Authors: Cassandra Cole
CHAPTER SEVEN
The next on the list was a man named Frisk – Wilson Frisk. I planned to visit him last, since Jonathan mentioned someone else, but Frisk was the closest now and there was no time to lose. This fellow was a troublesome character, former drug addict who never really recovered from the paranoia side-effects of methamphetamine. Staring at his nearly barricaded house at the top of the small hill, it made sense why Jonathan had chosen him for his host. He was probably his last line of defense from curious eyes. I still didn’t know who he was running from. Maybe she did.
“So, tell me about Jonathan.”
Christina looked at me like it was the first time. She didn’t expect it.
“What…what do you want to know?”
“Tell me about his work.”
“I don’t know that much. He only told me what he considered necessary.”
“And what was necessary?”
“Well…He told me about the time-resistant serum in case someone misused his invention. But he only gave me a small amount.”
“And you just let him do that?!”
I felt her discomfort of the question. In her mind, I was questioning her sensibility and probably loyalty.
“Jonathan would do me no harm. He trusts me, I’m the only person in the world he can count on.”
I backed away, steered the subject to something else. I was already walking into an unknown territory. I needed to know more.
“But what’s he like, Christina? Make me trust him as much as he trusts you.”
A faint smile spread through her face. It seemed like the only way to her was through Jonathan.
I’d take it
, I thought.
“Jonathan…He can be cold and distant at times, even hostile for no apparent reason. Then again, I can’t know what troubles his mind during experiments. I just make sure I’m there if he needs me. He counts on me for that.”
“You’re quite compassionate. It’s rare nowadays.” She was clearly under some kind of spell, or drug he’s been giving her I thought.
She blushed. There was something that wanted to get out and reach out to people. Jonathan’s aura was keeping it inside. He was present even when he was away. He was an absent jailor.
“But when he is untroubled…He becomes the sweetest man alive. His attention…His stories…I could listen to him for hours. He always has something to say.” She paused. Looking at the house we were headed towards she almost whispered: “Nowadays…He can’t seem to take a break. Everything fell on him. He had to preserve the family.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Not sure if I should be telling you all this…”
“I’m already way over my head. You might as well.”
“You remember Jonathan’s brother I was telling you about? Joseph?”
“Michaels? Yeah, I’ve remembered. I had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting him.”
“What?! When?” She was genuinely concerned.
We arrived at Frisk’s house. He boarded the windows, locked himself in. It was a wonder Jonathan managed to drug him with his serum. Again, I decided to take a minute or two to inspect the house from the inside and find all the exits.
“When did you meet him?” Christina continued although I was preoccupied with the task at hand.
“In the police precinct. You never told me that Jonathan’s brother was a detective. That information would be somewhat useful, you know?” I still surveyed the house as I was saying this. It simply meant –
it’s too late to back down now
.
“I…I didn’t know you’d met him.” Christina stated.
“Well, I did. That time when I saved your life, not sure if you remember it?” Something cold and dismissively spoke from inside of me. I regretted it instantly. She lowered her head and then lifted it again with her glassy eyes looking straight at me. “I’m sorry” I said and once again steered the conversation away. “So family dispute? Now’s the time to tell me.” She absently nodded.
“Well, Jonathan and Joseph had another brother. He was a bit like Jonathan, though maybe more positive and outgoing. He often helped him with his work as much as he could. Then one day…Jonathan was young, inexperienced; he didn’t know.”
“What happened?”
“One of the experiments went wrong and killed Jake…”
“Oh…The brother?”
“Yes…A piece of equipment in the lab exploded and hit Jake in the neck. Jonathan tried but there was nothing he could do. It destroyed him. He became a different man.”
“Makes sense. And Joseph?”
“He was the first on the scene. He took it even worse, blamed Jonathan for everything and even assaulted him before leaving for good.”
“They never spoke again?”
“No…All of Jonathan’s experiments – their ultimate aim was to reverse time, save Jake. This included going beyond limits sometimes, as you may already know.”
“And Joseph?”
“He found out. I guess he decided to stop him.”
It was time. I had found a small window on the second floor of the house that was near a drain pipe. That was a good emergency exit. I didn’t know what to expect inside.
As we approached the house Christina grabbed me by the hand, kissed my hand this time, and whispered slowly in my ear.
“Be careful…”
“What’s that for?” I asked unable to hide the smile on my face.
