His Favorite Girl (4 page)

Her entire back was blue and purple.  Someone had been beating her in places where no one would notice.  She wasn't just upset.  She was in pain.

I had to tell Patton about this.

But then, how would I explain it to him?  Judy wasn't allowed to talk to me.

A lump formed in my throat and my eyes started to water.  I had no choice but to back up to the intersection before I started crying.

I headed the other direction, following Clifton's route, deliberating in the darkness which of these bastards had hurt Judy.  Sean?  Mr. Shriver?  The nameless guard whose penis Judy had bitten off?  Brian?

Up ahead was a grate with a large fan behind it. I felt the breeze from it growing stronger and stronger, cooling my face and drying the sweat.  It looked like a dead end but I continued on, trusting in
Clifton's track marks.  Sure enough, about ten feet shy of the fan was another vent, only this one didn't have a cover.  Whatever room it led to was pitch black.  I pointed the flashlight down there and found, to my amazement, a crude wooden staircase erected from two-by-fours and two-by-sixes.

I had to crawl past the vent
and flip over on my back so I could get my legs through first.  It took quite a bit of maneuvering and as I slipped out of the air duct and onto the staircase I couldn't help but wonder how Clifton could manage to birth himself from there when it was such a tight squeeze for me.

Unsure of the staircase's stability, I crab-walked down it slowly, lighting my way with the flashlight.  When my feet touched the ground, I paced around the room looking for a light switch.  I had to do two laps before I realized something very peculiar about this room.  I had trouble finding the light switch because light switches are normally next to the door.

This room had no door.

I flipped the switch.

"Holy shit."

The wall
was bare sheetrock, the tiles below powdered with white residue from sanded drywall mud.  Clifton had closed off part of a larger room without anyone noticing.  He must have spent years secretly forging his own secret passageway through this facility.  The dimwitted half-brother stowed away on the utility floor, clearly more intelligent than anyone credited him.

It didn't take lon
g to come upon the most amazing part of Clifton's work: underneath the wooden staircase, he'd installed a trap door in the floor.

A
bove the staircase, a tile from the dropped ceiled was missing right above the vent.  These were hatches leading to Level B and Level D.

The only question was where did the
y lead to?  Did Clifton have a secret room on every floor, all directly above and below the others, from which he accessed the air ducts?  That would mean a
lot
of planning, studying blueprints, working under false pretense, and outsmarting his brothers--even Brian, whom I'd come to look upon as the smartest among them.

I approached the trap door under the staircase and knelt to study it.
It looked like he'd taken a normal wooden door and cut it into a three-by-three square, equally above and below the knob.

I couldn't bring myself to open it.  Suddenly
I wanted to go back.  There would be plenty of time to explore Clifton's labyrinth.  I had a date tonight.

I started back up the wooden staircase and only made it a few steps before coming back down and shutting off the light.  Only a meticulous person would have the patience and insight to do what
Clifton had done, and a meticulous person would not forget to turn a light off.

When I reached the top of the steps, I pointed my flashlight up through the hole in the ceiling and jumped so hard it left me with a sense of vertigo.  Dangling above me was a rope ladder--my immediate impression being two snakes.

I took a moment to breath, then gripped the bottom rung and used it to steady myself while I stood up through the hole in the dropped ceiling.  I pointed the flashlight up again and illuminated a concrete slab with a hole busted through it large enough for Clifton to squeeze through.  Just above the hole, a trap door identical to the other.

The rope ladder hung from metal rings attached to bolts driven into the concrete.  The sight of it made me nervous, even when I considered that it supported
Clifton's weight.  My heart was still pounding, and the darkness only perpetuated my fear.

Yet somehow I found myself climbing the rope ladder--not an easy task to go at completely blind.  The rungs were rounded lengths of wood, like sawed-off pieces of broom handle, and the ropes creaked each time I took a step.

By the time my head touched the trap door I was exhausted.  I hadn't exercised regularly since high school, and then only in gym class.  If I planned on climbing and crawling through this building, it might be time to take advantage of the home gym in my room.

I
held tight to the top rung with one hand and used the other to turn the knob and fling the trap door open, ducking when it crested, teetered for a moment, and then slammed shut just over my head.  I tried again, giving it everything I had.  This time it fell the other way, crashing into the floor of whatever room stood above me.

