Page 44 of Intrepid

“What do you know about his dad?” I asked, clambering toward the hole to see more of his face.

“I kn-kn-kn-know he’s lying. So d-d-d-does he.”

“Listen, let us out. We can all leave this place.” The calm I forced into my voice made the words sound like a plea, curling my stomach at the thought of begging the kid for anything.

“The J-J-J-John’s coming t-t-t-today.” The kid scratched at his arm, his nails digging into his flesh. “M-m-m-Fox says he-he-he’s got plans for you.”

“Who’s John?” I inched closer still, trying to get a better lay of the room beyond, searching for something that might facilitate escape, but all that stood in view was the box in the center of the room, still covered in the black drape.

“You’ll see. Soon.” Lights flicked off, and I caught the Pawn’s silhouette as he backed himself out of the room, and the door clicked shut behind him.

* * *

The cold metal of a gun’s barrel pressed into my temple. “You try anything tricky, I will put bullets in all his limbs and then his skull.” Fox’s breath reeked like stale menthol cigarettes and the bitter burn of alcohol, as it wafted from beside me.

I kept my eyes on Eli, who stood with his back to me, naked and trembling in the sprays of a hose, with soap bubbles streaming down his spine. Alongside him, the Pawn scrubbed at his body with a scouring brush, splashing water all over the cement floor of some room down the hall from where we’d been kept.

Eli’s screams bounced off the walls as the brush scraped across his burns, coloring them a blistering red beneath what had to be ice-cold jets of water.

Pounding on his ear, the Pawn paused a moment, as if the sounds bothered him. “Stop! Shut up!”

Averting my eyes was the only privacy and dignity I could offer Eli, while I waited in the hallway for my turn.

“See, I got you figured out, kid. You’re the compassionate friend. The one who looks out for Boy over there. Even when you don’t wanna be, right? I mean, if you didn’t have such a shithead for a friend, I’m guessing you wouldn’t even be here.” Tugging out a cigarette from the pack stuffed into his greasy work shirt, he held the gun steady at my temple, making me wonder how much he’d have to squeeze the trigger to set it off. “You’d be out doing good things in the world,” he said around his smoke. “But that’s what makes you so important. You wouldn’t dare piss me off and risk getting your friend killed, would you?”

I ground my teeth together, eyes scanning for one flaw in the scenery, one glimmer of hope for escape. Not easy with a gun pointed at my head, but the cracked swing-out window set below the room’s ceiling presented a possible opportunity. I’d have to come up with a way to separate them from us. Maybe fight him off just long enough to lock the door to the room. My blood hummed as the plan took root inside my head. One of us would undoubtedly get shot, but perhaps nothing fatal. Then there’d be the issue of what would happen on the other side, once we’d crawled out.

We’d have to be fast.

The water flipped off, and I stood momentarily dumbfounded, certain up until that point that they’d have me jump in after Eli. Not that I wanted to be washed by the fucktarded kid. I didn’t want any of the assholes touching me, but escape was slipping out of my grasp with every day we remained trapped there.

“I’m not showering?”

“Nope. Only Boy needs a shower ‘cause he smells like shit.” He leaned in, sniffing at me, until I curled my fist. “You smell like a goddamn rose.”

“Then, what was the point of making me stand here?”

“Whelp, aside from the fact that you two are kind of a checks and balances, keeping each other in line, I like to … take ya out of the box every so often. Give you a little bit a freedom. Like a …. Ah, hell, what’s that Greek box that held all the shit in it?” He circled the gun at my head, gesturing as he spoke. “Pandy … Panda … Pandora’s box. Ever heard of it?”

I shook my head, watching him light up the cigarette still sticking out from his lips. “Ancient story about some box that contained all the evils of mankind. And some stupid bitch opened that box and unleashed ‘em on the world. Always a woman, right?” He nudged my arm as he chuckled. “Anywho, the last thing to come out of it was hope. So when that shit-storm hit, and things seemed bad, all the world remained hopeful.” He rolled his eyes, waving his cigarette in the air, then pointed somewhere past Eli. “I seen you eyein’ that window, but I’m here to tell you, you will not make it out of this house alive. Unless you play by my rules. Hope’s a cruel bitch sometimes. A fuckin’ tease with her legs spread wide open, and the moment you set your lips to her pretty little pussy …” The hard crack of his hands slapping together drew my attention to the gun caught between them. “Those thighs smack shut before you get the first taste.”

“Are you saying you’ll let us go?”

“You behave? Hell, yes. Ain’t that what you want?”

“Not like him.” I nodded toward the Pawn. “I mean, let us go home.”

“You think he’s here because I made him stay?”

“Why’s he here?”

His lips curved to a smile, but instead of answering, he jerked the gun, motioning me back down the hallway to the small room where they kept us.

Naked and shivering, Eli followed after the Pawn ahead of me, dripping water across the floor.

With a quick glance over my shoulder, I caught Fox’s wicked smile, as he prodded me along with the barrel of his pistol. “Why are you keeping us?” It didn’t make sense that they would kidnap us and then just let us go. No. Something wasn’t right.

“In due time.”