Chapter 21d06

Chapter 21 (Draft 06)

When they were finally allowed to leave the dining room that night, Ethan and Kari went to look for Sally.

"Sally, are you in there?" Ethan called to her, knocking hopefully at her bedroom door.

"Sal? It's Kari. We want to see you, sweetie. We just want to make sure that you're okay." There was no answer.

Ethan looked at Kari. "Do you really think she's in there?"

Kari looked disheartened. "I don't know — maybe not. If she is in there, why won't she answer?"

"Maybe she doesn't want us to worry about her. Maybe she doesn't want us to see her in whatever condition they've left her."

Kari suddenly looked afraid and then turned to the door again. "Sally, open up… please! We have to see you. We have to know you're all right. Are you in there?" Kari looked at Ethan again. "I don't think she's in there."

Ethan wasn't convinced. "Sally? I'm going to stay out here all night if I have to. I need to know you're okay. Please let us see you." He looked at Kari while they listened.

"Watch the door — I'll be right back." He turned and headed back to his room. A moment later he was struggling to push a mattress out into the hallway. He dragged it to Sally's door and dropped it down. He went back to his room again and returned with a blanket and two pillows.

As he threw them down, he said, "Sally, I'm going to sleep outside your door until I see you." Frustrated, he threw himself down onto the make-shift bed and started punching at the pillows under his head while Kari spread the blanket to cover him. She looked up at the door again.

"Ethan is right here, Sal, and I'll be next door." She put an ear to the door to listen and then looked down at Ethan once more. "Come get me if you see her, okay?"

Ethan looked at Sally's room again and nodded.

Kari returned to her room as Ethan lay in the hallway, trying to set aside his fears. He thought about the first day he met Sally next to Mario's fruit stand and how even then she seemed so special to him. His mind laced through their many discussions, their passion for literature and poetry and, eventually, for each other; how she had captivated him. He remembered how beautiful she was when they made love that first night together, her arms wrapped around him, her body heaving and wanting, her tender and loving kisses were so warm and gentle. The man rolled over to face Sally's room and his eyes followed the patterns in the carpet as they weaved their way like tiny streams beneath her door. He prayed she was resting peacefully on the other side. Maybe she was sedated; sleeping away whatever horrors and tortures the old man and his minions continued to deliver.

It took Ethan two full hours to finally fall asleep, and when he did, he dreamed of a little white house somewhere in Nebraska. There was a backyard with a white picket fence lined with watching crows, and there was laughing. The scene pulled back and he saw himself pushing a little girl on a swing. The girl was laughing and arching back as her auburn hair flew back and forth in the summer breeze. Her legs were skinny and bare and her feet skimmed lightly over the freshly cut grass, her white dress was fluttering like wings in the sun.

Two hours later, Sally's door slowly opened and a hand cautiously emerged near the floor. It slid over Ethan's shoulder to his face and lovingly stroked his hair.

"Ethan?" Sally whispered.

Ethan's eyes flew open. "Sally!" He sat up quickly and looked into the cracked door. "Sally, are you all right? I've been so worried."

Her hand came out again to stroke his face. "I'm all right."

Ethan came closer, trying to look at her face through the small opening between them. "Let me see you."

The hand withdrew. "I don't want you to worry about me, Ethan. I just wanted you to know that I was okay."

"Then let me see you, please." He put his hand on the door and tried to push it open, but he could tell she was leaning against it. "Sally?"

"I don't want you to worry about me and I don't want to scare you."

Ethan's blood went cold. "Scare me? Sally, what have they done to you? Please let me in."

"I don't want you to see me like this, Ethan. I just wanted you to know that I'm all right. I'm not in any pain."

Ethan was frantic. "Sally – I demand to see you. For God's sake, let me in." He pushed on the door again, but it wouldn't budge.

Frustrated, Ethan pushed his hand through the crack trying to reach for her. He could feel her hand gently fall into his and then she began kissing in his palm. Tears began to pour from the man's eyes and his voice was hoarse as he leaned in to speak.

"Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;

Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;

But all things else about her drawn

From May-time and the cheerful dawn."

There was a pause and then, "Please… let me in, Sally."

From the darkness on the other side of the door she answered him,

"A perfect Man, nobly plann'd,

To warn, to comfort, and command;

And yet a Spirit still, and bright

With something of angelic light."

