Bloodbath

by K. A. Merikan

  Seth raised his hands, already backing out to the door. “I can’t deal with this stupid shit right now. Use your own judgment, but Gian wants him alive, so there.”

  Miguel glared at Nero and didn’t answer, so Seth took that as a sign of agreement and opened the door.

  The corridor assaulted him with its silence, broken only by the electric clicking of the lamp above. It was as if he’d stepped out of a busy home into the set of a post-apocalyptic movie. He swallowed hard and looked at the single gun he had on him before taking off the safety. It might seem like he was completely alone, but that didn’t have to be the case. He would visit the armory on his way, just to be on the safe side.

  He passed the body that was still cooling in the corridor. But when he climbed the stairs and into another walkway with his gun ready to be used, a rumbling sound started tickling the back of his neck. He had the faintest impression that he’d heard it when they entered with Dom earlier, but the farther he walked, heart pulsing deep in his throat, the louder the noise became. It had a low, static-like quality to it and sent shivers up and down Seth’s body as he tried to stop himself from freezing each time the lights blinked. Maybe the explosives had damaged some elements of the electric system in the house, because he didn’t remember the lights being so unpredictable down here.

  The noise grew stronger, growling like a teased dog about to strike, and Seth squeezed his hands on the gun as he moved close to the wall, toward the room that seemed to emit the ungodly sound. Seth exhaled when he saw the sign on the door. He knew close to no Spanish, but the picture of a lightning and words that looked awfully similar to generator and electricity made his shaken body calm down somewhat. So this explained both the noise and the weird light effects, but he could not linger when Domenico was out there, risking his life for their future.

  He reached the armory soon enough, and it looked exactly like it had when he passed it with Dom earlier. The door was wide open, and the flickering light beckoned him inside the narrow space filled with enough weaponry to last a guerilla group for months. His gaze trailed over all the options, and he realized that with Domenico always supplying them with whatever they needed, Seth never got to choose his firearms.

  Mounted on hooks and stands, handguns of all sizes were ripe for the taking. It was his instinct to reach for them first, but he did not pick one up, charmed by the imposing shape of the sniper rifles. It didn’t take him much time to make his decision when he remembered how well they fit in his hand during his training with Dom. The telescopic sight was yet another reason why he took it, as it would allow him to watch the helicopter from afar, without endangering Dom.

  Getting upstairs was easy enough. At first he was afraid he’d have to go outside, like he always had, but he then remembered a door that would allow him enter the main house directly. The rough-looking staircase that led him all the way to the second floor belonged in an old apartment block rather than into a newly built fake palace, but he didn’t care either way. He took his time listening by the door before slowly emerging into the dark walkway. It looked normal enough, even if drowned in shadows, at least until he spotted two shapes spread out on the floor.

  Blood pumped through his veins faster, and he approached, realizing they both wore maid uniforms. He could barely take any air into his lungs when he recognized Natalia in one of the women, and he dropped to his knees, unable to comprehend that someone could just randomly attack the house staff. But there was no blood, and when everything went quiet, he finally caught the sound of breathing.

  They were both asleep.

  Seth didn’t have the time to ponder about the significance of his discovery when a loud noise outside brought him back to his feet. The roar of a car engine startled him at first, but it was the sudden flash of light beyond the tall windows that made Seth rush up the nearest stairs and into a corridor with a view of the helicopter landing pad.

  He put his palms against the glass, and his blood ran cold at the sight before him. A large car had driven up to the helicopter, but something was off. They weren’t exactly leaving. Moments later, Seth understood why.

  A lone figure came out of the helicopter and into the bright lights of the car. Seth didn’t even have to see Domenico’s face to know by the way he moved that it was him. Was this confrontation with Toro a part of Dom’s plan? Doubt was cooling Seth’s heart as he watched the distant scene.

