Stealing Away

by Harley Fox

  Julian’s brow furrows, but he gives a slow nod.

  “So … back off a bit?”

  “Yeah. Give Rebekka some room to breathe. Let her do her own thing, but at the same time let her know you still love her. Be your own person, apart from who you are with her.”

  He’s nodding some more now. “Do her own thing … okay, I’ll give that a shot. Thanks, Persephone.” He gives me a smile and I return it. “Okay. Let’s get back to this before Edward comes back and finds us talking.”

  We resume our work, and soon enough I’m back in the swing of things. I point out what type of markings an awl can do, and offer to go get one. Julian stays seated, so I leave for the wooden crate with the tools. Opening up the toolbox, the lid squeaks again and I consider it. Looking around in the crate, I find a can of WD-40 and spray the hinges of the lid, opening and closing it until the squeaking goes away. Now it’s completely silent. I take out an awl, then rummage around and find a monkey wrench. It’s in the bottom of the box, so I take it out, put the tray back in, and leave the wrench on top. Then I close the lid, leaving it unlatched, and go back to join Julian.

  We dive into our work, Julian quickly picking up what I’m putting down. Before I know it, Marc announces that dinner’s ready and so Julian and I tidy up whatever messes we’ve made, clearing space for work to start again tomorrow. Already the vase looks much more in line with how they were done in the Mycenaean era.

  “Wow guys, this looks great,” says Marc.

  “Yeah, Julian’s a quick study,” I say, making Julian smile.

  We go get our food and sit in the common area to eat it. Already I can feel a more relaxed atmosphere than there was before. I don’t bring up when I’m going back.

  When he’s finished eating Julian stands up. “I think I’m going to go for a walk.”

  Rebekka lets out a sigh. “All right, just wait for me to finish eating first.”

  “Nah, that’s okay,” Julian says, leaning down to give her a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll just see you later.”

  Rebekka looks up at Julian, surprised, and he flashes her a smile before turning away, leaving the common area. Rebekka returns to her meal with an impressed look on her face.

  The rest of us continue eating and when we’re all done Marc stands up to gather plates.

  “Do you need some help with the dishes?” I ask him. Edward flashes me a glare but I stay strong. “I haven’t pitched in with meals yet or anything. It’s the least I could do.”

  “Sure,” Marc says. “Come on.”

  We take the dishes over to the kitchen space and Marc fills up the small tub with soapy water. He washes while I dry. We hardly talk, but I don’t feel a need to. We work well together, smoothly, and before I know it we’re done.

  We head back to the common area. Marc suggests a game of Hearts and Rebekka and Edward agree. At first I think they’re going to play just the three of them, until Marc pulls out the fourth chair at the table.

  “You want to play?” he asks me.

  So I sit down and we proceed to play. They’re all good, better than me. I guess when you’ve got so much time to kill, you get a lot of practice in. When Julian returns from his walk he grabs another chair and sits to watch. We play a few games, and I even manage to Shoot The Moon during one of them.

  “Ah, damn it,” Rebekka says when I take the last of the hearts. “I knew you were going for it, too.” She’s smiling, and I can hardly suppress my grin as Edward tallies up the scores and I shuffle to deal out the next hand.

  After the third game finishes and Edward announces the winner, he pushes his chair back and stands up.

  “Well, I think it’s about time we turned in.” He looks down at me. “Come on, Persephone. That means you too.”

  A silence falls over the rest of us. As much fun as this is, Edward’s words are a strong reminder of what the situation really is: I’m a prisoner here, and it’s time for me to get shackled up again.

  “I’ll take her,” Marc says as he stands up too. He looks at Edward, who holds Marc’s gaze for a long moment before nodding.

  “Fine,” he says. “See you all in the morning.”

  And with that he leaves, effectively ending the party.

  “Do you need to use the bathroom, Persephone?” Rebekka asks me.

  “Um, no. I’m fine,” I tell her.

  “All right. Have a good sleep.”