Ethan smiled and felt the door gave way. He quickly stood to push it open. He could see Sally moving to sit on her bed in the shadows across the room. She was weeping.

"Sally?"

Ethan entered and then gently sat down beside her. It was still difficult to see in the dark, so he reached over and lifted her chin to look at him. He let out a sharp gasp of surprise. There were at least a dozen metal probes, like thick needles, embedded across the top of her forehead and down the sides of her hair line.

"What the hell?" He whispered. "Oh Sally, what have they done to you?" He cupped her face in his palms and then reached behind her to turn on the light.

"Oh, my God." He could see there were traces of dried blood mingled within her hairline above the needles.

She quickly turned away. "It doesn't hurt. You must believe me."

"How could it not? My God, Sally… what are they doing to you?"

"It was for some kind of brain scan the wanted to do. They said they would finish tomorrow and then remove them."

"Tomorrow? The hell they will! This is inhuman, sadistic, it's fiendish! They'll be removed right now — right God-damned now!"

Ethan stood and yelled at the camera in the corner of the room. The little red light near the lens was shining bright. "I demand that you remove these… these things from her person immediately!" he screamed.

"Ethan, no. Please… it won't help."

"But look at this," he replied, pointing at her hair in frustration. This is barbaric. You're a living, breathing, person… not a lab rat. You deserve respect and…"

"Ethan, please!"

He stopped and then, frustrated, he slowly sat next to her again.

She looked at him and smiled. "Please, just… stay with me tonight." She tuned to lay down, careful to set her head on the edge her pillow. Then she reached back for him. He fell in behind her and wrapped his arms around her body and did his best to comfort her.

"I love you so much, Sally."

"I love you too, Ethan. I couldn't possibly bear this without you."

The old man was frustrated as one of his minions removed the cuff from his arm.

"Ваше давление лучше сегодня, сэр. Это - пять пунктов." ("Your pressure is better today, sir. It's up five points.") Bezuhov waved him off. There was a beep on the table next to him and he reached over with a shaking hand to press a button.

"Какой?"

"Женщина Carmichael имеет гостя."

Bezuhov frowned, pushed another button, and the television next to his chair came to life. He was looking into Sally Carmichael's bedroom and could see Ethan lying next to her. The old man stared at the two of them and then huffed. He shut off the monitor and then pushed the intercom button again.

"Оставьте их быть."

"Да, сэр."

Back in Sally's room, the camera in the ceiling moved to refocus on the two of them lying together in the bed. There was a click and the little red light went out.

Doctor Howard was in an uneasy sleep. It had been the way of things ever since they were locked in the warehouse. The doctor was dreaming about the night in Los Angeles when he first met Bezuhov. The winding road and the men with guns waving him onward up the hill. He saw himself stopping in front of the fountain bathed in that horrible bond-fire light.

Howard frowned and turned in his sleep. "Stop! Go back," he tried to yell, as he watched with anticipation his self emerging from the Volvo to look around.

There was another voice in the background somewhere above him. "It's all your fault."

How could he have been so stupid, so naive about what this madman truly was at the time? How could he have been so ignorant? Was he now finally willing to admit the truth, to say aloud what he clearly knew at the time, that Bezuhov was wicked – so terribly evil? How could he have been so easily taken into the devil's trap? Of course he knew the answer: It was greed that moved him to set aside what his conscious was telling him at the time and shift his morals to some unknown place far away from his family and what he knew to be right in life; to a place where now his very soul was clearly in jeopardy.

Once again, the voice above him was there. "Yes, your greed is the cause. It's all your fault."

Suddenly, Howard was within his own body again, a player in the scene he was reliving in his nightmare. He was staring at the fountain's green light, watching with curiosity as the falling water began to slow. He closed the Volvo's door and watched the water begin to roll like thickening lava down over the fountain's gaudy marble. And then he heard something he hadn't heard previously while living this scene. It was singing. No — it was screaming. Barely audible, but definitively present, why hadn't he heard it before? Howard frowned as he tried to focus his mind on where the screaming was coming from, and then without warning the heat of the lava exploded into a wall of emerald flames. The screams were suddenly louder, as the tortured souls of several people could be seen within the fountain's inferno. Hands flailing and faces peeling and writhing, their grotesque features howled in hideous pain.

"Doctor Howard, thank you for coming."

Howard was startled and turned to find Bezuhov's muscled man standing behind him.

"Your reputation and status herald your arrival. It is an honor to finally meet you."

