by D W Marshall
“Are you Liam Patrick?” he asks me.
“That depends on who you are.”
“My name is Dominic. I’m a friend of Vivian’s.”
“What the fuck do you mean, ‘a friend of Vivian’s?’ I know all of her friends, and I don’t know you.” I cross my arms over my chest. I suddenly have a bad feeling about this dude.
“May I come in, please?”
I back up, giving him space to enter my place. I regard him with scrutiny when he passes.
“Dad, this is Dominic…uh, I didn’t get your last name.”
“Luke. Dominic Luke. But I think that your father and I have met,” he says and extends his hand out to shake my father’s.
“I’m Nelson Patrick. I don’t believe we have. I’m sure I would remember a man of your stature,” my dad says, his hand still in our visitor’s.
“Oh, but I never forget a face. This was about three years ago. I believe it was in Italy.” Dominic finally releases my dad’s hand.
“Dad, what is he talking about?”
“I have no idea,” my father says. But he does not look me in the eye.
“I remember you spent a lot of time in Europe. That had to be about three years ago, because it was my first year in college. What’s this guy talking about? How does he know you, Dad?”
My dad goes pale. “The more important question is, how does he know Vivian?
“He is no friend of Vivian’s. I would know, Dad. What is this about?”
“May I?” Dominic gestures toward the sofa.
“Why not?” I say. “Dad, you have anything to add?”
“Let’s just hear him out,” my father says. I note a slight unease in his voice that wasn’t there before. Does he really know this guy?
Dominic takes a seat on my sofa, and I wait to hear what he has to say. “Well, like I said, I’m a friend of Vivian’s. I worked at the place where she is being held.”
I listen.
“She’s alive and well. I was asked to leave two days ago. This is the first place that I came, because Vivian asked me to come here and tell you and her family that she’s okay.”
“She’s okay?” My voice cracks.
Thank God. She’s okay.
I can no longer contain my emotions. I run as fast as my legs will carry me to my room and slam the door. This is a private moment.
I fall to my knees.
Thank you so much for keeping her safe, I pray to the heavens. For a year I thought the worst, and now I hear that she’s alive. I sit on the edge of my bed and let the unmanly tears that I have come to know too well fall, unchecked.
She is alive and well. Thank God. She is alive and well.
Wait a fucking minute. A thought breaks my silent rejoicing. I hop off of my bed, fling my door open, and make my way down the hall to the bearer of this news. I walk straight up to him.
“If she’s your friend, Dominic, let me ask you a question. Why the fuck are you out here while she’s still locked up wherever the hell she is? Why didn’t you bring her home?”
His face falls into his hands. When he looks up I can see that it’s etched with worry.
“I tried. Believe me, I tried. When I was removed from The…place—”
I notice he almost says the name of the place. Hmph. What’s he hiding?
“—I broke back inside. To get her out. She started to leave with me, but then she changed her mind. You know her, she is amazingly stubborn.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? What are you, two hundred pounds? She weighs a hundred fifteen soaking wet. You throw her over your shoulder and you take her the fuck out of there! Where the fuck is she? I’ll go get her myself!” I’m pacing. I’m ready to break this asshole’s face for leaving my girl in captivity.
He stands, probably feeling the aggression I have toward him.
“I know you’re upset. I broke a few things myself after I left her there, but I had no choice. She stayed because of you, and Maddie, and her family.”
“What?”
“The man who’s keeping her and the others…”
There goes that pause again. Just spit it out already.
“…he threatened to bring harm to those closest to them if they left before their year was up. She will be released in about seven weeks. She won’t leave before then. I wanted to drag her out kicking and screaming, but…”
“But what?”
“She’s right. He wouldn’t stop at making her life miserable if she broke out. He would hurt her through the people she loves. I had to listen to her. She would hate me for bringing that kind of fate upon her loved ones.”
Why should he care if she hates him? Her life is with me and her family, not him. He doesn’t know her. Then it hits me. The pain in his eyes. “I get it,” I sneer at him. “You think you love her.” There’s no way Vivian fell for this…this…wannabe exotic, rugged super model. She’s mine. I’m the love of her life and she’s mine.
“I don’t think I love her. I know that I love her, and I’ll do anything for her because of that love. Including walk out of her life if she so chooses. No one can blame me for falling for her. If it helps, she never tired of speaking of you.”
“And when she chooses me?” I ask, because she already has.
“If that happens, then I will respect her wishes,” he says.
Hearing that does help. I do feel better. Of course he loves her. She’s the most amazing woman in existence.
“Well, you can love her all you want. As long as you understand that she is mine,” I threaten.
He nods in agreement. But I know deep down he has no intention of giving her up without a fight. I’m still not satisfied.
“I need proof that you really know her. Right, Dad?” I glance to my father for reassurance. “He could be lying, making this shit up.” My dad nods in my direction. He’s suddenly very quiet. Hmm.
“Okay. You want proof?” He lets out a deep breath. “Her name is Vivian Travis. She has dark hair, almost black. Her skin is soft and fair. She has the most striking steel-gray eyes that penetrate your soul.”
