“Meh,” Braydon replied. “To tell you the truth, I was never desperate for the money. I figured this gig would bring a bit of excitement in my life. As you can imagine Canada doesn’t have nearly the opportunity for mischief and mayhem that the states do.”
“Right, because everyone there are docile sheep,” Beau said.
Braydon smirked. “You haven’t met the right Canadians.”
I stepped into the conversation. “We’re heading back to Shadow’s place. End of story. Braydon, if you stay with us, I would appreciate the help. If you decide to leave however, I won’t stop you.”
The big man thought about it for only a moment. “I guess I don’t have anywhere else I need to be. Besides I do take pleasure in watching Beau screw himself over repeatedly.”
“You have a selective memory. If you recall, I was the one who dragged your imprisoned ass out of that Russian gulag a couple of years back.”
Braydon sighed. “You ever going to let me forget about that one?”
“No.”
“Fucker.”
“You bet.”
It was then that the door to the shed opened and out walked Isadora, casually, as if she just came out of a boutique.
Her hands were covered in blood.
“Have I ever mentioned how much that chick scares me?” Beau whispered. “Christ, every time I see her, she’s drenched in blood like that teenager on the rag from that Stephen King movie.”
Isadora gave us a look that crackled my bones.
“In the end he didn’t say a damn thing.”
“He’s dead then?” I asked.
She nodded. “I put him out of his misery with a knife in his heart. Strangely enough, his last words were asking for forgiveness.”
“We all say strange things moments before we die. I guess it’s all of our past catching up to us,” Braydon said.
Isadora nodded. “I’ll see this man again. His ghost will come back to find me at one point or another.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Beau shiver. “Man, everything about you is straight out of some spook show, isn’t it?”
Isadora smiled. “I am who I am. And you are who you are: a tequila-hazed Neanderthal.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
Isadora turned to me. “Still no word from Aria?”
I shook my head. “We’re going to head back to the house. Meanwhile, pray for the best. We’ve seen way too much of the worst already.”
“And Cairo? He still hasn’t returned,” she asked.
I frowned. “We can only assume he didn’t make it.”
I didn’t want to lose any more good people.
We’ll all make it out of this alive, I thought. But that thought was just a lie, one that I used to fool myself into believing that things weren’t as bad as they actually were.
The reality was things were much worse.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Shadow
I could tell she was afraid.
Aria was on her knees with her hands tied behind her back, a gun pointed straight at her face. Her entire body was trembling.
“Nathan, let her go,” I said. “She’s got no part to play in this.”
He looked at me with impassive eyes and then smiled.
I wanted nothing more than to break free of these handcuffs and smash his face in. Everyone had warned me about trusting Nathan, but I failed to listen.
Now, he was going to kill us both.
I watched as he ushered his men to return to their vehicles. One of them managed to force Reiko into the back seat, despite her struggling. The last thing I heard was her screaming for me.
I was helpless now to help her. Hell, I had always been helpless to help anyone.
“What are you going to do to her?” I asked.
Nathan screwed the tip of the silencer onto his pistol. “I don’t know. She belongs to Yuen Xi now. It’s best not to think about it,” he said. “Whatever he has planned won’t be pleasant. He has a strong disdain for the Japanese.”
“Nathan, you have me down on my knees. I’m at your mercy. Today, you can be the better man. Let Aria and Reiko both go. You got me. That’s all you need.”
He continued to ignore my words, instead choosing to survey his surroundings.
Nathan had brought us to the side of the mansion where the grassy cliff met the ocean. Below us, I could hear the tranquil sounds of the water brushing up against the rocks.
With the sun setting just beyond the horizon it seemed like the perfect place to die.
“I guess this is where I leave you, Shadow. You may not understand this now but what I’m offering you is a gift.”
Before I could open my mouth to protest, I heard the sound of the bullet, leaving his gun. I felt something cold penetrate my heart and immediately I crumpled to the floor.
In the background, I could hear Aria screaming.
Death has come,I thought asthe sounds of the world began to fade away.
It was funny, at that moment, dying didn’t seem so bad.
With whatever strength I had left, I turned to see Nathan put a bullet into Aria. She collapsed to the ground.
The darkness was coming for me, but I wasn’t afraid.
I knew that I would see Aria again soon enough.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lincoln
I’ve been threatened by the prospect of death many times, yet nothing terrified me more than this one simple fact:
I was going to be a father.
That was, if Calisto was actually telling the truth. I do admit, I was reckless when it came to sex; often forgoing more effective forms of contraception and using the good ol’ method of pull and pray.
It had worked thus far—until now.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of it all. There once was a time where I wanted nothing more than to start a family with Calisto, where I envisioned us abandoning all the hoopla of expensive things and board room meetings and settling for a more quiet life instead.
Maybe somewhere out in the country.
And of course, we’d have beautiful children; bundles of joy running around, laughing, leaping onto me and calling me daddy.
It’d be nice for someone to call me that for once, in a non-sexual manner.
