CHAPTER 27
Mable.
When people thought of the name Mable maybe they would think of a fair, young woman. Maybe they would think of dirty blonde hair and sun-kissed skin sprinkled with a sea of freckles. Or maybe, they would think of a girl with warm brown skin, so smooth and flawless that it appeared polished by a skilled craftsman. They would think of chocolate locks woven into a bun on top of her head with a couple of wild curls spilling out in an act of defiance and rebellion.
Yes, one could think of many things but few would think of a 33-year old balding man with a crooked nose and a missing tooth. As if that didn't drive the ladies away, maybe his greyish skin and random patches of hair on his chin would do the job. Mabel had always hated his name. It had been a curtesy of his mother who was hell-bent on naming her first child that way, and when the expected daughter turned out a son, she doubled down and kept the name.
Mabel stared back at the old TV in front of him with bitterness. It was so grainy that it was hard to distinguish what was going on. All he wanted was to watch the soccer match but it appeared the world couldn't even give him that.
He wasn't even supposed to be there that day. It was his day off, but Mabel had shown up with the intention of showing the boss that he was a 'hard worker' even though he had spent most of the day barking orders while sitting on his ass. However, once the boss would see his value and promote him, Mabel had plans of spending his time and money coked up and gambling.
When he saw someone walk by he hollered at him, "Ey! You! What's your name again? Eric? Emmett?"
"Evan." He corrected. Evan was a young black man with a lanky figure, baggy clothes and a buzzcut. He was one of the new workers and, as if his naivety wasn't enough, Mabel was irked by the way the boy would walk around with his head in the clouds.
Mable tsked, "Yeah, Evan. Do me a favor will ya? Move the antennas around, the fuckin' TV ain't working."
"Hey Mabs! Don't go taking advantage of my lil bro just 'cause he's new." A third man chuckled, "I've got my eye on you!"
Ayden was Evan's older brother. They shared similar facial features but had wildly different bodies. While Evan was as skinny as a stick, Ayden was built heavier. He had massive arms, a cushiony torso and a rounder face. Though the two brothers were the same height, there was an illusion of one being a lot bigger than the other, especially with how Evan slouched over at any given hour. In spite of this, Mabel would mix them up multiple times since 95% of the time he was higher than a kite. To him, the brothers were big Ayden and little Ayden.
"C'mon!" Mabel complained, "I'm not askin' for a miracle, I'm just tellin' him to move the antennas."
"It's alright, I got it!" Evan spoke up.
Ayden laughed while setting down a set of heavy boxes, "Aw, he's such a good kid you know. You better treat him right or else!"
"Whatever!" Mabel waved him off, "More to the right, kid! More, more, no! To the left! There? No, more! There!"
The red pixels on the TV became a soccer player running around and the white pixels, an opposing player trying to steal the ball. Mabel sighed in relief. He hadn't missed anything important.
"There ya go. Alright, shoo now, you can go!"
"Wow, wait up a minute," Ayden sat down in a brown sofa next to Mabel's chair, "we wanna watch too! C'mere Evan, I'm sitting down for a while, I don't give a shit. I'm tired as fuck. They worked us like dogs today. Actually, I think a dog would've worked less."
The young boy was as silent as a mouse, sitting on the side of the sofa that put him exactly to the left of Mabel. He soon regretted it as the stench of sweat and weed invaded his nostrils. Even so, he was too shy to move, thinking it would offend the man.
Mabel scoffed, "Yeah they worked us like dogs alright. With everything happening it ain't a surprise." The man farted loudly with no consideration of the other two people in the room.
"Yeh, about that, what do you know? Nobody's been wanting to tell me shit." Ayden threw an arm behind the couch and relaxed into the cushion.
"I heard two of our sites got attacked. One was a warehouse, I dunno about the other place but it got blown up to bits. A guy from the cleanup crew told me the place was fuckin' drenched in blood. Everyone is scramblin' to get their shit together. If it's the police we're fucked."
