The dimly lit corridor made me feel like the star of my own personal horror movie. I felt the hair on my arms stand on end through my skintight body suit. An abandoned fun house, Really, how cliché can you get? The walls seemed to close in reshaping,reforming, becoming hauntingly narrow in some parts and then opening until I couldn't see them any more in some places. Breathing walls. My radio came alive causing me to jump 10 feet in the air.
“red you there?”
I took a minute to regain my composure before responding
“shit, white you almost gave me a heart attack. we're supposed to be under the radar, lower your fucking voice.”
“I'm sorry”
She sounded almost terrified or maybe i was just looking for company with my own skittishness.
“Its ok...no big deal.”
I hoped I hadn't hurt her with my outburst . She had always been so fragile. The exact opposite of me, maybe that was what drew me to her. Someone who needed me, craved my attention, begged for my love. I hadn't planned on loving her back. She was supposed to be a fun diversion for a day or so but it had blossomed into both of us head over heels for each other. She had found a way to worm the womanizer out of me. Mostly because she never left my side.
“No its not...its not that.” Definitely terror.
“Shit whats wrong” I said trying to keep my voice low.
I'm...I'm soo sorry. Plea-”
“Well thats enough off that” The new voice that cut her off rang in my ears. I froze, the darkness of the hallway not even registering in my mind anymore.
“Who is this” My voice steely. My fingers as cold as ice felt numb as I raised the radio to my ear.
“I think you know who this is, and I think you know why”
She was right. I did know who it was.It was the most feared terrorist in the world the Cobra. And The Cobra had my girlfriend.
“If you don't want her hurt you will do exactly as I say. Walk forward I am sending an operative to retrieve you.”
I tried to keep up some semblance of control as I responded.”or what?”
The radio stayed silent then came back with the loudest scream I had ever heard . Shit white...
“I'm sure you get the message, so start walking.” The smug voice with a hint of a condescending British accent made my blood boil. I slammed the head into the wall. It shattered into pieces of a black plastic and fell onto a floor that I couldn't even see because of the darkness. I took a deep breath to regain my composure and began walking forward.
I didn't have to walk long. I felt along the wall until I hit a corner I turned hugging the wall. I was out before I hit the ground.
~~~
I came to with my arms chained to two poles. It was too dark to see the material it was made from. The chains allowed me no movement from forearm down. My neck and shoulders were sore beyond belief. I was almost ready to scream when I heard the footsteps approach.
“Well hello” There was that smug tone again. The British in the accent was more pronounced now. “I looked up but still couldnt see anything. The acrylic taste of blood making me gag as it hit the back of my throat.
“Why dont you show yourself coward”
No reply. She was messing with me. Pushing my sanity to the brink. I wasnt going to break this easily though. Then the lights came on. Bright and blinding it felt like it took hours for my eyes to adjust.
I looked ahead and there was White, aka Natalie, aka one of the few people in the world I still cared for. Two guards held her arms as she slumped over her knees, an assault rifle held to her head by one of them. She wouldnt lift her head to look at me. All I wanted was for her to look at me so I would know that she still had faith in me, or at least still had love but her head stayed hung.
“Why did you assault my fortress. You are only biting the hand that is feeding you.” I still couldnt see where the voice was coming from. The room was either to big or it had been heavily illusioned. Either way I couldnt even see walls, only Lauren and her two new friends.
“What the Fuck are you talking about. how the hell are you feeding me?” I yelled but neither the guards or Lauren acknowledged me.
“I leave you a friendly invitation to come have a conversation and discuss some business but instead you come on a tirade through my...office building. Your lucky I'm still in need of your service”
“I would never help you, I don't even know who you are”That statement wasn't exactly true but I had to see her. See the woman that so many powerful people feared.
“Show yourself” I shouted. I was breathing heavily and sweating immensely.
“Do you really think It would be that easy, Maybe if you hadn't planned this little escapade I might have given you a glimpse, besides you have no choice to help me. Remember Why you came in the first place? Remember her?”
A TV screen was lowered in front of me. It came out of nowhere, and It wasn't remotely connected to anything. A 40ish looking woman sat handcuffed to a chair,long light brown hair fell from her head. She sat back as if relaxed but the look on her face was steely, intense, and determined. Mom.
The camera zoomed in on my mother's face then zoomed out again as woman dressed in all black came into view she wore a black cowl like an executioner with a blond bun coming out of a slit in the back. She stood next to my mother and waited
“Meet Liana, she used to be one of the best bio-geneticist in the world, she almost won the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago, of course that was until her more sadistic experiments were brought to light. After she was shunned from the science community I realized her talents for causing pain for what they really could be.”
I saw Liana take a tool from a table off screen. It looked like a nail file except that it was smooth and twice as long. It had an ebony hue as if it were painted.
“That pin was dipped in the poison of some poison frog of an island near the coast of Indonesia. I never let Liana bore me with the details but the people on this island use this frog as a right of passage. It can cause explosive diarrhea, projectile vomiting. Stomach ulcers blindness, liver failure, and of course in some cases death but It usually just really fucking hurts. Only the strong survive Tara. Lets hope your mother is strong enough.” She laughed
My mother flinched when she heard my name but recovered her unconcerned gaze. Same mom, nothing went before the mission. Even her own daughter.Liana rested the tip of the tool at my mothers shoulder and slowly applied pressure.
My mother didn't react as the first centimeter went in at a diagonal angle but her expression gradually turned into a grimace as more of the torture device was slid in. Her lip began to curl over her gums until finally, as the last of it went in she screamed. It was horrible to watch, my mother had always seemed immortal now she was vomiting all over herself and looking extremely weak. Her face turned green and her eyes rolled into the back of her head more than once.
I was ready to turn away as my mom let out shriek after shriek, when I saw Liana reach out of the frame and slowly pick up another one of them.
“Only you can stop her suffering Tara, just say you'll help me” Her words wrapped around my head like a snake encompassing its prey ready to swallow it whole. Not the way a cobra kills butt effective none the less
“Only you can stop her suffering”
“Only you can stop her suffering”
“Only you can stop her suffering”
Liana positioned the tool right under the last one as a small stream of blood traveled down my mother's arm. I looked at Natalie still behaving catatonic. Her stomach rising and falling was the only indication of life. I looked back to the TV screen. I felt sweat roll down the side of my face.
“Fine” I yelled out in submission “I'll help you. I'll do whatever you want”
Liana stopped immediately.
The screen disappeared.
And I finally gave in to my tears.