Chapter 4

by owlhero

Jamaican sunlight filtered through the cracked windows of the warehouse, creating broken rainbows. The colors faded as if acknowledging the dark deeds committed in this place where dreams died, where dreams shriveled up from lack water, unfertilized by hope.

The steel crates lay open, waiting to be packed and shipped to unknown destinations, surrounded by stacks of country of origin labels and laminated paper. Packing peanuts covered the floor, masking the grime built up over decades of abuse and wear.

A nail poked through the sneaker sole of the warehouse's newest arrival…

Ouch! Stupid nail! Why couldn't they clean the floor for once! They're just like Zack!

Cody halted as he remembered his twin. The shove to his back forced him deeper into the room, and the nail pierced his rubber insole. Pain fired, causing him to in front of the pairs of eyes watching his every move, adding insult to injury.

He stopped to lean against a pole. A sense of relief washed over Cody as the tip of the nail narrowly escaped from the arch of his left foot.

Seconds later the back of his head hit the steel. Cody cursed himself for being all elbows and knees. The stars cleared in front of his eyes. His mouth fell open, and he felt himself blanche at the sight facing him.

Shadows scattered among the crates, as though trying to spare themselves the embarrassment of being seen, society's empty holes, their souls torn from past lives, detached from meaning.

In those past lives, these shadows had been considered humans. But now?...

The atmosphere darkened around the newest occupant as reality shattered his carefully constructed world.

Rust flakes colored his shirt as Cody's body weight strained the pole, while his brain refused to accept what his eyes saw and his nose smelled. A hand brushed the flakes off his shoulders. The movement vanished from his memory before Cody could process it.

What am I looking at?

He took a couple of breaths as he stared at the humans on the floor in front of him. They sure did not look like humans.

His eyes fell on a woman just a few feet away from him. In another life, Venus would have seemed ugly in comparison, but not the way Cody saw her now. Her skin had lost its luster, a paint job rusted away from pressure, leaving the base coat exposed. Black threads straggled from a thinning scalp, tic-tac-toe patterns across her forehead, waiting to be marked with her final destination.

Cody looked into her eyes, and the hope inside him melted. He was Icarius watching the wax start to melt from his feather-built wings from the sun. Realization dawned on him as he fell closer and closer to the water, ready to swallow him.

Yet something Cody did not know he had inside him clicked, and he inched away from the half-filled human portrait, ready to see what the rest of this purgatory had to show him. His sneaker soles bounced on the floor as he to avoid various limbs and objects strewn about. The smell of sweat, depression, fear and who knows what else overwhelming his nostrils.

As he not so gently pushed toward a group of (Cody could hardly believe this is what they were) humans, a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him to the side. Cody shivering in fear at the touch of this new person, whose fingers turned his jacket inside out. Figures and numerals drifted inside Cody's mind as he searched for holes inside Einstein's theories, where his mind retreated in times of extreme stress.

A shotgun blast voice exploded the equation Cody was trying to solve, the figures falling into a game of Tetris only to pile up as the twin's brain regained some sense of reality.

The voice was rough and deep as it dug its way into Cody's consciousness. The accent shattered his remaining defenses as he realized this inspector had awoken him from his conjectural journey.

"Hey you?"

Cody only nodded to show he heard him. The man frowned but continued.

"It seems like we have a VIP in our midst." Cody flinched at the cold humor in the man's tone. "This young man is from the SS Tipton. You know that luxury liner docked in the bay? I better tell the boss about this."

A cell phone appeared out of thin air.

Cody looked around while his interrogator talked and thought he saw something that horrified him.

Is that a child?

He saw a small form with its back against a wall. An impish boy, smaller then when he and Zack had arrived at the Tipton Hotel years ago. Faded jean shorts, a T- shirt, and sandals completed his ensemble. The shorts were torn, and a rip split the cartoonish creature on the T-shirt, while the sandals soles flopped in the air, allowing dirt to cake on the child's feet.

