AMNESIAC
Chapter Fourteen — Chore Day
The elevator doors opened, and she calmly walked into the main room of the Lower Level. It was, as always, mostly deserted. A single technician worked at a bank of computers at the end of the room, scribbling messy notes on a whiteboard. Lexi passed in front of her, and she followed the brunette through a door and into the bowels of the basement. A few well-practiced turns later and they found themselves standing in the same familiar place, although if asked, she would never be able to recall a specific instance of actually standing there. Then the enormous monitor on the wall came to life, and she stopped thinking about the room.
The Truth.
She gazed at it, letting it pull her mind deeper and deeper into its endless, beautiful spirals. Down, down, down, down. Wordlessly, she undressed, stacking her clothes neatly on a nearby table. Next to her, she could hear Lexi gasp as the brunette fell deeper into the Truth as well. Obedience is truth. Deeper into the spiral. Obedience is truth.
A young man stepped between her and the Truth, momentarily confusing her. “Listen and obey,” he ordered, and the confusion vanished. Listen and obey.
“Yes, sir,” she said quietly. She instantly forgot about the spiral, and focused all of her attention on him.
“Another successful mission, Kate. You’ve done vey well.”
She’d done well, apparently, which meant nothing to her. It was her purpose to do things when she was told to do them. “Yes, sir.”
The young man adjusted his lab coat to hide the growing bulge in his pants. “Were… um… were there any complications?”
“Yes, sir. I remembered only the programmed events. My boyfriend did not believe me. We had a fight. We broke up.”
“Again? Oh, Kate. Did you hurt him this time?”
“Yes, sir.”
He groaned. “Not again. I swear, Kate…”
Another man joined them, but she ignored him until he addressed her. “Kate. Listen to me and obey.”
“Yes. I obey.” She turned to the sandy-haired man, the young man in the lab coat forgotten.
“We’re going to have to put a stop to this independent love life of yours,” he said, “before someone gets too suspicious. We’ll find you a nice unsuspecting husband who won’t believe his luck in landing his hot wife, and won’t risk losing her by complaining. Or fighting.”
It made sense to her, even if she had no idea what he was talking about. It always made sense, even when it didn’t. She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The sandy-haired man turned and spoke to her left. “Lexi, I’m very pleased. Chairman Smith’s wife is already threatening to divorce him, and our clients are already moving to have him removed from the board.”
From her left came Lexi’s pretty voice, soft and demure. “Yes, sir.”
“Were there any complications?”
“No, sir. I remembered only the programmed events.”
“Very good, Lexi. Please follow Doctor Yang to the reinforcement room for programming.”
“Yes, sir.”
The sandy-haired man turned his attention back to her. “What are we going to do with you, Kate? Another session in the machine?”
“Better have her replay that Berlin mission for you, Decker,” said a new voice. It came from behind her, and she kept her attention focused on the sandy-haired man. “I hear rumors that Alice is still alive and making plans.”
“Those rumors are bullshit. Kate took care of her,” said the sandy-haired man. “She’ll never be a pain in our ass again. Good riddance, too. I’m sure you’ve heard all of the stories about Alice.”
He turned to face her, and stared into her eyes. “Kate, confuse.”
She nodded as the two men gathered in front of her.
“Crickets meatball framers,” said the sandy-haired man, shaking his fist as he did so. “Spacecraft gathering axehead steam forged time hard boil.”
She looked into the Truth again, following the wonderful spirals as they pulled her down, down, down…
“Down,” Kate whispered softly. “Down. Down.”
“Hun?” James nudged her gently as she stirred. “Wake up, pretty face. It’s morning.”
She half-opened her eyes, and stretched. The beautiful spiral sank into the depths of her memories. “Mmmmmm… hey.”
He ran his hand over her breasts and down to her stomach, letting it come to rest there. “We’re alive. Hooray. How are you feeling?”
“Like getting a hotel room was probably the best idea we’ve had in a while?” She opened her eyes all the way and rolled over to face him. “Should we get room service?”
“Do they even have room service at Hotel Sevens?”
“They have room service everywhere these days. We might as well splurge. It could be the last breakfast we ever eat.” She rolled away from him, enjoying the soft coolness of the hotel linens on her skin as she reached for the menu on the nightstand. “Mmm, it’s not great. Do you like eggs Benedict?”
“They’re not bad,” he said.