  She and Julian go off to their own corner, leaving Marc and me alone. We look at each other.

  “Well,” he says, almost with a shrug. “Come on.”

  We snake through the corridors, not speaking again, but it’s different now from when we were doing the dishes. We reach my corner and Marc lets me in first, where I sit down on the bed. He kneels in front of me and grabs the handcuffs up off the floor, opening them up.

  “Are you sure you have to put them on?” I ask him. Marc nods, not looking at me.

  “Edward’s orders,” he says. “Come on, give me your wrists.”

  I offer him my hands and he slides the cold, metallic things underneath them, the tips of his fingers just brushing my skin, making my heart beat fast in my chest.

  “Please,” I finally say, as Marc closes the bonds, just before they click shut. He stops and looks up at me. His eyes meet mine. “It’s so hard to sleep with them on. Please, just for tonight?”

  He hesitates, finally exhaling, as though he’d been holding his breath.

  “Leave them like this,” he tells me, like a warning. “If somebody else comes for you in the morning, just shut them quickly so they’ll be able to unlock you.”

  I nod and pivot around on the cot, lying down. Marc grabs the cuffs for my ankles, placing them just like he said. Then he returns to the ones at my wrists, placing them carefully. I’m lying on my back, looking up at him as he works. He’s so close to me, and it’s just the two us alone. My heart is pounding in my chest. He reaches down to grab the blanket and pulls it up over me, reaching my chest and meeting his eyes to mine. His hands hover over my breasts. So close. I can hear him breathing. Time seems to slow down, stretch on for infinity. But then he blinks, breaking the spell, and he swallows, standing up.

  “Okay,” he says, his breathing heavy. “I’ll see you in the morning. Good night, Persephone.”

  “Good night, Marc,” I say from the bed. “Thank you.”

  He nods, not meeting my gaze, and then he leaves.

  I listen to his feet scuffle along the concrete, getting softer and softer as he goes. A minute later the overhead lights of the warehouse click off, drenching everything in blackness. I stay still in my bed, not moving, but not sleeping either. I stare up at the ceiling, counting.

  One, two, three …

  Count to sixty, one number per second. Reach the end and start over again.

  One, two, three …

  It takes a while. In fact, it takes exactly an hour. When I’ve counted to sixty sixty times, that’s when I start to move. I slowly open the cuffs and take my hands out. Sit up, making certain the cot doesn’t squeak underneath me. Remove the cuffs from my ankles. Don’t let the chain rattle. Push the blanket off of me. And then I stand up.

  It’s quiet in here. I can’t hear a thing. I leave my corner in my socked feet. My eyes have adjusted to the dark, but still I move slowly. Through the tight corridors of wooden crates, over to the common area. I pass by the table and chairs, pass by Julian’s workspace, and go beyond into the corridor, around the corner to the wooden crate that holds the tools.

  I’ve been breathing through my open mouth, and now I hold my breath. My fingers find the top of the metal toolbox and I open it, listening for any sound but hearing none. I grab the monkey wrench from the top, being careful not to jostle any of the other tools. Slowly letting the toolbox lid down again, I go back the way I came and carefully make my way through the common area and beyond.

  But I don’t go back to my corner. Instead I head for the wall where the bottom of the stairs are.
I reach it, really making sure to be careful now. One step at a time. No sound from the metal. My heart is in my throat with every ascension. Now the only sound I hear is the ever-increasing volume of the air-conditioning unit. I move higher and higher until I finally reach the catwalk. Trying to think of myself as a cat on a catwalk, I go down to the main platform, turn to the loud machine, and approach it.

  Here I hunker down. The machine is loud, but not so loud that I can’t keep an ear out for other noises. I use the monkey wrench to unscrew the bolts that hold the cover in place. My heart is beating fast now. Without this unit, all their hard work will come crashing down around them. Marc even told me about the importance of this thing. I feel a bit bad that he’s going to suffer the same as everyone else, but I push that thought aside as the last bolt is unscrewed and I carefully take the cover off the machine.

