Mind Games

by Moore, TJ

  “Stan and I have gone to great lengths to tap into these security feeds. Some of them are public cameras mounted in parking lots or on top of buildings. Some of them are private cameras such as cell phones or laptops. With this many subjects to look after, I’ve honestly lost track.”

  All of the video feeds on the projector switched to a different angle.

  “This is the real reason we are here. This is not about money or power or any of that. From the beginning, I’ve had a vision. This is about catching monsters.

  “There are people in our society, in our city, that cannot be easily categorized. They are on the fringe. They are not like us. No, their minds are much weaker than ours. You’re probably wondering what I do when you are digging my tunnels and stealing my cash. I’m not going to lie to you anymore. I read. When I am here, I’m usually in the library. According to my readings, 1% of the United States population possesses psychopathic traits. That may not seem like a significant number, but they are responsible for almost half of major crimes.

  “And, they are all around us. Usually, these people have used their unique abilities to rise to the top in the field of their choice. Lawyers. Doctors. Businessmen. Famous actors. Rock stars. In fact, many of the companies that feed us and clothe us are run by CEO’s with psychopathic tendencies. These people are manipulative. It doesn’t matter whether they wear a suit or sweatpants. They come in all forms. Some of them are violent, but not all of them are killers.

  “Regardless of their motives, I’ve discovered there are many ways to label them: Con artists. Schemers. Liars. Cheaters. They are magicians in their own right, using misdirection and deception whenever they can. They are nothing more than human wrecking balls that destroy everything and everyone in their paths. But don’t worry. These bullies aren’t going to rule the block anymore. I have a plan.

  “We are going to rid this city of its most dangerous criminals. And, in doing so, we will decrease the collateral damage they cause upon our lives. Money from tonight’s heist will be used to fund my research.

  “I’m getting close to capturing our first test subject. But like I said. These people are slippery. Even under the unmatched scrutiny of our surveillance cameras, their behavior is difficult to decipher. The men and women that comprise this 1% have fooled everyone around them. But they will not fool us.

  “We are going to purify San Francisco. And unlike the shoot-em-up style of the city police, we are going to do it quietly. It is a thankless job. I know. But it must be done. And although you are away from them, you are helping your families stay safe. Your efforts here will not be forgotten...because we are doing the work of God.

  “Through my research, I will be able to do what he can’t. I will be able to prevent crimes from ever taking place.

  “Join me! Join me in eradicating the violence that plaques our city, our nation. We can’t let these monsters run loose any longer. I’m not interested in cleaning up after them. I want to catch them before they act. The recent studies I’ve come across claim these outliers as a lost cause...that they’re somehow biologically wired to be the way they are. But I’ve already made progress against those claims.

  “Though the mental states of these monsters have been brought on by natural causes...natural anomalies...I believe nature has also provided us with the tools to reverse the effects. I believe there is a chance to, in a way, rebirth them. Revive them. It will only take time.

  “Together, we can find the cure to crime.”

  The projector flickered off.

  Everyone sat in silence for a few moments before returning to their pie and conversations.

  Max looked around the room and waited for the surrounding banter to reach a certain level before he turned to Cameron. “Everyone here works their butts off to give The Leader what he wants, and we never see anything for it. I’m so tired of this bullshit. I want my damn money. I’ve worked for it, now it’s time to pay up.”

  “Max, you didn’t actually think he was going to...”

  “Cameron, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, a bag-faced man in the middle of a California highway captured a boy. They made their catch work harder than anyone because they knew he was smart. They knew he could do a good job. And he did just that. He did a damn good job. So what do they give him in return? Nothing. The end.”

  “Hmm. Sounds familiar…” Cameron said.

  “It should.” Max paused for a moment as if he had reached an epiphany. “Cameron, listen. We’re the two smartest people here. Everyone else, they’re just accepting their fates. No payment. And they seem fine with that because they don’t believe they can do anything to change it.”

  “Right.”

  “But, we’re different. We can do something.” Max grinned. “We should do something.”

  “Max. Enough of this.” Cameron said.

  “No. I’m just getting started.” His face twitched like a wound clock. “Frosty, I’ve got it.” Max covered his mouth with his hand, speaking through it in a hushed tone, trying not to attract attention to himself. “Look, The Leader is a jerk. We’re the victims here, right? I say we go up there and demand our money from the heist.”

  “That’s stolen money.”

  “Yeah, but we helped steal it. We should get some of it.” He raised his eyebrows in excitement. “Let’s go up there right now. I’ll put on my smooth business talk, and we’ll haggle a nice fat check for each of us. What do you say?”

  “Are you crazy?”

  “Come on, we’ll make it quick. How long does it take to write a check?” Max asked.

  “We don’t even know if he’s up there right now.”

  “Where else would he broadcast from? Pulling off such a successful heist, it’s one of the biggest days of his life. You bet he’s up there. Where else would he be?”

  “What about the library guard?”

  “We’ll make a ruckus in the hallway up there, and he’ll have to come handle it. We’ll make it look like I beat you up…”

  “Hey!”

