The Tied Man

by Tabitha McGowan

  ‘All those months, all that work… My ‘Bresson’… What have you done?’ Blaine whispered, and actually had to wipe tears from her eyes.

  Lilith stood next to Blaine and admired our handiwork. ‘Finished it,’ she smiled. ‘Now fuck off.’

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Lilith

  ‘Well? How did it go?’ Henry asked. He’d been washing up to pass the time, and the kitchen was immaculate once more.

  Finn grinned. ‘Lilith told Blaine to fuck off.’

  ‘You know, I had something so lyrical all worked out in my head,’ I said. ‘The perfect combination of elegiac and pithy, and then she started crying over a sodding second-rate painting and I really don’t think I could be bothered anymore.’

  ‘Ach, she was amazing really,’ Finn said.

  Henry dried his hands. ‘So the flying monkeys are finally without a mistress?’

  ‘What?’ Gabriel frowned. There was no trace of the spliff, and he and Nat had a particularly mellow air about them.

  ‘Wizard of Oz,’ Finn explained. ‘Henry’s favourite movie. Jesus, little man, you are actually the gayest gay man in the universe, you know that?’

  ‘Well you’re the one that got the reference, dearheart,’ Henry said. ‘And now the cellar’s vacated, I can break out the champagne, if anyone’s interested?’

  *****

  We were handed a bottle each, and grabbed whatever we could to drink from, and for the next half-hour we toasted everybody and everything we could think of.

  ‘I need codeine, and I need to pee,’ I announced, after we’d raised our glasses, mugs and teacups to Bran, Noblest Hound Who Ever Lived. ‘I’ll just be a minute. You want a couple bringing back?’ I asked Finn.

  ‘Wouldn’t say no if you’re headed that way,’ he replied, which meant he was in agony. ‘You want me to come with you?’

  ‘What? To pee?’

  ‘God, no, not that bit – I mean, Coyle, if he’s still here…’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Gabriel said. ‘I heard Ed talking. They’re bringing over a couple of reinforcements before they think about moving him anywhere.’

  I drank the last mouthful in my teacup and picked up the remainder of the bottle as refreshment for the long journey to my room and back. ‘See? I think we both know how secure that room is. So stay there, rest your knee, and I’ll be back before you know it. I’ll be fine.’

  Champagne, fatigue and freedom had made me giddy, and I didn’t care. Every step I took now was one step closer home.

  Finn

  ‘Too long,’ I said.

  Nat checked his watch. ‘Mate, it’s been three minutes.’

  ‘Still too long. And I get it, okay? She’s fine and I’m paranoid and she’ll be back here any second, but I’ve lived in this shit-tip for too long, and I need to check.’

  ‘I’m coming with you, then. Here, give me your hand.’

  We were halfway to Lilith’s room when one of Ed’s junior taskforce came belting along the corridor to meet us.

  ‘Have you seen him?’ he gasped.

  ‘Who?’ Nat asked, but I already knew because nothing was ever going to come to any good in this place.

  ‘Big guy, black hair.’ Sarge and the others are on the way back for him. I was checking on him and he said he was having a heart attack, and it sounded real. I know I wasn’t meant to, but…’

  ‘Shit no no no no no…’

  ‘…As soon as I opened the door he just barged past…’

  ‘You stupid fucking twat!’ From deep within the hall, Lilith screamed because Coyle had her now, and I knew where he had taken her.

  I thought the officer was about to shit himself on the spot. ‘What do I do?...’

  ‘Go and get Ed. Get whoever you can down to the cellars. What the fuck are you waiting for? Go!’

  I began to run for the stairs. My knee didn’t matter now. I felt nothing except fear, because Coyle had Lilith and he was going to kill her. Nat began to run beside me, but I stopped and shoved him back. ‘You won’t make any difference by yourself. Get the others.’ He hesitated, and I pushed him again. ‘Unless you’re prepared to kill the bastard, go and get help!’

  *****

  I could smell Coyle before I saw him. In the shadows of the cellars, his rank, roid-soaked sweat hung in the air like trench gas.

