Madeleine Abducted (26 page)

Running
his fingers lightly across the keys, he thought of how long it had been since
he played. Over the years, he’d slipped so far into the shady dealings of The
Estate, into his position as the executioner, that he recognized his father had
been able to corrupt him, had been able to turn a spirit that at one time had
been pure, to one that was infected with the poison of death and decay. He’d
begun killing at the age of fourteen. Barely a man, he’d been taught the basic
use of a gun, of a blade, but it had been the poison that’d grown within him,
the one that eventually would fill him during each waking moment, that had
driven him to prefer the use of the blade to a gun, to enjoy the bloodbath and
carnage of the kill.

Pressing
lightly down on one key, the sound reverberated throughout the room. With his
right hand, he slowly played the notes as he remembered them, softly at first,
the song that reminded him of another pure soul in his life. Recognition took
over his instincts; his fingers placed themselves, notes played out of habit
and memory, rather than from reading the music in front of him. Finally
bringing his left hand to the keys, he added bass to the treble, harmony to the
melody, until he was playing a song so beautiful; it mimicked the song of
angels. He became lost in the sound as it consumed him, his hands moving along
the keys as if of their own will. Within the song, he heard the voice of his
mother,
the laughter when she’d taught him and
Xander
both to play an instrument she’d mastered as well as
Maddy
had mastered hers. Birthed by a woman who was
beauty, purity and light, he wasn’t lost to the irony that if there had been a
kindred soul born into the world, the woman sleeping near him had been that
spirit.

When
the song ended, when he played the final notes, he sat quietly, reflecting on
the loss he’d suffered through his life, the darkness that had smothered the
light of his youth, had all but extinguished the spark of life within him.

“That
was beautiful.”

Aaron
spun around on the bench to lock eyes with the deep recesses of a mystical blue
sea.
Maddy’s
eyes sparkled with tears, her expression
one of wonderment and awe. “Who is the composer? I didn’t recognize the name
when I read over the music yesterday.”

Crossing
the room to kneel by her side, he took her hands into his. “My mother wrote it,
had it transcribed under a false name so that my father wouldn’t discover that
she’d continued in her love of music when he had started to slip further into
corruption. He’d loved her, loved her gift of music when they’d met, but like
everything else, he attempted to destroy it, attempted to take a thing of
beauty and turn it into a nightmare.”

Maddy
noticed the pain and loss etched across Aaron’s expression,
reached out to smooth the lines of his face. “What happened to your mother?”

“She
disappeared one day. She’d been teaching
Xander
and I
to play a new song when my father came home unexpectedly and ordered that she
follow him from our quarters. I never saw her again.” The shadow of a child’s
agony flitted across his face before the darkness could once again take over.

“And
Xander
, is he your brother? How is it he’s been part
of this place for so long?”
Maddy
tried to distract
him, to bring him away from the memory of the loss of his mother.

“No.
His father was a member of The Estate. He had attempted to steal from the
business, to make himself a rich man. When he was caught, he and his family
were dragged in as punishment.
Xander
watched as his
father and baby sister were executed … as several men raped his mother before
she too was executed. Before they died they were told that
Xander
would be kept and made a member of The Estate. They died knowing their son
would be trapped in this place. Even in death, they were not granted rest.”

More
tears shed by the angel in front of him,
Maddy
wept
for Aaron, his mother,
Xander
and his family. Aaron
tried to wipe them away, but they fell so fast, so furiously he couldn’t catch
them all. Her face looked so sorrowful, so utterly lost as she absorbed the
details of his life, of the place that she’d been dragged to, of the nightmare
that he’d lived that had become hers as well.

“You
never did answer me that morning in your room,” she said through a quiet
whisper; the hesitancy in her statement made obvious by the tone of her words.

“Answer
what?” Aaron thought back; at first not knowing what she was referring to, but
understanding soon seeped into his thoughts. “About why you were taken?”

She
nodded, the tears still flowing so freely that he wondered if her sobs were
choking back her ability to speak.

A
sigh of resignation floated across his lips, his forehead dropping to hers as
he closed his eyes. His voice was also a whisper as he confessed to her, to
himself, the reason for her captivity. “Yes. Your music is the reason you are
here, the reason you were taken.” He paused, not wanting to admit the
correlation between her music and her abduction; not wanting to admit the
connection
he felt to her before she’d
even known he existed. “My mother, her music was always so … so sad. I
understood the music, I somehow knew that it was her way of lamenting what my
father had become, what he was still becoming. He was a different man when she
met him and married him
;
a businessman at that time. His
slip into madness was subtle, barely noticeable until it was too late. She hid
behind her music much like you do, used it to block out the ugliness of the
nightmare that was manifesting itself around her. When I heard yours for the
first time, I
connected
to it, I
understood it; I understood you.” His eyes
opened
as
he looked deep into hers. “I’m sure my father had me followed, probably had his
men grab you after seeing that I’d gone backstage to speak to you. You see
,
he would have known that you meant something to me, that
your music meant something to me. He hated the connection between my mother and
I when it came to
music,
he did what he could to
destroy it, to make me dark like him. I never intended for this to happen,
Madeleine. But you were a bit of light in my life that my father couldn’t allow
to exist.”

