by P. G. Burns
Shane thinks quickly. “Okay, you want the black guy, you got him, but we’ll be taking Leo with us. I have trained for torture situations and the mind is the most important factor. Trust me, I have the strongest mind you will come across. This is non-negotiable.”
A moment of silence fills the room, Amitiel looks at him sternly and pauses before replying. “I will say this, if caught, Reuben will likely tie you to a chair and cut your eyelids off. He will then parade a group of young children in front of you. Then he’ll choose a game, maybe Reuben will slowly sexually abuse one, maybe mutilate it, maybe he’ll get the children to mutilate each other, commit murder, incest, or even remove and eat each other’s eyeballs. If you think you will hold out, then I will go with your plan.”
Shane stares into his lap. Being strong enough to resist torture yourself is one thing, being forced to watch innocents tortured because of him is beyond his abilities – if this girl can see this then Reuben will figure it out in a heartbeat. This shit is real and he feels a sudden swell in his throat as a surge of sadness threatens to overwhelm him. He swallows hard, looking up back at Amitiel, his face appearing like that of an innocent child.
“I am sorry, Shane. There is no other way. The old guy will hold you up.” She looks genuinely sad. “Now, when I visit you tonight, I hope to have more details of Reuben’s plan and we will then counter with our own plan. Shane, you must do all that I ask and you must trust Robert Price.”
Shane is not listening, his head is full of sorrowful thoughts about killing Leo.
Amitiel frowns at him. “You must prepare. I will leave it up to you to decide if you tell Leo of the plan or not. But you must inform Robert. Right, now I have to deal with this gobshite of a guard.”
Amitiel gives a girly wave to the guard and Shane notices the bulge in his trousers already.
“You’re not really going to touch that slime ball, are you?” Shane asks. She smiles “Are you jealous? I need to be sure he does not report my visit to Reuben. Five minutes in the stockroom will ensure of that.”
She winks at Shane and once more he sees the seductive temptress and a strange feeling he has not felt for a long time stirs in him.
Shane walks back to his cell with visibly less enthusiasm than when he made his way out of it. “How can I leave Leo?” he asks himself. Then, as if recovering from shock, the events that have just unfolded begin to flood back. The things he has seen, the places he has been to. He looks up at the clock and struggles to comprehend that he has only been out of his cell for less than fifteen minutes. In this time he has witnessed the world’s history, discovered he is a target for some three-thousand-year-old psycho, been informed that there’s going to be a major prison break tomorrow, which is only, in fact, a distraction to cover his and Leo’s kidnapping and, worst of all, if he is to succeed in saving mankind, he must first kill his close friend.
“My first visit since I arrived here and what a shit visit it was!” he grumbles to himself.
Shane decides there and then that he will tell Leo everything and between them they will come up with a better plan. He is scheduled to visit him at 14:00 so this time he will do the talking and it will be Leo wondering if Shane has lost his marbles.
Despite this plan Shane fails to bring it up as the two men sit in the recreation corner of the psychiatric wing playing chess. Shane has lost his first game of chess to Leo for almost twelve months.
“Okay, what’s up?” asks Leo.
With a final sigh Shane conveys to Leo what he remembers from his visit with Amitiel, ringing his hands together and shaking his head as he does so, struggling to believe his own words. Occasionally he stands up and walks around mumbling, as if trying to put the pieces together so that they make sense but of course he is preaching to the converted and need not fear any utterance of disbelief from Leo. Still, he was not prepared for the old guy to agree to his own death.
“She is absolutely right,” Leo tells Shane.
“For fuck’s sake, you’re not serious? I am not going to pop you, old man. I’m not going to do it, so get your thinking cap on and help me work out a better plan.”
Leo smiles at him. “Shane, I have been expecting death for a long time now and if it was not for you, I would have been dead a long time ago. Who better to send me to God than you?”