Ayden threw a curse word at a soccer player that had missed a goal, "I thought the boss got the police under control."
Mabel bent down to reach for a beer placed on the floor, "Eh, he got some under control but those fuckers are always fighting among themselves. Some leave us alone, some poke their nose in things that don't concern 'em."
"So you gonna leave like Johnny and Rhett?"
"You kiddin'? This' what I've been waitin' for forever!" Mabel put an arm uncomfortably tight against Evan's neck, "Can you believe this guy? Tell 'im something, he's your brother! This is when the good shit comes along. People pussy out, higher positions are left open and people like me that have been at this a while, get promoted! Good promotions equal good money."
Evan scrunched his face up. He put the entirety of his will into not gagging from the putrid smell emanating from the man's mouth.
"Isn't Lola looking for a new assistant? People working in the labs make a lot more than our asses." Ayden chuckled.
"Yeh, but that's chemistry shit and math shit and... I dunno about that shit. Too much work. Too many numbers. I like makin' money and keepin' it simple. Would I be shitting out money? Totally! They won't admit it but losing the top scientist hit the boss hard. Never met the fucker but everyone said they were a genius.
"Y'know I'm kind of a genius too. I'm like really smart and shit, like, I look at a jar with candies and I can tell you how many are in there. I'm lazy though, that's why you won't catch me two plus two-ing or talking 'bout hydrogen or shit. But, like, if one day they made me do an IQ test I bet I'd be top 10%, trust me."
Ayden wrinkled his nose, "The more you keep talking the more I start thinking this whole place is going to shit."
"Nah, nah. The boss is the boss for a reason. You've never met him, duh, he only meets important people but I did once. Hear that? I met him in real life. He's got that crazy glare in his eye, " the man pointed at one of his beady eyes, "and he don't talk too fast and he don't think he's the second comin' of King Fritz or whatever but he makes ya think 'this guy knows what he's doing'. Let the cowards flee. When all this is over, we'll be running this bitch."
As he finished talking, the camera cut to a woman jumping up and down in excitement. She held a sign of her favorite team and, if that weren't enough to show what team she rooted for, she wore a red soccer T-shirt that was wrapped into a knot at the waist.
While the man was distracted, Evan subtly tried to wiggle out of Mabel's grasp but to no avail. The man didn't budge.
The smelly man whistled, "Look at that beauty. I could use one of hers on my lap. Ey Evan, what's your type? Your Papa Mabel can buy a pretty girl after work." The man cackled as he ungraciously swung Evan side to side.
"Hey man, leave him alone, he's just a boy." Ayden put a hand on the arm that was wrapped around Evan's neck.
Mabel roughly tugged the boy closer to him and out of the brother's reach, "What? He's got a working dick don't he? I know I've been crazy 'bout whores since I was 8 years old. You look, what, 15, 16 Evan? You 16 Evan? Is that your age?"
Evan said nothing, instead shooting an alarmed stare at his big brother.
"Stop lookin' so scared, I ain't gonna hurt ya unless you make me." The man giggled in such a way that made Evan's skin crawl.
"Hey man, I said leave him alone!" Ayden gripped the arm and forcefully sent it back to his owner. Taking a few breaths to calm himself down he added, "You always take things too far, man."
Watching Evan squirm closer to his brother, Mabel couldn't help but laugh. He screamed and he hollered, tears streaking down his cheeks, "Ahaha! Awww, you two in love or somethin'? You two delicate flowers? Gonna make out and have gay ass sex?"
The older brother stared back at him in disbelief, "We're brothers Mabel, that shit mean anything to you?"
The greyish man leaned back into his seat, "Not really. I got three sisters and I hate every single one of 'em. I'd be happy if they got their throats slit and bled out."
"Goddess Divine." Ayden mumbled.