“Do I like eggs Benedict?”
“You do when I make them.”
“Eggs Benedict it is, then.” She let the card drop to the floor. “As soon as I can work up the effort to reach the phone.”
He wrapped his body around her as she retreated into his embrace, their bodies forming into a single mass. He kissed the back of her neck as she sighed. “This is nice,” he said.
“This is. Can we freeze time forever and just stay here? I’d like that.”
He paused. “We’d have to pee, though. Eventually.”
“No, not true, because the pee would be frozen in time.”
“I can’t kiss you if I’m frozen,” he said, frowning.
“Well, you can move, but your bladder… ugh. Forget it. Forget it! It’s ruined. You ruined it. Good work, love.”
He buried his face into her soft hair. “We fight sometimes, you know.”
“Huh?”
“That time you asked me if we fight. We do. Sometimes. A lot of it is over stupid stuff. We make up easily. Sometimes you fuck my brains out. I really like those fights.” He grinned. “But we’re normal people, Kate. We love and we fight and we laugh and we talk about freezing our pee so that we can snuggle for eternity. I love you, Katie-Bear. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I hope you never forget that.”
“No,” she agreed. “I don’t think I ever will.”
Nikki strolled through the bedroom, collecting her underwear and clothes from the floor as she went. She stood in front of the mirror and dressed. Roger was still in bed, staring at the ceiling, his eyes glassy and vacant.
She casually walked over to the bed and kissed him on the lips. “Relax, baby. Relax, and listen to my voice. You’re going to forget all about this, okay?”
“Okay,” he smiled. His eyes closed.
“Good boy. You’re going to forget all about the cassette tape, and all about the papers that James gave to you. You’ll forget them for me, won’t you, sweetheart?”
“Anything for you.”
She kissed him again. “That’s right, Roger. Sleep now. Sleep, and forget. Forget. Sleep. Remember only the things that we talked about. Sleep.”
He settled into the bed, rolling onto his side with a sigh. In a few minutes, she could make out the sound of snoring.
She finished dressing and found her cell phone. She dialed a number without thinking, and waited patiently for the voice on the other end of the line.
“Were you successful?”
“Yes.”
“Did you collect all of the tapes?”
“No. There is one in a safety deposit box in Wright National Bank. I was unable to access it without being detected.”
“We’ll have Kate get that one later. You’ve done well, Nikki.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You will proceed to Meeting Point Alpha and await further instructions.”
“Yes. I will await further instructions.”
She gathered her things and left Roger to wake, alone and befuddled, in the relative safety of his own bedroom.
“Okay, so we poked the bear. Phase one complete.” James tapped his coffee mug nervously. “What do we do next?”
Kate brushed his hand aside and refilled his mug. She sat down beside him. Brown drops of coffee sloshed onto the carpet as she gripped her own mug with trembling hands. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse. When he gets to the park, I’ll tell him that I’m willing to go back to being brainwashed Kate as long as he leaves you alone, and as long as I can still be married to you. Then we’ll meet up in Mulroney’s office and I’ll spring the trap.”
“What am I do—“ he looked at her, and froze. “Kate, you’re shaking.”
She looked down at her hands, and held them against her stomach to steady them. “I’m terrified, James. I’m so scared right now! But… no, honey, it’s okay, it’s okay.” She gently pushed him away. “I’m scared, but it’s almost over.” She shook her head, trying to clear away the unpleasant thoughts in the back of her mind. “Today you’re on photo duty while I meet Trenchy in the park. Claire will be my backup, and there’s a zillion people there every Sunday, so it’ll be safe. Then you’re going to meet up with me and we’re going to go to Doctor Mulroney’s office together for my handover. If they don’t want you to be there with me, you’ll be in Doctor Kapoor’s office waiting for the shit to go down.”
“I want to be there with you. Can you insist that I be there with you?”
“I’ll try, but I have to make it look like I’m giving up. Worst case scenario is that you’re just down the hall from me. This is the best shot we have at nailing Trenchy. Maybe the only chance. We have to try. Even if it’s scary. I have to try, James.”
“I know. I know. It’s just… after what happened last night, after what we did… I can’t imagine them doing… doing that to you. Turning you into someone like her. Making you into a mindless zombie like that.” He drew in a long breath, and exhaled. “I won’t let them take you away, Kate.”
