Back in the Rain

by Elen Chase

  "Stop analyzing me!"

  "Sorry, sorry," he said and patted my head. "If you're lost, instead of wandering randomly, why don't you go back home?"

  "Eh?"

  "When you're young you always struggle to find a new way forward and you don't realize that if you just looked back you would see your footsteps right behind you, leading you home. Going back and starting again from home is not so bad, you know? Especially when you feel weak, tired, lost."

  Going home… I immediately thought of Dan's arms, how he hugged me the day before, his smell and his warmth.

  "I might have ruined something," I told him, "something that was in a very precarious balance."

  "If it was so precarious, maybe it was meant to be broken," he said, "but you're not gonna lose your home just for that, are you?"

  "Maybe not," I said, smiling at my watchpad, where a message had just arrived, asking me “Did you get the results?” No, I wasn't losing him just for that. Just knowing that made me feel better. I replied to the message, said goodbye to Dad and went back to the university. I wasn't ready to see him again yet, but I was way less anxious than before. In the library room I opened the file where I was writing up all the information so far and updated it.

  First, I put together all the information I had on the sect. Robinson started suspecting them looking at the symbol in the lion's eye. That brought him to the book, which brought him to the articles. His uncle was most likely part of the sect too. They act differently from sixty years ago: every seven years they kill girls from seven to twenty-eight years old. They have necklaces with the symbol (didn't think they could be so old-fashioned), which is also on the altar. About their members, they were: the five politicians who died in the villa, maybe those two bodyguards that were with them, and more. The first time we met Lilian, she suspected the other members killed Bart Robinson, but this isn't consistent: if there were survivors present at the villa that day, they would've covered up Shallie's death as soon as Robinson died. Also, the soldier in the villa mentioned a boss, the same man Cruise called the “Chief.”

  The soldier mentioned an “old man” who went to the villa more than once. It could be Mr. Hutchison, Colten’s butler. How many servants were there in the villa? And why were none of them there when the fire happened? They could be on either side. Who burned down the villa? Was it Robinson or someone else? Why did Robinson's plan fail? We know he didn't know about the other members, but something must have gone wrong there. If he killed those five and the two bodyguards, and didn't commit suicide, how did he die? And who was driving his car? Again, for sure not a member of the sect, or the police would have never found it. But maybe they weren't Robinson's allies neither. Whoever was driving that car, if they were alone they had another vehicle ready to go away, and that would mean they already planned to be there. If they called someone to pick them up from there, it means they have an accomplice. So there's a third party involved in that day's events: the sect, Robinson and Shallie, and the people who brought Shallie back.

  I spent a few hours there and when it was already completely dark outside, somebody knocked on the door. It was Dr. Brown, and I immediately let him in.

  "Andrew, good evening. I was passing by and wondered how you were doing."

  "Professor, we’re still working on the material you gave us, but it's progressing. I think we are almost there."

  "Miss Lilian sent me a message saying you had found out something, but she wasn't very specific. I understand it is risky to write such important things by watchpad."

  "We did find something, and there's still more these articles can tell us. I wanted to wait until we finished analyzing everything, but since you're here I can show you what we got already. Maybe fresh eyes can help me see something that I didn’t grasp until now."

  "I'd be glad to help," said the professor. I didn't show him the concept scheme I was working on, thinking of how Dan was always reluctant on giving our information away, but I explained to him what we had found out about the sect. He listened carefully to what I was saying, and asked me several questions. Lastly he said, "I think I have something useful for you in the archive downstairs. It's a documentary about Robinson's political party and its history. Maybe it can be helpful."

  "Yes, please, can you give it to me?"

  "Of course, but will you help me search for it?"

  "Sure," I said, and we left the room. In the elevator he used another electronic key, like the one we used to go to the rooftop, to unlock the underground floors.

  "Young people sure are amazing. Looking at all that stuff I had no idea how Mr. Robinson managed to understand so many things, yet you had the same results he got. Well, almost," said the professor while we were going down.

