Chapter 13

Chloe and Ana bundled into the truck with Ana strapping a pistol to her hip. It was one that had been carried by a Tunnel Snake that now had no need of it. She'd given Percy, House and Inchy orders to take their captive to the corner of the road and call an ambulance for him. He'd played his part and given them answers. It was more than he deserved, but she'd said nothing about them getting their pound of flesh before the ambulance arrived. Meanwhile, she and Chloe were heading to Heaven's Night to save Joyce and whoever else he had there. Chloe had a sinking feeling she already knew, but didn't want to rule anything out.

They set off, Chloe practically shaking at the wheel. Part of it was fury, but the rest was fear. She tried to lean more into fury, but it was useless. She'd already lost her dad. She and Joyce had suffered a very rocky relationship since then. Many times had she considered running away. Yes, Joyce would be distraught. But at least Chloe would know she was alive and enjoying the life she wanted to live. Albeit with David and Chloe wouldn't wish that on anyone, but it was Joyce's life and she was perfectly entitled to fuck it up any way she liked. Chloe was done trying to stop her. There was no point her talking sense if Joyce wasn't willing to listen. But that didn't change the fact that she was in danger now and Chloe had to go and get her out of it. And Chloe couldn't help but feel that this was her own fault. If she hadn't tried to run away, Joyce wouldn't have tried to find her. They wouldn't be where they were now.

"Hey." Ana's voice snapped Chloe out of her thoughts. "Don't let it turn inwards."

"It already has." Chloe replied flatly. "Can you distract me?"

"With what?"

"Literally anything." Chloe grit her teeth in frustration. "What about your cousins? They're really sweet and innocent." Ana promptly swallowed her own breath and spluttered into something that was halfway between a laugh and a coughing fit at that, but Chloe pressed on. "Okay, I mean they're kids. They're about as good as kids get. Have they started doing that thing yet where they say what they want to do and it's a really grand dream that's virtually impossible?"

"Oh, yes." Ana nodded. "Well, Katie has. She can't stand to see people at odds with each other, so she wants to reunite all of Asia. Become a diplomat or a translator or something. And the worst part is, she actually might achieve it. Or part of it, anyway. She and Sophie speak three languages each at eight years old."

"Why do I feel like there's a 'but' coming?" Chloe wondered aloud.

"Their mom won't hear of it." Ana shrugged. "I already know she won't. We get four career options: doctor, lawyer, engineer and disgrace to the family. That's it. That's all there is. And when they say engineer, they don't mean working for contractors fixing elevators. They mean it's NASA or nothing. And even that's not good enough because then they start wondering how you're going to get married when you're up in space eating paste through a tube and shitting in a bucket."

"Damn, your family is merciless!" Chloe said, trying to keep half her mind on remembering the way to Heaven's Night by road. The two times she'd been there she had to walk it, so her mental map of the roads was incomplete.

"You'd better believe it." Ana nodded. "I could always sing, but they insisted I learn an instrument as well. I didn't get on with it, so they disapproved. Then they made me get good by forcing me to play at family dinners. Either I learned what I was doing or I humiliated myself every time. And then the rest of the family joined in with roasting me. Then I started singing to shut them up. That was how I discovered I could do all this stuff with my voice."

"That's really cool." Chloe nodded approvingly. "So what happened?" That one innocent question seemed to cause Ana to retreat into herself a bit. Chloe instantly worried she'd said the wrong thing, but then Ana started speaking again.

"I was at a family dinner and my parents started talking about me playing that fucking guitar. We'd already had a disagreement over my wanting a lifestyle change like I mentioned before. Anyway, I started playing and sang as I did. I was loud enough to drown out my own playing and then the building started shaking. Glasses shattered, lightbulbs exploded and people were diving under the table for cover. That was when I saw my chance. My family had already threatened to disown me over coming out and I'd just been handed a way to escape. I turned around, took a gamble and tried to blow out the window. I actually took out most of a wall and I just sprinted for it. The last I heard from them was that I would be left alone provided I didn't show my face again. Then I needed surgery and claimed it on their insurance plan. You were there for that one."

