Untrustworthy-Chapter 15/Arden's Addiction

All we heard was some heavy pounding on the door while we were trying to figure out how to take Elysa's TV past everyone downstairs. Then came a muffled, "POLICE!" and we heard the door broken open and footsteps running up the stairs. They paraded everyone downstairs and outside and asked a lot of questions. They were especially interested in Elysa and I, who we were, what relation we were to the owner of the house, etc etc. It was just Elysa, me, Jacob and Mayor at the time. They took us all to the police station.

In the end they had to let us go. They searched the whole house, all three and a half stories of it for hours...and found nothing. They asked us so many questions in separate rooms, and I was scared because I knew Mayor would know if I squealed. I kept seeing Arden's blue predator eyes and deadpan face when I was being quizzed, and repeatedly told the investigator I didn't know what was going on. He could see I was freaked out. It was the same for Elysa, I could see by her face afterwards that she hadn't told them anything.

We walked out of the police station, while the first few stars winked on in the frosty night sky. Mayor looked pissed. Elysa and Jacob were walking side by side, hands in their pockets looking down at the ground. I was just worried that my mom would find out...and was hoping that she figured I was with Elysa enjoying some harmless fun.

Mayor whirled around on us and snarled, "Who told? You guys better tell me, because if I don't find out from you Arden will."

We all stared at him blankly and shrugged. "I was the one who warned you about this!" Jacob yelled at him. "I came right after the assembly just to tell you guys to be ready. Kids at school can't take that kind of pressure and not crack. Somebody gotta crack."

"Damn highschool kids." Mayor muttered. "It's a good thing we got everything out of there before the cops came. Gage will find out." We were standing by the road, silent.

"So, we gonna take the bus back?" Elysa ventured. Two seconds after she said that a car pulled around with Royal driving. Mayor had called him to pick us up. The ride back home was tense and silent, both Elysa and I thinking that any moment now Mayor was going to ask what we were doing moving all of her stuff out of her room. He didn't.

"We just have this stuff to take and we're home free." Elysa sighed once we were alone again, up in her room. "I guess there's no use in tipping off the cops now, unless we can find out where the coke is hidden. Then they'll know for sure it was us, unless we can find it with no one the wiser."

She looked downstairs to make sure the coast was clear and then we sneaked out, her carrying a box of dvds and me with her tv. We were soft shoeing it across the empty living room, when we heard sounds coming up from the basement. Elysa reached out an arm to grab me even though it took two to support her box. Fingers made strong by desperation dug into my biceps.

"Sara, that's Micaela's voice!" Ignoring the dvds that had begun to spill out of their overfull container, she started to the door.

"Wait!" I put down the TV. "Put down your box so we don't get caught." I was half irritated with her, half scared, and yet unable to squelch the thrill of spying on the enemy as we slipped through the door and down the stairs. We paused on the fourth step, bending double and peering out under the concrete ceiling into the basement, where Andrew appeared to be crouching in front of three people; Gage, looking strong and cruel in a black t-shirt with a red dragon on it; Mark, sitting on the arm of a sofa; and directly in front was Arden.

"You owe us a lot of money. We've given you three months to make good, and it hasn't happened yet. You're out of time." Arden said quietly. He was speaking so low we could hardly hear him from where we crouched on the stair, and there was something so utterly sinister about the way he placed his words that I fought the urge to turn around and flee. Andrew looked like he was about to say something, but Gage cut him off.

"What's more, we know your girlfriend is the one to call the cops. What are we supposed to do about that?"

Andrew's voice sounded like he'd been crying. "Let her go!" Elysa and I both bent lower at this and I heard her gasp as we saw Micaela bent over in the corner. Her hair was hanging down and she was slumped over, but what little we could see of her face revealed dark bruises standing in stark contrast to her light skin.

"No." I heard Elysa whisper. I had frozen in place, like a fixture on the stairs. Why is she so still? I wondered, chills running up and down my spine. Why is she even here? Is she dead? We all heard it, the soft groan that came from Micaela's corner. She wasn't looking at anybody, wasn't speaking...how badly had they beaten her? I remembered what Jacob had said about Mark. He wouldn't have done this, Gage had.

