Jill grabbed the radio from Alvin.
“Are you sure?” she said. “You’ve tried every key?”
“Every single one. And I’ve tried picking the lock. I’ve tried breaking down the door. It’s rock solid. I can’t get to them.”
“Are you certain you’re at the right room? The east wing, second door on the right?”
“It’s the only locked door in the house,” Patrick said. “I know they’re back there.”
“He needs to shoot the lock,” Alvin said.
“No, that’s a terrible idea,” said Jill. “He’ll bring a hundred slaves down on him.”
“But time’s running out,” said Alvin.
Jill took a deep breath. She looked down at her legs, dangling from underneath her formal dress.
She spoke into the radio. “Patrick, we’re going to Plan B.”
Two minutes later, Alvin dropped Jill off at the front door of the mansion. She presented her invitation to the doorman, and stepped inside.
Everyone was in the ballroom, standing in rapt attention as Renata spoke from onstage.
“And then you figured out the second clue,” Renata said. “I was most impressed. Tributes to kings, both born and elected...”
Renata looked right at Jill.
“Ms. Wentworth,” she said. “I wasn’t aware you were here.”
Jill felt the entire room turn to look at her. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.
“You were so clever to figure out the first two clues,” Renata said. “Please, won’t you tell us how you did it?”
Jill looked across the room at the grandfather clock. 11:56.
She was so nervous she could hardly speak. She knew that the minute she opened her mouth, she was inviting Renata to come down and kill her.
“I’d rather tell you how I answered the third clue,” Jill said.
A collective gasp from the students all around. Renata’s eyes went wide, but then a smile came across her lips.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s hear it.”
Jill pointed at the hallway leading to the east wing. “Nicky and Ryan are in the--”
“Hang on!” Renata shouted. Her voice thundered through the room, forcing Jill and everyone else to be silent. A few precious seconds passed with nobody speaking at all, then Renata walked to the front of the stage and said, “It’s no fun if you skip straight to the answer. Walk us through it, Jill. Show us how you solved the clue.”
Jill’s eyes darted back to the clock. 11:57. She’d have to go quickly.
“An expression of mortal frailty,” she said, her voice quivering. “That is the first line. It is a reference to the Rose Ransom, and the three clues you prepared. Each clue is a reminder to us mortals that we are fragile and destined to die one day.”
Jill’s mouth was so dry she had to stop and lick her lips. She forced a gulp of saliva down her throat. When she opened her mouth to continue, her voice was weak.
“Death and new life made manifest,” she said. “That is the second line. It is a reference to the Rose Ransom play, in which Renata’s performance makes manifest both death and new life.”
A tickle in Jill’s throat overtook her and she had to cough.
“Somebody give the girl a drink,” Renata said. Mattie came rushing across the room with a glass of clear liquid and ice. Jill took a swig and grimaced at whatever was in that glass. It burned as it went down her throat, but at least it cured the cough.
Her eyes darted over to the clock. 11:58.
“In the throes of agony eternal, within and without the square,” Jill went on. “Those are the last two lines of the clue, and they tell us where Nicky and Ryan are hidden. The poem has already told us to think of the Rose Ransom game, and the play within it. Now, in the final lines, you are telling us about a place where the throes of agony eternal are stored, within and without the square.”
“You’re losing us, Jill. And time is running out. I want a more adequate explanation before you tell us the answer.”
“The square is a dual reference,” Jill said. “On the one hand, it means four walls. Without the square is a phrase telling us about something happening outside the four walls, or, in theater terms, a time when you broke the fourth wall.”
“The fourth wall? Go on.”
“You are an actress, and in theater, the fourth wall is a term describing an imaginary barrier between performer and audience. You broke that wall when you stabbed yourself with the knife. The play was no longer a fantasy. You bled for real.”
“Very nice. But what about within the square, Jill? That too is part of the clue.”
“Within the square is a reference to the dresses you wore onstage, and the place you keep them. Those dresses show us the throes of agony eternal, and there is a room in your house where you’ve stored every one of them, each inside a glass case in the shape of a square.”