  The dungeon door was ajar; only Coyle O’Halloran was dumb enough to attempt an escape by backing himself into a glorified cave. My fears for Lilith were realised when I saw her strapped to the wooden cross by her wrists, her eyes wide with terror. Her captor stood between us, flailing an oil lamp around as though he was trying to ward off a pack of wolves. I took a step forward.

  ‘Stay back, or I’ll snap the bitch’s neck.’ The madness had entirely overtaken him now, and his threat was real. There was a fair chance the bastard would do it by accident, because she was standing on the very tips of her toes, and already struggling for breath.

  ‘You okay, sweetheart?’ I asked and she managed an impressively calm nod.

  ‘She’ll not be okay in a minute,’ Coyle spat. ‘Now be a good fag, and go tell the gardai that I’ll be needing a way off here, quick as you like. Fuckin’ go!’

  I was just trying to figure out how I could get to Lilith without getting my own neck snapped when the great dumbfuck threw his lamp at me in an attempt to speed me on my way, and things became just a little more urgent.

  The lamp shattered on impact with the floor. Glass fragmented into a thousand shards and the oil spattered across the flagstones and onto the drapes that lined the chamber for that authentic medieval vibe. Flames began to lick at the ancient fabric and in moments the whole room was lit with flickering, ruddy light as centuries of dust, and dry-as-bones cloth and wood began to catch.

  Coyle laughed with delight as acrid smoke snaked around the bedpost. ‘Would you look at this? That’s some pretty fuckin’ impressive shit right here - whole place is about to go up, Finn-boy!’ Behind him, Lilith began to gasp for breath; I needed to get her out, even if it killed me. ‘Ooh, sounds like she’s goin’ to choke herself and save me a job. Now will you go? ‘Cos you know what? Your sweetheart’s not going anywhere until you do. I’d rather stay here with the wee whore and burn to ash than do another stretch for Her Ladyship.’

  Flames reached the canopy of the four poster, and the whole thing went up in one great flare; there was no way I was leaving Lilith down here now, and Coyle was beyond all reason; I was just going to have to make the bastard fight me.

  I had faced Coyle O’Halloran five times in my life. The first time, I was thirteen, whippet-thin against his already-adult bulk, and just discovering that there was a fine line for some men between being repulsed and aroused by a kid being battered to a bloody pulp. I’d lasted less than a minute as he launched at me with a fist that hid a length of lead pipe, but it was his last victory. Afterwards, I’d had my face stitched back together in a stinking pub toilet by the first of many doctors who’d forgotten the words to the Hippocratic Oath, and realised that if I was going to beat Coyle, I would have to get him too mad to think straight, and move faster than his fists. In my present condition, I really didn’t fancy my chances, but he stood between me and Lilith and I’d run out of options.

  I stood my ground. ‘You sure about that, big fella? I reckon a bit of jail would be right up your alley, if you get me. Y’know, a chance of a bit of decent cock for once in your life, instead of just getting’ blown by your ma for your birthday.’

  Coyle twitched and shuddered like a thing possessed. ‘Shut your filthy fuckin’ hole,’ he hissed. I was nearly there.

  ‘Ah, come on, you’re a man in denial. I’m guessin’ you’d be the cleanest fella in the prison from all the showers you’d take.’

  ‘Fuck you.’

  ‘Ah, there we go. I’ve been watching you all these years, darlin’, so don’t try and hide it now. All this time, and all you’ve ever really wanted is to stuff your dick up my arse, you great po
ncin’ queen.’ Just in case the man was struggling with the message, I blew him the tenderest kiss I could manage, and mouthed the magic word. ‘Fag.’

  And Coyle O’Halloran bellowed and charged.

  I waited until he was barely an inch away from me, and weaved away from the impact. Coyle still landed me a glancing blow on my shoulder that served as a painful reminder of the damage the man could do. I staggered backwards but remained upright as he came back for a second attempt to take me down. This time I was ready for him, and landed a decent right into the centre of his bloated face. I felt the cartilage in his nose crack under the impact of my fist, but he hardly noticed.

  ‘That the best you can do?’ I gasped. ‘I’m busted, knackered and rattling to all hell. Best chance you’re gonna get, and all you can manage is this? Pathetic…’

  Coyle responded with a left hook to my jaw that nearly knocked me into the next life. ‘Gonna fuckin’ kill you now. Then I’m killing her,’ he panted, and dived on me, sending us both crashing to the floor. I managed to roll on top of him, and pummelled him with everything I had left, until his whole face was painted scarlet. All the while he was raining blows on my head and chest, roaring curses that became less and less intelligible with each breath, and doing his best to finish me.