  "But it's not enough." Like Lilian said, he died even if he knew all that. Why? What went wrong that night? He didn't know there was more of them, that's fine, but… There's something missing. The others weren't there anyway. It was just the sect group and Robinson, and he was pretending to be on his father's side, so they didn't know of his plans either. How did they find out about him? Did he make a wrong move with them? From the little I had learned about him, he didn't seem the type.

  "When Mr. Robinson came to me, I couldn't believe his story at all. For such a sect to be still active now, and to have the evidence of their existence in my very library, it was absurd for me," said the professor. "Then one day, the 3rd of February to be exact, I got this message on my watchpad… it was Robinson. The message said ‘If I don't come back tomorrow, get that material to the press.’"

  What? I found myself looking at the electronic key of the elevator, still going down, then instinctively I moved back farther from him. The professor stared at me and kept on talking, "That's when I understood he was telling me the truth. He was alone, against the most powerful group of politicians in Rosedeer. And he wanted me on his sinking boat."

  "And what did you do?" Fucking piece of shit. I hoped I could stop the elevator, but he moved in front of the emergency button, preventing me from reaching it.

  "There are times you have to choose wisely which side you'll be on. I'm alive, and he's dead. Can you guess what I chose?" The same smile that seemed gentle and true before now turned out to be the most false and meanest smirk I had ever seen.

  "You betrayed him." That's where Robinson went wrong. He trusted him.

  "I did the right thing."

  "For yourself. How much did they pay you for this little tip you gave them?"

  His grin turned into an evil laughter. "They sure paid me well. But that's not the point." He got a gun out of his jacket. Just when I was thinking of attacking him and forcing him to stop the elevator. "Sometimes a sacrifice might be necessary. Just think what would happen to Rosedeer if it were to lose such a charismatic government. Our economy is the top in the world. This City is perfectly functioning thanks to those people."

  "They murder girls as a sacrifice!"

  "One every seven years, it's a small price to pay."

  "Do you say that to yourself to keep your conscience quiet?" I was disgusted by him. He laughed again, still pointing the gun at me. We reached our floor. When the door opened, we found ourselves in a sort of warehouse full of boxes and shelves. That's the time, I thought. I rushed to the old man and aimed for his arm so that he would drop his weapon, then I kicked his heel to make him fall on the ground. I grabbed the gun and pointed it at him. "Get me out of here now," I told him. "And then you'll be coming with me."

  "Not so fast, kid," said a man's voice behind my back. I turned around still holding the gun, and saw a young man pointing a revolver at Lilian, tied up and with a gag in her mouth. She looked terrified. "Gun on the floor," said the man, coldly. He wasn't the soldier we saw at the villa; he was a tall, blond guy, with a scruffy beard and black eyes. I did as he said, and Brown got close to me and kicked me in the stomach. They forced us to walk deeper into the warehouse in that labyrinth of boxes and shelves. I had to stay quiet, while Brown t
ied my arms and legs up like they had done to Lilian, and had me sit close to her.

  "So, you said these two know of the Cult. To what extent?" asked the man to Brown.

  "They know about the icon, the ritual and the cycles."

  "They don't know who the Masters are then?"

  "No, I can assure you that."

  The guy pointed again the revolver at Lilian, and talked to me. "Answer my questions or I'll kill her; I have no use for this woman. Who are you, and why did you meddle in our affairs?"

  Thinking cynically, they were going to kill us both anyway after we told them what they wanted, so revealing everything hoping to protect Lilian would be a stupid move. Keeping us as hostages was useless, since they just wanted to shut us up once and for all. But we still had one hope: Dan. After all these hours he should be worried about me not coming back home, so he could be already searching for me. If I could buy us only a little time, maybe…

  "Don't hurt her, she's got nothing to do with all of this," I said.