"Let her go!" Andrew pleaded, his voice cracking. When he turned his head to look at Micaela I could see that his face was red and wet with tears. "I'll do whatever you want." He promised Arden. He got up off his crouching position and stood on his feet. "Whatever you want." He repeated. Arden smirked down at him, not saying anything for a few seconds, letting him feel the weight of his situation.

His voice came out cool and soft, somehow smoothing the New York accent out into a drawl. "You've been blowing us off for sometime now. It seems like the only way to get your attention is to hurt your girlfriend." He nodded to Gage, who turned like he was going to kick Micaela. But Mark walked around and stood in front of him. He was taller, and bigger than Gage.

"What are you doing, Mark?" Arden asked dangerously.

"I came down in the middle of this. I know you want your money back, but take it out on the boy, not the girl. We're going to let her go."

Arden's next words dripped honey. "Aw. Are you feeling guilty, Mark? Do you think this will redeem you for killing your daughter? You buried her and came running to me, the one friend from jail you could trust, and we managed to pin it on the guy you'd been shooting at. Poor daddy's girl just walked into the fire when daddy was trying to protect her from the burglar. Of course the police didn't know it was actually a personal friend turned enemy over drug turf." Mark didn't say anything at all.

"Step aside if you don't want to go to jail again, Mark." Mark stepped aside, but Gage looked unwilling to move. Arden sighed and turned back to Andrew. "Do you know what the Japanese drug lords do, when someone can't pay a debt?" Mark gave him a look, as if he didn't like what Arden was going to say. "They cut off a finger. I think that's a good way for you to pay, don't you?"

The three of us stared at Arden in horror, and Micaela gave a pained grunt. "N-no."

"What?" Andrew asked, looking shocked. "What did you say?"

"Just the pinky finger. They take in payment for debt, no matter how great it is, and it can also be used to absolve any wrong done to an enemy. You've both wronged us and you owe us. This isn't just between you and me. It's Micaela's life and all the money you owe me, in exchange for one little part of your hand that you don't even use. Do it, and we'll never bother either of you again. Otherwise,"

He stopped and motioned to Gage, who lifted a heavy looking sword off the back wall and handed it to him. Arden unsheathed it. "I'll be cutting something other than your finger." He turned and took a step towards Micaela. Andrew darted forward and caught his arm crying that he would do it. I could only watch in horror as Arden smiled down at him and then handed the sword back to Gage.

"You do it." He said lazily. "Bring me the finger when you're done then let them go. Mark, get that other kid out of here." He turned and walked away, up the stairs leading outside from the basement. We heard the door close and stared at Gage, who was looking at the naked sword in his hands. Mark watched Gage, not saying anything. Mark stood slowly, went over to Micaela, hauled her up to her feet and slung her easily over his shoulder. He too left the building.

For a moment Gage looked sick, then the color came back to his face. "What the hell, you deserve it." He growled. He grabbed Andrew by the hand and slammed it down on the table by the couch. At the same time I heard Elysa thundering down the stairs. Gage looked up at us, and a grin spread on his face. He just waited as she flung herself at him, shrieking, "Leave him alone!" Then laughing, he pushed her hard so that she fell.

"Stupid." He said contemptuously. "Do you think that I could be stopped by someone like you? This kid has a debt to pay."

I was walking down the stairs now, not sure what to do. He looked up with a gleam in his eyes.

"Sara, coming to join the show? You guys can sit there." He motioned towards the couch, brandishing his sword. Gage was enjoying himself. Andrew sat very still, not bothering to brush the tears from his face. Elysa was getting up with murder in her eyes. As Gage stepped towards her menacingly I looked around and saw a chair.

Without a second thought I picked it up by the legs and swung it with all my strength, connecting the chair with the back of his head. Hot blood rushed through my head in a rush of triumph when I hit him. Maybe Aurie and I aren't so different.
He staggered and the sword clattered to the ground, his back to me. I kicked him behind the knees and he went down. It had felt scarily good to kick him, to feel the contact.

Andrew looked up blankly as Elysa, on her feet now, kneeled by Gage's head and brought her elbow down on his temple. Gage jerked and then didn't move. He lay still on the floor and the three of us ran for our lives up the stairs. Elysa and I went the way we came but Andrew ran the opposite way to the door outside, the same one Arden, Mark and Micaela had gone through.