Shane is not convinced. “God? You still believe in God? These Djinn freaks are the Gods! I’ve got to tell you the word ‘God’ has lost a lot of value in my book. In fact, my only thoughts regarding ‘Gods’ at the moment is ‘what a bunch of cunts’.”
“You’re wrong,’ says Leo. “These beings we deal with are advanced but they are not God! I admit my faith has wavered since I met Simeon but now I am once more comfortable with my faith. Besides, either way the girl is right. I cannot make it through sewers and it would not be appropriate for a respectable Jew to wade through philistine shit.”
Both men laugh and Leo points out that they can take advantage of Reuben’s need for his knowledge.
“We know he is planning some sort of distraction and this will take the form of a major catastrophe, either a fire or an explosion. If the priority is to take me alive then I need to survive this catastrophe, meaning the safest place to be when the shit hits the fan is in this ward. So somehow we need to ensure that both you and Robert are up here, at least when the attack begins.”
Shane ponders Leo’s tactics. Of course, this could give him an opportunity to get Leo out as well so he agrees. It will not be easy as Shane is only permitted one hour on the psychiatric wing and Robert is not allowed on it at all but Shane agrees that whatever Reuben is planning, he will ensure that there is no danger that he or Leo will be killed. He has the next twenty-odd hours to work the rest out.
Venice
Under the city of Venice runs a labyrinth of canal tunnels. If you know where to look they will take you to an ancient palace, once a meeting place for the Djinn and Arc Hon council, a neutral zone. Today it is both a hideout and a prison. Reuben, dressed in a smart business suit, walks through the pristine white corridors. He enters a room using a swipe key. Inside is a chair surrounded by a cage made up of blue laser beams. Sitting in the chair is Simeon.
“So, my friend, after eighteen months and the best care money can buy, I you finally are looking like you have recovered from that little ordeal?” says Reuben.
The room is occupied solely by the two Djinn.
“Yes, I would thank you for your care had it not been under your instructions that I was riddled with bullets in the first place.”
“I have told you I am sorry about that, it is very hard to get decent hit men nowadays. As I said the Jew and you were to simply be captured. Anyway you survived and that is the important thing. Soon I will unite you with your chosen prodigy.”
Simeon looks alarmed. “You have him?”
Reuben smirks. “Not yet, but soon, very soon. Unfortunately I expect there to be some collateral damage during his extraction. Six hundred prisoners caught in a huge gas explosion. You can imagine the carnage, especially as they are all locked up, trapped like animals.”
Simeon knows he is being goaded. Reuben has questioned him many times about Shane Mills and Leo while he was recovering, unbeknown to him Simeon was able to relay the conversations to Amitiel who in turn would visit Shane.
“Maybe this Leo will be burned to a crisp as well,” Reuben adds, smirking. “Tell me what you think of my proposed alliance with this human champion? After all the incessant lobbying and planning you and Isaac persisted in, it’s a shame he will have such a short game.”
Simeon looks up nonchalantly with a smug smile as he tries to hide his concern. “I don’t think you will outsmart him so easily.”
Stoke Prison
Phil Cumisky brother of Kieran Cumisky notices the Shane Mills guy looking at him as he sits in the TV area contemplating his escape. Although Phil and his brother are two of the most feared men in London, Phil always feels
uneasy around Mills. He had watched him make easy work of the two Jamaicans a few years earlier and knew then that this guy was special. He was thinking of asking Shane if he wanted to work with them when he got out but the guy was very unfriendly towards Phil for some reason. Anyway, he thought, why’s he looking at me now? Does he know what’s about to happen? Of course he doesn’t. How could he?
Shane would love to smash Phil Cumisky’s head to a pulp. He never liked the prick, walking around the prison like he was “the man” just because his brother was a big gangster on the outside. Now though, he also knows this prick is going to start some sort of chaos in order to escape. When Amitiel came to him in his dream last night, she told him what more she had learned.
