Gloria was standing by the wall. A man walked up to her. “This way.” The men wore black uniforms, gloves, and hoods. Their voices were disguised so that no one could recognize them. Gloria followed the man to a hall. She was led to a door. The man said, “Mrs. Coleman, control must be maintained at all times. If one gets out of line, examples must be made. This may be hard to believe, but we do not wish to hurt any one of you. Talk to your husband. The next time he does what he did, I will have no choice but to kill him. I hope you understand what I said.” Gloria nodded, and the man said, “Good” as the door opened. Bobby was standing in the center of the room.
She ran to him and he wrapped his arms around her. She had tears in her eyes. “I don’t know what you did, but whatever it was, do not ever do it again. Bobby, do what they say,” she pleaded. “Please do what they say.”
Bobby whispered, “JD will come for us, baby. I know he will come for us.” He kissed her, and a guard said, “She is safe for now. Keeping her safe is up to you. Follow your guard back to your rooms.”
Bobby looked at him. “As you wish. You did me a favor, now allow me to do you one. You don’t know what you have done. But I do. Release us and we won’t tell a soul. Keep us and you will discover the rest the hard way.”
The man laughed. “Do you think you can frighten us? If you were so protected, then how were we able to take you with such ease?”
“Like I said, a favor for a favor. We are even now.” He looked at Gloria and said, “I love you.”
The man pointed, and Gloria started walking. She got to the door. The man opened it and he took Gloria to where the other women were.
Dumas was standing in a room. Tables were overturned, signs of the scuffle that had taken place a few minutes earlier. He was holding was a gun on a man, woman, two girls, and a boy. They were all tied to chairs. His face covered, he said with a low cold voice, “I don’t really like doing this in front of small children. But sometimes shit happens.” He looked towards the man and said with an even colder voice, “As you can see, I got them lined up youngest to the oldest. So that means I am going to start from youngest to oldest killing them.” He looked back at them and walked over to the boy that look to be the youngest and he said, “To avoid this, answer my questions.” The man looked on, blood coming from his nose and mouth from the fight they had just had. He had a frightened look on his face. He shook as Dumas said, “The words I do not know get someone killed, all the way up to you.
“If you want to know how I am able to do this, I think about four kids missing their mother and their father. You changed the schedules why?”
The man said in a near trembling voice, “I was told to. The envelope came special messenger. I wasn’t informed why they changed.”
Dumas reached and touched the young boy on the head and said casually, “Who changed them?”
The man shook his head frantically. “Someone from the dance committee. No name was given. It was just a printed-out on an instruction sheet on company letterhead. I do not have access to see who sent the courier.”
“Fifty people were kidnapped because of you did and you don’t know nothing.” He pointed his gun at the boy.
The man pleaded, “Look, I do as I am told. I get hundreds of changes every year concerning that one event. The same way every year. If I knew anything, I would have told the police. If I was hiding something, which I am not, I would tell you right now. Two board members from the committee were there on site. I can give you their names and addresses.” Tears rolled down his face as he begged, “Please, I don’t know anything about what happened other than the fact it happened.”
“Deal,” Dumas said, looking back at the man he warned. “One more thing, tell anyone I was here and I will return killing everyone. You can’t hide them from me.”
The man said, “I won’t say a word to anyone.”
Dumas cut the man loose and he wrote down the names of the men and their addresses. Dumas spun as he heard, “Touching. For a moment, I thought you were going to kill them,” she said as she leaned next to the wall, unconcerned by the weapon pointing at her. Her yellow hair glistened in the light, her eyes were sandy brown, enhancing her round face. Her slender frame said she was very active and athletic. She was very pretty.
“Who the hell are you?” Dumas said as his eyes narrowed. Training had taught him someone with that much confidence in a situation like this was very dangerous or stupid. She had an intelligent demeanor about her. He knew she wasn’t stupid. Confidence shone on her face, so she had a reason for that confidence.
“We know the location of the people you are looking for. Since you attempted to hack the phone that was given to your leader, you erased it. So we had to track you down. I must admit you weren’t easily found. So if you have finished with whatever it is you were doing here, can we go? They don’t really need to hear the rest of our conversations.” Dumas nodded, lowered his gun, and followed the woman out of the house. He texted Crown the information he had just gotten and informed him a source had been found.
Gloria walked back in the room with the other women. Britney, Nicole, and Catrina walked over to her. Gloria said, “He was okay. We didn’t talk much. I didn’t ask about the others. Something isn’t right. They gave in to him. Threatened us both, but they didn’t lay a hand on either of us. I don’t want to find out how far they can be pushed. So don’t give them any reasons to do anything to you.” They walked over and sat down on the mattresses on the floor.
Cody was sitting next to Bobby and he said, “Did she say the others were all right?”
Bobby shook his head. “We only had a few seconds together. I told her the same thing I am going to tell you. JD is coming for us. All we got to do is live long enough for him to find us.”
“You keep pulling stunts like that and you won’t,” Cody said with a concerned voice.
“True, but they took me to her versus killing me. They want us alive for some reason.”