The door flung open and we burst out into the living room, Elysa in front of me. I was breathing hard and was already thinking in a detached way that we might have killed Gage. My brain realized the implications were serious, but somehow I couldn't get my emotions up to the same level. The only thing I felt at the moment was urgency. We had to get out of there. The dvds and tv were right where we left them, but neither of us gave them a second thought as we raced to the front door. Just when we were a few feet away from it, it opened and we came face to face with Arden.

Both of us screamed, whirled around and then chose different paths. I ran straight up the stairs because they were closest. It took me a moment to realize Elysa wasn't behind me, and that I was running the stairs alone. She'd gone through the kitchen and out the side door that I'd forgotten about. I heard someone yell "Hey!" And couldn't tell who it was. I thought I could hear someone running behind me too, but fear just made me faster. The fire escape was on the third floor and I didn't ease up the pace until I was there and going past the rooms.

"Sara." Jacob stepped out in front of me, blocking me from my escape.

"Get out of my way!" I screamed and knocked him over, but Royal was there too and there was no getting past him. He grabbed me and flung back through an open door into Arden's room. I landed on my butt and looked up to see Arden coming in. His black hair was tousled and sprinkled with snow, and he looked slightly flushed from running up all those stairs. He smiled and entered as I scrambled to my feet. He didn't bother shutting the door. I could see Royal blocking it, and Jacob behind him.

"You're fast for such a small thing." Arden said coolly. My breath came in short pants. What was he going to do to me? I tucked my hands behind me, my eyes wide with terror.

He looked down at them, and chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not going to cut off your fingers."

"Get away from me." I breathed. Had he found Gage? "I-I'm glad we killed him."

Arden's eyes widened for a second, as if a thought occurred. "Are you talking about Gage? That can't be. He's too strong for two girls and a wimpy kid like that." He turned around and barked at Royal. "Where's Elysa? Go find her and keep her quiet." Then back to me. "You two must think I'm really stupid. I saw you two hiding up there on the stairs like kids trying to skip curfew. It was really funny. I had to leave so I'd catch you guys when you sneaked back up again, after Andrew's punishment of course. I didn't think you guys would be able to leave until you'd seen that, people usually don't." He took another step forward, as I scrambled to my feet, my palms sweating.

"You know, I've loved you for a long time."

I didn't know what to say to this new twist in the nightmare. It was too surreal. "Y-you've only known me for two months."

"No Sara. I saw your picture on Myspace and liked you then. You were so cute." My breath caught in my throat.

"Myspace?" He had to be kidding me. He was almost thirty, and I was only sixteen. I knew at least one girl in my grade who was dating a thirty year old, but that seemed so gross. Too gross to think about. I shook my head. "You didn't come all this way just to be..."

"With you. Yes."

"I'm only sixteen you-" I spat out a slew of descriptions.

He just smiled eerily. "Sixteen? Your Myspace says eighteen." I flushed a little, I'd done that when I created the Myspace with Elysa at the beginning of last semester, when we'd first gotten to be friends. Mom was right.

"Don't worry." He continued in his dark, quiet voice. "I knew you weren't that old.

Jacob's told me all about you, and Elysa." My heart was thudded quietly in my chest. I had to get out of here. I looked at Jacob standing in the doorway for help but he shrugged and smiled.

"I told you he had an addiction." He said quietly. "I just didn't say it was you." His low voice sounded just like Arden's. I was surrounded. I braced myself to run, I was going to knock him over and leave either by the stairs or fire escape. I heard a drawer open and started; I hadn't noticed that Arden was not in front of me anymore. I looked around to see him take out a container, pop off the lid and draw something out.

"Sara," He turned toward me. "I've been planning this for as long as you've been here. Getting Jacob to sell drugs at your school so I'd be able to move in, nearby. Developing my friendship with Mayor. Learning more about Elysa so I'd know how to get her to tell me all about you. I've been carefully trapping you in."

I'd been trembling like a rabbit until then, almost unable to move. Now I whirled around to run but the door closed in front of me with a click. Arden grabbed my hair and yanked my head back, clamping a damp rag over my mouth and nose. I tried to scream but my voice was swallowed up in the cloth and a strong odor filled my lungs. I couldn't fight against it. Arden's voice softly entered my ear, "Don't worry about the age, it's not going to matter." The last thing I felt was his hand caressing my hair as my eyes rolled back in my head.