Kill Switch

by Penelope Douglas

  And then she put my mask on top.

  I laughed a little. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

  We weren’t boys in hoodies anymore, I guess. It was time to reintroduce ourselves to Thunder Bay.

  A half hour later, I tightened my tie and pulled on my black, leather gloves, heading out the front door to one of the motorbikes Michael had waiting. I had no idea if he owned all of them or what, but the village wouldn’t accommodate our cars tonight, so bikes, it was.

  I checked the dagger in my breast pocket, making sure it was tucked tight, and mounted the motorcycle next to Michael’s. I wasn’t sure why I brought the knife, but we had a history. Why not?

  “Get on, girl,” I heard Will say. “Come on.”

  I looked over my shoulder, spotting Alex grinning and shaking her head as she swung over the bike, sitting behind him.

  Kai and Banks took the fourth motorcycle, while Lev and David backed us up in Michael’s G-Class.

  Rika and Winter came out, Winter holding Rika’s arm as she led her over to me. I took Winter’s hand as she felt for the seat with the other one.

  I smiled. She wore a blindfold of sheer red fabric. I could still see her eyes, but it was the perfect mask, because it didn’t hinder her other senses that she used to see the world.

  “You know what you gotta do?” I asked.

  She climbed on, wearing a small backpack. “Just tell me when.”

  She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I unhooked my mask from my wrist, pulling it over the top of my head.

  I looked over at Michael, Rika already situated behind him and pulling on her mask. “Your father will be there, too,” I warned him.

  He laughed to himself, turning on the bike and revving the engine.

  “First thing’s first,” he called out.

  We all pulled down our masks, gripped the handles, and took off.

  Damn straight.

  It was the perfect setting.

  Public space. No kids. Chaos and activity.

  It seemed, in the past few years, that absence had made the heart grow fonder, and the town of Thunder Bay decided to institute some Mischief Night activities of their own, apparently lamenting the loss of the horsemen.

  Earlier in the evening there was a Halloween parade with a carnival for the kids, but after ten, the curfew went into effect, and anyone under sixteen had to be indoors.

  To let the adults play.

  Bands set up in a couple pubs, drinks were served on the street, and the entire village square was like one dark, gothic circus with vendors, games, artists, and performers. Decorations hung from everything nailed down, people wore costumes, and masks were heavily encouraged, rumors even of naughtier get-togethers happening privately or by invitation only. The event had even started to attract some people from neighboring towns, too.

  It was all very…cute.

  Not bad if you wanted to hang out with some friends for a beer, but this wasn’t the real Devil’s Night. These people wore their black as a costume.

  For us, the costume was coming off.

  We stopped at the light, the village center ahead, and cast each other a look for any last-minute questions.

  Arrive. Distract. Invade.

  That was the plan.

  I tipped my mask up, looking over my shoulder at Winter.

  “You ready?”

  “Like a bowling ball,” she repeated Rika’s instructions for her part tonight.

  I felt her move the backpack between us, so she could reach inside easier.

  I pulled the mask back down, reached behind and squeezed her thigh, and then revved my engine, joining the others.

  The crowd sat ahead, cluttering the tables of cafés and bars on the sidewalks, or loitering in groups around the vendors at the edges of the street, but the road wasn’t too packed anymore, the parade having ended hours ago.

  “Me Against the Devil” blasted from the sound system in the square as high school and college kids danced and jumped up and down, and we waited only another moment before we shot off, Winter holding me with one arm and getting ready with her other.

  We raced into the noise, the high-pitched whir of our engines overtaking every other sound in the square, and people popped their heads up and turned their eyes on what was coming as we raced around the square. Michael and I, carrying Winter and Rika, zoomed around the bend, doing one entire turn around the perimeter of the square, hearing shouts and cheers as we sped and screeched our tires. Kai and Will followed a little slower, checking out The White Crow Tavern as they passed.

  The wind rushed us, I clocked the cop cars parked around the square, and Rika pulled out her paint gun, holding it pointed to the sky as Michael took us around the square for another run. The music charged me up, and I gripped the handle bars, speeding ahead.

  Ready and… I tapped Winter’s right leg twice.

  She pulled the ring from a smoke grenade and rolled it out of her right hand just like a bowling ball. It tumbled across the street, green smoke pouring out of it as it hit the curb.

  People shouted excitedly as towers of smoke billowed into the air, creating a fog. If there were any kids around, at least, it was non-toxic.

  “I did it?” she asked in my ear.

  “Perfect.”

  I wished she could see it. I raced over to the left and screeched to a stop, tapping her left leg as I felt her dig another out already.

  She pulled the ring, and rolled one out of her left hand, it falling under a car, purple smoke drifting up out from underneath.

  We took off again, and I could hear her laughing as I swerved side to side, firing up the crowd. I noticed the cops watching patiently, wondering how far they were going to let us take this.

  I heard a guy from the sidewalk yell. “Paintballs?!”

  I looked over to see him with a big red splotch on the chest of his gray sweater.

  He pointed, laughing. “I’m gonna get you, Rika! I know that was you!”

  I laughed.