Climbing up through the hole in the floor was the biggest challenge yet.
  I had to step up the final rungs of the ladder with my hands on the concrete.  One little slip and I would crash through the dropped ceiling and probably break my legs on Clifton's makeshift staircase.  Then I would lie there in the dark, alone, in agony, and die a slow death.  Best case scenario would be Clifton finding me and putting me out of my misery early.

But I made it, and the first thing I did was close the door.

Next I found the light switch.  Luckily this room was nearly identical to the one below.  The same splintery staircase leading up to the same uncovered vent.  The only difference I could find was the absence of another trap door in the ceiling.  Either Clifton couldn't access Level E--Mr. Shriver's floor--due to a difference in the floor plan, or he had simply chosen not to take the risk.

I also considered the possibility that this was still a work in progress.

In any case, I hurried up the stairs and crawled into the air duct, shining my flashlight ahead as I slowly and carefully crawled along his path.

The first junction I came to gave me the option of going on ahead or taking a right.  From the pattern of dust on the walls and floor,
Clifton seemed to enjoy both directions.

I went straight ahead, passing two vents that led into rooms with the lights shut off and unable to muster the courage to shine my flashlight inside.

Soon I came to another junction--again a right turn, and again I kept going straight.  Up ahead I could see another vent with light spilling through.

I slowed my pace, afraid someone might hear me and utterly terrified that I would stumble upon something I didn't want to see.  On any other level I expected atrocity, but here on Level D these young girls lived simple but relatively happy lives until being chewed up and spat out by the company.  If I discovered something sinister happening here . . . if Patton wasn't who I thought he was . . .

A few feet shy of the vent, I heard his voice.  I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I peered down into what looked like an examination room in a doctor's office.

On the matted table sat the eldest Flora, the next up for graduation.  She had her arms crossed over her stomach, her head down.

Patton sat on a rolling stool, elbows on his knees, looking up at her.

My first impression was that she'd fallen ill.  A stomach ache, maybe.

Until she spoke.

"I can't help it, Mr. Patton," she said, raising her face to look him in the eyes.  "I'm in love with you."

I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly through my nose.

Patton did the same.

"Flora, you're not in love with me," he said.  "I know you believe that, but it's just because I'm the only man you've ever met."

"You're the only one I
want
to meet!"  Her voice broke and she covered her face with her hands for a moment, sobbing.  "When I graduate I'm gonna have to marry someone I don't know.  I don't
want
to.  I want to marry
you
."

"I'm sorry, Flora.  I'm with Melissa now."

Flora nodded.  She seemed to calm down a bit.  "I d-don't want to hurt anyone.  I can't help how I feel.  Please don't tell Melissa."

"I won't.  I promise."  He sto
od and put an arm around her.  When he spoke, I could hear a hitch in his voice.  "You know I'm here for you, right?"

"Y-yes."

"You and the others.  We're a family, and nothing will ever change that."

Flora broke down in tears again.  She slid off the table slowly, as though she'd suffered an injury, and hugged Patton around his waist, cry
ing into his shirt.  He hugged her back, petting the top of her head.

"I hope my husband is just like you."

Patton grimaced and wiped his reddened cheek.

"I hope so too," he said.

─A Date─

"BEFORE YOU go trying to pull some shit, keep in mind this is your
only
chance.  If any of you breaks even
one
rule, James will lose his job and the two of you won't see the other side of this door for a long time."

James put his hands in the air like a criminal surrendering,
giving me that annoying smirk of his.  He thought he was the coolest guy around--pretty much the exact opposite of Pete, whom I could have left alone with the girls without giving it a second thought--and Flora in particular was clearly falling for it.  She stood there with her fingers interlocked over her stomach, hair freshly combed with a little white bow on her temple, looking like the cutest, most innocent thing in the world in her textured white sundress.

Liu was smitten as well, but I got the feeling she was just putting on a show to mask her jealousy.  She really wanted Flora.

In contrast, Liu didn't look so innocent.  She'd also raided Kate's wardrobe today, coming out with a tightly fitted red dress that rode way too high on her hips and, with no bra, formed a distinct outline of her nipples.

It's funny how girls fall for the cocky, over-confident personality types as teenagers but find the same men pathetic by the time they hit their mid-twenties.

All I wanted to say was,
He's just trying to get his dick wet.  Stay away from him.

But that's a slippery slope.  Girls need to make their own decisions when it comes to dating and sex.  Once you start cock-blocking because you don't like the guy, you quickly find yourself deciding no one is good enough for your daughter--or sex slave, in my case.

