A Glimmer of Hope

by Steve McHugh

  “Who are they?” Chloe asked.

  Elias turned back to the two captives. “Oh, how rude of me. Please introduce yourselves to Chloe.”

  “Jack Simmons,” the man said.

  Elias pointed at the woman and motioned for her to speak.

  “Star Davis.”

  “Jack and Star,” Elias said with a smile. “Aren’t they lovely? Nice, wholesome people. Salt of the earth, you might say. Tell Chloe something about yourselves. Jack, do you have any family?”

  “Wife and son,” Jack said. “I miss them.”

  “Ah, how sad. Star, you?”

  “No, I’m single. I don’t have any kids. I live with my parents, until I can afford my own place.”

  “Just starting out in the world and this happens to you.” Elias looked over at Chloe. “It’s just so sad, isn’t it?”

  “If I try to escape, you’re going to hurt them. Is that it?” Chloe asked, her voice hard and angry.

  “Not quite.” Elias nodded to the blood elves, and the five of them grabbed the two humans, forcing them to kneel. “You see, every time you displease me, I’m going to kill one of these captives.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Chloe said.

  Elias ignored her and drew his stiletto blade from the sheath on his back. He leaned over Jack, placing the tip of the blade against his jugular.

  “Please don’t,” Jack begged.

  “I hate begging, Jack. Hate it.” Elias pushed the blade up into Jack’s throat as Chloe and Star screamed at him to stop. He never took his eyes off Chloe as he pushed the blade further and further in, until Jack shuddered and died.

  Elias withdrew the blade and pushed Jack’s body onto the wooden floor, his blood seeping between the floorboards. He looked at Star and smiled. “Do you understand the kind of man I am, Chloe?”

  “Yes, yes, please stop,” Chloe pleaded.

  “His death is on your head. You murdered Dara, and now you know what punishments will be given to you if you ever cross me while you’re here.” He pointed the blade at Star. “Take her back to the others. If Chloe does something wrong, we’ll kill her first.”

  The blood elves dragged Star out of the room.

  “You’re going to die for this,” Chloe said.

  Elias laughed. “We all die at some point, but I’m willing to bet you’ll go first.”

  One of the elves went to move Jack’s body, but Elias stopped him. “Leave it for a day. I want Chloe to think long and hard about her decision and the consequences it brought. Let her see what happens to those who cross me.”

  He left the room to find Masako standing in the doorway. “Was that necessary?” she asked.

  “Are you squeamish? You eat people.”

  “Using up leverage just to make a point doesn’t make me squeamish. It’s just not a good idea to piss off someone you’re trying to get to behave. That kind of thing makes rebellious thoughts. You know the first chance she gets she’ll try to kill you.”

  “Then we’ll kill more of the captives. Eventually her need to kill me will be overridden by the number of dead in the room with her.”

  “Do you actually have a plan beyond torturing her?”

  Elias grinned. “Of course.”

  They entered the main room of the house, and Elias picked up a mobile phone from the large table in the middle of the room. “This is Chloe’s. We found it on her and it’s been ringing every hour on the hour. Tommy’s the one calling.”

  “You’re making him wait?”

  “Of course. The angrier he is, the better for me.”

  The phone rang again.

  “Right on cue,” Elias said with a chuckle, before answering it. “Hello, Tommy.”

  “Elias,” Tommy said, his voice deep and full of anger.

  “Ah, so good to hear your voice. Don’t bother trying to trace the call. You’d only be insulting my intelligence by thinking that I would be stupid enough not to counteract it.”

  “What do you want, Elias?”

  “Layla. That’s it. You give me Layla, and I give you Chloe. She’s mostly unharmed, although I don’t think she’ll stay that way forever if she keeps that mouth of hers going.”

  “Not a chance. I’m not going to give you Layla.”

  Elias put the phone on loudspeaker and sat down on a nearby chair, placing his feet up on the table. He removed his fedora and placed it on the table beside him. “You’re going to bring me Layla because you think you’ll have a chance to save her before she vanishes into the wilderness. If you don’t, Chloe will die. She’ll die hard, Tommy, and I know you don’t want that.”

