Chapter 8 - The Man in the Dark
After Mia was done showering, she slipped on a pair of black leggings and a cream, short-sleeved tunic. It was the last outfit she had after her duffel bag went into the ocean. She cringed at the thought of having to ask Barney for new clothes again. She opened the bathroom door to air out the steam. She turned back to see on the floor laid her wet clothes. She took off the belt and large knife that was attached to it. Laying the belt on the counter, she unsheathed the knife and studied it. The blade alone was at least seven inches long and had an extremely sharp edge. Man, what she would have done if she had one of these while she was captured.
She could remember all the times she was tied up and begged for them to loosen them. They made sure to make them tight, but not tight enough for her to lose a hand. The same rope that held her at bay as she pulled and struggled. No matter how much she fought, there was no way for her to break out.
One of the men puffed smoke out around her. There was a blindfold over her eyes, making her world black. He smelled of body odor and somewhere in the room laughter could be heard. "Tell me where your camera is and all of this will be over," the man said as he stood behind the chair she was tied to. "If not, we're going to keep doing this."
"I told you. I don't remember where I put it. I can't-," Mia whimpered and was cut off when the man placed a cigarette on her pale skin. She screamed and tried to pull away from it.
After a second, he flicked it off to the side. Mia's heart was pounding and her tears mixed with the sweat that dribbled down her skin. Letting out a shaky breath, Mia heard the men around her chat to each other in Spanish. Sounds and voices echoed off the walls. Her mind was buzzing with adrenaline and pain. She continued to cry silently as she listened to him light another cigarette.
"Mia, are we going to have to do this all day?" he asked before placing a hand on her shoulder.
Mia whipped around with the knife in her hand and tried slashing the man. Even though she was faster than he thought her to be, Barney caught her wrist with ease. Mia stared in bewilderment as reality set in. In front of her was Barney; not the man who had been torturing her. She was in the bathroom of Tool's loft; not that musty place. "Mia?"
"I'm sorry," she quickly told him as she glanced at the hold he had on her.
Barney was very surprised to be greeted by his knife when he placed a hand on her shoulder. He was going to ask if she was okay after she hadn't answered him. Her arm was trembling before he let it go. Mia placed the knife down on the counter. Her face didn't read PTSD - it screamed it. "I was seeing if you were done with the bathroom. I need to shower," he explained. "Are you okay?"
She stood there for a moment with her eyes on the floor. "I don't know," she admitted and glanced back up to him. "I keep having these rushes of memories. It randomly happens."
He nodded with a softened expression. "Yeah, those are flashbacks. It happens after a traumatic event. It's PTSD. That's why you keep having nightmares too," he explained.
"Great," she said sourly and sheathed the knife. Mia went to hand it back to him, but he stopped her.
"No, keep it on you just in case. I have plenty of knifes anyways." He pushed the knife back to her. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he hoped it would give her some kind of security and ease her anxiousness. "If you're hungry, Tool made some gumbo," he told her, changing the subject.
Barney watched her eyes light up. "Food sounds great."
He smiled and pointed out the door. "It's downstairs - on the stove."
She thanked him and left the bathroom. On the way down, Mia stuck her wet boots outside to dry. It was another nice day in New Orleans. The sun's rays warmed Mia's skin and made her nightmarish memories fade away.
After taking the elevator, Mia stepped out of the shaft and into the common area where the guys were eating. Yin Yang was off to the side on a laptop, clicking away through Mia's pictures. She passed the three men sitting at the table and walked over to Yin Yang. Peering over his shoulders silently, she studied each of her picture before he went to the next one. "Your photography skills are very good," the Chinese man commented without taking his eyes off the screen.
Mia smiled sheepishly and fiddled with the end of her tunic. "There's definitely editing to still be done though. There's always a lot to fix."
"I know," he told her and clicked the keyboard once again. "But editing can only do so much for a poorly taken photo."
Mia could tell he was politely telling her to the take the compliment that he had given her. She has always had a problem with taking praises from people. "True," she agreed and let him get back to searching. There was at least six hundred photos for him to go through. It was going to take a couple hours. The time was getting close to four o'clock now and the day was slowly coming to an end. She scooped out the gumbo into a bowl and sat in an open chair.
"How was the trip for you?" Caesar asked Mia as she took her first bite. The rice and sausage was heavily flavored with earthy and spicy seasoning. It also contained green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and okra. The flavor exploded in her mouth.