“But why?” Ivan said with a confused tone.
Bobby looked towards the door he came out of. “We will find out soon enough. I hope.”
Cody warned, “Don’t pull another stunt like that again. If you do, I think they will kill you.”
Bobby stood. “I ain’t afraid of them. Something happens to Britney, JD finds out, this place and everyone in it is going to go to hell fast,” Bobby said as he walked away. “You can bet on that.”
That evening, they were fed and taken to a large shower room where they cleaned up and returned and went to bed. The next morning, they were woken up by food carts being wheeled in. They ate, then a light over a door lit up. They followed the lights down some halls until they came to a large room. The women were standing next to a wall. A man in the room said, “If your name is called out, step forward. Wait for the next name to be called, then the two of you go to wall to the right and stand together.”He started calling out names. One male, then a female. Gloria watched as they were called and walked towards the wall. After several were called out, she looked at them. Cody had noticed the same thing and was whispering to Bobby and Ivan, “Dance mates so far. All of them are dance mates. None of them are partners; someone is purposely doing this. If what I think is about to happen happens, don’t look at your partner, don’t talk. Stay calm at all times. Think happy thoughts. Have your mind set on you don’t want to dance. Do this constantly,” Gloria said low.
After everyone had been called, Gloria was standing next to the wall alone. A guard walked over to her and said, “You will watch.”
Gloria didn’t say anything. A woman walked out of a room and into the room where they were. She said, “I want you to do as you are instructed while you stay here. To help ease your mind, we are going to allow you to dance several hours a day. We have picked a partner for you to help broaden your skills. Everyone take off your jumpsuits and shoes. You will dance in your underwear so that I
may help you with formation and technique.”
Gloria smiled and thought, ‘So you are the trusted one. Everyone has guns; you have clipboard and pen. They are all hidden, your face is as bright as the sun.’ Most started pulling off the jumpsuits, but a couple of women didn’t, and they were beaten up and stripped down naked and dragged out of the room. The instructor said, “Let that be a lesson to all of you. Do as you are told, and you will not be harmed.”
She looked at Gloria and smiled. Gloria stood. She started to pull off her jumpsuit and walk over to one of the men standing. ‘Stop, look around, and when you make your mind up what you are going to do, do just the opposite.’ The memory of the man in the studio came to her mind and she remained still.
‘Dance mates, they are wanting the bond to happen. They don’t know that much when others start, they will need to fake it. Are they strong enough to do this? Would it matter? They need to stay calm, that is the key. They should be able to do that much.’ “No talking except to your partner,” the instructor called out, bringing Gloria from her thoughts. “Bad choice of action,” Gloria wanted to say but remained silent. Gloria wanted to help; everything inside her screamed for her to say or do something. But the truth of the matter was by doing that, she would be helping both her captors along with the other dancers. So far, too much was unknown, so she stood watching everything that was going on. They danced until they were told to go back to the holding room. When they were in the room separated from the men, Britney, Nicole, Catrina sat close to Gloria. “Find the man besides your dance mate that you think is the most attractive and keep your eyes on him at all times,” Gloria said low so that only they could hear. “Tell the guys to do the same thing. Britney, it is no different than when you first started training. I want the three of you to think of this as an advanced training course. As long as you do as you are told, nothing will happen and you are not in any danger. They are up to something, what I do not know. But this is a given, they are trying to force the bond between dance mates. The method is sound one.”
“JD will come for us,” Britney said, matching her volume.
“If you don’t do as I say, you won’t give a shit if he comes for you or not. In fact, you will likely hope he doesn’t,” Gloria spat.
“Get a grip, Mom,” Catrina countered. “She is just trying to offer us some comfort and hope.”“So am I,” Gloria replied. “If he is as dangerous as we know him to be, he will kill Ivan and that will kill her. She has got to be stronger than she has ever been before all of you will need to be. Do not look at or think of your dance mate. And hope she is right, and he finds us fast. Or everyone here will be joining the cursed.”
The next day, they danced again, and the women told the men what Gloria had said. On the third day, several more women were brought in. As they were brought in, a loud scream was heard. This got everyone’s attention and several got really frightened at the scream. Gloria stood, put her hands up to her mouth to make the sound as loud as she could, and she screamed at the top of her lungs, imitating the sound they heard. A man came in and screamed at her, “Shut up, you stupid bitch.” Gloria cowered before the larger man and sat down on the floor. ‘Sabastian, you found me. Oh thank the heavens. Please be careful and hurry. I don’t know how much longer I can hold up.’ She didn’t tell the others because she didn’t want them to think she was more mentally unstable than she was. They didn’t dance that morning. After everyone was awake, the new people got their clothes and their mattresses.
Instructions were given then. A light lit up. They all walked the rooms. The ones that had dance partners already walked to their partner and stood next to the wall like they were instructed. Gloria was terrified at what she saw. Clarence was standing on the wall. She thought, ‘This is impossible. He is not a professional dancer. How did they know? This confirms someone is doing this for the purpose of bringing dance mates together. I get the idea that the reason for this is so that when everything is said and done, these dancers will compete. But who would want this? Very few people even believe in the curse anymore. Even fewer are actually cursed. Something isn’t right. I have a feeling something far greater is in the works and far more dangerous. But what?
