Evil Origins
chapter TWENTY TWO
Jenny
It seemed like hours since The King had left Maria and I in the darkened room. Maria never broke orders and spoke and I was sore and bored. I was always the center of attention. The woman every other woman wanted to be and every man wanted to be with. Well, most men anyway. She looked innocent as she lay there staring blankly at the wall. There were plenty of little stains and specks to stare at, but I don't think that was what she doing. She seemed to zone out like she was hiding inside her mind from the real world. The only sound in the room was an annoying ticking from the clock hanging on the wall. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and needed something to distract me so I forced a conversation.
I leaned forward and whispered, "What are you doing here? You look smart enough to know that this kind of life isn't going to get you anywhere. $40 blow jobs in back rooms aren’t any sort of job security or a way to earn a living."
At first she kept staring blankly at the wall like she hadn’t heard a word I said. She was a pretty little thing with bright eyes and what Wilson would call a sexy smile. He always told the same story about why he loved a smile so much. It was one of the reasons he wanted and bought me, he said. When he was a child, his older cousin dated a woman that looked more like a caricature than a woman he would say. She had lips that were so big she could easily be a cartoon character and in his eyes she was the ugliest creature ever, until she smiled. The room glowed when she smiled and he'd never seen anything more beautiful than her. Wilson was around fifteen years old and he asked his cousin why he stayed with her when there were so many other better looking women out there that wanted him. As Wilson told it he was the star of everything he did, from sports all the way to music. A real ladies’ man and the ultimate catch. His cousin just looked at him and answered that when she smiled there wasn't a more beautiful woman anywhere in the world, so all he needed to do was make her happy so that she would always smile. It was a win-win situation. If she was always happy she would never leave him and always smile. If she always smiled he'd always have the most beautiful woman on his arm. He had died in a drinking and driving accident shortly after, leaving Wilson only ever seeing his successful, popular side. It was easy to idolize an idea when time couldn’t add in failures and disappointments.
She didn’t even look up when she finally responded.
"I am here waiting to die." She didn't move a single muscle as she mumbled, "The problem is that death isn't coming fast enough." I hadn't felt so alone in my life as I did right now and couldn't help but wonder if this was what my future was going to be like. Broken, abused, and just waiting to die.
Our conversation was cut short as the metal door burst open, The King charging in. There were two men behind him dragging a much smaller man, but with the sudden explosion of bright light I couldn't see his face, only a silhouette. His hands and feet were in chains as they threw him to the floor.
"It seems like it's our lucky day, Mrs. Bailey," The King laughed as he paced around the room. "Now I will admit, capturing this Renaud fellow was a very expensive endeavor, but we got him! It cost money and lives, but we cornered the bastard and in the end, he didn't even put up a fight."
He kicked the metal stand Maria was on with a big kick and snarled, "Get out of here girl. I got work to do here." Maria responded like a good little robot and scurried away out the door. Everybody had a story and something told me that hers was one of those sad complicated ones that would get a TV special with everybody commenting on how sweet and innocent she was.
They brought in a chair, letting it scrape against the floor. A big man grabbed Renaud by the hair and drove him into it, forcing his whole body to shake. There was no fear in him though. Not that I could see, at least. He looked beaten, but he didn't cower or drop his head like I would. He sat there with a sly grin on his face like there was a big joke and only he knew about it.
He placed his hands on the table across from me and said, "Jenny, I found you. I have been looking for you all day." The only thought I had was for Renaud not to push this guy because it wouldn’t end well for either of us. If he was aware of this fact, then he didn't act like it. He just kept smiling.
Slamming his fist on the table, The King snorted, "You haven’t been looking for her!" He pointed in my direction. "She has been with me the whole time." Pounding on the table again he huffed, "She is here because of you and your big mouth. You put Wilson in the hospital, too!"
Drumming his thumbs on the tabletop Renaud kept a smile on his face as he chirped, "Not me. You have the wrong man, I think."
Slipping on a pair of brass knuckles, he drove his fist into the back of Renaud's head.