How can he survive in a place like this?

Astonishment and admiration for the human spirit rolled through Cody as he watched the lad continue what he was doing.

He's actually drawing in the dust on the floor…I don't believe it.

Cody took a step. There in the dust he thought he saw the beginnings of a house, but before he could get closer to the blossoming artist, his own shirt collar choked him.

He was snapped around into the eyes of his interrogator.

"Well, it looks like my boss has a different idea for you…It seems he's taken a special interest in your situation." Cody saw the fuzzy image of his Tipton ID card in the man's hand, but his focus remained on the man's face.

"We're going to give you special accommodations for your stay here."

Something about the man's eyes said more about his future situation than Cody wanted to know.

The first look Cody received at his "home" was the floor his head slammed into. When he pushed himself off the floor with his hands. he felt concrete instead of the wooden slats he'd been standing on.

He searched his surroundings, seeking any possibility that a change in venue had improved things.

He found himself disappointed.

Needlessly to say, comforts of home did not exist here. A small cot sat in the corner of the room, covered with a light blanket.

How generous of them, he thought sarcastically.

In the middle of the room stood an old-fashioned wooden table with a single chair.

Spartan was the only description to come to mind. Beyond a few torn posters on the walls, the room showed very little indication of human occupation.

Especially since there was one thing missing…

The toilet.

Or so he thought until he spotted the door in the back corner of the room, opposite the cot. The door melted into the wall. He approached the door and turned the knob.

A loud screeching clenched his teeth.

At least they'll know when I have to go…

Cody shook his head at the thought.

"That's something Zack would say."

The prisoner paused, thinking of his twin crumpled on the ground after being hit in the back of his head. Tears formed in his eyes, as he wondered if his twin was still alive. The door opened, pushing the distressing image away for a second.

Inside was the porcelain god with its modern miracle, indoor plumbing, plus a sink a few feet away. Cody let out a sigh.

"At least it's better than a bucket."

Cody realized what he said and smiled at the crude humor. Shaking his head, he closed the door.

"London wouldn't last five seconds in this room. She'd die at the sight at the bare floors." After the hotel heiress's attitude toward comfort ran through his mind, Cody walked to the thin cot.

The quiet crushed him. He could not run away from it now. Not even the light bulb hanging from loose wires provided any illumination to the situation.

The entire vacation came back to Cody in a flash. The women, the drinking (Zack forced me, I swear), and finally the market with its defense-weakening throngs of bronzed bodies, both male and female, glistening with beads of sweat, strategically arranged fabrics, and sunny smiles. Cody's heart and blood had magnified the normal thoughts of the teenage mind, adrenaline and testosterone buzzing around in his bloodstream, injecting it with their mind-altering chemicals.

The sweet nectar of the fruits quenched his thirsts while the kiss of the alcohol awoke ancient and lowbrow sensations on his tongue and throat.

The caress of the sun on his youthful skin as he strolled through the peddlers' stalls, shinny beads and flamboyant T-shirts beckoning the greenbacks in purses and wallets. People danced to the banging of snare drums and the strumming of a bass guitar.

Cold metal grazed his temple. The rancid gas fumes sickened him. A pulsing headache increased by the second. Insects ate at his insides as fists and feet bruised and battered his twin. Just as Cody wondered if Zack had shattered like a china doll, he rose to his feet. Those fingertips so close only to disappear in an instant as the door shut on his escape and into darkness he went.

Why was I so stupid to pay attention to the van? Why couldn't I just walk away? I had to know what was going on, didn't I?

Oh really? a part of his mind said. Are you sure there wasn't something involved?

Cody pondered the question, but his mind beat him to it and gave the answer.

Zack would have known to stay away. I mean, seriously… boxes with small white bags in them? Duh, Zack would have turned around on a dime and called the cops, or at least avoided the area. How could you be so stupid? Your brother is so much smarter than it comes to life outside of books.

