Best Served Cold

10

That was the sound of my hope spiraling down the drain.

I never knew someone could survive this.

“Aaargh!”

Was that my voice? It felt so involuntary.

Zap.

“Aaargh!”

The lightning coursed through me. I felt like my body was lit up like a firework show; pangs and explosions of pain were everywhere.

I was strapped to a chair in the warehouse’s basement. It was all concrete, the walls were lined with guns and torture tools, and one lone lightbulb flickered right in the center of the room. So far they had only brought out the jumper cables. My hands and feet were bound with electrical wire. Though this didn’t look as gruesome, I couldn’t see how anything else on those walls could do worse.

“Who is the killer, Dale?” Kyle stood over me grinning. After our time in the interrogation chamber, he liked seeing me hurt.

“You’ll torture me to death either way.”

I wished it weren’t true. Oh, how I wished it weren’t true. But it was. Nothing I did could help me now. I was completely helpless.

Completely hopeless.

Zap.

“Aaaugh!”

The entire sky was filled with fireworks. They were all the same color: red. It was bright as daylight; my entire body was a sparkler.

“That’s not what I wanted to hear. Now, who killed Ignacio Reyes?”

“Fine,” I gasped. “It was The Ghost. Los Invisibles hired him.”

Please, no more. I can’t take any-

Zap.

I no longer had the power to scream. It was as if the electroshock had fried my vocal chords. It felt as if it had fried everything else, so why not?

“You’re talking up your ass. Now, who did it?”

“You know as well as I do that I don’t know shit,” I croaked. Just that sentence felt like I was lifting a mountain. There was nothing left in me; I was just a sack of meat.

Zap.

The fireworks were everywhere. There was no escaping them. Nothing to do.

Kyle chuckled. “Yes,” he said, “I do know that.”

I heard a gunshot ring out in the warehouse above us. He paused for a second, his brows furrowing. Another shot rang out upstairs.

He drew his gun, cursed, and stormed up the steps at the end of the cellar. The trapdoor creaked as he stepped up and through, leaving me alone.

That’s okay. I’ll just stay here.

It took me about fifteen seconds to realize that something was happening. There was a gunfight going on. Someone could be here to save me.

Or not. Or I just got a reprieve from this torture for a few minutes, and then Kyle would be back down here with his sadistic grin and unwavering determination to make me suffer. Then I would have a long painful night, and welcome death with open arms.

I smiled at the thought that right then, it didn’t matter to me either way. I didn’t have a feeling left in my body.

The gunshots had stopped now. People were stomping around upstairs, the sound reverberating into my dungeon.

The trapdoor opened again, and I caught my breath. My fate would be determined by whoever came through that hatch next. If it was Kyle, my life was over.

It wasn’t. It was Milana.

It was strange how there was only a small flicker of happiness as by beautiful savior gaped at me. I figured that I wasn’t making the best impression right then.

“He’s down here!” I could have sworn she choked on a sob before rushing over to me.

“Hey,” I mumbled. It was so hard to keep my eyes open.

“Oh Alex.” She didn’t even bother to undo my straps, instead wrapping her arms around me. She smelled of raspberries and gunpowder. “Are you okay?”

“Bright as a button.”

Over her shoulder I saw Mario and John descend the steps. They both wore identical relieved grins when they saw me still alive.

I couldn’t fight the oncoming wave of blackness anymore, though. I closed my eyes and started to drift off. As I went, I mustered up all the dedication I had for one last vow.

I will protect these people.