by Valia Lind
"You'll love it here. I know you said it's temporary, but you won’t want to leave."
She is really laying it on thick today. But I have to agree with her statement anyway. People who come here don't have any thoughts or desires of their own. Right now, that needs to be me. I need to be the lost puppy looking for a home if only for a few hours more. I don't think I'll be able to keep this charade of Tiffany for any longer than that. For now, I need to keep my cool.
Not too eager.
Not too reserved.
Just the right amount of desperate.
"I made up the guest room for you. You can settle in and take your time. Dinner is at five-thirty sharp. We'll be having Katie and her husband over, since you already know them."
More like the husbands need to be there for backup, and to make sure I'm legit. There will be questions, there will be tests, if I'm to get to Foster. I have to pick the right moment to "reveal" my identity to them as well. We're both doing what needs to be done. It’s like an extreme game of cat and mouse. Except, I’m no longer sure which one is which.
We arrive at the house then, and Joy leads me straight to the room I'll be staying in. I thank her once again, trying not to groan. Being this thankful and cheery is getting on my nerves. If I don't punch something soon, there will be screaming.
"You can use the dresser or the closet. Whichever is easier. There's room in both. And you also have your own bathroom, right through there." Joy says, while I dissect her words for what they are. This is a self sustained room and they can lock me in here if they need to. What I wouldn't give to sweep the room for cameras or listening devices, but I can't and I have to deal with that. I have to make them believe in me.
"Thanks, Joy." I say again as the woman smiles and shuts the door behind her, finally leaving me alone.
I study the room around me, as I take a blessed breather from making conversation. Goodness, I really don't like people. I mean, I knew that, but sometimes I forget just how much.
Heading to the bed, I dump my duffle on top of it, before turning and surveying the rest of the room. There's one dresser, a vanity table with two mirrors, and a closet. There's a small window, too small to fit through, on the other side of the bedside table. The room is comfortable in size and it looks like something you'd find in a more modern Bed and Breakfast. No obnoxious flowered wallpaper, thank you very much. There's not much for me to do now, but wait.
I hate waiting.
* * *
Five-thirty can't arrive fast enough.
Joy has checked on me three times already, but hasn't really asked any questions. I tried to rest, since I haven't had much sleep lately, but I can't completely relax. So, I lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with only half of my brain alert. It's kind of like turning only the kitchen light on to light the whole downstairs. It allows me to still be awake, but in rest mode. But even at ten percent brain function, I know there's at least two cameras watching me.
"Tiffany, are you awake?" Joy knocks on the door lightly. Clearly, she knows I'm laying on the bed. "It's time for dinner."
"I'm up," I reply, ready to be doing something, anything other than just laying around. When we walk into the dining room, Katie and Lucas are already there. Paul comes in a second later.
"Oh, I'm so happy you're here!" Katie exclaims, rushing over to give me a hug. I allow her to wrap her arms around me, scanning the other faces over her shoulder. The men in the room are watching me closely, an almost identical pleased expression on their faces. They look—smug, as they watch Katie fawn over me. However, they don't come forward to greet me, staying in their respective places and I see why. They're blocking the exits.
We sit down at the table, all very 50s sitcom like. I'm at the head of the table, with men flanking me on both sides. I'm the guest of honor, and I'm on display.
"So...Tiffany," Paul begins, and I don't miss the way he pauses over my name. I'm caught. Or so they think. I let my mouth blossom into a genuine smile, as I lean a little on my elbows.
"Actually—" I jump in, knowing this is the right time to 'come clean'. "My name is not Tiffany."
I watch for a reaction, gauging the response.
They're surprised.
Not by what I said, but by the fact that I said it. Joy instantly stops moving, her hand going the steak knife in front of her.
"Calm down." I continue, all pretense of the lost puppy gone. I spent three hours in this house doing nothing, just so that I could earn a state of credibility. If I came here to kill them, I would've done so already. I did nothing in that room to raise suspicion. While I know that raises suspicion all on its own, at least they'll listen to me. They're curious.