  “What, it’s my plan. I’ll play the victor. So, you’re all doubled-over against the wall, right? And then you give him a big wallop to the groin and we lock him in the Sheri’s creepy doll room.” Max tapped a drumroll on his knees. “And it’s all downhill from there, my friend.”

  Cameron imagined the scene play out in his mind. “I don’t know, Max. Sounds risky.”

  “I’m sick of rolling over for them. The rebellion starts now.”

  A few heads turned as Max rushed up the stairs, but they soon rotated back to their conversations and board games.

  Cameron waited a few moments, so it didn’t look like he was following Max. When he got up, he padded his pockets with his hands, and kept looking down as if he forgot something important in the sleeping quarters. He met Max in the upstairs hallway.

  Max calmly opened the room to Sheri’s doll collection and waited for a few seconds with his hands raised to his mouth. Then, his face exploded into a dramatic rage.

  “I cannot believe you said that about my mother! How dare you, you piece of shit! What the hell, man? I ought to teach you what fat is. That’s right, give you a nice fat black eye for calling her that.”

  Cameron caught on and motioned forward with his hands. He learned this move from watching Kung Fu movies. “You want to go, little man? Cause I can take you! Bring it, boy! I will eat you aliiiiiive!”

  Max narrowed his eyes into furious slits, still wearing a slight smirk on his young face. “Oh, it’s so on. Get your ass over here!” He raised his fists.

  Cameron did the same and released several blows into the hallway wall. Max reacted with“Hmmphs!”and“Ooughs!” for every hit.

  “Why you son of…” Max jolted towards Cameron and punched the wall behind him. The walls were harder than he expected, and he felt a sharp sting run through his knuckles and up his arm.

  Cameron fell against the floor with a thud, and covered his eye with his hand. “Look, man. I’m sorry,
okay? Give me a break…”

  Max stood over Cameron with his hands raised in a spread-eagle position, flaring his nostrils. “Teaches you not to mess with me or my mother. Punk!”

  Cameron groaned in agony, finding it hard not to smile. “I warned you, but you were asking for it, baby.” He stood balanced in his spread-eagle and slowly lifted his leg into the air, up to his chest.

  The library guard ran out and pushed the two apart. “That’s enough! Get away from him!” He slammed Max against the opposite wall and stood over Cameron with his hands on his hips. “How did this start?”

  Cameron kept his eye covered with his hand and sniffled.

  Now, Max struggled to keep a straight face. “I’m sorry sir. It all started with his fat mother eating all those doughnuts. That’s where this started, sir.”

  The guard scrunched his face into distain and leaned further forward, legs planted. “Don’t waste my ti…”

  Cameron kicked the guard so hard in the tenders that he recoiled backwards, grabbing his crotch in pain. His glasses fell off and his knees buckled under his overweight torso, causing him to roll onto his side. All the blood rushed to his face and pushed vein out his forehead.

  Knowing their chance would soon pass, Max motioned Cameron to grab the guard’s legs while he lifted his arms. They dragged the overweight mass of a man into the doll room. Cameron held the guard to the floor while Max ripped off one of the doll’s scarves and shoved it into the pudgy man’s mouth as a temporary gag. The guard squirmed in attempts to free himself, but Cameron kept his foot firm against his back.

  Max hadn’t really thought this far ahead, so he had to improvise. He quickly closed the door and looked around the room. A sewing machine. Some gold and blue ribbon. A dresser and mirror combo. Dark curtains. A bookshelf.

  The curtains!

  He ran towards them and yanked with all his youthful strength. The heavy curtains fell in a large clump, and he spread them across the floor next to the facedown guard. Cameron anticipated Max’s intention and pushed the guard forward with his feet, rolling him into the center of the curtains.

  While Cameron finished sealing him within the drapes like a human burrito, Max searched the room for something to tie it shut. In the midst of his frantic exploration, he opened the drawers to the dresser and found several shoelaces braided together.

  “This will work.”

  Cameron caught a glimpse of the shoelace cord in the corner of his eye and realized that Max was confirming his father’s legends about Sheri’s husband, the Rabbit Foot Hermit. The man who stole shoelaces for sport.

  Max tossed the first cord to Cameron and grabbed several more, clutching them against his chest.

  While the guard writhed in the curtain, Cameron wrapped the cord around him and tied it tight, confident their captive would not escape. He and Cameron blocked the door with a tall wooden dresser.

  They shuffled from the hallway into the library and looked around. Max flicked on a small, green reading lamp that only dimly lit up the bookshelves. Sheri wasn’t kidding about her husband’s avid reading. There must have been several thousand books.

  A dusty globe and other knick-knacks cluttered the space. A few old style desks displayed a china set partially wrapped in newspapers.

  And, a small tin trashcan was filled to the brim with cigarette butts. The library gave off a raw mildew stench. Though all the books were neatly shelved, Cameron could still smell the sourness of the ink. Max walked the perimeter of the shelves, carefully inspecting the spines of the countless books.

  Cameron sealed the room by sliding a heavy, oak desk in front of the door. It squealed and moaned as he did this, and Max cringed at the attention grabbing sound. However, the socializing that continued in the living room below was so noisy that no one even noticed the situation taking place just above them.

  “What are you looking for?” Cameron whispered.

