by Lewis Wolfe
In Gold’s mind the rats were just like the men her mother had always warned her against. They wanted, and wanted, and wanted until their fat bellies exploded under the pressure of their own gluttony. But it hadn’t been a man that got to her, right?
The last thing Gold remembered was the climax she reached with the girl she had picked up at Ray’s Liquors. Gold shook her head in defeat. She hadn’t picked up anybody; she had been picked up instead. Was that last night? Gold had no way of knowing what time it was, caught in the darkness of this terrible room.
The cold air tickled her skin and sharpened her nipples to the point that Gold thought they would explode. They never did and she sat tiredly on her groaning chair, wondering what her beauty could do to get her out of this situation. She had gone from predator to prey and now she was subject to whatever whim her captor indulged in next.
It was hard to focus her mind through the dizziness that assailed her head. It was hard to ignore the burning sensation in her jaw. When she tried to open her mouth, just to see how it would feel, it was as if a thousand needles attacked her cheek.
The black man! There had been a black man, Gold realized as she struggled to remember. He had pulled her off the girl and smacked her against the wall. It was his fist that had shattered her jaw!
So it had all been a setup. It angered Gold that she had fallen for the same trick she and her sisters had pulled all those countless years ago. She had been tempted. She had been seduced. Just when she felt safest, just when she felt she had won, it had all been taken from her. Like Black’s arrow piercing a man’s throat, she had been crushed by big and powerful hands.
A man’s hands, of course. Her mother had been right. She had always been right. Men would forever be her undoing.
Yet where was the man she was supposed to serve? The man that had awakened her and pulled the fog of ages spent in darkness from her mind? Where was her infinitely beautiful father? Could he not protect her now? Could he not save her? Or had she failed him so terribly that he no longer cared for her? Was there no more love now that she was useless?
The thought of her father’s abandonment chilled Gold to the bone and tears of fear and sadness welled up in her tired eyes. Sobbing, she sat on the old chair that struggled to carry her weight. Her beautiful round shoulders shook uncontrollably and her blonde curls stuck against her wet cheeks.
All she had ever wanted was to serve him. To be perfect for him. She had failed, and now her life was meaningless. She was stuck in this dark basement forever, Gold thought. Her once beautiful body would be torn to shreds by the vicious rats until only her bones remained. Those bones would stay here forever, scattered across the dusty floor.
Such a desperate sadness overtook Gold. She realized that her foggy ancient mind, cursed by the ages, had been the kinder thing. At least she hadn’t been able to really feel anything back then. It had all just been a large blur of one moment moving into the next.
“You mustn’t give up so soon….”
Gold raised her head at the voice, but found herself unable to see through the long strands of hair covering her eyes. She didn’t have to see him to recognize his warm and beautiful voice. That voice that had sung to her all those ages ago on the field, telling her how beautiful and wonderful she was.
She could hear him walk toward her now and soon felt how he brushed the hair from her face. His hands were warm and soft and he smelled of fresh grass after the rain had fallen.
Gold looked at the infinitely beautiful man standing in front of her. Even through the darkness she could see his flawless, almost silver skin and long, dark hair. His lips were curled eagerly and his smile felt as if it was just for her. A private little moment that fueled the tired and bruised Gold.
Gold whimpered, “You came for me after all….”
“Of course…. What kind of father would I be to let you rot in a disgusting old basement?” he asked.
He’d called himself her father. Gold’s heart was warmed by this quiet confession of unconditional and eternal love. If that love came from such a beautiful man, Gold thought, it had to be the most precious love there ever was.
“Won’t you untie me, Father? I’m scared to be here by myself, with the filthy rats and the ugly spiders.”
Gold’s heart almost broke when she watched him shake his head.
“No,” he said. “You must stay here for now. It is important to me that your body remains on these grounds.”
Gold tried to swallow her fear but found herself unable to. This terrible, dark room was going to tear her to shreds, she felt.
“But Father… I am so very frightened….”
As she admitted her feelings her father’s face went dark and cold. Gold could tell that he judged her weakness in the harshest way. How she desired then to take back the words she had just spoken. Words that had angered him… or worse, disappointed him. She had made him think that she was less than perfect.
“You don’t want to serve me anymore?” he asked.
“I do! It is the only thing I want! Please! Let me serve you, Father!” she cried hastily.
“Then you must stay here for now and be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
He smiled at her again now that she had professed her loyalty. She would stick with him forever and she would defy even this hell of a room if need be.
“Ready for what, you ask, my perfect Gold? Why… for me, of course. You must be ready for me….”
Gold didn’t know what that meant and she found herself unable to care. His smile for her was warm again and she would kill for that warmth. She had done it many times before, after all.
4
Caleb sat at the kitchen table with Ellie and Mary. If Jane hadn’t whispered to him about what she had done to the middle-aged woman he would have been very worried. But as it was, watching Mary’s delighted face during the conversations with her imaginary uncle was almost amusing.