Unfortunately, the man heard said mumble. From one moment to the next, his giddy mood spoiled into loathe, "What?! Those three bitches never did anything good for me! My mom was the worst of all of 'em. Gave my sisters everything they wanted and then turned around and told me to get out there and make someone out of myself.
"I spent 15 years in a house with four of the most insufferable women on Earth. But I'm smart, ya see? I learned reeeaal quick that you're all alone from birth to death. The world ain't ever given me shit! I've had to work for everything I have! So yeah, I owe nothing to my sisters, nothing to my mom and nothing to my pops whoever he fuckin' is.
"All I know 's that I'm here for a good time, so yeah, I'm gonna get fuckin' high every day and fuck whores when I get off of work and then I'll drink till I pass out 'cause that's what I do and if you don't like it I don't give a shit!" Mabel was interrupted by a violent cough. Settling down, he added, "Ah fuck, the weed's wearing off. You happy now?!"
Finishing his rant, Mabel slumped deeply into his chair. Evan and Ayden simply stayed quiet. They exchanged nervous glances and then silently turned their attention to the TV. Even when the red team, the team the three men rooted for, scored a goal, no one said a word.
"Aah!" A short scream traveled through the rooms.
"Who the fuck screamed?" Ayden whispered with wide-eyes.
Mabel took out a tiny orange container and spilled pills into his palm, "Beats me."
"I'll go check it out." Ayden got off the couch.
Evan was following suit when his brother stopped him, "You stay here. If I need your help I'll call for you."
"But-!"
"Do as I say." Ayden said through gritted teeth, "I'm not playing around."
But the boy wasn't paying attention anymore. He was looking behind Ayden, where the doorway was. The younger brother's face turned from an irritated expression to a horrified one. Ayden lifted an eyebrow. He swiveled around to find another of the workers standing in the doorway with wide eyes and a parted mouth.
He was bleeding from the chest.
"Mabel... I... I think we're in troubl-"
Before he could finish he was shot straight through the head, exploding into a bloody fountain of brains. Evan instinctively screamed, Mabel jumped into a standing position and Ayden grabbed his brother by the shirt and forced him behind the brown couch.
"Come out of there with your hands in the air! You're cornered!" A voice announced from the other room.
"We're cornered!" Evan repeated in a panicked whisper.
Ayden reached around for his gun and pushed it into Evan's hands, "Here. Use this to defend yourself."
"But that's your only gun!"
"You're a better shot than me, anyway!"
"You have five seconds to come out!" The same voice from before announced, "Five."
"Ayden-!"
The older brother forcefully closed Evan's fingers around the gun handle. Looking past him, he noticed Mable moving a bookshelf.
"Mable, what the fuck are you doing?!"
The older man heaved, "You two flowers might be ready to die but not me. I'm getting the fuck outta here."
Behind the bookshelf was an entryway to a long, grey, hallway. The man continued, "You comin' or not?"
The boys scattered to their feet, exiting the room and pushing the bookshelf back in its place before the enemy could say-
"One!"
The three men rushed through the hallway with quickened breaths and sweaty palms. Ayden was the first to speak.
"How long has this hallway been here? I've never been told about it..." He kept that whispered tone in order to keep the noise to a minimum.
Mabel chuckled, "There's a whole set of secret rooms and tunnels in this building. 'S just that only the important people know about it. Once you've been here for as long as me, you learn this place inside 'n' out." The man looked back at the other two with smugness.
"Ha, ha! Look at you two scared shitless. Not me though, this is a normal Tuesday for me. Gimme a couple of hours and I'll be partying with hot babes. If they even let me. I mean, they are so picky nowadays. They got these bullshit rules now. They're like 'no this, no that'! So fuckin' annoying. Ya know what I mean?"
But the brothers were busy looking around with nervous eyes.
"Ya aren't even paying attention!" Mabel chastised.
"Uh," Ayden started, "no, yeah Mabs. We'll be partying soon. So, this hallway leads us to an exit?"