  We raced, setting off more grenades as Lev and David worked the drones flying overhead, which they’d disguised as reapers with skulls and black robes attached to them as they flew around the square, buzzing people.

  We had everyone’s attention, the clouds of smoke dusting the air and blurring views.

  I tapped her left thigh.

  She threw another grenade, pink smoke pouring out of the can.

  I sped on, tapping her right leg, and another can rolled, billowing red smoke.

  All four corners of the square were covered in clouds of color, Rika punching a couple of paintballs on the brick over her family’s store windows.

  Banks and Alex, both in their own masks, held their grenades in the air, steaming the smoke behind them.

  “Alright, just start throwing a few,” I called back to Winter. “Make a mess!”

  I drove, she threw can after can, draining her supply, and I watched as smoke filled the area, creating a heavy cover to where I had to slow down to see.

  She finally took her arm off me, loading one can in each hand and pulling the rings, holding them up in the air.

  “Whew!” she screamed, laughing.

  We all did a final turn and then raced up to The White Crow Tavern, ending our escapade.

  People filtered into the streets, screaming when the drones flew across, and disappeared into the smoke.

  I climbed off the bike, lifting my mask.

  “Having fun?” I asked her, helping her off.

  She tossed the can and moved the pack to her back again. “I don’t know.” She laughed. “How much does this fun cost?”

  “Sticking with me for the rest of your life,” I replied, putting my arm around her waist. “That’ll suck.”

  I walked her into the tavern, everyone else following. Once inside, I looked over my shoulder at Kai.

  “There were no guards at the door when we drove past,” he told me. “He might not be here yet.”

  He was here. This was an ann
ual get-together and the only time he invited his reputable business associates from out of town to his home. Or as close to his home as he wanted them. My father was methodical about his routine, and his pride wouldn’t have allowed him to miss this or cancel it.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  We filtered into the tavern, which wasn’t really a tavern anymore. It was a revolutionary-era meeting house with fireplaces, original wood floors in some rooms, and three levels of dining, drinking, and private poker rooms.

  The clientele was fancier than outside, which still sat in a mountain of smoke.

  Men wore suits and tuxes, while the women wore cocktail dresses and eye masks.

  “Spread out,” I told them, every single one of us keeping our masks on, as well, blending into the crowd.

  We veered, some to the left and some to the right, drifting around the outside of the party. The space was so small, people were packed in here, but we slid in between tables, trying to make out all the guests in the dim candlelight.

  I knew he was here. He had to be in the back or on another floor.

  But then I spotted him. Dead center of the floor, a spiral staircase winding behind him as he stood with another man and sipped his drink.

  He wore his usual black suit but with a white shirt this time and no tie.

  Will came over, and I clutched Winter’s hand.

  “There’s too many fucking people,” he said.

  I nodded. “I thought he’d be in a private dining room.”

  We couldn’t do this in public.

  “How do we get him alone?” he asked.

  I didn’t know. I needed to think. I scanned the room, spotting his guards—three standing around the perimeter, and there were probably a couple more outside somewhere.

  I knew we’d have to take down the guards, but I assumed it would be on the second or third floor. Less people. Less witnesses. If we started shit here, the cops would be inside in seconds.

  “You get everyone else to leave,” Winter finally answered for me.

  I looked down at her.

  “How do we do that?” Will asked.

  She pulled off her backpack and dug out a couple remaining smoke grenades.

  “For once, everyone will be on an even keel with me,” she joked.

  Meaning they’d be stumbling around blind in here. I smiled, taking them and giving them to Will.

  “Man-to-man,” I told him.

  He walked off, passing on the basketball defense strategy to the others to cover a guard when the shit hit.

  I took off my mask, smoothing my hair and straightening my suit.

  “Cover the door,” I mouthed to Lev who’d just walked in.

  I briefly considered leaving Winter there for the moment, not wanting my father to see her, but that left her vulnerable to any of his men if they got to her.

  I took her with me and walked over to my father, keeping her behind me.

  Taking a drink off a tray, I approached, the man he was talking to seeing Gabriel’s eyes lock on me and taking the hint.

  He excused himself, and I walked slowly over.

  Gabriel regarded me and then the people around us, probably wondering where I thought I could take this. “What do you want?” he asked.

  I stepped forward, stopping at his side and taking a sip of my drink.

  “Thunder Bay,” I replied in a low voice.

  “You can have so much more.”

  “Leave,” I ordered, ignoring him. “Or I will make you leave.”

  He just laughed and sipped his drink. “It would take a lot more than that to bring me down.” And then he looked at me, his long face adorned with a smirk. “You’re still a shit kid. Always tough with everyone but me.”

  Winter gripped my jacket behind me, and I felt her forehead touch my back, reminding me that she was here.

  But I stared at him, knowing he was right. Even when I finally started opening my mouth and talking to people as a kid, beating down whatever tried to beat me down, hurting others so I wouldn’t hurt, he was the one I feared, because I needed him. How much worse would it have been for me without his money and influence to protect me?

