating and I start to get mad at her.”
Kyle came into the ante-chamber and looked briefly at Emily’s door, “Any word?”
Mark looked at him crookedly.
“Oh right, never mind. Well Chevalier should be back from the palace soon. Seems the Valle decided to come talk to the Council.”
“Brave, aren’t they?” Silas chuckled.
“Let’s leave Anna here and go meet Horace,” Kyle said. “He’s due in on the ferry in a few minutes.”
Mark nodded, “Sure, let’s go.”
Kralen followed them down the stairs, “I vote that we stop giving her anything unless she asks for it.”
“She’d starve to death. She’s proven that,” Silas reminded him.
“They would come in in the rain,” Mark said when they stepped out into a torrential rain pour. They quickly pulled up the hoods on their capes and started for the pier. Once they fought their way to the pier, they waited only a few minutes for the ferry to arrive with the black Suburban.
Horace stopped at Kyle and rolled down the window, “Where does he want them?”
“Take them up to the castle. There are cells for them that are off from the rest,” Kyle said.
Horace nodded, “Get in then.”
Kyle crawled into the passenger seat, while Mark, Kralen, and Silas joined the heku guards in the back with the prisoners. The wind violently shook the Suburban and the sound of the wind howling filled the night.
“I haven’t seen rain like this in a while,” Horace said as he drove up the flooded lane toward the castle.
“Stop!” Kyle hissed. “Damnit.”
“What’s wrong?” Kralen asked from the back.
“Look up at the third floor,” he said, and disappeared from the Suburban.
Kralen peered through the rain and saw a figure standing on the third-floor balcony, “What the hell is she doing?”
Mark stepped out of the Suburban and looked up, “Damnit!”
They all blurred into the castle and appeared beside Emily on the rain drenched balcony. She was wearing only a nightgown and her hair and gown were soaked.
“What are you doing?” Kyle yelled, trying to be heard over the storm.
Emily didn’t move, but stayed completely motionless and silent, with her face turned up toward the rain.
“Get inside before you get pneumonia!” Mark yelled above the strong winds.
When she failed to move, Silas took her arm, but she jerked it away and glared at him before turning her face again toward the sky.
“If you don’t go inside, I’ll carry you there,” Kyle told her.
“What the hell are you all doing out here?” Chevalier asked when he walked onto the balcony. The wind pushed against them violently and a shingle banged against the barn roof.
“Em, I said get inside!” Kyle yelled.
“Emily?”
Kyle finally growled and picked her up as she fought against him, and then set her down inside the warm bedroom as Kralen secured the outside door.
“What the hell was that?” Kyle asked angrily.
Emily glared at him and started for the door, but Kralen blocked her.
“No, you’re not going to go stand out there.”
Kralen moved quickly when she tried to walk around him to the door.
“Em, tell us why you want to go stand out in the freezing rain and we’ll let you,” Chevalier told her.
Her shoulders fell slightly and she went over to sit on the floor in front of the fire. She pulled her knees up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she watched the flames dance.
After calming some, Kyle turned to Chevalier, “Your requested prisoners are here.”
He watched Emily for a few seconds and the nodded, “Bring Reed up to my interrogation chamber. Kralen, stay here with Em.”
He nodded and stood by the door with his arms crossed. It was obvious that he wasn’t happy with how she was acting.
By the time the others got to the interrogation chamber, Reed was already restrained in a wooden chair.
Kyle shut the door and then locked it and turned to Reed, “This should be interesting.”
Mark listened to the rest of how the caller told Chevalier about Reed and then frowned and looked over at him, “How is it you know about what happened with Emily?”
“I will tell you,” Reed said softly. “If you will swear to me you won’t return me to the Valle.”
“Hmm, not going to beg for your life?” Kyle asked, impressed.
“No, I am not. Kill me, torture me, but don’t return me to the Valle and I will speak openly about what I saw.”
“Why is that, exactly?”
They could tell the Valle had already resigned himself to a torture, “I did nothing wrong… nothing but betray my own faction.”
“You betrayed the Valle?” Mark asked, frowning.
“Yes, that’s why I was in prison. Though the Council did not yet know why I was there.”
“Then who put you there?”
“Salazar did.”
“Why?” Kyle asked, suddenly interested.
“I,” Reed sighed and looked at the ground. “I tried to get to the Equites.”
“You were switching sides?”
“No, I just… I wanted to get help for the Lady.”
Mark gasped, “You tried to tell us about Emily?”
“Yes, and Salazar found out. The next thing I knew I was in the Valle prison and listed as insane. I tried to talk to Elder Sotomar, but he wouldn’t even come down.”
Chevalier sat down on the rack, “Ok, then. I don’t believe you for one second… but start talking. We’ll see.”
Kyle leaned back against the iron maiden and watched Reed carefully.
“I was brought in by Salazar in what would be Emily’s second week with the Valle.”