"It could, but we ain't gettin' to the exit just yet." Mabel turned a corner.
"What?!" The boys said in unison, but they didn't stop following the older man.
"We gotta get Lola first. You said it yourself, lab techs are valuable to the boss. If we save her, the boss'll have to reward us! He'll finally give me that fuckin' promotion."
"That's insane! Let's fucking leave this place before we get shot dead."
The man shrugged, "Do as you want. You don't have to follow me around."
Ayden weighed his options. The brothers could try stumbling around until they found the exit or they could follow Mabel on a suicide mission and eventually leave.
Ayden was caught off guard by a thumping sound. Evan perked up like an attentive dog. The two scrambled to the corner they had turned at to look back at where they had entered. Someone was pushing the bookshelf back open.
"They're coming!" Evan announced.
"Run!" Ayden instructed.
They ran through the hallways with haggard breathing. Evan uttered prayers to Mother Goddess Ymir under his breath. After turning another corner, Mable stopped in the middle of the hallway. He stood in front of a cut out portion of the wall, covered on the other side by a cloth of sorts. Mabel pulled out a knife and slashed through the cloth. It revealed the common kitchen on the other side. Ayden thought back to the times he had spent in that small kitchen drinking coffee. There, he would stare at a big painting of a beautiful mermaid. Ayden had always thought it to be a strange detail. There weren't many art enthusiasts in his line of work. It then clicked in Ayden's head that that same mermaid painting was just what Mabel was slashing through to get to the other side.
The older man wiggled through. The rectangle was barely big enough for him to fit through. Scared that someone dangerous would be on the other side, Ayden pushed Evan back so he could cross first. That way, Evan would cross when Ayden was sure that it was safe.
Mabel's second foot had just touched the floor on the black and white tiles when a woman screamed, "Stop right there!"
A shot went off.
Mabel ducked as soon as he heard the voice. Evan, who had a clear view of what was going on, aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, hitting her right below her left eye. She fell to the floor.
Mabel chuckled, "Ha, ha! Good shot kid! You-"
When glanced back at the kid, he saw Ayden instead, clutching the side of his torso with white knuckles. Evan was horrified.
"Fuck, Ayden! Did she get you?!" The brother shrieked.
Noises of people running came from inside the grey hallway.
Ayden stumbled through the opening. His face was scrunched up in pain and fear. He grabbed Evan by the shirt and practically threw him through the other side. Once the boy landed next to Mabel, the older brother leaned against a wall with wobbly knees. He gazed up at the torn-up mermaid. So much of the fabric had been ripped and torn to the sides that she was unrecognizable. Still, he could make out the delicate hand that stretched upwards to the skies above. One that held a golden necklace in it. He shook his head. So many times had he stared at the hand, never had he thought it was the last thing he would see.
"Y-You two go on ahead, I'll only weigh you down! Get the fuck out of here, I'll be fine!"
"What are you, an idiot?!" Evan reprimanded.
"Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up. You know it's true. LEAVE. Hurry, before those fuckers get here."
"No!" Evan noticed Mabel making his way out of the kitchen, "Mabel?! Where the fuck are you going? Help me carry him!"
He shrugged, "You heard him. I got shit to do. I don't got time to be dragging his fat ass around!"
Evan was shocked as the man kept on walking, "Fucker! Motherfucker! You fucking traitor! Scum! Douche!"
His brother patted him on the shoulder, "Hey, hey. Keep your voice down and go with him. You don't got much time. They're coming through the hallway."
"What about you?!"
"You're not dying in a shit hole place like this, okay?! Go!"
"You're a fuckin' idiot if you think I'm leaving you here, dumbass!" Evan ignored his brother's wishes and put Ayden's arm over his shoulders, forcing Ayden to get up with him.
"Seriously?!"
Stompings were heard from the hallway.
"Yes, seriously, now let's go!"