“For saving my life, I guess. Twice, but who’s counting?” She teased and returned the smile. Some of her affection for me resurfaced unexpectedly. I felt her tremble under my hand. I leaned over and softly spoke to her.
“Christina, listen to me now. Is…something wrong? Tell me, please! I will help you, I promise.”
Something in her suddenly changed. She frowned and looked at me.
“Everything is fine.” She was back in hiding from whatever it was, but it tormented her deeply.
I extended my arm and knocked on the door. Silence. I knocked again. Nothing.
Besides painkillers, the inside of my coat hid another gadget, quite useful in these situations. I pulled it out and tried to pick the lock. I hadn’t done it in years. It belonged to older days when I was a bit more troublesome. After a couple of minutes I heard the clicking sound. I turned towards Christina and smiled. Her eyes glistened revealing an anticipation of adventure. I entered the room fueled by her energy.
Silence.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“If you’re going to pick a lock, at least do it silently!”
The voice thundered in my head as I entered the narrow corridor of the house. For a second or two I couldn’t really see where the voice was coming from. As my eyes slowly adapted to the dark interior, I began to notice a dark figure in the shadows. However, that wasn’t the problem. I was used to shady characters and locations. It was a normal part of my job, after all. The problem lay in the fact that after a couple more seconds I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a metallic reflection coming from the darkness. This particular shady character that was lurking in the shadows in front of me was holding a 12-gauge shotgun in his hands pointed straight at my head.
I panicked, but remained calm on the outside. There was no use in running. This weapon would get me no matter how fast I was. It was stupid of me not to expect this. Frisk was paranoid. It made sense he would be prepared. However, as I was staring at the barrel of the shotgun, all the while I kept thinking if he had seen Christina who was still outside. I hoped not.
“Jonathan, don’t do it!” Christina jumped out in front of me. I grabbed her by the shoulders in an attempt to get her out of the way. She was persistent.
“Who the hell are you?!” Frisk’s gravelly voice pierced through the corridor.
“It’s me Jonathan! It’s Christina. I know you’re
in
there! Help us!”
Frisk came out from the shadows. His shotgun seemed even more frightening now combined with the semi-mad look on his face. It seemed like he was losing his patience.
“Stop! You…You die now!”
“Jonathan! Stop him! I know you’re inside, please!” Christina cried out.
“Shut up! Just sh…” Frisk dropped his gun and Jonathan spoke in his voice.
“Run, you fools!”
I grabbed Christina by the hand and dragged her into the living room that was filled with random boxes and old furniture. We hid behind a large sofa bed and waited. I felt Christina’s heartbeat go through the roof. She breathed heavily, unable to control herself. I put my hand over her mouth and gestured that we must be quiet. I kissed her on the top of her head reassuringly, and whispered that it would be alright. She just looked at me, wanting for escape from all the torment and fear… but said nothing.
I could hear Frisk enter the room. He was looking for us.
“OK, now…Whatever that was, it stops now. You, little witch, you die now. You won’t be picking my brains no more. You dirty little witch! Die!”
This last word was followed by the thunderous sound of the shotgun being fired all over the room. The pellets flew everywhere. I held Christina close and kept my head down, my body crouched over hers to protect her. After a while he went off to reload. I stood up and charged towards him.
“Don’t!” he screamed at me as I restrained him to the floor.
“Go to the kitchen and make the potion!” I yelled trying to hold Frisk down. It was not an easy task as he was a large man. I was practically sitting on him, while he tried to free himself with a couple of strong hits. After that he seemingly gave up and instead started talking to me.
“Don’t let the witch poison me again, please! Don’t let her…I…I can’t even remember my name anymore. Don’t let her do it again. I won’t be able to take it…”
“Again?” I asked, trying to make sense of his words. A couple of seconds later, Christina walked in holding a glass of reddish liquid.
“Here it is, Ed. Just hold him for a while longer. I’ll get him to drink it.”
“Hm...That potion seems different to what I made using Jonathan’s instructions.”
“Well…Yes, this is a bit stronger. He is a larger man than Martha.”
I stood up facing her. Something felt wrong. Frisk quickly crawled to the corner.
“So, you know how to make this stuff, eh?”
“What are you doing, Rudy? You let him go! He’ll kill us!” She tried to walk towards him but I got in her way.