“Brought in why?” Chevalier asked.
“I didn’t know Emily was there. I was brought in because of a history I had with the Mao regime in China. I was an expert in what was called xǐ năo.”
“Brainwashing?” Kyle asked, not quite sure he heard correctly.
“Yes. Salazar started asking me questions about how we were able to change the thoughts of American soldiers during World War II. We spent months going over how it was done, down to the fine details. I had no idea that while we did that, Emily was in his custody.”
“Still not believing this,” Chevalier said.
“When we were done, and before I was sent back to my Coven, Salazar said he wanted to show me his greatest trophy. He took me into his room and showed me that he had the Winchester in a cage. She was terrified and I was shocked that he had her. He kept saying that even the Council didn’t know.”
Reed took a deep breathing and watched his hands, “When I saw her, I knew that it was my duty to tell the Valle Council. It’s well known that Sotomar took Emily’s safety seriously and was very upset when she died.”
“Yeah I bet,” Chevalier said, shaking his head.
“I tried to get Salazar to tell the Valle, but he finally threw me into his prison. I was housed with an Equites that Sala
zar had had for over 200 years. He and I spoke, his name was Lincoln, and I told him about the horrible things I’d told Salazar.”
“Lincoln,” Kyle said, thinking. “I don’t recall a missing Lincoln.”
“I just know what I was told,” Reed told him. “Salazar promised to release me after only a few months if I would give him more pointers. Apparently the brainwashing wasn’t working, and he was desperate to get Emily to behave and do as she was told.”
Reed glanced nervously at Chevalier when he growled softly.
“I decided to help him, and then go immediately to the Valle with the information on Emily. I think somehow he knew that, and when I’d helped him again, he made up lies about my mindset and sent me to the Valle’s palace prison for sentencing. On the way, we were so close to the Equites that I decided that if I could get away, I would tell your Council.”
“Brave of you,” Kyle said, smirking.
“I knew that even going to the Equites about Emily wouldn’t make me a traitor. Sotomar always said that the Winchester’s protection was the responsibility of all heku.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that,” Chevalier said. “So you were on the way to the Valle…”
“I finally found my chance when Salazar’s officer stopped for gas and I ran. I was in the trees west of Council City when they caught me and I was imprisoned. I’ve tried, numerous times, to talk to Elder Sotomar, but was always told to wait for my trial. They knew I’d tried to get to Council City and had labeled me as a deserter.”
Chevalier thought for a moment, “So if we did believe you… what exactly did Salazar brainwash Emily to believe?”
“That I don’t know,” Reed said. “I taught him how, but he wouldn’t allow anyone near them in the process. No one that I know of has any idea the things he told her. He just told me of his successes and failures, and what he’d tried.”
“So what were his methods then?”
“There were many. I know he started with sleep deprivation, and while he kept her up for over four days, he spoke continually about whatever it was he wanted her to learn.”
“But you don’t know what that was,” Mark said.
“Right. I told him of many tactics, oxygen deprivation, terror, psychological abuse, physical abuse, dehumanization, extreme temperatures…”
Kyle frowned, “If he’s right, we’re dealing with more than we realized.”
Chevalier nodded, “If he’s right.”
“I am, I swear. Salazar’s wish was to have Emily completely under his control.”
“Let’s start with temperatures,” Chevalier said. “So what? Cold, heat…”
“More than the human body can take, but given in small doses won’t kill them.”
“Such as?”
“He would put her in a freezer and would sit and watch her as he spoke of whatever it is he wanted her to learn. When she was close to death, he would take her out and nurse her back to health. Or, he liked to burn her hands on the fire. He’d hold her hands as close to the flame as he could without actually burning her, and as he held her, he would speak of what he wanted.”
“Dehumanization?” Mark asked when no one spoke.
“Mostly keeping her in filth and then making fun of her for it. The teasing and taunting were interrupted only when information was sent to her.”
Chevalier frowned, “You came up with this stuff?”
Reed nodded, “Yes, for the war. It is something I wish I could forget.”
“Ok then, physical abuse is obvious,” Mark said. “What kind of psychological abuse?”
“The entire thing is psychological abuse.”
“Keep talking,” Chevalier growled.
“Terror is easy, especially for one that was as fragile as she was at that point,” Reed said. “She was already traumatized after waking up in a coffin. When the heku dug her up, she was weak and confused, and then dropped off at the home of an enemy who immediately started torturing her.”
“How is oxygen deprivation achieved? Choking her?” Silas asked.
“Oxygen and sensory deprivation were always the most effective in the war. Understand, I told him several ways and I only know of one he tried… though he could have done the others without telling me,” Reed explained.
“What might that be?” Kyle asked.
“Burying her alive.”
“He did what?” Chevalier asked breathlessly.