  Coyle fumbled amongst the fragments of shattered glass and grabbed the remains of the oil lamp, now nothing more than a brass base with a few jagged shards still attached. He wrapped his bloodied fist around it and brought it up to smack me hard across the temple, and I knew that I wouldn’t last much longer now he’d found his weapon of choice. I slumped backwards, stunned, and he used the opportunity to throw me onto my back.

  ‘You ever heard of foreplay?’ I spat a fine spray of blood over him as I spoke, and realised he’d managed to knock one of my back teeth out.

  ‘Dirty bastard! Fuckin’ AIDS all over my face!’ Coyle raised his hand, and this time he held the broken lamp like a dagger, with the slivers of glass pointing at my throat. I twisted my head to the side as he brought his improvised knife down and sliced my cheek open. He lifted his hand again, and this time I knew he would cut my throat, and I didn’t have the strength left to stop him.

  All I could think was that I had been so close. I’d been an hour away from leaving this shithole, and now the great, hulking, stinking son of a bitch was about to take everything away. I wanted to be with Lilith, and feel the warmth of Spain begin to thaw my aching bones, and I wanted a life where I could wander down a street hand-in-hand and buy a beer with her whilst we watched the sun set, and every other dumb, trite cliché that came with being happy.

  ‘Not. Fucking. Fair!’ With my last iota of strength I grabbed Coyle’s wrist as he made his move, and kicked out so that we fell against each other. Now I was above him again. I twisted the lamp in his hands even as he roared with incoherent rage, and fell on top of him, spent, as the longest fragment of glass plunged deep into his right eye. I left him screaming like a snared rabbit and scrabbling on the flagstones, and dragged myself over to Lilith.

  The whole chamber was filled with choking black smoke now, and the wooden timbers in the roof were beginning to smoulder as the flames leapt from the remains of the bed. My chest burned with each breath, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep going, let alone Lilith.

  I loosened the straps at her wrists and we tumbled to the floor. I had to hold my fingers to her lips to see if she was still breathing; I couldn’t see straight from the smoke and the battering I’d just taken from Coyle, and the desperate little gasps she was making didn’t fill me with any hope. I pulled her near-lifeless form towards me as though I could keep the smoke and flames from touching her just by holding her close, and shut my eyes. Numberless stars sparked behind my eyelids as Lilith slid her hand into mine and gave it the gentlest squeeze.

  *****

  My first thought was snakes, which didn’t make any sense at all, but the incessant, deafening hissing could only be snakes. Then I was covered in freezing mist, and someone threw a sheet over me and I was coughing hard enough to bust a lung and Henry bloody Masterson was screaming in my ear as he ran past me with a fire extinguisher to keep the flames at bay for a few more precious seconds.

  ‘Oh, you daft, reckless young bugger.’ Sergeant Ed bent down. ‘Come on, lad – time to get out of here before the whole place goes up, eh? Henry reckons this blanket’s fireproof, but I’d rather not put it to the test.’ He lifted me up and I tried to fight him off, but I was too busy coughing up my ring.

  ‘Lilith…’ I gasped.

  ‘Henry and Nat have got her. It’s fine. It’s all going to be fine. The air ambulance has been scrambled for the pair of you – didn’t think either of you would come out of this one particularly well. Now do me a favour and keep still, will you? Those steps are going to bloody ruin my knees.’

  ‘I can make my own fuckin’ way…’ I began, and then the darkness closed in, soft as velvet. I was vaguely aware of Ed catching me as I fell, and nothing more.

  *****

  I came to on the snow-covered lawn, flailing and gasping for breath like a landed fish. An oxygen mask covered my mouth and nose, and the smoke-laden air was filled with noise. Wailing sirens on the far shore competed with the heavy thrum of helicopter blades, ambulance crew and police ran and yelled, and above it all I could still hear Coyle’s high squeal; some eejit had obviously decided to drag his sorry arse out of the flames, but there was nothing I could do about him now.