A cool breeze was now at his back and Howard turned to find the fountain overflowing with water again, the devil's victims silent once more.

"Run away, you fool!" Howard could hear himself yelling, as he watched the picture of himself climbing the steps again.

The scene began to pull back, the picture in his mind rising above the stairs and the white columns, to the floors higher within the great mansion. And there he saw the old man looking down through the window as he climbed the stairs outside. Bezuhov was smiling as Howard finally reached his front door. And then his eyes looked up and into Howard's mind, into his dreams to burn his soul. "It's all your fault."

"Run away!"

"Dad… dad! We have to get out of here!"

"Run away, you fool!"

"Dad, wake up!"

Howard's eyes flew open. Though the darkness blinded him, he immediately knew the voice trying to wake him.

"Dad, wake up!"

Howard bolted up to find his son standing by the bed next to him.

"Benny? What… ?"

"Dad, we're leaving. Get up. We're getting out of here."

"Leaving? Leaving — where?"

"We're all getting out of here. Come on. You have to get up! Everybody's waiting for us."

Howard was on his feet. "But the guards…"

"Come on, dad, we have to get out of here." Benny was heading for the door to the hallway. He stopped to listen at the panel as he motioned his father to follow. Howard was by his side again.

"Benny, how are we going to do this?"

"Shhh!" Benny quickly replied, moving a finger to his lips as he opened the door. "Robert has it all figured out."

They found Bezuhov sitting in his wheelchair on the other side and Howard and Benny gasped together. The old man slowly stood and angrily pushed his chair behind him, two of his guards were standing to his left and right.

"Hello, Benny," Bezuhov said. The old man looked years younger than the night before, taller, stronger, and much more menacing.

"I warned you what would happen if you or your friends tried to escape." He looked at the guard to his right and gave a quick nod. The guard immediately pulled out a pistol, pointed, and shot Benny in the forehead. The back of the boy's head exploded into Howard's chest behind him before collapsing straight down to the floor at his feet.

"Benny!" Howard screamed, falling to the floor to grab his son. "Benny! Oh, my God! My God, my God!" Howard rolled his son onto his back to find his son's eyes still open; a look of shock frozen in time.

"Benny!"

One of the guards shoved Howard to the side with his boot and pointed his pistol down at the boy again.

"No!"

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM

"Benny!"

Howard bolted upright in his bed once more. He looked around to find his room empty: there were no guards and no blood. His eyes searched the floor looking for his son's body, but he wasn't there. Howard jumped to his feet, tripped and fell to the floor. He struggled in the shadows to stand again before reaching over to flip on the light. He began searching around the room in a horrified panic. Nothing was disturbed; nothing was out of place… it had all been a dream, a terrible nightmare. As his senses slowly began to return, Howard moved back to the bed and sat on its edge. His head dropped into his hands and he began to sob. This was his fault, all of this… his doing.

Sally Carmichael was brave throughout her ordeal, but Howard knew the state in which Ethan had found her the night before was only the beginning of what would be her ultimate destruction. Day after day, the other doctors in Bezuhov's employ would meet in private with the old man to discuss their next steps, and Kari's uncle was always left horrified by the extent and invasion of their decisions. So much so that he came to believe the jackals in black could not have been doctors at all. They were demons in training, all of them; a pack of wild dogs who would sacrifice anybody for one man's continued, albeit feeble, existence.

All the while, and despite their invasions, Sally continued her fast progression into a more youthful version of her old self. Now perhaps in her early thirties, the woman remained beautiful even as the abuses by the other doctors increased. Howard tried his best to deliver what little comfort he could through her trials, but the jackals seemed desperate to move quickly, setting aside the most basic necessities of pain management and care for the woman as a person. Howard came to believe this meant the old man was nearing the end of his trials as well.

Over the next several days, Howard felt abandoned to his thoughts. Although he had never been an overly religious man, he found himself fearful of God. More than that, he found something in himself he didn't really know existed: When everything was put before him, when the most important things in his life were stacked up one next to the other, he knew beyond any doubt he could sacrifice himself for his son, for Kari, and any of the others. It took him a while to finally come to this revelation, but once it happened, he felt a wave of calm roll over his soul. At last he understood what might redeem him in the eyes of God and his family and he began to search for the ways he might help the others to escape.

