The Six: Complete Series (3 page)

He felt his heart slowly calm and the sirens that rang in his head begin to dull. As he got his bearings, he could see Milo looking over at him with unblinking eyes.

“What?” he snapped. Milo turned away and went back to his unfocused stare at the wall in front of him.

Marie backed away from the group and walked confidently to the middle of the room. "Dennis. Sit down. Everyone just sit down and stop talking.”

Dennis laughed. "Excuse me? What do you think you're doing?"

"Taking charge. Sit down."

"I don't think so, lady."

She strode over to where Dennis stood and pointed to the ground. "Now."

"Not ’till you tell me who you are. Are you working with them?"

"Unbelievable. It's like dealing with children." She slowly peeled off her suit jacket and laid it on the ground next to her feet. Under her shirt was a white blouse that had a small trail of blood that ran down her left arm. "I’ve studied this. I’m a psychiatrist.”

“That’s lovely,” Dennis muttered. “Do you want an award?”

“God, just shut up already!” Lila said.

Marie moved closer to Dennis and motioned to the floor.

"All right, doc. So what's your big plan? What are we supposed to do about all of this?" Dennis still hadn't sat down, but he'd relaxed his hostile posture and stood, alone, in the middle of the room.

"We need to stay calm and level-headed. That is the only way that we will be able to coexist in this room for any period of time. We all need to be attentive to each other’s moods. No one can unravel, not right now. Lila, do you understand?"

Lila lifted her head slightly and gave a tear-filled nod.

“I don’t know what’s going on, and neither do any of you,” she said in a calm mannered voice. “We cannot risk having whoever brought us here getting any ideas. We need to have each other’s backs. Dennis?”

He bit at his fingernails. “What?”

“We can’t fight. We can’t play these mind games.”

Dennis stood there like a naughty child who’d been caught. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good,” she said, “That’s settled. I think we should all just sit and relax. Maybe get to know each other.”

Milo rolled his eyes, and Dennis chortled. “This isn’t a summer camp,” Milo said. “No offense, I don’t care who y’all are. I just want to go home.”

“Milo, please,” Marie said.

He looked at her with hatred in his eyes. “What?”

She moved on. “Benjamin,” she said, “why don’t you take a seat? Maybe tell us a little about yourself.”

“I don’t see the point of this,” Dennis said.

She sighed once again. “If we don’t shift our focus, then we will fall apart. I’m just as scared as you are. Maybe more so.” Her words hit the ground with a thud.

“I can start,” Simon said.

“Good,” she said.

“I’m Simon Archer. I’m from Peteville.” He almost continued the story, the same story he’d said from rote to dozens of lawyers and police officers and psychiatrists.

Marie smiled and nodded at the rest of the group. “Thank you, Simon.”

Benjamin looked over with a glint of recognition. “Simon Archer. I’ve heard that name before.”

Simon felt his heart beat hard in his chest. He looked at Marie to change the subject and move on to the next person in their dreary group.

“Benjamin,” she said, “how about you?”

He crossed his arms across his chest. “Benjamin Lanston. Criminal attorney.”

Above them the light bulb flickered like it was on its last few breaths. Lila let out a muffled cry, and Marie shot her a preemptive stare to calm down.

Simon lifted the collar of his hoodie to cover the bottom side of his face. He’d seen Benjamin many times before. He’d worked at the law firm that handled the trial against Edwin. Simon and his mom had walked past Benjamin’s corner office dozens of times on the way to the conference room in the back. They’d even had a few conversations after they’d won the case. It was only a matter of time before Benjamin put two and two together.

He had a few Prozac left in his pocket. It had been a long month, and his mom said he needed to cut back. Last year he’d lost his job at the luggage store because he’d fallen asleep in the back of the store after taking a double dose after a particularly hard night. She’d taken his stash and rationed how many he got each day after that. There were still four left over in his pocket. It was only going to get harder from here. If he took them all now, then he’d feel unstoppable for a while, but he’d crash in a few hours. No, he’d have to plan them out, or he could be in bad shape if this all lasted much longer.

He slid the pill out of his pocket and tucked it into the palm of his hand. Benjamin was still looking over at him with that gaze of someone frantically trying to place a face. Simon pulled the hood up even higher to hide his mouth and brought the pill up to his lips. The moment he began to swallow he heard a shout.

“What are you doing?” Lila said.

He looked all around to see who she was talking to, but she was talking to him. All eyes were on him, and Lila had crawled over and pointed a shaking hand in his direction.

“Lila, please,” Marie said.

“He’s eating something.”

Simon threw his hands on the floor. “It’s nothing. It’s just my prescription.”

“Bullshit,” Dennis muttered.

“It is!” he said. “It’s nothing.”

“Why are you taking it? Oh my god, what are they going to do to us?”

“Please!” Marie scolded.

Dennis ignored her. He pushed past Marie and moved towards Simon. “What you got there?”

The pill was stuck in his throat. As hard as he tried to swallow, he could still feel it lodged somewhere down his chest. “It’s nothing. I swear.”

“Everyone, just relax,” Marie said.

It was useless. He crouched in front of Simon and cocked his head like a curious iguana. He could see the sinewy bruise that formed around Dennis’ neck with the scarlet indentions of fingers that had pushed in too far. There was a welt that formed around his eye and his breath stank of coffee and breath mints. Dennis panted hard, and his nostrils flared. “What did you take?” he growled.

Simon’s hands shook. If they knew he had pills, they would take them from him. They were all terrified. They’d steal them. “It’s just a prescription,” he said.

“Bullshit.” Dennis put his hands on Simon’s shoulders and pinned him against the wall.

“Stop,” Simon said.