Ellie sat quietly as she drank her tea, and Caleb could only guess at what was going on inside the girl’s head. She seemed to trust Jane unconditionally and even the confusing sight of the brainwashed Mary did not seem to dissuade her.
Deep down it bothered Caleb that Jane hadn’t been completely honest with him. She had showed him some extent of her abilities, but definitely not the entirety of it. Illusions, ripping minds out of bodies… what else could she do that ran so very contrary to the normalcy of life?
Right now it didn’t matter, Caleb decided. He had to focus on the plan. After all, it wouldn’t be much longer before his client set it all into motion.
Caleb thought back to their conversation in Jane’s hotel room the day before. He went over each and every word she had spoken to him.
“When I was born they inserted a small chip in my spine. At first that chip was only designed to do one thing. It is connected to the device that Agent Bradford carries, the button. When he is within range and pushes it, strong electrical currents run up my spine. They will cause a great amount of pain, and they will knock me out.
“Before my outplacement they adapted the chip to double as a tracker. It is connected to an app that runs on my handler’s phone. If I am more than a hundred miles away from my handler the app loses touch with the chip. That’s about an hour and fifteen minutes by car on the highway. I am not allowed to leave my working location, however; to do so would be suicide.
“The elite group that is on call to take me down is roughly half an hour away from my current location. That means that should I decide to go AWOL, the team is always present far before I can actually escape the reach of the tracking app. They will find me and they will detain me.
“But Caleb… if I manage to get far enough away from the tracking app, I am free. They won’t be able to find me. So what needs to happen is, that team has to meet up with Agent Bradford and come to me. If we can take them out, all at once, there will be nobody left to chase me.
“This is the arrogance of Dr. Greer, and it’s the on
ly chance I have. He thought he knew everything I was and everything I could do. He thought that he created a perfect system within which I couldn’t make a move. And for a long time that was true, until I found you.
“I will make sure to befriend Arthur Toaves, and we will use his mansion. You’ve seen how big it is. It’s one confusing mess of a house. If you can map it out, you can pick off the members of the team brought in to come and get me, one by one.
“Most likely Agent Bradford will find me before you succeed, and he will push the button. After you take him out I will rely on you to get me to safety. I won’t be conscious until hours later.
“I know I’m asking a lot, Caleb. But this is the last chance you have at backing out. Once it goes down, it goes down. You can’t turn back then because they will come for you all the same. So you need to make up your mind. You have to decide. Either way…we’re cool. I won’t force you to help me.”
Afterward she had put a gun on the table for him to take. If he wanted it.
Caleb had asked her, “What will you do about that demon here in Brettville? Or will you just leave?”
“I’m going to try and take care of it. I don’t know if I can succeed, or to what extent I can, but I want to try. I… I’m going to have to do a few things I’m not exactly proud of tomorrow. I would like to balance that a little by doing something good in return.”
“You don’t owe the world that,” Caleb had said.
“I don’t?”
“You don’t owe anybody anything.”
She had looked at him then with those deep, dark eyes and Caleb had known he would never desert her. Her head had been tilted gently, as if she gave his words great consideration, and in the privacy of her hotel room she had seemed vulnerable. Human. It was then that Caleb had taken the gun.
“I don’t want to leave Baal free to do whatever he wants with this place. It won’t end there. He is so desperately hungry, and chronically bored, he won’t be able to stop with just one town. He will burn the country down if he’s given enough time.”
It hadn’t been until after Ellie recovered, and Arthur told his horrible story, that Caleb had realized what it all meant. To take care of the demon, Baal, he would have to be torn from his host first.
Baal had been the old man’s life force in that crucial moment before certain death. What would happen to that frail body if the demon was removed?
In the privacy of Ellie’s hospital room Jane had said that she wasn’t certain. That anything could happen but that it was definitely a risk. Caleb knew that she had said those words for Ellie’s benefit. Somehow he had sensed that Arthur was going to die.
So now Caleb sat silently at the kitchen table. Trying not to look at the brainwashed Mary Holsworth. Trying not to look at young Ellie, who would soon suffer another loss. He focused instead on the map of the mansion he had constructed in his head over the last few hours.
There were four main entrances to the mansion, but an elite team would never split up that way. They would go in together and slowly advance from hallway to hallway and from room to room. They would check every corner and cover each other with high-grade automatic weapons. It was entirely possible that they would be in heavy armor and wearing helmets.
A painful flash of doubt shot through Caleb’s mind. Was he crazy? It had been years since he last saw a combat situation, and it had been so scarring that he still hadn’t recovered. He was out of shape, hadn’t held a gun in years, and… he was afraid.
These guys wouldn’t be afraid. They were animals looking for a fresh kill. Armed beasts that wanted nothing more than to get into the biggest, dirtiest fight they could find. They lived for this.
But Caleb had the map inside his head. He knew the corners that couldn’t be adequately covered. He knew the doors that led to those hidden spots where he could strike from behind. He knew where the body armor had its structural weaknesses.
If everything went exactly right, he had a chance. It was a small chance, but a chance all the same. He, too, had once lived for this.