“You alright?” Isadora asked, shifting in the passenger seat.
I snapped out of my daze and focused on the road again. “Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About?”
“Family.”
“I didn’t know you had any. I always got the impression that you were alone.”
I pretty much was. However, this baby would change everything.
“How important is revenge to you?” I asked.
“I dream about it every day. Today, I fulfilled a part of that dream by ridding this world from a murderous beast such as Buchanan. Tomorrow, hopefully Calisto’s neck can find a way to the tip of my knife.”
I took a deep breath. “Can I tell you something?”
“Go ahead. In the short time we’ve been together, I feel like we’ve been through enough to warrant confidence in one another.”
“Calisto is pregnant.”
Isadora looked at me stunned, seemingly feeling the full weight of the bomb that I had just dropped on her.
“I think it’s my baby,” I added, just for the ripple effect.
She struggled to regain her composure but when she did, she looked none-too-pleased.
“You slept with that monster?”
“Numerous times,” I replied. “I used to love her.”
Isadora exhaled deeply. “I see.”
“Look, she was a different person back then—or maybe not. Perhaps she was playing me all this time, the same way she played Shadow.”
“I’m not one too judge,” Isadora said.
“The fact of the matter is there’s a baby growing inside Calisto, one that may very well be mine. The situation has gotten more…hazy.”
I
sadora frowned. “How sure are you that it’s your child?”
“Does it matter?” I asked. “She’s still pregnant. There’s a lot of bad karma to go along with killing a pregnant woman, no matter how twisted and evil the bitch is.”
“You’re right. Despite the vileness of the mother the child within is still innocent,” Isadora said. “How far along is she?”
“I’m not sure. Didn’t figure to ask, but judging from the size of her belly, maybe five months?”
“I can wait another four months to kill her, if need be,” Isadora said.
I shook my head. “I don’t think it’s that simple. A baby needs her mother.”
“Not if the baby has a good father,” Isadora was quick to reply. She looked at me. “Do you want this child?”
“Well first I have to figure out if it’s actually my kid. Calisto isn’t exactly the model citizen when it comes to telling the truth.”
“And if it is your kid?”
And that’s the thought that frightened me. What would I do?
I was in no state to be a father. When it came to love, I failed on every single aspect—either choosing the wrong girl to love or failing to accept another person’s genuine affections towards me.
I could barely take care of myself. What hope in hell did I have taking care of someone else?
“I don’t know, Isadora. Believe me, I’m just one giant sad sack of confusion at the moment.”
Up ahead I watched as Beau and Braydon pulled onto the driveway of Shadow’s mansion on their bikes.
My mind shifted from the thoughts of having a child to wondering whether or not the people I cared most about were dead.
The very idea of losing Aria—despite her not loving me in the way I wanted her too—was a painful one.
And then there was Shadow, the only man on earth that I trusted. It was a shame he couldn’t trust me in return. The first opportunity I got, I seduced his girl.
He needed his chance to confront me about it, and more than anything, I needed his forgiveness for being such a terrible friend. Neither could be achieved if he was dead.
I would trade my life a thousand times over if it meant that those two were still alive and breathing.
I stepped out of the car and closed the door behind me.
Both brothers already had their guns drawn and were approaching the house cautiously. I did the same.
“Yes Delilah, I know,” Isadora said.
Typically I wouldn’t situate myself close to anyone who talked to their deceased loved ones, but with Isadora, I figured I’d make the exception. I felt a little safer being around her, seeing as how she was an efficient stone cold killer.
Braydon cautiously opened the door of the mansion and took a peek inside while Beau treaded closely behind him.
It took only a few minutes for Braydon to go through the house, gun drawn, carefully clearing each room. For such a big man, his footsteps were incredibly light.
Beau, on the other hand sauntered through the house with the subtly of an idiot mule, kicking in the doors with gusto and screaming “clear” at the top of his lungs.
How this guy managed to survive this long was beyond me.
Once the house was cleared we congregated in the kitchen.
“Nothing?” I asked.
“Only the dust,” Braydon said as he opened up the fridge and took out a carton of juice.
He poured himself a glass and then walked to the large bay windows which lined up the wall. “I have to say, this is one of the most spectacular views—”
He suddenly cut his speech short.
I turned to the direction he was looking at, and sure enough were the bodies of two people.
“Shit,” I cried as I bolted through the kitchen’s side door. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.”
Lying on the ground, close to the edge of the cliff side, were the bodies of Aria and Shadow.
I ran towards Aria, and lifted her lifeless body from the ground.
“Aria,” I cried as I wrapped my arms tightly against her.
She felt cold and looked pale. I pressed my ear against her chest and listened.
And I was greeted with a faint heartbeat.
Aria wasn’t dead.
“Come on girl, stay with me here,” I said as I began shaking her gently. “You can’t leave me just yet.”
Slowly, her eyes fluttered opened.
She stared at me as if I were an apparition from a dream. Her mouth slowly parted and she whispered to me, “Shadow.”