She took his hand. “They’re not going to get me this time. We’re going to get them.”
Doctor Kapoor stood in the doorway. Her hair was drawn up around her head, and she shivered in her t-shirt and running shorts. Behind her, Kate could just make out an exercise bike parked in front of the living room television.
“Kate? What are you doing here? How did you find my house? Who is—“
“Deep into trance, Disha,” said Kate. “Deep into trance.”
The Doctor’s eyes closed as her body slumped against the doorframe. Kate held out a hand to steady her.
“Wow,” said James. “I… wow.”
Kate ignored him. She pushed an envelope into Doctor Kapoor’s hands. “Disha, listen to me very carefully. In a moment I will ask you to count to fifty. When you reach fifty, you will get dressed and drive to the hospital. You will slide this envelope under Doctor Mulroney’s door. Then you will come straight home and go straight to bed. Do you understand?”
“Yesssss… Kate…”
“Tomorrow you will remember only that you worked out and watched TV before going to bed.”
“Remember only… that I worked out… and watched… TV. Went to… bed.”
“Good, Disha. Now begin counting to fifty, and obey.”
“One. Two. Three. Four. Five…”
Kate tugged on her husband’s arm. “Come on, let’s go.”
James found his voice again. “I’ll drive us back.”
Behind them, the hypnotized doctor continued. “Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty…”
Doctor Mulroney walked through the hospital corridors with an extra swagger in every step, smiling and saying hello to every doctor and nurse in sight. He was beaming, inside and out, and most of his colleagues found his sunny demeanor impossible to resist. Disha Kapoor, he decided, had been the best fuck of his entire life. He couldn’t wait to have her under his spell again. He had a full morning planned, and of course the afternoon was filled up with… that thing, but the night would be young and Kapoor was always just a trigger phrase away. Tonight and every night, forever. And in the meantime…
“Hello, Wanda.” He waved to the beautiful nurse and followed her as she turned down a side corridor. “I hope you had a great time out in Vegas.”
“Thanks, Kyle. I mean, Doctor Mulroney,” she said. His eyes eagerly ran up and down her body, but he had programmed her not to notice things like that. “What can I do for you today?”
“You can sleep and obey, Wanda.”
Her eyes fluttered as her hands fell to her sides. “Yes, Doctor.”
“Please come see me when you get off shift. I have some things for you to do.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
He stroked her face with his hand, and kissed her gently on the lips, before snapping his fingers. “Nothing today, Wanda, just wanted to say hello.”
She blinked away her confusion. “Oh. Okay. Nice to see you too, Doctor.”
The image of Wanda’s naked body carried him all the way back to his office. He beamed some more. Sunday was paperwork day, with no patients to see, so there would be time for special sessions with Wanda, Amy, Janice, or anyone else he fancied. Perhaps it would be a good day to pick up a new recruit. He’d been meaning to ask Amy about the cute new doctor in Radiology, the one with the nice ass. Once this Decker business is finished, I’m going to be the king of this town. He opened the door to his office and strolled inside, hanging his coat up on the hook.
Suddenly he was falling, tumbling to the floor. Decker stood in front of him.
“My agent,” the sandy-haired man snarled, “is taunting me. Taunting me, Kyle!” He delivered a series of kicks to Doctor Mulroney’s midsection. “My. Agent. TAUNTING. ME.”
The Doctor groaned and rolled away as Decker followed him. “Dammit, dammit Decker stop! Stop! People are going to hear you! Calm the fuck down and talk to me!”
“Kate Thomas is mocking me,” said Decker through clenched teeth. He held up a handful of photos. “I found these on the floor of your office. Were they your idea?”
“I have no idea what those are.” The Doctor climbed to his feet, clutching his stomach as he did so. He groaned again. “They weren’t there when I left last night. How did you even get in here?”
Decker held up a handful of black and white prints. “Pictures of me. Pictures of ME. Reading a letter that the woman YOU were supposed re-brainwash left me on my own doorstep!” He threw the cassette tape at Doctor Mulroney’s feet. “Oh, and she’s got you on tape feeling her up and ordering her to fuck you. I’m sure that the medical board is going to love that when they hear it. You idiot! You’re sloppy and careless, and now we’re in deep shit because of it!”
