Barcode: Cavern of Youth (26 page)

Jules refused to listen to anything after hearing we didn’t retrieve the computer he wanted. He stormed out of the room so hot that he nearly steamed his glasses. He mumbled some threat under his breath that even I couldn’t make out. Gardezi apologized for the decision I had to make and promised that he’d get Jules to calm down. Gonzales never said a word. Though I could tell she was upset, she continued reading whatever she could see on my face.

Now, I’m stealing one of Dennis’ cars in order to drive Seth to his facility. It turns out, he had too much alcohol and his brain shrunk to the size of a peanut during his coma. It’s rapidly recovering. Antonio estimated that he should wake up screaming in pain within the next hour.

Great. I survived an entire week without getting my butt kicked by the dork and he’ll be up in no time, angry again.

I hold my fingers on the ignition as Carmen moans, “We should get going.”

“That’s the first time you initiated a conversation with me all week. Still having nightmares about the way I killed Bobby?”

“I’m not having nightmares.” She folds her arms and stares at the military vehicle parked next to our car.

“You wake up screaming every other night and crawl closer to the edge of the bed.”

Carmen opens her mouth, but closes it quickly. “Did you really have to murder him?”

“Yep.”

“Have you killed a lot of people before? Like Bobby and Tony?”

“Way more.”

“In cold blood?”

“Of course.”

Carmen grips the seats tightly and goosebumps possess her arms. “Why?”

“Many reasons, but none that will satisfy you. People don’t always die for a reason and I don’t always kill for one. Death is as natural as life.”

“Would you kill me?”

“You’re too pretty.”

“Was the other Carmen pretty too?”

“Good point.” I recall a similar discussion with Blue-Skin. I’m still listening to Vincent’s phone conversation, so I’m a bit distracted. Even if I weren’t, I doubt I could come up with anything that would make her feel better. “You really don’t want to go down this road.”

“I want to know if the guy protecting me will kill me if I make him angry, or if he’ll listen through a door before strangling me to death.”

“Is that what you think happened?” Carmen still won’t look at me. I guess I can see her face either way so it isn’t too impersonal. “Sure I’d kill you. Death is all I know. I’ve murdered friends and look forward to slaughtering members of my family. And Helios, I’d love to have enough power to finish him.”

“Finish?”

“I’d kill you in a second if I found it necessary. But for your sake, I would talk to you first. Does that make you feel better?”

“No.”

“I warned you.”

Seth’s heavy breathing fills the silence between us. I lean back on the brown leather seats of the all black four-door coupe.

“Why aren’t you starting the car?”

“I’m listening to a really good episode of gladiator plans.”

She leans back in her seat. “Who?”

“Vincent.” That name makes her fall silent. I’m sure she hasn’t forgotten the day with the council.

Vincent and Angie currently live in a high-rise a few blocks away from our building. Though he doesn’t own the entire place, he has enough floors to conduct his work.

At this moment, he’s being visited by Malik. The puppy sits in his office nervously and I don’t blame him. Vincent’s room has the heads of some of the most fearsome liminal beings known. They’re lined across all four walls, and a few are stuffed on the mantles. His entire office is one floor dedicated to him. Strangely, the windows have been covered, blocking out light.

He’s in a studio-style room with leather couches, large televisions, a fully stocked bar, and an open kitchen where he hires chefs to cook for his business partners and late night company. It’s a well hidden secret that he’s somewhat of a whore.

Vincent finally ends his conversation with Perry. After hanging up the phone, he walks over to his bar.

“Where’d you get these animal heads Professor Colt?” Malik asks as Vincent pours two glasses of a seventeen-year-old Bowmore Single Malt Scotch.

Vincent hands Malik a glass before finding his seat. He gently swishes the drink in his glass and inhales the aroma, rolling his eyes to the back of his head. “Various parts of the country. I had to travel to the East Coast to catch a few of these.” Vincent takes a sip of his drink. He smacks his lips a few times and gently nods. Then, he opens his top drawer and removes a bottled water.

Malik chokes off his ignorant gulp, but pretends he’s in shock, “Whoa, Mr. Colt. You collected all of these yourself?”