Cody was shocked at his mind's veracity.

You're just the bookworm. Always so confident of your abilities, but you have no abilities outside a classroom or a science lab. Look where my brains got you…

All those yoga poses did crap for you in a tight spot. You should have done a little more work with the weights…Oops, too late now.

His mind laughed at the him, its cacophony stabbing to his very core.

Let's not get started on girls. I mean, Zack gets all the dates he wants, while you're lucky to get one in a year.

Cody fought back. Yeah well, Zack can't hold down a relationship. Cody almost teared up as he insulted his brother trying to defend himself.

You think that matters in this day and age? People end relationships at the drop of a hat. With the internet and the cell phones and the texting, we've become separated, only truly caring about ourselves.

Wait a second, I did have a relationship with Bailey.

But it didn't last, did it? Life's been really bad to you. Why would that change now? This could be the last step, or it could be the beginning of something worse…

Cody's gaze wandered to the hanging light above him. A fly following the beam as it swung in the air, its shadow crossing the captive's face, matching the growing melancholy inside him.

That fly has more freedom than you do now. Heck, it may die tomorrow, but you don't know if you will live to see tomorrow…Oh wait, if you die that means I die. Well, that would suck for both of us, now wouldn't it?

His mind noticed the curiosity in his public persona about before and decided to take advantage of it.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we? First things first. You want to know how it could get worse. Here's the key. Remember…

Cody trembled inside as the power of his mind crippled him.

His memory replayed every detail since the beginning.

Wait?… that woman and the child…why were they here? Why are you making me remember them?

Cody's bladder almost gave out as he realized the vile possibility.

How could anyone use people like that? Cody's mind smiled at the revulsion and fear. …What about me?

You asked for it, his mind answered.

Cody Martin.

His life dreams stopped at the sound of "Sold!" and the exchange of a few thousand dollars. No freedom to play or learn. Life scheduled to the second.

The nerdy twin curled up into a ball, wrapping the blanket around him, feeling more like a five-year-old instead of the young adult he was.

Imagine, a prospective Ivy League student hearing "Tick Tick" in his mind as a manual laborer. Darkness veiling his presence as he digs for minerals in a shaft, or his skin peeling as an agricultural worker toiling from dawn to dusk, his hands blackened from soil and his back permanently bent.

A bottomless pit to be dug by the young man, fuelled by his brain's unrelenting progression.

Mind, body, and soul completely frozen by the defilement. Twin stars fading from being someone's sensual toy by touch or the red blinking light. Modesty a shredded past. Screams and moans fill the air. Each act breaking a piece of himself off every time until not even a ghost remains. Each tear a fantasy crashing before takeoff.

Cody's mind resurfaced from the abyss. His whole body shook, the cot vibrating.

Oh, I am being too evil to you. Allowing you to see how disgusting the human race can be towards each other. All those urges. The need to eat or drink or love. But for some, the need to cause fear and their psychosis twists them to cause pain. Even to a child.

Here's a respite. Enjoy.

A candle glowed in the blackness. Blackness turned to gray as the flame flickered, its will strong. A singular voice accompanied it. Sound waves gripped his heart and warmed the blood inside, life reinforced. Melodies chased the monstrous nightmares from his heart. Her hugs created a safe haven.

His heart slowed as the memory of familiar strumming of the nickel-plated strings bounced off the windows in his mind. The musical notes and the aftershave scents of a warmer past in a perfect house and a white picket fence. The dog pile wrestling, soccer in the house, accidently breaking the occasional lamp, moments of bonding that all seemed too few and too short.

Cody's hand clenched.

Now back to the main event, the darkness announced to the crowd watching the torture of Cody Martin by his own brain.

The vacancy sign flashed at you. The scratchy roadside motel sheets on your skin. The clash of the bowling ball and the pins in your ears. The screeches for rent. The torture of sweat and the freeze. Fighting with flies in the empty cupboard and coins clinking in your pocket.