  “If you really think I’m just going to let you take anyone else, you’re even more deluded than I expected. I’m going to find you, and I’m going to kill you.”

  “Are you even going to ask Layla what she wants to do? Does she want me to murder her friend?”

  “I’ll do it,” Layla shouted from somewhere in the same room, her voice slightly muffled as if someone were trying to get her away from the phone.

  Elias smiled. He guessed Tommy would be considering the use of speaker phone on his end to be a mistake right about now.

  “No,” Tommy snapped. “No.”

  “Yes, I’ll do it,” Layla shouted again, sounding as if she was being hurried from the room. “I’ll come to you, Elias. You let Chloe go first, and I’m all yours.”

  “Not how it works, I’m afraid, Tommy. You’re going to go with Layla to an address I give you. While you’re there, and once we’re free and clear, Chloe will be released. I don’t actually trust any of you not to screw me over, so we do it my way or I send pieces of Chloe to you over the next few days. What’s first, a finger or a foot? It’ll be a fun guessing game for the whole family.”

  “Where do you want the meet to take place?” Tommy asked.

  Elias smiled at the defeated tone in Tommy’s voice, and gave him the address to a building site where work had stopped some months previously. Elias knew the area, and knew that there were multiple routes in and out, but the mass of flat land meant that he could see if Tommy decided to play games and send people after him.

  “I don’t want a were to bring Layla.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Diana said. “You’ll get who we send.”

  “I don’t trust weres, and I certainly don’t trust any of you not to try to kill me. Do you have someone older, weaker?”

  There was a pause of several seconds. “Grayson,” Tommy said. “He’s a doctor here. He’s not a were.”

  “What is he?” Elias asked.

  “Human,” Tommy said. “He’s a human doctor.”

  “Dragging humans into this, tsk-tsk,” Elias said with a slight chuckle. He had to admit he was quite enjoying himself.

  “You dragged him into it when you murdered Layla’s ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, and then blamed another human. Grayson is just a human doctor involved in something he wants no part of, but who also wants to make sure no one gets killed.”

  “People still might if you screw with me on this. You have six hours, and if you’re not there . . . well, you probably don’t want to know what happens after that. I have your address, so I could always send you pieces of Chloe in the post.” He read the address of the mansion just in case Tommy didn’t believe him.

  “How’d you get those details?”

  “Hello, Thomas,” Masako said. “Remember me?”

  “How could I forget?” Tommy almost snarled, his displeasure at hearing from Masako evident from his tone. “I always like to remember the monsters I meet, especially the ones who don’t look like monsters until it’s too late.”

  “Let’s not have any more death today. I want this to be done with as little bloodshed as possible, but there are others here who do not share my restrained view. They would rather storm the castle, so to speak. Handing Layla over in return for Chloe is the only sensible decision you have left. Please don’t force our hand. I would hate to have to turn Chloe into my
next meal.”

  “You don’t touch her, Masako,” Diana said, her voice a low rumble of threat.

  “If you’re all done puffing out your chests, can we get on with this?” Tommy asked. “Six hours, Elias. We’ll be there.”

  Elias ended the call without another word and turned to Masako. “You and Tommy don’t get on?”

  “We’ve had run-ins in the past. He takes action against those who have hurt people he sees as part of his pack. You know he’s going to come after you when you don’t hand over this woman?”

  “Of course. But we’ll be long gone by then. Do you know this Grayson?”

  Masako shook her head. “Never heard of him. I can contact a few people in Avalon and check him out, but Tommy’s certainly desperate enough to use humans in place of any other species.”

  “Check anyway. You’re coming with me to get Layla.”

  “Where are you going to put Layla when you have her? I thought you’d be taking her back to America?”

