Sacrifices (4/?)
By Carol M.
See prologue for details
Note: More intensity and more torture ahead. Read on…
Darien opened his eyes as he felt the gun press against his head. For a split second, all the pain was gone, replaced with a moment of clarity that he assumed came before death. He gave the Official a look of total fear and helplessness, his eyes wide with tears. He was begging for his life, he realized. When he looked into the cold emotionless eyes of the Official, he knew all hope was lost. The horrible thought struck him right in the heart, making him want to curl up and cry.
The Official steeled himself against Darien's awful gaze knowing that the sad, desperate pair of eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life. He would never be able to look at Darien again without seeing that same heartbreaking expression on his face.
"Well, what's it going to be?" said Trey in an impatient tone.
"Remove the gun from his head," said the Official firmly.
"And why should I do that?" asked Trey.
"Because I know as well as you do that you have no intention of harming the gland. We're both businessmen here. The gland is a multi-million dollar paycheck. You don't want to see it destroyed anymore than I do," said the Official.
"And what if I did destroy it, huh? Blow the wonder gland to bits? Where would you all be then?" asked Trey in a slightly pissed off tone.
"We would go on and so would this Agency," said the Official.
"Sir," cried Claire in a disbelieving tone.
" I'm not willing to give up the people on that disk for the life of one person, no matter how much it costs me in the end," said the Official firmly.
Trey groaned in anger and slowly pulled the gun away from Darien's head causing the entire room to take an audible sigh of relief. He started dragging Darien towards the black case that was sitting on top of the chair.
Claire saw him moving towards the case and crawled towards the chair as quickly as she could, desperate to destroy the remaining vials.
Trey saw the movement and dropped Darien roughly to the ground. He reached Claire just as she got a hold of the black case.
"No, no please!" shouted Claire as she and Trey got into a tug of war over the case. After a couple of seconds, Trey was finally able to pry it out of her fingers. He gave her a harsh slap across the face, sending her back to the floor. He glanced at Vore and Matthews. "Put her back in the chair and put the cuffs back on," he said angrily.
Vore and Matthews stepped over to Claire and picked her off the ground. She struggled against their tight grip as hard as she could, but they were just too strong for her. She was placed back into her chair and the handcuffs were once again secured around her wrists. She looked at Bobby and Alex, giving them both a sad look of defeat. Her gaze turned to Darien, who was panting heavily on the floor. "I'm sorry, Darien," she said softly.
Darien was in too much pain to hear her. He was roughly picked up by Trey and tossed in front of the chair.
"Since everyone here seems to have developed a case of amnesia over the code, I think some desperate measures are in order," said Trey as he reached into the case and picked up the syringe. He picked up a vial, filled the syringe with the contents and then injected the purple stuff into Darien's neck.
Darien could do nothing but moan weakly as he felt the chemicals enter his system.
Trey didn't stop the injections. He picked up another vial, inserted the chemicals into the syringe, and injected Darien again, this time in the arm.
"Thornton, you're going to kill him," shouted Bobby as he struggled with his cuffs.
Trey glanced up at Bobby and smiled. "That's the idea, my friend." He picked up yet another vial, inserted the contents into the syringe and injected Darien's other arm. "Care to help your partner now?" said Trey, giving Bobby an expectant look.
Bobby closed his tear-filled eyes briefly and then reopened them with a look of pure hatred on his face. "I'm gonna kill you! You hear me? You will not live. I will tear your heart out of your body, and I'm going to enjoy it, you sick son of a bitch!"
Darien cried out then, his lean body arching up in one long torturous whimper as the pain from the three injections hit his system all at once. It was the most intense pain he had ever felt in his entire life. QSM seemed like a paper cut compared to this. Every muscle in his body throbbed as if they were being stabbed repeatedly by knifes. He felt a pressure on his chest and had to struggle just to get air into his mouth. He started taking harsh, choking gasps, trying desperately to get oxygen in his aching lungs.
"Feels like you're breathing fire, doesn't it, Mr. Fawkes. Those three shots affect the muscles and the respiratory system," said Trey as he sat back down in his chair and glanced at Darien.
Darien's body starting to convulse on the floor. He began moaning so loudly that it hurt his own ears.
