Chapter 65
65
He needs to go,” Shannon says, pacing around the living room. We’ve cleared out the rest of the team.
I glance at Viktor. He’s sitting on my bed, his knees pressed together. Somehow, he had gotten hold of Fiona and told her I’d promised to help him once we got off the island. Fiona didn’t question it, likely because she was too busy fawning over his cheekbones. I should be concerned at her poor security discretion, but whatever; Viktor being here might be a good thing.
“You can’t speak with witnesses unless you’re under court supervision,” Shannon continues. “This could get you in a lot of fucking trouble.”
“I’ll only need a few minutes. Tops. I have a feeling he can help us.”
After some further convincing, Shannon begrudgingly allows me a moment with Viktor. I sit on the bed beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
He shakes his head for a few seconds, chewing his lip, before breaking into a torrent of tears. Between sobs, he muffles a few words I struggle to decipher. “Not… good… everyone’s dead! You… you were gone too.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a grown man cry, and I certainly didn’t expect Viktor to wail so loudly. All I can do is pat his back awkwardly. “I know. I’m sorry. I was quite literally locked up.”
He wipes his runny snot with the back of his wrist like a toddler and I resist cringing, leaning over to hand him a tissue box. He pulls one out but doesn’t use it, bawling openly for a few more seconds before recovering his hiccuping breath. “I don’t know what to do. People keep asking me questions, asking if I’m okay, if Bella Marie had ever done bad things to me… I don’t know how to answer. I never thought it was bad. I was just doing my part, what I was told. But maybe it is? They make it seem that way. I don’t know. I’m so confused. What should I do?”
“You’re asking me?”
“Who else can I ask? You’re all I have now. You promised you’d help me.”
I sigh, thinking of how I’ll let him down easy. How am I supposed to help this man? But I can barely bring myself to disappoint him. I recognize the desperate confusion. He’s lonely, hopeless, lost all he’s ever known. He’s a trained dog without its owner. And now, all he has is me…
Me.
I recognize the blight of cruelty infecting me, but I’m not dissuaded. “I can help you.”
His eyes widen with hope. “Really?”
“Yes. I’ll help you through all the questions authorities are throwing at you, and I’ll help you through everything after too. Like getting you an Olympic medal and building you up to be a Skarsg?rd-adjacent icon, just like I had promised you on the island. But it’s only possible if you do everything I say. And I mean e verything .”
He nods ecstatically, holding my hand. I try to ignore the film of snot touching my skin as he says, “Thank you. Thank you!”
I give him a pat on the head and turn on the TV. The first channel plays SpongeBob SquarePants . It seems to capture his attention.
In the living room, I whisper to Shannon, “We can use him. He’s on my side.”
“We can’t be sure of that.”
“We can . He’s been brainwashed and…” I lean closer. “On the island I manipulated him just a little. He’s convinced that I’m the only one who can help him. He trusts me. And isn’t it advantageous to have one of the cult members on my side?”
Shannon shakes her head. “He could be a loose cannon. There’s no guarantee—”
In the bedroom, Viktor laughs, voice clear and loud, at the cartoon, a flash of gleaming, handsome white teeth. Shannon’s eyes go wide.
“Huh.” She taps her index finger to her chin. “Maybe you’re right.”
It’s a week later. Fiona and I are sitting in front of the TV while Shannon stands by the couch, her arms crossed, nervous breaths entering and exiting her mouth.
The program we’ve been eagerly waiting for starts. A man with white hair sits in front of a brick background. “Hello, this is Keith Morrison, I’m live with Dateline NBC . Today, our guest, known only as Viktor, has been at the center of the biggest news storm of this century.” The camera cuts to Viktor. He’s wearing a dowdy brown sweater that is clearly supposed to make him seem relatable, but his powdered face makes him look like a model. Peeking from under his collar is a line of blue, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics replica gold medal that I bought him on eBay.
Before Viktor, we’d been declining a barrage of media requests. Shannon advised me to stay out of the spotlight, since my words could be used against me. But we decided to send out Viktor, since nothing instills public faith more than an attractive white man.
Still, it’s a risk. Shannon said it’s never advisable for a witness to speak to the media, and that Viktor may even be reprimanded by the court. But we’re gambling that there will be no severe repercussions since the judge is handling this case sensitively, and penalizing an innocent cult victim who’s only trying to speak out could translate into bad optics. At most, Viktor would lose the chance to testify for me, but given all the other Melniburg servants who could vouch for cultlike activity, we decided Viktor was worth the gamble.
As much as the law is about legal matters, it’s also about PR. Whipping up a positive media storm and shaping the court of public opinion early could be our key to victory. “It’s impossible to perfectly sequester a jury these days,” Shannon had told me. “With how quickly information spreads online, they’re bound to accidentally skim an article or hear something in passing. Those subliminal messages can impact their subconscious and shape the outcome of the case, if we play our cards right.”
I’m tense as I watch the interview. It’s live, so a slipup could spell game over. The program starts as we predicted. Keith goes on a spiel about the island, giving the audience a summary of the latest news and the court case. Then, he directs questions to Viktor. What was life like on the island? Were there schools? Did you ever doubt what you were being taught? Viktor answers the questions, working in the talking points we trained him on, which include details on his brainwashing, crazy cult stories, forced imprisonment, grooming for sexual pleasure, and other criminal Melniburg activities. In general, he lets the truth speak for itself. Based on his honest account, it’s objectively difficult to deny any wrongdoing from the Melniburg family. So far, I’m pleased with his performance. He’s followed our instructions to a T and is surprisingly genial to the host, who seems charmed by his good looks and eager smile. I guess Viktor is used to being told what to do.
About halfway into the hour-long program, Keith focuses his questions on me. “What was your first impression of Julie Chan?” I clench my fists. I’m on the edge of my seat.
“I had no idea she’d switched places with her sister, as Bella Marie never informed us about what she did to Chloe.”
“Did she seem off to you? Were you ever suspicious of her?”
“Not that I noticed. Though every time we have guests on the island, I tend to get excited, since we rarely see different faces.” This makes Keith shake his head sympathetically. “So, I might have been distracted.”
“You mentioned that forced sex was part of your role on the island. Excuse me for asking, but I’m sure audiences want to know: Were you ever forced to engage with Julie?”
“I had offered my services as stress relief once, but she rejected me.”
“Really?” Keith looks surprised.
“Yes.” Viktor’s gaze falls down to his lap. “For the first time in my life, I was treated like a human rather than a toy.” He takes a breath, speaking slow. “In that moment, I realized that things could be different. That there were people out there, like Julie, who wouldn’t use me for their own gain.”
These aren’t words we fed into his mouth. These are his genuine feelings. I’m riddled with guilt as I listen.
But then Fiona shouts, “We’re trending across every platform!”
“Positive comments too,” Shannon says, disbelief lacing her voice.
My heart races with excitement. “Can I see?” Fiona hands me her phone and I scroll through some live tweets. It’s a whirlwind of sympathy. Viktor has become the hottest victim the internet could thirst for.
If what he’s saying is true, Julie did nothing wrong. There are so many iterations of this I lose count. (That being said, there’s a good portion of: Viktor is so hot! Julie must be a saint for keeping her hands off him!! He can fuck me on a swing any day! In all three holes!)
I swipe and swipe and swipe, absorbing the waves of positivity. Vindication bursts into my chest, melting into my core.
When I finally peel my eyes away from the phone to look back at Viktor, he’s staring at the camera, the beginning of a rehearsed line poised on his lips.
“I feel lost now that I know the truth of the island, a place I once thought of as home. But I know one thing for sure. Julie is my liberator. She is the one who freed us all.”