“Sorry about that hen.”
“Maybe it’s my fault you have that dream? I’m the only one you call hen now.”
“No way that big scary bastard is you sweetheart.”
“Shut up,” said Cain, shoving Brodie into the van.
They perched on the bench seats that lined either side of the van, Brodie and Cass sitting opposite Christian and Caesar. Toni, Cain and Abel got in the back with them, shoving their prisoners right up to the rear of the van while the remaining two disciples got into the driver’s cab, which was separated from the rest of the van by a wooden partition.
“So are we off to the compound then?” said Brodie.
“Yes but not here. At Edinburgh,” replied Cain. “Malachi said you need advanced adjustment therapy thanks to all the trouble you’ve caused. You however,” he added, turning his attention to Caesar. “Will be treated more gently. Toni wants you to become one of our brothers and join our family of light. I promise you will find it extremely fulfilling.”
Caesar looked to Toni. “What about the businesses Boss Lady?”
“We know all about your businesses,” said Cain with distaste. “A life of crime will not lead you to the light.”
“No but it leads to a shit ton of money, which is what I’m interested in. Her too,” he said sadly, gazing at Toni.
Brodie was seeing an entirely new side to Caesar, one who seemed to care very deeply for Toni. He doubted she was capable of reciprocating those feelings, whether she was being a psychotic gangster or a brainwashed bat. He felt sorry for Toni, he understood exactly what she was going through and that the real person was trapped inside the robot, screaming to get out.
“We’re no’ gonnae let you take us to Edinburgh,” Brodie told Cain and Abel.
“What are you going to do about it?” smiled Cain. “You’re unarmed.” Once again he pointed his gun at Cass. “And your biggest weakness is sitting beside you.”
While they were distracted by Brodie, Cass slowly slid her hand into her jacket pocket, fingers closing around Raven’s flash device in her pocket. As it resembled a pocket mirror they hadn’t bothered to take it off her when they’d frisked her.
“What a big tough man you are threatening a woman,” said Christian with disgust. “You’re just a petty wee sadist who hides in the church, pretending he’s working for the light when it’s just an excuse for you to hurt people.”
Cain produced a silencer from his jacket pocket and began to screw it onto the end of the gun. “You know something, you’re right,” he said with a sadistic smile. “I do enjoy the beatings and torture. For years I was an outcast, in and out of prison, until Malachi found me. He gave me a position, authority.” His eyes lit up. “Power.”
“You could be a traffic warden and get all that,” said Brodie.
“Don’t talk to me about those bastards,” he snorted.
“So you’re responsible for torturing sinners?”
“I think you’re mistaking torturing for saving. The pain drives out the devils inside them.”
“Oh aye? Your lot killed Mary Strachan, you fried the poor wee coo’s brain.”
“That wasn’t us, it was the devils. They refused to release her. Not even the electricity could drive them out. She was far too enmeshed in evil.”
“And you like torturing people in The Breach, beating the shit out of them when they start to think for themselves and question your lord and master.”
Cain finished screwing the silencer onto the end. “Because no one should question Malachi. He is the most advanced, most important being alive on this planet since Jesus.”
Brodie, Cass and Christian all sniggered. Caesar wasn’t listening, he was too busy staring at Toni, in a state of shock. She still held her gun, although the weapon wasn’t pointed at anyone in particular, her face devoid of expression.
“Do you honestly think that’s true?” Brodie asked Cain. “That Malachi’s here to save everyone’s souls? It doesn’t say in the Bible that Jesus went around battering the shite out of people and pumping them full of drugs.”
“Malachi is a modern saviour for a modern world.”
“Kidnapping people, beating them up, stripping them of their wealth and drugging them. Aye, he’s certainly living the modern life.”
“The wealth he receives is poor recompense for the spiritual riches he freely gives.”
“And what spiritual riches has he given you, apart from letting you beat up and kill people on his orders?”
“He made me realise my true self and purpose - a warrior of the light.”
