Sins of the Past
"I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me." -S.E. Hinton
Chapter Four – Darkness Into Light
Location: Unknown.
Date: Possibly May 2nd.
Time: Unknown.
He knew exactly what to use against her.
With him, she was mostly an open book. It was easier that way; lies followed just a little better when coated in just a bit of truth. It helped her come off a bit more genuine, and genuine she was, even when it came to the little things she was able to keep to herself. It was one of the many things that made him want her. As guarded as he was, as guarded as he had to be, he let himself be as truthful as a man like him could be...and it would be their downfall.
The thick darkness swirled around her; at times choking the life from her, bringing her back into a raging fury at others as the voices she imaged raised to a fever pitch before going into a quiet rumble. Time meant nothing, except the precious milliseconds between the next drop of water hitting the cement floor, sending a radiating pain from the base of her spine through the rest of her body. Had it been days since she was thrown into this cell or months, she had no idea. The only break she had was when he would send in one of his lackeys to give her cold soup or punch to her face. It was ok, she could handle that.
It was the dark that was breaking her.
She could almost watch the scene play out in front of her; their clothes thrown haphazardly around the bed, the sweat pooling between their bodies long before they finished as a storm raged around them. Even now, she could feel herself pushing against his chest, listening as it rose and fell, his heart thumping away almost as if it was trying to keep rhythm with the raining tapping on the windows. As she tried to catch her breathe, the storm knocked out power to their compound and sent her into a tailspin. She foolishly confided in him about her fear of absolute darkness as she wore his tattooed biceps like an armor that nothing could dare to penetrate. He told her he loved her for the first time and she almost let herself believe it.
Now he locked her away in a hell of her own making.
It wasn't as if she didn't deserve this, at least a little. She lead him on, planting little seeds that sprouted into a fascination and before long, she was his. But that was her job and it was something she as damn good at. She took the little bits of information that was somehow leaked into the world and twisted it, becoming a lifelike version of everything he was missing and somehow, he bought it. She played a dangerous game in an attempt to make the world a better place and, even given her current situation, she wouldn't change a thing.
She wiped away what she assumed was a mixture of blood and spit from her tender, swollen lip and sighed. It shouldn't have come to a shock to her that he was capable of this. In the past, she had to sit by a watch as he tortured people for a lot less than what she had managed to pull off. He had a sadistic streak unlike anyone she had ever encountered and she had to stand at his side through it all, unable to intervene without blowing her cover and flushing years of work down the drain. She just stood still, reminding herself that it would all be for the greater good, she was helping Interpol take down a monster the best way she knew how.
The surprising part was that he could, and would, do these things to her of all people.
Suddenly, the door to concrete room she was being held in slammed open, bringing with it the first bit of light she had seen in so long. It blasted her in the eyes, blinding her and sending her scampering backwards like a wounded animal, which wasn't far off from what she was. Laughter echoed around her as she clawed at her eyes in a vain attempt to make the pain go away.
"And to think ya used to run towards me, love," his voice disgustingly sweet. "What's wrong, Maggie? Or is it… Maeve? No, it's Claire. Charlie? Yeah, that's it...Charlie!"
He knew.
She spat in the direction she believed him to be in and glared. Of course he knew who she really was, a secret that big was bound to bubble to the surface eventually, and there was no other reason for him to have come looking for her. The real question was...how much did he know?
A swift kick to her stomach caught her off guard, sending her into the wall just a foot away. Her lungs burned, as tears peppered her eyes. Clutching her newest wound, she tried to let out only a whimper as she fought against her own body; she couldn't let him see that he was getting to her. She had to keep it together.
"It was Fritz that gave you up."
His foot found its way into her midsection once again and this time, she felt a crack as the air that remained left her lungs left. Once again, his laughter danced around her as she squealed out in agony, giving up any semblance of strength. She couldn't see, she couldn't breathe….this was the end of the line for her. Still, she had to know what all he knew about her life post death.
"Cill-Cillian, I did...n't-"
In one quick swoop, he was down at her level and gripping her ponytail hard, forcing her to look at him. "You didn't what? Mean to catch my eye? Mean to make me love you?"
He through her head back down and began stalking the floor around her. "I mourned you! I thought Interpol killed you in that shootout...I saw your body, I saw the blood!"
Her cries ricocheted off the walls, as he drove the heel of his boot onto her right hand, breaking her fingers. She flopped around the floor, losing all control of her body as she wailed. However, it did little to calm him, if anything, it enraged him more.
"I dreamt of a life with you! White picket fence, summers in Spain, I wanted children and you knew this!"