“Christina…He said ‘again’! And he mentioned you! You never told me you were here. You helped Jonathan drug these people? You know more than you’re telling me, hun…”
“Get out of the way!” She yelled at me, her eyes showing only anger and coldness. It was as if she was someone else entirely. I pushed her back, almost making her spill the potion. She grinned at me demonically and threw the potion at me. I suddenly felt a bit disoriented and nauseous. My eyes blurred. Christina scurried upstairs. I was about to run after her when I heard someone walk inside the house. I hid again behind the sofa. I heard footsteps getting louder and louder. A couple of them. They entered the room where I was. Frisk was talking to himself for a while and then suddenly stopped. One of the men who entered started talking to him.
“Jonathan? Are you there?”
“The witch…She let them in…The voices…She poisoned my mind…I…”
“I guess he didn’t take this one then…However, just to be sure…” I heard a gunshot and saw Frisk’s body fall to the ground. As he was dying he looked at me and began talking. The men saw that. They followed Frisk’s eyes to the sofa. I realized there was nowhere to run.
“Mr. Banks…Now, what are
you
doing here?” I recognized the man to be Joseph Michaels, the man I met back at the precinct. “So, she must be here, too.” All of a sudden he pulled out a baton and hit me on the head. Everything went black.
CHAPTER NINE
“Rudy…”
I felt like someone was literally drilling a hole inside of my head. The pain kept increasing gradually so that I couldn’t get used to it. It was as if my pain was materializing right in front of me, bit by bit.
“Rudy…Do you hear me?”
I tried rubbing my temples but it didn’t help.
The painkillers.
I thought.
Where are they?
There was nothing in my pocket. No painkillers, no lock pick, nothing except for that letter Christina gave me.
“Rudy, focus on my voice!”
I pulled out the letter and opened it. The paper seemed much smoother and I could smell Christina’s scent all over it.
Christina… She threw the liquid all over me
. It was as if she was someone else…
“You can’t hear me, can you? You idiot! I’m trying to help you…”
I focused on the letter. Anything to forget about the pain…I tried to read it, but the letters were all mashed up together. It was as if they were alive and constantly moving… All of a sudden everything came together and I read them out loud,
“
You idiot! I’m trying to help you.”
The swirling mass of pain in front of me morphed into Jonathan. He smiled, looked at me and then at himself. His lab coat had some dirt on it so he tried to clean it. While doing so, he began speaking.
“Alright, just to make sure… You hear me now, right?”
“Yes,” I managed to utter, feeling the pain slowly subside.
“Good. Now, you need to do EXACTLY as I say if you want to get through this.”
“Through what? Where are we?”
“That’s a tricky question. You are currently unconscious in the house of one Wilson Frisk, tied to a chair and watched by Joseph’s men. I, on the other hand, am inside your head.”
“I’m imagining this?!”
“Did I SAY that? No… This is as real as anything else.”
So, I was his host now? Christina’s potion… It must be it.
“I am your fourth host?”
“Fourth? No, no… I prepared many of them. Some didn’t survive. They couldn’t stand the pain. It’s what you might call collateral damage.”
“You’re a monster, Jonathan!”
“Again wrong… I am much more than that. I am a scientist! Sacrifices are necessary. Now… We need to discuss your problem here. Joseph will kill you if he finds out I’m inside so you’ll have to keep it a secret for a while.”
Arrogance and anger rose in me. I stood up in my thoughts and tried to hit him. My fist went through the air.
“How do you expect to fight someone who isn’t material. Try to use your brain, please…”
“OK, Jonathan, I’ll wake up and tell Joseph to shoot me in the head. If it means getting rid of you, I’ll gladly do it.”
The pain came back. Slowly but gradually it increased until I felt its mighty presence.
“You’ll do no such thing. You see, my experiments with time and ‘body snatching’ are nothing compared to my torturing skills. I can find everyone’s weak spot from within and test its limitations. Some crack easily, like Christina. After that, they have no choice but to submit. I own them, I can control them! The others like Jake… They fight till the end…”
“You killed your brother just to test him?”
“JUST? It’s not JUST. It’s science. His death taught me something, opened new doors for me. Too bad you can’t accept that.”
“And Christina?”
“This is another thing I’ve learned. If you break someone, you own them. She doesn’t even realize that I can control her. I own her and it’s for her own good. I made her attack Martha and subdue Frisk. She helped with all of the others. But her mind is fragile… Her memory forgets the bad things she’s done. Self-preservation. Another thing I learned!”
