“You’ve still got a lot to lose man, and if you let us go then we can help make things easier for you. If you show compassion,” Kevin said.
“Compassion?” Finneaus giggled. “Compassion? Nobody ever showed me no compassion. They killed my mother when they threw him in jail. They had no right. She told me to make the bomb, and blow them up. She made me write her name on it. She wanted to make sure they knew it was payback for what they had done to the Doctor. I couldn’t get it right. I just couldn’t get it right. I tried everything, but nothing worked. They didn’t show compassion,” he started to cry.
“What happened Finn?” Kevin asked.
“Why do you keep calling me Finn? My name is dark warrior. Finneaus is a good for nothing waste of space, and never will be good for nothing neither. He can’t even look at the blood and needles without puking or passing out. A stupid piece of cow shit,” he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “The Finneaus part of me may need help, but the dark warrior is fine as pie on his own and always will be. It’s your fault. Every child that has died, and everyone who will die tomorrow, every person blown to smithereens is your fault, yours and the crew.” He glared at Kevin. “There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to stand up for what’s right, and it’s only right that I meet the crew. If they can take the liberty of writing about my life, what I think and plan, if they can get into my head that way then I deserve to meet them. I did the experiments, and I made the bombs work this time. This time I blew up the right people. It’s you two that’s the problem.”
“You are so full of shit you can’t see the light of day,” I was fed up with the unceasing bravado. “You need to wake up and see what you’ve done, all on your own, alone. How can you sit there and blame something that exists—only in the imagination of its reader—for the destruction you’ve produced? The crew didn’t create you, and frankly they could care less whether you live or die. We all have childhood demons. Get the fuck over it, and take the blame like a man. Dark warrior my ass.”
Finneaus stood up and started to pace around the room. His rage was growing with every step. “I should take you down to that church, tie you to the top of the steeple and let you explode with the rest of them. But that’s too good for you. You are nothing but a blasphemous wanton bitch who consorts with evil.”
“Yeah that’s right Finneaus, I’m the evil one.”
Finneaus stopped pacing and dropped to the floor hard on his butt. He scooted across the room like a cowardly animal until he was against the wall next to me. He leaned his body against mine, put his head on my shoulder and whimpered. “He would say, ‘I’m just trying to help people’,” Finneaus whined. “And then he would slowly push the needle deep into their flesh. Most of the puppies were brave and tried to bite the Doctor, but Buster was a sweet little puppy. He would let out a little yelp, lick his hands and beg the Doctor to stop. He never bit nor never nipped at him. The Doctor thought Buster was a coward, maybe he was. Mother told me to make them good Finny, and make sure my name’s on every one. She said, they shall pay for their evil deeds. Whatever you sow so shall ye reap.” He put his head in his hands, and began to bawl like a baby.
“She wanted you to make bombs?” I asked.
“She wanted me to blow up the courthouse. She wanted to kill the judge, and all the other people that put the Doctor in jail.”
I opened my mouth to speak, and Kevin pushed his arms against my chest. I looked down, and saw the bone protruding from the tape. While Finneaus was busy wiping his nose on my sleeve, I quickly put my head down grabbed the bone with my teeth and carefully dropped it down to my fingers and out of sight.
“Shanna don’t fight him he’s right. The crew wrote about him he’s the dark warrior,” Kevin said, playing the good cop.
“What was in the injection, the one he put in Mr. Herman?” I asked.
“I’m not going to answer your questions,” Finneaus straightened his body, and instantly became calm. “We have a lot to get done before the surgery tomorrow. Amputations are exhausting; we’ll need our rest.” He picked up his rag and began again to clean the baseboards where he’d left off, one small section at a time. He cleaned the remaining ones and touched the paint on the wall to see whether it had dried. “Still a little damp, but it’ll be dry by morning.” He picked up the paint can, brush, and jar of turpentine and carried them into kitchen.
“What in the hell are you thinking?” Kevin asked. “Don’t get him upset don’t do that again.”
“Marla did the same thing to me when she wanted me to fall asleep. Self pity is hard work.”
