Little Dead Monsters (18 page)

Chapter Forty-Three.

“Is this a sick joke?” Overbrook asked. “You have quite the nerve to offer us something like this Ryker.”

Everyone in the room was paralyzed as they stared at Allegra through the glass window. Tiberius hardly believed what she had done.

Her once beautiful face was gone, and in its place was the horrific visage of a black and red skull. It was a permanent tattoo created by Jacob, without a doubt.

Like a phoenix rising from the flames, she was now reborn as a living specter of terror with the sole purpose of haunting one man, and one man only—Ryker.

It worked.

Ryker stared at Allegra with wide eyes and his mouth was twitching like a rodent chewing trash. He was terrified.

Through the looking glass, Allegra glared at him with hateful eyes. Her terrifying image told the story they all needed to know; that for all these years, Ryker had tortured her, killed the people important to her, and now he had pushed Allegra far over the edge.

She was no longer his slave. She was a messenger of his doom.

The Romanian twins must have found amusement in all of this as they began laughing and speaking to each other in their language. The one with the scar on his face turned to Ryker and grinned. The cutthroat gesture he made was obvious of their intent.

Even if the Romanians didn’t kill Ryker, Damien certainly would. Ryker no longer had his army to defend himself, most of them crippled or dead from the riot. Without protection, he was a dead man walking.

“It’s over,” Ryker said as he fell to his knees. “I’m finished.”

“Damn right you are,” Overbook cursed as he grabbed his antique revolver and pointed it at Ryker’s head. “My time is too valuable to waste. I should put a bullet in each one of your eye sockets, you greasy little rattlesnake.”

The Romanian twin, with no scar, walked over to the console and pressed the button, closing the curtain on the stage.

“I can look no longer,” he said. “Skull woman bad luck.”

The scarred twin turned to Tiberius and spoke in a thick accent. “Leave us.” He pointed to Ryker.

“No,” Tiberius shook his head. “I can’t let you do that.”

Ryker looked up at him with childlike eyes. “Ty, you’ve never let me down,” he said. “Save me from them. I need to get out of this place.”

Tiberius turned to the others in the room. “Give me five minutes with Ryker,” he said. “And then I’ll leave him to you.”

“Ty? You can’t,” Ryker pleaded. “The Romanians, they’re animals. They’ll skin me and then cut off every limb.”

Yoshida stepped forward and spoke with perfect English. “Romanians get your body. I get your head.”

“After everything I’ve given you Tiberius, you can’t abandon me like this,” Ryker screamed. “I’m your master.”

Tiberius turned to him. “Shut up Ryker. You’re done. At least live the last few minutes of your life with some dignity, if that’s even possible.”

Tiberius turned back to the men in the room. “Five minutes,” he repeated.

The scarred twin walked up to Tiberius and looked him in the eye. “Five minutes,” he agreed. “And then his body goes under my knife. Crazy Japanese man takes his head.”

“What do I get?” Overbrook chimed as he scratched his belly with the butt end of his revolver. “I’m in this too.”

“Big American gets leftovers,” the other twin laughed. “But leftovers very small after we done.”

Overbrook scowled. “I’m sure I’ll find something I can do to the little bastard afterwards,” he muttered. “Let’s give them their five minutes.”

They were finally alone. Tiberius stood like an ominous dark tower, casting his threat over Ryker, who knelt on the ground, quivering like one of his slaves from the pits.

“You will die, that much is certain,” Tiberius said. “Whether or not you suffer first is a different story.”

“Why are you doing this?” Ryker asked.

Tiberius ignored him. “I want you to answer me. Is she still safe?”

Ryker responded with laughter as tears poured from his eyes. It was the hysterical emotions of a man with no hope.

“Why is this funny?” Tiberius said. “I’ll ask you again. Is she still safe?”

“If I say yes? And then what?”

“I’ll kill you myself and spare you from the Romanians.”

Outside the sounds of gunfire went off followed by screams and then laughter, which came from the twins. The Yakuza was shouting in their native language, which was proceeded by more shooting.

“The last of your men are being slaughtered outside,” Tiberius said. “You have no one left. The last thing you can do now is die with some self-worth. I ask you one last time, is she still safe?”

“Yes,” Ryker replied. Tiberius didn’t believe him. He had seen the man lie enough times to know that he was lying now. He picked up Ryker by the collar and slammed him against the stone wall, his head bouncing off of it similar to a softball on concrete. It left a red smear against it. Blood trickled down Ryker’s nostrils and his eyes were glazed over.