  One of Toro’s men had his firearm pointed at Domenico and Seth was already reeling inside over the panic this induced. Seth should have told Dom he loved him, not that Dom should go fuck himself. No matter how much Seth hadn’t wanted to hear about the possibility of Domenico’s death, just remembering what the code to the account was, forced Seth to bite his lip not to cry. He was such a mess since the whole thing with that little girl Toro had wanted to torture.

  He didn’t want to come back to this house in the first place, but here he was, watching Domenico approach the three men with his arms up in surrender. Seth was so sick of all the blood, and guts, and violence, and yet without even questioning it, he pushed the window open by a few inches and positioned the sniper rifle on the window pane. Just in case. His breathing got even the moment he looked through the telescopic sight. Some of the control was finally back in his hands.

  Dana was leaning against the front of the car, waiting. Toro stood a few paces in front of her, but the man approaching Dom was no ordinary soldier. He looked bigger in a padded black vest, but the grey combover of Luis’s hair was instantly recognizable.

  It wasn’t even a choice, but an automatic reaction to Luis making a sudden movement Domenico’s way. Seth pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into the balding head with a vicious bang from the rifle. There was no time to lose, and no time to think. Seth braced himself against recoil once more. Before panic even erupted down there, he moved the rifle half an inch to the left and shot again, sending Alvarez to the ground as well.

  Seth took aim at Toro next, but held off since he knew Domenico wanted the man alive. His heart was pounding, yet his hands were steady as if this was yet another target practice session, not real life. And despite his hesitation before, he felt nothing over killing Luis in cold blood. Nothing.

  Dana jumped on Toro’s back like a rabid cat, twisting her whole body and bringing him down so that she landed on top. Domenico was at her side seconds later, already composed and in control, but he kept looking around to find the shooter that helped him. Seth put his hand against the window, but he would only be a shadow to Domenico in the darkness of the house, so he turned around and rushed downstairs, passing several men who seemed to have fallen asleep where they stood. One startled Seth with groggy moans, but he seemed so out of it he might not have even registered Seth’s presence.

  Then it came to Seth that Domenico had mentioned some chemicals along with explosives. Did that mean Dana had poisoned everyone? Whatever happened, Seth didn’t have the time to fantasize about it now.

  The guns weighed him down, reminding him of the blood he’d spilled, but he still sped up to leave this place quicker.

  When he finally reached the ground floor, the sound of the car approaching had his heart soar, and he ran toward the door, ignoring the lifeless bodies resting on sofas or slumped in awkward positions.

  Domenico was alive.

  Seth swallowed, bracing himself for Domenico’s anger. He decided to speak first, before it could be unleashed on him. “I’m sorry! I know I was supposed to stay with Miguel,” he said as soon as the Jeep stopped at the bottom of the front steps.

  Domenico jumped out of the driver’s seat and rushed toward Seth, but instead of the fury Seth expected, he was pulled into a firm, breathless embrace. Domenico’s hair tickled his cheek, smelling of the shampoo he used since they arrived, and his breath was warm on Seth’s skin.

  Somewhere in the background, Dana was forcing Toro into the house, but Seth didn’t even see that as a matter of importance anymore.

  “It was you?” asked D
om finally.

  “Yeah, I… I wasn’t sure what they were going to do, and I couldn’t take that risk.” Seth stroked Dom’s back, finding his presence comforting even when his feelings were so conflicted.

  Domenico pulled back so that they could look into each other’s eyes, and the connection between them was so strong Toro’s yelp nearby couldn’t possibly break it. Seth couldn’t look away from the bright embers of Domenico’s gaze.

  “You did well. And I’m rarely happy about surprises,” Dom said in the end.

  “At least you get to keep all your Rio money, huh?”

  Domenico’s mouth twitched, as if he were trying to keep a serious façade, but moments later, he flashed Seth a bright grin. “Probably not. I’m going to get you a nice car once this is over.”

  Seth rubbed his face. “I don’t want a car. I just want it all to be over. Why is everyone sleeping? Are they dying?”

