My foot hit something solid and heavy, and when I looked down I screamed.
Between the bed and the corridor lay Frog Girl, her throat slit from ear to ear, mouth and eyes wide open in an expression of glee.
I collapsed next to her and vomited, my right hand pressing into the blood-soaked section of carpet right by her head.
Gallons of water.
They’d known in advance.
But how?
There could only be one answer.
I spit several times and then climbed to my feet.
The entire floor was empty. I’ll try again tomorrow.
I’m leaving tomorrow.
Crawling through the vents, I broke down crying, convinced Flora was dead and I would probably come upon Judy in the same position.
I was wrong.
She was sitting with her back to the wall, knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, staring blankly. When I called her name she didn’t even turn.
I climbed down the steps, so weak I had to crawl over to her. Her lips were cracked. She looked dehydrated, malnourished. No one had brought her food and water for two days.
“Judy? What’s happening?”
“Brian spiked the water supply,” she said, her voice monotone, emotionless.
“You warned Flora, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I had to. I told her to order lots of water and not to shower or drink from the tap starting Wednesday. She must not have listened. I haven’t seen her since Tuesday. I’ve been too scared to go to your room.” She turned and looked at me. “I’m really thirsty.”
“I’ll get you some water.”
“Is Flora okay?” Still deadpan, indifferent, as though she were only asking out of politeness, as though she didn’t care at all. It must be the dehydration, the lack of energy.
“I don’t know,” I said, choking up again. “She’s not there. F-Frog is dead.”
“That’s sad.”
She closed her eyes, looking like she was about to faint.
“I’ll go get you some water,” I said. “Then I have to go find Flora.”
I turned and started to crawl back up the stairs.
“I switched it.”
“Huh?”
I stopped and looked down at her. She was smiling.
“I switched it,” she said.
“Judy, what are you talk—”
“Brian had a really good plan,” she said. “When I went back to Level B the day you and Patton left, I found him stacking these big plastic containers we have on a skid. You wouldn’t believe how much supply we have—especially Love and Libido.”
I sat down on the step about halfway up the staircase.
“Did I tell you about the Love Drug? What it can do? Its manipulative capacities? Brian thought if he contaminated the city’s water supply, everyone would be affected, even Sean. Then he could talk Sean into letting him have free reign over Level E. He would have won, Melissa. Brian would have taken over this company. I couldn’t allow that. So I switched it.”
“You switched what, Judy?”
She rolled her head from side to side like someone listening to music. Then she looked up at the ceiling above me and pointed. “I took that rope ladder down so I could get in and out of the room where Brian was storing the skid of containers. I switched out the Love Drug with the Libido Drug. It took a while, but it was easy. All I had to do was change the labels.”
My stomach twisted into a knot.
“Judy … you didn’t. All those people, Judy. All those children!”
“It had to be done,” she said, rocking her head back and forth. “I couldn’t let him use the Love Drug. If you love someone, you’ll do anything they ask. It had to be done.”
I crawled back to the shower room, and when I stood up out of the vent, Patton was standing on the other side of the Jacuzzi pool, shaking his head, grimacing, crying.
“Come on,” he said shakily.
I came down to meet him.
“Are they okay?”
“Some,” he said, the word coming out in a whimper. He broke down. “About half of them were affected. Some of the teachers, too. Ms. Lane told me Sean had every single one of them inspected … for virginity … and the ones with broken hymens were taken away.”
“Oh my God,” I cried. “Where?”
But we both knew where.
Level E.
The prison cells.
“He’s waiting for us in the lobby,” Patton said. “He wants us to come up.”
“What about Flora?”
But Patton just shook his head and headed into the corridor.
I followed him, grabbing his arm and closing my eyes as we passed Frog.
In the lobby, Sean stood in his standard suit and sunglasses, no longer dressed like a modern cowboy. On his forehead was a large gash, stitched up and clean but still nasty-looking, like someone had split his head open with an axe.
