by Hadena James
Gabriel’s phone rang, and he jumped a little and took a deep breath.
“Hello?” Gabriel answered his phone. I tried to be nosy and see who it was as he put it up to his ear. “Yes, we’re fine. Still trying to figure out where the control room is.” Gabriel told the other person. He was silent. “We seem to have narrowed it down to one of two locations, but we haven’t figured out how to get inside.” He went silent again and I moved in closer to hear the other person on the phone. I couldn’t tell exactly who it was, but it was a guy. “No, Malachi thinks we can disable some of the more sophisticated protective devices from there. For instance, there’s a gun that comes out of the ground when it senses the downwash from helicopter propellers.” He went silent again. “Yes, we have talked to Apex. Alright, here she is.”
“Hello?” I said unsure of who would be on the other end since he had mentioned Malachi and Apex.
“Aislinn, I’ve only got a few minutes. See if you can get Peter to arrange for a call somehow from John Huntington.” Eric told me.
“Why John?” I asked.
“Apex and John found the bunker together. Apex went downstairs while John stayed upstairs until they figured out how the door in the floor worked.”
“Apex failed to mention that.”
“He’s been very busy lately between you and your friends.”
“You are well informed for a prisoner.”
“Peter has been keeping me in the loop on your situation as well as Nadine’s.”
“You don’t even know Nadine,” I told Eric.
“That’s true, but you seem to think of her as a friend, which is rare, so she has to be a somewhat decent human being and not a serial killer.”
“The universe is her serial killer.” I told him.
“I have no idea what that means,” Eric answered.
“One day, I’ll explain it to you.” I chuckled softly sometimes I found myself hysterical, but only Xavier seemed to agree.
“Are you okay?” Eric finally asked.
“Fine,” I told him. No need to mention the leg right this second. Sometimes I thought Eric was only in prison because he wanted to be. I didn’t need him escaping to come find Gabriel and I, especially since Patterson had escaped custody.
“Are you really fine?” Eric asked.
“I’ve been in worse situations and in worse shape.” I told my brother, continuing to omit the leg thing. “I’m not enjoying this freaking bunker, but Malachi and the rest of the team are having trouble getting here, so I need to get in the control room and hope that I can find some way to turn off the defense system.
“I imagine John would know.”
“John has no tongue, Eric. Even if he does call, I’m not entirely sure how we are going to have a conversation about the control room.”
“He might be able to text.”
“Did he escape custody?” I asked.
“No, why would he?” Eric replied.
“Then how is he going to text?” I asked my brother trying to point out the faulty logic in his statements without actually flat out stating it.
“If he’s in custody like I am, then he could text.” Eric told me cryptically.
“That was not at all helpful, you know that right?”
“You’re cranky, are you in pain?”
“No, I’m stuck in deliverance country with a psychopath trapped in a room in the basement, and it’s just Gabriel and I, and frankly, said psychopath is scarier than me.” I told my brother.
“Raphael is still alive?”
“I haven’t lured multiple psychopaths into deliverance country to a weird freaking bunker in the hopes of watching them battle to the death to see who gets to kill us.” I snapped at my brother.
“Why haven’t you killed him?”
“Because he might be useful.”
“Ok, wait, John isn’t useful because he has no tongue, but Raphael might be even though he doesn’t have vocal cords?”
“Why did he cut off his own tongue? You know Gabriel saw him do it? I think it might have scarred him a little bit.”
“He couldn’t tell any secrets.”
“Seems a bit extreme, but I guess it beats sewing your lips together. Ok, so I have to find the control room and speed up our exit. I don’t like being in here. I feel trapped.”
“I didn’t know you were claustrophobic,” my brother said to me.
“I’m not, but I am stuck in a metal box underground with Raphael just a ladder below me.” I tried not to sound desperate.
“Are you injured or is it Gabriel?” Eric asked.
“Me. It’s not bad. Just a misunderstanding I think. Dinged up my leg a little bit.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do to speed up your rescue. I never thought I’d ever see you as the damsel in distress.” Eric said.
