My head was swimming as I slowly pulled open my tired eyes. My sight was hazy, the world around me blurry and out of focus. I blinked a few times and the room I was sitting in began to clear up.
It was dark and damp. I could see wooden beams vaulted overhead and a little bit of sun light leaked in from a small, high window. I could feel the rough rope that bound my arms together behind the back of my metal chair. I was the only one in the room and the few sounds I could hear were my own breathing and the distant hum of city traffic. At least it didn’t seem like I was still in the city.
The creak of an opening door to my left alerted me to the fact that I was no longer alone. I quickly closed my eyes again and pretended to still be unconscious, hoping to find out some more information about what was going on.
“Is she still asleep,” a voice asked in a British accent. Smith, I could only assume.
“Yes. What are you planning for her,” another voice asked. This one was in a French accent. Must have been one of the brothers.
“Hmmm…just talk, at first. If she continues to be stubborn then…we’ll have to give her some more persuasion.”
“I hope it takes us awhile to crack her. I really want to have a chance to make her feel the same pain my brother is feeling.” I smirked internally know just how much it must irritate him to know that a teenager had taken down his brother.
“You will have your chance Le Blanc, do not worry.”
“Are you going to give her that file?” Smith chuckled darkly.
“Of course, not. It’s not like it will do her any good. She would just forget soon enough.” A cold chill settled deep into my bones as I listened to the threat of Smith’s words.
I felt a hand grasp my wig and pull it off along with my wig cap, allowing my dark red hair to tumble down around my face. The hand came back and grabbed my hair in a firm grip at the base of my skull and forced my head back. I gasped and my eyes flew open at the movement. A mouth came close to my ear and Smith’s voice once again blew warm air onto my face.
“Good morning, Miss Doe. How are you feeling?”
“Like I was just knocked out by chloroform. What do you think?”
I could feel his mouth turn up in what I was sure was a smirk. “Such a charming thing you are, Janie. Don’t you think Warren?”
Warren Le Blanc stood in front of me, crossing his arms to appear imposing. It was working.
“What do you want, Smith?” I asked, trying to keep the tremor of nerves out of my voice.
“What do I want? I just want to give you what you want, Miss Doe. But as you know, everything has to come at a price. It’s just how the world works.”
“Cut the crap, John. We both know you’re lying through your teeth. So, why don’t you just explain what you want then we can go through the process of me saying no and you just trying to persuade me more? Then I’ll escape and we can be done with this.”
He chuckled darkly again. “Like I said, charming.”
He pushed my head down and walked around me until he was standing just in front of Le Blanc.
“What I want is quite simple. You join Ghost.”
“I’ve already told you people, not a chance. I don’t want that life.”
“Well that’s too bad, Janie. Because, guess what. You were made for this life. The least you can do is align with the winning side.”
“I wasn’t aware there was such a competition.”
“Oh, there’s a lot you don’t know. Trust me.”
His smirk lessened slightly as he noticed that I was smirking right back.
“There’s a lot that you don’t know, too.”
He moved his face closer to mine until his nose was nearly touching mine.
“What do you know, Doe?”
I looked in his eyes. Really looked, hoping to find a spark of the Smith that saved me from Ghost or who tried to comfort me after I messed up. I knew I was showing too much emotion, but I couldn’t help but try to reach him.
“Smith…think. Think really hard. I know you remember, deep down.”
For a moment, I thought I saw a small glimmer of the old John I knew, but it was quickly clouded back up by the stranger. The stranger laughed.
“I really don’t know what nonsense you are going on about, Miss Doe, but know this, you will join Ghost whether you like it or not. I’m sure Mr. Le Blanc here would be more than happy to help me persuade you.”
With that, he stood back up to his full height and snapped his fingers. Warren lit up like it was Christmas, rolling his shoulders as Smith began to walk from the room.
Just as he was about to exit, I called out to him.
“What does White mean, Smith?”
He froze.
“What?”
I hesitated for a moment. “White. You may not remember, but you slipped me a note that had the word on it.”
It seemed like a few hours before he turned toward me even though it was probably only a few minutes. His face was hard as stone, blank in a way I had never seen it before.
“Think really hard, Janie. You might just answer your own question.”
He turned and left without another word.
I tried to turn over what he had said in my mind, but my thoughts were cut off by the sickening sound of joints popping. My attention was brought back to Warren Le Blanc and the monstrous task I had before me.
This could be very interesting.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Eckerd chapter.