Survival Games (20 page)

“Okay, settle down
you two,” she scolded. “Now get.” She waved her hands at them. “Go,” she said a
little louder.

She glanced in the
mirror and her unblemished reflection looked back. She gasped, no wonder they
stared. Her eyes, they were different too. She looked down at the key in her
hand and tucked it away. As she walked out, the room started to spin and she
stumbled falling into blackness.

Ty moved quicker
than Tom and caught Jessica before she hit the floor. He swept her unconscious
body into his arms, shaking his head and glancing at Tom as he laid her out on
the mattress.

Her eyes fluttered
open to Ty wiping the hair from her face. Tom stood over his shoulder wearing a
look of pure concern.

“You can’t keep
doing that.”

She exchanged
glances with both of them. “I’m tired,” she said, her eyelids fluttering closed
as sleep grabbed hold and dragged her into the dark.

They covered her
with the sheet and each of them sat on the floor next to the mattress with
their backs to the wall watching the door and waiting.

“We’re gonna die,
aren’t we?”

Ty shook his head.
“No. You two will walk out of here,” he leaned his head back, closed his eyes
and drifted off.

Ty approached the
center of the room where the coffin sat, each step almost as loud as the beat
of his heart. Terror gripped him and he couldn’t draw a breath into his lungs
even though they burned for oxygen.

Blood dripped from
the edges of the coffin. He didn’t want to see what was inside but his feet
kept moving and his heart thundered against his rib cage almost hard enough to
rattle his bones. His lungs screamed for air, but he couldn’t pull any in.

He took another
step closer and he could see a hand, a small hand, holding the side of the
coffin. As he stepped around the side, he saw her face immersed in blood.

The boy looked up,
tears tracking down his cheeks. “You killed her,” he whispered.

Air rushed into
Ty’s lungs, enough to bellow, “No!”

Ty sat up, his
eyes wide and his breath coming in quick bursts as the nightmare held on. His
eyes darted around the room, the sight of the familiar concrete walls calming
him enough so he caught his breath.

Jessica woke with
a start to his scream. She reached out, touching him and he turned her way with
wide terrified eyes. “Shh,” Jessica whispered. Tom was lying on the outer edge
of the mattress on top of the covers with his back to them, sound asleep and
snoring lightly. Jessica moved back and pulled the covers up. She motioned for
Ty to join her.

Ty slid under the
covers putting his arm under her head and lay on his back with his eyes open. The
dream still haunted him even with her warm, decidedly alive body leaning
against him, her head cradled in the nook of his shoulder. Her breath evened to
the sleep pattern he memorized over the last six months and he stared at the
ceiling, unable to close his eyes. He didn’t sleep. Instead, he did something
he hadn’t done in years.

He prayed.

Ty slid Jessica
off him, grabbed the clothes that Marian had brought and went into the
bathroom. He started the shower and stepped in under the hot water, leaning
with his hands against the front wall as the water rolled over him.

How the hell am
I going to get us out of this?
His mind wandered back to Chris. “I’m sorry
bro,” he said aloud. “I messed up.” The pain came and with it, the tears. He
sobbed quietly as the water pounded down on the back of his head.

* *
* *

He didn’t hear her
come in the room. Jessica stood and watched him cry. She wanted to put her arms
around him and comfort him but she couldn’t. Not with all that had happened. She
turned and walked back into the room and sat down on the edge of the mattress.

Tom rolled over
and looked at her wiping the sleep from his eyes. He looked around the room and
closed his eyes. It wasn’t just a nightmare, this was real. “Morning,” he said.

Jessica nodded but
didn’t say anything. Instead, she studied her hands.

“You okay?” he
asked.

Jessica let out a
small hysterical laugh and turned her tear-filled eyes in his direction.

Tom moved next to
her, putting his arm around her shoulders pulling her closer. They sat quietly.

“You have a son?” Tom
asked.

Jessica nodded. “And
a daughter.”

“Tell me about
them,” he said, still holding her next to him.

“Eric and Emily,” she
began and smiled. “Em is thirteen. She is a handful. Smart, too smart for her
own good, but she is also a bit sly, so we have to watch out for her. If she is
anything like I was, we are in for a wild ride.” She sighed, wiping her eyes.
“Eric, Eric is my angel boy. He is seven and has such a good heart. He is going
to be a different type of handful, because he is such a little cutie, all the
girls love him. He is going to break hearts when he gets older.” She started to
cry. “I’m not so sure I’m going to be there to see it.” He pulled her closer
and the hum of the shower ceased. “I miss them,” Jessica whispered and covered
her face, turning into him, burying her head in his shoulder, trembling with
unshed tears. He wrapped both arms around her.