“You really are deluded pal.”
“A warrior of the light can do whatever he likes because he has the satisfaction of knowing that everything he does is for the greater good.” He aimed his gun at Brodie. “For example, I could shoot you right here, right now, driving through a busy city and who’s going to stop me? That’s true power.”
While Cain’s attention was fixed on Brodie, Cass yanked the device out of her pocket and tossed it to the floor, closing her eyes. The flash was so bright she could see it through her closed lids. Everyone cried out in pain, the sound of Brodie’s cry hurting her heart but she’d been unable to warn him.
When she opened her eyes she saw everyone had their hands clamped over their faces. Abel and Toni had instinctively dropped their guns but Cain had held onto his weapon and he let off a wild shot that slammed into the partition dividing the rear of the van from the cab.
“What the fuck’s going on back there?” Cass heard the driver yell.
She leapt forward, punching a still-blinded Cain in the wrist, forcing him to drop the gun. A fist to the side of the head knocked him out. She punched him with such force he hit the side of the van with a clang.
“What’s going on?” repeated the driver’s voice more urgently.
Toni went for her gun but Caesar went for it too and they grabbed it at the same time.
“Toni, please stop,” he cried as they wrestled for the weapon.
Abel’s eyes widened as Brodie and Christian went for him at the same time, slamming him down onto the floor. While Christian pinned him down, two punches from Brodie’s fist knocked him out.
Toni succeeded in snatching the gun from Caesar, who couldn’t bring himself to fight her.
“Sit down,” she told them, waving the gun around.
They all put their hands up and slowly sank back onto the benches.
“Will someone tell me what’s going on back there?” yelled the driver, panic in his voice.
An infuriated Cain snapped back into consciousness, leapt up and hurled himself at Cass. “You fucking bitch,” he roared.
The yelling frightened the already panicked driver, who wrenched the wheel from side to side, throwing them all about the van. Toni was tossed against the back of the van, her head hit the metal, her eyes rolled back in her head and she slid to the floor, Caesar catching her in his arms.
Brodie’s hand locked around Cain’s throat before he could even reach Cass. A gurgle sounded in the back of his throat, tongue protruding from his mouth. Brodie dragged him towards the partition and banged his head off it twice, stunning him.
“Oy you pair of pricks,” Brodie yelled through the wood. “We’ve got your wee bat friends. Find somewhere quiet to pull over and we won’t start breaking their knees.”
“Don’t you dare hurt them you…you minion of Satan,” he squealed.
“Shut it prick and do as I say,” he yelled back, banging Cain’s head off the wooden partition again. “Unless you want his head to explode like a fucking egg.”
“You evil bastard. Those are strong devils inside you.”
“Aye and they’re raging, so do as I say,” he thundered.
“Alright, alright,” said the driver.
They felt the van slowing and heard the tick-tock of the indicator as it came on and the van turned to the right.
“Where are you taking us?” demanded Brodie.
“Th
ere’s a closed down industrial estate down here,” called the driver. “We’ll be there in a minute.”
“Don’t even think of trying to trick us. We’ve got your wee pals’ guns and if you mess about we’ll start putting holes in them.”
“No tricks. It’s impossible to trick the greatest trickster of them all.”
“Aye, because I’m a minion of Satan,” said Brodie in a bored tone. “I get it.” He shook Cain. “Where the fuck is my sister?”
He gave a crooked half smile. “You’re too late. She’s one of us now.”
“Is she at the compound? Answer me,” he bellowed when he failed to reply. Frustrated, Brodie slammed his fist into his gut, creasing him in two. “I repeat, where is she?”
“One of us,” was his breathless response.
Brodie was distracted from his interrogation by the van rolling to a halt. There was a slight rocking as the two bats up front got out then nothing.
“Maybe they ran off?” said Cass.
“Then they’re the first sensible bats we’ve met.” Brodie looked to Caesar. “How is she?”