“Interesting,” Renata said. “Do tell, Jill. Where might one find this room?”
“In the east wing of your mansion,” Jill said. “Nicky and Ryan are there. I have solved your clue and it’s only 11:59.”
Renata smiled.
“That is a most interesting theory,” she said. “But remember, the Great Beyond demands the three reddest roses in the kingdom. Just because you know where the third rose might be doesn’t mean you have saved the princess. The rules require you to find the third rose before the clock strikes twelve.”
As soon as Renata finished speaking, the grandfather clock sputtered, clicked, and let out a resounding DONG.
“It’s this way!” Jill shouted. Pushing through the crowd, she charged into the hallway.
DONG.
“Follow me!” she yelled.
As soon as she cleared the crowd she broke into a mad sprint, with a stampede of seniors running behind her. She pushed past the servants standing watch at the edge of the ballroom, leading the whole class down the hallway.
DONG.
She led them through the art gallery, into the wide corridor, and towards the room where she had sought shelter from Renata the last time she was here. Two enormous wooden doors stood closed in front of that room. She grabbed on the doorknob and pushed, demonstrating for everyone that the doors were locked shut.
DONG.
“They are in here!” Jill shouted. “Open the door! They are on the other side!”
Renata approached slowly, the crowd of students stepping aside to make way. As she walked, the clock chimed two more times.
“What are you going to do, Ms. Wentworth?” Renata said in a sing-song voice. “The door is locked.”
DONG.
“Open it!” Jill shrieked. “I’ve solved your clue! The game is over!”
“The game is over when you find the third rose,” Renata said.
DONG.
“Was I there to open the gates to Meadowlark Memorial for you? No. To find the rose, you had to get in there yourself.”
DONG.
“Did I leave the stairwell open at the Washington Monument? Of course not. The Great Beyond doesn’t make things easy for you. You had to find a way to get the stairs open yourself. You must be resourceful to find the reddest roses in the kingdom.”
DONG.
“So here you are, Ms. Wentworth. A final puzzle for you to solve. The door is locked. How will you ever get it open?”
Jill looked at the door. She saw scrapes and scratches all around the lock where Patrick had tried to break it. There were no screws she could take out. There were no tools at her disposal. There was no way for her to get this door open.
“Please!” she begged. “For the sake of the game! Out of respect for tradition…there is a girl wearing black behind this door. Nicky Bloom is behind this door!”
DONG.
By Jill’s count, that was chime number eleven.
She looked around the hall and spotted Patrick standing behind the crowd, dressed like any another slave. She and Patrick shared a look between them. And an under
standing. Onto Plan C.
Patrick had a gun in his pocket. He began moving forward through the crowd, approaching Renata from behind.
As Jill watched him move, a hand pushed her on the small of the back, and she stumbled away from the door. She looked back to see one of Renata’s slaves yanking a key ring from his pocket.
“Frankie, what are you doing?” Renata yelled. “Frankie, stop!”
But Frankie didn’t stop. He inserted a key into the lock, twisted it, and pushed the door open.
Nicky and Ryan were on the other side. They were back to back, their hands and legs tied to their chairs, duct tape over their mouths.
A single rose lay on Nicky’s lap.
Jill sprinted into the room, grabbed the rose, and lifted it for everyone to see.
DONG.
Chapter 52
Jill stood in front of Nicky and Ryan. The slave who had opened the door for them rushed inside and pulled the tape off Nicky’s mouth.
“My goodness, Frankie,” Renata said. “What’s come over you tonight?”
Frankie said nothing, but instead started working on the ropes that bound Nicky’s hands and feet. When he couldn’t untie the knots, he lifted one of the glass cases that stood all around and pulled out one of the bloody knives on display.
Renata, standing in the doorway, looked on in fascination. The rest of the senior class jockeyed for position behind her to see what was going on.
“It seems that my servant likes you, Nicky Bloom,” Renata said. “I wonder why that is.”
