Primal Nature

by Monique Singleton

  As expected, his demise caused the main body of the remaining soldiers to flee the palace and that left just a small contingent of fanatics to protect the palace. The revolutionaries made short work of them and entered the palace.

  The smoke was settling, and the noise receded as the group moved through the Presidential palace rooms. They found a few additional soldiers and servants that offered no resistance. Leaving them to their comrades, the point group continued.

  In the right wing of the palace they encountered a heavily locked and barred door. Blowing it up with Semtex, they pushed into what turned out to be a row of dungeons and the entrance to the lower levels of the palace. The deeper they went underground the worse the cells became. Finally, on the third underground level, they found some survivors. Some of the men and women they recognised as missing resistance fighters or other opposition.

  One cell held three women. An older woman—near to death—and two younger ones. Careful not to blind the three prisoners with their spotlights, the resistance group moved over to release the women from the chains that bound them to the bunks in the cell.

  Tonal detected a familiar scent. She knew one of the young women. Where had they met? The figure was dirty and covered in rags and dried blood. Her long black hair matted and half over her face. Dulce offered her some water, which she took, raising her head to drink revealing her face.

  Ah yes, that was where they had met—at Ortiz’s party.

  ‘Hallo Salina’ Tonal said. The young woman stopped drinking and focused on the dust-covered revolutionary that stepped up out of the shadows.

  ‘Well, well’ she said calmly ‘Look what the cat dragged in. The resistance, it figures.’

  ‘You know each other?’ Alex asked looking at Tonal.

  ‘She was with the President at the party in Ortiz’s compound’ Dulce answered for them, also recognising who the prisoner was. ‘She was his…consort.’ Turning to Salina she added ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I angered him’ was the cold and emotionless answer.

  The other young woman interrupted with a heartfelt plea. ‘Please, help my mother, she is hurt.’ Leaving the reunion for what it was, the revolutionaries set to freeing the three women and transported them up out of the dungeons and into the luxury of the palace. Alex called to one of the medics to take care of the older woman.

  In the daylight Alex finally got his first good look at the young woman Dulce and Tonal had identified as Salina. Of course, he had heard of her, but no pictures existed. She was the unofficial Presidential consort. A beautiful prize that was the President’s to do with as he wished. Obviously, he hadn’t wanted her anymore. Why else would she be in the dungeons?

  Feeling his eyes on her, Salina turned her head to observe the man who was obviously in charge of the revolutionaries. He was not bad looking and strong, in body but also in mind. He was the natural leader, and so of interest to her. Latching on to power was a natural instinct to Salina. She let her eyes fill with tears and slowly made herself look vulnerable, wishing him to come to her aid. She was not disappointed, he moved to her side and took her in his arms, offering his shoulder to cry on. Men were so predictable.

  Holding on tight, she sobbed convincingly. Well almost. The woman she had seen with Ortiz was staring at her. Looking at and seeing through the farce. She would have to be careful with that one. Get her out of the picture as soon as possible.

  ‘Please’ she whispered, ‘don’t let them hurt me anymore. I’m so scared.’ Alex stoked her hair and assured her that she was safe.

  Peace returned to the country, with the exception of a few isolated incidents. The revolutionaries installed their headquarters in a large building near the Presidential palace. The rebuilding of the country and its people started. Alex remained the face of the revolution. He was charismatic, and the people worshipped him. The council ruled the country in the meantime. Preparations were started for the transfer of power to a democratically chosen

  President and cabinet. There were a number of candidates for the Presidential position. Alex was one of them, spurred on by Salina and his popularity.

  His romance with Salina was the talk of the country. The revolutionary and the vulnerable petite woman he had saved. She played the media well, doting on Alex and referring to him as her saviour, her prince. Alex was smitten. She worked her magic. He wanted no more than to keep this beautiful and loving angel at his side. She understood him, to the very fibres of his being. She lived to make him happy. He had never experienced anything like this relationship before. Or so he thought.