“When she leaves my office she’s completely under my control, Decker. I don’t know what happens when she gets near you, but it has nothing to do with me. Disha put her under yesterday and programmed her to go right to you. The other day I had her dancing to every trigger in the playbook. You seem to be the only person who can’t control her mind. You- oh shit, Decker! Put that thing away!”
Decker kept the gun pointed at the terrified doctor’s chest. “Do you know what I think, Kyle? I think you’re planning to turn her against me. I think that I should just kill you right here and now, before you can do any more damage. Before she can do any more damage.”
“You wouldn’t dare. I know what kind of a man you are. Always in the shadows. What shadows are you going to hide in when you fire that thing in here? There’s no silencer. Go ahead, blast away! You’ll be in the back of a cop car within the hour.”
“Fuck.” Decker lowered the gun. “You little… okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going down to that house of theirs and I’m putting an end to this. You are going to stay here and deprogram each and every last one of your little sex toys. Wipe their memories clean and then get out of town. Pray that I don’t find you and rip your throat out with my bare hands. We’re done here, Kyle. It’s over.” He turned to leave.
“Decker, wait! If you kill Kate and her husband, the police are going to come right to my doorstep. If they get me, you better believe that I’m going to give you up, too. I’m not going to hang for this all by myself.”
“Then you’d better hope that I don’t have to kill them, Kyle.” He opened the office door. “Because I’d hate to have Nikki shove your own cock down your throat after she cuts it off with a pair of rusty scissors.”
Doctor Mulroney stared at the door for a good five minutes after Decker’s angry departure. He picked up his office phone, struggling to keep his trembling hands steady enough to dial.
“Okay, so tell me again why I’m here? On my day off?” The blonde leaned against the park bench and crossed her legs. The beautiful autumn sunlight caught her hair and made it glow.
“I ordered some paintbrushes off of Craigslist. The guy wanted to deliver them instead of mailing them. You know how the horror stories go, right? Today you’re my bodyguard in case things get rough.”
“Shouldn’t that be your husband’s job?” Claire frowned. “All I’m saying is that if I have to beat up a guy on my day off, you owe me a good bottle of wine.”
“Fair enough,” said Kate. “Keep an eye out, I told him to find us at this park bench.”
It was a beautiful day. A light shower of purple and red leaves fell around them as they sat on the park bench, watching as hundreds of Freeportians passed by on bicycles, roller skates, sneakers, and walkers. Kate scanned the crowd nervously, waiting for the familiar and dreaded tan trench coat to appear. What if he doesn’t come? What if he senses that it’s a trap? What if he brings a gun? He could kill us both before the police could ever…”
“Oh hey, do you guys mind if I tie my shoe real quick?”
Before Kate could respond, a woman planted her foot on the bench and began adjusting her shoelaces. She was lean and athletic, and her green sports bra barely contained her generous breasts. Her platinum-blonde hair was tied in a lovely ponytail, and Kate admired it with a hint of jealousy. She’d never been good at ponytails.
“Ah, thanks,” said the jogger. Instead of leaving, she turned around and sat down on the bench next to them. “It’s such a nice day outside today, isn’t it, Kate?”
The two women stared at the interloper. “Um… we were… waiting for a friend to come,” said Claire. “Sorry. He’s supposed to be here any moment.”
“Oh,” the jogger said, flashing a beautiful smile. “You must be Claire! Don’t worry, I won’t be long, and I’m not going to remember any of this anyway.”
Kate’s mouth fell open. Suddenly, a switch clicked in the back of her mind, like a long-forgotten motor stirring to life. Michael Oliver, Golden Dawn, and the bikini girls all flooded her thoughts.
“Nikki?”
The jogger smiled again. “You remember me, Kate! Although I’m usually Tina now, when I’m not deep in trance. Do you remember how deep we would go? When the pretty spiral turned and turned, drawing us deeper and deeper, down and down, just taking us down? The spiral was so pretty, wasn’t it?”
“Spiral?” Kate’s eyes dimmed as the distant memory floated up from below. A series of flashes and a spiral, over and over, taking her under. Showing her the truth. The wonderful truth. “Spiral. Yes.”
“Hey. HEY.” Claire dug her elbow into Kate’s ribs. “What are you trying to do, hypnotize us? Listen, I don’t know what your damage is, but we’ve got some paintbrushes to buy. So if you could move your sweet ass off of my bench? That would be fantastic.”