“She’s not woken up yet,” he said, cradling her limp body in his arms. “What if she’s brain damaged or something? We need to get her to hospital.”
“Don’t you worry about her, she’ll be just fine.”
“I can hear something,” said Christian, who had his ear pressed to the door.
“Stand back,” Brodie told him. “We don’t know what they’re gonnae come at us with.”
Abel’s eyes flickered open and he pushed himself up onto all fours. “Help,” he cried. “Get us out of here.”
“Shut him up hen,” Brodie told Cass.
She stomped in the middle of Abel’s back, knocking him flat onto his front, grabbed a handful of his hair and bounced his face off the floor. His eyes rolled back in his head as blood burst from his nose. Brodie gazed at her doe-eyed.
“They’re unlocking the doors,” said Christian.
“Get those guns, quick,” said Brodie.
Cass and Christian snatched up the two dropped guns while Caesar pulled Toni away from the doors, out of the line of fire.
The doors were wrenched open and they found themselves face to face not with the expected two disciples but four of them, all armed.
Brodie pulled Cain before him and pressed his own gun to his temple while Cass shoved her gun into the back of Abel’s head and Christian pointed his right back at the four men.
“Where the hell did that pair come from?” demanded Brodie. “Were you two breeding in the front of the van?”
“We were being followed by a car of our brothers of the church,” said the one who’d been driving. “Malachi warned us you’d try to turn the tables on us and that we’d need extra support. As usual he was right.”
“Get back unless you want your pals’ heads to explode,” Brodie told them.
They refused to move, wearing smiles he didn’t like.
“If you kill him, Cain will go straight into the arms of the Lord into eternal heavenly rest. He is prepared for death, as are we all. So please, go ahead. Well,” he continued when Brodie failed to act. “We’re waiting.”
“Boss Lady,” exclaimed Caesar when Toni released a groan and her eyes flickered open.
“Caesar?” she frowned up at him. She raised her head, scowl deepening when she took in the scene around her. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Sister, you’re alright,” said the bat. “Thank the Lord for your restoration to health. It’s a miracle.”
“For Christ’s sake,” muttered Brodie. “She only banged her heid.”
Toni looked down at herself and frowned. “Why am I in these hideous clothes?”
“They dressed you Boss,” said Caesar, nodding at the bats. “They brainwashed you and stuck you in that ugly outfit.”
“What?” she hissed, sitting bolt upright. “No jewellery, no accessories, not even a belt.” Her black eyes fixed on the four disciples, her face contorting with fury. “How fucking dare you?”
She reached into her right boot, drew a knife and before anyone could react the blade went spinning through the air and embedded itself in the forehead of the lead bat. The man toppled to the ground, dead.
Before the other bats could react, Brodie, Cass and Christian opened fire, all being careful to avoid any lethal shots, although Brodie winged one in the arm and Christian shot one in the left lower leg. The three men retreated, the uninjured one dragging his bleeding friends along with him, leaving their fallen brother behind.
Brodie frisked Cain, taking his own phone back and stealing Cain’s too in the process. Cass did the same with Abel, handing Christian his phone.
“Shove this shower of shite out,” said Brodie.
They pushed Cain and Abel out of the van, taking great pleasure in throwing them out onto the gravel.
“Run back to Malachi,” Brodie yelled after them as they limped away. “Tell him Satan does live in this city but he’s a woman,” he said, gesturing to Toni. “And she’s coming for you, bringing all her minions with her.” He grinned at his friends.
“Well that was fun.”
They all gave him withering looks.
“Caesar,” said Toni, who had returned to full health. “Call in the boys to remove that dead arsehole. Make sure no one comes down this way.”
“It’s good to have you back Boss Lady,” he smiled before leaping out of the van.
Her angry black gaze locked on Brodie. “Are you telling me that bunch of freaks took me over?”
“Aye,” said Brodie gently. “Sorry doll. What’s the last thing you remember?”
