Page 31 of Trig

“The Angel of Death is schooling me on punishments, as if you give your victims a fair shot. The hypocrisy is blinding, Trig.

“I take out the trash of this industry. You…you just ruin innocent people’s lives. We are not the same,” I say with a scowl.

“Let me ask you this, the people you kill, are they bad because they’re actually bad, or are they bad because I said they are? How many innocent lives have you ruined? These people had wives, children, and family. Did you ever consider that in someone else’s story, you’re the villain? Of course, you didn’t.”

“What is this, a therapy session? We're gonna need you to shut the fuck up,” Gabriel shouts, now placing both hands on his gun that’s still pointed at Carmen.

“Look at you. Did your balls drop, son? All piss and vinegar today. I like it. It’s quite sassy of you.” He smiles like a proud demented daddy. “But again, you don’t write the rules in my game. Neither of you do. You’re both just participants in my study. My personal lab rats. Experiments if you will, so you both will shut the fuck up. Fucking toddlers with guns, you guys are. Running amuck here.” He raises his voice and fire burns in his eyes. “Now, if you’re ready to begin, I’m sounding the metaphoric alarm. You boys have a very important decision to make. Choose wisely. Option one. We get into a noisy shootout; my men barrel in like angry wasps, and everyone dies. During this time Natasha also kills Nine. Sad ending, right? Or…option two…we part ways, civilized. No harm, no foul. I take none of this personally and I allow you two to go on a mission to save Nine. What happens after that is none of my business. I know you might be thinking to yourselves, what about option three, but I assure you, time will not permit you to do both. Time starts now. Tik-Tok. Tik-Tok, boys.”

He takes a slow puff of his cigar, then he takes another, blows it out, looks at us, and then looks down at his watch. He then smiles and pushes a button on the side. “What a shame. Too late,” he says. The sound of the windows and door locks behind us. “Bulletproof room. We’re all locked in here together. I’m bored. Let’s play.”

“No more games,” I demand.

“I’m just trying to see if you hate me more than you love your wife. Imagine that. Man kills his enemy, enemy then kills his wife, and then you and Natasha run off and raise your son together. Love story I live for. Just divine. Ooh, chef’s kiss to me, the author.”

I step forward, ready to blow his face off. Gabriel puts one hand out to stop me. Carmen calmly stands up, straightens his jacket, and points his gun at me. At this point I have nothing to lose so I rush Carmen, putting all the pressure on my bad leg in the process. He fires one bullet off that barely misses me. I grab a hold of his shirt and he grabs a hold of mine. With guns in our hands, we both wrestle to try to get the other’s weapon. Gabriel looks like he’s about to shoot Carmen once we stop moving long enough for him to get a clear shot.

“Gabriel, get that door unlocked,” I grunt through my teeth.

I begin to punch the side of Carmen’s face. He drops his weapon, but still has a hold of me. I can see Gabriel out of the corner of my eye doing everything he can to get that damn door open. He’s hitting it, ramming it and kicking it with no success. In the scuffle we both crash into the wall, then the table, and then the T.V. He takes his elbow to my ribs and then pushes me over. He then quickly grabs his gun, stands up, brushes off his clothes, and then steps on my bad knee. I roar out in pain.

“You’re weak, broken and ungrateful. I no longer have use for you. I’d kill you, but instead, I’ll let Natasha decide your fate.”

Gabriel runs full speed toward us and tackles Carmen just as I pull myself up off the floor. He knocks him over, causing Carmen to fumble and drop his weapon once again. Gabriel struggles to keep him pinned. Carmen is thrashing in his grip like a wild cat. I point my gun down at Carmen, ready to shoot.

“No. Don’t. What if he’s the only one who knows how to open this door and we kill him?” Gabriel grunts out in the struggle.

I nod, as they continue to wrestle with each other. I fast limp to the door and touch every inch of it, trying to feel for a switch or button. For all I know, he’s got a deadman’s switch that will flood the room with poison gas if his heart stops beating. I’m searching every nook and cranny in the room, flipping shit over when it dawns on me, he has it on him. He must. I remember right before the door locked, Carmen was smoking a cigar, glanced at his watch and then he pushed a button on it.

“It’s the watch!” I yell.

Gabriel grabs Carmen’s arm, slams it against the nearby wall, and starts trying to get to the watch button unsuccessfully. I run over and put him in a chokehold but Carmen’s still thrashing around like a coked-up gorilla. At some point, Gabriel just starts hulk-smashing the watch, hoping for a glitch. It only takes several of those before the sound of the door clicks and it finally unlocks and opens.

“Go get Nine!” Gabriel yells. “I got this fucker.”

I run limping out of the room, down the hallway, and back downstairs to find Nine. I approach the recognizable painting on the wall outside where we first saw that kid. This is the room where I left her. The door is open and neither Nine nor the boy are to be seen. I step inside and continue to look around. The room has two rooms within it. I suddenly hear the sound of footsteps coming near. I swing around to see the diabla in the flesh. Natasha. Her eyes widen when they set on me. She lifts her gun and so do I.

“Where is the boy?” she hisses.

“I ask the questions. The kid…is he mine?”

“I think you know the truth. Come on. You clearly must have seen the resemblance.”

I shake my head.

“Why the fuck would you bring a kid into your world?”

“Why the fuck would you, Trig?”

Without hesitation, I answer.

“Because I actually still have a heart, unlike you, you fucking icebox.”

She smiles, amused, and winks.

“You’re almost turning me on, Trig. Keep talking like that and I’ll tie you up and make another with you.” She quickly eyes me up and down as I remain silent. “What’s wrong? Too soon for reminiscing, lover?” She bites her bottom lip.

Gun still pointed at her, and with my free hand, I toss up my middle finger. I refuse to fall into her traps. Instead, I just stare into her soulless eyes and imagine killing her. I can’t take action. I promised her last heartbeat to Nine.

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