He started looking for things he might use to attack the guards and it was then that he realized just how much was actually available to him. As the tests on Sally became more intrusive, his choices for armament began to widen. Hippocrates aside, for it didn't seem to apply to jackals anyway, there were blunt objects in which he could smash the skull of an unsuspecting guard and stainless steel objects with razor-like edges. There were large needles and all manner of drugs at his disposal, and there were electronics too. High voltage instruments that, when implemented the wrong way, could debilitate and even kill.

Although it might have increased their chances for success, Howard didn't tell anybody about his plans for their escape. While he understood all too well how sacrificing himself might not guarantee their success, he also didn't trust his courage to act when necessary as part of a larger plan. Finally, and after a week of careful preparation, Howard decided to leave the timetable for his next action to God. He would pray and look for a sign from heaven, thinking he would recognize the moment when it was finally put upon him. Unfortunately, it wasn't God that would move him to act, but the devil himself. The accuser with laughing red eyes would be the first to pull that trigger.

It was the next day and Robert Coleman was worried. As he sat next to Kari eating his lunch, he could see the nervousness in Ethan and Benny across the table. The detective glanced over at Kari who looked worse than the other two. She sat picking at her food with little ambition to eat. He wanted to yell at them, "Come on, people… let's not announce our ambitions to the guards and tell them we're about to move against them!"

Only Tiago seemed normal as he played on the carpet with the puppy in the center of the room. Of course the boy had no idea what was about to happen and, luckily, the three guards left to watch over them seemed more interested in the boy and his dog than the unusual behavior of the others sitting at the dining room table. Robert finally leaned over.

"Kari, try and eat something."

She glared up at him with a look of surprise and then softened as she looked over at the others. She could see Ethan and Benny clutching their utensils tight. Her cousin was even sweating and looked red in the face.

Their plan was fairly straightforward and required one simple trigger for its execution. When two of the guards left with Sally and Tiago, and when the hostages recognized something else that might give them a clear advantage, they would act. That was the plan – as simplistic as it was dangerous.

They waited for days for something to push them onward and now it had happened, and it this reality that was making them all very nervous as they ate their lunch together. They knew the time was finally upon them.

As they had done since the very beginning, two of the guards escorted Sally to the lab, but for some unexplained reason they left Tiago behind. This had never happened before and it meant that if the rest of the hostages decided to make their move, they could take the boy with them rather than leaving him behind with Sally. In addition, one of the four remaining guards had also left the room, leaving just three to watch over the entire group. The opportunity to act was immediately recognized by every one of the hostages, and with a reassuring nod from Robert they knew some or maybe all of them could be dead in the next few minutes.

One by one, they rose from the table and moved to their planned positions within the room as the guards, standing in a small group near the hallway, passed the time watching the boy and his dog. Kari began to stretch and then started walking the perimeter of the room as if to begin her afternoon exercise. She jogged in place for a while and then followed the outside wall around the room. As the guards turned their attention to watch her, Ethan began to move the furniture away from the walls in much the same way he had done over the last week.

"Thank you, Ethan," Kari said as she jogged past him.

"No problem," Ethan replied. His voice sounded nervous, almost hoarse with anticipation.

Robert watched the plan unfolding before him as he picked up the newspaper and coolly moved to the center of the room nearest the guards to read under the light on the adjacent table. He leaned back against the couch, seemingly to stay out of Kari's way as she increased her pace around the room, and the guards grinned with diverted interest as they watched Kari work up a sweat. Their smiles widened as she passed by them and especially when she gave a timid smile to whisper, "Excuse me." Once again, and like she had done so many times in the days leading up to that moment, Kari had captured their full attention. They didn't notice Benny picking up his glass from the table and casually moving with interpretation toward them.

As Kari watched Benny move into position near the guards, she saw Robert give her a nod. This was it, now was the time to act. She said a small prayer as she rounded the edge of the couch and her focus turned to the guards once more. She looked down at their feet and as she moved past them and then tripped and tumbled to the floor with a heavy crash.

"Что трахание!" one of the guards yelped and the three of them moved forward to help her. "Вы травмированы?"

At once, Benny moved in as Robert grabbed the metal lamp from the table and smashed it onto the head of one of the guards. Benny hit a second guard on the head with the glass, which shattered instantly. The teenager started groping at the man's rifle as Kari rolled over on the floor, reached up to grab the guard bending over to help her, and kicked him hard in the groin.