  “Well, Dana told me she slipped tranquilizers into the water supply. And the punch. And the lemonade. And into the pool. Almost everyone’s out cold. Toro himself is only standing because she left out the special supply in his personal apartment upstairs. And that’s only because she lives there too,” Dom said, sliding his arm behind Seth’s back and leading him inside.

  “Jesus Christ. We got Toro. Does it mean it’s over? Did we… win?”

  Domenico shrugged, but there was a broad, self-satisfied smile glowing on his handsome face. They went into the building in time to see Dana deliver a punch to Toro’s stomach. The chair she cuffed him to rattled, almost tipping over, but she pulled him back so that he wouldn’t fall. There was blood on the pale tiles, but it was only when Seth followed its trail that he noticed a piece of flesh in the puddle. It was a finger.

  “Finally!” hissed Dana, using her knife to cut an opening in the side of the tight black dress she was wearing. “I was going crazy with this boring prick.”

  Seth sneered and looked away from the finger. “Why did you cut it off? What is it with gangs and snapping off digits? I’m so fucking sick of all this!”

  Dana rolled her eyes, pressing a gag into Toro’s mouth. “Oh, stop being such a drama queen. He cut mine off. He got what he deserved.” She wiggled her half pinky at him.

  Toro’s eyes were wide, and with the skin around them so tense, he suddenly looked older with the fine lines now more pronounced. He swallowed the gag like a good boy, frantically moving his gaze between the three of them.

  Domenico grabbed Toro by the jaw. “Yes. She was working with us all along, and you gave us more opportunity for communication. That’s what you get for trusting women just because they feel good around your cock.”

  Dana slapped the back of Domenico’s head. “I did it for you.”

  Domenico grinned at Seth. “This is great.”

  “Is it though?” Seth muttered, stepping away from the streak of blood on the floor.

  Domenico’s smile faltered, and he straightened up with a more somber expression. Seth almost felt guilty for spoiling his fun. “You’re right. We’re not done yet. We can’t have all those clowns waking up on us.”

  “We can’t have any of them waking up,” Dana corrected him, shaking her head at Toro, when he screamed into the gag.

  “We know. The Morenos are now on our side,” Dom said, and even though it was technically a bluff, his words were enough to shut up Toro.

  Seth looked back at the two men out cold in the corridor. “What do you mean… all of them?” A cold feeling settled in his stomach like ice cubes, filling his body one by one.

  Domenico glanced at him before following his gaze to the two sleeping men. “Well, most of them at least. We can’t possibly work with them in the future. You know they have no respect for us, and they are loyal to this bitch,” he said, slapping the side of Toro’s head.

  When Toro growled at them like a rabid dog Seth could imagine plunging a knife into him. All those other men? Most of them were horrible people, but who was he to judge when he was no better?

  “I told you I wanted to be done with all this,” he whispered, ashamed that Dana might hear him, judge him as weak, and sure enough—she rolled her eyes behind Domenico’s back.

  “You just shot two men from a rifle,” Domenico said, squeezing Seth’s shoulder.

  Seth didn’t need to be reminded. “The situation required it.” He was trapped in this circle of violence, and not only would it never end, but only get more vicious.

  Domenico crooked his head, watching Seth as if he were looking for a weakness. “Come on. You know you want to be part of the action. You always said so.”

  “I don’t want you to be at risk on your own.” Truth be told, he had asked to be involved in Domenico’s plans a few months back. He’d just never imagined the scale of what they would encounter.

  Domenico licked his lips. “That’s right. And there’s only three of us now. Four, if we take Miguel. And we need to go through the grounds, through all the rooms, and get rid of them all if we don’t want to wake up to a rifle pointed at our foreheads.” He stepped closer, his eyes never leaving Seth. “I need you.”

  And those were the magic words Seth knew he wouldn’t resist. This wouldn’t be ‘one last time’ like Domenico had promised. This would go on forever. But Seth wouldn’t leave Domenico alone in this if that was what Dom wanted of him. This was his life, and it was time to face the bloody truth about it.

  Seth nodded and stroked Domenico’s hand. “Anything for you,” he said in Italian, to shield his feelings from Dana and Toro.