I stood between James and the girls like a referee before a fight explaining the rules.  A self-appointed mother figure with no real experience to back up my play.  I had no problem bossing James around--I even enjoyed it--but doing so to Liu and especially Flora made me feel like nothing more than a bitchy older sister.

I was trying to keep this brief.  The girls had already asked why I was wearing a duster.  I felt awkward enough sporting Kate's lingerie--a white see-through top with a white thong--and the onl
y thing I could find to wear from here to Patton's apartment was this long black coat that looked like it had belonged to a man.

Kate must have been screwing someone.

Now, with James here, I felt awkward and exposed.  I'd been sweating since he walked through the door. I just wanted to get the hell out of here.

"We'll be good," Flora said
, breaking a long silence.  "I promise."

"I know
you'll
be good, Flora," I replied with immediate regret when I saw the embarrassed look on Liu's face.

Trying as she was on my patience,
Liu was still a young, tender girl with a crush, and I'd just made her sound like a slut.

"I know you'll
both
be good," I corrected.  Then I turned to James.  "
All
of you, right?"

"Yes ma'am," James said.  "I mean Melissa--yes, Melissa."

An awkward moment passed.  Suddenly I felt like everyone was just waiting for me to leave, which didn't bode well for the prospect of a harmless, innocent evening, but I couldn't take this anymore.

In
an impatient, deadpan voice, Liu said, "Have fun on your big date."

My guilt for insulting her drove me out the door, but along the way I snatched James by the arm and
dragged him into the hall, pulling the door closed behind me.

"Listen," I said, pointing my finger in his face, "if you so much as touch either one of them, I'm going to have Sean cut your dick off and stuff it down your throat.  Got it?  I'm not fucking around."

James sighed and rolled his eyes, no doubt lighting mine up with fury.  "Melissa, you're just beating a dead horse at this point," he said.  "I know the rules and I know how to follow them.  I'm not an animal.  If you'd at least give me a chance you'd see that."

"I
am
giving you a chance, dipshit.  This is it, right here."

I saw Patton coming around the corner, so I opened the door, waved to the girls, and, giving James one final glare, hurried up the hallway to intercept my date.

Patton had a goofy grin on his face and was holding his arms out for a hug.

"Why are
you wearing a coat?  You cold or something?"

"Mind your own business
."

"What are you wearing under there?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

This had become our routine.  Patton attempts to annoy me with prying questions and I pretend to bull up about it.  Then I pinch his nipple hard and he tickles me, evoking loud shrieks that echo down the hallway, just so he can warn me somberly to keep my volume down, all the while
continuing to tickle me.

By the time we reached the ele
vator I was ready to attack him, but when I tried to kiss him he backed away.

"Dinner first."

I laughed and tried to grab his dick, but he jumped back from that, too.

"Melissa," he said sternly.

"Patton,"
I mocked, sticking my tongue out at him, but his grave expression remained.

I felt my face flushing.
  Suddenly I wasn't in the mood anymore, and I stood there quietly until the elevator dinged.

As we stepped out into the garden lobby of Level D, Patton said, "I don't mean to spoil the fun.  It's just that there's something we need to do before our date officially begins."

"Lead the way, boss."

He smi
led politely and brushed my arm with his fingers.  I jerked away, caught somewhere between playful and pissed off, and followed him to the back left corner of the lobby, where a short hallway led to the infirmary and his apartment.

He stopped and inserted his key in the doorknob.

"You ready?"

"For what?"

"A very important conversation."

I must have looked at him funny because he laughed.

"Is there someone else here?" I asked.

Patton nodded, opened the door, and stepped aside, gesturing for me to enter.

This was the first time I'd been in his apartment and two things immediately struck me.  One, it was much smaller than the living quarters of Mr. Shriver, Sean, and Brian.

And two, Brian.

Brian was sitting at the fucking table.

"What the hell is he doing here?" I demanded, hugging the d
uster tightly around my waist

Brian made me more uncomfortable than any of his brothers
.  Sean had actually been pretty pleasant lately, for reasons I couldn't comprehend.  Mr. Shriver avoided me at all costs, one of the only sources of pleasure I had anymore.  And Clifton was Clifton.

But Brian, he
was an alien to me now--a probing, inspecting, molesting alien with pale skin, bony fingers, and those glittery, starburst eyes.

He sat with perfect posture in his chair like someone with a corncob up his ass.  Nerdy and angry and clammy-handed.
  I hated him.

Patton put his hand
s on my sides and spun me around.

"Why the fuck is he here?" I asked, not bothering to whisper.  I wanted Brian to know how much I wanted him to leave.

