The Devil Inside

by Heather Atkinson

The door swung open behind her and she spun on her heel, standing protectively before Brodie when Malachi walked in accompanied by Cain and Abel, both of whom sported cuts and bruises.

  “I had a feeling you and your friends would come,” Malachi told her. “I must admit, I didn’t think you’d breach the compound as easily as you did. Abel here has already guessed you fried our equipment with a kill stick but tell me, how did you get over the wall?”

  “I’m not telling you. I might need to get over it again.”

  “We already know you’re a parkour expert, so I’m guessing you used that skill. Really impressive stuff Cass.”

  “Yeah, great. Me, Brodie and our friends are leaving now. Let us go in peace and we won’t injure any more of your guards.”

  “You and your friends are welcome to leave, we won’t stop you but Brodie stays here.”

  “Yeah, right.” She took his hand. “Come on babe.” When he didn’t move she turned to him. “Brodie, it’s time to go home.”

  “This is my home,” replied Brodie in a weird monotone she’d never heard him use before.

  “No it’s not. You don’t belong in this place.”

  She attempted to encourage him along again but still he refused to move.

  Tears welled in her eyes. “Brodie, please.”

  “This is my home now,” he repeated, prising his hand free from hers.

  When she rounded on Malachi, Cain and Abel hastily placed themselves before their beloved leader.

  “You bastard, you’ve brainwashed him,” she yelled. “That mark on his neck’s from a needle, isn’t it?”

  “I don’t know what you think goes on here Cass but we are not the secret service. We do not possess sophisticated brainwashing techniques. Brodie was a little upset when he arrived…”

  “Because you kidnapped him.”

  “…so our resident doctor gave him a sedative to calm him down, that’s all. Last night we worked through all the demons that have haunted him for so long and finally he’s been released from their torment. You love him, that is plain enough. Surely you don’t want him to feel pain any longer?”

  She raised a hand to touch Brodie’s face. “It looks like he doesn’t feel anything anymore.”

  “He has found true peace and freedom, a rare gift indeed. Don’t take that from him.”

  Resolve filled her eyes. “You’re not keeping him.”

  When she drew back her fist to punch Malachi, strong arms wrapped themselves around her, pinning her own arms to her side.

  “Brodie, stop,” she cried. She raised her foot, ready to bring down on his leg to free herself but she found herself unable to do it. She could never hurt him.

  “Let her go,” said Malachi.

  Brodie released her and took a step back.

  “I’m a fair man Cass,” said Malachi. “You may ask him again to go with you. If he says yes then we will honour that.”

  Cass whipped round to face Brodie and took his hands. “You want to come home with me, don’t you Brodie? To our home.”

  He looked down at her with his empty eyes and shook his head.

  “No,” she cried, eyes filling with tears, desperately tugging at his hands, attempting to pull him along with her but he was immovable.

  “This has gone on long enough,” said Malachi. “Brodie has made his wishes perfectly clear and he’s a grown man with the right to decide on the course of his own life. Time for you to leave Cass.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without him.”

  “I sympathise with how you must feel, really I do but you and your friends broke in here, attacked members of this church and attempted to abduct one of its members. You’re very fortunate forgiveness is one of the main tenets of Higher Light otherwise you would be in a prison cell by now.” He looked to Brodie and nodded.

  Brodie bodily lifted her, flung her over his shoulder and strode towards the door.

  “No, Brodie. Put me down,” she yelled, slapping at his back.

  There were so many moves she could have pulled to get herself out of that position but all would have involved hurting him and she still couldn’t bring herself to do it. As he carried her up to the next floor she wondered if this was part of the playacting he so enjoyed and was his way of getting them both safely out of the compound.

  “Avocado,” she whispered in his ear, which was their agreed codeword of the month.

  No response.

  She repeated the word slightly louder but once again he failed to reply.

  “I can fucking walk,” she yelled, her pain morphing into fury.