* *
* *

Ty walked out, and
his heart dropped. Tom looked up still holding her tight. His eyes warned not
to come closer and Ty heeded the warning.

The door opened,
tearing his attention away from Tom and Jessica. He met Marian’s glare. Her
swift placement of the tray and subsequent scramble out the door didn’t give
him much of a chance to reason with her, but he tried anyway. “Wait.”

She hesitated, the
hatred visible on her face. “You killed my father.” She closed the door.

Tom stood and
retrieved the tray. He brought it over to Jessica.

“Ty needs some
too,” she said.

“Why?” Tom asked
in frustration.

“Because,” Jessica
answered and looked at him. “Whether we like it or not, he is stuck in here,
just like we are and I’m not going to just sit here while he starves to death.”

Tom shook his head.
“I can’t forgive him as easily as you can. He killed my wife.”

“I haven’t
forgiven him and I certainly don’t expect you to,” she said. “But that doesn’t
make it right to hurt him either.”

Tom stared into
her eyes and nodded.

Ty had been
leaning against the far wall when he heard her say she hadn’t forgiven him, his
legs gave way and he slowly sank to the ground. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

Jessica brought
her portion of the breakfast over to Ty. “I know you are.” She sat next to him
with the plate. She ate a small portion and handed him the remaining food.

“You need more
than that, Jess.”

* *
* *

“I’m good.” She
got up and started to pace back and forth lost in her own thoughts. Thoughts of
Ty, thoughts of Mike, thoughts of her life before all this, occasionally she’d
send a glance their way. Both of them were watching her with rapt attention,
for lack of anything else to do.

It was way to
quiet in the room. She looked up at the camera. “Any way we could get some
tunes?” she asked and continued pacing. Music filled the room and she stopped
sending a nod of thanks in the direction of the camera. The track was familiar;
it was what Ty played for her every day. Her lips curved in a sad smile.

Now instead of
just pacing, her hips swayed softly to the tune, her skirt swishing with each
about face. No longer were her hands clasped behind her back, now they floated
by her side, graceful arcs motivated by the tune. “Calling All Angels” started
and she stole a glance in Ty’s direction as the melody escaped her lips, singing,
she twirled, tilting her head back, looking more like Dorothy Hamel twirling on
the ice than a woman in a concrete prison.

The effect on Ty
was immediate. He stood up and had her in his arms in a matter of seconds, his
hands in her hair and his lips pressed to hers. She pushed him away at the same
time that Tom yanked him from her.

“No,” Tom said
inserting himself between the two of them.

“It’s okay,”
Jessica said and put her hand on his shoulder.

“No it isn’t.” Tom
looked at her. His blue eyes warned her not to push and there was something
else there too.

Ty recognized the
hunger in Tom’s eyes. “You want her too,” he said in disbelief.

Tom looked back at
Ty but didn’t say a word. “I told you not to go near her. You have done
enough.”

Ty took a threatening
step toward Tom and it was Jessica who stopped him.

“Don’t,” she
warned stepping around Tom. She looked back and forth between them. “Just stop
this.” She put her hands on both their chests, holding them at bay.

“I can take care
of myself,” she said to Tom.

Ty smugly smiled
at him in response, until she turned and looked at him.

“You don’t get to
do that anymore,” she said.

His smile
vanished.

It was Tom’s turn
to smile.

“Go clean up,” she
said to Tom, catching the smug smile on his lips.

He looked down at
her and back up at Ty.

“Go,” she
whispered and he did. He left her alone with Ty.

They watched him
leave the room and heard the shower turn on. She looked back at Ty; her hand
was still on his chest. Just touching him made her ache for him. He stepped
closer.

“Ty,” she sighed
and looked up at him. He went to kiss her and she pulled away.

Anger flashed in
his eyes and he yanked her close.

She had seen that
look before and it had come with the words,
I can have you any time, any way
I want.
She flinched and pushed him away. “No.”

“Yes,” he said and
pressed her up against the wall. His lips crushed hers and he tangled his hand
in her hair, the other sliding between her legs.

Instead of
fighting him, she just stood there, unwilling to respond to his touch, even
though every fiber screamed for him, every cell wanted him. She swiped his hand
away, mumbling “no” under the pressure of his lips.

He slowly pulled
back, taking a step away from her. “I lost you, didn’t I?”

She shook her head
and a single tear slipped out of her eye. “You can’t lose what you never had.”

* *
* *

The crushing blow
of her words buckled his knees and he dropped in front of her, hanging his head
in defeat. His shoulders shook, hot tears burned his throat and what remained
of his heart died, sealing itself in a gray tomb much like the concrete prison
surrounding him.