  "She knows things, which might be a problem. But we could make a deal, if you're a good boy and tell us everything," he said. Yes, of course, you’ll just kill her when you’re finished with me.

  "I'll tell you everything," I replied, seriously hoping Dan would find us soon. "Your last sacrifice was my girlfriend, Shallie Lindsay. I could never bear not knowing how she died. At the end of April I met Lilian by chance, and by talking with her I first thought that Robinson and Shallie's deaths might be related. So she introduced me to Dr. Brown." My revisited story was full of holes. I tried to remember if I ever told Brown about the symbol we found in the villa, or us going there at all, but it was useless. I had no idea what Lilian could have said to him. I could only hope it’d work out.

  "How did you link the two cases?" he asked me. My mind blanked, trying to find an answer that would avoid saying the whole truth.

  "Lilian told me Robinson died on the 3rd of February and that his father was part of a sect that probably killed young women. But it was just a theory until I analyzed the articles."

  "And what proof did you find in the articles?"

  "Shallie's death matched with the cycles."

  "How did you understand that the Cult follows these cycles?"

  "Four cycles of seven years are the book sections."

  "And how did you understand that the cycles were the key?"

  "Because of the symbol." Shit. I said too much. I hoped I could manage that conversation without telling him I had seen their symbol.

  "How do you know about the symbol?" I’m fucked. I could never tell him I saw it on the altar. I tried to think of another thing to say, about the symbol, the symbol… bingo.

  "Robinson had shown a paper to Lilian with the symbol in it. A poster, of the Lion publisher logo."

  "So you saw a poster and said ‘Hey, this star in the lion's eye looks like a metaphor for the cycles of the book, it must be how they choose who sacrifice.’ Are you trying to fool me, kid?"

  "No, there's another thing," I said, trying to calm myself down. "Robinson started investigating his father in the first place because he saw someone wearing the symbol as a necklace. That's why I took it into consideration." If Brown knows that we went to the villa, that is when they would kill us.

  "Who was wearing it?" That is what he wants to know?

  "I don't know."

  "I'm blowing her brain up."

  "I really don't know!" I screamed. I had been an idiot. The only way to access the archive was with an electronic key able to unlock the underground floor. Even if Dan was looking for us, there's no way he could find us. They brought us there with all the intention of making that place our grave. It was all useless; there was no hope right from the start.

  As soon as I thought that, we heard the sound of the elevator reaching our floor.

  Chapter 34

  How was that possible? Other enemies?

  "Ahh, I want to finish this shift soon and go home," said a man's voice.

  "Come on, it's the last two boxes. We just have to leave them here, tomorrow the clerks will take care of them," said another voice. It was porters carrying boxes to the archive. It was late, so the library was closing down. That was my last chance to ask for help. Should I scream? No, the guy will kill us all. From the noises they were making, I understood they moved the boxes in the room, and then got back in the elevator.

  "Do books these days have any use at all? Fucking, stupid job," said one while the door was closing. They had gone. So ironic. There was someone else who had the key, then. But it wasn't Dan, obviously. I should have been more careful from the start. Until the end I could only wish he would help me. I felt responsible for Lilian and her baby too.

  "Well, now that the nuisance is gone, I think it’s time we finish this," said our kidnapper. "Professor, you're proving yourself a useful ally. I have instructions from the chief to reward you generously."

  "Oh, I'll be grat— " The sound of a gunshot spread all over the area. The man had killed Brown, firing a bullet straight in his forehead. A muffled scream came out of Lilian as we watched dark, stinky blood run on the floor from his head, so close to us. This is what is gonna happen to us now. I was in shock. I didn't want to die.

  "Why?" I asked, with my eyes fixed on the corpse in front of me.

  "What's the meaning of selling you to us when HE's the one who fed you all the information in the first place? Greedy piece of shit," he said, spitting on the floor. "You were just playing detectives, and now you have to die because of him. Frustrating, ah? And apparently there's another one of you, so now I'll have to find him and take care of him too. Such a waste of time. Sorry kid, ma’am, you found out too much." He pointed the revolver at me. "The good news is that you're gonna see your loved ones again soon." It's over.