  At a certain point, I started wondering—did I behave the way I did because I could? Or did I behave the way I did because it was the only thing keeping me alive in that house? Because eleven-year-olds shouldn’t be thinking about how to end their lives.

  Commotion started filling the room as I held his eyes, and I knew without a doubt—with my friends back and Winter with me—that nothing he could threaten me with would change my course of action. I didn’t need him, his money, or his protection. I just wanted him gone.

  Away from this town and away from us.

  And if he didn’t leave willingly, I would not hesitate to use that little flash drive to send him away. It might not take him down, but I wouldn’t feel badly about trying.

  Blue smoke drifted up around us, and I heard people start to exclaim as the room filled, the two cans Will covertly dumped pouring thick clouds into the small, tight space.

  Our gazes stayed locked, guests shuffling and moving about, trying to get away from the mountains of smoke as they coughed and worried about staining their dresses.

  A small smile curled his lips because he knew what was happening and I followed suit, smirking back.

  The smoke consumed the entire room, like a cigarette in a jar, breezing between us, and suddenly, everyone moved, heading for the doors and running to get away from the polluted, closed space.

  But just then, I lurched forward, someone crashing into Winter who fell into me, and I whipped around, seeing her fall to the ground, lost in the smoke.

  Shooting down, I reached for her and pulled her back up as someone ran past, their knee knocking her in the head.

  “You okay?” I put her on her feet and held her face.

  She nodded, a little shaken. “Yeah.”

  I looked around the room, trying to see if Will and everyone got to the guards and if Lev was still covering the door, but I couldn’t see shit.

  I turned back to my father, but it was suddenly empty air. He was gone.

  Taking Winter’s hand, I moved us through the crowd, finding Lev still positioned at the door as everyone poured out.

  He lifted his mask up halfway. “He didn’t come through,” he told me.

  I spun around, heading for the rear exit, but I heard a clank above me, and I peered up the narrow, spiral staircase and saw two men dressed in black climbing the stairs.

  “He’s going up the stairs,” I shouted back to Lev. “Stay there!”

  Heading toward the staircase, I put Winter’s hand on the rail. “Lots of steep steps.”

  She gripped the rail and found the first step. “I got it.”

  “You sure?”

  “Go!” she barked.

  And I didn’t need to be told twice. Running up the stairs, I glanced at Winter behind me, seeing her hold the railing tightly and jog up the steps as I held her other hand.

  I tried to see up the staircase, but the smoke had filtered up there, clouding everything, and I had no idea where he went. He couldn’t leave. We needed to keep this in a public place, and I didn’t want him to have any time to regroup or dig in.

  We reached the top of the stairs, Winter vaulting into my back, and I reached around, grabbing her thigh.

  “Shhh…” I said.

  I looked down the long hallway, seeing multiple rooms. He didn’t own this building. Only hosted here. He wouldn’t have back-up or anything tucked here, would he?

  Will raced up behind us, coming to my side, and Michael, Alex, Rika, Banks, and Kai quickly followed.

  “He’s in one of them,” I told them.

  We started down the hallway, but Winter pulled me back.

  “Wait,” she blurted out. “He wouldn’t box himself in. Is there a fire escape?”

  Will and I exchanged a look.

  “The roof,” he said.

  I gritted my t
eeth and leaned over the railing, calling down to Lev.

  “Go outside,” I yelled. “Guard the fire escape!”

  “Okay!” His voice carried up.

  I put Winter’s hand on my arm and ordered her, “Stay behind me.”

  She nodded, and I bolted, everyone following as I took the small, dark staircase to the left.

  “Steps,” I warned her.

  She reached out for the railing, breathing hard, trying to keep up, but as soon as she found the first one, she made like a demon and climbed like her legs were on fire.

  We darted up the staircase, pushed through the doors, all of us spilling onto the roof, and I looked up, immediately spotting my father with one of his men heading for the edge and the fire escape.

  They whipped around, the guard reaching for his weapon, but all of a sudden, something flew past us through the air and slammed right into his forehead, making his neck snap back, his knees give out, and his body crumple to the floor of the roof.

  What the hell?

  A dagger clanked to the ground next to him, the butt of it having must’ve knocked him out.

  I looked over at Rika. She stood in a lunging position with her arm outstretched.

  Then she stood up, straightening and breathing hard.

  Yeah, okay.

  My father looked at his man on the ground, inhaling long and deep as he assessed his current situation.

  Then he turned his eyes on me.

  “You won’t do what it takes,” he said, the glow of the town’s lanterns and the trees from the park behind him.

  Smoke still painted the air.

  I took Winter’s hand off my jacket, touched her face, and pulled away, approaching him as everyone else stayed back.

  “I did once,” I said, thinking of my mother. “Did you really think she’s just been lying on a beach this entire time?”

  He thinned his eyes on me and cocked his head, almost looking impressed. He must’ve suspected my mother was dead. She hadn’t surfaced in years.

  And he knew that if she didn’t stay away and leave me alone that I’d make her leave me alone.

  “You let it happen,” I bit out, stepping forward again and then stopping. “You let her do those things to me.”

  “Spare me your whines,” he retorted. “A little pussy is what every growing boy needs.”