Claire shut her eyes, unable to watch her friend suffer so much. Her noise and throat became choked with snot as she started to sob uncontrollably.
Alex ignored the sounds of Claire's sobs and stared in horror at Darien as the pain overtook him. All she could see was her son on that floor. Her son dying before her eyes. Finally, she shut her eyes, desperate to get away from the gruesome sight before her.
Eberts observed the rest of his grieving coworkers and then finally took a fearful glance at Darien. After a few seconds of watching the pain and torture, he couldn't take it anymore. He let the lid off of his emotions and began to sob. He glanced over at the Official and was surprised when he saw a few stray tears falling down his cheeks. "Sir?" he whispered.
The Official looked at Eberts and shook his head sadly. He looked back at Trey and cleared his throat. "Kill him. Don't let him suffer like this," he said softly.
Trey shook his head. "No way in hell. If he's gonna go, you're all going to watch it happen," he said coldly as he glanced back at Darien.
The pain in Darien's body suddenly seemed to intensity by about thirty times. He lay on the floor in a pain-filled haze, never feeling so alone in all of his life then he did at that moment. He felt unimportant, uncared for and worst of all, unloved. The small piece of rationality still functioning in his brain told him that this was just the pain talking, but he couldn't shake the awful feeling. The pain suddenly went up another notch and his mind was gone, replaced by nothing but agony. He couldn't take it anymore. He started to sob; gut wrenching sobs that left his chest achy and his throat sore.
He looked up at Bobby and Alex, a pleading look on his face. "Give them the code, guys! Please, I can't take this anymore, please!" he sobbed.
Alex opened her eyes and looked at the desperate face looking back at her. "Fawkes," she whispered.
Bobby also looked at Darien, his heart aching in sympathy.
"Bobby, please, tell them the code. It hurts so much, man, please!" moaned Darien. "Please help me. I don't want to die," he sobbed.
Bobby couldn't take the tension anymore and let out a blood-curdling scream that caused everyone, even Trey, to flinch. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he began to chant maniacally over and over again.
Trey got off his chair and reached for the black case. "Well perhaps another shot will do the trick," he said as he once again picked up the syringe and a vial of the purple drug.
"No!" shouted Alex.
Trey ignored her and filled the syringe. He walked to Darien and knelt down next to him. He inserted the needle in his neck once again and pressed down on the plunger.
Darien's body arched back as a wave of pain hit the back of his brain. It was QSM all over again. He started to shake all over, moaning and groaning and screaming all in once breath. "Bobby…help me, help me," he whispered weakly. "Alex…someone, please…please…Kevin…help!"
Bobby shook his head. "I can't, I can't, I can't!" he shouted.
Darien screamed. "Mom…please mommy, help me!"
Alex's heart froze in her chest. "James," she whispered.
"Darien," sobbed Claire. "I love you, Darien. We all love you."
"Fight it, Fawkes, fight it," shouted the Official, the battle with his tears lost.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh," Darien screamed forever, the harsh sound enough to make Trey step away from him and gaze up at his men with a slight look of regret.
"Pleaseeeeeeee," Darien screamed.
Alex took a deep breath and looked at Bobby. She quickly determined that Bobby had completely lost it. He was whispering unintelligible sounds over and over again and his eyes had glazed over. She glanced at the Official and saw a look of stony regret on his face. Her attention turned back to the awful sounds coming from the floor.
"God, please help me!" screamed Darien.
Alex made her choice right then and there. "I'll give you the code!" she screamed.
A needle could have dropped at that moment and everyone in the room would have heard it.
Claire gasped and started to sob in simultaneous relief and worry. Bobby seemed to come out of his daze and gave her a grateful look. Eberts nodded his head in approval, a small smile creeping across his face. Even the Official looked slightly relieved. Darien screamed and passed out, his ravaged body succumbing not only in pain, but in relief.
Trey started laughing as he picked up the silver box and walked over to Alex.
"Uncuff me," she said. "I'll punch in the code myself so you don't screw it up."
Trey reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. He moved to her back and quickly unlocked the cuffs. Then he stepped back to her front and looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "Well?" he said.
Alex rubbed her wrists and reached a shaky hand to the keypad on the box. She began punching in the code. 26693368513111980. The silver box popped open, revealing a blue disk.