  “The opening to The Leader’s room, dummy. You think they just made it easy to find?”

  Cameron looked towards the top perimeter of the room where the edge of the bookshelves met the ceiling. “I thought you said you’ve spoken with The Leader before.”

  “Yeah. I have. They just had me blind-folded so I wouldn’t figure out how to get back in for a time like this.” Max accidently bumped his head on the bottom of one of the solid desks. “Dammit!” He rammed a leg of the desk with his arm, and a book fell from a shelf onto his foot.

  “I didn’t know you were such a klutz.” Cameron said.

  “I’m not.” Max crawled out from under the desk, stood, and looked up to where the book had fallen. He gave the desk another forceful shove. More fell from the shelves, but this time Max moved his feet as they tumbled to the wooden floor. “Hey, check it out.” He pointed at the desk. “Help me with this.”

  They pushed the desk another six feet forward, and two shelves of books toppled down. The gap in the shelves revealed a wooden lever. Unlike the mahogany wood used to construct the bookshelves, the wood was newer, stained a lighter oak color that stood out, almost glowing a little.

  Max pulled the lever and the wall perpendicular to the hallway shifted. Tiny gears ground away, creating a high-pitched scraping sound. The two shelves angled forward and scraped against the wood floor, leaving a butterfly-shaped scuffmark.

  They saw a white curtain.

  “This is it.” Max whispered. The tension in the room increased, leaving Max momentarily breathless. He turned to Cameron and pointed forward with his eyes as to say, ‘We’ve come this far. Don’t you dare think of leaving me here.Let’s go.’

  They inched forward, trying not to make their steps known on the squeaky wood flooring.

  A large shadow fleeted across the white curtain. The curtain rippled from the movement behind it.

  Cameron felt his heart rate increase steadily. He could feel it now, throbbing in his throat. Max’s adrenaline was pumping ever since he started the scene in the hallway, but this was different.

  This felt more live.

  It would be suicide to turn their backs to the white curtain. Max and Cameron concealed themselves behind the opposite bookshelves that made up the entrance into the private room.

  Cameron quickly reminded himself why he was here. The thought of his two beautiful girls gave him an extra boost of courage.

  Max held out his hand just beyond the edge of the rotated shelf, ready to signal Cameron. He counted down with his fingers.

  Five…

  Max wanted...

  Four…

  his...

  Three…

  damn...

  Two…

  money...

  One…

  FACE TO FACE

  Max and Cameron ran in frontof the white curtain that now showed no shadow. Only white light.

  The long room was about the size of a cheese-box school bus, and the intruders noticed one chair placed in front of the white curtain. They stood on either side of the chair.

  Max’s eyes were wild as he tried to not let his excitement overtake him. This was a rare chance, and he knew the he’d already accomplished something most workers only dreamed of by successfully entering into The Leader’s domain.

  Ripples waved across the white curtain, and Max sensed The Leader in the room. Further back.

  The two huge bookshelves closed behind them, sealing the room.

  Max didn’t want to show it, but he was as nervous as he’d ever been. The Leader’s power grew on him over time. He cracked his knuckles.

  Cameron wished he had a gun.

  A computerized voice blared from the other side of the curtain.

  “Wrong turn, boys.”

  Fear took Cameron’s breath away.

  The raspy voice only fueled Max’s anger. “You know why we’re here.” He stepped forward until the curtain touched his nose. “I’ve come for my money!”

  “Is that right?”

  “And you’re going to pay!”

  The Leader’s
raspy laugh rose from the other side.

  “This is a bad time.”

  “Oh really? You want me to drop by later?” Max clenched his fist. “Maybe I’ll bring a cup of sugar and we can work something out.”

  The Leader breathed heavily through the electronic voice changer.“No, I meant this is a bad time for you. Max, I’ve been watching you. I see you when you eat, how you chomp at your food like an animal. I wouldn’t expect anything else from…a teenager.”

  Max flared his nostrils.

  “Besides, Max, Why do you need money? I’ve provided for you.”

  “No,” Max said. “It’s the other way around. We provide for you. I’m the reason that heist worked. I deserve payment.”

  The large shadow moved behind the curtain. The leader now stood only inches from Max’s face on the other side. Only the thin curtain separated them. Max could smell The Leader’s sour breath.

  “I’ve already saved your life, Max. I could have killed you when you walked in. But I didn’t.”

  “So, you’re a coward then.”

  When the Leader laughed, Max felt the vibrations of his vocal cords.

  “Yeah, that’s why you need this curtain. Are you really so ugly that you need to hide away…like a beast in a chamber?”

  The Leader’s shadow enlarged as he walked away from the curtain towards the light source.

  Cameron listened as the Leader loaded a gun.

  “I have more bullets up here that I need. Actually, at least one for every worker downstairs. Who knows, maybe even two bullets per person. It would only take…”

  “You don’t scare me anymore,” Max interrupted.

  Silence.

  For a moment, Cameron heard his own heart beating.

  The lights dimmed.

  “You like games, don’t you Max?”

  “I’m not playing your game anymore, asshole.”

  “You shouldn’t talk like that. You’re just a kid. Naughty.”