"Ahh! Вы гребаная сука!" the guard yelled out angrily and in pain as he fell on top of her. Ethan moved in to stomp down on the yelling guard's head and then turned to kick at the one Benny was wrestling on the floor. Robert was trying to untangle the rifle strap on the guard who already looked unconscious.

Suddenly, there was a blast of automatic gunfire and Robert, Benny and Ethan turned to find the missing fourth guard had returned to the room and was spraying bullets over their heads. They dove to the floor as the guard reached over to hit the panic button near the entranceway and a siren began to wail. Robert finally wrestled the rifle away from the unconscious man, but as he turned to face the guard he found the barrel of a rifle two inches from his face.

"Остановитесь!" the guard screamed at him, "или я буду дуть, ваше траханье препятствуют, Вы собака!"

Robert hesitated and the guard wheeled the butt end of the rifle around and hit him on the side of the face. He then pointed his rifle at Ethan. "выйдите из него!"

Ethan raised his hands and then moved away from the guard Kari had kicked.

"Вы также, сука, движение!" the guard yelled down at Kari jerking the barrel of his rifle at her. She reluctantly released the second guard and rolled away. She knew they were all doomed.

Kari's guard slowly got to his feet still holding his groin and then straightened to take a deep breath. He looked down angrily at Kari on the floor.

"Вы гребаная шлюха, я собираюсь убивать Вас!" he yelled, before reaching out to kick Kari hard in the side of the ribs. The blow sent her rolling against the wall. The man followed and then began to stomp down on her. "траханье, гребаная сука!"

Benny had his back to the wall and holding the sides of his head in terror. Tiago was clutching his puppy under the dining room table as the siren continued to blare. The battle was over; the hostages had lost the fight.

The guard beating Kari was now straddling her waist and slapping her face hard. Kari was screaming in pain as Robert lay unconscious a few feet away.

""Остановитесь!" yelled a voice across the room.

Bezuhov had entered the room escorted by three more guards. By the time Ethan and Benny realized who was yelling, the old man was already moving his oxygen mask over to cover his face again. It would seem even the effort to yell was too much for him. He looked furious.

Finally, the guard hitting Kari stopped and then stood. He spat down on her and kicked her again as she continued to cry. The second guard threw Ethan and Benny face down to the floor next to her, the barrel of his rifle pressing into the back of Ethan's neck as the three other guards moved quickly to secure the room. They checked the unconscious guard, picked him up, and then carried him into the hallway passed the old man.

"Получите его вниз к лаборатории!" ("Get him down to the lab!") Bezuhov commanded them. "И верните женщину!" ("And bring the woman back!") "Остановите тот шум!" ("Stop that noise!")

The siren finally stopped as Robert groaned and then rolled over to look up. He could see Kari was crying against the wall and began crawling toward her, but another guard angrily stomped a boot down on the back of his neck to stop him.

The old man's chair clicked and moved forward.

"Detective Coleman, was this your doing?" the old man asked in a menacing tone. The boot on Robert's neck was raised up and he was shoved onto his back. He looked up at Bezuhov, trying to clear out the fog flooding his aching skull.

"Yes," he groaned knowingly, "it was all my idea."

The old man's face twitched. "Humph, a hero to the very end. Impressive," he replied shrewdly. He looked at the other hostages lying on the floor around him and then back down at Robert. "I told you the punishment for trying to escape would be harsh, did I not?"

Robert tried to get up and another guard immediately moved toward him in response. The old man waved him off. Robert rose to his knees, looked around at the state of his friends and then stood.

"Don't take it out on them. I was the one who talked them into doing it. If you're going to kill somebody, it should be me."

"Robert, no!" Kari cried out. "Don't!"

Robert looked at Kari. He tried to smile, to assure her he knew what he was doing. He looked back at Bezuhov again and shrugged. "They wouldn't have done it without my urging them on. I should be the one to pay the price."

The old man's expression darkened. "We will discuss our options soon enough." He gave a signal to one of his guards and then pointed to Tiago still hiding under the dining room table.

The guard immediately moved toward the boy. "Встаньте!" he barked with a jerk of his rifle.

Tiago slowly emerged from his hiding place still clutching the puppy as if to protect him from the mêlée just witnessed. He was immediately pushed toward the others who were then forced on their feet. Kari was crying and her face was already beginning to bruise badly, but she opened her arms to Tiago as he joined the group.

Two more guards entered the room escorting Sally and Doctor Howard. The two of them looked terrified.