He gazes at my father and me and can see that we’re not convinced. A picture could tell him that.
“Her parents are Edward and Lidia Travis. She has a brother named Shane, who’s still in high school. Her dog’s name is Growl.” He lets out a sigh. “And her best friends are Maddie and you. Before she was taken, she was going to spend the weekend with you guys in some secret location. She also told me that she’s in love with you. Listen, I’m not some asshole from off the street. I know Vivian. Come on, Mr. Forrest, tell your son.”
“What is he talking about, Dad? Why is he calling you Mr. Forrest? Do you know this guy? Don’t lie to me.”
My dad stands up and faces me, but not before giving Dominic the most deadly look I’ve ever seen. Dominic doesn’t even flinch under his glare.
“Liam, it is a really long story, but, yes, I do know Dominic. We met three years ago. At The Chamber.” My dad worries his forehead with his hand. Then he scratches his head. I can tell he doesn’t want to have this conversation with me, but I don’t give a fuck. Somebody had better tell me something.
“The Chamber?” I ask.
“When I left your mother and you boys, my life spiraled out of control. Women were throwing themselves at me because of my money. I knew that I had made a mistake leaving your mother. I tried to come back, but she wouldn’t have it. I met a gentleman who told me about an exclusive club…completely secret. Members are chosen at random. The membership fee for just one year was in the millions.” My father stops talking. He turns his back to me.
“Go on,” I say through gritted teeth. I’m starting to get the picture.
He turns back and looks me straight in the eye. “I was one of thirty-five men. In Italy, I got to have sex with these young women five days a week for a year. That’s how Dominic knows me. No one uses their real names in The Chamber, so during my year there, I was Dev Forrest.”
I�
��m going to lose my fucking mind. My father just confessed to being a sexual deviant.
“So what the fuck did you come here to tell me, Dad? Lies about where Vivian might be when you knew the whole time?” I start pacing again.
“Son, please. Girls go missing all the time. It never crossed my mind in the beginning. I had my suspicions, but only recently. I had no real knowledge that she was at The Chamber until Dominic showed up. I swear it.”
I lose it. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. This is worse than her being dead. At least if she were dead, she wouldn’t be suffering in some sex club, being passed around like something cheap.
My fucking father was a patron. I take my anger out on my furniture.
My table is the first to bite the dust when I put my foot through it. I send my flat screen crashing to the ground.
“Fuck!” I shout.
My wall is the last to feel my wrath as I put several holes in it with my feet and hands.
My father grabs hold of me, and I crumble in his embrace. The tears don’t stop.
Her innocence is lost. Will she even be the same when I get her back?
I realize in a flash. “How. Do. You. Know. Vivian?” I ask Dominic.
He sucks in a deep breath. “I was her personal guard. My job was to make sure that she was unharmed,” he says.
“Is that all? Is that all? Did you fuck her, too? Did you get a taste of the beautiful virgin?” I’m enraged. “Answer me. Did you fuck her?”
I take a swipe at him, but my father is still restraining me.
“Let go of me!” I yell. “You’re no different than him!” I break free of my father. I’m in Dominic’s face now. I want blood—his or my fucking father’s. “If you didn’t fuck her, you watched while other men fucked her.” My voice low and menacing. “Get the fuck out of my house. Both of you.”
He doesn’t flinch. He takes all of my insults and verbal abuse.
“You have every right to be angry. Trust me. But I can’t leave yet. There is more that I must share with you and your father. You think you’re suffering? You don’t know the meaning of the word.” He spits the words at me.
I shove him hard with both hands. His body reacts, but not like I want. I want him on the ground so that I can pounce on his ass. He just steps back on one foot.
“You just want to get your grubby paws on her. She’s mine. Just leave so I can pack my shit and go get my girl out of there. She doesn’t need you, she has me.”
I’m losing it, like a crying toddler. “You probably fucked her, too. I was supposed to be her first, not you, not them…me.”
I’m disconsolate. I fall to my knees.
My father tries to comfort me. “Son, I’m sorry. Now that we know that she’s in The Chamber, we need to discuss this. You have to pull yourself together. Vivian needs you to be strong.” He pulls me to my feet.
“You will help me get her out of there. You owe me. You owe Vivian.” I spit the words at my father.
The room is thick with my hate-fueled anger. I turn and try to stare a hole through Dominic.
“Why aren’t you gone?” I shout at him.
“You're pissed, I get it, but none of that’s gonna help Vivian. She is what’s important here, not your fucking ego. Now, I talk.”
He steps forward. His face is a mask of composure.
“You and your father would be wise not to try and get her, and not to involve the police. Your father knows firsthand that this would be a suicide mission. The most powerful men in the world frequent The Chamber. They move around constantly, and are highly guarded. The protection goes as high up as the federal government. Nothing aside from killing the man who runs it will shut it down. If you don’t kill him, you will spend the rest of your life wishing you had. You and your loved ones will never sleep a sound night again. Your best plan is to wait until Vivian is released, and be thankful to God that you have that.”
What? Is he fucking insane?
Everything hurts. Images of swarms of strange men fucking my girl are ripping through my heart. Especially when I close my eyes and I see her with Dominic. He won’t come clean, but I can just sense that he has tasted her.