Ayden kept his complaints, frightened that they would be found, and so the two boys limped out of the kitchen. As they did so, they caught glimpse of Mabel turning a corner so Evan, in his desperation, decided to follow him. The older brother couldn't protest as he had begun panting from the exertion of walking. The balding man didn't notice the two boys following him, irking Evan even more.
"Fuckin' old bastard. I can't believe he'd abandon us just like that!" Evan was muttering to himself.
Ayden, on the other hand, wasn't surprised one bit. He had worked with Mabel for a while and he had gotten to know the nastiest sides to him. As Ayden and Evan turned the corner, they saw Mabel crossing the big space cluttered by old machines that no one used anymore. That was when something else caught the older brother's eye.
"Yo, hide, hide! Behind that big pile of junk, hurry!" He whispered in a rush.
The young boy lost his balance just in time for both of them to fall behind an old machine. Ayden inhaled sharply, struggling to keep his cries of pain on the inside. Evan poked his head out ever so slightly, curious as to why his brother had told him to take cover so desperately.
"Put your hands up." Said someone behind Mabel.
Mabel stopped. He chuckled to himself, knowing he was fucked. He sluggishly rose his arms, wondering how the fuck he was gonna get out of that situation. After all, he already knew there was a gun pointing to the back of his head. Sure enough, when he twisted around, there was a tall man aiming at him.
The man wore a black combat suit. Even though he had a mask covering most of his face, Mabel knew he was young by the energy in his eyes. They were a mixture of greens, blues, maybe some browns and a twinkle of yellow. Mabel had been in that line of work for a long time so he knew nervous eyes when he saw them. A little cackle resonated through Mabel's head.
'Maybe if he's just as young as Evan, he's just as stupid too.'
Mabel stumbled back, purposely tripping on his own feet and pretending to fall down. He acted as pathetic as possible.
"P-Please! Please don't kill me! I'm a good person! A father!"
There was a tinge of hesitation in the tall man's eyes, enough for Mabel to know it was working.
"Yeah, yeah. I have two daughters at home. They need me! They already lost their mom. Don't take away their daddy."
The brunet's hand trembled. His eyes were fierce but behind them was an ongoing war.
"Come on, man. I don't do this shit job for myself, I do it to give 'em a good life. Little Emmie just turned four. Mercedes is twelve. Let me see them one more time, I beg of ya."
The brunet lowered his gun at a steady pace. Once fully down, he ordered, "Leave now and I won't tell anyone! I promise, now hurry!"
Unbeknownst to the stranger, Mabel sneakily pulled out a gun from behind, "Oh, I know you won't tell anyone."
He shot at the man without a warning. The bullet cut through the air and landed in the center of his for him, his combat suit was bullet proof in that area. Unluckily, he was so shocked by the attempted murder that he didn't have time to react when Mabel tackled him down.
Now on the ground, the brunet was more angry than scared, "You-You backstabber!"
Mabel laughed so hard he almost threw up. He laughed at the sheer stupidity of the boy. Unlike him, the brunet hadn't known the World the way Mabel had gotten to know her. He didn't know what a heartless bitch she was.
"Of course, you idiot! HA, HA, HA!" He continued laughing while holding a gun to his enemy's head.
He knew the tricks up everyone's sleeve. He knew it all. He understood how it worked. That's why he knew that-
"HA! I'M NEVER GONNA DIE-!"
BAM!
Someone had shot him through his neck. The blood gushing out prevented him from breathing, even less speaking. In those last precious moments before his brain gave out, he realized he was falling to the floor. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't even process where he had been injured but he knew he was dying. It occurred to him that the world had never offered him a choice. He hadn't chosen his awful mother or his wretched sisters, nor the impoverished state he had grown up in. He hadn't even been given the chance to choose a name for himself, but he comprehended that, had he just stayed in that morning, gone out the exit when escaping through the hallways or humbly accepted the boy's offer in running away, he might've lived to see a day where he would realize that Mabel was a precious name to have.