  For more years than he chose to remember he had been in love with Tonal, but the short affair that had once made him so happy had ended badly. In his mind she had not acknowledged his love—had played with him. Had broken his heart into a million pieces. And now Salina was here, healing him, filling the hole in his being and more than that—she gave him a future.

  She played him well. She coached him in to a career that he had never wanted, that had never been his ambition. She instilled a feeling of value in him, of self-importance and of privilege.

  Tonal initially agreed with the relationship. Seeing how it made him happy. But deep down inside she mistrusted Salina. This was a manipulative woman. One that was used to getting her way—a woman with her own agenda.

  Slowly Tonal noticed the changes in Alex. He became more materialistic. Ok, in the jungle no one had owned anything, which was out of necessity. That it wouldn’t stay like that was to be expected. But Alex was leaning to the greedy side. She didn’t begrudge him his pleasures, but the government was picking up the tab. Alex’s family fortune had long ago gone to help the resistance. Maybe that was his reasoning why he was entitled.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

  I stalked into the room, my temper dangerously on the brink of exploding. What was he thinking, buying not one but two Ferrari’s, not to mention the Bugatti Veyron that had been delivered last month? I would give him a piece of my mind. This was a pure waste of money, and more than that, it was community money, tax money. Not his to spend. At least not like this.

  His scent was absent. He wasn’t there. But the cloying sweet smell of Salina’s perfume filled the air.

  She was sitting on the sofa with her legs folded under her, watching the TV—some stupid soap. Seemed like her. Anything with more depth would probably bore her anyway.

  ‘Where’s Alex?’ I asked brusquely.

  ‘He’s not here.’

  ‘I can see that’ I answered. ‘Where is he?’

  ‘Why?’

  I sighed, counting to ten under my breath. Seven, eight, nine, ten. Nope doesn’t really help. My temper was still up there near the clouds. ‘Don’t bother yourself with why, I need to talk to him.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘None of your business.’ I snapped. She was getting on my nerves. She did that a lot recently. She observed me with her sweet cloying smile.

  ‘You don’t like me do you Tonal.’

  ‘No’ I said on my way back to the door. Fuck tact. I was still fuming. I had no time for such a feather-brained manipulator. If she wanted to know how I felt about her, I would tell her.

  ‘Well at least you’re honest, this time.’ She remarked. ‘Anyway, it will not surprise you that it is absolutely mutual.’ I stopped walking and turned to her. The past weeks she had really pissed me off. Maybe now was the time to unburden my feelings.

  ‘You’re no good for Alex. His actions the past weeks have been totally out of character. You have a bad influence on him. He should be busy rebuilding this country. Do you even love him?’ I asked loudly, not caring who heard me now. ‘You don’t know what the word means. He adores you, God knows why. He should look through the veneer and see how rotten you are on the inside. How manipulative and totally narcissistic. The only person in the world who is important to you—is you. I wish his eyes would open. That he would finally see the damage that you cause. The changes in his character, in him, al
l boil down to you. To your manipulations and greed. He might finally see you for what you really are—a money grabbing, emotionless sociopath.’

  She only smiled.

  ‘I should thank you really, you know.’ She was enjoying this. I stayed quiet. Should have stopped talking a while ago. I wouldn’t give her any more reason to gloat.

  ‘Thanks to you he was extremely susceptible to me. You broke his heart, left it as ripe pickings for me. So really, the only one you have to blame for what is bothering you is yourself. Now doesn’t that put a different perspective on things.’

  ‘What do you really want with Alex?’ I asked. ‘Anything more than power? Money?’

  ‘What’s wrong with that? I’ve been abused all my life, since I was a small girl, men have wanted me, hurt me. Why shouldn’t I get what I want out of it?’ Her eyes were blazing—finally some emotion. ‘You have no idea how it’s been for me. When I was five my mother pimped me out to a variety of men then sold me to the first rich paedophile she could find. You see, I was a beautiful child. With warm eyes, a small body and flexible limbs. I learned at an early age that if I pleased these perverts, they would be nice to me, or at least not hurt me like my mother had done.’ Unconsciously she pulled her legs up and hugged her knees. ‘The pervert she sold me to, kept me as his so called “niece” for three years. By then I was too old for his tastes. He liked them young, and tight.’