  “You heard the lady Brodie,” said Malachi, who was following with Cain and Abel. “Let her walk.”

  Brodie put her down, placed a hand in the middle of her back and propelled her to the exit.

  She walked outside, wincing at the daylight, only just realising how dark and dingy it was in the compound. Christian, Ross and Elliott were gathered together, looking battered and bruised but okay. Eve was there, wrapped in a long black coat, looking cold but beautiful, her green eyes narrow and sly. When her cruel gaze settled on Cass her lips twitched contemptuously.

  “Hey Bossman,” beamed Ross, stepping forward.

  Brodie ignored him as he continued to propel Cass towards the gates.

  “What the fuck?” said Ross, looking to Christian and Elliott.

  The three of them were urged to the gates too by the security guards.

  “Bossman,” called Ross helplessly. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re too late,” Cass told him. “Malachi’s messed with his head.”

  “But he’s coming with us, right?”

  Cass just looked back at him with tear-filled eyes.

  As they reached the gate Cass dug her heels in and refused to go any further.

  “No,” she said. “I’m not going without you.” She took Brodie’s face in her hands and kissed him, hoping the kiss would wake him from the spell Malachi had put him under. “You belong with me, not these weirdoes. Please Brodie,” she pressed when there was no reaction.

  “Enough,” called Eve.

  Brodie shoved Cass in the chest, sending her staggering backwards through the gate. Elliott and the others were also pushed out and the mesh gate was dragged shut by two of the guards, the automatic mechanism still out of commission.

  Cass threw herself at the gate but it closed before she could get through it.

  “No, Brodie,” she cried, slamming her hands against the mesh, hoping she could make the connection that would wake him up. She glared at Eve and Malachi, who were standing side by side. “I’ll kill you for this Malachi and your smug stupid bitch too.”

  Malachi appeared unaffected by her threat while Eve’s green eyes positively sparkled with vengeful fire.

  Cass looked back at Brodie. “Please, come with us.”

  He shook his head and turned his back on her, walking away. The second gate was rolled across by the guards, blocking him out of sight.

  “Brodie,” she howled when he vanished from view. Frantically she began pounding at the gate with her fists, screaming his name.

  “Stop,” said Elliott, taking her hands. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  “I don’t give a fuck,” she said, throwing him off.

  “This isn’t the way. We need to tell Pete what’s happened.”

  “I’m not leaving without him.”

  “You have to, unless you’ve got a tank we can use to break down that fucking wall.”

  All the fight drained out of her and she fell into his arms, crying.

  “Let’s get back to the office,” said Christian. “We’ll call Pete from there.”

  Cass looked longingly back at the compound gate before nodding. “This isn’t over,” she yelled at it before storming off, the others following.

  Pete walked into the office on Sauchiehall Street to silence, which was a shock in itself. An office belonging to Brodie was rarely silent.

  Elliott, Ross and Ch
ristian were ranged around the room, slumped at their desks, looking miserable. All three of them nursed a whisky.

  “What the hell happened?” said Pete.

  “Cass didn’t tell you on the phone?” said Elliott.

  “No. She just said to get my backside around here pronto then hung up. Please tell me you got Brodie back?”

  They all shook their heads.

  Pete’s heart almost stopped. “Oh Christ, don’t tell me…”

  “Oh no, he’s alive,” Elliott hastened to reassure him. “We found him but he wouldn’t leave.”

  “Wouldn’t leave?”

  Elliott related to him everything that had happened at the compound, Pete’s incredulous look increasing by the second.

  “Brodie was playacting,” said Pete when he’d finished. “He loves all that shite. He must be trying to bring down the church from within.”

  “That’s what we said but Cass is adamant he isn’t. Malachi did something to him.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know but we all saw him. He’s not Brodie any longer.”

  “Where’s Cass?”

  Christian pointed over his shoulder to the corridor that led deeper into the flat. “First door on the left. She’s not in a good way.”