  Chapter 23 - Mark

  It got dark within such a short time that all the streetlights were on by the time Mark and Charlotte approached the centre of El Encanto. In the hustle and bustle after most people finished work, it was full of people relaxing with drinks and food. There were even a few groups of tourists, easily recognizable by the never-ending need to snap pictures of things that were mundane to anyone who lived here. But with the lanterns casting a glow on the cobblestones and the brightly-painted balconies, the town looked quite lovely, more like an undiscovered gem that hadn’t yet been overrun by visitors than the location of a big arms dealer.

  The first place they went to was Macaw Tours. A small, inconspicuous place where Miguel left their passports and money in a safebox. The people working there had no idea just how valuable the contents were, but the company boasted 24 hour access to their safeboxes, so without much wait, Mark was out of there with a small bag containing money, his passport and some essentials. He didn’t even look at it all, nor did he count the money, unwilling to waste time.

  Mark stopped a girl in the street who looked about Charlotte’s size, and in broken Spanish, asked her if she would swap clothes with Charlotte for money. The jeans and T-shirt would make her much less noticeable as they travelled than the short dress that already made a few men turn heads.

  He could hardly believe it was actually happening. He was leaving everything behind without warning, about to venture out into a whole new world with the girl who made his heart pound faster. Every step away from the villa took him further away from Seth and Domenico, and closer to the unknown. Not that he was ever afraid to make bold choices, but the pace of this change was making him uneasy, no matter how pretty Charlotte’s sweet smile was.

  She didn’t smile yet though, tense against him and clutching his hand so tightly as if she wanted to break his fingers. She hardly said anything since they left the cell, but he hoped she wouldn’t take it against him that he killed the three men who came to take her away.

  It was by sheer luck only that they hadn’t been forced to go to town on foot. There was something very strange going on back at Toro’s, with a great number of people sleeping in odd positions and places, but Mark knew better than to question it. Originally, he’d hoped to follow Dom’s advice and see if the explosives created a big enough gap in the wall for them to climb through, but when he saw the main gate wide open and unguarded, it didn’t take much time to decide on stea
ling one of the cars instead.

  He was so glad, because poor Charlotte didn’t have any shoes other than a flimsy pair of sandals. And even though driving beyond the grounds had Mark’s heart pulsing with fear, there was no catch. It had not been a trap laid out for them, and they’d simply driven off.

  The girl he stopped didn’t want to agree to the clothes swap until she realized Charlotte’s dress was of some kind of brand she must have liked, and so Mark waited in front of the public toilets. He watched the crowds pass by without a care in the world, while the reality of Toro’s villa, just a few miles away, was something beyond their comprehension.

  When Charlotte walked out, Mark couldn’t help a smile. This was the first time he’d seen her in anything other than in that dress or naked. She looked too cute for words, but the tension around her eyes was obvious.

  “Are you okay? We’re gonna make it, take deep breaths. I’ll get you a hat at that stall over there,” he pointed to the other side of the road, to a man who sold all sorts of jungle-themed souvenirs.

  She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, finally forming a smile that didn’t look very authentic. “I’m sorry, Mark. This is just... so stressful. I keep thinking they’re gonna get us any minute now.”

  Mark pulled her closer for a kiss, and her slender body melted into him, as if him protecting her from Samuel Moreno earlier tonight erased all the betrayal and bad blood between them. “They don’t even know we’ve gone, and Samuel… well… you know. He’s dead.” They crossed the road and he bought her a denim baseball cap with a jaguar embroidered at the front.

  She exhaled and put it on her head in front of a small mirror. “Okay, covers my eyes,” she said, suddenly glancing behind her back when someone honked at a pedestrian in the narrow street. It would take some time for her to get used to normal sounds after being locked up for weeks.

  Mark put his arm around her, and she seemed more at ease like that when they walked down the street, toward the car he stole. Mark on the other hand had a million thoughts going through his head all at once, and even the intense smells of street food couldn’t make those go away.