She took another bite before answering Caesar. "I'm still amazed how you guys can handle missions like that."
The large black man chuckled. "Just part of the job. You get used to it," he explained.
Mia glanced at Christmas with a small smile. "Yeah, so I've been told." Her attention went to Tool. "Thank you for the food. It's very good," she said politely. "And for letting me stay here. I have no idea where I would be without you guys."
Tool nodded at the young woman. "It's no problem. I'm glad you're enjoying the food."
"I'm not going to lie though, Tool," Toll Road spoke up. "I feel like something is missing inthe gumbo. Don't you normally add something else to it?"
"Sometimes I put chicken in it. Besides that, I don't know if there's any other type of meat I like putting in gumbo," Tool said.
"Shrimp is good in it," Caesar commented.
Tool shook his head. "Eh, sometimes. Shrimp is usually better in a shrimp boil."
"What about rabbit?" Mia questioned. "Rabbit would be great in it. It's a lean meat."
"Hm, I've never tried rabbit before," Tool said pondering over the idea. "I don't even know where you would buy rabbit."
Mia chuckled. "Yeah, normally you have to go to a specialty butcher shop and can be a little pricey. It's just cheaper to get it yourself."
The men paused as they took in her statement. "You mean like hunting?" Caesar asked and Mia nodded. "Didn't think you were the hunting type."
"I'm from rural Georgia; I would have been ashamed of my grandfather if he hadn't taught me," she joked. "I was taught to use all the resources that I could around me - which included hunting. I grew up poor as my grandparents struggled to make ends meet. So he would go hunting in the mornings when doing chores around the farm. Morning is the perfect time for hunting deer and rabbits. When I was old enough, around fourteen years old, I took over it as he finished up what chores I couldn't. We would gather whatever was in the garden or root cellar and have it with what we killed that morning."
"Sounds kinda like an old fashion way to grow up. Did you hate it as a teen?" Tool asked.
"No," she said and took a sip of water. "I preferred it. I've always been in love with nature; even as a child, my grandparents would literally have to threaten me to come inside once the sun was down." The men around her chuckled at the thought of a smaller and younger version of Mia being dragged back into the house by two angry grandparents. "It's what got me in photography." Christmas watched the woman chuckle at the memories. "But once I got a camera and was older, my grandparents didn't mind me being gone all night. I'm sure they were just worried about my safety when I was younger. Too many wild animals at night."
"What's the worst you could have ran into? A deer or maybe raccoon?" Caesar teased and got up to put his empty bowl in the sink.
"More like wild hogs, packs of coyotes, and the occasional black bear or bobcat," she corrected.
Christmas nodded with an amused expression."Yeah, I could see why your grandparents threatened you back into the house at night." It was nice to see Mia more relaxed as she had some bants with the lads. The black and purple that she wore around eye was fading and was replaced with a sickly yellow. He knew it was going to take another week for it to be fully gone, but it was good seeing she was healing well.
The elevator started up and down came Barney who's hair was still wet from the shower. He silently nodded at the group and got some food. Taking Caesar's now open seat, he sat to eat. "I have a couple of clients coming in soon. I'll leave you guys to it. I got to get my stuff together," Tool said while gathering up his dishes. "Do you fellas know what you're doing next?"
Barney shook his head. "We'll figure it out soon enough. Once we do, we may have to fly out."
"Well, if Mia needs to, she's welcomed to stay here," Tool offered and Mia smiled thankfully at the man.
"Okay, sounds good," Barney told him and glanced at Yin Yang at the computer. "We'll let you know when we do."
The rest of the day was spent waiting on Yin Yang to finish up. For a little while Mia watch Tool tattoo a guy in his mid 40's and then some hot brunette that began hitting on Tool during the session. The whole interaction was entertaining to say the least. She silently gave credit to Tool as he wittily returned the flirtation back to the woman. Later during the night, all the men gathered around the laptop as Yin Yang pointed out anything worth sharing. Yin Yang tried to find a picture of Marco, but to their disappointment, he had avoided getting his face in any picture.
Luckily Barney was able to figure out what the wedding had really been for. There was no actual wedding and it seemed to be a cover for a drug transaction. There were a few of Pressmen's men in a few pictures, including Quinn. Mia shivered involuntarily when she saw his face. That son of a bitch had been watching her like Marco had.
