Cave of Shadows

Sincerely

Chapter 9- Roxanne’s POV

After that man came in, screaming for us to stop, Melchior was dragged out by two large goons.  I was left on the table with a lot of questions for I don’t know how long.  Eventually, though, Melchior came in with a dish of scrambled tofu.  Great.  I was starving.

“What’s going on?  Why did they drag you out like that?  How long were you gone?  What’s going to happen now? What-“

I was abruptly interrupted when he bent down and kissed me.  It felt the same as the last one, still charged with passion, but this time, there was more urgency to it.

When he pulled away, I looked into his eyes, and I saw worry there.

“What’s wrong?”

He hesitated before responding.  “Nothing.  I’m just concerned about you and your.. condition.”

“So, it’s true then?  It worked?”

“Yes, you’re officially with child.  My child.  Congratulations.”

“So, that’s it, then?  We won’t have to… you know what anymore.”

“Yes.  You are officially released from your duties in that respect.  From now on, your only concern is eating and sleeping and behaving yourself.  Do that, and they will have no reason to hurt you.”

“So, does this mean you won’t be around anymore?”

“No.  I’m still responsible for making sure you eat and take your medicines, that sort of thing.”

“Good.  It would make this place unbearable if I had to endure it without you.  You are my friend, after all.”

My words seemed to have a positive effect on him.  He actually smiled!

“Yes.  That’s true,” he whispered, and took my hand in his.  For the first time, I was not overcome with the urge to pull away from him.  Instead, I never wanted to let him go.  That reality scared me more than anything that had been done to me since I had been brought here, because if I could feel this way about him, then that meant that I trusted him.  And if I trust him, then that leaves me wide open for him to do exactly what Connor did.  If I trust him, then that means he can hurt me.

“So, exactly how pregnant am I?”

“The blood sample we took shows you at 3 weeks.  Turns out that the last 3 weeks were a waste of time, since you were already pregnant.  The blood sample also showed that the child is very healthy, nothing out of the ordinary.  In short, we’ve done well.  The Ringmaster is very pleased.”

“Good.  Maybe now she’ll be less likely to kill me.”

“Well, she’s not the one who wants you dead.  That would be the Minister, but I am going to intervene on your behalf.  He owes me for 19 years of neglect, so I think he will side with me on this one thing.”

“And what if he does not?  Melchior, I understand you want to think well of your father, but I am afraid that you overestimate his capacity for compassion.  He seemed pretty serious a couple of weeks ago when he sent me here to my death.  He said I would pay for my actions in blood, sweat and tears.”

“Haven’t you already done as much?  Really, Roxanne, after all that’s been done to you, don’t you think you’ve been punished enough?”

“Well, yes, of course, but I’m not so sure the Minister sees it that way.”

“Well I’ll just have to make him see.  Now, we’re done worrying about that for now.  Eat your tofu.”

Antony’s POV

You know how when someone is doing something they don’t want to do, but they try and downplay how much they don’t want to do it by saying something like, “Well, it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick’?

The saying is less effective, perhaps, when the distasteful thing you are doing is receiving a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. 

The saying is even less effective when you are the one administering the poke in the eye with the sharp stick to an innocent man.

It had been a month since I had been inducted into the ranks of the C-men.  By day, I guarded and tortured the prisoners as instructed by the Ringmaster.  At noon, I would eat with the others, and then we would collect some of the prisoners and take them to the Big Top, where they would participate in the fights.  After they were finished killing each other, the winners would be brought to a private room, where private parties were held.  Usually, one of the senior officers, such as Zero, would conduct the session, but today I was summoned to host simply because the Ringmaster wished it.  I knew she was testing my loyalty, meaning that if I showed any mercy this afternoon, they would cease to show Rachel any mercy.  As I walked towards the room with my instruments, I came to terms with the fact that I was really going to do this terrible, terrible thing.  I was going to torture an innocent man to death, and when it was over, Connor Howe would be dead, and Antony would be the only thing left, because Connor Howe could never survive after doing this terrible thing.  Never.

I entered the room, and there he was, lying on the table, completely immobile.  I was reminded how just one month ago, Rachel had been the one on the table, and I knew I had to follow through. 

This is how I came to be standing over an innocent man, poking him in the eye with a sharp stick.  I felt remorse for what I was doing, but it was not so prevalent as it would have been one month ago. 

It took several hours to finish him off, and when I was finished, and his body was being carted away, I decided that enough was enough.  Leaving the room, I took off in the direction of the Ringmaster’s office.

Without knocking, I stormed in.  The Ringmaster was having a meeting with a tall, dark haired young man who I guessed to be about 3 or 4 years older than myself.  The man turned around and looked at me, and although I am certain we had never met before that moment, there was recognition in his eyes.  Recognition- and pain.

“Melchior, would you excuse us?  I need to deal with this,” the Ringmaster said to the man, and he obediently got up and left the room without a word, closing the door behind him.  I took the opportunity to start in before the Ringmaster could find her tongue.  Clearly, she was not used to her subordinates storming into her office unannounced and without an appointment.

“I have done everything you have asked me to do.  I have tortured the innocent, I have killed, I have buried people in mass graves, and I have done things of even more questionable natures where serving your cause is concerned.  I have just come from a private session in which I first blinded a man, and then proceeded to torture him to death.  I have done everything you asked, and now it is time that you held up your end of the bargain.”

“I have been holding up my end of the bargain.  Your Rachel is safe and sound, being held in a nice, secure environment with maximum security.  So, what more can you possibly want from me?”

“What do I want from you?  Well, Ringmaster, what I want is to see her.  In person.  Because, you see, you can see everything I do, so you know for a fact that I am holding up my end of the bargain.  I, on the other hand, do not have the same guarantees.  Now, you will let me see her, or I will tear this place apart brick by brick in order to find her.”

“You are putting her life in serious jeopardy by making these demands.  Do you understand that?”

“Oh, I understand that quite clearly.  However, I also understand that she could very well be long dead, and unless you are willing to prove to me that she is alive and being well looked after, then I have no choice but to act on that assumption.  You of all people should understand how irrational people become when they have nothing left to lose.  So, what’s it going to be?”

She thought for a minute.  It was clear that she did not appreciate being cornered.

“Fine,” she hissed.  “You get ten minutes with her.  But mark my words, Antony, this will cost you dearly.  I promise you, you will regret the day you crossed me.”  She walked over to the door and flung it open, screaming for the guards to come into her office.