Part of her plan was to pick made up names and stick to them. I have no idea which name I picked, much less what she decided to go as. So Mr. and Mrs. Baxter it will have to be. Unless I forget again.
At least the sound of her name got her attention. And she’s smiling at Nancy now too, although not with her eyes. Those are full of steel that’s not quite masking the pain underneath as the priest climbs on the stage to announce the start of the children’s show, which as I understand will be the main act of tonight’s event.
“Ooo, it’s starting,” Nancy says, clapping her hands excitedly. “It’s a production of the Wizard of Oz and my youngest, Kaitlin, is Dorothy.”
Alice audibly gasps beside me, all the more noticeable because the room has grown quiet.
“Welcome everyone,” the priest says. “Please take your seats. The performance is about to begin.”
I wrap my arm around Alice’s shoulders and lead to her to the two aisle seats in the back row.
“He put on the Wizard of Oz back then too,” she whispers. “I was Dorothy. He said he gave me the part because I was his special girl.”
We hadn’t read the full flier for this event, so this play is a surprise to both of us. A painful one for Alice if her tone is anything to go by.
The priest is merrily explaining the play on stage, announcing the players, and his excited voice is such a stark contrast to the pain in Alice’s that it makes me want to get up on that stage and punch him until he can’t get up anymore.
The lights dim, the curtains open, and the play begins. The priest is sitting in the front row, his face illuminated by the stage lights. And that’s pure predatory hunger in his excited eyes as he watches Dorothy—Kaitlin Cole, I suppose—stammer through her lines. Even if I didn’t know anything about this priest, I’d know something was off from the way he’s practically ravishing her with his eyes. Fucking sick bastard.
“This is the perfect time to go do what we came here to do,” I tell Alice. “Are you up to it?”
She gives me a stern look that’s still very much filled with pain.
“Of course I am,” she says. “I’ll go first and then you follow.”
She doesn’t give me a chance to say anything more as she gets up and heads for the door.
Up on stage, Dorothy is hugging the tiny boy playing her dog Toto, telling him everything will be all right even though they’re so far from home with such feeling that I actually get a lump in my throat.
That’s what I’ll be for Alice. That kind of comfort. And I will make sure she returns from this mission—this ordeal—safe and sound, and successful in putting her past behind her. Even if she never let’s me kiss her again, I’ll do that for her. One way or another.
Nico
Not many people noticed Alice leaving the room, and even fewer saw me follow a few minutes later. She’s waiting for me by the front door of the community center, pretending to be very interested in the notice board, even though there’s no one out here.
“We have at least an hour now,” she tells me. “That’s how long the play will last.”
Then she hands me a bag of cameras and microphones from her oversized purse.
Our plan was to divide and conquer, each taking a portion of the buildings that we have to bug. But I take her hand as I take the bag she’s offering me.
“I think we should stick together.” I’m not sure she’s up to being alone right now, but I don’t say that. “If we have an hour, I mean. Plus, you’re way better at setting these things up than me.”
A smile almost materializes on her lips, I see it in her eyes as she nods. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll do this building first and the church last. Let’s go.”
She walks down the long corridor past the auditorium where the play is happening. There are a few doors, some closed, some open, lining the corridor, but she’s marching straight for the stairs at the back of it. And once we’re there, she doesn’t hesitate in going down into the basement. I follow, lighting our way with the flashlight on my phone, so we don’t have to turn on any lights. I wish we could though, because this place is oppressive as fuck. I’d rather not imagine being a young child, led down here by a strange man.
There are four rooms down here, two of them used for storage and one is the boiler room, but the last is equipped like some sort of a work room slash man cave. There’s a sofa, a desk, some shelves and a TV. And it would look just fine if the sofa wasn’t pink with yellow flowers on it, and there weren’t a bunch of bags of candy sprawled out all over the desk.
Alice is actually shaking as she takes in the sight.
“This,” she whispers. “This ishisroom.”
The way she sayshisleaves no doubt that this is a replica of the room in which she was abused.
“So let’s bug it,” I say and open the bag in my hands. “Quick.”
I want her out of here as fast as possible.