Sending his face crashing into the tabletop, The King muttered, "Don't lie now, tough guy. After what you did my brother, you have a lot of answer for." Johnny was leaning against the wall, but kept bouncing back and forth as the sweat dripped off his forehead. Renaud’s face was still lying against the tabletop as a small pool of blood formed in front of him. I didn’t understand it when he burst into laughter, still tapping his thumbs.
“What do you find so funny.”
“Oh, just how life has a few surprises in store for you,” Renaud said as he laughed and laughed. “Just wait until the man you’re really searching for comes knocking at your door.” He tapped his hand on the table and snickered, “When you hear that, send the big slower guy over there. Just don’t expect him to come back in one piece.”
“Who is coming after me? The devil himself?”
“No, the one that hunts you won’t be that kind.”
Slamming his fist onto the table The King demanded, “Who is he?” Looking over at his little brother he asked, “Johnny, come over here.” Slowly, Johnny came over to the table. His whole body seemed tight as he stepped in front of Renaud. “Now is that not the bastard that told you to bring me a message or not?”
His eyes went big as saucers as he stuttered, “It looks like the same man, only there is something different about him. I can’t put my finger on it, though.” Johnny didn’t just look confused but scared as he grabbed Renaud’s face, twisting it around to get a better look. “He looks older somehow.”
“Or maybe it’s the wrong man,” said Renaud. “The one you want is a lot meaner than me and he’ll likely feed on you.” It was scary just how crazy he was acting. Maybe it was part of his plan to throw them off their game. It looked like it was working.
“I can’t say for sure, but he looks a lot like the man that I met that night.” He kept inching back bit by bit. “He just seems different somehow.”
“Yes, different because it’s a different man.”
The King seemed confused as he let the hand with the bloodied brass knuckles fall to his side.
“Are you mad?” he asked. The King didn’t seem confident as Renaud looked up from the pool of blood with a grin. I hadn’t noticed it until now, but the pool in front of him was a thick black liquid and not regular blood. Running his finger through the black liquid, it was obvious that he was trying to decide if it was an illusion of some kind.
“Probably, yes” was all he said as he looked up at the kid. “I didn’t ask to involved in this, but you pulled me into it and you don’t even realize that the true monster is going to be coming and bringing Hell with him.”
"Mrs. Bailey, is this Renaud Barthélémy? You have known him longer than anybody, if I understand correctly.”
“Yes, that is him,” I said, feeling like I was betraying him as the words left my lips. I don’t know why I felt guilty because he wasn’t denying it. It wasn’t like I was selling him out. It just felt like somehow, by confirming who he was, I was loading the gun that they would use to shoot him. I had hurt him and in many people’s eyes I was the most selfish bitch that ever walked the face of the earth, but I had never done anything that I thought would lead to someone’s death.
“Ok, we know who you are and we know that you and that bitch of yours, Murlin broke my littl
e brother’s arm and threatened me to save Mrs. Bailer here,” he said as he pointed at me.
Renaud slowly stood up, allowing the chains to dangle from his hands.
“Yes, call Murlin a bitch and see what that gets you.” Johnny leapt back as the words left Renaud’s lips. Murlin had always scared me, but she seemed to terrify Johnny.
Renaud snickered, “Oh, I believe a girl broke your arm but it wasn’t Murlin. She would have taken the arm, not just broke it.”
The King was still examining the black liquid on the end of his finger like a child examining a new bug. “Is this your blood? You got some kind of disease or something?”
“’Or something’ is more like it,” Renaud responded as he wiped it from his nose and mouth. “You truly don’t want any part of this. Trust me.”
“I need you alive for now, at least.” The King said as he pointed at Johnny, “Go get the doctor.” Johnny didn’t have a second thought about high-tailing it out of there. He didn’t look like a coward, but he acted like one. The door closed behind him with a loud click. Turning, he looked at Renaud, "You’ve got some kind of infection or blood poisoning, I think. It's nasty business."
He looked sad, not sick but now it seemed to me that he returned home to die and not steal away the company that his brother built. It wasn't greed that pulled him home, but a need. tragedy dragged him home like angry mother drags home a naughty child.