Finally,
a sharp glimmer of anger filled her eyes, a streak of silver through the blue. “Your
father must die, Aaron. No matter what happens from here on out, keep that goal
in mind. Know that you will succeed in ridding this world of the corruption of
his evil.” She grabbed his hand. “Together we will destroy him. If I have to
endure decades of pain, of torture, I will. I’ll give you the strength you need
while you will give me mine.”

Nodding,
Aaron smiled, amazed yet again at a woman who possessed such a beautiful soul,
she could cry for murderers and thieves, but one who could also fight in her
own way against the devil himself. “Yes, Madeleine, he will pay for what he’s
done, and we’ll bring that justice to the world … together.”

Four
months passed, uneventful for the most part, Aaron and
Maddy
kept to their routine, he as the executioner and she as his strength.
Xander
, ever the loyal friend to Aaron, protected her in
Aaron’s absence, becoming her friend, her confidant in those moments when she
grew concerned that the darkness in Aaron was winning, was taking over the man
she’d grown to love.
Xander
swore she had no need to
worry, that Aaron had been an assassin since he was young, had bathed in the
blood of other men for longer than she could imagine. In that time, he’d not
been overtaken by corruption, hadn’t become the monster his father had wanted
him to be. Each day, each night, that Aaron returned home,
Maddy
followed him into the shower, helped wash away the blood from his body, brought
him back into the light. They’d become dependent on each other, he as her
Master and she as his slave, except, in their case,
Maddy
freely gave to Aaron what the other women in The Estate had not been given the
choice to give.
Maddy
trusted Aaron, enjoyed her
submission to him, and knew that he’d always ensure she felt worshipped.

The
alliance continued to grow over the passing months, each unit within the
network of The Estate aligning
themselves
with Aaron,
vowing to stand behind him when the day came to bring down the monster that his
father had become. By the time Winter had loosened its grip on the Earth, they
were in a position to strike, to take down an evil so deeply entwined in The
Estate, he’d become drunk with his power, had made decisions and acted in ways
that’d turned some of his own men against him. He still possessed a large
number of men loyal to him, the most despicable of whom were entranced by his
insanity, gluttons to the malevolence he spread throughout the network.

“Are
you ever going to tell me why you call me Cricket?”
Maddy
frowned as she sat at the table eating dinner with
Xander
and Aaron.

Xander
sat back, a silly grin across his face. “Nope. I thoroughly
enjoy annoying you by not telling you. Why would I willingly give up something
that brings me so much joy?” Smiling brightly at the woman who had become like
a sister to him,
Xander
pushed his plate away,
patting his stomach to indicate he’d eaten too much.

Aaron
laughed, appreciating the back and forth between
Maddy
and
Xander
. He could step in, could whisper to her in
the dark of night the truth behind
Xander’s
name for
her, but he too enjoyed the sullen look she gave whenever
Xander
refused to give her the reason behind it.

The
three enjoyed their time together, laughed and spoke of times past and times to
come when
they were interrupted by the pounding of someone’s
fist against the front door
. Aaron’s entire body tensed, knowing that no
man would pound against his door in such a manner, except for one. Allowing
Maddy
the time to strip off her clothes and take a kneeling
position at the foot of his chair to ensure that whoever saw her would believe
she was the same slave in Aaron’s quarters as she was when present with him in
the halls of the mansion, he paused before he walked briskly to the door. Pulling
it open, he found Emory and Vincent both standing on the other side. Instantly,
his rage bloomed within him, knew that if these two men were at his door, that
a nightmare would soon follow.

“Aaron,
so good to see you.”

The
slime of Emory’s tone rubbed against Aaron’s nerves as his hand moved toward
one of the many blades he had hidden about his body. Stopping himself, he
stepped back to allow the men entrance.

Cutting
to the chase, Emory eyed Aaron when he delivered his message. “The executioner
has been ordered to the ballroom within the next ten minutes.”

Relief
lessening the weight from his shoulders, Aaron remained impassive, absolute in
his refusal to allow any emotion to be seen underneath the mask of indifference
that he wore. He could handle anything his father ordered him to do, as long as
it didn’t involve
Maddy
, there was nothing that could
break him down, nothing that could bring him to his knees. “I will be there.” Moving
to the door, he opened it to allow the men to leave. Walking through the doors,
Emory sneered at Aaron, turned before fully leaving the doorway.

“Also,
the executioner’s slave has been ordered to appear as well.”
A
filthy laugh.
“Sorry, I almost forgot to mention that part.” They
continued their path, disappearing down the hallway as Aaron closed the door.