"I didn't come here to hurt you."
Katie is the only one who doesn't understand what's going on. The smile on her face is slowly fading, as she looks between the other four people in the room.
"Katie, honey. Why don't you go check on the potatoes?" Joy asks, keeping her eyes trained on me. Katie, being the dutiful little puppet, gives me a questioning look, but heads to the kitchen. The moment she's through the door, Paul and Lucas pull out their guns and train them on me.
"Did I not just say I wasn't here to hurt you?" I ask, almost lazily.
"So why are you here then?" Joy asks, moving along side the table to block the last exit, if need be. The steak knife is now expertly in her hand, and I have no doubt she can use it.
"Tell me something," I say, leaning back and crossing my arms in front of me. "If you knew who I was from the very beginning, why go along with my charade? Why pretend?"
If I learned one thing over the years, bad guys always want to tell their tales of epic-ness. I have no doubt they'll tell me and when Joy speaks, I try not to smile.
"We wanted to know how far you'll go. How far this charade of yours would be played. You couldn't be so stupid to think we didn't know who you were." The mask of the nice lady is completely gone. She's all venom now. I realize then that Paul is not the driving force in this partnership, it's all her.
"I had no choice but come here." I chose my words carefully, because this is where I really sell it. They need to believe that I'm on their side or this won't work. "I don't... I don't know why, but there was this pull and I had no control over it."
Paul and Lucas exchange a look over Joy's shoulder. I said something right because there's a small glimmer in their eyes. I'm not sure where the words came from, but here they are. And they seemed to score some points. However, before anyone can say another word, Katie walks back into the dining room.
"The potatoes are ready, Joy." She says, smiling that sweet smile of hers.
Suddenly, I'm enraged.
Seething.
Burning up.
Katie's innocence is so blinding, the anger inside me burns hotter at the way she's being used. I try to keep my face clean of emotions, but my fingers fold into a tight fist before I can stop myself. Their attention is on Katie, so I hope they don't notice my response. I'm struggling to appear as they want me to be, not how I'm actually feeling. It's harder than it used to be.
"That's great! Why don't we all sit down and have a nice dinner?" Joy replies, giving me a pointed look. I'm not exactly sure what game they're playing. It's not that expected to be herded off to some undisclosed basement for questioning, but I definitely was not expecting dinner. What I'm learning here is that appearances are important to Joy. Even having Katie under complete control, she's still pretending.
We settle down, taking our time as Joy passes around the salad. It all looks very domestic, a picture perfect household. But they're watching me. One false move and I'll get a bullet in me faster than I can say stop. I'm not stupid enough to think I'm amongst friends. But I'm also not afraid.
I’m curious. And I wonder if it's true when they say, "curiosity kills the cat."
14.
The dinner is a long, tiring affair.
Katie keeps up a good running conversation, with the rest of us tryin
g to follow along. I tell her that my name is Tasia and she takes that in stride. She doesn't even question why I would come in here with a false name and that makes me angry all over again. When we finally finish eating and the conversation dwindles down, Lucas pulls Katie outside. Probably to tell her to go home.
I don't move from my position at the head of the table, as Joy and Paul watch me from their respective seats. When Lucas walks back in without Katie all pretenses are gone. Paul moves faster than I thought possible for a man of his size, pulling me out of the chair by my arm. I don't hesitate either.
Grabbing the chair with my free hand, I swing it on the floor, ramming it straight into Paul. He yelps in surprise, letting go of me instantly. Lucas and Joy move at the same time, charging me from across the room. Now that I'm on my feet, it's a lot easier to divert their movements.
Joy reaches me first, swinging her arm at my torso, but I use her drive against her, dropping to my knees and ramming my fist into her stomach. She stumbles back and into Paul, as Lucas grabs me from behind.