His pain seared
her. She felt his heartbreak and the devastation that clouded his mind and she
couldn’t help herself. She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him and slowly
ran her fingers through his hair.

In that moment, in
her arms, Ty Aris ceased to exist in his solitary self-centered world and he
knew without a shadow of a doubt, he would die for her if that’s what it took
to save her.

* *
* *

When Tom came out
of the bathroom, Jessica was back to singing softly and pacing and Ty was lying
on the mattress with his eyes closed.

“This is surreal,”
Tom commented.

Jessica stopped
and looked at him. His hair was wet and hand-combed back, he had rough stubble
from not shaving and the combination with his blue eyes looked really good. He
was wearing a white button down shirt that he hadn’t bothered to button and
jeans that Marian had brought for him. As he walked toward her, he rolled his
sleeves up.

“I need to move.”
Jessica said, explaining her pacing. “There was a treadmill in the room before,”
she continued. “I got used to running.”

“Mind if I join
you?”

“It’s a free
country,” she said looking at him like the question was absurd.

He started pacing
with her and after a while, she cracked a smile.

“What?” he asked,
smiling as well.

“This is surreal,”
she agreed with his earlier comment.

Ty had opened his
eyes when he heard Jessica’s voice. They looked ridiculous pacing back and
forth next to each other. “Do you know how stupid you look?”

“Fuck off,” Tom
snapped, his smile evaporating.

“My restlessness
is your fault.” Jessica pointed at him.

Ty sat up
shrugging with his arms out. “How is it my fault?”

“Uh, the daily run
you made me do.”

Ty laughed. “For
the last few months you’ve been doing that on your own.”

Jessica sent a
glare in his direction. “What else did I have to do?” She turned and
disappeared into the bathroom.

* *
* *

Ty sighed. He
glanced at Tom for a second then back to the bathroom doorway reminding himself
that he would never have her again. His smile vanished slowly.

“If you love her
that much, tell me how to get her out of here.”

Jessica came back
in the room.

Ty took a deep
breath. “You can’t get out of here,” he said. “Doors operate on fingerprints
and mine are obviously not ones that are in the system any more. I’ve tried
both doors.” He paused. “The elevator has a higher level of security. Retinal
scans and once you are inside, you need the key to operate it. There were only
four scans that were approved for access. Chris, Frank, Marian and mine. There
are cameras in every room and in the hallways, so monitoring activity didn’t
require more than one of us at a time. The only place there aren’t cameras is
the control room. That is where everything is recorded, edited, packaged and
sent out.” He looked at the two of them. “I designed the place, there is no way
out, unless you have someone’s eyes and a key. The only other way is to get
access to the security system and that ain’t happening either.”

Jessica and Tom
looked at each other.

“Why not?” Tom
asked.

“Because the
security system is in Frank’s office, which is three stories above us on the
ground floor of the warehouse. No one but the four of us knew this was down
here and no one we ever brought down left alive.” He looked at them.

“How many have
there been?” Jessica asked.

Ty shrugged and
studied his fingers, picking at a hangnail.

“How many are here
now?” Jessica asked.

Ty held up three
fingers, raising his eyes to hers.

Jessica looked at
him for a long time. He held her gaze. “Where is this place?” she asked.

“Just outside
Albany. Ever hear of Aris Technologies?”

Aris was one of
the most successful privately owned communications companies in the world. She
had worked with several companies who wanted to buy it. “Yes.” She nodded. “Why?”

“Frank owns it.”

“Holy shit,” Jessica
said gaping at him.

“What? Holy shit what?”
Tom asked.

“Frank is richer
than God,” Jessica said and pondered this information. “Which means you aren’t
hurting either.” Her face hardened a fraction.

Ty shook his head
and laughed. “No. Chris and I weren’t accounted for in the old man’s will but
Frank took care of us anyway. At some level, we were grateful, but now looking
back, I guess we would have been better off somewhere else. Money and power,
that’s what it’s all about, at least that’s what my stepfather and Frank
grilled into us. I never cared about the money.” Ty paused and closed his eyes.
“But power.” He laughed. “Power. That was something I wanted. Maybe it’s
because I was so powerless growing up. This little side venture gave me
ultimate power.” He opened his eyes and looked at Jessica. “Frank told me what
the customers wanted and I, up until you came along, was just fine with
providing them with their black market videos. He let me have, um, creative
control, but the bottom line was he ultimately called the shots. I do have to
admit being in control, having that level of power was such a rush.”

“You’re a sick
bastard,” Tom said.

Ty nodded and
smiled a little. “Yeah, well, being on the other side sucks,” he said and
looked around the room.

“There has to be a
way,” Jessica said, ignoring this little exchange.

Ty looked over at
her. “I’m working on it,” he said. “I’m working on it.”