“Just don’t go too far, got it?”
“And who’s the jerk that didn’t have a file on George fucking Albert? His name was on Tim’s college application. How could you not think to check him out?”
“I did check him out and there was nothing but birth and death dates and medical school transcripts. There was nothing about him going to jail.”
Finneaus passed by us without a word on his way to the front door. We heard a series of beeps, and then a computer generated female voice. “Security system activated.” I waited until he had re-taped our legs and walked down the hallway to what must have been his bedroom before finally putting the rat bone between my teeth. I began cutting through the tape on my wrists. The plan was to pull my hands apart as much as possible, and then cut down the middle with the sharpened bone. It took half an hour to get a good tear in the tape, and then with one long rip my hands were freed. It was a glorious moment when I could use my hands to easily remove the tape from my legs and feet. I stood up and stretched, ignoring the urge to dance and sing a victory song.
“Hurry,” Kevin whispered. “This could be another sleep test. Get my arms I’ll do the legs.” The tape came off his arms easily after I’d made a cut using the bone. Kevin, with his free hands, ripped the tape from his legs.
“Can you stand?” I asked.
“We’re about to find out.” The pain that ran through his body when he stood on the mangled foot was unbearable. “Lord Jesus Christ in heaven give me strength to go another mile,” he cried quietly.
I put his huge arm around my shoulder but he had to lean down so far to use me as a support that he lost his balance. Sweat beads were streaming down his face as he leaned against the freshly cleaned wall. “We don’t have the security code,” he whispered.
“We’ll have to be fast. I’ll run ahead, start the car and pull up to the door. You walk as fast as you can and jump in, we’re outa here. The neighbors will run outside to see what’s happening when they hear the alarm. He won’t shoot us in front of them.” I was ready to put the plan into action. Kevin lightly laughed at our predicament. “What is it that you find so fucking funny?”
“I’ll be lucky to take two steps without falling over, and when I do it’s going to take more than you to get me back on my feet.” Kevin slowly slid his back down the wall, bracing himself with his good leg while raising his mangled foot, and sat. His body blocked the hallway entrance into the room. “I’m willing to bet he has bombs in this house that are set and ready to go as soon as he hears the alarm. We can’t take the chance that he’ll blow up any more people,” Kevin said. His breathing was labored, and his voice was getting weaker.
“What about the back door?”
“I saw an alarm keypad on the inside when I came in. You have to go. As soon as you get outside, call the police and tell them everything except your name. Here,” he reached into his pocket and took out the cell phone. “Use this, wipe it clean and dump it when you’re done.” He looked down the hall. “Run and don’t stop until you get to Abilene. Go straight home. Momma will know what to do.” In my mind I was already out the door and halfway out of town, but my heart wouldn’t listen. The consequences of leaving Kevin behind were unbearable to imagine.
“Do you think I’m going to Abilene and tell Jade I left her crippled son back at the baby bomber’s house?” I sat on the floor next to Kevin. “We’ll just have
to think of another way.” I could see my decision did not sit well with him. “Call the police Kevin. It’s the only way out. We can’t let him blow up that church.”
“I know,” Kevin said. He fumbled around with the phone trying to make a decision and looked at his texts. “Nothing from the Crewbies yet, but I’m sure they’re doing their best to get here.”
“Call them Kevin. Call the cops,” I demanded. I got the key out of my shoe and put it in my pants pocket. “I’ll wait by the door, and when we see them coming I’ll leave. I’ll get in the car and drive, or I’ll just run down the street and hide. I won’t let them catch me. The noise will confuse Finneaus. He won’t have enough time to react.”
“Too risky,” Kevin insisted. “The police will block off the streets and the alarm will startle them so that any movement will be suspicious. They’d end up shooting you, and Finneaus will finish it by blowing up the whole block.”
“Staying here another minute is the stupidest move we could make, call them!” I reached for the phone, but Kevin sat on it. “We don’t have any other choice we have to call them now. You can’t justify keeping me safe when so many lives are at stake.”
