Chapter 11
Kendall's P.O.V
"Dude, why did you just let him leave? He needs us right now!" I exclaimed as we walked into apartment 2J. Logan smirked smugly as he walked toward the TV. He began plugging in his phone with the connecting cables.
"You really think I let him leave alone?" He asked rhetorically. "I bugged Carlos with a tiny camera that allows us to see what he sees and hear what he hears."
"What? How?" James' eyebrows shot up. We both sat on the couch. Logan sat between us after he turned on the television. The large screen was pure static.
"Luckily for you, I'm a genius," Logan proudly answered. He began tweaking with a weird-looking remote he pulled out of nowhere. "While we were at camp, I built a small camera for moments like these. All I have to do is find the right signal… connect to the correct channel… adjust the antenna… and…. Got it!"
The screen suddenly buzzed until it showed a video feed. From Carlos' point of view, we watched him drive around the city, parking at the edge of a small forest.
"Nice work, Logan!" I laughed, patting my friend on the back. He smiled with appreciation. "We'll need some popcorn."
"I got you!" James smiled as he pulled out a bowl of freshly popped popcorn from behind him. He placed it on the table after I grabbed a handful of the snack. We leaned back and watched the screen.
Carlos' P.O.V.
I didn't bother knocking when I entered El Curso's office. He looked a little surprised to see me as I marched up to his desk.
"Ah, Carlos, I hear that you have successfully taken care of our problem, good job," Curso praised. Even though I didn't know how he knew so quickly, I put that aside to address the newfound problem.
"Do you mind filling me on something?" I crossed my arms. "Something supernatural perhaps?"
El Curso widened his eyes instantly. He cleared his throat uneasily, taking a quick drink from his glass. He then turned to his guards that were in the room.
"Leave us," he ordered. The guards nodded before filling out. After the door was shut, I glared at El Curso. He rose slowly from his seat and began to make his way toward the large fish tank. "I guess you know."
"Why didn't you tell me that you prayed to Santa Muerte? Do you have any idea how much danger you put your followers in?!" I shouted. "Santa Muerte-"
"Isn't who you think she is," El Curso interrupted. He opened a hidden panel on the wooden wall. After punching in a code that I couldn't make out, the fish tank sank into the ground, revealing a shrine behind it. A large shrine dedicated to Santa Muerte. A statue of the holy skeleton was presented in front of a sunny background, wearing silver sheets and holding a large scythe. "Santa Muerte is a holy woman of death, yes, but she is much more than that. She is honored to be a non-judgmental spirit, she grants those who want wishes and desires fulfilled. Only for a small price of course."
"Yeah, to send souls to hell," I spat. "I thought you want this family to prosper? Do you want them to grow? Do they even know you do this?"
"They don't," he answered darkly. He turned to me with a stern look. "And I am doing this for them. It will be my soul that'll be punished, I'm helping others achieve their goals."
"No, you're not! You're cheating your way around this," I retorted. "I'm done. I'm not going to risk my life just so you can keep making wishes that'll end everyone here dead."
"I don't think that will be necessary," he gave me a strange look. He walked up to me until he towered over me. "You think I don't know how you act around Maria? I've seen you and I know the look. And I'm sure that you wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her, no?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I know who you really are, Carlos Garcia," he whispered. El Curso then pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to me. I unfolded the paper and felt myself freeze in place.
It was a photo of my three best friends hanging near the pool area, oblivious that they were being watched.
"Carlos Garcia, a big-time singer in a famous boy band! I bet those are your friends," he continued as I stared at the photo. This couldn't be happening, how did he find out?! "I figured it out a few weeks ago, actually. But, help me out, why would you help me? You had the life of luxury right at your fingertips."
"Please… I'll do anything, just don't hurt them," I breathed, finally reaching his dominant eyes.
"I won't hurt them," El Curso shrugged as he took another sip of his drink. "You will."
"I will never hurt my friends!" I shouted, growling in a threatening manner. But he dismissed the action.
"Then I guess we'll have to… take care of Maria." I felt my heart skip a beat. This has to be some sort of joke. Some sick joke!
"Why are you doing this?" I mumbled, feeling dread and fear pile up on me like never before. "What do you want from me?"
"You see, I've realized that I can't have you leaving the family. You've boosted my productivity and no one has doubted the Garcia abilities," he chuckled, patting my arm a little forcefully. "If Maria is gone, then you'll be focused. If your friends are gone, the same thing. And I also noticed that if the media recognized what happened to the biggest American band, no one would ever cross me again!"
I didn't respond. I was too paralyzed.
"I'll let you decide," he said. He walked away from me and back to his desk. "You have 12 hours to make your decision. If you don't choose either, I'll kill all of them. If you go after me, I'll kill you and then everyone else you know. Think about this, mijo. I'll see you soon."