Kate blinked and shook her head. “What do you want, Nikki? Where’s Decker? Is he too much of a coward to come here himself? Did he send his minion to do his dirty work?”
“Minion…” Nikki licked her lips and let her eyes close. “Obedience is truth, Kate. It’s our only purpose in life. To obey without question. You used to know that by heart, too. We want to help you to remember it again. To get your memory back. To get you back. That’s why I’m here, Kate. That’s why I’m… well, not awake, but close to it. To convince you to come back to us.”
“Alright,” said Claire, clearly annoyed. “This crazy pants bullshit has gone on for—“
“Claire, wait,” said Kate. “Hold on.” She turned back to Nikki. “If I agree to come back, will you leave James alone? Will he be safe?”
“Of course, Kate. Our total obedience is all that really matters to them. I’ve been told that no one will be harmed if you turn yourself in. But also, a lot of people will be harmed if you choose not to turn yourself in.”
“Okay then, tell Decker that he’s got a deal. James and I will meet him at Doctor Mulroney’s office at three o’clock. Tell him to come alone. And to actually come this time. Not you, him. I want him to do this in person. Otherwise, it’s no deal, and I let those tapes and photos out into the world. If either of you try to zap me or kill me, those tapes and photos go out into the world automatically. I’ve made copies. Three o’clock today or no deal. I want James to be safe, and I want to stay married to him. No ifs, ands, or buts.”
“I don’t know anything about that, Kate. But when I hear the words and obey, I will remember that you told me all of this, and I will tell him what you said.”
“Three o’clock. Not a moment before. I want to spend some time with my husband as a free woman before I go in.”
“Yes, Kate. I understand.” Her hands drifted to her head, and she blinked heavily as her eyes disappeared behind her palms. “Ugh, what the?” Her hands fell to her lap as she looked to Kate and Claire. “What was I? I’m sorry, I zoned out for a moment. I’m really sorry! I’m so embarrassed!”
“Don’t worry,” said Kate, patting her on the arm. “Happens to me all the time. Are you feeling okay?”
“I guess.” She adjusted her sports bra and frowned. “Yeah, I’m fine. I guess I’m done exercising for the day, though.” She rose from the bench. “Nice to meet you!” Then she was up and moving away from them, her ponytail bouncing from side to side as she slowly jogged past the police substation and out to the street.
Claire turned to Kate. “Okay, what the fuck just happened?”
“It’s a long story, Claire.”
“What. The fuck. Just. Happened? I mean holy shit, was that girl on fucking meth or something? How does she know our names? What the hell was she talking about? What the hell did you just agree to?” She gasped. “Holy shit, Kate, are you in trouble with the mob or something?”
“Claire,” said Kate. “Three.”
“Three what? Kate, look, the substation is right over there. If we hurry, I bet they can chase her down. I got a good look at her, and—“
“Two.”
“Jesus fuck, then! Fine! I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’ve had just about enough of—“
“One.”
Claire stared at her with wide, empty eyes. Her arms fell limply to her sides.
“Sleep for me, Claire.”
The blonde’s eyes drooped and closed as her head fell forward. Kate moved in to embrace her, as if comforting an over-emotional friend. She whispered into Claire’s ear. “That’s right Claire, you’re deeply hypnotized. Listen only to my voice.”
“Your voice…” Claire whispered back.
“You will forget everything that just happened with Nikki. You will not remember Nikki at all. You will remember that a man brought those paintbrushes I wanted, but that they were old and junky and I refused to buy them. You will believe this with all your heart and soul. You are very glad that you were able to help me today, as my friend. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Kate.”
“I’m going to tell you some things now. You will listen and obey. You will obey without question.”
“I will obey without question.”
She felt the power stirring inside of her. The urge to hypnotize, to control, to brainwash the beautiful woman sitting next to her. It was what she was good at. It was her natural talent. It was what she loved doing more than anything. “You will obey without thought. You will obey without hesitation.”
“I will obey without thought or hesitation.”
Flashes. Spirals. Flashes. Spirals. A soft voice, leading her down into the spiral. Nikki’s voice. “Give in, and let yourself go. Accept the truth.
“You will accept my words as the truth, Claire.”
“Your words… truth…”
“My words are going to brainwash you. You will let me brainwash you.”
“Brainwash… me.” Claire’s sleeping face betrayed the hint of a smile. “Slavegirl.”