She was convinced that the guy Cumisky was the one who would instigate the event and subsequent carnage. Shane had asked why killing that prick wouldn’t be the best idea, hoping he would then get a reprieve from killing Leo.
“No,” she’d said. “If we follow the plan, we will turn this to our advantage. You will be out of here and the authorities will think you perished in the fire. More importantly, Reuben and the other Djinn will assume the same thing.”
Shane had expected to be told no but had still racked his brains for an alternate outcome that didn’t include him murdering his close friend.
“There must be another way. If you can work out how to get me out of here and you have all this inside knowledge about the plan and who is carrying it out, then you must be able to think of a better idea than me saying goodbye to Leo with my hands around his neck?”
Amitiel had appeared in the dream as the sweet girl he met in the visiting room. She’d smiled and then answered, “I know you do not want to do this but it is the only way. I am aware of the plan because I have a direct link with Simeon who is currently Reuben’s prisoner. By goading Reuben and massaging his ego, Simeon has succeeded in encouraging Reuben to brag about his plan.
“If we do anything to show our hand then Reuben will realise that you are being helped by someone with a teleconnection to Simeon. He will soon work out that it must be an Arc Hon and we don’t want him or the other Djinn knowing we have sided with the humans. If he does, then we will lose our advantage. He will break the connection and probably kill Simeon, once and for all.”
Shane didn’t care about this Simeon but knew any advantage in a battle was worth protecting. Amitiel had told him something else.
“Once you and Robert Price have cleared the gates, my associate will get you to a safe house. I will come to you once more but that will be last time until you fulfil the task.”
Shane was wondering how exactly he was supposed to do that. He was just one man against this powerful Reuben, but then Amitiel had made it four times worse.
“You are now in the game and although Reuben is the prime target, the other three Djinn must also be taken care of if you are to win.”
The dream had then become a vision as Shane was transported to the White House. He saw some faces he did not recognise and one he did. It was the President of the United States of America. He was sitting with a bespectacled geek who was surrounded by the same sort of multi-coloured mist he had seen in yesterday’s vision. This one, though, was predominantly red.
“This is Levi. He is very much involved with controlling the American government.”
In front of Shane’s eyes the walls had crumbled and then been rebuilt. Now he had found himself in a Russian military base where the Russian President and the generals were inspecting a squadron of elite forces. Shane saw no auras on anyone. The vision followed the President as he returned to his Moscow home where there was a tall effeminate-looking young man waiting by the pool. When he entered, the leader of the largest country in the world had a smile on his face rarely seen in his media portrayal. He dismissed his entourage, leaving him with just the athletic, well-groomed, tanned young man. The two men locked in a passionate embrace, undressing each other and showing no restraint, their lust for each other obvious. Shane thought he was beyond shockable but watching the macho Russian President stick his tongue down this young man’s throat took him by surprise. He felt slightly guilty at his own discomfort at the scene and looked away as the kiss became groping and the final clothes came off.
“Fuck, who would have known,” he’d said, taking one more glimpse and this time spotting the anomaly hovering above the young man’s head, a tightly formed yellow cloud. It seemed to move in tandem with the man, swirling around his whole body, then up above, then wrapping around his shoulders. It was wondrous and seemed to be an aura protecting its master. Shane noticed the look of wonder on the President’s face. At first he thought he must see the aura as well but then he realised exactly what this look, far removed from his usual solemn public persona, really was. It was love.
“Asher pulls the strings at the Kremlin,” Amitiel had commented.
“That’s not all he pulls,” replied Shane, immediately regretting his immature jibe as Amitiel ignored him.
Finally Shane had witnessed the Chinese delegation arrive in Nigeria. By now Shane had worked out what to look for and he zeroed in on the chauffeur of the Chinese general, a Western-looking man, who was surrounded by a green aura.