  It was an instant. My mind blanked, my breath stopped, and I couldn't see anymore. But I didn't die. Blood was the first thing I recognized as my sight came back to me. Is this mine? I asked myself. I followed the traces of blood from my body to the ground, where the revolver was lying, and then I realized where it was coming from. The man had a knife piercing his hand from part to part. He was screaming, convulsively looking around to understand where it came from. I turned over, and saw Dan coming forward from behind the boxes. I could also hear other footsteps; he hadn’t come alone.

  "You said looking for the other one was a waste of time, so I thought I'd save you the trouble," said Dan, getting closer to us and kicking the guy to the floor. He had two more knives in his hand. The man tried to get back on his feet, but he was pushed down again by two guys dressed as porters: Ray and Nick.

  “Dan, I told you to wait for my signal,” said Bill’s voice. “You get always so impatient.” I looked on my left, and saw him untying Lilian and sustaining her, as she failed to stand up. Dan untied me with one of the knives, and asked me if I was okay. I was still pretty shook up and, unable to say anything, I nodded my head. He took a tissue and a bottle of water out of his bag, wet the tissue and passed it on my face and my neck. It made me feel a little better.

  "You saved us," I told him, still in shock.

  "It was all thanks to you. You handled the situation perfectly and managed to buy us enough time," he told me, passing my arm around his shoulders to help me stand up. The moments when my biggest concern was having kissed him seemed so far away, even though it had happened that very day.

  "He's dead," I said, looking at Brown's body on the floor.

  "Yes. But you're alright, and I need you to stay strong for a little longer. Can you do that?" Dan asked me.

  I nodded again.

  "We have to clean this place of our presence," said Bill. "Did you touch something?" I had to think about it for a while.

  "Brown's gun," I said then.

  Bill smiled and told me, "You've got guts, Drew," and patted my shoulder. Ray and Nick had used something to make our killer fall asleep, and were now dragging him in the elevator. I went to Lilian and hugged h
er. She was shaking all over and crying in silence.

  "It was my fault," she said. "How could I trust him, how?"

  "I trusted him too. Like Bart," I told her. "He won't hurt anybody else now. You're safe."

  Dan gave her some more water, and she took it, saying, "You had warned me not to tell anyone."

  "It doesn't matter now. You just have to think of your baby, and stay calm," he told her. "How are you feeling?"

  "I'm alright, I think."

  "We'll have a doctor take a look at you, just to be sure," he told her, and she nodded. What she said made me think, did Dan already suspect Brown? How did he find us?

  "Well, gentlemen, and lady, listen to me," said Bill, talking to all of us. "One of my men is hacking this building's cameras to erase any trace of our presence here, since the first day you set foot in this library. Tomorrow this professor's body will be found, the police will come here and they will have no idea who shot him. But, we know that behind his death there's a big fish, a really big one. This guy's boss knows his killer did the job, but as soon as he doesn't get a report, he will also know he failed to kill you. He probably knows your names, he knows you were here, he knows that you are looking into him, and he will know you've escaped. He could do two things at that point: accuse you publicly and get the police on your trail, or keep quiet on the surface and have you tracked by a more skilled assassin. Since you are strictly connected to what happened in February, and they don't want to bring people's attention back to that, I am positive he will stick with the second option. So what you have to do now is disappear from Uptown completely, and I suggest you, Miss Marshall, get away from Rosedeer tonight. You will have to dispose of your watchpad; you'll lose all your credits, contacts and whatever, but you will be alive and safe. Is that clear?"

  "Yes, I’ll do that," said Lilian.

  "Good. And you, Drew?" Bill asked me.

  "I'll leave Uptown, but I'll stay in Rosedeer. I can't run away now."

  "I thought so. Dan, is it safe for him in Downtown?"