And that was when I heard his voice from behind. “Hands off my girl shit head.”
I spun around and saw the man who was my closest friend in the world. He wasn’t dead either, much to my relief.
“Shadow?” I said, surprised and relieved at the same time.
And that’s when he punched me.
This wasn’t going to end well.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aria
Much to my surprise, I was still alive—cold but breathing nonetheless.
As my eyes fluttered open, I was surprised to see Lincoln alive and well and for that I was relieved.
I guess my rescue plan did end up working out after all.
“Shadow,” I gasped. I suddenly remembered watching the man I loved collapsing to the ground, after being shot by the asshole named Nathan.
From where I lay I saw that he too was alive and well.
The relief I felt was like heavy chains being unshackled from my heart.
“Hands off my girl shit head,” Shadow said. He trained his eyes onto me for a moment, a look of concern melting away into relief.
“Shadow?” Lincoln asked.
And that was when the fists started flying.
There was nothing more tragic than watching two friends fight.
What wrenched my gut even more was the fact that they were fighting over me.
I slowly climbed to my feet, with the help of Isadora, and watched in horror as Shadow began throwing a barrage of fists at Lincoln.
“Stop it!” I shouted. However my pleas fell on deaf ears.
I staggered forward but found my legs gave way underneath me. It was Isadora who rushed to my side and lent a shoulder for me to lean on.
“I’d say you’ve been drugged,” she frowned.
I closed my eyes and recalled the bullet that Nathan had sent into my heart. But it wasn’t actually a bullet was it? As to why he didn’t finish us off, I had no answer nor did I care to come up with one. The important thing was that we were both alive.
Shadow seemed less grateful than I was to still be breathing. He was filled with rage and focused on reducing Lincoln to a puddle of blood. I was baffled as to how Shadow wasn’t feeling the same after-effects of the drug that I did.
I turned to Beau, who was standing next to me. “Do something. Break this fight up,” I demanded.
He shook his head.
“I’ve learned the hard way when to interfere and when to hang back and allow things to play out. This is one of the latter things.”
“Are you fucking stupid?” I cried. “Shadow’s going to kill him.”
“For once I have to agree with my brother;” Braydon chimed in. “There’s a score to settle between these two. Let them settle it alone.”
I bit my lip and felt the weight of my legs give way underneath me. Whether it was from being shot up with lord knows what, or the sight of two men I cared about beating the snot out of each other, I didn’t know.
“Shadow, stop this for fucks sake,” Lincoln pleaded as he narrowly dodged a fist that grazed the side of his temple. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“You don’t want to fight me but it’s good if you go and sleep with my girl?”
Lincoln took a few steps back and shook his head. “I didn’t sleep with her Shadow.”
“Oh yeah? And what did you do then?”
“I fingered her on top of a piano, that’s all.”
Beau turned to me. “Was that
on top of the antique piano in my room?”
God, I was so embarrassed. Sheepishly, I nodded.
“Damn it, Aria, that was an antique.”
“Sorry,” was all I could manage.
“Ugh,” Beau shouted, almost at the top of his lungs. “I swear I’m living in a loony world. It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.”
Shadow didn’t seem thrilled either. “Whether it was your fingers or your ruthless cock, I don’t give a shit. You still broke my trust.”
Lincoln lowered his guard for a moment. “You’re right. I’m a bad guy. All I can do is say I’m sorry.”
Shadow’s laugh was full of doubt and mockery. “Are you really?”
“I am.”
“There are a million girls in the world out there. Why go for the girl that I love?”
Lincoln paused, before finally answering. “Because Aria is that one in a million,” he replied. His tone had noticeably changed from apologetic to angry. “And at that time, you were too blind to see it. All you ever fucking do is rage and fail to see everything else that’s happening around you. You fail to see who in life you’re hurting, you selfish asshole.”
“How can an asshole be selfish?” Beau whispered to me under his breath.
I replied with two simple words. “Shut up.”
“Fuck you, Lincoln. You don’t know what it’s like growing up in my shoes,” Shadow spat.
“No I don’t, Shadow. But you know what? You don’t know what it’s like growing up in my shoes either,” Lincoln replied. “You try waking up every day cold and starving, not knowing if you were going to make it through another night. You don’t think that wears a person down? You don’t think I had my own set of demons to deal with?”
Shadow stood there, almost seemingly stunned. “I…” but before he could reply, Lincoln charged at him full steam, and tackled him to the ground.
“You’ve always been a selfish prick,” Lincoln said as he launched a parade of punches onto Shadow. “I feel like all I’ve ever done is give and all you ever do is take.”
“Fuck you,” Shadow cried out. “You must have selective memory. When you started sleeping with Calisto, did I give two shits about it? Did I say anything?”
Lincoln laughed. “Your sister wasn’t for you to give. She’s her own woman—a crazy, psychotic lunatic, yes—but a free woman nonetheless.”
Revenant: The Midnight Society Book Three Page 15