CHAPTER 26
Adrian
The air is heavy. There is moisture from a nearby lake, and that diminishes my capabilities. I need to focus. The guys are behind me. They are counting on me, now more than ever. I can smell Danica’s apple shampoo. There’s another smell, mixed with hers. It’s pungent, offensive. It’s the smell of cheap liquor intertwined with diseased sweat. It makes me nauseous. I want it to disappear, to go away, but I can’t separate it from Danica’s. That means only one thing.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I hear Mason growl behind me, as we trek through the woods.
We parked our bikes, knowing we can’t continue like that. Only on foot. That might also buy us the element of surprise.
We keep on walking. I lead, Mason is right behind me, and Wagner is in the back. With three sets of eyes, no one can sneak up on us. This is our territory. The fact that someone had the audacity to come here and do this is just ludicrous. I would find my way around these woods even with my eyes closed shut. The guys, too. Whoever this guy is, he chose the wrong people to mess with, and the wrong place to do it.
The night is dark, but the Moon is full. It’s lighting up the way. The woods always awakens the animal inside, and it doesn’t need a guide. It just needs to listen and it will find its way. Or, in this case, its prey.
After some time of walking, I stop. The guys do the same immediately, crouching down. They wait for my signal.
“There,” I whisper.
I point to a small house in the middle of a huddle of trees and bushes. If you’re not looking for it, you won’t be able to see it. I can understand why he chose this place. No one’s been here in ages. And, it shows. The hole in the roof. The broken window. The bared bricks in the wall. That place is a safety hazard and should have been torn down ages ago. But, the owner doesn’t care. So, the local youths use it as a hangout place. Nothing new and unexpected about that. It’s one of those places that awakens a sense of nightmare in you, and you want to steer clear of it.
“Is she there?” Mason leans over to me and whispers. I just nod. “One guy?”
I don’t nod. I don’t shake my head either. The mold in this house is so overpowering, I can barely smell anything else. Danica is so close, I can almost reach out and touch her, but to my nose she feels like she’s miles away.
“Are there more?” Mason asks impatiently.
He wants me to be sure. He needs me to be sure. If I don’t reply, I know he’s ready to jump in there and break the door down. Maybe it’s a trap. It’s too easy. Is this guy really that stupid?
I look around. My nose high up in the air. All I smell is wet wood and mud. Apple shampoo. A city man’s putrid sweat.
“I only smell the two of them.”
“Then, we waste no time. I say we go in now,” Mason says.
We’re all crouching down, like soldiers in Vietnam. I remember those days well. Squeezing your gun. Hiding in the rice paddies. Wondering if you’ll ever get home. But, I could have died then and there, and I wouldn’t have cared. Now, I’m glad I didn’t.
“I agree,” Wagner whispers. I just nod.
“On my mark,” Mason instructs.
We are all familiar with the drill. We are familiar with it all too well. Our eyes are focused on Mason, his body tensing under the moonlight. He raises his hand, then pats an invisible shoulder in the air. That’s our cue to go.
Still crouching, we rush in. Mason, Wagner, and then me. A heavy feeling of suspicion grabs my throat. This is too easy. We found them without much effort. And, if it really is only the two of them inside, then we’ll be back home soon, sipping tea and dozing off.
When we barge into the room, we see a seated Danica, her kidnapper standing close to her, his gun pointed right at her head. Mason raises his hand, and we all come to a halt. We can’t risk Danica getting shot. Mason is too far away from the guy to lunge at him. No calculations of velocity and distance could make it a successful endeavor. So, we remain standing where we are.
“And so, the cavalry arrives,” the man chuckles.
“I’ve never seen him before”. The look on Mason and Wagner’s face tells me they haven’t either. But, obviously he knows us.
“I know your names, but I’m not sure who’s who,” he continues.
Danica is breathing heavily. She is pale and weak.
“So, before we continue this little get together, let’s properly introduce ourselves. I’m Russell, but I guess you all know me by name at least. My guess would be you’re Mason, the ring leader.” He stops to point at Mason. None of us nods. But, that doesn’t stop him from continuing. “Wagner and Adrian. The fighter and the smart ass. Just can’t figure out which one’s which.”