“Stop it with your no other choice bullshit, and listen to me,” he said. “You need to take this seriously. You write the future. Every word you write with those hands tells the future.”
“Stop it Kevin, shut up.”
“You stop it. Stop pushing it away, stop disconnecting from the truth. What you do is prophetic. When the world finds out who you are—well let’s just say if you want to be hunted like an animal for the rest of your life then go ahead, call the cops.” The cell phone vibrated in Kevin’s hand as he held it out for me to take. We shared a look of fear, and looked down the hall for any signs of movement from Finneaus.
“It’s from Megame they’re three hours out. We just have to hang on a little longer. He’s not going to kill us, we’re his only link to the crew.”
“No. We are not waiting another three hours besides how are they going to get inside? They can’t break in because of the alarm. I was thinking I could stand outside his bedroom door, and you make a noise so he’ll come out and I’ll jump him. I can take him.”
“There are three closed doors down the hall, which one is his bedroom? Is he in a bedroom? Is he armed? Is he listening to us right now? This isn’t TV, it’s real and in reality the good guys don’t always win.”
“Then call the cops.”
“Three hours or less and they’ll be here.”
“You can’t be serious Kevin.” I couldn’t believe the struggle I was having with a detective over calling the police on this crazy mass murderer. “He shot your foot!”
“That was an accident,” Kevin scoffed. “Keep your voice down.”
“Accident? Accident?” I whispered. Well let’s just, what’s that word you’re so fond of—hope—he doesn’t have another accident when he has the gun pointed at your head.”
“Guns,” Kevin said. “Are they in the drawer?” I walked softly to the desk and opened the drawer where Finneaus had put the guns, but it was empty.
“He has them,” I said.
“Go in the kitchen and find something we can use as a weapon.”
“I’m not going in there. He could be on the other side of that wall waiting for me to turn the corner before blowing my brains out. What if he’s a light sleeper?”
“Go on,” Kevin urged.
I made it to the doorway without making a sound. I could hear my heart racing inside my chest and then the beating turned to a hum, the hum turned into mumbles and the mumbles became voices. I walked back to Kevin who was motioning for me to go the other direction and saying something I couldn’t hear. I sat on the floor and whispered in his ear. “They’re back.”
Kevin looked down the hall and signaled for me to be quiet. He pointed to the desk and wrote in the air above his palm to indicate tablets and pens in the desk. I walked quickly and opened the bottom drawer. There were some small note pads and I found pencils in the middle drawer. I sat next to Kevin and started to write.
20.
I wasn’t jumping for joy when the crew returned, but I will admit to a more relaxed confidence that we would find our way out of the situation. My physical body went limp as I wrote. My mind fell into a deep dreamless sleep, allowing the crew to take over. I was unaware that I had been writing for at least an hour before Finneaus came into the room, nor was I aware he’d been recording me with a video camera. I woke up during the argument.
“You can’t do that man,” Kevin demanded. “Give me one good thing that will come out of it?”
“He who knows the future rules the world. I will be the good to come out of it,” Finneaus giggled. “This is my discovery, and I will publicly claim it as such. I am Columbus and this is my America.”
“You didn’t discover anything.”
I was still sitting against the wall. I opened my eyes partially, and could see through the slit that Kevin’s hands and legs were again taped. I was holding the pencils, but the pads I had used were on the desk where Finneaus was sitting in his rolling chair.
“Would you like to ask Marla if she’d mind my taking credit?” Finneaus asked.
“It’s not about credit. I don’t care how much credit you take, take it all but you’ve got to know that if you publish it the situation gets worse. The dark warrior is called to protect her, not feed her to the public,” Kevin said.
Finneaus stood by the twin bed that was covered in blankets and plastic. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I got the impression he was playing with the covering to taunt Kevin. “Are you sure, really sure, you’re ready for this?” he teased.
“She’s under there?” Kevin asked.
“Maybe so maybe not maybe you’ll be there too, soon very soon.” He rustled the plastic. “Tell me when.”