Vincent adds three drops of water to the whiskey. He breathes it in once more while sliding the bottled water across his large desk. Malik gleefully grabs it and gulps down half.

“Yes. Killing them is easy. Stuffing them and getting the head proportions right is difficult. Anyway, remind me why you’re here?”

“I came to talk to you about the finals celebration. You said you wanted to get the girls there?”

“You and your father invest in this every year?”

“Kind of. I do most of the work,” he utters while taking a very cowardly sip of his drink. Vincent flares his nose and unleashes a disgusted grunt when he notices the action.

“Right. I want you to put the ladies up for display. I can get you the women from Block 22 in Louisiana. You do at least watch the games, right?”

Malik’s eyes light up. “Of course. You’re bringing the trophies to my party?” The puppy nearly spills his drink. “I can’t believe this.”

“Don’t refer to it as a
party
ever again. That’s low class and beneath you. Consider it a banquet. You can use the second floor of this building. It’s not a studio like this, but there’s a large open space.”

“That’s great Mr. Colt.” Malik rubs his glass nervously. “But what will the girls do there? None of us have won a tournament.”

“Please. Use the sluts as you’d like. I personally want
you
to stay away from them, but they’re no more than low class prostitutes to me now. I’ve just been given approval to start the games in East LA.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. You can entice your friends to join you by letting them know.”

“Sounds boring for me,” Malik says nervously, hinting his desire to be entertained.

Vincent clears his throat. “With the games underway, I’m happy to know that you’ll be the victor. I’ll have Angie and Carmen there for you as well. I want you to keep your mitts off of Angie for the most part, but use Carmen as you please.”

“But I thought she was your—”

Holding his hand up he enunciates, “The girl is a decoration. Honor. Prestige. You can use her like the other prostitutes. But make sure to hold off from my daughter until you’re married. Next year, she can hopefully make me a boy so my wealth can truly set in. You better be capable of making a boy.”

“Yes sir.”

I observe Carmen from the corner of my eyes while starting the ignition. She has to adjust her cape before sitting up. Then, she leans towards me. “What did you hear?”

“Nothing. It was a waste of time.”

Her eyes show concern. She’s hiding something.

Honor. Prestige. Why?

Slowly, I pull out of the underground garage. I take the second-level freeway towards Los Angeles. We cruise a little over one hundred miles per hour, taking in the scenery. We exit Rosecrans from the I-110 and continue down a two lane road.

This area is active and booming. Unlike Griffith Park where everyone concentrates on business, there are a lot of citizens strolling the streets. It’s very diverse too. I see god-level non-gladiator citizens talking and walking with regular humans without tattoos.

God-level civilians are easy to distinguish because they’re more privileged. You don’t need barcodes to notice them. They’re the clean cut professionals in suits. Many wear rings that cover their entire index finger. It gives them certain perks at businesses. Gladiators generally don’t need those. The armor and barcode scanners determine ranking and status.

At least in this city people aren’t so stuck up that they’d avoid each other like Griffith Park.

Here, things seems slower. The speed limit on the streets are lower, forty-five miles per hour. After drifting at a snail’s pace to Seth’s building, I look over at Carmen and murmur, “I don’t get it.”

I exit the car, throw Seth over my shoulders, and approach a triangular shaped building. It’s made out of pure gold and stands seven feet at its peak. Carmen calls Antonio as I place Seth on the ground.

“Hey Antonio?”

“Yes dear?” I hear on the other line.

“What the hell is going on?” she asks gently.

“Is there a problem?”

“The GPS is pointing to Seth’s pyramid. We can’t get him any help here. The building is smaller than Kay’s kitchen.”

“Oh. That’s just an elevator. Seth has serious security on his place. He makes sure that no more than five people can enter or leave at a time. And he doesn’t allow anyone access into the building without some serious clearance.”

“Throw him on speakerphone,” I demand. The second she hits the button, I scream, “You want to say this now? Not
before
I bring an unconscious Seth?”

“I knew you wouldn’t do it otherwise.”

“Why can’t you open it?”

“Have you ever noticed that scar on Seth’s back? It’s not huge and probably resembles any other mark a gladiator would receive, but it’s on the lower half, near his kidney.”