I couldn’t stand the pain. I felt my mind losing it.
“Just relax now and do as I tell you.”
Again everything blacked out. I was in Frisk’s house. Joseph’s dogs were watching me and Christina was now tied to a chair next to me. She seemed bewildered, troubled and somewhere else. Joseph came into the room.
“Mr. Banks, you’re awake! Great, now you can tell me where that murdering brother of mine is. He’s not in the house and your lady fried here isn’t saying much.”
Say nothing
.
“Mr. Banks! Talk to me!” He pulled out his gun and waved it at me. “Don’t be an idiot, as my brother used to say.”
Just let him get a little closer
.
“Rudy! Your last chance!” Joseph said and leaned over me.
Now!
I felt something control me as I lunged forward and bit Joseph’s neck with all the strength I had. I felt Jonathan’s energy now enter Joseph. Soon he would be controlling him. Christina now alert, screamed, while Joseph’s men ran away in fear. Joseph held on to his wound and began talking in two voices.
“I got you now, Joe…”
“Jonathan, you’re mad! Stop what you’re doing! Please!”
“Too late now, brother. You’ve been hunting me long enough. Now I’ll find your weak spots and destroy you.”
I felt paralyzed. I didn’t know what to do so I looked at Christina who stared back at me. She couldn’t believe Jonathan could be so brutal. Somewhere deep inside she'd suppressed everything he ever did to her. His control over her was powerful. I managed to untie myself, and did the same for Christina while they were busy talking to each other within the same body. It was a strange site to be sure. I stood up and embraced her as Joseph continued to scream.
A couple of minutes later, everything was over. Jonathan took over Joseph and sighed in relief. I even spotted a little smile on his face.
“Alright, now… I need a new host. This one is not going to last long.”
Christina started to walk to him, dazed by the command under his spell, but I grabbed her and pulled her back.
“Don’t play games with me Rudy. You know what I’m capable of. Don’t you remember the pain?”
“I do,” I said holding Christina firmly in my arms.
“Christina! Come over here. Now! We’ll get rid of this idiot. He thinks he can defy me! Huh!” Jonathan huffed.
She made another twitch and stopped. I whispered to her to go outside. She looked sadly into my eyes, knowing that a part of her harmed others through his commands that worked through her. She was lost, despondent now. I held her tight and needed to free her mind of him somehow.
I lost all restraint and kissed her, vaguely hearing the shouting and cursing coming from Johnathan. My lips on hers, was my declaration of love for Christina, saving her from the evil and control of a mad man. A woman he professed to love, a feeling he knew nothing of, only desiring ownership of her for his own devices.
She slowly closed her eyes as our lips met and gave in to mine fully. I kissed her deeply, passionately, my arms wrapped tightly around her, yet again lost in some sort of time warp. It’s as if we had known each other, belonged to each other even. Something broke inside of her. I could feel the torment of her imprisoned soul and control by Jonathan somehow shatter from his spell in our kiss.
She tasted freedom for the first time since meeting Jonathan years ago, as did I with a love and adoration I never knew possible. She opened her eyes and looked into mine with something that spoke of gratitude for the end of the torment, even love, as I had could only have dreamed of. It was the first time she had full control over her mind and consciousness. An entirely pure, innocent and beautiful smile spread across her face as she launched her body fully into mine in delight for her new liberty.
“Wait for me outside, please.” I meant it both literally and metaphorically as I gently moved her from our embrace. She just walked outside ignoring Jonathan’s orders, pleas begging, and demanding she not leave him. It seemed his evil was his own torment now.
There was just him and me, the two of us left.
“Listen to me, Rudy. I realize I may seem like a monster to you now, but all of this was necessary. It was self-defense.”
“Like it was with Jake? Martha? And God knows how many others?”
“It was NECESSARY!” His scream echoed in the dark room, “So is this…” His heart shattered, what was left of it, could not to bear be alone without Christina. He grabbed a gun one of Joseph’s men had dropped and pointed it at his head.
“No, please, don’t!” I begged. “There must be a way…”
I heard the gunshot and it was over. An experiment gone wrong, evil, greed and control the driver if it, leaving a senseless trail of destruction to be explained,
tomorrow,
I decided. For now, it was over.