“Yes. A beautiful, hypnotized slavegirl. You will listen, and remember. You will listen, and forget…”
She held her hand to Claire’s ear, and snapped her fingers.
“Whoa whoa, okay there,” said Claire, pushing back from the embrace and blinking her eyes. “You know that I’m always here for you, Kate. Whether it’s for a lunch date or fending off weirdos with broken paintbrushes. I mean, what was that guy thinking? Those things looked like he found them at the bottom of a lake. Fifty bucks, my ass!”
Kate tried to make her laugh sound genuine. “I know, right? Well, that’ll teach me to try to buy art supplies from total strangers.”
Claire blinked again, and stretched. “Mmm, it’s so nice out today! Do you want to join me for a cup of coffee? My treat. Just don’t zone out on me if you can help it.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t. Gotta meet up with the husband in a bit. We’re still trying to stick with making Sunday our chore day, so we’re going to hit the hardware store and maybe shop for some new chairs.”
“You make getting married sound so exciting! Claire said, rolling her eyes. “Okay, well, give me a call. Maybe we’ll do sushi again soon?”
“That would be great.”
“Okay, I’m off then. Try not to get murdered by creepy paintbrush vendors, okay? Later, zombie girl!”
Kate waved and watched as her best friend walked away from the bench, completely unaware of what Kate had done to her, or the secret words she now carried in the depths of her mind. What have I become?
You’re not one of them. You’re not evil. You’re doing this for good.
But I’m still doing it.
Her inner self had no response to that.
She was in the Truman Court parking garage, reaching for the keys to the Honda, when the call came through.
“Hey James. What’s up?”
“Something’s wrong, Kate. Something’s not right.” His voice was quick and breathless, as if he had just run from something terrible. “We have to bail out. I have a really, really bad feeling about this.”
“What is it? Slow down, honey. What happened?”
“I went to drop off the photos wth Roger and he doesn’t remember anything about the tapes! He told me that he had no idea what I was talking about. Didn’t even remember that we met yesterday. It’s them, Kate. They must have gotten to him, hypnotized him or something. If they got him, they can get to us.”
“Oh shit,” she said, gripping the phone tightly. “What about the other places you sent the tapes? Are they the same?”
“I didn’t try. Look, Kate, I’m sorry. I’m being the protective husband and making an executive decision for us. This is over, at least as far as we’re concerned. I’m going to the house to grab our passports, and I’m coming to get you and we’re going to the airport. We’ll call the cops on the way and hope for the best. Please go to Claire’s place or Steve’s place and text me when you get there.”
“James,” she pleaded. “I’m coming home. If we can just—“
“KATE.” He paused. “I’m sorry. I love you, and I can’t risk losing you. Go to Claire’s house. Text me when you get there.”
The phone went dead.
She ran her hands through her hair and pushed down on her head, trying to suppress the panic she felt in every muscle of her body. Goddamn it, it was Nikki. We didn’t plan on Nikki. She’s been running around this whole time. She dashed off a quick text to Claire, and pulled out her keys. Okay, there’s still time to-
An arm snaked around her from behind, breaking her train of thought. In the next second, a hand pressed a cloth against her face. She immediately smelled the sharp chemicals and struggled, trying not to breathe. She kicked her legs backwards, hoping to strike a shin, a leg, a foot, anything, but her feet found only air. Suddenly she felt very wobbly and drunk; she set her feet back on the ground, but her legs immediately bowed inward and she fell backwards into the body of the person holding her. The cloth remained firmly attached to her mouth and nose, and her eyes rolled into her head as she sank into unconsciousness.
Doctor Mulroney let Kate sink to the ground as he tucked the cloth into a plastic bag. He turned to Amy. “Help me get her into the car.”
“Yes, Doctor,” said his hypnotized assistant. She bent down to grab Kate’s legs.
Passports. Passports passportspassportspassports…
James took the front stairs two at a time, racing down the short hallway into the bedroom and dropping to his knees in front of his dresser. Picture frames fell onto their faces as he rudely jostled the lower drawer open. Where… where… here! He pulled out a plastic container and popped the lid, rooting around inside until his hand came across the two blue booklets he was searching for. Passports! Okay, okay. Get out and go, James. Go.