"What's happened? A guard was brought to the lab with a head injury." Howard looked at Benny. "Has anybody else been hurt?"

Benny shyly pointed to Kari and Howard's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, my God!" Howard came forward quickly to inspect his niece's injuries. "What happened to you?"

"They tried to escape, doctor. That's what happened," Bezuhov replied matter-of-factly. "It would seem that despite all my warnings, they have failed to take me seriously and I am at a loss to understand why."

Howard tried to move Kari to the couch, but one of the guards stopped him.

"Not so fast, doctor. I must first find a way to instill a higher level of respect due my warnings." The old man turned in his chair to look back at Sally. "Mrs. Carmichael, will you join your friends, please?" Sally came forward as the guards lined them side by side with their backs against the wall.

Howard was immediately terrified for what might happen next. He knew Sally and the boy were safe, but that left his son and Kari as possible targets for the old man's wrath. He took a step forward.

"Please, Mr. Bezuhov, don't hurt them. Surely you wouldn't. You could lock them in their rooms. I think that should suffice. Please, I beg you. Don't…"

"Doctor, you're not hearing me. And it angers me to know my words are not taken seriously."

"Please…" Howard cupped his hands together and dropped to his knees. "Please, don't hurt them."

Bezuhov looked unsympathetic. "Doctor, you should have been on your knees and begging them not to disobey me in the first place. Did you know about this foolishness? Were you a participant in this action against my will?"

Howard thought about it and then his emotions seemed to harden. "Yes, I did." The doctor quickly got to his feet. "Yes, in fact I encouraged them to act. I was the one who disobeyed you. It was me." Howard's mind was working fast, but he could already see Bezuhov didn't believe him. "I told them to do it," he paused and then added, "you pig!"

The room was deadly still and everybody held their breath in anticipation of Bezuhov's response. His face was blank, almost plastic, which only added to the tension filling the room. Benny swallowed hard; it would have been better to know the old man was angry than to guess at what would happen next, but the devil only smiled.

"Doctor Howard, you seem to forget: I know you better than you know yourself." He gave a wave to one of his guards and Howard was pushed backward against the wall with the others.

"Somebody must pay for this action against my will." He rolled forward a few feet and then stopped again. "I told you before that I had a very difficult decision to make," he explained. "And as uncharacteristic to my nature as it was at the time, I decided to be compassionate even when I knew what had to me done. Now… you force my hand with this… this idiocy." The Russian seemed troubled once again by his inner thoughts.

"There is still some work to be done in our studies of the boy and Mrs. Carmichael, but there is one critical test that requires my sacrificing one of you."

Howard frowned. "But… I don't understand. We haven't preformed any tests on anybody but Tiago and Sally. I can't see what can be learned of their condition by hurting someone else." He looked around at the other hostages. "We haven't discussed anything that would make something like that necessary."

Bezuhov smiled again. "You are correct, doctor. And let me set your mind at ease by telling your friends that I did not share the reasons for my needs with you in any way. Your conscious is clear in this matter." The old man looked at the ceiling once more, clearly reluctant about his next decision. He heaved remorsefully.

"Against my better judgment, I had decided not to kill one of you as a necessary test though I knew that decision could very well put my own life in jeopardy." He looked at them again. "But now… you force my hand. A lesson needs to be reinforced."

He looked at one of the guards and grudgingly nodded. The guard handed his rifle to the guard next to him and then stepped forward. With one quick motion he unsheathed a very large knife.

"No! Please, don't do this!" Howard pleaded. He tried to come forward but another guard pushed him back. "Please don't."

The guard with the knife stepped up to the line as two other guards took positions to his left and right. He stopped to look at Howard, smiled, and then stepped in front of Benny next to him.

"Please, don't." Howard whispered.

Benny's eyes were closed tight, his lips moving to the words of the only prayer he could remember. "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Howard stepped in to protect his son, but one of the guards pulled him back. The guard stepped to the side again and quickly passed Sally to Ethan.

Sally quickly moved to protest. "If you hurt Ethan, I'll… I'll kill myself. I'll find a way. I swear it!"

The old man frowned. "Well, we can't have that now, can we?"

The guard stepped to the side again and in front of Robert.

"The logical choice," Bezuhov commented.

Robert's expression hardened at the smiling guard. "Take your best shot, cocksucker!" he said angrily and he spat in the guard's face.

The guard didn't even flinch. Robert could tell he was enjoying the moment too much.