Jill watched, uncertain of what was happening or why, as Frankie used the knife to cut Nicky loose. Then he pulled her up from the chair and pushed her behind him, as if to shield her from Renata.
“Well what about Ryan?” Renata asked Frankie. She had a bemused smile on her face, as if she couldn’t decide if she was angry or pleased at her servant’s surprising actions. “Aren’t you going to cut Ryan loose from his bonds?”
Frankie stood still, his body between Renata and Nicky, a bloody knife in his hand.
“Well, Nicky Bloom. Your legend grows even more,” said Renata. “Not only have you survived the Rose Ransom, but you’ve broken my servant! I think he’s in love with you!”
Chuckles of laughter came from the crowd behind her, who seemed just as confused as Renata at all that was happening. The majority of the students were crowded near the edges of the doorframe, poking their heads over the sides. It was as if all of them wanted to see what was happening, but were scared to stand too close to Renata.
All of them but one. Kim Renwick stood by Renata’s side, not at all intimidated to be close to a vampire. Kim was throwing a look at Jill that was much more than angry. It was murderous. Jill was certain that, were they not at an immortal’s mansion, Kim might have charged into the room and tried to kill her.
“You there!” Renata said, turning back into the hall. “Come here.”
A man in slave’s garb pushed through the crowd. “Get in there, take the knife from Frankie, and cut Mr. Jenson loose.”
The man came into the room, careful to keep his head down. Any eye contact with Jill or Nicky might give him away. The ‘slave’ that Renata had just sent into the room was Patrick Hall. As he walked past, Jill saw the outline of the gun under his jacket.
Patrick went up to Frankie and reached for the knife. Frankie pulled the knife away and shook his head.
“Oh my word, Frankie!” Renata said. “This is just sad. You know I’m going to have to put you down tonight, don’t you?” She yelled at Patrick, “Just grab another knife! There are plenty in there.”
Patrick opened a nearby glass case, took out the knife, and used it to free Ryan from his bonds. When he was done, he yanked the duct tape off Ryan’s lips. Ryan winced in response.
“Alright, Jill. You have rescued Nicky and Ryan. The Ransom money is yours,” said Renata. “How are you going to spend it?”
Jill hadn’t prepared an answer to this question. She hadn’t prepared at all for this moment. If things had gone according to plan, she would still be in the pickup truck with Alvin, and Patrick would be sneaking Nicky and Ryan out the back door.
“I will put it into the Coronation pot, of course,” she said.
“Yes, but on behalf of which girl?”
On behalf of which girl? Wasn’t it obvious? Jill was Nicky Bloom’s very first supporter. She had solved all three Ransom clues. She had begged Renata to open the door because she was certain Nicky was on the other side.
Everyone at school knew where Jill’s loyalties lie, and when she opened her mouth to answer, Nicky’s name almost came out automatically.
But before she said the words, she realized something. The mission was over.
No matter what happened in this room tonight, the mission was over. Jill and Nicky might never get out of here. Renata might decide to kill them both, and if she did, the mission was over.
But even if, by some miracle, they got away, they would immediately hit the road. Renata had been inside the Bloom mansion. Their covers were blown. Code Orange.
The mission was over.
“We’re all waiting,” said Renata. “Which girl gets the Ransom money?”
“Samantha Kwan,” Jill said.
Renata’s eyes opened wide. Murmurs of confusion sounded behind her.
“Samantha Kwan?” Renata said. “And here, all this time, I thought you were a friend of Nicky Bloom.”
Fearing that now might be the time that Renata decided to have a look in Jill’s mind, she turned her gaze away, and found herself looking at Kim, whose face went from horrified to shocked, and from shocked to furious. Somewhere behind them all, in the crowd of people gathered in the hallway, Samantha screamed for joy.
Renata snapped her fingers at a servant girl with short brown hair. “Go notify the bank that the Ransom money is to be transferred to the pot on behalf of Samantha Kwan.” she commanded.