  “I bet she’s not,” said Pete, striding in the direction he’d indicated. Gently he rapped on the door. “Cass?”

  When there was no reply he pushed it open to find Cass slumped on a couch, swigging from a bottle of red wine, looking slightly drunk, eyes red and puffy from crying, her mass of hair all over the place.

  “Red wine?” he said. “That’s no’ like you.”

  “It’s Brodie’s. I found it in his desk. I don’t like the taste but it makes me feel closer to him.”

  Pete sat beside her and took her hand. “Elliott told me what happened. I won’t ask how you are doll.”

  “We tried Pete but he wouldn’t come with us. Malachi said he’d even let him walk right out of there if he said he wanted to leave. But he didn’t want to.”

  “Are you sure he wasn’t acting? You know how he gets into his roles.”

  “I thought that at first. Then I said the codeword to him, so he could let me know if he was acting. He didn’t need to say a word, a single tap on my leg would have done. But he didn’t respond at all. When I looked into his eyes there was nothing there. He was blank, like Elaine.”

  “What the hell have they done to him?”

  “He had a needle mark on his neck. They injected him with something.”

  “Is there a drug that can cause someone to become an obedient zombie?”

  “No idea. There have been rumours of hypnosis around Malachi.”

  “No way could anyone hypnotise Brodie. We went to this cheesy stage show once. The hypnotist tried to put him under but he just laughed his arse off and told him to bugger off before he rammed the table leg up his hole.”

  Cass smiled fondly as she pictured this. “If he was injected with something first, something to make him more susceptible, then he could have been.”

  “Is there such a drug?”

  “No idea. We need an expert, someone with a medical background. I’ll call Zarqa, she’ll help.”

  “Zarqa Younis who used to work in the forensics lab at the station?”

  Cass nodded. “She works in a transplant lab now but she helps us out sometimes if we need discreet tests running for a case.”

  “She’s a nice wee lass and bloody clever too.” He sank back into the couch and sighed. “I don’t believe this. Brodie, brainwashed.”

  “Malachi managed to take away everything. It was like Brodie didn’t even know who I was. I can’t stand it that he’s forgotten me.”

  A tear slid down her cheek and Pete could see that she was fighting to keep back a tidal wave of tears. “No way has he forgotten you, that’s no’ possible.”

  “You didn’t see his eyes Pete. There was no one there. It was horrible. Malachi took everything we mean to each other, screwed it up and tossed it away like it was nothing.” Another tear managed to escape down her cheek. “But it means everything to me.”

  “And it means everything to Brodie too. Since the day he met you I had to listen to him going on about how gorgeous and amazing you are. He fell in love with you the second he saw you and that never stopped.”

  “What if his feelings for me have been completely erased? God, I sound such a selfish cow banging on about myself but I can’t lose him Pete.”

  “You’re no’ gonnae lose him because he won’t let that happen.” Pete wasn’t sure he should say what he was about to say but Cass needed to hear something positive. “Do you know that for the past few days he’s been trying to build up the courage to propose to you?”

  “What?” she said, eyes wide.

  “He’s been carrying the ring about but he’s too bloody feared you’ll turn him down.”

  “I wouldn’t have done that.”

  “I know but he kept bottling it. He told me he was gonnae pop the question at that hotel in Edinburgh, until Malachi showed his ugly mug.”

  “So that’s why he kept turning red. It wasn’t the food after all.”

  “That was the daft sod’s bottle crashing.”

  “I don’t believe it.” She snatched up her jacket, which she’d thrown on the floor, produced a black box from the pocket and held it out to Pete. He opened it up and had to bite his lip as a lump formed in his throat. The platinum ring had a celtic knot beautifully carved into its surface. “Don’t tell me…”

  “I was going to ask him to marry me,” she said with a sad smile. “I know it’s not traditional, the woman asking the man but it felt so right. I kept bottling it too. I imagined him being outraged about being proposed to and offending his manly pride.”