Jane’s voice welled up from the back of his head. It tugged at him gently for his attention before whispering to him.
I’m beginning very soon. Will you please take Ellie and Mary to the room we discussed? The two maids that remain are already in there. Then get into position, Caleb. It will all go down very soon now.
Caleb didn’t say a word. He just got up from his chair and gently reached for Ellie’s shoulder.
The girl asked him, “Is it time?”
“It is time.”
In the back of Caleb’s head, barely audible, he heard one final message.
Thank you, Caleb. Even if I don’t make it.
She would make it. Caleb had made the promise to her in her hotel room and he repeated it now. He wasn’t going to fail. The bullies wouldn’t win today.
5
Agent Bradford had made his way to the open gate of the Toaves mansion. The tracking app told him that she was holed up in there and hadn’t moved in hours.
He contemplated going in by himself to find her and push the button, but the risk was too great. Not only had the girl displayed abilities that he didn’t even know she had, there was also the bodyguard with her.
No, he had to rely on the backup team to assist him. Together there would be no stopping them. Not even the amazing Specimen #8 could attack all their minds at the same time, and certainly a washed-up army reject was no match for them. But how to get Dr. Greer to send in the team? That was the real issue.
The old doctor’s ego was so impossibly large, the man would never believe that his system had failed. That his property was rebelling. That she had developed abilities the doctor didn’t know about.
Agent Bradford?
Agent Bradford tried to ignore the ugly voice that crawled up in the back of his head. It pulled at him, mocked him, teased him.
Agent Braaaaadfooooord?
“What?!”
I mean… you’re outside. Are you shy to come in?
“Fuck you! We’ll get you, just wait!”
Tsk…. As if you could take me down. You know you’re too weak, right? They’ve made me so damn powerful no MAN could ever get to me now.
“That’s what you think, you little bitch! We’re coming for you! We’re coming!”
So the backup team is arriving soon?
Agent Bradford was silent.
Oh? Agent Bradford… you haven’t called them yet? Geez… . And here I was thinking you were at least halfway competent….
He didn’t respond.
Here’s what you do, Agent Bradford. You get on the phone with Dr. Greer’s secretary. We both know you’re not important enough to have a direct line. Anyway, you call his secretary, and you tell her it’s a code 3751.
You tell him what I did to you this morning. Leave out the part about shitting your pants. If he doesn’t believe you, tell him I’m very sorry that his wife died last night.
“W-Wait…. His wife died last night?” Agent Bradford asked.
I’m afraid so.
“How can you— That’s halfway across the country! You couldn’t possibly—”
Couldn’t I? Who died and made you the expert? You’re practically still in diapers… or you should be, considering what happened this morning….
“You fucking bitch….”
You best get on that now, don’t you think so, Agent Bradford?
As suddenly as it had struck him, the voice retreated from his mind. For some reason, however, her words kept echoing through Agent Bradford’s head. She mocked him. She taunted him. It was as if she wanted the backup team to be here.
“The little bitch thinks she’s invincible. If she wants a fight, I’ll give her one!” he said out loud.
Agent Bradford took out his phone. He had the doctor on speed dial.
A woman’s voice answered. “Dr. Greer’s office. How may I help you?”
“This is Agent Bradford. I need to talk to Dr. Greer.”
<
br /> “I’m sorry, Agent Bradford, Dr. Greer isn’t available today.”
“I know, I know…. But it’s a code 3751.”
There was no response.
“Hello?”
“I will connect you, Agent Bradford. One moment, please.”
Agent Bradford took a deep breath as he waited for the secretary to patch him through. Was this what his professional career amounted to? Relegated to arguing with secretaries and hoping the higher-ups would graciously offer him some of their time?
Apparently what he did wasn’t very important. It angered the special agent to his very core that Dr. Greer didn’t take him seriously.
Dr. Greer’s voice sounded through the phone. “Agent Bradford?”
“Yes! Hello, Dr. Greer!”
“Hello…. What can I help you with?”
“I’m calling about your Specimen #8. She has become unstable. She—”
“Is she still on the job?”
“What? Yes… but listen, Dr. Greer. She has attacked me!”
“Attacked you how, Agent Bradford?”
“She… she showed me illusions this morning. She made me think I was really sick and had to throw up. I thought I was going to die!”
“Specimen #8 isn’t capable of that.”
“She fucking is now! Or maybe she’s been capable of it for a long time. I don’t know, Dr. Greer!”
Agent Bradford heard the doctor’s skeptical sigh and it enraged him. That single sigh filled his entire body with a fury that was almost impossible to control.
“You don’t believe me, you motherfucker?! Your wife is dead! She died last night! Specimen #8 sends her condolences!”
“What did you just say?”
The doctor’s response was eerily calm. It was so quiet, in fact, that it threw the special agent off completely. The anger sank from his body on the spot. All that was left was a frightened man who was sure he had just destroyed his career by mouthing off to a superior.
“Wait…. I’m sorry, Dr. Greer. I didn’t mean to—”