The voice on the other end reminding you what was lost. The sound of practice blocked his voice. Cartoons poked through the small screen's broken lines. You try to hang on to what you have, but things continue to be crossed off or erased as you live your nomad life.

Tears balanced themselves on Cody's eyelids but refused to obey gravity and stayed there.

He punched back, fighting the darkness, trying to rebuild his defenses and came up with he thought was the perfect defense.

Matching eyes met in his mind. Your ying and yang personalities often combined into gray. You often stayed awake at night to talk about dreams and uncertainties, sometimes lying in the same bed. You knew no matter what happened, he was your rock. The one you could trust the most.

A sad smile appeared on the boy's face as the mirage of green uniforms and the distinctive T on the breast pocket swelled to fill his vision.

There was Maddie, your babysitter and pseudo big sister. Her sugary confections and conversation a regular part of your schedule. Her looks just an added bonus. Hard worker who had to deal with a crazy family life. She hoped for a better life and a little extra cash.

There was London, the superficial hotel heiress with a big heart if she allowed allow herself to embrace it. Her presence allowed you to see how good your life was since you had a mother living with you and a father who actually called you. She had no mother in her life, and her father (as he was called) barely acknowledged her.

And Marion Moseby, the dictator of the hotel and an uncle to you. Sort of. (Although you would never admit it to him or yourself.) The short man with a girlfriend. As a matter of fact, beyond the ulcers you caused him, you and he started to respect each other on intellectual grounds as you got older.

Memories of crawling through vents, running through the hallways, riding luggage carts, and just causing what damage hooligans could cause came the prisoner's mind easily.

The scenes of the crime far behind you as you sprinted down the hallways caused by pranks you helped with. Or least tried halfheartedly to find a way out of. But you could not leave him behind. It was impossible. It would the universe without gravity. You helped each other with girls, homework, and new skateboard tricks. Granted you had your arguments, even low pranks on each other, but no walls ever stayed between you. Even when your teenage stubbornness did not allow you to admit how you cared for, or wanted to protect, each other got in the way.

His mind admired what Cody was doing. But decided it had had enough and figured everything out with the mental action and wiped everything with the perfect laser guided nuke to the middle of his human's defenses

Now Zack's probably lying in that alley with a cracked skull because of what you did.

Cody's mind dipped into the abyss again.

Its all your fault if he dies….Will you never see him again?... Or tell him you're sorry? Imagine that?

Cody burrowed into the mattress as scenes of a funeral paraded by with his brother's body in a casket all dressed up to the nines. Everybody looking at the other twin. The other victim. The survivor.

The reason Zack died.

What would Mommy think of you? You caused Zack to get hurt because of your stupid mistake. If he dies, will she ever forgive you? What about Daddy? What about sweet Maddie? London? Woody? Will they hate you?

What about Bailey?...

I think so…

Tall shadows grew ever-larger, blocking all light, leaving the young man in darkness as fiery eyes and bony fingers clawing at his prone form.

Cody continued to bury himself as the rest of his world collapsed around him.

The door opened, its creaking unable to break through the prisoner's torment.

The ceiling light swung, unperturbed by this new presence.

The girl closed the door hard. As if to grab the boy's attention.

His head snapped up. Cheeks shiny with streaks. Red eyes. Bed head hair.

The girl's face stayed a perfect mask. It was not the first time she had seen such a face. No, not at all the first time.

"Well, you must be Cody?"

The other soul in the room brought his sleeve up to face and wiped. Then he squinted and nodded to her, his face a kabuki mask with red paint.

The girl walked over to the cot and sat down.

Cody moved to give space to this humanizing creature.

As she looked into the eyes of the young man beside her, she saw something.

Is it hope? Maybe he thinks I am a sign.

She closed her green eyes and pushing her red bangs out of her face.

"I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Sam. I heard about what happened, and I wanted to meet you. It 's not everyday we pick up something your age."