  “If you’d proposed he would have fainted with pleasure. All he wants is for you to be his wife.”

  She snapped the box shut and shoved it back into her jacket. “Fat lot of use it is now. He doesn’t even know who I am.”

  “Course he does doll. Brodie could never forget you. Malachi’s put a cork in his head and we’ll pull it out again.”

  “A cork?”

  “Aye you know, like a stopper in his thoughts. We need someone to remove it.”

  “Brodie spoke to a cult expert called Professor Gardner in Dundee. Apparently he’s deprogrammed people who were in cults. He could do the same for Brodie.”

  “There we go doll, we have a plan. Call in Zarqa to sort out whatever shite they injected him with and the cult expert to unscramble his head.”

  “It might not be that simple. God, I can’t believe Malachi’s managed to control a man like Brodie.”

  “Me neither and it’s fucking scary. It means none of us are safe.”

  Renewed with purpose Cass got to her feet, shoved the cork back into the wine bottle and dumped it on the floor. “Right,” she said. “I’ll call Zarqa and the professor. And then…”

  “Then?”

  “We kidnap Brodie back, whether he likes it or not.”

  Pete smiled. The lassie was back to her old self.

  CHAPTER 16

  Zarqa was the first to arrive at the Sauchiehall Street office. A pretty south Asian woman with glasses and a headscarf, she looked even more astonished than Pete had as Cass explained what had happened to Brodie.

  “Sorry for dumping all this on you,” said Cass when she reached the end of the story. “But we thought you might have the expertise to help us.”

  “I’ll do what I can to help Brodie of course,” replied Zarqa. “But I’ve never dealt with anything like this before.”

  “Then we’re all in the same boat. It’s new to us as well.”

  “If I had a sample of his blood to analyse then I should be able to find out what he was injected with.”

  “Not a problem.”

  “How will you get it?”

  “We’re going to get Brodie back but you don’t need to worry about that.�
�� Cass patted her arm. “Thanks Zarqa, we really appreciate your help with this.”

  “It’s the least I can do. Brodie’s helped me out often enough.” Her eyes were heavy with anxiety. “This cult needs to be stopped.”

  “And they will be but first we need Brodie back.”

  “How will you do that?”

  “We’re working on a plan. It’s not finalised yet but we’re getting there.”

  They were interrupted by another knock at the door. Elliott went to greet the visitor and returned with a thin nervous man. Face pale, black rings around his eyes, he walked curled in on himself, it seemed in an attempt to become invisible.

  “This is Professor Gardner,” said Elliott.

  The man jumped slightly when Cass stepped forward to greet him.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “You’re safe here.”

  He forced a smile and extended a hand for her to shake. “Yes, I know,” he replied. “I apologise for my nerves but that’s what comes of dealing with cults for a living.”

  “After our experiences with Higher Light we can all imagine the effect that would have.”

  “Do you mind if I sit?” said Gardner, indicating the small couch by the window. “It’s time for my medication.”

  “Feel free.”

  “Thank you.”

  They all watched as he sat, rested his briefcase on his knees and opened it up to reveal an assortment of pill bottles. He unscrewed the top off one, tossed a pill into his mouth and washed it down with water from the bottle in his briefcase. He replaced the top on that one then moved onto the next bottle.

  “You sure about this guy?” Pete whispered to Cass as Gardner continued to fling tablets down his neck.

  “Brodie said he’d do,” she whispered back. “So that’s good enough for me.”

  Gardner swallowed tablets from another four bottles before he was done. Cass glanced at Zarqa, who appeared rather alarmed by what he was cramming down his throat.

  Gardner released a contented sigh and sank back into the couch, his body finally relaxing. “Mmm,” he murmured. “That’s better.”

  They all glanced at each other when his eyes slid shut and he appeared to drop off. Christian banged his fist off his desk, the resounding thud making Gardner jump awake with a snort. Ross had to cover his mouth with his hand to stop himself from laughing.