  Part of him wanted to tell her that he wanted to kill Chloe before going anywhere, and that he wanted a chance to feed before going back, but being honest wasn’t going to get him anything but arguments. “I need her to get in contact with her dad first. I need evidence that she can do so. Taking her to Nergal without it would result in his displeasure. Besides, I want to use Chloe to get Layla’s cooperation, and that’s easier to do here than it is thirty-five thousand feet in the air.

  “As for where we’re putting her, there’s a wooden cabin out back. I’ve had the blood elves gut the place and change the locks to a thick plastic. There’s no metal there; even the mattress on the bed we left her has no metal springs. She can’t use anything as a weapon.”

  “Security feed?”

  “The cameras and their components contain no metal. They weren’t easy to come by, but they’ll work.”

  “So, we can keep her contained.”

  “For as long as we need to, yes.” Elias stood. “I’m a professional, Masako.” He picked up his fedora. After all the trouble he’d gone through to get Layla, it was finally coming to an end.

  30

  The building site was cold and damp, and as Layla arrived in the BMW X5, she began to wonder if they couldn’t have picked somewhere more public. The emptiness that surrounded them as they drove onto the site did little to make Layla thrilled about her current circumstances.

  “It’ll be okay,” Grayson said after stopping the car and switching off the engine.

  “I know. I’m just preparing myself to be back in Elias’s grubby little hands. It’s a lot to take in.”

  Grayson placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Tommy won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “You know he’s not going to let Chloe go, right?”

  Grayson nodded. “Of course. Elias has no intention of doing it. We’re not stupid. But because we know that, it means we can prepare for it. How are the visions from your drenik?”

  “Still there, getting stronger. Terhal isn’t exactly fun at the moment; in fact, I don’t know if she was ever fun. She seems to enjoy hurting me, though, so maybe that’s a drenik’s idea of a good time.”

  “I don’t know many umbra, as you’re much rarer than your current circumstances would suggest, but I don’t think anyone has ever enjoyed their drenik’s company. Certainly not to begin with. Chloe and Jared didn’t.”

  A black Range Rover pulled onto the site and parked a hundred feet in front of the BMW.

  “Let’s get this done,” Layla said, and opened the door, stepping out into the increasingly bad weather.

  Elias and an unknown woman got out of the Range Rover and started walking toward Layla, who followed suit, with Grayson beside her. Layla reached out and grabbed Grayson’s hand, squeezing it slightly, and she noticed that Grayson squeezed back.

  “Good to see you, Layla,” Elias said. “This is Masako.”

  Layla stared at the Japanese woman. “Another umbra?”

  “I’m jikininki,” she told her. Masako’s voice was soft and almost song-like.

  “Flesh eater,” Grayson whispered. “Bad news.”

  “I have excellent hearing, doctor,” Masako said. “I assumed a human doctor wouldn’t know much about my kind.”

  “I’ve learned a lot from reading Tommy’s books. Lots of species, so little time to read about them all.”

  “I’m glad to have been on the list you had time for.” Masako turned to Layla. “I recommend you join us in the car.”

  Elias hadn’t stopped staring at Layla from the second they’d arrived, and it was beginning to make her feel even more uncomfortable than she already felt. “You appear to have grown in the short time we’ve been apart. The spirits in your body make you both stronger and weaker at the same time. It’s quite interesting.”

  Layla took a deep breath to steady her voice, letting it out slowly before speaking. She wanted to punch Elias, to hurt him just like he’d hurt so many, but she had to remain calm. “Be interested somewhere else. It’s cold and raining, and I’d like to see Chloe.”

  “I explained she wasn’t with us when we spoke on the phone.”

  “I know. Take me to her.”

  “You wish to be a prisoner so much?”

  “Don’t taunt her,” Grayson snapped.

  Elias walked over to the doctor and punched him in the stomach. Grayson dropped to his knees.

  “Humans should know their place. Yours is to be silent until allowed to speak.”

  “Leave him alone,” Layla shouted, drawing Elias’s attention.

  “I was merely showing him his place. Get in the car. Now.”

  Grayson looked up at Layla and nodded that he was okay.