He wraps his arms around my torso, forcing my hands at my sides. Instead of struggling, I instantly relax my body against him, pushing him backwards. The weight of my body takes him to the floor and as soon as he's falling, I kick out, slamming both of us into the momentum.
We land hard and before either one of us can recover, Joy and Paul are reaching for me, yanking me off Lucas. They hold me by both arms, extending them away from my body. So I do the only thing I can and use their hold as a push. They expect me to go down, so I go up instead. Putting my weight on my arms, I jump up, kicking both legs backwards, connecting with Joy’s stomach as I fall on top of Paul.
Joy flies backwards, flipping over the table as Paul and I fly forward, smashing into Lucas. I don't wait for anyone to recover from the blow.
Jumping to my feet, I grab Paul's head and smack it against my knee. He goes down instantly and as he falls away, I reach for Lucas. Bringing my palm clear across his jugular, I cut off any oxygen to his brain in a manner of seconds. As soon as he goes limp, I turn to Joy.
She's picked herself up off the floor on the other side of the table and in the few seconds that it took me to dispatch Lucas and Paul, she's also found a knife. She doesn't pause as she rushes toward me. Joy swings the arm holding the knife, slicing it across my stomach and I jump back, the blade barely missing my body.
Once. Twice. Before I find the rhythm and smash my fist into the side of her face in between swings. She stumbles back from the blow, but in her movement she forgets to protect her weapon. My arm snaps out and grabs the hand holding the knife. I twist my body so that I'm now back to her front, holding the knife hand in front of me as I smash my elbow into her face.
One.
Two.
Three.
She drops the knife, falling to the floor. I snatch up the weapon, turning around in time to watch her fall to her knees. I don't waste a second, kicking her in the face and then she's out.
Taking the first full deep breath I’ve had in minutes, I take a survey of the mess we've made. I'm surprised I haven't been ambushed by a dozen men already, but it looks like these three thought they could handle me themselves. This would be the perfect opportunity for me to take them out permanently, but that would completely destroy the purpose of my little charade.
Instead, I store the knife in my belt, before picking up one of the fallen chairs and dragging it a few paces back so that I'm sitting with my back to the wall and my front to the open room and the doorways. I stop to pick up the fallen weapons, before checking to make sure no one else had any other guns stored.
Then, I take a seat.
A gun at my back.
One in my hand.
My eyes land on the three bodies piled in front of me and I wonder how long it'll take them to wake up. I could do the proactive thing and tie them up, but that won't earn me any points. I need them to trust me. If I can convince them of that, then I've done my job right.
I look down at my hands, covered with scratches and bleeding. I don't remember the last time my hands were fully healed. I opened up a few wounds fighting just now. And then, I realize something. This is what I've become.
Broken.
Bruised.
Bleeding.
I clench and unclench my fist, watching the movement as if mesmerized. I don't even feel any pain. This is what they made me. This is what I need to be in order to survive.
Unfeeling.
Whatever anger I felt toward them because they're using Katie and the rest of the people in this community needs to disappear. I can't keep fighting my emotions. If I'm to pretend that I'm part of Foster's team, then I need tobe part of Foster's team.
I thought I could win by pretending. But I realize now, I can only win by truly believing. I have however long it takes Joy to wake up to come to terms with that truth.
* * *
Paul wakes up first.
I watch him as he stirs, his senses becoming alert when he realizes where he is. When his eyes find mine, I know he's about to spring into action, so I wave his gun at him, now resting in my hand.
"Don't."
He studies the others around them, before reaching over to check if they're still alive. After he breaths in a sigh of relief, he shakes Lucas awake.
"Slowly," I say, as the men scoot to check on Joy. They're both watching me, and the way my hand doesn't waver, as I hold the gun pointed at them. It takes them a full thirty-seven seconds to revive Joy.
"What's going—" she mumbles, but I interrupt.
"Now that we're all awake." I begin, bringing their attention to me. Joy freezes when she sees the gun in my hand, before a look of hatred settles on her face.