"We'll get to that in a moment," Patton said.  "Just have a seat.  I need to use the restroom."

"What a coincidence?" I said.  "I have to piss, too."

Brian giggled like a young girl, and I followed Patton to the bathroom, shut the door behind me, and launched into him.

"How the hell do you spring him on me like this?  I don't like being around him and I'm pretty fucking sure I've told you that before.  What the fuck, Patton?
  I thought this was supposed to be a date?"

"This won
't take long, and then we'll have our date," he said, calm and collected as always.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid you might decline my invitation."

"You still should have told me.  I don't like him
and you know it."

"You
told me, I remember," he said, "but when I asked why, you wouldn't say."

"It's none of your business, Patton."

"I agree, but without knowing
why
you dislike him, I can't assess to what
degree
you dislike him.  I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Melissa.  But we have important things to discuss, and Brian needs to be here, no matter how you feel about him."

"Fine."

I threw the door open against his whispered protest and slammed it back on him.

To my satisfaction, Brian looked intimidated, no longer amused to be the source of my irritation but actually feeling his position of being unwanted and unwelcome.

Yeah, squirm like you made me do, fucker.

Instead of sitting, I walked around to inspect Patton's apartment in detail.  It consisted of a big open room that served as the kitchen, living room, and dining area all in one, with two doors, one leading to the bathroom and the other to Patton's bedroom.  With the dining table in the center, I was
making a circle around Brian, glaring at him when he looked my way, otherwise studying Patton's humble dwelling.

This certainly wasn't
the luxurious, personally tailored suite I'd imagined.  It looked more like a small bachelor pad.  A single-bedroom apartment designed for unmarried college graduates just beginning a new career.  Clean, neat, well-furnished, but nothing fancy or extravagant.

Pretty impressive for a man who could have anything he wanted.

When I heard the toilet flush, I reluctantly approached the dinner table and sat opposite Brian.  It was a long table with ten chairs, but Patton had set us up down on one end together, with him at the head.

"Take your coat off, stay a while," Brian said as I sat down.  Then, before my butt hit the chair, "Hey, is
that my duster?"

"It was in Kate's closet."

"That's mine.  I loaned it to her a few months ago.  I'll be needing that back."

"Go fuck yourself."

He drew back, stunned.

"Excuse me?"

I smiled at him.

"Go.  Fuck.  Your.  Self."

The bathroom door opened.

"You think you can talk to me that way?" Brian shouted.

"After what you did to me?" I returned, even louder.

"Guys, calm down," Patton said, taking a seat between us.

"I'm about to leave," I said.

Brian slapped both hands on the table.  "You see what I'm talking about?  She's a wild card, Patton.  Why the hell do you want to involve her?"

I looked him right in the eyes.  "Fuck you."

"Okay,
enough
."  Patton's voice had the force of thunder, intimidating enough to shut us both up.  "If you two can't find a way to work together we're all screwed.  Brian, whatever you did to her, you need to apologize."

I laughed.  "Apologize?  For what he did?"

"What did he do?"

I shook my head and sat back in my chair, crossing my arms and biting my lower lip.  Tears were welling up in my eyes.  I tried to concentrate on not crying.  I didn't want him to think he'd gotten to me.

Patton could see right through me.

He turned to Brian and spoke with newfound suspicion.  What did you do to her?"

Brian sighed.  When he spoke, he looked at me.  "Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot when Sean first brought you in, but you have to understand . . ."

He trailed off.  I was staring him down, waiting patiently to attack.

"When Kate came to us saying a woman had called to make an appointment, we were a little surprised to say the least.  We only obtain clients by invitation, and we'd never invited a woman.  So we had Bob run all the standard background checks, credit reports, etcetera, and as it turns out this chick is the wife of someone we
did
invite.  So Patton, Mr. Shriver, Sean, and I had a meeting to discuss what to do with you.  We had your photos laid out on the table, all your information.  We even had your senior portfolio from high school."  He paused, glanced at Patton, then continued, "As far as I was concerned, you were too big a risk.  We have a protocol for an instance such as this.  When someone contacts the company who was
not
invited to do so, Sean's guards then stage a robbery to confiscate anything that might serve as a link back to the company, including your computer, cell phone, business card--anything and everything.  Sean, though, he wanted to go a step further."

"What?  Kill me?"

"Yes."

"Big shock there," I said dryly.
  Patton smirked, and after a silent moment I said, "Is this story going somewhere or what?"