  “He’s lucky I’m not going to kill him, the worthless bag of flesh that he is.”

  Layla walked with Elias and Masako back to the Range Rover and got into the front passenger seat, as Masako slid into the one behind her.

  Elias climbed into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and said, “Try anything and Chloe will die.”

  Grayson finally got back on his feet and steadied himself against the BMW, while Layla wondered how hard it had been for him to not fight back. She hoped he was okay.

  The Range Rover pulled away and drove out of the building site, down winding roads for about a mile, until they came to a layby, where Elias pulled over and switched off the engine. “Get out.”

  Confused and concerned, Layla did as she was asked. It was either that or risk Chloe, and she wouldn’t do that. Instead, she exited the car and stood beside the door, as Elias walked around.

  “Arms in the air. I’m going to search you for bugs.”

  Again, Layla complied, and Elias performed a professional search, never lingering or taking liberties. When he was done, he stepped back. “Do you have any electronic devices on you?”

  “No, I left my phone with Tommy.”

  “Shoes off too.”

  Layla sighed and removed her trainers, passing them to Elias, who searched each one before giving them back. “You can’t be too careful,” he told her once the search was completed, and he motioned for her to return to the car.

  “You should have let me do that,” Masako told Elias when he was back behind the wheel.

  “No offense, but when I do something myself, I know it’ll be done right.”

  Masako laughed, the sound almost like a lullaby. “Control freak.”

  Elias said nothing more as he maneuvered the car back onto the road. For the next hour, they drove through villages and along dual carriageways, across tiny dirt roads, and through a stream. Clearly Elias didn’t want anyone following.

  Layla sat in silence, watching the scenery fly by as she tried to figure out where they might be heading. It was obvious to her that Elias didn’t care if she knew where she was; otherwise she’d have a bag over her head. Eventually, they arrived at a large farm in the middle of nowhere, and after parking the car outside of the main house, Layla was ordered to get o
ut.

  She did as she was told, waiting by the car while Elias came to her. “We’re going through the house. If you behave, you get to see Chloe once you’re in your cage. If you don’t, you get to hear Chloe scream instead. Are we clear?”

  Layla held Elias’s stare and nodded. She wasn’t going to be intimidated by him or his people, and she certainly wasn’t about to show him any of the fear she felt.

  Satisfied with the answer, Elias led Layla around the farmhouse to a small wooden cabin behind it. It was really just a large room, but as she stood before it, she saw the heavy-duty plastic door lock that would ensure she stayed inside.

  Elias removed the thick wooden pin from the lock and pulled back on the handle, drawing the lock out of the door frame. He opened it and motioned for Layla to step inside.

  The cabin consisted of a small bed with a table to one side made of a light wood. A window overlooking the fields behind the property gave the room a meager amount of light. A sink sat under the window and there was a small bathroom in an enclosed space that reminded Layla of being in a caravan.

  A camera sat against the ceiling in one corner of the room, watching everything she did.

  “There are speakers in the ceiling. They’re hidden, so don’t try to search for them. If at any point we see you messing around with either the camera or the speakers, we kill Chloe.”

  “I do anything to piss you off, and you kill Chloe. I get it. I assume you want me to contact my dad now?”

  “Later. First we’re going to make sure we weren’t followed. This evening, I’ll bring you a phone, and you’ll use it to contact your father’s prison.”

  “An Avalon-controlled prison. That’s why you can’t do it yourself, isn’t it? You don’t know who is on your side and who isn’t.”

  “Smart girl. Now stay smart and don’t give us a reason to hurt anyone else.”

  “Don’t call me a smart girl. My name is Layla. I’m not a puppy.”

  Elias grinned. “Okay. I’ll leave you to become accustomed to your new surroundings. Food and fresh water will be brought to you in an hour. I wouldn’t drink from the water in the sink; I can’t vouch for its drinkability. If you pull the same trick you did back at the cell, I’ll pull all your fingernails out . . . You don’t need those to help us.”