“Yeah. I can hear it.”

“I never noticed it until he made the official switch from Leo to Seth, but every time I try asking him about it, he refuses to answer. He gives me some very random explanation about wild monkeys and apes in his building. Listen to this...”

A few clicks sound on the other line and an automated voice denotes, “13 October 3144.”

Sounding completely wasted, Seth sputters, “I was home and the stupid ape knocked on my glass window. I didn’t think he could get through because it’s bulletproof and all, but he tore it down. The glass shards got me.”

“2 December 3144.”

“I was on the surgery table with doctors all around. Next thing I know, they’re gone and I’m face-to-face with human sized monkeys. I was still connected to the machine so I couldn’t defend myself properly. They got me good.”

“14 February 3144.”

“Don’t go there. I’m warning you. If you ever wanted to know how I got this scar on my back. I’ll tell you about these crazy apes that plague my house. They snuck up on me in the dark, but I have something special for them if they ever try to escape.”

I interrupt, “Okay. I get it. How many of those do you have?”

“Twenty, even.”

“He doesn’t give you a straight answer or access to his facility because of the monkey plague?”

“Yes. But I’ve spoken to the doctors that work on his negative forty-seventh floor. They’ve never seen a single monkey or an ape.”

I rub my temple and kick Seth in the butt. “Carmen. Wake him up.”

“How?”

“The syringe that’s attached to your weapon. Give him adrenaline.”

Laughing, Carmen makes a syringe appear from thin air. “How’d you figure it out?” she asks before stabbing him in the thigh. I listen as his heart rate increases.

“You purposely hide it from me, but I kept replaying what I saw in my mind when you put Seth to sleep. When I couldn’t figure out where the syringe came from, I decided to take a guess and you just confirmed it. How’d you get a weapon without entering the dungeon?”

“If I told you, I’d have to
kill
you.”

Seth wakes up screaming at the top of his lungs. He wipes drool from the corner of his mouth. Calmly and clearly, he articulates, “Good morning.” He doesn’t sound like the drunk we all know and loathe. This tone is more reminiscent of Leonardo.

“Good morning? I can’t believe you fell asleep.” I shout dramatically.

“What? What happened?”

“You put Hayley inside.” I grab him by the collar. “And you let the monkeys get to her!”

Still waking up, Seth turns and looks at his surroundings. “I wouldn’t do that.”

I grab the half-empty bottle of X-Eyes from his pouch and throw it on the street. Passionately, I rave, “You were drunk. You’ve been asleep for a week and I just got your message about Hayley. I swear on your life if you don’t open this building right now, I’ll blow a hole in the ground and find her on my own.”

He jitters nervously, though he’s regaining his drunken demeanor little by little. “You can’t blow through. Nothing can get in or out.”

Falling to my knees I cry, “Why would you do this to me? She’s the only person I care about.” Carmen walks over and rubs my shoulders roughly. She obviously didn’t like the comment too much and shows it by pinching me hard with some needle.

“We’ll have to figure out another way to save her,” Carmen says gently. “He won’t let us in.”

Seth looks around the street and declares, “I’ll rescue her. I promise.”

I excessively stress, “How can I trust you, Leo?”

The sound of his old name nearly brings him to tears. Seth rushes to the front of the building and reads off a series of twenty-five digits. The pyramid spreads open and we all rush inside. Seth presses his finger against a dashboard and keeps it there as the elevator surges down the shaft.

The device is in the center of the elevator and appears to be controlled by his thumb alone. There are no other markings on the black and silver device.

We exit onto the negative fiftieth floor. The dense glass elevator doors open to a control room with a circular screen that covers the walls. There’s a station in the middle of the room and one chair. The control panel only has barcodes spread across it.

“I don’t know where she is, but I can find her from here.” He swipes his hand and the entire panel lights up.

Carmen giggles as I jeer, “No worries. She’s at home, but we need to get you to the surgical room.”

“What? But you said...you tricked me?” Carmen and I nod together. Seth nearly bursts into tears. “Why? I love Hayley. Do you know what you were doing to me?”

“Antonio said you wouldn’t let us in otherwise.”