"Hey Mia, do you want a drink?" Tool asked at the right time and Mia pulled her eyes off the screen.
"Sure," she said and went over to his collection of bottles. As Tool rambled on a bit about how each alcohol tasted, Mia only partly listened as her attention was on Barney and his men. She only heard bits and pieces about Pressmen, Marco, and Quinn. There were some names she hadn't heard before now. She could remember Christmas asking her about Pressmen. "Does the name Pressmen ring any bells?" Mia wondered who this man was and how her kidnapper was linked to him.
She gladly drank the whiskey and tried to tune out a headache that was coming on. There were flashes of Quinn and Marco that played through Mia's head. "Yeah, those are flashbacks. It happens after a traumatic event. It's PTSD. That's why you keep having nightmares too," Barney explained. Emotions swirled around in Mia's chest as she swallowed hard to regain herself. Today was the fourth day of being free from their grips. She cherished it with a smile and gladly let Tool pour her another drink after she was done with the first. Internally, she fought with herself to actually enjoy this moment. It was like pulling teeth for her. Something held her back. It was hard for Mia to put her fingers on. Part of her never felt like she left that dark room.
Mia thanked Tool and told him that she would be upstairs on the balcony. She knew she needed a breath of fresh air. Maybe that would clear her head.
It was a cool, humid night. She could tell it was going to rain soon. There was the smell of rain in the air. Mia sat on the balcony, taking in the lights and people that passed below. The soothing tune of a saxophone echoed through the streets from a nearby restaurant. It made Mia realize how much she missed the sound of a good jazz song. She took a sip of her whiskey and swallowed the burning liquid. The last thing she wanted was to cope unhealthily, but alcohol seemed to be the friend she needed.
She leaned back into the 3-seat corner sofa and propped up her legs on the seat next to her. Sinking into the navy cushion, Mia let herself relax and unwind. For a moment she felt like she was going back to normal; or at least, somewhat normal. In a week, Mia would have to go back into 'farm-mode'. Fall was just around the corner and there were things to be done before fall harvest. She knew Rosemary, her younger cousin, could handle most of it, but Mia was sure there were projects that are a two-woman job. It felt like someone had pulled her out of a mind-numbing experience and she had to quickly transition by into normality. It felt like she was in limbo. The feeling was strange and foreign. Between being mentally pushed to the edge and finally feeling a sense of security with these men, her emotions were overstimulated and exhausted.
The alcohol seemed to numb a lot of her nerves. She was finally able to relax for the first time since leaving that hell hole. Her surroundings felt fuzzy and warm. The city lights reminded Mia of the fireflies back at home as they began to slightly dance because of the drinks. That was when Mia decided that was enough drinking tonight. She listened to the music for about an hour before heading back inside.
She turned off the lamp before making her way to the bed. She peeled off her cardigan and dropped it next the to the bed. Flopping onto the soft bed, Mia groaned into the mattress. Her body was still sore from the last couple weeks and she never thought she would miss a normal bed so much. Whenever she got back home, Mia planned to stay in bed for a whole day underneath her quilt. She wrapped herself up in the comforter and didn't bother changing out of her clothes. She was too tired to care.
It wasn't long before she drifted to sleep.
At some point in the night, Mia was pulled out of her sleep by something. Maybe it was another nightmare… Sitting up in bed, Mia scanned the dimly lit bedroom. Her mind felt fuzzy as she shook her head to wake up better. She had been in a deep sleep before waking up. Barney wasn't on the couch tonight, leaving Mia in the room alone. Hanging her legs off the side of the bed, she grabbed her cardigan off the floor and slipped it on. The door to the balcony was open and it allowed cool air to spill in. Huh, I guess I left it open, Mia thought and got out of bed.
Peaking her head outside, she saw someone standing off to the side. They were observing the street below. At this time of night, there weren't many people on the streets. Most of them were probably drunk and on there way back home. It must be way past 3 AM. "Barney?" Mia asked in a sleepy voice and let out a small yawn. She wondered what he was doing up so late. Mia was sure they were going to leave at some point tomorrow to finish out their mission. Why would he be up so late?
When he turned around, Mia was met with a man in a black mask.
Author's note: Thank you for reading! Sorry it took a little bit longer than I wanted. One of my cats was missing for 15 days and I never felt in the mood to write. But I found him! :) Please let me know what you think so far. Thanks again!
~FriedPeaches