"You’re dying.” The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Renaud was still standing there smiling, "No I’m not." A dim stream of sunshine broke through the meshed window, striking the floor. "I am not the one that will die here today." He sat down and looked down at his like he was deep in thought.
I reached over and touched his hand. It was hot like a sun burn. His skin was sandpaper, even though it appeared as soft as a baby’s skin. "Are you ok?"
"I’m just waiting for the sun to go down. That's when all the fun starts to happen," he whispered as he pulled his hand away. He started drumming his thumbs on the tabletop like we weren't even there. He had always loved his sunsets. It was probably the only thing in the world that he thought was more beautiful than me when we were kids. Anytime I couldn't find him hanging out with Mike, all I had to do was walk to the river. That is where I always found him, just sitting there watching the sunset.
"And what do you think is going to happen when the sun goes down?"
"Hell comes looking for you. You and I aren't the biggest monsters in this city. No, he will be just waking up and I imagine he is going to be in a mad mood. A very bad mood and I think he will blame me."
"And why is he coming after me then?" The King seemed confused and agitated. He was the kind of guy who saw himself as smarter than most and controlled everything in his world.
"You have me, so to kill me he is going to have to destroy you." The constant drumming on the tabletop seemed like it would never end and made everything seem more real somehow. That constant, annoying thumping sound made the danger seem closer than ever.
The King dropped his hand and covered his thumbs. "And who exactly is our uninvited guest?" His cold grey eyes glared as he added, "I would hate to be rude and unprepared to receive company."
"My brother is coming," was all Renaud said. "He’ll storm your castle and soon there will be a new King."
"Renaud, your brother is dead. He died over fifteen years ago." I couldn’t help but to blurt out this fact.
"I know. We are all dead, but he is still coming and he won't be happy." He began to laugh madly at this point, almost dividing the room. He was slapping the table and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It looked like he had lost it, but I was starting to think that might be a good thing.
Gripping Renaud around the throat, the King demanded through clenched teeth, "What do you find so funny?"
Laughing so hard that his face was red, Renaud gasped for air and said, "I was just thinking that this is the first time I’ll need a priest. The only time I need Mike is not to save my soul, but to give me a quote from the bible about when the dead walk the earth that the end is near, so that I’ll have a good punch line." He was still chuckling as he added, "And he would probably have one, or maybe I should have spent more time praying in church rather than staring down Jenny's blouse as a kid."
Looking at me, The King muttered. "If this is your hero Mrs. Bailey, I think you will be with me for a long time."
Renaud whispered, "Recludam," as the clink of chains jingled and the cuffs on his hands popped open. He jumped up and struck the king in the chest screaming, "Revolt!" The blow sent him flying across the room where he struck the wall, the air from his chest. He stayed there with a dull look in his eyes as he tried to get back onto his feet. I don't even think he realized what was happening, only that somehow he ended up kissing a cement wall.
A younger man burst through the steel door with a long, thin silver blade in his hand. As his head entered the room Renaud cried out, "Clausa" as the door slammed on him. A loud shrill shriek followed by curses echoed and I saw his wrist sticking through the edge of the doorway. Renaud ran to the door and opened it slightly, pushing the man's damaged wrist out of the doorway and driving his body against it, forcing it shut and whispering, "Clauditis." There was a loud click and he turned to face me, only to find a three-foot piece of wood connecting with his face. He didn't just fall, but dropped to his knees, tumbling facedown to the floor.
The King kicked him repeatedly screaming, "Son of a bitch!" Watching his temper tantrum explode I could almost feel the pain as Renaud's ribs broke one by on with each strike. "You son of a bitch!" Finally, he stopped as Renaud's motionless body laid there spilling contaminated blood on the floor.
Two men came in and pointing to me he snarled, "Get her out of here!" As they dragged me away in chains all I could think of was that all the rumors and legends about the Barthélémy family were true. The problem was that there were so many; each one scarier than the one before it. Was Jade going to end up a victim of the legendary curse too?