I absent-mindedly left the room. My mind was going everywhere, buzzing with so many thoughts that I wouldn't be surprised if my head exploded. No way am I killing my friends and never was I going to murder my sort-of-but-not-really girlfriend.
Maybe we could skip town… but what if El Curso finds us? We're all dead if that happens! Oh, what if we go into the witness protection program? I don't know what that is but it sounds helpful!... but what if El Curso can work his way around it. Oh, who am I kidding? This is hopeless! El Curso will never give up until my friends or Maria are dead.
Unless…
(You were always so stupid. I'm always disappointed. But this plan… has to be one of your worst ones. Why don't you just kill those boys? You don't need them!) Will you ever shut up? And I'm not going to kill my best friends. (But they don't need you! And you don't need them. You said it yourself, they treat you wrong like you're never enough! Do you really want that for the rest of your life?) For what it's worth if it means no one else has to die, then so be it.
(You are playing a very dangerous game.) Well, you're my brain, what say do you have in this? (You think that but you are wrong. The mind is the most powerful weapon and I have the power to turn it against you.) Yeah. Sure. Now shut it, I have some praying to do.
(Your mother would be ashamed. Your family. Your friends. Your love. All will be as disappointed as they'll always be.)
"I won't disappoint them again. This is my battle, not theirs," I spoke aloud to get it through to my head. I found a small portrait of Santa Muerte in an empty room. I got on my knees and clasped my hands together. "This is my price to pay."
(Your funeral… Or should I say theirs?)
I ignored the remark and shut my eyes.
Time to make the biggest decision in my life; but only time will tell me if it was good or bad.
No one's P.O.V.
Kendall, James, and Logan all stared in shock at the television, where they heard their best friend praying away to Santa Muerte. That's not all that shocked them, but rather the knowledge of being hunted down rocked them to their core.
"What is he thinking?!" James suddenly shouted, shooting out of his seat. "Is he seriously going through with this?"
"And praying to Santa Muerte? Doesn't he know how dangerous that is?!" Logan followed in suit. They were more worried than anything else really, yet they couldn't help but feel betrayed. What if he picks Maria over them? What if they die out of the hands of Carlos? Or El Curso? Whichever way had them scared for their lives.
"What choice does he have?" Kendall snapped at them. Logan and James turned to him disbelievingly. "Carlos has a huge decision to make that affects everyone, especially him. He has a choice between his girlfriend that he grew to love or his best friends and he knows that killing either will crush him. You heard El Curso, he has a choice to make and he can't back down from it."
"Then what do you want us to do? Nothing? Just sit here until one of them comes to kill us?!" James shouted.
"Carlos won't kill us, we know him better than that," Kendall growled.
"But he won't kill Maria either," Logan frowned with concern. "Just look at the facts, guys, there is no way out of this. We're all dead."
"Guys," the leader sighed heavily. "I know Carlos. We all do. And right now, he's thinking of a way to get us all out of this. He's loyal, he'll never turn against us."
"And if he does?" James frowned suddenly. Kendall didn't respond and probably never will. The dirty blonde looked back at the television screen and sat back down. Logan patted James' shoulder reassuringly, but even the tallest could see a hint of doubt in his eyes.
James could always trust Carlos, he was his best little buddy and always came through when he needed him. But James has doubted his abilities to follow through with plans, most always staggering out of line and taking the whole team down with him. But now with the situation they are all in, James couldn't help but feel afraid for his life. Maybe he could trust Carlos doing the right thing from time to time, but when it comes to where it really matters… James doubts.
It might be messed up to say aloud, heck, even he's scolding himself for thinking such a thing. But James doesn't trust his best friend making the right choice at the moment, especially when it risks losing either his girlfriend (which he hasn't been with for that long) or his best buds.
And for some reason, Logan and Kendall had been feeling the same thing.
"He's moving," Logan pulled them out of silence. They seated themselves back on the couch, watching through Carlos' point of view as the boy began moving down some corridors and into the artillery room. He grabbed a weapon off the shelf, which happened to be a knife.
"What the…?" Kendall whispered, watching intensely as his friend pulled out two photos – one of which was a group photo of Big Time Rush, the next was just of Maria – and placed them on the table in front of him. Slowly, he raised his hand to cup the blade before dragging the knife across his palm. They heard him hiss in pain while the blood dripped down to the floor. Carlos raised his fist and squeezed his blood across the photos, dropping the crimson liquid on the delicate momentoes.
"What is he doing?" James mumbled but no one answered, too bewildered to think of a theory. Not like they had an answer to give anyway. Carlos wrapped his hand with a cloth before grabbing the photos and stuffing them back into his pocket.