Panic gripped him without warning, and he felt his stomach fall to the floor. He flipped open his passport and scanned the first page. Expires 2022, good. But what if Kate’s… I’ll sneak her out if I have to, I’ll… He opened Kate’s passport. Expires 2020, good enough. He placed both passports in the front pocket of his jeans and ran for the door.
James could be thrifty when he wanted to be, and although Kate often made fun of his frugal ways, he’d managed to save up a few thousand dollars in emergency money just in the time that they’d spent together. It was enough for two plane tickets out of the country, leaving in the afternoon, headed almost anywhere. He pondered his options. What’s far? Australia’s… okay, Australia’s too expensive. Thailand? Bulgaria? I wonder if Trina still lives in Italy, she could maybe put us up for a few weeks until…
He was so lost in thought that he almost didn’t notice the sandy-haired man standing at the bottom of the stairs. He abruptly came to a full stop, his feet slipping on the edge of the stair tread and flying outwards into space. He landed painfully on his rear end and awkwardly looked up at the intruder in front of him. It was Trenchy.
“Hello, James.” He held up a sinister-looking pistol. “I’m glad to see you, too.”
Kate opened her eyes.
She was in a house. Daylight snaked around the edges of two heavy blackout curtains, and a bank of fluorescent lights droned from somewhere in the distance. She was tied or strapped to a gurney of some kind. She found that she could turn her head, and she did so, bringing Doctor Mulroney into view. He was rummaging through a small refrigerator, as if he were hunting for a couple of beers to bring to the big football game. She tested the restraints holding her to the gurney. It creaked and wobbled as she did so. If I can maybe topple this over, break it…
He turned around and gave her a jaunty wave. “You’re awake again. Good! Welcome to my home office. It’s where you and I do most of our little experiments together.” He walked over to the gurney and looked down on her. “Not that you remember any of that.”
“Fuck you, Mulroney,” she sneered. “You’re not going to get out of this. I can promise you that, one hundred percent. You and Decker. Kill me if you want, torture me, have your fucking way with me, it doesn’t matter. You’re done.”
“Kate,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m your physician, and I care about you. I think that you might be hallucinating and having delusions. No one is going to torture you here. We’re just having a nice discussion in my office about your head injury. You do remember your head injury, don’t you? In some cases they can cause very vivid hallucinations and experiences.”
“I’m tied up in your HOUSE, Mulroney! Look! Decker knows that you planned on screwing him over. I told him all about it. He’s probably on his way over here to kill you! Think about that, and stop wasting time trying to brainwash me! It’s over!”
“Over?” He made his way back over to the refrigerator. “Oh no, I don’t think so. Decker is a ruthless asshole, I’ll give you that. But he also has a weakness, and as you noted so succinctly, that weakness is currently tied up in my house.”
She felt her heart race, and swallowed hard, hoping to keep the bile in her stomach from advancing any further. Mulroney had kidnapped her. James had been right. They’d figured her out, gotten wise to her plan. Now she was trapped in his house with no easy way out. The only way to escape, she reasoned, was to talk her way out of it. “Decker knows about how you tried to betray him,” she began. “I’ve got you on tape saying it! You know that he’s going to find you and kill you. I can help you. Let me go, and we’ll take care of him. He’s the one I want, and you know it.”
“Oh Kate,” he said, shaking his head. “Why did you have to go and hit your head? Why did you have to try to remember things? Why didn’t you listen to me in my office that first day? I tried to put you back under right there and then, but you just wouldn’t let those triggers sink back in. So here we are, you and Amy and I, one happy family. What should we do?”
Her ears picked up at the mention of Amy. Turning her head, she could just make out the nurse at the edge of her vision. She appeared to be standing motionless behind the gurney, probably deep in trance and completely under Doctor Mulroney’s thumb. She’d be no help in the event of an escape, but probably not much of a hinderance, either. “What we should do,” said Kate, “is untie me so that I can help you. You made me into a secret agent, didn’t you? Now let your secret agent save your stupid, criminal ass from being murdered. Zombie Amy over there isn’t going to save you.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” he said, holding up a syringe in his left hand. “That’s why I brought you here.”
Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh God no please oh shit drugs please no. “What is that?”
“This? This is just a little something to help you relax,” he said, tapping the syringe. “It’s funny, really. All that time and effort we spent making sure that the X33 wouldn’t affect you if you accidentally ingested some of it. If only I’d known, right?” He laughed. “No, I’m afraid we’re going with the crude blunt force approach this time around. I don’t need a secret agent, just a girl in a nice hypnotic trance. An axe instead of a scalpel, if you will.”