"But no," the old man intervened, and the guard moved passed Tiago before turning to face Kari.

"You have been a distraction to my men far too long, Miss Dietz." The guard looked over at Robert and smiled, wiped the spit from his face, and then raised the knife.

"Oh my God – no!" Howard yelled as Robert tried to move forward. Another guard kneed the detective in the stomach. "No – don't do it!"

Kari's eyes widened. In her heart she never truly believed it would be her, that she would be the one chosen to die. She screamed and covered her face as the knife flashed. The guard spun to his right, turning as he crouched down, and plunged the knife into the center little Tiago's chest.

The crack of bone and tearing flesh silenced Kari almost immediately. The room was quiet as the boy, his eyes wide in shock, began to gurgle and hiss the most dreadful sounds. Nobody breathed; nobody made a sound as the boy, who had lived as a man more than seventy years, slumped forward and then abruptly stopped against the handle of the knife. He was impaled to the wall behind him.

It was Kari who reacted first. She let out a scream that should have torn her throat open and still it seemed as nothing to what had just happened. She screamed and screamed and screamed, taking deep breaths between her shrieks as she covered her face and crumbled to the floor in horror. Howard came forward quickly as the other guards moved away, but he knew before he took his first step that it was already too late – another analytical response to slaughter.

Sally fell into Ethan's arms and howled uncontrollably as he turned them both away.

Robert, still winded, rolled over terrified and expecting to see Kari spewing blood all over the room. He frowned when he saw Tiago with the knife buried to the hilt in his chest. He slowly got to his knees and crawled over to Kari who was crying uncontrollably. As he reached out to sooth her, but she threw herself back and screamed again. Robert finally grabbed her and pulled her to him, trying to the best of his ability to calm her… but he could not. What could he say? What could anybody possibly say that would explain the madness? Howard bent down and gently put his hand on Kari's head. She finally looked up, her face bright red and locked in pain. She tried to kick away, but her uncle moved passed Robert to hold her tight.

Robert looked up from the floor and to the old man sitting in the chair. He tried to speak, but found he could not. He looked up at Tiago again. The boy's face looked unnaturally white against his black hair and silent expression. Robert looked at Bezuhov again with tears welling in his eyes.

"Why?"

The old man shrugged. "Because you forced me to… and because he still had something I needed."

"Then why would you kill him?" Robert whispered.

Bezuhov thought for a moment, not in a way that intimated he was struggling with what had been done, but suggesting instead his response might be difficult to explain.

"Young Tiago has been in my company a few months longer than the rest of you. Time enough to get most of what I wanted from him except, of course, for those comparative tests we completed on Mrs. Carmichael. Still, in all our struggles to learn his secrets there was one thing missing in our analysis. One crucial thing I needed to know."

Robert looked at him and frowned.

"You see, detective, I wanted to know what would happen to Tiago or Sally if their life were to end suddenly, while in the middle of their transformation."

The old man looked at the boy still pinned to the wall and then motioned with a wave to have his body removed. As the guards came forward, Bezuhov moved his mask back over his face to breathe deep. The knife was removed unceremoniously from Tiago's chest and his body crumbled to the floor. Kari screamed again. One of the guards flipped the body over with his foot and then started to reach down.

"Осторожный, пожалуйста. Он все еще имеет много, чтобы учиться из него," ("Careful, please. He still have much to learn from him,") Bezuhov warned them almost caringly.

The guard looked back, nodded, and then placed Tiago's hands across his chest and then lifted him gently into his arms.

"Возьмите его к лаборатории." ("Take him to the lab.")

"So you killed him as part of another experiment?" Robert grumbled.

"No, Detective Coleman. It was you who killed him. I told you before if you tried to escape the price would be dire. You chose to ignore my warnings. Thus, you saw the consequences of that decision."

"But you said yourself you were going to kill him anyway," Robert argued back.

"No, I said I wanted to know what would happen if he or Sally was to die unexpectedly, but I also admitted I was struggling with that decision. I was referring to my decision to choose between the boy and Mrs. Carmichael."

Sally looked up from Ethan's arms and frowned. "You're a madman. You should have killed me and not a little boy."

The old man seemed amused by her. "Mrs. Carmichael… you and I both know Tiago wasn't a little boy at all. He lived a culturally rich and very full life before dying in a hospital bed in Brazil — in much the same way as you. In his case, he was surrounded by a loving family, including fifteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. And just like you, he came back; he died and was alive again. His life ended, but he was reborn, utilizing this wonderful gift of renewal."

