Chapter 12
Nightmares & Daydreams
The steel door disappeared into the ceiling.
Nobody moved. The laughter from a few seconds ago died fast. The underground room felt cold again, the kind of cold that settled in your bones.
Sky looked exhausted. One side of her face had started to bruise, and her eyes were swollen from crying. Vicky wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"You okay?" Vicky asked.
Sky shook her head. "No." Her voice came out weak. "I saw my life flash before my eyes. I know that's cliché, but it's true."
Vicky pulled her closer. "We got you back. And as long as we stick together, we're gonna be OK."
A tear rolled down Sky's cheek. "I wish we could get CC back." She covered her eyes. "But we can't, and it sucks."
Silence soaked into the room, and they gave Sky her moment to vent.
Celeste looked at her. "Tell me everything."
Sky wiped her face and took a shaky breath. "When Reggie grabbed me, I thought he was gonna kill me. He carried me through these tunnels and took me into one of those rooms." She looked toward the darkness. "Brenda was there."
Nobody said a word.
"She took the tape off my mouth and smiled at me." Sky swallowed hard. "The bitch wasn't worried about shit. She wasn't scared." Another tear slipped free. "She looked happy."
Vicky's arm tightened around her.
"What did she say?" Celeste asked.
Sky stared at the floor. "People only see what she wants them to see. She said she's been running this mansion for years and this is her kingdom. She'll destroy anybody that gets in her way."
Darius slowly looked around. "We're not supposed to make it out of this place alive."
Sky nodded. "She said everybody in this mansion belonged to her and she's the reason they breathe."
Nobody moved.
"Then she told me she killed CC."
Tyreek's and Teresa's heads snapped up.
"What?" Tyreek said.
Sky looked at him. "She said CC wasn't supposed to die yet. Me and Celeste were supposed to die first to keep down suspicion and avoid Sgt. Celeste Mills doing her job. But she wanted first dibs on Tyreek, so she killed her."
Tyreek looked sick. He kept the rag to his side and pressed.
Celeste stepped next to her. "Why us?"
"She didn't like the attention we got at her events and CC's bachelorette party was her last straw." Sky's voice trembled. "Somehow, CC found out things. About the tunnels, the cameras and about the people helping her. She threatened to expose everything."
The room fell quiet again.
"Brenda killed her. she looked at me and said I should've minded my own business."
Vicky squeezed her hand. "Is that everything?"
Sky looked at Celeste. "She hates you."
Celeste frowned. "I never liked that bitch either. I came to support CC." She smirked. "And because I knew it pissed her off to see me shine. Ugly hoe!"
"She said women like you get everything handed to them," Sky continued. "She called you a billboard cop and said Atlanta made you famous because you're pretty."
Tyreek looked at Darius. "That lady really is crazy."
"No shit," Darius muttered.
Sky looked down at her hands. "Then she said she'd kill me slowly."
Vicky hugged her neck. "Not if I get to her first. And that's a promise."
The room stayed quiet for a long moment. Then the pieces began to fit.
The tunnels.
The cameras.
The photographs.
The masks.
The surveillance room.
The lies.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Celeste looked around. "This place wasn't built for one night."
Darius nodded. "This been going on for years. Probably before Brenda."
"The suites connect," Celeste said. "Brenda and CC's rooms." She pointed back toward the tunnels. "There's another door between them."
Tyreek frowned. "That's how she did it."
Celeste nodded. "You left. Brenda walked through the connecting door and went straight into CC's suite."
His face fell. "She never needed the hallway."
"She never needed an alibi," Celeste said. "And she had help." Her eyes drifted toward Reggie's body.
Thunder rolled above them, softer now. It was weakening.
"So what now?" Teresa asked.
Everyone looked at Celeste. She looked toward the open steel door.
"We go back," she said.
"Back where?" Tyreek asked.
"The mansion."
"That crazy bitch still up there."
"I know." Celeste tightened her grip on the pistol. "And this ends tonight."
Vicky popped her knuckles. "Damn right."
The trip back through the tunnels felt different.
Nobody ran or spoke much. The storm above them had weakened to a steady rain, but the mansion waiting at the end of the passage felt darker than before.
Every secret had been dragged into the light, and somehow Blackwater Manor looked even more dangerous.
They stepped back into their suite through the hidden bathroom entrance, and everything looked the same — the furniture, the wine glasses, the expensive decorations — but nothing felt the same, because the house had been lying to them all night.
Celeste's pocket vibrated. She pulled out her phone and stopped walking.
"No way," she said.
