It ends tonight.One way or another.
Without moving, I use the flashlight to search every square inch of the space around the family.There’s no movement.No one else is here.
But I know this isn’t over.He won’t be content with blowing the building now.He’ll want to see my face and know my torment.
There’s a crackling sound, and I jerk, raising my gun in that direction.
Someone taped a walkie-talkie to a metal post near the family.They used the same silver tape that they used to secure the explosives.I pace toward it, shining the light around it as if a bogeyman might be hiding in the shadows around the post.
BK doesn’t appear, but my sense of dread increases.I circle the post and end up facing the walkie-talkie, checking for any loose wires that might hint at an explosive device near it.
The walkie crackles again, and I almost leap out of my skin.Acid pools in my stomach.I point the gun at the radio, even though I know it’s only the voice of evil and not the whole man.
Another crackle, and this time, I can make out a word.
“Inara.”It might be the walkie-talkie distorting the man’s voice, but I recognize that flat tone from when I heard it years ago in my childhood bedroom.
I tuck the flashlight under my arm so I can grab the radio without holstering my gun.I rip it off the wall, duct tape and all, and stare down at it, breathing hard.
“You came,” the Bondage Killer says.
I don’t reply.He wanted me here, and I’m here.I need to say something, but I can’t force the words out of my throat.
It’s hard enough to hold it together.
And it doesn’t matter, because this is the Bondage Killer’s show.“Take the stairs.”
I have my gun in one hand and the walkie-talkie in the other.I clip the walkie to my belt and swing the flashlight around to find the stairs he’s talking about.They’re in the middle of the room, zigzagging up several stories.
I don’t know how long I hesitate before BK radios again.“Do it, or they die.Now.”
I really am going to be sick.Saliva pools in my mouth.I take a deep breath in through my nose and spit into the dust at my feet.Gotta hold it together.I can’t wig out now.Ted is counting on me.
It takes everything to leave the family and walk to the metal stairs.
I can only hope Ted called for help.I can’t get the family out, not with them rigged to explode.After Burgess and the warehouse, I know BK isn’t bluffing.He’ll blow us all sky-high.I’ve got one shot to do this right.If I can distract him long enough for help to arrive, the family might make it out of here alive.
I probably won’t walk out of here, but they will, and it’ll be enough.
It takes forever for me to climb the stairs.I do it slowly, hoping to give the cavalry more time to arrive.I don’t like relying on Ted, but I do have faith that Rex will do what it takes to find me.
I could’ve called Rex immediately, and he’d be at my back now.Scratch that; he wouldn’t have let me come at all, and Ted’s family would suffer the same fate that Burgess did.
No, I made the right choice.I had to come alone.
I pause on the landing at the second floor, shining the flashlight around the abandoned space.The light catches on a set of glittering eyes in the corner.Some sort of vermin has made its home here and disappears with a scuttling sound.
The walkie at my collarbone comes alive.“Keep climbing,” BK rasps, and my body physically recoils.I want to rip this thing off of me and never hear BK’s voice again.“All the way to the roof.”
I crane my head upwards.There are several more stories before I reach the top of the building.I’d rather stay down here with the rats.
“I’m waiting for you,” BK singsongs.“Come to me, my Swallow.”
Bile spurts into my mouth and galvanizes me into action.I press and hold down the largest button and snap out a “Fuck you” into the walkie-talkie.It’s not a good idea to antagonize the serial killer who holds more than my life in his hands, but seriously, fuck him.If I’m going out, I’m going on my terms.“You don’t get to call me that,” I tell him and use the surge of energy that anger gives me to power up another set of steps.
I pause on the next landing.BK holds the cards, but I have something he wants.“Let the family go.”
“They’re free to leave at any time.”He sniggers, knowing full well the family is unconscious and tied up.I grit my teeth so hard my jaw aches.