  Inside is an array of whirring gears and vulnerable machinery. I feel like a kid at a candy store. Do I take some specific piece out? Or just go crazy on it with the wrench? Maybe break a valve or two, drain some of this precious fluid that this thing needs so dearly to do its job correctly.

  Wait a minute. What was that?

  My ears perk, and I hear a clanging noise. It’s regular, and getting louder.

  Somebody’s coming up the stairs!

  My heart skips three beats in a row as I hurry to put the metal cover back on. It’s a flimsy piece of sheet metal, and it almost doesn’t fit right. I can hear the footsteps getting closer, louder. Finally I get it on but there’s not enough time to screw the bolts back into place. Placing the monkey wrench on the ground under the unit, I stand up and start to leave, hoping I can hide in a shadowy corner or something. But then the footsteps stops and I look up to see Marc standing there, staring at me.

  “Persephone!” he says, his voice somewhat muted by the sound of the air conditioner.

  “Marc!”

  We look at each other, and then he comes toward me. I find I can’t move. He steps right up to me.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” he says. I have to crane my neck to look up into his eyes. He’s looking down at mine. He’s so close, again. And my heart is pounding in my chest, again.

  I don’t know who went for it first, but the next thing I know, we’re kissing. Our lips are locked together and it’s like everything else in my life—my work, my shitty boss, this situation, the threat of death—is all whisked away.

  His hands are on me, moving fast, uncontrollably. I touch him, feel underneath his shirt to the hard body I’ve wanted to touch since the first moment I laid eyes on him. We fall together, one’s movements urging the other, down to the grid-like floor of the platform. He’s on top of me. I can feel him down between my legs and already I’m glowing, warm, ready for him, faster than I have been with any other guy before.

  He touches me, and I see sparks. His mouth finds my neck and I can’t breathe, can’t think. His fingers fumble to remove clothing. I undo my pants, shove them down to my ankles and off. He finds a condom in his pocket and puts it on, needing to unroll the entire condom to cover himself.

  And then he lowers down and his lips find mine again and he enters me.

  I gasp, rocked, my mind blown out of itself by how amazing this feels. He moves and I move with him. He’s big—bigger than anyone, anything I’ve ever had inside of me before. But more than that, there’s something. Something else. I can’t name it. We kiss, our bodies moving together. We have to keep quiet but it’s hard. I force my mouth into his to keep from screaming. I reach down and grab his back, his waist, his ass, pulling him deeper into me, more, more, taking me as far as I can go.

  And then, when it seems like I can’t go any farther, he takes me there.

  His body seizes, and mine seizes too as we both come together. I feel him explode, his kisses becoming somehow even more wild, more packed with energy and intensity. I ride on this wave with him, and when we finally reach the end we slow down at the same time, our bodies hot, sweaty, breathing in unison, our hearts pulsing our blood at the same time.

  Marc

  The five of us finish breakfast and I stand to take everybody’s plates. Persephone thanks me as she hands me hers, our fingers brushing one another’s underneath the plate. I can’t help but smile.

  Last night was something I didn’t expect at all. After the platform, Persephone and I had to quietly sneak back down the stairs to the ground floor. We gave each other one last kiss before going back to our separate corners, but didn’t say anything. This morning she had a shower, and now she’s wearing a change of Rebekka’s clothing. We haven’t yet talked about what happened.

  “Here, Marc, I’ll help you.”

  Rebekka stands up from her chair, grabbing the empty mugs that used to hold people’s coffee. Julian flashes her a smile before he and Persephone go to begin the day’s work, and that’s all. I see Rebekka give him a smile in return. No words are exchanged.

  Edward pulls out his cell phone and disappears into a corridor as Rebekka and I take the dishes to the kitchen area where she fills the small tub with soapy water. I grab a towel to dry.

  As she scrubs bits of food off the dishes, I notice that Rebekka’s smiling a lot more than usual. She seems relaxed, too.

  “You seem happy,” I point out, and she turns her smiling face in my direction.