“He bought a coffin and would wrap her up so she couldn’t move and then he would bury her in it. Always six feet down so she could hear the dirt hitting the top. At first he said all she did was scream, but after a few hours, her voice would run out and he would begin talking to her through a speaker he built in.”
“You know he did that?”
“Yes, only once did she turned one of his coven to ash. To punish her and to ensure she wouldn’t do it again, he buried her for three days.”
Chevalier walked over and looked down into the fire.
“As his voice spoke to her, she couldn’t see or hear anything else, she couldn’t move because of the binds, and eventually the oxygen began to run out and when she fell unconscious, he would dig her up.”
“How often?” Mark asked. He was finding it hard to speak.
“As far as I know, he used at least one method a day. He only buried her once a week though, because the day after, she was unresponsive and that irritated him.”
“I still don’t know if we believe you,” Chevalier whispered from the fire.
“It’s true,” Reed said, watching him.
Kyle walked up to Chevalier, “He could be making all of this up.”
“If I made it up, then how would I know that after he buried her one night… she never spoke again? She would have been with him for about two months at that point. He was furious with her because she would no longer answer his questions, not even a nod.”
“We could ask her if it’s true,” Mark suggested. “Yeah she’s not going to say yes or no, but we might get an impression.”
“He buried her just to the west of his coven, out in a small grove of trees. He kept the coffin in the ground, so it was always cold and smelled like the damp earth,” Reed said. “Go there and you will find it. That will prove what I’m telling you.”
“Or we can just ask her.”
“Part of the brainwashing, traditionally, forces them not to tell. There’s a good chance you won’t get a reaction out of her.”
Chevalier disappeared from the interrogation room and knocked on Emily’s door. Kralen opened the door and turned to Emily, who was still sitting in front of the fire on the floor.
Chevalier sat down beside her and watched her as he picked his words carefully, “I need your help with something.”
She looked over at him.
“You don’t have to talk, or nod, or write… but you have to give me some indication if I’m right, ok?”
He waited only a few seconds before continuing, “Did Salazar ever burn your hands?”
Emily looked back at the fire, but the two heku heard her heart rate pick up.
“Or did he keep you in a freezer as he spoke to you?”
Her arms tightened around her knees.
Kralen frowned and spoke too low for Emily to hear, “Did he do those things?”
Chevalier watched her, “I’m starting to think so.”
Emily’s entire body was tense and her breathing was strained.
“One more question,” Chevalier said to her. “Did he bury you alive?”
Kralen growled softly, but quieted when Chevalier glared at him. Emily began to rock slightly and her heart raced dangerously.
“Calm down, Em. I’m just asking. Can you give me a sign if this is all true?”
She exhaled slowly as her eyes fixed on the fire. A single tear fell from her eye and she shook with fear.
“He can’t do it again,” he whispered, the anger rising within him. Before even Kralen could see him move, Chevalier was knelt in front of Emily
with her gaze locked. He gently laid her back against the soft rug in front of the fire and spoke softly, “Salazar can’t get to you now. You’re safe here.”
Kralen backed slowly out of the room and shut the door behind him. It seemed intrusive for him to see what the Elder was doing, so he decided to go down to the interrogation room with the others.
“Did she confirm it?” Mark asked when he walked in.
“I think so,” Kralen told him. “She didn’t exactly say yes but… yes, I think it’s true.”
“Where’s the Elder?”
“He has her locked. I think he’s trying to calm her down. She’s pretty upset.”
“If it’s true then,” Kyle said, turning to Reed, “You need to go back to the prison until we decide what to do with you… and bring me Salazar.”
Silas and Kralen nodded and Reed calmly walked out with them. Within only a few minutes, they returned with Salazar. He was much calmer than before, but his eyes still darted between them nervously.
“Let’s start with the stockade,” Kyle said, watching him carefully.
Salazar began to fight the two Equites, but Kralen and Silas were still able to trap his neck and wrists into the wooden stockade. Once it was locked, they stepped back.
Kyle walked up to him, “I’m going to leave most of this up to the Elder… but to make things easier for him, we’ll get you warmed up.”
Salazar couldn’t see them with his neck trapped by the thick, ancient wood, “W… wh… what dddo you wan.. nt?”
Kyle’s eyes flared, “We’ll leave the big stuff for the Elder. Right now let’s stick with burning Emily’s hands.”
The Valle pulled against the stockade, “I… I didn’t!”
Mark put a poker into the roaring fire and then leaned back against the wall, “I think we should do this systematically, and then we don’t miss anything.”
It was obvious that Salazar was starting to panic, “I didn’t do it!”
“Sure you did,” Silas said, and looked up when Chevalier walked in.
“She’s asleep,” he told them.
“We were thinking of starting from the beginning and walking through Emily’s confinement,” Mark told him.
Chevalier nodded, “Sounds good to me.”
Kyle stepped forward, “Let’s start with when Owen dropped Emily off with you. Was she fighting him?”
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 70