“That is very complicated,” I told my brother and hung up.
“What is complicated?” Gabriel asked as I handed his phone back to him.
“My brother called me a damsel in distress.”
“Well you do need rescuing.”
“I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t needed it first,” I pointed out. “So, I guess that means you are also a damsel in distress.”
“I would argue with you, but I have a feeling you might be right.” Gabriel told me.
“Damn,” I said. “If you had disagreed, I would have felt better.
“Why?” He asked.
Chapter Nine
“BECAUSE YOU REALIZE it’s going to be Malachi that saves us, right? I am never going to hear the end of it. Neither will you. It will make his ego swell to enormous proportions.
“Well maybe we should try to save ourselves.” Gabriel suggested. I sat down against the cool wall and let its chill sink into my clothes. It was March in Maine. We could leave the shelter of the bunker, but it was climate controlled and I didn’t really have a coat or any layers I could add to keep warm, and I wasn’t built for cold weather. I really did need rescuing. For a moment, I wondered if this was how Nadine felt always needing rescuing from someone, sometimes even from her own self. I didn’t know. I wasn’t one to judge. My life was every bit as dysfunctional as hers. For some reason, I was thinking about her a lot today. Possibly because I had set myself up to be kidnapped in an effort to save Gabriel and almost had part of my leg eaten as a result and Nadine had her leg eaten by a tiger as a teenager. I sighed.
“I feel like there is something wrong with my brain. I keep comparing myself to Nadine Daniels.” I blurted out to Gabriel.
“Well, this is more of a Nadine situation.” Gabriel told me. “However, I think the problem is that of all the people that could rescue us, we have Malachi. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’ll get the job done quickly. But I also think you are right and we will never hear the end of it. If Nadine were in the country, she would have people here, trying to hack the bunker because it has to run on the internet somehow to communicate with the devices in the woods. She would also have plans in place with backup plans and backup plans for the backup plans, not to mention she would have Zeke and Anthony and Sebastian. You know, people who would come get us and not remind us every time they saw us.”
“Brilliant!” I suddenly stood up and regretted it. I felt woozy. There was blood on the leg of my pants. I was bleeding, and I shouldn’t have been.
“What was brilliant and are you okay?” Gabriel grabbed hold of my hands as my knees buckled. Just how deep did the gash on my leg go? How much muscle had Raphael intended to feast upon? I remained kneeling, letting Gabriel take most of my weight by leaning into his chest as I pulled up my pants leg. My fingers fumbled at the gauze covering the wound. It too was soaked in blood. Enough that it wet my fingers as I pulled at it.
“Aislinn?” Gabriel sounded concerned.
“Call Xavier,” I told him as I pulled the gauze and tape off the wound.
“What’s up, Gabriel?” Xavier’s voice sounded chipper even on speaker phone in this dungeon.
“I think Ac
e is about to pass out which isn’t like her. Can I send you pictures and get your opinion about her wound and what I should do about it?”
“How bad is it?” Xavier asked.
“She’s bleeding,” Gabriel said. Except I wasn’t a bleeder. I should have died from blood clots or injuries long before now. But I hadn’t because that was my body’s talent. Clot wounds closed, not self-destruct, I thought as I listened to Gabriel’s heart. It was speeding up, as was his breathing. I felt him move. I heard his phone camera click as he took the pictures. There was a ding, and I guessed it was to let him know the message had been sent.
“I feel awful,” I told my boss as I carefully laid myself down on the floor.
“And all because I thought your brother would play by the rules,” I told him.
“What rules?” Gabriel asked.
“The rules for my surrender.” I answered.
“No damaging you.” I told him.
“He didn’t damage me, he damaged you,” Gabriel told me as his phone beeped again.
“Damaged me, to damage you,” I told Gabriel. “This was meant to be a form of psychological torture for you,”
“Xavier told me to burn your leg,” Gabriel told me.