  “Hmm?” A soft laugh escapes her mouth. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m just … I don’t know, but things have been a lot more relaxed with Julian. Like last night. Usually he gets all snuggly, and keeps trying to spoon me while I sleep. But last night … he didn’t. I mean, the cots are small, you know? But I actually felt like I was able to rest. And then, this morning, he brought me a cup of coffee in bed and … that was it.”

  “That was it?”

  “Yeah!” She’s smiling brightly now. “He didn’t sit down and try to have a conversation with me or anything. He just left to start breakfast. I was able to enjoy my coffee on my own, in my own time, and it was so, so nice.”

  “That’s great,” I say, taking a wet plate from her.

  “Yeah. You know, these past few weeks, I’ve been feeling like … augh, like I couldn’t breathe.” She shakes her head. “I wonder if maybe Persephone said something. I’m sure she saw what I was going through.”

  We finish the dishes and go to the common area. Edward is cleaning his gun, while Julian and Persephone are hard at work.

  “There, you see the detail on the sides here?”

  I walk over and look at what they’re doing. Julian looks up to see me.

  “Oh, hey buddy.”

  “Hey. What’s that?”

  “Oh, Persephone’s showing me the details of this necklace here.”

  “You remember the jade one from the museum?” Persephone asks me. “I figured, since this is the actual one, we can practice making a replica of it. I mean, you can only see one side of a thing in a book, you know? If you’ve got the actual thing …”

  I glance over at Edward and, not surprising, he’s watching our conversation. My raised eyebrows ask the question and Edward’s nod answers it. I turn back to the two.

  “That’s great,” I tell them.

  “Yeah, it’s a great idea,” Julian says, excited. “I can practice on these other ones too. I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before.”

  They return to work as I join Rebekka at the table. She’s shuffling cards.

  “Game?” she asks as I sit down.

  “Sure.” I turn our boss. “Edward. Cards?”

  He removes a cleaning rod from the barrel of his gun and sets both things down.

  “Sure,” he says, getting up and coming over.

  “We can play Hearts,” I tell them.

  “But there are only three of us,” Rebekka points out. “The deal won’t divide.”

  “Nah see, what you do,” I reach forward and pluck a card off the top of the shuffled deck, “is take out a random card. We don’t know what it is. Then, that way, if you try to Shoot The Moon but
this is one of the hearts or the Queen of Spades, you won’t get it because you don’t have everything. I got the idea from a Stephen King book.”

  “Like a gamble,” Edward says, and for once he’s got a hint of a smile on his face. “I like it.”

  So we deal out like normal, pass three to the left, and start playing.

  “Any word from the contact?” Rebekka asks Edward as she takes a trick and starts a new one.

  “Yeah,” Edward says. He puts down his card and I reveal the first heart. Edward takes the trick, then starts a new one. In a low voice, he says, “They’re still doing the investigation. No luck, for today at least.”

  I glance over and see Persephone’s head half-turned, her ear to Edward’s back.

  “So we don’t know when we’ll be out of here?” I ask him, and Edward shakes his head as he takes another heart and starts a new trick.

  “Nope. But it shouldn’t be long now. It better not be.”

  My heart does a flip. More time with Persephone. I see her turn back to her work with Julian. She looks beautiful, more than I remember.

  “Marc,” Rebekka says, and I snap out of my reverie to look at her. “It’s your turn.”

  I throw my card down and Edward takes the trick, leading the next one. His pile is getting pretty big, and he takes the next two tricks, both with hearts in them.

  “Oh damn,” Rebekka says, just as I realize it too. “I think Edward’s trying to Shoot The Moon.”

  His face hardly changes, but sure enough, he takes the next trick, complete with a heart.

  “That’s a dangerous gamble,” I say to him, nodding at the face-down discarded card. “Could be a heart in there, or even the Queen.”

  “Well,” Edward says as he starts the next trick with the ace of hearts. “Sometimes it’s good to take a risk.”

  “Not if I can help it,” Rebekka says, throwing a low heart down under the ace.