No. Please, for the love of god, don't let him know…
"That girl is my blood, Charlie," his fist connected with her face once again, but she had no fight left in her to react. "She's mine and I will find her, if it takes everything I have left."
The door slammed behind him, leaving her in the darkness once again.
"Laney…"
She had to hold on...if only to see her daughter one last time…
–
Location: Roughly above Florida.
Date: May 3rd.
Time: Well passed midnight.
The silence on the Dragonfly spoke volumes, dancing with the thick tension that threatened to choke the life from them. Jessie's mind raced as it was flooded with what little she could remember of the dissolution of her parent's marriage; her mother's tears, the absence of her father, arguing that lead to shattered items and broken promises...it was like it was happening all over again. She could tell it took everything in her mother to let her return early and even more to stay behind and finish her work, almost as much as it took her father not to force her to come along.
Why did her intuition have to be right?
She wished they had brought Jonny with them. If there was ever a time she needed to see his bright eyes and sideways grin, it was now. He would crack a joke to make her laugh and fill the void to drown the silence that wanted nothing more than to take them all down with it. Now all she had was faux quietude.
"You alright back there Panchita?" his voice piercing through her intrusive thoughts. "You're being a bit too quiet."
"What's there to say?" she winced, realizing it came out much harsher than she would have liked. "There's always someone, or something, from our past that is doing its damnedest to ruin any sense of normal we have, isn't there? I just want...normal, just for a little while."
Now it was his turn to wince. "I'm sorry…"
"Not your fault, dad," she assured him. "I just need some time to decompress before I jump back into the crazy."
What was wrong with her? There was time she lived for this, like she wasn't alive if she wasn't running through jungles with gun-toting henchmen nipping at her heels or staring down end of the world scenarios. Spending weekends at the Mansion, Homecoming and visits to Rockport Mall, the very thought of it gave her hives and now, it's all she wants in the world. That, and Jonny.
While her family never treated her differently due to her gender, outside of her father being just a bit more protective, she always felt like she had a bit more to prove. She had to be just as tough as Jonny, able to go with the flow, roll with the punches, and do it all without fail or complaint, and for a long time, she could more than hold her own. For every time Jonny or Hadji had saved her from severe injury or worse, she had to do it twice. Never once was that expected of her by the men in her life, it was just her own self-imposed standards and it served her well.
Until it didn't.
The Verne Research Center was a marvel of scientific advancement. She did so much of her own groundwork, learning all she could about the place weeks before they set foot in the ocean with Alan Zegler. It shattered her heart to realize she had devolved claustrophobia, despite all of the times she found herself sliding through caves so dark she could barely see her five inches in front of her. And worst of all, it could have cost her Jonny's life. Since then, it was one near-death moment after another, ending with their home being destroyed twice.
Part of the was your fault.
She chewed the inside of her lip, pulling at the scars that remained from the last time she felt his voice still inside of her. It's been over a year since Surd's lackeys snatched her from outside the movie theater, leading to her being brainwashed into murdering her own father and yet, she still felt the lingering effects of words. The rational part of her brain knows that he is gone and this was just a reminder that his intrusion in her head affected her more than she was ever willing to admit, but most of the time she allowed it to live rent-free inside of her, reminding her that she was the weak link in the family that was so easy for him to turn. It wasn't Hadji that was grabbed, it wasn't Jonny...it was her. Always her.
No, she wasn't being fair to herself in the slightest. She was taken because she was trying to be a normal kid and she shouldn't have been punished for that. They were allowed to be teenagers, they were allowed to feel anxiety and loss, and they were allowed to feel burned out from the constant go go go their lives have been for the past few years. That was the human in them and without the fly by night nature of their lives, she was able to let herself feel it.
Finding out a near-literal ghost from her father's past was coming back to finish the job it started fifteen years ago was drudging up every bit of self-pity she believed long dead. Ghosts were good at that, she knew that all too well. She also knew that it was doing the same thing to her father and if it was hitting him this hard, they were all doomed.
She needed Jonny.
As if on cue, the communication screens went from solid black to the smiling face she had been missing since her feet left Rockport.
"Jonny, I figured you'd be in bed by now," Dr. Quest yawned, as if he was proving his own point. "Finals are tomorrow-"
"Finals can wait, dad," he insisted, cutting him off. "You guys might want to hurry it up and get home. Someone is here to see Race."
Suddenly a girl, just a little younger than their children, came into view and Race's world spiraled around him once again.
"Charlie?"
She shook her head sadly. "Charlie is my mother and she's missing. You're the only one she said I could trust."