As we approached, he chuckled and said, “Well well well well well … if it isn’t my most favorite girl in the whole wide world.”
What a terrifying thought, to be his favorite girl.
“Where’s Brian?” Patton demanded, his voice booming like thunder in the near-empty lobby. Damien still lay masturbating on the floor, breathing rapidly.
“He’s upstairs, waiting on you guys,” Sean said. “We’ve all be waiting for you.”
Before getting on the elevator, Patton stopped and turned to his brother. “You know we had nothing to do with this.”
“That remains to be seen, I think. We’ll discuss it upstairs, and we should hurry. Mr. Shriver is waiting.”
Oh shit.
“Mr. Shriver is back?” Patton asked.
“Yes, unfortunately he had to come home a little early. He’s not too happy about it, either. Let’s just hope you didn’t have anything to do with this, right brother?” Sean slapped Patton on the back, then rubbed it aggressively, guiding him into the elevator.
I hesitated.
“Come on, sugar, we don’t have all day,” Sean said.
“Did you kill Flora?” I asked, not moving.
“No, of course not. You really think I’d do a thing like that? Your girl Frog put up a hell of a fight, though,” he said, pointing at the wound on his forehead. “First time anyone’s ever drawn blood from me. Right Patton?”
I wanted to knock his fucking teeth out.
Stepping onto the elevator, I slunk over to Patton and hid behind him the way a child hides behind her mother’s skirt.
Only two things were uttered on the ride up:
“Did you kill my girls?”
“You mean the defective products? Not yet.”
We stepped out onto Level E to a scene just like the one I’d walked into the first time I saw this room, only slightly modified.
There were three people tied to the stripper pole this time: Flora, Brian, and a man I didn’t know.
Only one of the high-backed leather chairs was occupied.
Mr. Shriver.
He stood, turned, and waved at us with a big smile. “Welcome everyone!” he greeted, sounding more chipper than I could have imagined him capable. “Why don’t you all come and have a seat?”
“Let’s go,” Sean said, walking ahead of us.
I looked to Patton for a cue. He took my hand and we walked together to the circle of chairs.
“Anywhere you’d like,” said Mr. Shriver.
Patton tried to take the first seat he came to, but I pulled on his arm, dragging him to a chair where I could face Flora. When she saw me, her eyes lit up with hope and she smiled. She didn’t look hurt. She didn’t even look manhandled.
It was the biggest relief I’d experienced in a long time.
I couldn’t help myself. When Patton sat, he let go of my hand, and I jumped up on the platform and threw my arms around her, saying, “I’m so sorry, Flora. I love you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered calmly. “It’s not your
fault. I love you too. Thanks for picking me. I had a lot of fun.”
The sound of Mr. Shriver’s deep, evil voice drew me away.
“Aww, now isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen? If you’ll have a seat, though, Melissa, there are a few things we need to clear up really quick.”
I took the seat next to Patton, keeping my eyes on Flora, trying not to cry only because she wasn’t. If anything, she seemed at peace. Just happy to see me. Something I would never come to deserve no matter if I devoted the rest of my life to making up for my past mistakes.
I glanced at Brian, who was glaring at me, so mad his face was shaking.
“First of all,” Mr. Shriver said, “is anyone going to ask me how my trip went?”
“How was your trip, Mr. Shriver?” Sean asked, his voice theatrical.
“Thank you for asking, Sean. It went remarkably well, in fact. Your Favorite Girl, Incorporated is entering a brand new era. I’ll spare you the details, but our first step is to phase out our current line of products to focus instead on mass production of the Libido Drug. Now Patton, before you get all squirrelly on me, let me give you some good news.”
Patton looked like he was ready to jump out of his chair and kill Mr. Shriver, and Sean looked ready to intercept.
I stiffened up, my muscles so tight they ached.
“What?” Patton said, gritting his teeth.