“This last one is Judd,” Amitiel had told him. Each of these Djinn are your foes. Each must be defeated for you to be victorious. You must play this game as you would play chess. So, for instance, you are the queen, Robert is the knight, and outside these walls are the other key pieces.”
“Two rooks, two bishops and another knight?” Shane had mocked, uncomfortable with the comparison.
“Our first mission will be to recruit these others,” concluded Amitiel.
“Firstly, I prefer to work alone. Secondly, I’m no queen,” said Shane.
Amitiel laughed. “Gender is not important; the queen is the most powerful piece.”
“What about the king? You haven’t got the most important piece of the game? Your analogy sucks.”
“My analogy is just fine,” she frowns. “And as for the king, she is coming.”
“She?”
“Like I said, gender is not important.”
Shane has been lying awake for some time. Amitiel was sure that Phil Cumisky’s distraction and the following attack was scheduled for between three and four in the afternoon. Shane would meet Leo for the normal game of chess at one. Somehow or another he needed to make sure he was still in that area for at least two hours and that Robert was there too. He had a plan and explained it as best he could to Robert. Robert just nodded, agreeing to everything. Shane was impressed at the lack of questions. This guy just follows instructions, he thinks to himself. Perhaps he will be a good ally after all.
If the plan is to work timing will be essential. He will also need both Leo and Robert to follow his instructions to the letter. He is less worried about Robert’s part now but fears Leo may crack under the pressure. Shane leaves his cell at 13:50 and heads up to the psyche ward. As usual he is searched before leaving his wing and searched before entering the psyche wing. He sees that the game is already set up and Leo sits calmly waiting just like any other day. The enormity of what he is expected to do weighs heavily on Shane as he struggles to return the smile.
“Are you ready to play our final game?” asks Leo, as Shane takes a seat. Shane is not capable of joviality and remains stony-faced. Leo decides to kick-start the conversation.
“So, have you worked out how you’re going to do this?”
Shane looks around before he explains everything to Leo.
Reuben, as always, has done his homework. He has researched Stoke Prison heavily and has three of the prison guards on his payroll. The main building of the prison was built in 1900. Although a new block was added twenty years ago, the main building has only been majorly refurbished once, which, Reuben was glad to see, was back in the fifties. His plan relied on the antiquated structure of the building making it vulnerable. It was al
most too perfect. His only concern now was that one of his informers had failed to report in last night. Still, he had all the information he needed. The plan was flawless.
The new block contains the psychiatric ward, including the solitary cells and also the high-security wing. He wonders if there might be some useful inmates in there. It would be a waste not to utilise such talent, he thinks to himself.
The crux of Reuben’s plan concerns the older part of the prison, known as C wing, which houses B-rated prisoners. Below this wing is the main service area, which encompasses the gas boilers that heat the whole complex. C wing is a virtual tinder box and a survey carried out only six months earlier, which Reuben has possession of, states that “the Victorian premises are over-reliant on its ageing wooden structure and are a serious fire risk”.
Phil Cumisky is impressed that his brother managed to entice the screw, Boland, to allow him to smuggle the explosive device. Boland just wanted his little girl back.
The explosive is similar to the shoe bomb favoured by terrorists when planning to explode planes. It would set off a small explosion followed by a fire accelerant disperser.
Phil has also been told exactly which shaft he must drop the device down to cause maximum carnage. He will have three minutes to clear the area and get out to the yard. He’s not going to enjoy burning all these other inmates to death and has given some thought to letting a couple of friends know what was going to happen. Ultimately, though, he can’t risk his own safety for anyone else’s – even if they are mates. Anyway, the idea of being on the outside again with an eight ball of coke in his pocket and some whore bouncing up and down on his dick counteracts any guilt he feels.
The time is now 14:40. He will drop the device down the shaft at 15:00 as agreed. As he makes his way to the drop point he notices the black guy, Al Qaeda Bob, being escorted out of the wing by two guards. “What a jammy bastard,” he thinks to himself. “Gonna miss all the excitement.”