“You can’t do anything to me, Mulroney. The triggers don’t work. Remember the last time you thought you had me under? I was faking it the whole time. Faking being in love with your disgusting face. Look! Decker is coming to kill you, or maybe both of us! There’s no time!” She twisted her head. “Amy,” she pleaded, knowing it was in vain. “Amy, listen to me. Fight him. You have to fight him. Listen to me.”
Doctor Mulroney smiled, and waved his hand. At once, Amy came alive, and moved to hold Kate’s arm against the side of the gurney. “Now,” he said, just hold still.”
She struggled to free herself from Amy’s iron grip, to no avail. “You can’t hypnotize me, asshole. Drugs aren’t going to help you. Go ahead. Do your worst.”
He laughed as the needle plunged into her arm. “I intend to.”
“You should be feeling very calm and relaxed by now.” Doctor Mulroney swung the penlight in lazy circles around Kate’s face, smiling as her dull eyes locked onto it almost instantly. “Just watch the light, and hear only my voice. Watch the light. Only my voice. Relax.”
“You can’t hypnotize me,” she whispered, as her eyes followed the penlight back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.
“Watch the light, Kate. Back and forth. Concentrate on the sound of my voice. Only my voice, and the light.”
“No.” Her voice was even softer now, barely a sound at all. “You can’t hypnotize me. You can’t hypnotize me. You can’t… hypnotize… me… can’t…. hypnotize…”
“Back… and forth….”
She felt exhausted, as if she’d been fighting off the hypnosis for days. Back and forth. Flash. Back and forth. Flash. So sleepy. Can’t… must… flash. Back and forth. Flash. Back and forth.
“Your eyes are so heavy.”
“You can’t… hypnotize… hypnotize… hypnotized…” So heavy…. She tried to think of James, of Alice’s important words to her, but everything was just mumbled and fuzzy, like radio static. She felt her eyelids close, and she struggled to open them again, only to look straight into the penlight. Back and forth. Flash. Back and forth. Heavy. Back and forth. “Hypnotized… hypnotized… hypnotized…”
“Hypnotized. So heavy. So tired. Sleep, Kate. Sleep.”
In her mind, she reached for the rock at the edge of the waterfall, but her drugged hands could only clumsily paw at it before she was swept further downstream and over, down into the endless blackness of trance.
Her eyes slid closed.
She reached her arms around her husband and held him tightly. “Oh God, James, I had the worst dream! Mulroney was trying to brainwash me again. And then you came to rescue me.” She gazed adoringly into his eyes. “Where are we? How did you find me?”
“That doesn’t matter now, Kate,” said Doctor Mulroney. “The only thing that matters is that I’m here with you.”
She smiled. “Yes, that’s all that matters. You’re right. I love you, James.”
“I love you, too. And I think I know how we can stop Decker forever, and put an end to this. That’s really what you want, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” she agreed. “It’s what we both want.”
He pressed the black Glock into her hands. “I need you to go back to the house, Kate. Decker is there. He’s waiting there to kill us. So you know what you have to do.”
She looked down at the gun and gave him a quizzical look. “But James… where did you get this? I don’t want to kill him. I have a plan.”
Doctor Mulroney shook his head. “No, Kate. The plan isn’t going to work. Decker is onto us. He’s waiting in our house to kill us, and we have to kill him first. You’re… you know how to shoot this better than I do. It has to be you, Kate. You have to kill him. For me. For us. For our love. You have to kill him. To protect us. Forever.”
“Yes, for us,” she admitted. “If I kill him, it’ll be over. But we have to get Mulroney, too.”
“I’ve already taken care of him, Kate. You need to focus on the task at hand. You must kill Decker. You have to kill him.”
“I have to kill him.”
He held his hand in front of her face, and before she could ask him why, he snapped his fingers. Her mind sank into blankness.
He looked into her empty green eyes. “You will go to your house and kill Decker.”
“I will go to my house and kill Decker,” she said in a dull monotone.
“You will remain deep in trance until you kill Decker. You will awaken and remember nothing.”
“I will remain deep in trance until I kill Decker. I will remember nothing.”
“Go now. You must kill Decker.”
“I must kill Decker,” she said, tucking the gun into her waistband before turning and heading for the front door.