"Holy shit..." Chloe let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I mean, I was there in the hospital but... I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Like I said, they would have cast me out anyway." Ana tried to brush it off like it didn't matter, but she wasn't fooling Chloe. "God damn miracle we made it to the family dinner."

"Just be ready to use it when we get in there." Chloe knew they were nearing the destination and tried to refocus on what they were doing. The mental break was over.

"We will get her back." Ana assured her. "Believe that."

"I hope you're right." Despite everything, she couldn't fight the grimace creeping over her face. "I really mangled things back home. Step-Douche can go fuck himself, but I'll be damned if I don't get chance to fix things with Mom."

"You will." Ana replied. "That's a promise."

They pulled up at the club two minutes later and jumped out. The bouncer on the door was suspiciously absent and Ana took note of it immediately. She was instantly on the alert with her pistol out and ready. Chloe had noticed too, but was surprised that she felt calmer. She'd been so worked up leading up to this moment, but now that she was here the adrenaline must have been taking over.

"This is a massive trap." Ana muttered.

"No." Chloe shook her head. "Traps only work when they catch you by surprise. This isn't subtle enough. It's a challenge."

"Then challenge motherfucking accepted." Ana grit her teeth and took off up the stairs towards the entrance. Chloe followed her, content to let her take the lead since she had the gun. In spite of her aversion to killing, she couldn't help but wish she'd brought one of her own. But it was too late now as they crossed the threshold into the building.

The place was totally devoid of any life. Part of Chloe expected for the entire security team to emerge from cover and gun them down on the spot. But it didn't happen. They walked freely inside with Ana checking corners as they advanced. The main floor, entryway and back area by the stairs were all clear. Obviously, Vic was keeping them all in one place to wait for them. And Chloe had a sinking feeling she knew where that was.

With the lower floor cleared, they started moving upstairs. Ana was once again in the lead. Chloe knew where they would need to head. Vic would want a captive in the place he felt most in control. If the lower floor- the epicentre of activity when the club was open- was clear, then he'd already told them where that place was: his office. But while it would be easy to get there, that also made their job harder. Assuming they made it totally unopposed, that meant the entire security force would be inside the office waiting to shoot them to pieces. It was certainly a conundrum, but one they didn't have time to work out. Vic would have had them on the cameras as soon as they walked in. That meant there was no way to stop and plan this. They just had to keep on pushing.

As it turned out, the top of the stairs rendered any need for a plan redundant. There was a sharp snap as they hit the top and the girls looked down and stared dumbly at the broken wire under Ana's boot. A spit second later, an electric crackle rang out that ended with a sharp snap. Agony instantly jolted through both of them as though they were both struck in unison by an electric whip. The shock radiated through their bodies, robbing them of all their strength as their legs gave out. Chloe barely even had the focus as she hit the ground to pray they both managed to avoid pissing themselves. That would have been the ultimate humiliation. Luckily, she managed to hold it in as she and Ana both crashed to the ground heavily.

Through her blurred vision, Chloe saw the door to Vic's office opening. Just as she thought, two security guys moved over and grabbed them before dragging them in. Inside, she could see three more security guards, each one holding a pistol and aiming it at a hostage. She could see Joyce in there and make out the tears running down her mother's face. Vanessa was there too, barely looking any different from when Chloe had last seen her. And there was a third person too. The girl she'd seen here and there. The one who'd warned her of the danger from that Tunnel Snake and who'd handed her the flyer. Chloe didn't recognise her, but she was too stunned to ask. Her tongue felt like it was made of led and her muscles twitched and jolted as she was effortlessly hauled into another chair and fastened down with a different set of handcuffs around each wrist, the other end of which was then also attached to the chair. Her ankles were secured with duct tape and she was then given an additional crack across the face with the butt of a pistol for good measure. The strike hit right across the bridge of her nose. Somehow it didn't break, but she definitely felt the cartilage crack. Blood poured from it and she knew she'd have to be careful. Too much more of that and she risked serious damage. Not that she was in a position to do much about it.

Another chair was dragged over for Ana and she was given a similar treatment. But when they were done securing her wrists and legs, they also put a piece of duct tape over her mouth and fastened something around her neck. Chloe had a sneaking suspicion as to what it was, but couldn't say for certain. Not until Ana tried to make a noise, anyway.