He looks like he’s having a good time. I look at Mason. Knowing him, he’s doing his best not to allow himself to transform and tear this man to pieces. We all feel that way. But, it’s too risky.
“Why don’t you put that gun down and we can show you,” Wagner growls.
Russel scoffs. “I guess I have my answer now. But, I’m rude. You’re probably wondering how I tracked her down. How I tracked everyone down, and why I made you all come here.”
“We’re not wondering shit,” Mason hisses, taking a step towards Russel.
“Na-ha-ha,” Russell shakes his head, pressing the gun on Danica’s forehead now. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“You can’t kill us all,” Mason says.
“I can’t, but I can kill her before any of you get to me.”
He’s right. We’re all painfully aware of that fact. It would be easier if he was pointing that gun at any of us. We’d all gladly sacrifice ourselves to keep our brothers alive. But, Danica is too precious to lose.
“I know you’re all dying to see what’ll happen next, so I won’t keep you in anticipation any longer.”
Russell takes out his phone, and makes a quick call. “Now.”
Those words ring in my ears, like a distant echo of some long forgotten order. Who is it addressed to?
“Russ, please, you don’t have to - “
“Shut up!” Russell cuts off Danica faster than a Japanese sword cuts through bodies.
She obviously doesn’t need to be told twice. I look at her again, to make sure she’s not bleeding. Apart from looking like a frightened rabbit who accidentally fell into a fox hole, she seems fine. No cuts or bruises. A silver lining.
Suddenly, we all hear footsteps. We turn to face the door, and what we see there shocks us to the very core.
“Took you long enough,” Rock coughs with a vicious smile on his face, his hand on Dominick’s shoulder.
The boy looks even more frightened than his mother. They look like two little rabbits who fell down a hole, and they just keep falling in deeper and deeper.
“Dominick!” Danica screams.
“Mom!” Dominick mirrors her scream, as he tries to wiggle free from Rock’s grasp, but he remains unsuccessful. “Dad, what are you doing?”
“Your mom is a bitch who’s been trying to keep you away from me, can’t you see?” Russell shakes his gun at Danica, and every time he does that, I see her flinch. “So, I had to find you. Your mine as much as you are hers.”
“You lost your rights to him the moment you decided to raise your hand to him, you fucking bastard!” Danica shouts, convulsing in that chair like she’s been possessed by a demon.
“You shut up! I’m not talking to you now!” Russell tells her menacingly.
Rock walks over to him, still keeping a firm grasp on Dominick. He glances over at Mason, shrugging his shoulders, in a what-can-you-do stance.
I see anger seething on Mason’s face. I know he can’t control the urge much longer. All three of us know that we could take both of them out easily. We just need to make Russell point his gun somewhere else. Just for a moment. That would be enough for us to act, and maybe sort this whole mess out.
An owl hoots somewhere outside, and we all tense. But, Russell doesn’t lose control. He is holding that gun as if his life depends on it, and for all he knows, it really does. Without it, he would be a dead man by now.
“Now, I’m just trying to figure out what to do, kill all of you and just disappear somewhere with my boy, or just keep my unfaithful wife alive and give her another chance?” Russell pretends to think. A smile lingers on his face, like a haunting death mask.
“Dad, no, you can’t! You can’t hurt mom!” Dominick shouts so loudly that it breaks your heart.
A child defending his mother. The purest love there is. A love that can move mountains, separate rivers, and destroy anything in its path that threatens to jeopardize that bond.
Suddenly, I know I can’t control myself any longer. I drop down to my knees, feeling the oncoming of that familiar cough. My inner organs are readjusting and it always expels all the air out of my lungs.
“What the fuck’s going on!?” Russel screeches, his eyes bulging out of his sockets.
Mason realizes it immediately. So do Wagner and Rock. Mason drops down, and grabs a big rock that we all noticed to his side. It fills up his entire hand, as he lifts it up and aims straight for the gun in Russell’s hand. We all know he’ll hit it. Mason never misses. The rock hits bull’s eye. Russell loses control of his hand, and drops the gun to the ground.
In that instant, my body explodes, tearing my clothes, my flesh, my skin, my jaw protruding, elongating, my teeth rising out of my gums in the most painful of ways. But, nothing would be nearly as painful as losing Danica and Dominick. It all happens in an instant, and then my mind is overcome by rage.