“Tell me the truth, where is she?!”

“I sold her,” he spluttered.

Tiberius dropped Ryker to the ground as he suddenly felt all strength leave him, his greatest fear now realized. “What?”

Ryker propped himself up against the wall and smiled as he struggled to keep his head up.

“Three days after the two of you came here, I promised you I would protect her,” he slurred. “I lied. Damien, that bastard, I sold her to him two days later.”

Tiberius felt a hideous anger take control of him.

Ryker coughed. “Who knows what Damien did with her since? Raped her a few times probably, then let the guards have their way with her afterwards. She’s probably dead now. There is no need for more whores in this world.”

Tiberius screamed and the rage took hold of him in an unbreakable grasp. His actions were no longer his own as the anger and the wrath possessed him. Everything around him turned red. He roared like a feral beast and took Ryker’s head in between his monstrous hands and squeezed. Ryker’s horrifying screams only led Tiberius to intensify the pressure and he felt bone crunch underneath his palms and fingers, which clasped onto the pit master’s skull with the strength of vice grips. Ryker screeched out a name, but Tiberius ignored it as everything went red in his hands and Ryker’s head fractured into wet oblivion. 

Chapter Forty-Four.

Allegra looked at her reflection in the mirror within Jacob’s room, now abandoned.

The weak looking girl that she loathed was no longer there and in her place was a woman who haunted all those that caught a glimpse of her. She was now a prophet for death, its message tattooed on her face.

Her beauty was lost forever.

She closed her eyes and held onto that one image that made it all worthwhile: Ryker on his knees knowing that he was finished. Allegra’s looks were the one thing that could have saved Ryker, and she stole it away from him. As the curtain drew to a close, and Allegra stared at the Goblin’s face, she knew this was the last time she would see him alive.

It took a few days to put together the plan but everything fell into place. Allegra had told Tiberius and Jacob of her scheme, but only what they needed to know.

Tiberius was the shield that protected Allegra and brought her to where she needed to be and Jacob was the creator of her weapon, her death mask. Both had executed their roles flawlessly.

Hours before the auction, Tiberius had eliminated Dallas along with a couple of other guards, clearing the path from her chambers to the viewing room. He gave both Allegra and Jacob GPS devices, before escorting Allegra to the auction. Their walk was in silence. She dared not speak. Allegra didn’t want Tiberius to ask about the face that she hid underneath the black veil, which served her as a sheath would for a sword. Her weapon was not meant for Tiberius and she would hide it until the time was right—when Ryker was looking straight at her.

Jacob was tormented when she had requested to have the skull tattooed on her face. He was visibly upset as he placed the needle to her skin and Allegra needed him to be at his best. She was worried that his crying, resulting in unsteady hands, would affect the quality of the tattoo, but he assured her otherwise.

“I’ll give you a new face, and it will be my best work,” he said as he continued to draw on her skin. “But it’s killing me Allegra. It’s just killing me.”

“I want this,” Allegra had reassured him.

And when Jacob was done, he looked at her and began to cry.

“I ruined you,” he said. “I ruined your face. Dear God, what have I done?”

Allegra looked in the mirror and shivered. Jacob had created a masterpiece and it was frightening.

“This is the best thing you’ve ever done,” Allegra said. “Thank you.”

“I hate it,” Jacob said. “I should have refused.”

Allegra kissed him lightly on the cheek. “None of this is on you,” she replied. “It’s what I wanted. What you’ve done to me, I in return will use it to destroy Ryker and that’s all that matters.”

Jacob nodded as he wiped his face with the back of his sleeve.

She tried to smile, but it was difficult. She did her best nonetheless. “So tell me, truthfully, how do I look?”

“You look like hell.”

Allegra laughed and Jacob joined in and they embraced each other. All their tears and laughter over the years accumulated into that one single moment where they held onto each other, knowing they might never see each other again.

“I’ll miss you,” Allegra finally said. “Do you know where you’ll go?”

“Somewhere far away,” Jacob had replied. He paused. “I always wanted to go to Paris. They embrace artistic vision and creativity.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she said. 

“Come with me Allegra, when this is all done,” Jacob invited. “There’s this wonderful place in Paris called the Louvre and they have all these amazing paintings there. We can visit it every day and eat baguettes and cheese and drink wine until we can’t stand anymore.”