The instructor walked up to Gloria. “Is there a problem, Mrs. Thomas,” she said, bringing Gloria from her thoughts. Gloria shook her head and the instructor said, “Then get out of that jump suit and go to your dance mate before there is one.”
Gloria’s heart pounded in her chest. ‘Why is this bothering me so much? I have everything lined up for us to bond and even start the completion. I shouldn’t feel this way.’ Her hand went up out of pure reflex, catching the instructor by the wrist just before her hand connected to Gloria’s face. Before she knew it, Gloria said, “You best stick with those that are afraid of you and are weak. I am neither. Lay one hand on me and I will break every bone in your body.”
Two men started towards them. The woman held up her hand and they stopped. “You have two seconds, Mrs. Parker. Remove it and take your stance or they open fire, husband first, then dance mate.”Gloria narrowed her eyes. “Before the first bullet leaves the barrel, you’ll regret the day you were born. I will heal you and then you will suffer more than you ever thought…”
Gloria went silent as Cody started unzipping her jumpsuit. “She is unstable, in case you haven’t noticed. Go dance, Aunt Gloria.”
Gloria walked over to Clarence, and they started dancing.
Britney danced close to Cody. “Is she okay?” Britney asked low as they danced close.
Cody shook his head. “She isn’t going to hold out very long. A few days tops.”
“How long before we break?” Britney asked with a concerned voice.
“Do what you were first told. You should be able to hold out for about five weeks. If he hasn’t found you by then, the only choice you have is to start the completion of the curse.”
“What about Gloria?” Britney asked.
“When she bonds, she is going to have sex with someone. I think they will put them together. She will rejoin the cursed. She’ll be okay. Bobby and she will make it when the curse goes dormant.”
Chapter 29
Location discovered.
The next day, they walked in and danced. It was the hardest thing to do not to focus on Clarence. She tried to look at Bobby, but her eyes kept coming back to Clarence. That night, she moved her mattress close to Britney. She slid next to Britney and took her hand and moved Britney’s between her legs. “It’s better if someone else does it. Release me. If you don’t, I won’t make tomorrow.”
The instructor used blindfolds to cover the eyes of many of the women in the room. Many were surprised at the way they moved and started getting closer to each other. Catrina lay down behind Gloria. “This is getting harder.”
“I know everyone is feeling the strain,” Gloria said with a voice that nearly quivered. “Be strong. Just keep doing what you are doing. It’s going to be hard, but you can do it. If JD hasn’t found us by the fifth, then you start the completion.”
“What about you?” Catrina said.
“I can hold out two or three days more.”
“Nicole won’t last that long.” Catrina sighed, trying to help Gloria focus on something else.
“I have seen she is getting weak. But there is nothing I can do,” Gloria admitted. Tears rolled softly from her eyes as she drifted off to sleep.
“Mr. Coleman,” the man said as they walked into the abandoned warehouse. JD looked at the man as he continued to speak. “They are in a warehouse not far from here. We commandeered this mobile unit from one of your safe houses. We could hack it, but we would rather not be discovered. So far, we believe everyone is safe. We haven’t heard any shots being fired apart from when it was confirmed they are in there. We have the place surrounded, but we are blind. I would rather not go in blinded. These men are professionals.”
�
�Who are you?” JD asked in a cold tone.
“Who I am is not a concern of yours, Mr. Coleman. We share a common interest. You have people in that place you want out. We have people in that building we want out. Some are the same people. When this is over, we will go our separate ways. Odds are we will likely not see each other again. But it is possible. Then we can have an introduction. At the moment, getting them out is my only concern. With or without your help. Working together, we can accomplish the task before. Of that I am certain.”
JD nodded. “Crown, I want to know everything there is to know about that place,” he said coldly.
Crown walked into the van and sat down as he fired up the computers. He said in the same tone, “Multiple power sources. Generators on top of the building along with surveillance cameras; that is the only defense for the roof. If power is cut, generators kick in. If generators are taken out and power is cut, they have a third backup power source. Commercial batteries located in the center room, twenty armed men in the room.
“All electricals are connected in this room. The entire place is wired like a roman candle. They have enough explosives to take out about a half mile in every direction. You know about the security on the ground. JD, they have over a hundred guards in that place. They have more men than hostages. Patrols walking the interior structures. The command room has a trigger man holding a detonator. We are going to have to let this play out, man.”
“Hostages?” JD said
Ashley replied as she took position at another computer. “Scattered out. Some are in private rooms. Others are in a larger room with dividers.” With a confused voice, she said, “This place looks like a lover’s retreat.”
JD rubbed his hand over his face and said in a concerned voice, “Get Dumas back here ASAP.”
“He is en route now, JD. Man, I hope the sound of that isn’t what I think it is. You are going to get them killed along with us. If that is the case, we just blow the place. We know who is behind this now. We take revenge, make the fuckers pay.”
Love and Beyond Part 3 Page 31