Page 35 of Stay Awhile
“Go, this is just a tactic so she can get away with her. I got this!” Makena shouted.
I hesitated for a moment, for the first time in my career. I was torn, but the fire in Makena’s eyes let me know I needed to go. I turned and rushed toward the door. I slowed up my steps as I came up to the playroom. Some of my worst memories took place in this room.
I reached out to touch the door handle and paused.
The Playroom—Many years ago…
“You think you run things, don’t you?” Ms. Vlad asked.
I stood still, with no emotion and no reaction. That was what she wanted. She liked to see the pain she inflicted to show. It only made it worse when she didn’t get the reaction she wanted, but I didn’t care. She wouldn’t see me shed a single tear.
“Do you hear me speaking to you? You know what? No need to speak a second longer. You’re going to learn.”
Two of her usual guards stepped out of the shadows to walk me over to what looked like an X with straps. It was made to fit my height, or at least it felt that way since I had noticed more just like it against the walls when I came in, but in smaller or larger sizes. They turned me around roughly, then pulled my arms up on each side before locking me in, followed by them locking in my legs.
I looked down and noticed a trapdoor beneath my feet. I didn’t know what was beneath me, but I knew it wouldn’t be good. Soon, the guards walked away from the platform and stood near the doors. While Ms. Vlad stood poised by a machine with a wide smile. Soon, the trap doors beneath my feet opened to reveal the dark depths below. I didn’t need her to tell me what was next as the contraption they tied me to lowered itself into the pool.
I timed the speed of the motor in my head, calculating how long I would be submerged. The moment the liquid reached my neck, the motor stopped.
“Oh, you didn’t think I would just dunk you under for a while, did you? That would have been too easy for you. Oh no, it’s going to be much worse, and you will scream if I have to break your bones myself to do it,” Ms. Vlad called out.
A whistle went up in the air and soon the pressure in the pool seemed to feel heavier. As the seconds went by, it only gotheavier. Yet I wouldn’t allow a scream to slip between my lips. She was trying to kill me, and in this moment, I figured maybe it was my time to go. So I closed my eyes and thanked God for finally ending this torment.
My breathing was cut, and the edges of my vision blurred.
“Knox! She is getting away. Snap out of it!” VC yelled through the mic.
Then a shrill scream pushed me to twist the doorknob. Skye was strapped to the same board as I had been that fateful day. I was trained for this and she wasn’t. Skye wouldn’t last a moment in those waters.
“It is so nice to see you again, Knox. How does it feel to be back home?” Ms. Vlad asked.
One of her guards stood next to her with his gun trained on me. The thought that he felt he could do anything with me was funny. I cocked my gun and shot him between the eyes, then pointed my gun at Ms. Vlad. She immediately placed her gun against Skye’s temple and cocked it to let me know she had a bullet in the chamber.
“You thought you were going to come into my house and run me out of it? You thought wrong.”
“Nah, you thought you were fucking with those same kids you used to bully. That night when I came into that mansion. It was a setup to cancel VC and me. I don’t know how you infiltrated our missions, but you did. The thing you had those kids doing in that room, but you tried to pose it as if I had done it. You just didn’t imagine I would make it out of that house.”
Her scowl deepened. “You and VC did everything in your power to best me, even as kids! The country was going to honor you and allow you to retire. You didn’t deserve a damn thing! I did! I should have been honored. I’m the reason you are who youare today! Yet my contributions were ignored. You and the rest of those brats were nothing but worthless wards of the state that I found a job for.”
I thought her spewing this much hate would influence me, but when someone said things to you that you’ve heard all your life, it just doesn’t have the same effect as it used to. I chuckled and shook my head.
“Now drop your gun or she is dead.”
I knew she would kill her whether or not I dropped my gun.
“Drop the gun. Trust me,” VC said into the mic.
I slowly bent down and placed my gun on the floor. Instead of pulling the trigger, she hit the machine, which would lower Skye into the water beneath her. She then pointed her gun at me. I dropped my ear piece next to my gun then moved just as shots rang out into the room. One bullet from above hit Ms. Vlad between her eyes, and the other pierced my shoulder. I couldn’t feel a thing as I watched Skye being pulled into the water. I dived through the opening to unhook her.
The pressure of the water was at an all-time high. If I was struggling to breathe, I knew she was too, probably more so. Her eyes were locked on mine as they slowly closed, causing me to move faster. I finally released Skye from the contraption. I swam up to the surface to see Makena leaning down into the hole to grab Skye from me. She got a good grip on her, then pulled her up.
The pressure of the water was now pressing down harder on my chest, in combination with the amount of blood I was sure I had lost. My energy was just about gone. I stopped fighting to get to the top. All I could hear was my name being shouted, but I was tired. I should have died all those years ago, but now I saw this was why I made it. To save Skye. My eyes closed, and every moment of happiness I got to experience with Skye played in my mind. Her smile, the sweet taste of her, the sway of her hips, herlaugh, my friendship with VC, the moments I shared with the others, it all played like a slideshow.
Arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me to the surface, then onto the hard cement floors. I coughed as water came from nose and mouth. I looked over to see VC breathing hard beside me.
“Why do I have to keep saving your ass all the time?” he asked.
“Fuck you.” I coughed, then laughed. “Nah, but really, thank you.” I said once the lighthearted moment passed.