Sally looked angry. "It's not a gift at all. It's a curse!"

"A curse, you say? Why would it be a curse to continue living, and better still… to be young again? How is this meant to be a curse?"

"Because this is not what God promised us!"

Bezuhov frowned. "But it could be. Didn't God say we should have eternal life and isn't more likely that's what you have now?"

"No!" Sally fumed. "Tiago proves you're wrong. He's dead!"

"For the moment, it would seem that is the case."

Sally looked shocked and then angry. "YOU JUST KILLED HIM!"

"Yes, yes — he has died… again. But how sure are you that he won't return once more? He's done it before, why not again?"

Sally couldn't answer.

"Ah… you finally see it now, don't you? And thus, the question that needed an answer. Tiago will be monitored very closely over the next few days to see if his present condition might reverse itself."

"And what if he doesn't come back," Sally yelled at him, "what then?"

"Then I shall have my answer anyway and your lesson will have been learned."

Howard stepped forward. "This is madness. Why wasn't I consulted about this decision? I would have…"

The old man turned in his chair to face him. "Because you would not have allowed it, doctor." Howard was about to reply, but Bezuhov cut him off. "And because I had decided against killing the boy anyway. As I said, the difficult decision I had to make was choosing between Tiago and Mrs. Carmichael for this final test, but as you already know Mrs. Carmichael's leukocyte antigen tissue type is a closer to match to my own. Although not a perfect match, her immune system would be a better choice if, for example, a bone marrow transplant would become necessary for me to gain the gifts she possesses. Thus, my answers would have to come from Tiago."

He looked at Robert again and smiled. "Imagine my surprise when I came to realize that I didn't want to do it? That I had somehow grown attached to the boy in a way that was completely unexpected. I thought I knew myself well, but, as I said earlier, I actually put my future into jeopardy by setting my personal needs aside to keep the boy."

His face suddenly looked angry. "But then you had to pull this stunt, didn't you? And because of it I was faced with another difficult decision — which one of you should die for disobeying me? As you can plainly see, the choice was obvious. You would learn your lesson and I would have my answer."

Robert smirked. "You egotistical son of a bitch. You would have eventually killed the boy to get your answer anyway, and you know it. You would do anything to get what you want. Just like the day you had Ethan beaten to keep Sally in the hospital."

Sally looked surprised. "That was you who did that? You hurt Ethan?"

The old man smiled. "My dear lady… a few broken bones are nothing compared to kidnapping. Why would you doubt my interests? Your stubbornness and refusals at the hospital required my intervention. Even after Mr. Dodge healed you remained obstinate, which eventually lead to my bringing you here."

"And Andrew Johnson? Why was it necessary to kill him?" Robert fumed. This time Kari looked surprised.

"Are you suddenly my priest, Detective Coleman? Am I required now to make a full confession of all my nasty deeds? I assure you the list of sins you seek is long and terrifying and it's been more than ninety years since my last visit to the confessional. I don't think we have that kind of time."

Robert's stare darkened.

"Very well: Mr. Johnson was sending reports about Mrs. Carmichael's case to the local newspapers for money. It was drawing too much attention to her, which she saw firsthand outside Mr. Dodge's flat some months ago. I was forced to put a stop to it."

Kari started to cry again as Howard stepped forward. "And what about John Wetzler? Was the car accident that took his life murder too?"

Bezuhov looked bemused. "Your predecessor at the University only made one fatal mistake that I could not forgive of him, doctor. He did not properly negotiate that turn in the foothills on his way home from work. Other than being on the phone with me at the time, I had nothing to do with his untimely demise. Although it must be said I was beginning to worry about him. After a time, he began to show some of the insufferable traits I see in you now." The old man smiled again. "He was beginning to formulate a conscious."

Howard's eyes widened.

"I was very fortunate to have you to take his place so quickly."

Sally fell into Ethan's arms again. "You're a monster!"

The old man turned in his chair and headed for the hallway. "Since Detective Coleman is unable to absolve me of my sins, we will continue our work. I'm sure Doctor Howard will keep all of you informed if the boy shows any signs of recovering."

Sally stepped forward. "This is not God's plan for us. This is not life eternal as he promised it!"

Bezuhov slowed and then turned his head to answer. "We shall see."

196