This shouldn’t be what I’m focused on. I should be happy that the person who landed on my doorstep isn’t asking me to go with him somewhere to identify her dead body. The least of my worries should be her virginity. It’s just that I’ve dreamed about her being mine for so many years. I’ve coveted her virginity and believed that it would be me she shared herself with the first time.
It shouldn’t matter, but it does.
I shouldn’t care, but I do.
Look at me. I’m no virgin, and what’s worse, I fucked her best friend. Why should she be on a pedestal?
Because I put her there.
I turn to my father. Even after learning that he’s worse than I thought he was, he has come through for me since Vivian was taken. He has been here for me.
“Dad, what should we do?”
Unless my dad says we go to Canada, storm the castle and bring the rain to get my girl back, I have seven weeks to wrap my head around the fact that the Vivian who comes back to me may not be the same Vivian who was taken from me. I’d better figure out how to be okay with that soon, or Mr. Exotic Super Model Smoldering Eyes is going to be waiting in the cut to steal her away from me.
My head is not in the right space. I need my dad to make sure this is the right choice. If it were up to me, I would go in there in a blaze of glory, but I’m a hothead, and Vivian is too important for me to make any snap decisions.
“We wait, Liam,” Dad says. “That’s the safest thing to do. We risk her being harmed if something goes wrong in an attempt to extract her. Besides, Mr. Luke already told us she refused to leave with him when he attempted to rescue her.”
Mr. Luke, my balls. He’s a fucking rapist. I know he fucked her.
“What about her parents? And Maddie? Shouldn’t they at least know that she’s okay?” I ask.
“I say we wait on Maddie, and her parents, just in case. We will tell them when we know for sure,” my dad says. “They’ve waited this long. Seven more weeks is nothing. Especially if something goes wrong, and she doesn’t come home. We wait, son.”
“Mr. Patrick, Liam, I’m heading back to Canada. I have contacts on the inside who will alert me if there is a need to extract her sooner. I informed her should that become necessary, all bets are off. If we can exchange information, I’ll be able to keep in contact with you. I know she would want that.”
“I can do you one better. The Chamber is near Prince Rupert, B.C. right?” my dad asks.
“Yes, Mr. Patrick. Your intel is very good,” Dominic says.
“Our family has a spacious cabin very close to the area,” Dad says. “I can arrange for you to stay there. I would like to meet with you to discuss The Chamber’s future…if you get my meaning. I have a lot to make up for, and I would say that this is a good place to start.”
“I do get your meaning, sir. And we are on the same page. It’s high time for The Chamber to cease to exist. Thank you for the use of your cabin.”
“I’m going, too!” I shout. I don’t want this clown to be alone with my girl again. If anything happens, I want to be there when she is extracted.
My father doesn’t respond. Instead he is writing something down on the back of a business card. He hands it to Dominic. “My contact info is on the front, and I wrote the address and the name of the cabin’s caretaker for you. He’ll be expecting you.” He shakes his hand.
“Dad. Did you hear me? I said I’m going.”
“Liam, that would be a bad idea. You’re too emotional. You serve her best by staying right where you are. You’ll never forgive yourself if something happens to her.”
Even after so much time, my father knows me well. He knows there’s no way I could be that close to her and sit and wait, especially knowing what’s happening to her. I would try to get her, and if that could in some way bring her
to harm, then it isn’t worth it.
Seven weeks.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Choices
What a fool.
I let Dominic walk out of here without me. My head is killing me from crying all night.
I must be going insane.
Did I make the right choice by believing Mason’s promises to release us after a year and to punish us and the ones we love if we tried to escape? Surely I did the right thing for myself, my mom and dad, Shane, Maddie, Liam…and for Dominic.
Seven weeks is nothing.
Dominic surprised me with his tenacity, his tenderness, and his gift of love.
I thought this was a dream, and when I returned home, Dominic would be this amazing guy who was part of the dream that I’d left behind. He was supposed to be a memory to fantasize about because he wasn’t real. He was only a special part of the mysterious Chamber.
My life back home and Dominic would have never been connected because I thought that when I left this place he would remain behind with it. But he has shown me, in no uncertain terms, that he is real and he wants me forever.
Is that what I want?
After last night, I just don’t know. It’s hard to make a comparison, because my relationship with Liam has been based on friendship. We both desired more, but we were too wimpy to act upon it. Dominic and I started out with a sexual relationship and friendship blossomed out of it.
How can I compare the two?
Now I have to go about life in The Chamber knowing that he is not with me. There will be no falling asleep in my Chamber. No secret rendezvous. I will not pass him in the hallways and see the secret smile behind his eyes that is for me and me alone.
Seven weeks.
It’s our day off today. Heartache is exhausting. It’s almost one o’clock when I finally drag my lifeless body out of bed. I still can’t believe Dominic denied me last night. He knew exactly what he was doing. I miss him already. My Chambermates are gone when I wake up.
I make my way into the kitchen, and find it just as quiet as the rest of the place. Where is everyone? I get my answer when I see the note.
Flame,