Part 9
Sara reached the top of the stairs. The top floor of the house looked much like the first floor, rather bland and undecorated. But who was she to criticize anyone's decorating ability? Lord knows she was generally way too busy with work to worry about getting new curtains for the living room or hanging up pictures of her family.
Sara walked on and came to the second door on the right, the bathroom. She made a great show of flushing the toilet and running water and coughing to see if she could get Alex to come out of his room, but it wasn't working. Well, better to try the direct approach. Back one door to the first door on the right was what appeared to be a guest room, it was empty, and so Sara moved on. There was one door on the left, Sara knocked. "Alex? My name is Sara Sidle and I am with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, could I ask you a few questions?" Sara slowly opened the door to find herself staring into a walk-in closet. Ok, that leaves door number four, end of the hall.
Again Sara knocked, "Alex..." the door was ajar, and swung open at Sara's knock. What she saw took her breath away. She felt like she had just walked back in time. The entire room was decorated in medieval decorations. There were colorful banners, lances for jousting, pictures of ladies in elaborate dresses and knights on horses. Every square inch of the room was covered, and in the center of the room, sitting on a round wooden table, was the sheath for a sword, and it was empty. 'Oh God,' thought Sara, 'This is not good.'
The creak of a floorboard behind her made her turn around, hand on her gun, and what she saw chilled her even more than the discovery of the room. Benny was standing in the doorway, with the sword pointing directly at her heart, just inches away. Standing? But how? The whole world just took on a rather surreal feel.
"Unless you want to feel this sword cut through your heart, I suggest that you place your firearm on the floor and slide it over to me, slowly." Sara did as she was told.
"Benny, what are you doing?"
"Benny is downstairs making tea for his new friend; I am protecting my domain from a strange invader. What is your purpose here?"
'Benny is downstairs, what is he talking about?' Sara thought to herself. 'He is very defiantly the person I know as Benny; at least I think so…'
"Alex?" asked Sara, her voice shaking slightly. Could he and his 'brother' be one in the same?
"I know who I am; I asked who you are, what is your purpose here?"
"My name is Sara Sidle; I am with the Las Vegas Crime lab. I'm investigating the murder of Mara Severs." Sara's eyes never left the tip of the sword.
"She wasn't murdered; she was saved, by me. That is what a true knight does, saves people who are in distress. I saved my brother Benny when we were younger, and now I saved Mara. Sometimes only in death can we escape our torture." He smiled at Sara as he began to walk forward. Sara took compensating steps backward to avoid being impaled on the sword until she felt the table behind her, she was trapped. Alex/Benny stopped. "Is there something that you need to be saved from, my dear? Perhaps the unrequited love of the man with the beard?"
"Um, no not really. Except I would appreciate it if you would stop pointing the sword at me." Alex/Benny smiled.
"In due time, my little damsel in distress, in due time. First you shall follow me up into the attic. I think it would be only fitting to have the princess in the highest tower when she is saved."
Sara's eyes grew wide. He was going to kill her. She was going to die in this house. She felt a great lump rise in her throat. It was best to just do what he asked, try to buy herself some time, and find a way out of here. She wasn't going down easy, she could play his game.
"Alright, where to Alex?" Sara gave him her best smile, trying to win him over.
Alex/Benny smiled back. He gestured with the sword for Sara to walk out into the hall. In the hall she saw a trapdoor in the ceiling, leading to the attic, she guessed.
"Pull down the ladder." Sara pulled on the string and climbed the ladder into the attic. What she found there was even more disturbing than the medieval room she had just left. Stone walls had been built over the walls of the attic, making the room seem like it really was a tower in a castle. The windows were arched with stained glass patterns on them. In the center of the room was a sort of princess bed, with flowing sheer curtains on all sides. Sara looked closer at the bed and saw leather straps to hold down arms and legs, binding someone to the bed. 'Oh shit.' She thought.
"Goodnight, princess." She heard Alex say. She turned just in time to see him lift a sledge hammer over his head. She let out one blood curdling scream, and then everything went black.