  Nat knelt at my side as a nervous young paramedic began to examine the gash to my cheek. By his expression, I guessed I looked like I’d been exhumed, and I could feel his hands trembling through his latex gloves. Apparently it was work experience week in the emergency services. ‘Um,’ he faltered, ‘I can tape this for now, but it’ll need stitching once we get to -’

  I swiped the mask away. ‘No. Not ‘til I’ve seen Lili. Where the hell is she?’

  ‘Just across the way there, see?’ Nat said. ‘She’s in good hands. There’s a doctor working on her now. Ed and Gabe are over there as well, so they’ll keep an eye on things – you seriously need to get patched up a little before you fly.’

  I had just grudgingly consented to getting my face stuck back together when Gabriel came sprinting over to us. He looked terrified.

  I shoved the paramedic away, and he toppled backwards. ‘What the fuck’s happening?’

  ‘Don’t know.’ Gabriel looked terrified. ‘They’re saying she’s struggling. The smoke, her asthma…’

  ‘Got to see her.’ I attempted to get to my feet and the paramedic put a hand on my shoulder to keep me still. I would have decked him if it wasn’t for Nat catching my fist before it made contact with the young guy’s chin.

  In my defence, I was blindly lashing out in all directions by the time Ed came over; it was just unfortunate that he was the first person I managed to hit. He landed flat on his back in a snowdrift and I realised I was about to get arrested for lamping the only decent police officer I’d ever met. From behind me, I heard Nat give a whispered, ‘Oh fuck.’

  Ed stood up and calmly swept the snow from his trousers and jacket, then simply wrapped his massive arms around me. I had one last go at landing him one before I came to my senses and all the fight went from me; for an old fella he still had some strength, and I wondered if he was going to cart me off or just crush me to death.

  ‘Right, son. This has to stop now,’ Ed said. ‘I know you’re scared, and God knows you’ve got every right to be a bit pissed off, but they’re talking about sedating you before you rip someone’s head clean off. That means they’ll whack a needle into anywhere they can find and that’ll be you cabbaged until an week next Tuesday, and that’s not going to help Lilith, is it? She needs you now, Finn. She needs you to be there for her.’

  ‘What if… Jesus, Ed, I mean what if…’ I couldn’t even say the words.

  ‘She’s going to be okay.’

  Adrenaline began to drain away, and I hurt ev
erywhere. ‘D’you promise?’

  Ed looked down at me. ‘I promise.’

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Lilith

  It was time to wake up. I’d begun the long, slow climb out of oblivion hours before, but that certainly didn’t count as wakefulness, just a collection of sounds and sensations that reassured me I was still in existence. The hours were measured by the blood-pressure cuff on my right arm automatically inflating and deflating; by the pouch of saline emptying itself into the back of my hand, drop by steady drop; by some gentle, sweet-voiced nurse checking the display that would tell her my heart was continuing to beat. I had a concrete slab on my chest that I had to lift with my ribs whenever I wanted to take a breath, and I couldn’t even manage that simple job without the oxygen flowing into my lungs from a nasal cannula, but I was most definitely alive, which meant that Blaine and Coyle had lost, and Finn and I had won. So now it was time to open my eyes.

  Finn sat by my bed. His face looked as though it had been dragged along a cheese grater, and I guessed he hadn’t slept since he’d got to the hospital, but I’d never seen him so happy, or so relieved. Or so beautiful. ‘Hi there,’ he smiled.

  ‘Hi. You look like shit.’ My voice was nothing more than a croak; I supposed I’d still been intubated not so long before.

  ‘Yeah? Well you look fantastic. That whole, ‘Tubes stuck up your nose’ vibe really works for you.’

  ‘Thanks. How long was I out?’

  ‘Two days. The doctor, she said it could be a week, maybe more, but you were just, like, ‘Fuck this, I’m Lilith fuckin’ Bresson’, so they stopped the sedation and took the tube out of your throat this morning ‘cos you were doing so well. You’re bloody amazing, you know that?’

  ‘I’d heard rumours. How are you?’

  ‘Ach, you know. Bit of concussion, this scratch on my face – oh, and you were right about my knee; it is that ligament thing. Completely fucked.’ He grinned.