The girl nodded her head and raced away.
Renata took a step forward. “As you might imagine,” she said, “there are some formalities to work out. Papers to sign. Handshakes to make. You know how this works.”
Renata was making no effort to mask her intent. She spoke of papers and handshakes, but in the tone of her voice, it was clear she meant something else. She was letting them all know she was about to kill them.
“Party’s over, everyone!” she yelled. “Thank you for coming! You may see yourselves out!”
Like obedient lemmings, the students in the hall turned to leave. Renata stood in the doorway, listening to their footsteps as they made their way out.
“We’ll just wait until we’re sure everyone’s gone,” Renata said, stepping even closer. “Then we can finalize this year’s Rose Ransom.” She looked at Patrick. “You may go,” she said. “Lock the door behind you on your way out.”
Doing his best imitation of a vampire slave, Patrick bowed his head and said, “Yes, ma’am.” He walked past Renata, making for the doors. He closed the left door, then came back into the room, making like he would close the right one as he left. He pulled up the doorstop, and followed the arc of the door as it closed, waiting until the last second before jumping back in the room, his gun raised. Before Renata had any idea what was happening, Patrick had unloaded half a cartridge in her back.
Jill ran to Ryan, shouting, “Get down!”
Ryan didn’t listen. Rather than crouch down, he grabbed Jill by the hand and pulled her behind one of the glass cases, telling her, “Stay here.” He left Jill behind the case and rushed to the front, pulling open a case and grabbing a bloody knife.
“Ryan, what are you doing? Stop!”
Gunshots were flying now in rapid succession. Patrick had two revolvers out, one in each hand, and was filling Renata’s back side with bullets. All around them, glass cases were exploding on impact as bloody bullets came out of Renata’s chest and demolished the room. Half her torso gone, Renata fell to the floor right as Patrick’s guns clicked
to empty. As he ejected his spent cartridges, Ryan leapt at Renata, wielding his knife.
“No, Ryan!” Jill cried. “You don’t know what you’re--”
Even as she lay on the floor, Renata was still fast enough to raise her hands and catch Ryan’s arms. He screamed in pain as she squeezed his wrist. The knife fell harmlessly out of his hands, and she threw him across the room, his body crashing into a glass case and falling to the ground.
“Ryan!”
Crouching low, Jill scurried across the room. Ryan was down on his side. His eyes were closed.
“Ryan?”
She touched his face. “Ryan, are you with me?”
Opening his eyes slowly, he moaned. His hand reached for his back, and Jill saw that his shirt was covered in broken glass and blood.
“Can you move your legs?” Jill said.
Ryan looked at her, confused, then he nodded his head.
“We’re going for the door while she’s still down,” Jill said. “We’re getting you out of here.”
“Yeah, okay,” said Ryan. His words were slurred. His eyes were glazed over.
As she pulled Ryan to his feet, Patrick finished reloading his guns, and started firing on Renata again. At this point, things were moving too fast for Jill to see what was happening. Somehow, Renata was up. She leaped back and forth across the room, her motions too fast for Jill to make any sense of them. She was knocking over glass cases with each jump, and cackling like a witch.
“This is so much fun!” Renata screamed.
“Everyone get down!” Patrick yelled as he sent bullets spraying across the room.
Jill pushed Ryan back to the ground and lay on top of him. Gunfire and glass exploded all around them in a deafening roar, but somehow, the sound of Renata’s manic laugh pierced the noise. Her eyes closed, Jill had no idea what was going on, but she knew it wasn’t good when Patrick’s guns started clicking again. He didn’t have a third round of ammo.
“Uh oh,” Renata said. “Are your bullets all gone? I suppose that means it’s my turn!”
What happened next took less than a second. By the time Jill had pushed herself to her knees, it was already over. Renata leaped from somewhere in the back of the room and landed on top of Patrick. She ripped his throat out with her teeth and Patrick fell dead to the floor.
The Rose Ransom (Girls Wearing Black: Book Three) Page 39