“He just wants revenge for me shoving a piece of hot metal in him to keep him from bleeding to death.” I told Gabriel. “Hey, Gabe, get a big pan, heat it on the stove, then apply it to the wound. Seal as much of it as you can the first time. I will probably pass out. Don’t let your brother kill me if I’m unconscious.”
“My brother is downstairs.” Gabriel told me.
“I know. I would still prefer he not kill me. Tell Fiona and Vlad to hack the bunker,” I closed my eyes. “Am I really going to die because of your brother in some crappy bunker in Maine?”
“No, you are not going to die.”
“Good because I thought my death would be more exciting than this. I thought there’d be fighting and stabbing and blood, not mine, before I died.”
“How much blood have you lost?” He asked me.
“I don’t know, how many giant puddles are there?”
“None,” Gabriel told me. “Hold on.” I felt his hand on my face. It felt cool against my skin.
“She’s been bleeding, but she’s talking all weird. But there are no puddles of blood like I would expect if she was actually bleeding to death. Just what was on the bandage, her hand, and her pant leg.”
“Okay,” Xavier said. “Well don’t apply the pan then. Ace, how much pain are you in right now?”
“I don’t know. Is Fiona hacking de bunker?”
“Is she high?” Xavier asked.
“High? No, I don’t smoke pot.” I answered.
“Gabriel, has she had access to pain medication or did Raphael give her something you haven’t found yet?”
“Not that I know of,” Gabriel said.
“Hmph,” I rolled onto my back and looked at Gabriel. He looked like a red-headed angel but only because there was a canned light in the ceiling right behind his head. I giggled again.
“Ace,” Xavier’s voice sounded weird.
“What?” I asked.
“I need you to take off all your clothes,” Xavier told me.
“This is just an excuse to see me nude again, isn’t it?” I asked him.
“No, I really need you to get undressed.”
“Why?” I asked. The world spun a little bit.
“Because you’ve been known to bleed when you are on narcotics.”
“Not on narcotics except Percocet.” I told Xavier.
“How many?”
“Two,” Gabriel answered. “I’m holding the bottle.”
“She might fight you, but you have got to check her for a patch,” Xavier said.
“What kind of patch? Like a cabbage patch?” I asked.
“What?” Xavier said.
“A pain medication patch. Raphael would have had to apply one to her to keep her immobile while he cut into her leg like that.”
“Injected me with morphine,” I told Xavier.
“Gabriel, this is very important. Find the patch and keep the Percocet away from her.”
“Please don’t kill me,” Gabriel said to me as he picked me up off the floor. I wanted to protest, the floor had been cooler than the air or Gabriel’s body. Plus, his fireman’s carry made me want to throw up. He seemed a little frazzled, even for Gabriel having a meltdown over whatever it was Gabriel had meltdowns over.
“Not kill, came to save you from yourself Cain.” I said to him wondering if it made sense. I wasn’t quite sure. My head felt weird and I wanted to throw up all those Doritos I had eaten earlier. Which would be bad because I really loved Doritos for some reason.
“You mean Able?” Gabriel asked.
“Able to do what?? I responded, staring at his back. Part of his shirt was tucked into the pants he was wearing. It was really annoying me. I tried to tug on it and my arms didn’t seem to understand what I wanted them to do. “This makes my leg hurt.” I told him as he took another step.
“As I said, please don’t try to kill me for this, I’m not sure you have any clue what I’m talking about right now,” Gabriel told me.
“Me either,” I answered, lowering my head onto the back of his shoulder. There was nothing comfortable about a fireman’s carry. The shoulder of the carrier was jammed into your mid-section. And your body bounced with every step, driving the shoulder deeper into your gut. Even if I hadn’t felt like I was getting motion sick, I would have been on the verge of disgorging all the Doritos just based on his shoulder in my stomach and the movement of it. It was like being lightly punched in the gut with every step.
“Down,” I told Gabriel.