"I told him we should've just killed you the moment you stepped into this neighborhood," she spits in my direction, disgust lacing every word.
"Oh, a pronoun game. I really enjoy playing those." I say, raising one of my eyebrows in annoyance. "How is good old Foster these days? Still making other people do his dirty work, I see."
"Why haven't you killed us yet?" Paul asks, taking a cue from his lady friend. I know they're thinking if only they can keep me talking long enough. People always think that in movies. Never really works out for them though.
"Because I'm not here to kill you. I would've told you so if I didn't get brutally ambushed first," I point out.
"At least we fed you, right?" Lucas mumbles, and I have to laugh at that.
"That you did."
"Then why are you here?" Joy asks, all the humor lost on her. Earlier, I seemed to have passed this test, but I guess not well enough.
"Because like I was trying to explain earlier, I had to be."
"Do you honestly think we're that stupid?" Joy shouts, making me really wish she stayed knocked out a little longer. "You can't pretend to be affected. There's no way."
"Then test me." I say, producing my arms out on display. "I'm not kidding. I may be affected by your magic drug a little differently, but I am affected. The proof is in my blood."
I leave that statement hanging in the space between us, letting them come to terms with it. I'm hoping the proof is still in the blood and it didn't disappear in the last four days. Because if it did, and it's completely gone from my system, I'm dead.
"You really aren't kidding," Lucas says, slowly getting to his feet. I watch him carefully, while I keep an eye on the other two. They stare at him as if he's lost his mind, but I only need one of them convinced enough to test me and I guess that lucky guy is Lucas.
"No, I'm not."
"And you'll allow me test you?"
"Yes."
The man nods, waiting for me to make the next move. I get up from my chair, motioning the other two to do the same. Once they're on their feet, I direct them in front of me.
"There's a lab in the basement," Lucas says, waiting for my permission.
"I'm assuming all of you will want to see this for yourselves?" I address the other two in the roo
m. "If you don't mind, I'll keep my gun out. But if you be good and let him do this, we can all be friends." They don't say anything, and after I motion for Lucas to lead the way, he does.
We descend the stairs one at a time, with me bringing up the rear. The bottom floor of the house looks like you'd imagine any basement to look, but it's a little too clean for someone who lives here.
Lucas heads for the farthest wall right away, pushing the power button on the TV. The screen lights up, looking more like a Wii display than an actual TV, with different sections on the screen. Lucas pushes three sections, one after the other, and then places his hand in the middle of the screen. The whole thing ripples, and then his print lights up red. Then green. As the beep of acceptance comes, the wall beside me clicks and then opens like a door.
"Fancy," I state, motioning for Lucas to open the door wider so I can see inside. What I find is a large room set up like a lab. We file in as Lucas heads to the table, reaching for a set of gloves.
"Here, take a seat." He motions me to a stool in front of the table. I look at the other two people in the room and level them with a stare.
"You can ambush me. You can drug me. You can do whatever it is you want to do, but you should really let him test me first." I say, taking a seat at the table, I put the gun holding hand on my leg while placing the other on the counter. The two men seem to be waiting for Joy's response and that just solidifies what I've been thinking all along. She's definitely the boss of the operation.
"Fine. But if you try anything—"
"You'll run for cover while I shoot at you?" I interrupt, pointing the gun at her. "Go stand against that wall." I point to the wall in front of me. "Paul, you go stand over there." I motion in the opposite direction, but where I can still see him. Shocker, shocker, they actually listen to me. I think they're as curious as I am. Maybe even more. After all, if they can actually get me on their side, they'd be unstoppable.
Still keeping the other two in my line of sight, I tell Lucas to go ahead. The man has obviously done this before. He puts on the gloves before reaching for a tourniquet and wrapping it around my bicep. I've never been a big fan of needles and now is no exception. However, keeping my bravado up is an important aspect of my persona so when Lucas takes out the needle, I don't even flinch.