  Despite my hatred for the woman, I shuddered at her history.

  ‘He sold me to a friend of his, a military man—someone with discipline and control issues. I was too recalcitrant, and he put me up for auction on the Internet. El Presidente bought me. I was nine at the time. I was shipped off to my new owner in a crate. Like an animal bundled in the hold of a plane.’

  Was this real or just another attempt at manipulation?

  ‘He chained me to his bed for the first nights, abusing me constantly. Raping me any way he could think of and believe me that was one creative man. Not that I need to tell you. He and Ortiz exchanged ideas and stories. I heard about what Ortiz did to you. But that was peanuts compared with what I endured. Slowly I made him believe that he had broken my spirit. I pretended to adore him. Led him on. In his own way I suppose he even started to love me. He kept me a lot longer than any of the others.’

  ‘We found you in the dungeons.’ I reminded her.

  ‘Yes, I tired of him. Started to thwart him. He enjoyed it at first, it gave him a reason to beat me. But he was a simple man, with simple needs and I didn’t fulfil them anymore. I refused to play along with his games and he turned out to be harder to play than I had thought. It worked for a while, but he tired of making compromises. Or maybe he just found my replacement. Anyway, I pushed him a little too far and he stuck me down there. He always said that he would rather see me rot than allow anyone else to have me.’

  ‘So, when we rescued you, you latched on to your next victim, your next meal ticket.’

  ‘You have no right to condemn me Tonal. I did what was necessary, and I will continue to until I have what I want.’

  ‘And what do you want?’

  ‘Everything.’ Her smile was vicious.

  ‘Alex is a man of the people, he never cared for material objects. His goals in life have always been to help his fellow people, to free this country from tyrants and money grabbers. You will not corrupt him. I will not let you.’

  ‘You will not let me? What makes you think that you have any influence left with him.’ She whispered. ‘He will do what I want. He wants to. He loves me. He will do anything to please me. I will get what is my due.’

  ‘That you will’ I said ‘but not maybe what you are hoping for. You’re a manipulative bitch Salina. I’m sorry that you had a bad start in life but get over it. You have the opportunity now to do something good with yourself. You could help Alex in his campaign to help the poor in this country. The oppressed and battered. People like those where you came from. Instead of only thinking about yourself, do some good.’

  ‘I don’t care about anyone else. I have absolutely no intention of tempering my goals just to help someone. Let them take care of themselves. That’s what I did. No one helped me. Let them all rot.’

  ‘Not at the expense of Alex’s peace of mind you won’t.’ I hissed.

  She smiled her lopsided smile. Slowly moving to me she answered ‘I will do whatever I want. And aside of killing me, there is no way that you can stop me.’ Walking around me she whispered in my ear. It was infuriating. But there was no way that I was going to react to her goading, no matter how difficult it was. What I wouldn’t give to be able to change here and now, to rip her apart, limb from limb.

  ‘You won’t do anything, will you?’ she laughed. ‘Cause he won’t believe you. He will listen to me when I tell him you’re jealous. That you begrudge him his happiness.’

  She was right, that was the worst of it. I was afraid that it was already too late to confront Alex with what she was doing. I had questioned his decisions more often lately, especially where they concerned Salina. More often than not this had resulted in heated discussions. Alex would not hear of any critique of his love. He was blinded to what she was doing, to the influence that she had over him. His obsession for this creature surpassed even his love for Dulce or me.

  ‘What are you going to do? Kill me? That would really push him over the edge. He would kill you. Now I would like that to happen, but not at my expense.’ She was back in front of me. The top of her head level with my chin, she was a small woman in stature, but her narcissism and arrogance made up for that.