“The good news,” said Mr. Shriver, “is that I’m not going to ask Sean to murder each and every one of your girls. Why throw away potential workers, right? The bad news is that with our new production demands, it looks like we’ll have to overlook a few child labor laws, but as long as no one calls the labor board on us, I believe we’ll be fine. That suit you, Doc?”
Patton still looked like he wanted to kill Mr. Shriver, but he seemed to relax a little, too. That was one thing off his mind. At least the girls wouldn’t be sent immediately for slaughter.
He turned to Sean. “What did you do with the ones you took?”
Sean stuck his thumb out behind him. “Locked away but safe. I promise I didn’t touch a hair on their pretty little heads.”
Patton stood and pointed at him. “You better hope, for your sake, that you’re telling me the truth, Sean. If you so much as looked at one of them the wrong way, I swear to fucking Christ I’m going to kill you.”
“Now now now, let’s all just calm down,” Mr. Shriver said. “We still have lots to talk about. James, come out here, would you?”
James?
I followed Mr. Shriver’s gaze to the corner behind me, where I’d come upon Flora playing the piano the night of the party, just in time to see James emerge.
Like a cluster of firecrackers going off, all the little pieces lit up in my mind to form an answer I should have seen coming.
Judy discovers Brian’s plan.
Judy warns Flora to order gallons of water.
James reports Flora’s order to Sean.
Sean realizes what Brian is planning, but not soon enough.
“Make us some drinks, James,” Mr. Shriver said. “Is wine okay with everyone? We certainly don’t want mixed drinks. That ice is probably contaminated, thanks to young Brian here.”
Brian hadn’t said a thing. Neither had the other man.
Mr. Shriver must have noticed me looking at him. He sat forward eagerly and said, “Melissa, you haven’t met our friend Daniel Wagstaff, have you? Daniel, Melissa. Melissa, Daniel. You may or may not know this, but Daniel here works for the city water company. He’s a very happy guy. A beautiful wife, two kids, a nice house. Paid for, even. In fact, Daniel’s so happy he decided he wants to live twice as long as a normal human being, and he’d do anything to make that happen. Right Daniel?”
Daniel broke down crying.
Mr. Shriver continued, “Now I hate to cut this introduction short, but we don’t have all night. Say goodbye to Daniel, everyone!” Mr. Shriver leaned forward and waved at the poor man as Sean came up and sank his knife into Daniel’s stomach over and over in uppercut fashion. Blood splattered all over the platform, and with a final eviscerating vertical slice, his guts spilled out, too.
Brian started screaming. Patton grabbed my hand and squeezed so hard it hurt.
He feared for his brother.
James appeared next to me with a glass of wine. He was grinning.
“I’m gonna get you,” I said, returning his smile.
“Somehow I doubt it,” James said. Then he walked away.
I turned to Mr. Shriver.
“So you had this little prick spying on me, huh? Looks like you should have put him on Brian, wouldn’t you say?”
Mr. Shriver nodded, tilting his head, as though conceding.
He looked at Sean who stood near the platform wiping his blade. “She does have a point, doesn’t she Sean?”
Sean laughed. “Last week I told her I’d like to hire her. She’s full of good ideas, and she knows how to bullshit better than any of us.”
Mr. Shriver looked at me with an approving expression, raising his eyebrows. “Now that’s a gift. In a perfect world, I think Sean’s right, you could do us a lot of good, Melissa. The only problem is—and I’m not quite sure how to word this—you keep … what do the kids say these days … fucking with my shit? Is that right?”
Sean nodded.
“You keep fucking with my shit.”
“She had no idea,” Patton said.
“Of course, you’d say that,” Mr. Shriver said, standing slowly. Blood still poured from Daniel’s stomach, pattering between the sound of Mr. Shriver’s footsteps as he approached us. “Only problem is this young lady—” He pointed at Flora. “—knew what was going to happen well in advance, and she’s refusing to tell us how. Sean was gracious enough not to beat it out of her. Instead, he thought he’d wait for you to return and explain yourself, Melissa.”