Darius looked over. "What?"
"My phone works."
Everyone reached for their phones. A chorus of alerts and text notifications filled the room.
"Won't He do it!" Tyreek said.
Celeste stepped away and dialed. The call connected.
"Palm Police Department."
Relief washed over her. "This is Sergeant Celeste Mills with Atlanta PD. I need emergency assistance at Blackwater Manor. Multiple homicides, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, and arson threats."
The dispatcher went quiet. "Sergeant, we've been receiving calls about the storm damage in the area. Units are responding, but roads are blocked and emergency services are stretched thin."
"How long?"
"We're doing the best we can."
Celeste closed her eyes. "Translation?"
"It may be a while."
She looked around the room. They didn't have a while. "I understand." She hung up.
Darius read her expression. "No help?"
"They're coming. Eventually."
Nobody looked comforted.
Sky moved closer to Vicky. "So we're still trapped."
Celeste slid her phone into her pocket. "No."
Everyone looked at her.
"We're not trapped anymore." Her eyes hardened. "We're no longer the prey. Now we're the hunters."
Darius nodded. "I like the sound of that."
A few minutes later, the group split up. Celeste and Darius searched the upper floors and checked every room they could reach. Sky refused to leave Vicky's side, so they stayed in the control room and watched the cameras. Tyreek and Teresa were told to stay behind and rest.
The suite was quiet. Tyreek lowered himself onto the bed and winced. "I don't ever want to get shot again."
Teresa sat beside him and unwrapped the bandage Vicky had left behind. The wound looked ugly but clean. She placed fresh gauze over it and taped it down. Neither of them spoke for a while.
"I killed somebody," Teresa broke the silence. "I took somebody's life."
Tyreek looked at her. "He would've killed you. I know this sounds crazy, but thank you." He touched his bandage, then looked up at her. "What if he would've shot my dick off? Thank God it's only a flesh wound."
She laughed softly. "What did it feel like?"
He looked at her. "At first it felt like a bee sting. After I looked down and saw the blood it felt like somebody threw fire on my side."
"Be thankful it wasn't your dick."
"Yeah, that would've fucked my career up and broke a lot of hearts."
"Have you always been full of yourself?"
Before he could answer, she cut in.
"I think if you got shot in the dick, you would've got brain damage. Yeah, your brain is down there. And your head is nothing but a bag of rocks. You just got shot and all you're thinking about is your dick."
He paused. "I thought about you."
"What about me?"
"You still owe me for giving you the dick this morning." He smirked.
Teresa laughed. "You're full of shit." She placed a hand on his cheek. "But you did eat my ass better than anybody ever has."
They laughed together. A kiss came from nowhere. They hugged — a tight hug that touched something inside of them. They kissed again, but slower this time.
"Are you gonna slang dick the rest of your life?" Teresa asked.
"I'm done with male entertainment. After seeing how everybody worked together and survived, I wanna do something that helps people. Maybe be a teacher, have a couple kids and grow old. Life is short and I wanna live." He rubbed the bandage. "When we get out of this hell, can I get to know you?"
"I would love that." She kissed his lips. "As long as you don't give my dick away."
The bond was inevitable.
Tyreek turned out the lights. "Let's start now. Can I hold you?"
She looked at him for a long moment in the dimness, then slid down beside him and pulled his arm around her waist.
Outside, thunder rolled softly in the distance. The room felt peaceful.
The lights died without warning.
Every monitor went black. The control room dropped into darkness. Then — red. The emergency lights bled back to life, bathing everything in dull crimson.
Sky stood up from the chair in front of the desk and monitors. "What the hell!"
A door opened behind her. She turned knowing it was Vicky returning from the bathroom.
However, Brenda stood in the doorway, still in her silk robe, not a hair out of place. Her expression was calm. Almost serene. Like she had nowhere to be and all the time in the world to get there.
"I was wondering when we'd be alone," she said.
Sky backed up until her hip caught the edge of the table. "You don’t give up do you?"
"My job is never done." Brenda stepped forward. "You gotta go."
"Try it bitch!”
Brenda moved fast. Sky grabbed for anything — a keyboard, a cord — but Brenda caught her wrist and yanked her forward, slamming her back against the monitors. The screens rattled. Something crashed to the floor.
Vicky had heard it from the bathroom. "Sky!" She didn't slow down. She didn't think. She hit that door moving.
The sight of Brenda's hand at Sky's throat switched something off in her. Every ounce of fear, every careful measured breath she'd been taking all night — gone. What replaced it wasn't panic. It was fury.