She saw his eyes narrow. No change of expression. Just like all the others.

"As you've probably figured out, my father is one of the men involved."

Sam saw Cody's face become stone.

"I'm not involved in any of this personally, but as I am sure you know, children get dragged into stuff in which their parents are involved. If only because their living arrangements are affected by the new situation."

Cody only nodded. Sam sighed and continued.

"You must think I'm horrible, don't you? Being involved in all this?"

He gave a slight smirk.

"I think the situation is complicated, especially for a child."

"I'm fourteen." Sam's smart reply deleted the smile from Cody's face.

"Fine, even for a teenager, it would difficult to deal with." Sam smiled at Cody's comeback a few seconds later.

The redhead rose from the cot and walked around the room.

"Yes, it is hard to deal with. Sometimes almost impossible." She scanned the room. "At least they gave you decent accommodations."

A harsh laugh made her hair on her neck stand with acupuncture efficiency.

"Don't you mean they kept me alive? This place barely has the extreme basics." Cody pointed at the light bulb, the bathroom. "The wiring sucks and I don't even want to know about the plumbing," he finished with a snort. "Although I could be worse. Did you know they thought about killing me on the street? Then they decided to give me mercy and let me live…To do what? Sell me?"

Cody's outburst changed the atmosphere in the room. Sam thought about her response…

But before she could say anything, the door opened, the handle hitting the doorstop and bouncing back, the metal handle shaking from the impact as if in fear.

Sam's sniper eyes focused on Cody, whose face had turned pale, then flashed at the intruders.

"What are you doing? I told my dad I wanted to talk to him."

One of the group answered. "Please, Sam, don't get in the way. As a matter of fact, we need to talk to him as well."

"Just don't hurt him." The man paused on his way to Cody for a second.

"He'll come back in one piece." The man grabbed Cody and left the room, leaving Sam in his wake.

"I told you already for the third time," Cody insisted. "I'm not rich."

"Really?...Then how come you're a student on the SS Tipton? Last I heard it was cost $20,000-30,000 thousand dollar a year to live on that ship."

Cody rubbed his volcano of a headache, hoping vents wouldn't open up, allowing his brain to pour out.

"I work on the ship as a part time employee when I'm not going to school. My mom works as a hotel employee in Boston, Massachusetts. She used her Tipton employee discount and saved just enough for me to go."

Cody left something out, hoping the slight detail would be forgotten.

"Wait a moment?..." The guy known as the Boss cut across the silence.

Cody tried to not let it show, but he was a field mouse compared to the look on the Boss's hawkeyed face.

"Just you? Are you sure? The other guy, the one my men dealt with, looked strangely similar to you. As a matter, they thought you could be twins, but that means you lied to us just now, doesn't it?

Cody stayed silent, but a shark smile appeared on the Boss's face. The other closed the few feet between them. With his face inches away, Cody could see his individual pores. Smell his breath. Feel his eyes creating a cavern in Cody's head.

"How about you stop lying right now? Or things might start to go bad for you. Hm?"

Cody nodded, a puppet on strings.

"Alright then, so you have family, yes?"

An up and down movement to the Boss's question.

"What about your father? What does he do?"

Cody bit his lip and refused to talk.

"It must be a sore subject for you? Let me guess, he's not around much? Abandoned you, your brother and your mother?"

It was too much for Cody

"My parents are divorced, okay? For years, as a matter of fact. He's a musician, he's in a band."

"Really? How sad for you? The Boss laughed. "He must be really pathetic then."

Cody blasted out of his chair, only to be shoved down by the man he wanted to hurt so badly. He hopped back up, only to freeze he saw four other men behind the boss.

"Now calm down and let's continue. I guess we can avoid the topic of family if I want to survive. Now let's see, you have working-class parents…So, what we will do with you?"

Hands slipped to his pockets as the Boss circled Cody. He stopped and turned as his left hand pulled out of his pocket object. Even in this light, Cody recognized it instantly.