Now he was looking at me.
“Well? We’re all waiting. Bullshit your way out of this one, dear.”
I smiled, gritting my teeth, and shook my head. I stood. “My name is not dear,” I said boldly. I looked at Sean. “My name isn’t sugar, either.” Then at Patton. “And it sure as fuck isn’t baby.” Turning back to Mr. Shriver, I said, “My name is Melissa, and any one of you mother fuckers who knows even the slightest thing about me knows this: I hate Brian’s guts. I would never conspire with him. If I knew he was planning something like this, I would have ratted him out in a second. I would have enjoyed it.”
“She’s right about that,” Sean said. “She does hate him.”
“Patton?” Mr. Shriver said.
Patton nodded. “Fuck yeah she hates him.”
“It still begs the question: how did Flora know about it?”
“I’ll ask her,” I said. “She’ll tell me.”
This was dangerous. I had to play it just right if we were going to get out of this alive. Brian watched me eagerly as I approached Flora. It seemed he was just as curious to know as Mr. Shriver.
“Flora,” I said.
She nodded.
“I want you to tell the truth, okay? Why did you order those jugs of water?”
She took a deep breath, then said, “Because Judy told me to.”
Mr. Shriver, Patton, Sean, and Brian all snapped their heads around so hard they were lucky not to have broken their necks.
“You know where the bitch is?” Brian spewed. “It was her! It was Judy! See? I wasn’t lying! She switched it!”
I almost laughed. That’s exactly what Judy had said.
“Can somebody please shut him up?” I asked instead. “I can’t hear myself think.”
Sean walked up and delivered two hard slaps across Brian’s face.
“Quiet,” he said.
Brian let out a loud, rattling groan and then was quiet.
“Flora,” I said, staring into her eyes. “Again, tell me the truth.” Here I said a silent prayer. “Did you see where Judy came from?”
“No,” she said. “
She woke me in the middle of the night. She said Brian was doing something terrible, and I wasn’t supposed to drink tap water or use the shower.”
“Did you see where she went when she left?”
“No. It was dark. And I was half asleep.”
“So you don’t know where she’s hiding?”
Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.
“No.”
Good girl.
I turned back to Mr. Shriver. “Satisfied?”
“Not really,” Mr. Shriver said. “See, I believe you, and I believe Flora, but this whole city is in chaos due to a leak of my product and I really, really want to kill someone right now. I can’t kill Brian because I want to see his new research play out, and I don’t want to kill you because … well, let’s just say I have a special plan for you, dear.”
He turned and approached Flora.
“No,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but I’m really only left with one option.” He glanced back at me. “Anyone else feeling a bit of déjà vu? I certainly am. Sean, may I borrow your knife?”
Sean came up and handed over the knife.
I saw Flora’s frightened eyes following the blade and started crying.
“No,” I repeated, breaking down. “You can’t do this to me again! Kill me, you mother fucker!”
Mr. Shriver ignored me and stepped up on the platform, face to face with Flora. He delicately brushed a strand of hair off her eyebrow, then touched her cheek with his dry, leathery index finger. She was trembling, but she didn’t look away.
“Where should I cut her first? Any recommendations?”
Finally Patton chimed in. “Mr. Shriver, you don’t have to do this. Flora didn’t do anything wrong.”
He laughed. “Do you think I give a damn about right and wrong?”
Sean snickered, standing there with his hands behind his back, eager to see more bloodshed.
“You know what?” Mr. Shriver said. “I think I’ll start by mangling this pretty face.”
He raised the knife to her chin.
“Gene!”
It was like I’d fired a gun over a crowd. Everyone in the room flinched, even Sean.
Mr. Shriver turned to me slowly, the humor gone from his face, replaced now by rage.
“What did you say?”
“I said ‘Gene.’ That is your name, isn’t it? Gene?”
His Favorite Girl Page 18