"Mmf-" She was instantly cut off as an electric snap silenced her. Just as Chloe had thought: a shock collar. Clearly it was set for noise reduction, used for dogs that barked enough to be a public nuisance. She'd always scorned them but that didn't change the fact that they existed. And in this case, it was insidiously perfect for Ana. Now she couldn't use her voice. Her most deadly weapon was out of action. The tape was a redundancy. Clearly, Vic knew what power her voice held. He'd seemed to fear it the first time Chloe had heard her sing and he'd been proven right to do so. The problem was that he knew it.

"Well, this is a lovely spectacle." Vic stood up from his desk and walked around to them, lacing his fingers together like a mob boss. In a sense, he kind of was if he was the one leading the Tunnel Snakes. "Looks like the gang's all here. Now you can die together. It's nothing personal, I promise. You've all done me a great service. Well, most of you. Still, I can't have loose ends. You see, you have Chloe and Ana here to thank for the predicament you all find yourselves in. If Harry Prescott gets his Pan Estates project voted in, they'll ramp up the property tax so much that I won't stay in business. And they'll manage to drive the Tunnel Snakes out. They're idiots but they pay good. And this place makes a good neutral ground. Now Chloe and Ana here have been working to bring down the Snakes in the name of the Prescotts. Because you all know Chloe, that means you'll notice when she goes missing. So you all need to die for the crime of being affiliated with her. So there we go. Don't hate the messenger. You need to blame someone? Blame her."

"You're fucking sick!" the girl spat venomously. "You're saying this is all about money? You leather-faced prick! Don't you value human life?"

"Of course I do!" Vic said with mock enthusiasm. "I'm a human and I value my life. I therefore value human life. And speaking of, the last of the pieces should be falling into place right about now." With that, he grabbed a remote and clicked a button. A screen slid down from the ceiling and lit up as a live video feed booted up. Chloe instantly knew what was coming. The footage was in an old beaten up car with two Tunnel Snakes each holding a rifle. That meant four overall with a third to hold the camera and a fourth driving. The stretch of road outside the windows was one Chloe recognised. Sure enough, three figures came into view with a fourth on a makeshift stretcher. The windows were wound down and Chloe didn't have time to realise she should shut her eyes. Inchy, House and Percy never stood a chance. They went down in a hail of bullets, a shower of blood and a terrible dance of flailing limbs. They didn't have time to realise what was about to happen. It was over in less than two seconds. One of them leaned out and capped the wounded Tunnel Snake on the stretcher through the head before they wound the windows back up and drove off.

Looking over, Chloe could see that Ana head turned pale. Tears were streaming down her face freely and she'd begun to subtly test her bonds. But she was growing more frantic by the second. Chloe knew it would only be a matter of time before she got properly triggered. And if she started screaming, that collar would start shocking her until she stopped. And that was a battle of wills that no one could truly win. Ana might even run the battery out, but not without seriously damaging herself in the process. Vic, on the other hand, seemed incapable of caring any less than he already did.

"You know... That was so good, I think we should watch that again. Don't you?" he asked rhetorically, turning to Ana. True to his word, he cut the live link and rewound the footage. He then hit replay and Jimmy gripped her by the chin and forced her to watch as the footage played again from the top.

"Let her go, you bastard!" Vanessa shouted. "Stop forcing her to watch that!"

"You motherfucker!" Chloe screamed at Vic. This was what he wanted. He was trying to trigger Ana's grief. He was trying to hurt her so badly that she got locked into a cycle of perpetually putting herself in a state of agony. It was probably the most sadistic torture method known to man!

"What's that?" Vic asked, theatrically cupping a hand to his ear. "Put it on repeat? Okay." And with the touch of a button, he did.

Author's Note: Okay, so I apologise sincerely that this chapter is going up so late in the day. But it's still today at least. Unfortunately, I was delayed by a health thing that reared its head and I also had some personal stuff to deal with. I won't lie to you, it's been a busy day and updating totally slipped my mind with everything. That said, I hope you enjoy the chapter. I will try to make a point of uploading earlier on the Monday when it comes around. This story is a total of sixteen chapters and the epilogue. As always, the final chapter and epilogue will be posted together. See you on Monday for the next update.