"Should we call him?" Logan asked anyone. Carlos walked out of the room after grabbing ammunition for his pistol. He left the base and drove somewhere. "Or should we run?"
"Trust him! He can figure a way out of this," Kendall exclaimed. He turned back to the screen before whispering, "I hope."
"Maria, we need to go," Carlos barged into a house. A moment later, Maria came out of a room with a confused expression.
"Why?" She asked. Carlos moved around rapidly, grabbing her belongings and stuffing them in a garbage bag. "What are you doing?"
"You're getting out of here. Out of the country. Out of the continent. Anywhere but here!" He barked. Maria ripped the bag out of his hands and grabbed hold of his arms.
"What's going on?" He took a deep breath before slowly letting it out.
"El Curso sent me here to kill you or my best friends after he found out who I really am," he admitted painfully. She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.
"Who you really are? What do you mean?"
"I… haven't been honest to you," he sighed. "You know how I told you that I worked for Gustavo Rocque? I did, but not as a security guard… I, along with my friends, are in a band called Big Time Rush. Everything I told you was sort of a lie. I am really an undercover cop, I was assigned to dismantle the Garcia family."
"You LIED to me!" Maria shouted, ripping her hands off him. "After everything we've been through, you do this to me?! I shared everything about me with you and you told me that you cared."
"I do care, that's why I'm taking you far away so you don't get hurt," he snapped.
"So why did you lie to me?!" She yelled.
"Because I knew you wouldn't like me!" He burst out. "How could I trust YOU?! I know how girls are. You are all the same! You don't care about me, you only care about fame and money, only what I can give you, not what I already have. That's why I didn't tell you because I was worried if I did, you wouldn't like me for who I am."
Everyone was shocked. In the live video footage and the living room of 2J.
"But then when I figured out you actually cared… I didn't know how to tell you," he quietly said, all of the fire died down into smoldering ashes. "I'm sorry for not telling you. I just… have no excuse. You trusted me."
Maria just stood there, staring off into space.
"Maria… please, say something," Carlos pleaded.
"I don't know… I need time to think," she finally said. Maria looked at him with the most betrayed eyes. She took a step back. "And I don't think I can go with you. Let El Curso come and kill me. I have nothing to live for."
Carlos sighed heavily, but he nodded. "I had a feeling you'll say that." She shot him a confused look. Even the boys overlooking the scene were confused. Their confusion turned to shock as a split second later, Carlos jabbed a dart in Maria's arm. She fell to the floor, unconscious. He stared at her for a long moment before kneeling and removing the dart.
"He's taking her?" Kendall noticed the obvious. The trio watched as Carlos carried Maria onto his back and grabbed her bag full of belongings before leaving for the car. "Is he kidnapping Maria?"
"No… he's saving her," Logan realized in awe. "He's taking her away from harm, so El Curso doesn't find her."
"Then that means…" James trailed off with a gulp.
"Carlos is coming after us," Kendall finalized. They sat in silence after Logan turned off the television. The brunette suddenly chucked the remote to the floor in anger. Sadness, desperation, and betrayal swept over them. They couldn't believe that their little, innocent, carefree best friend chose Maria over them. It hurt more than they realized.
They sat there in their own depression for so long, they didn't hear the apartment door opening. Only when James was tapped on the shoulder did he react.
"Don't kill me! I'm too pretty to die!" James screeched, holding up a pillow to block any blows from Carlos. But he never received any.
"What are you talking about?" Carlos raised an eyebrow. Kendall shot out of his chair and glared at him.
"So you're going to kill us, just like that? After El Curso told you and you chose Maria? That's how you treat us?!" He yelled. His voice wavered with hurt. Carlos paled.
"How do you know?" He whispered in horror.
"Logan set up a camera on you before you dropped us off," he growled as he walked up and plucked the mini camera off his shirt.
"Just kill us already! You don't have to act clueless," Logan snapped from the sofa. Carlos sighed.
"I'm not going to kill you and, even though I'm hurt that you would believe that, we have to move," Carlos commanded. "Pack your things, we're leaving town. El Curso is coming the moment we leave here."
"Are you sure? What about Katie and Mrs. Knight? Wouldn't they be in danger?" Logan pointed out.
"They'll be fine. El Curso isn't after them but, just to make sure, I'll call reinforcements to guard your family, Kendall," he reassured. The dirty blonde nodded in appreciation. "I won't let anything bad happen to you guys, that's my responsibility, whether you believe me or not."
"Yeah," Kendall sighed heavily. Logan frowned with hesitancy while James kept a nervous angry look at Carlos. With a glance at everyone, he nodded. "Give us five minutes."
TBC...