“Just two more steps,” Gabriel replied.
“No more steps, this is not a 12-step program.” I told him.
“What?”
“What?”
“Ok, I’m going to set you on this couch and then I need you to cooperate and not kill me, do you understand?”
“Why do you think I’m going to kill you? I came to rescue you. Now we both have to be rescued by Malachi which sucks.”
“Ace, I’m going to take your shirt off of you and search you for a pain patch, do you understand?”
“Why does everyone want to see me nude?” I asked as he sat me down. My head was on a pillow that had magically appeared. He started to lift my shirt and I slapped his hands. “This is not a peep show. Why am I taking off my shirt?”
“Xavier thinks Raphael might be poisoning you.” Gabriel told me.
“Okay, shirt off,” I said as I jerked at the stupid scrub like top. I felt something rip. I wasn’t sure if it was the shirt or the pants.
“The good news is he left your bra on you,” Gabriel told me.
“Who wore my bra? Did you get pictures of it?” I asked.
“Oh, good lord,” Gabriel responded.
“I love Lucas, but it had better not have been him. The straps won’t close if it was. He’ll have bent the hooks from the stress of the size of his chest.”
“Ace, just relax. Turn a little so I can see your back.” Gabriel told me.
“Back? Back where? Where are we going to go look? Is that where the pictures are?”
“If I say yes will you turn around?”
“I am sitting on a couch, how am I supposed to turn around?” I flopped forward until my head was about even with the wound on my lower leg. I could smell the blood. “Am I bleeding?”
“A little. What happened to my leg?” I asked.
“Oh, dear lord it’s not here,” Gabriel told me, his hand running across my shoulders and lifting up my hair.
“I don’t have tattoos. Too much scar tissue.”
“I should have just killed him?” Gabriel said.
“Killed who? Are you talking to me? About me? I’m confused. I don’t feel very good. Gabe, this doesn’t feel like the last time I thought I was going to bleed to death.”
“Gabe?”
Gabriel said.
“You’re Gabe.” I pointed out.
“Ace, I need to remove your pants, do you understand?”
“I’m so telling your secret girly friend.” I told him.
“Gabe and girly friend. You are high,” Gabriel told me.
“Whose girly? Is it the same person who wore my bra? Did you get pictures? I bet tequila was involved. Malachi can drink like a fish, but once the tequila comes out, it’s all over but the crying, literally. He’ll cry, because he is too tall for all the girls he knows. We should set him up with Fiona. She’s tall.”
“Pants, Aislinn? Can I remove them?”
“I don’t care what you do with your pants. Are you hot? It’s hot in here.” I agreed with him.
“I would feel better if you removed your own pants, can you do that?”
“It is hot,” I agreed with him again and began trying to wriggle out of the pants. Gabriel sucked in air, probably because it had been a long time since he had seen my scars. They weren’t pretty, and they weren’t getting any better. It was like they were reproducing. “They’re like rabbits.”
“What about rabbits?” Gabriel said.
“I don’t know. We aren’t eating rabbits, are we?”
“What?” Gabriel asked.
“I don’t know, Gabe, you said something about rabbits. I’ve never eaten rabbit, but I don’t think I would like it very well.” I told him. “Rabbits are like dogs, very cute, but rabbits can carry tularemia.” Gabriel jerked on my pant legs from the bottom by my feet and lifted me off the couch part way. I fought to keep them on. Nothing was making sense. Why was Gabriel undressing me in this weird place on this strange couch and did I need to shoot him? That was going to be a problem because there was more than one of him and there was a bear behind him.
“Bear!” I shouted.
“What?” Gabriel frowned at me and finished jerking off my pants. I heard them rip as the seams gave way in our tug of war.
“There’s a bear behind you!”
“How’d a bear get in here?” Gabriel spun around gun drawn.
“You can’t shoot the bear, he’s just doing bearish like things. Bears are very curious creatures. And they are smart. Have you seen my dog?”
“Badger!” I called and then whistled.