Marie had leapt from her crouch in the middle of the room and walked over. She had a hand on Dennis’ arm and was speaking quietly in his ear. He hadn’t moved, in fact his grip on Simon’s shoulders was growing tighter and tighter.

“Hey!” Benjamin shouted from across the room, “Leave the boy alone, all right. You’re being an idiot.”

“Excuse me?” Dennis said.

Benjamin walked over and grabbed Dennis by the arm. “Stop. This is getting you nowhere. Leave him alone.”

When Dennis didn’t immediately let go, Benjamin pushed him off and flung him to the ground. Marie immediately made a human barrier between them, and Dennis whimpered off to his corner.

Benjamin slid down the wall and sat next to Simon. He knew. It was the look of absolute pity and uncomfortable energy that he’d seen from every adult around him since it happened. “You all right?” Benjamin said quietly.

Simon nodded. The pill was still stuck somewhere in his throat, and he couldn’t force it down no matter how he tried.

The others were talking amongst themselves. Marie parked herself next to Lila and was speaking in a perky, upbeat voice more suitable for a colorful kindergarten classroom than the barely lit dungeon they were in. Dennis went back and forth between pounding loudly on the door and swatting at the walls in the hopes of discovering some kind of secret passageway.

“You were that kid. The kidnapping trial, right?”

Simon had prayed that his own face would have been washed away in the sea of clients the man’s firm had seen over the years. “Yeah.”

“What’d we get him on? Twenty years right?”

It was seventeen and, with good behavior and parole, he’d be out in ten. “Yeah. I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Of course,” Benjamin said. He’d probably forgotten how he’d declined their case because he thought there was “no merit to the charges” and made Simon’s mother cry. It took everything he had not to punch the man in the face. All Benjamin must remember is the Newsweek cover and their fat paycheck at the end of the trial.

The light above them flickered again.

“We need to get out of here,” Benjamin said.

Simon shrugged. “But how? The door’s locked, right?”

It was then that a booming noise shook the room. “What the fuck?” Dennis said. Lila screamed, and Milo huddled into the corner. Marie stood up and looked around the room for any hint as to what was happening.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she said.

“Bullshit,” Milo muttered.

The light swung from side to side as the room shook again. There was another sound, like thunder swirling around their space.

As the third boom descended on their room, the light went out completely.

There was a scattered shriek and a whimper from either side of the room. Simon bit his tongue and reached for Benjamin’s arm. He needed someone near him. There was no way he was doing this alone, not again. “Everyone, stay where you are,” Marie said.

The room was pitch dark. Simon lifted his hand and couldn’t see even the faintest outline of his fingers. There was a creak from the other side of the room.

“Are you hearing that?” Dennis said.

“Shh!” Lila said.

The door clanged from the other side and thunked as each lock was undone. He squeezed Benjamin’s arm even harder.

It swung open, and there was a pair of footsteps that pounded into the room.

“Hey! Who are you!” Dennis screamed out.

“Be quiet,” Milo whimpered.

The door slammed behind them with a clang. “Where is Simon Archer?” one of the voices boomed.

Simon gripped tighter to Benjamin and buried his head to hide from the mysterious men. Benjamin squeezed his arm back.

“Where is he?”

A pillar of light appeared from a flashlight. They pointed the light directly at the ceiling and illuminated every craggy cement crack on its surface. They flung the flashlight around the room. Lila had her head down and cradled her face in her shaking hands. They slid the light around the wall. He could feel its heat as it neared him.

Benjamin pulled him in even tighter as the light fell over his body and stayed. It was blindingly bright and stung even through his closed eyes. “Get him,” one of the voices said to the other.

Two strong arms grabbed his jacket and pulled him off the floor. Benjamin held on as long as he could, but the man was stronger. “Stop!” Simon said as he fought against the invisible attacker who pulled him up to his feet.

He wriggled and tried to get out of the grip.

“Let him go!” Dennis shouted.

“Don’t hurt him,” Lila said quietly.

He could hear Milo whimper in the corner. All he wanted was to get back on that floor. He hit the man’s shoulder and chest with his fists as hard as he could. He kicked and pushed, but made no headway. As hard as he fought back, he was being pulled out of the room. He grabbed at the door on the way out and his fingers briefly gripped it before being yanked away. With one last push, he was out the door, and it shut behind him.

He got the briefest glimpse of a barren warehouse hallway and the face of the man holding him, a burly weightlifter type with a short beard. There was another person there, a sweet looking middle-aged woman with a black turtleneck and long red hair that ran down her back. She looked over at the man and gave him a nod. The man lunged at Simon and yanked his arms behind his back like he was under arrest. He swiftly knotted a rope around his wrists and pulled it so tight he could feel his fingertips tingling.

“Where are you taking me?” he said as he tried to pull his hands out of the ties.

With a flip of her head, she motioned him to begin walking. Even if he wanted to run, his legs shook so hard he was afraid he’d fall if he dared take a step. The man poked him in the back with his fist. “Walk.”

“I can’t,” he said.

The man rolled his eyes. “Go.”

He tried to move forward, and his knees felt wobbly, like Bambi taking his first steps.

The woman spun around. She was already twenty feet in front of them and seemed to have no interest in waiting. “Walk, or he will carry you.”

Simon forced his feet forward. When he got back to that room, the others were going to have questions. Every detail was important and he forced himself to look, really look, at where they were taking him.

Every few feet they entered another room and moved through another set of locked doors. The woman swiped her card and typed a code before the doors slid open. They walked through identical fluorescently lit rooms with no windows or exits, except through the heavy locked doors.

“Almost there,” she said in a reassuring voice.

It was impossible to remember all the steps and turns. A left, then a right, then another left... or was it straight? And the codes—he tried to figure out the code to the doors. As soon as he had established that she typed 9453 into one door, it was 4324 in the next.