She thought carefully before replying. “I was in the church talking to this simpering blond tart called Eve. She was full of clichés but her breasts were rather magnificent. While she was banging on about forgiveness I was imagining licking….”
“Stick to the point eh Toni.”
“Fine. I remember her leading me into a side room, there was a pain in the side of my neck…it’s all rather vague. I woke up in a dark room, bare walls. I couldn’t move. I could hear a deep voice spouting some biblical nonsense. There’s some vague flashes of this ugly grey building with intensely boring people plodding about. The next thing I know, I woke up in this van.”
“The bang to the head brought her out of it,” said Cass.
“So all we need to do is batter every bat around the head to change them back,” said Christian.
“Sounds fun,” said Brodie. “Bat bashing.”
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on before I really fucking lose it,” snarled Toni.
“Malachi,” replied Brodie. “The head of Higher Light used a combination of drugs to suppress all emotion so he could control you and turn you into one of his minions.”
She rose to her feet, eyes flashing with rage. “He turned me into his personal plaything?”
“Aye, that’s about the size of it doll.”
“I don’t believe it. No one can do that to me.”
“Well he did it to me, so why shouldn’t he do it to you too?”
“What? He brainwashed you?”
Brodie’s eyes flicked to the floor and he nodded. “No one’s safe from that bastard’s tricks.”
“So that’s what the fight at Rottenrow was really about?”
“I wasn’t undercover. Malachi had done to me what he did to you. Cass and the others got me out.”
“I can’t believe anyone could make you do something you didn’t want to do.”
“Right back at you Toni. But he did.”
She drifted off into thoughtful silence before kicking the side of the van, the sound reverberating painfully through the vehicle. “That freak is going down,” she practically screamed.
“We’re working on it,” said Brodie.
“And your idea of working on it is letting him kidnap you? Well fucking well done.”
“Hey, we didn’t intend to get kidnapped. We were mee
ting Caesar to figure out a way to rescue you,” said Brodie, jabbing a digit at her. “And we did rescue you, which you haven’t said thank you for yet by the way.”
“Thank you. Happy now?” she barked. Toni began pacing the small confines of the van. “I want this prick dead. Do you hear me? Fucking dead.”
“Now just calm down. If you kill him you’ll make him a martyr. His disciples will hold him up as some sort of saint and someone else will take his place and the church will continue doing its freaky shit. We need to bring him down properly so we can tear apart his cult and destroy it once and for all.”
“I’m not in the mood for poncing about like that. I’m putting a bullet into his scrotum and then between his fucking eyes.”
“You can do that when he’s tucked up all cosy in Barlinnie. We need to do this properly. There are lots of people trapped in the church who can’t get out.”
“I don’t give a shite about them.”
“Well I do and I’m no’ abandoning them. We do this my way Toni, you’re not the only one who’s suffered at that bastard’s hands.”
Cass and Christian looked from Brodie to Toni as they glared at each other. They were both equally stubborn and equally dangerous, so it would be interesting to see who came out on top.
“Fine,” Toni eventually said. “I’m not in the mood for an argument with you Brodie, I have a headache. Do what you’ve got to do. You’ll have my back up.”
“I appreciate that doll.”
“But I’m topping Malachi when he’s locked up in prison.”
“Fine by me. Just make sure it hurts.”
“Oh it will,” she purred. “I promise you that. I’ll get a lot of excitement imagining what I’ll have done to him.”
“Aye that’s great. Listen, do you supply Malachi his drugs?”
She blinked at him. “Drugs? You mean the same drugs he pumped me full of?”
Brodie nodded.
“No I do not,” she spat, hands curling into fists. “I heard whispers of large amounts of amphetamines and coke being run through the city without my permission. It’s those dodgy bastards the Nowak brothers. I just couldn’t figure out where it was going. Now I know. I admit, I never considered it could be a cult.” She looked to Caesar. “Did you have those cretins the Nowak’s followed and learn their routine, like I ordered?”
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