  Her breath was warm, her scent nauseously sweet. ‘You could do us all a favour and leave now. That way I won’t have to get rid of you myself. And I can, you know. You are not Alex’s favourite anymore, you are way down on that ladder. He will get rid of you, I will make him. And you know that I can.’

  At that precise moment the door opened, I caught Alex’s scent just as Salina cried out, and staggered back, as if I had struck her.

  Stopping in his tracks, Alex caught my eye, his face first showing his confusion, then unbelief. Salina ran to him sobbing and buried her face in his chest.

  ‘What is it Salina, what happened?’

  I had lost the battle there and then when he closed him arms around this seemingly fragile creature. When he looked at me, condemnation in his eyes.

  I didn’t have to hear her sobbing narrative to know that it was my fault, that she was convincing him that I had threatened her, terrified her. Alex knew what I was capable of, maybe that sealed the conviction for him. That—combined with his knowledge that I disapproved of Salina—was enough to convince him that I had done something.

  ‘She scared me Alex.’ She sobbed. ‘I’m so terrified that she will hurt me, and I don’t know why. What have I done to alienate her so?’

  Disgust shone in his eyes he scowled at me. ‘Tonal, how could you?’

  ‘How could I what?’ he was pissing me off. ‘You know me better than that.’

  He seemed to pull himself together after that. ‘What did you want?’ he still wasn’t soothed.

  Fuck it, I was in trouble anyway. Might as well say what I came for. ‘The cars.’ I said very distinctly and extremely judgmentally.

  He blanched. ‘What about the cars?’ striving to keep up an appearance of control.

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake Alex, Two Ferrari’s? And you still have the Bugatti standing in the garage.’

  Now it was his turn to be pissed off. ‘Having a status car is part what is expected of me now. I’m an important figure, things are expected.’ It must have sounded just as lame to him as it did to me.

  ‘Expected by who? Salina? Yourself?’

  His face coloured bright red. Was it anger or embarrassment? Could have been both. ‘Back off Tonal. I can do what I want. If I want a car, I can buy one.’

  ‘Not with the country’s money you can’t.’

  ‘What’s it to you anyway. It’s none of your business.’<
br />
  ‘You made it my business Alex, when you asked me to join the cause.’

  ‘Well don’t overstay your welcome.’ He almost whispered that. But with my hearing he must have known that I would pick it up. I looked at him incredulously. What was he saying? That he wanted me to leave? Was he so far gone?

  Salina chose that moment to sob loudly, causing Alex to shift his attention to her. His previous anger resurfaced. ‘I know how terrifying you can be Tonal. If you can’t restrain yourself around others, then maybe you should make your own conclusions.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous Alex.’ I was close to real anger now. ‘I wouldn’t hurt or scare her, any more than anyone else close to you. You know that, give me some credit.’

  ‘Then why is she crying?’

  I looked at him, so possessive and protecting over this petite but brutally dangerous manipulator. The obsession for Salina was ever present in his stance, his very gaze.

  ‘Why?’ I answered. ‘Because it works.’

  It was useless to try to argue my side of the matter, to tell the truth. He was beyond listening to me—at least for now—while she sobbed in his embrace. She was a master at manipulation, and he was falling for it hook, line and sinker.

  I left the room, unwillingly listening to his soothing words. ‘Salina, my love, it’s ok, I won’t let anything happen to you, you know that, don’t you?’

  ‘She scared me’ was the sobbing reply, ‘she is frightening when she’s angry. What have I done to make her hate me like that? I just want to be friends. I know how much she means to you.’

  I should go back and rip her throat out.

  ‘Shh, my love.’ Alex answered. ‘You mean more to me than anything in the world.’

  ‘More than her?’ softly.

  Silence. ‘Yes, much more.’

  I had lost this battle. Maybe the whole war.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

  Alex was standing by the table filling glasses with champagne when Tonal and Dulce entered the room. He was smiling ‘Come in, come in’ indicating they join him at the bar. He had a big smile on his face. Pressing a glass in to their hands he motioned them to sit in the deep luxurious sofas.