His cell phone. With everything going on, it had slipped his mind.

"Frankly I don't believe a word you're saying to us."

Cody started to sweat at the Boss's words.

"I hope you have someone you can call in order to prove all this for your sake."

"Yes, his name is Marion Moseby. He's the ship's manager. He used to work with my mother."

"Make it snappy. If I hear one mention of any police, its over."

Cody's head moved as if on a spring.

His hands moved like lightning, finding the manager's in the contacts list. Please pick up, he prayed.

"Hello, this is Marian Moseby, ship's manager, How may I help you?" The glorious tones of the man livened Cody's spirits for a second. Then he looked up at the Boss and spoke as quickly as he could.

"Mr. Moseby, it's Cody."

No sound on the other end. Hope faded as he feared Mr. Moseby might have had a fear of a heart attack until…

"Is it really you?"

"Yes, I'm alive and it's really long story. How's Zack?"

Before Moseby could answer, the phone was torn from Cody's hand and the Boss lurched away from Cody, Moseby's voice fading from earshot.

"Cody…Zack's okay but…

An unfamiliar voice grabbed his attention.

"What's going on? Put Cody back on the phone!"

"I don't think so."

Moseby's heartbeat started to race. His eyes started to move toward the ship's log and the passenger list on the computer. The tab behind it said "guest incidents."

"Listen and listen good, you have one week to pay three-and-a-half million dollars. Understand?

Moseby's mind swirled as he thought about the situation. But his focus forced his response.

"I don't understand."

"Well, let's make this crystal clear We'll call later for a time and place for a dropoff. If the demands are not met at the time and place, you will have one less passenger on your boat when you leave, is that clear?"

Moseby swallowed.

"Totally."

The line disconnected.

Moseby let the phone drop, without even realizing the dial tone was humming into the air.

Oh dear…

Moseby ran off to find the one person who needed to know first.

The sparse room was silent again, the simple smooth wood poking into Cody's skin where he lay on the cold cement floor,

his mind blank as he stared into space.

A footstep smacked the floor. His pupils contracted and he found himself face to face with a red head.

Sam.

"How did you…?"

"I snuck in, obviously…Are you alright?"

"I'm in one piece, no thanks to their attempts, threatened or otherwise."

Sam's grimaced.

"My dad really isn't

that bad. Its just the line of work he's in. Its makes him do things he wouldn't do otherwise."

Cody wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of Sam's response. But he didn't. He just shrugged.

Sam looked at him a second, then turned around, giving one last look to him and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Cody dove into his thoughts.

Her eyes stuck with him, their green color shining in front of him, tinged with an emotion.

Regret?... Betrayal?

Cody understood how it felt to believe parents were perfect, that they could do no wrong. He too had believed once upon a time but a little thing called a divorce changed all that. He envied Sam for her faith in her father.

But in this case, her reasoning was completely flawed.

No…a person's choices are not affected by a job. Choices are affected by the person's own character. So her father is definitely a man driven by his choices.

There's no way a "good" man would willingly walk into a profession like this and not know what's going on and not get some benefit out of it besides money. There's more to life than that. You have to enjoy it.

I have to wonder if Sam wants to her father—or herself, for that matter—to be in this forever? What does she want to do with her life? Does she have dreams like me?

Wait?... what if there's a way to get him, or her, out of this? Would she take it? At the same time, could this idea release me as well?

All I can do is make sure she relates to me enough to the point where the connection between us can't be broken.

But wait, a part of his brain called out, that's using her in a sense. Like Zack does with his girlfriends

Cody rubbed his eyes as he considered the possibility.

Maybe… but it may be the only way I can get out of here alive, then so be it. And if I can get Sam out as well, just as well. This way I can bring hopefully two people out of this situation instead of just me.

Cody bit his lip and strove to fit together the pieces of his plan, weighing the odds of whether he could succeed.