I had never been tortured before, and didn’t plan on starting now.
I stood up out of my chair. “Let’s make this easier on us both. I tell you who the killer is now, and you let me go. It’s a win-win.”
Kyle crossed his muscular arms. “If you had a part in Ignacio’s death, you’re going to pay for it. Gotta send a message not to mess with us.”
I started strolling around the table. Just a little closer…
“Come on, man. If you get the guy that pulled the trigger, you can torture him all you want. People won’t even know I was here.”
He looked up at me from his steel chair. “It’s nothing person-”
That was when I toppled his chair. It clanged to the ground, and in a flash I dropped my knee onto the tip of his sternum. I heard a successful crack, but wasted no time in heading straight for his gun. I barely had it in my hand when Kyle threw me off of him.
Yes, threw. Like a rag doll.
Pain arced up my spine as I hit the wall and landed on my butt. I aimed the pistol upwards and saw him pounce towards me. His arms were reaching out for my pistol when I squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked me back into the wall as blood started spraying out of his right arm.
It was like the man didn’t feel pain. He just crashed right on top of me and started scrambling for the gun. His bloody arm tried to restrain my pistol as his fist glided just over my head. My bicep struggled, and failed, to bring my Glock to his face.
I tried to get him off of me, but his hulking mass pinned me to the ground. This guy was a bull.
The next time his knuckles connected solidly with my face. Blood filled my mouth and agony filled my brain. I tried to send a bullet his way, but my wrist couldn’t quite aim at him. He never even flinched as the gunshot shattered our ears.
The second time his fist sent stars across my vision. This time the adrenaline numbed it, though.
I heard a creak as the door to the room opened and his buddies stormed in. Kyle eased off of me just a bit now that I had pistols trained on me. That was his mistake.
He forgot that I still had a gun, and that I could bring that gun straight to the side of his head.
“Freeze.” I said it with all the conviction I could muster.
He did.
“We’ve got four on you. Give it up.” I couldn’t see whoever was speaking from under Kyle. That was good; it meant he couldn’t shoot me.
“Oh, sure. Why don’t I give up and let you torture me into a long, cruel, painful death? Sounds like a great idea.”
Boy was I glad that I had a human shield right about now. I never thought Kyle’s gigantic size would be a good thing.
“You want this over, shoot yourself right now. No need to kill Kyle here too.”
They were probably right. It would have been best to end it there and spare myself the torture.
Do it, Dale. Reyes is dead. Let it all end.
At the same time, though, I never knew how strong the survival instinct really was.
Instead I stayed strong. “How about you all back off and-”
Pop.
That was the sound of a silenced pistol shot. That was the sound of the shot that directly hit my pistol and threw it out of my hand. That was the sound of my captors winning the fight.
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.