“I want to,” Allegra said. But then she shook her head. “But I can’t. Not right now.”

“You will leave this place, yes?” Jacob asked.

Allegra avoided the question. “Paris sounds so beautiful. I wonder if a freak like me can even walk down the streets.”

“I promise, I will fix you. We’ll restore your face to normal.”

“Normal…” she paused on the word. “That sounds nice.”

“You’ll come and visit then?”

“Yes,” she said. Whether it was the truth or a lie, even she couldn’t tell. “I’ll find you at the Louvre.”

“The Winged Victory. That is where I will wait for you,” Jacob had said.

And now she stood in Jacob’s empty room. She glanced around and noticed that the tools were all still there. Jacob had left almost everything behind, except the pictures of the children he drew. They were all taken down from the wall.

“Au revoir,” Allegra whispered to the empty room.

Chapter Forty-Five.

She wandered to the quarters where the other girls stayed. In the distance she heard more gunfire and screaming, but it didn’t seem to faze her. Allegra was tired of being afraid.

She opened one of the chambers and found a couple of the girls huddled in the corner, holding each other and covering their ears. They were frightened by the gunfire.

She spoke to them. “It’s me, Allegra.”

The girls looked at her, shocked at first, but then their faces softened and turned into sympathy.

“Allegra?” one of the girls, Shannon, asked. “Is that you? What did you do?”

“A bad make up job,” she joked, though no one seemed to laugh.

“What’s going on out there?” Amanda, the other girl, asked.

“It’s all crumbling down,” Allegra replied. “This place is no longer our prison.”

“I don’t understand,” Amanda said.

“Ryker’s finished. We’re free to go,” Allegra replied. The word
free
felt foreign on her tongue, as if it were fabricated from a dream.

Shannon was still in disbelief. “But the guards–”

“Are dying,” Allegra cut her off. “We don’t have much time though. We have to get out of here before whatever survivors are left come and find us.”

The two girls were quick to spread the news and soon they all gathered into the common area. The rest of the slave girls gasped when they saw Allegra’s face, but they realized what she had done for them. It was no secret that Allegra, once envied of her beauty, was to be auctioned today.

Her face was her sacrifice.

One of them went up to Allegra and hugged her and cried.

“Thank you,” she whispered into her ear. “You saved us. Thank you.”

The other girls surrounded Allegra and embraced her as well and the tears and happiness washed over them like gentle waves on a shore. 

Allegra closed her eyes and welcomed their embrace and for the first time since she was imprisoned, she felt confidence. The useless girl she was before, who leeched onto other people’s strength, was now dead. Allegra had found strength of her own.

“Dog,” she whispered to herself amidst the gathering. “It’s over.”

When Allegra released the last girl from her arms, she looked at them all and smiled. “We have one last task here,” she said. “And then we are free and we can live again.”

They released the boys from the prison while Allegra watched from the shadows. She wore the black veil over her face so that they wouldn’t be frightened of her. They’ve been scared more than enough already in their young lives.

“You’re going home,” Amanda said as she unlocked the gates to the cells and the prisoners poured out of them. Some of the older boys, the veterans, helped take charge and organized the newer slaves into groups.

Gunshots were still heard in the distance, and some of the boys would shiver at the sounds, but the shooting was less frequent now. The battle outside was winding down. The survivors would find them.

“You have to leave now,” Allegra said to Amanda. “Take the boys somewhere safe.”

“You’re not coming?”

Allegra shook her head. “I can’t,” she said. “Look at me.”

“Allegra, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, then, and now,” Amanda said as she lifted the veil and touched her on the cheek. Her hand felt comforting.

“Thank you,” Allegra said as she closed her eyes and took in the warmth of Amanda’s touch. “Thank you.”

“Please, come with us Allegra,” Amanda repeated.

“I still have to find Tiberius,” she said as she lowered the veil again. “I can’t just leave him.” She gave Amanda her GPS device. “Use this to get out of here. The red marks are the mines.”

“I’ll never see you again, will I?” Amanda asked.

“Promise me you’ll live a good life outside of here,” Allegra said. “Start over and forget about this place and live for the both of us.”

Allegra looked at all the slaves, helping each other and she smiled, though no one could see it from underneath the veil.

It was only days ago, these boys were forced to kill one another, but now they stood together, side-by-side. The strong helped the weak and the old guided the young. It was beautiful to see the true meaning of humanity once again.