Trey reached into the box and pulled out the disk, shoving it into his pocket.
Alex took in deep breaths as a rage slowly built inside of her. She suddenly leapt at Trey, wanting to tear his heart out. She began pummeling him with her fists and simultaneously trying to grab for the disk. She pulled at his pants and his shirt, trying to claw the clothes off of his body. She suddenly felt an intense pain on her neck and fell to the ground in an unmoving daze. She looked up and saw Trey's men standing over her, a tazer in Vore's hand.
"Now, now Ms. Monroe. You have to play fair," said Trey as he held the disk over her. He glanced around the room, looking from the Official, to Eberts, to Bobby, to Claire and finally to Darien's unmoving form on the floor. "It was a pleasure doing business with you people," he said as one of his men handed him a small backpack. Trey took out a small explosive device and set it on the ground. He pressed a button and the timer started to tick down.
Trey motioned to his men to move out of the room. They did as they were told and quickly stepped out of the room. Trey started for the door and then stopped to take one last look around the room. "I'm sorry. I wasn't personal, it was just business." He kissed the disk in his hand and walked out of the room.
The Official watched as Trey walked out of the room and then glanced down at Alex. "Get up, Monroe," he anxiously as he looked at the bomb.
After a couple of seconds, Alex struggled up to her feet and crawled to the device, seeing a red wire and a blue wire. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her car keys, pulling off a Swiss army knife. She pulled out the silver knife and hesitantly placed it between the two wires. "20 seconds," she whispered.
"Cut the red wire," shouted Bobby.
Alex nodded and cut through the wire. The device continued to tick. "Damn it," she said in frustration. She looked up at all of them and then moved the knife to the blue wire. She took a deep breath and cut through it. The device still continued to tick. "10 seconds," she said in fear.
"Oh god," breathed Claire as she eyed the rest of the group in a panic.
Alex glanced towards the window and then looked back at the bomb. She picked up the device and threw it as hard as she could through the window. Then she dived to Darien, trying to shield his prone body from the blast.
A fireball exploded outside the window a second later as the bomb detonated, blowing out all the windows in the office. The glass sprayed the hostages, leaving tiny stinging cuts all over their bodies. Other than the cuts, the group was remarkably unharmed.
Alex shakily got to her feet after giving Darien a soft pat on the chest and began freeing the hostages from their cuffs with the tweezers on her knife. She freed Claire first, who quickly went to Darien's side. She began taking his vitals and trying to access the damage to his body.
Next came Bobby, who stood up and quietly stared down at Darien and Claire, still in too much shock to do anything for his partner.
Eberts and the Official were freed next. Eberts stepped to next to the Official, unsure of what to do. The Official stared down at Darien for a moment and then looked at Bobby and Alex, " Hobbes, Monroe, get the disk. Whatever you have to do, get it," he said firmly.
Bobby and Alex both looked up. "With pleasure, chief," said Bobby. He took one final glimpse of Darien and swallowed painfully. He looked at Monroe and motioned to the door. "Let's get the bastard," he said softly.
Alex nodded shakily and then quickly joined Bobby as he walked out the door.
The Official walked out into the hall and located his telephone. He plugged it back into the wall of his office and quickly dialed. "This is Borden, we've had a breach. We need to close all the airports and get troops posted at the borders."
As the Official continued to give orders, Claire was busy trying to examine Darien. His pulse was weak and he could barely take a breath on his own. Even though he was unconscious, she could tell he was still in an immense amount of pain. He continued to murmur soft groans and whimpers, which had Claire very worried.
"Something's wrong," she said to no one in particular. "It shouldn't be this bad, not until the last injection," she said as she tried to ignore the fact that her tears were dripping down on Darien's face. She glanced up at Eberts with a desperate look in her eyes. "Albert, I need you to help me get Darien to the Keep. We're going to lose him if I don't get him stabilized," she said as she reached under Darien's arms.
Eberts nodded in fright and grabbed Darien's legs. Together, they carefully hauled Darien's ravaged body out the door.
A few seconds later, the Official hung up the phone and sank down in one of the chairs. He stared at the empty silver box lying on the floor and then looked at the pile of dried vomit and sweat where Darien had been laying. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, wondering if this had all been worth it.
TBC (next part by Thursday at the latest)