“You’re going to kill me? Then what? You can’t kill Shanna because you have nothing without her. Do you think she’ll do as you say? I bet you think she’ll be your little puppet? She’d put the gun to her own head and pull the trigger before she’d do that.” Finneaus went back to his laptop. He was typing and clicking the mouse while letting out a giggle here and there. Kevin was gnawing with his teeth at the tape on his arms, never taking his eyes off Finneaus.
“There it is,” Finneaus proclaimed, “for all the whole world to see.” He stood up with his arms raised high and his head thrown back glorifying his actions. “Ye shall know the truth and the dark warrior shall set ye free.”
I closed my eyes and remained still. I wasn’t ready to face this. I listened to the comforting hum that had returned to my head.
“I’m not going to kill her,” Finneaus said. His back was turned to us as he sat in his chair and pecked on the keyboard. “I don’t need you, but I don’t know what I’ll do with you yet. She however will bring a big price overseas.”
“Price? What do you mean price?” Kevin was trying with all of his might to rip the tape around his arms. I looked up, caught his eyes and started to use one of the pencils to cut into the tape. We had a tear started, but within seconds of the ripping sound Finneaus was rolling his chair towards me.
“There she is,” he said through a chaotic laugh. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you that the code and the key should always be separated?”
“Yes, your brother did.” I continued to pull on the tape around Kevin’s arms. Finneaus pulled me away with intent, instead of brut force.
“He’s not my brother. He’s my half brother!” He yelled. “I don’t want to hurt those pretty little hands of yours considering what they do and all, but I will if you don’t cooperate.” He laid my hands on my lap, one overlapping the other, and unrolled the tape. I lifted my left hand and slapped him. Full on, open palm, direct hit on his right cheek. While he was stunned and holding his face, I hit him in the gut and started to stand. He shoved the top of my head and pushed me to the floor, but I wasn’t giving up. I again tried to get to
my feet, and he kicked me in the knee and I fell face first into the wall near Kevin.
“You’re a little spit fire aren’t you?” He stood up, lifted his discount store fake leather boot in the air, and slammed it into Kevin’s mangled foot. Kevin screamed. I held his arms in a sloppy attempt to soothe the pain I had caused. Finneaus giggled and put more tape over Kevin’s mouth.
“You mother fucking son of a bitch,” I yelled. The tape hit my mouth as soon as the word bitch came out. Kevin was sweating, and his breathing was shallow. I looked into his eyes and began to breathe long steady breaths. He soon followed my lead, and the blood came back to his face. I sat on the floor and held my arms out allowing Finneaus to tape them.
“You think I’m the enemy. I’m not the enemy, and everything will go much smoother if you don’t think that way.” He sat in his chair and rolled back to the desk, put the tape down and held up the notepads I had written on. “I knew they would send someone or at the least contact me. I just knew they would, but I never expected this. I never expected this.” He read through the notepads. “This is far beyond what I’d expected.” He stood up and pecked on the keyboard. He moved aside and let me watch the video he’d publicly uploaded onto the Internet. It was a video showing both of my hands writing on the pads that sat on my lap. My face was never shown, and only the side of Kevin’s leg was in the frame. I watched Jima’s ring dance with the movement of my hand. Finneaus excitedly jumped around the room giggling and cackling with glee. “How do you do it? Do they warn you, or knock on a door deep inside you? I need to understand this.” He replayed the video while reading the pads. He mumbled to himself. Kevin was moaning from the pain. I motioned for him to close his eyes and rest, but I knew rest would not come to either one of us until this nightmare had ended.
“Lookie, lookie we have over two-thousand hits. It’s going viral. That cake took only two hours to make, and already it’s being eaten alive.” Finneaus looked down at his watch. “I don’t know. I just don’t know what to do. What do I do? What do I do? Hmm.” He paced back and forth across the room then turned to stare at me. “Yes, yes I know,” he said. He ripped the tape from my mouth. I could feel blood from my lips running down my chin. Finneaus quickly looked away, reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue. He held the tissue to my face without looking and I leaned in to wipe my chin clean. He sat on the floor next to me, putting his hand on top of my taped hands.
Patient_Crew Page 26