Xander
stood up, immediately moving to Aaron’s side. “Why would they
request
Maddy
if you are being called in as the
executioner? You don’t think … ”

Holding
up a hand to stop
Xander
in his thought, Aaron
crossed the room, pulled
Maddy
up from the floor and
into his lap as he sat down in his chair. Burying his head into her hair, he
allowed her to soothe him as she brushed her hands through his hair and down
the side of his face.

Seeing
that the two lovers needed a moment alone,
Xander
moved toward the corridor. “I’ll give you two a moment. When it’s time to
leave, call for me. Remember, Aaron, we have ten minutes only.”

Nodding,
Aaron pulled
Maddy
closer to him, his silence
effectively dismissing
Xander
. Once alone,
Maddy
leaned up to brush her lips softly across Aaron’s, an
attempt at comfort that neither of them would truly find. “Could this be it? Will
he order you to take my life?”
Maddy
whispered the
words, too frightened by their meaning to give them any strength.

“I
don’t know.” A confession. Aaron could imagine his father ordering the death of
his slave, wouldn’t be surprised if his boredom had supplied him with the need
for such entertainment.

“Remember
to be strong, Aaron. If that is what you must do, than I’ll never hold you
accountable. You are so close, so very near the day when you can finally erase
your father’s evil from your life and this world. If my death must occur for
that to happen, I ask that you allow it. Take your vengeance knowing that I
watch as a phantom, my spirit standing beside you always.” Placing another kiss
on his lips,
Maddy
shed a single tear as Aaron
deepened the kiss, held her to him like they were the same person, as if their
entwined bodies could somehow become one.

Having
run out of time, Aaron pushed up from his chair, called for
Xander
and opened the door to exit the apartment when
Maddy
had taken her place beside his friend. They marched through the corridor, Aaron
allowing the infinite black to consume him. No emotion could be present in his
mind as he led the woman who was the light within him to the possibility of
slaughter. If he was ordered to kill Madeleine, he would; he wouldn’t fail her
by giving up on the possibility of destroying his father. However, it couldn’t
be done without the black mask he wore, if he were to feel her death as he was
bathed in the warmth of her blood, he would go insane, would die attempting to
kill each and every man in that room. They approached the large wooden doors of
the ballroom and, as usual, two men were stationed to open them, giving him
easy entry into the heart of meeting room for The Estate.

There
was an odd hush over the room, the usual chaos not present amongst his father’s
men. As they entered, Aaron saw makeshift gallows that had been built, six
ropes hanging down from a wooden beam that lined the top. Taking his position
in the center of the room, he faced his father as
Maddy
took her position kneeling at his feet. The silence of the room was ominous,
Aaron’s skin crawling from the odd ambiance of the ballroom.

His
father sat in his usual throne, his eyes burning into Aaron’s. His voice
betraying nothing of his insanity, the refined tone of a businessman, a façade
used to mask the demon that resided within him. “I have requested the executioner
tonight for a very specific purpose. My men and I have grown bored with the
slaves kept on the property, have become sickened by the skin that hangs off
their bones, by the way they’ve loosened from overuse. As such, each slave will
be executed tonight, and you will be the blade that ends their life.”

“Will
my slave be executed as well? She still remains in my service, and I have not
had the opportunity to grow tired of her … she’s not been stretched out from
overuse as your slaves have.” No emotion, not a miniscule sign of the terror
swelling in his heart at the thought that Madeleine could be executed along
with the other women.

“No,”
Mr. Carmichael replied, “I assume that you’ll eventually kill her yourself,
your tastes being as violent as they are. She will not die tonight because I
have another need for your slave. Well, because of that and the fact that I’m
still allowed to taste her when I see fit.” He laughed briefly, before adding,
“Having no others at my service, I may have needs one night that only she will
be able to fill.”

A
growl started to erupt from Aaron’s chest, but he was able to swallow it back
down before it could escape. “Of course, father. What is your purpose for my
slave at this time, if not to be executed with the rest.”

 
“I realized that once you are done
performing your task, we’ll have no slaves left, so who would clean up the mess
you leave behind?” Mocking laughter bellowed from his father’s chest, his
depravity an amusement to him alone.

Relaxing
only a small amount, Aaron looked down at
Maddy’s
back as she knelt by his feet. He noticed the way her skin prickled, the slight
tremble of her body. She would be made to wipe clean the blood of his kill once
again. Looking back up to his father, Aaron said, “Fine, let’s get this over
with. There’s no need to delay my task.”

“Ever
the professional, Aaron; I’d expect nothing less of my son.” Reaching his hand
up, he snapped for Emory to bring in the slaves. The door opened and Aaron
watched as each woman was led to the gallows. Blindfolds covered their eyes;
their hands bound behind their backs. He particularly noticed when Emily was
led out because her body bore the marks of several men; teeth marks and lashes
littered her flesh, bruises and cuts scored skin that had lost the kiss of the
sun while locked up as a slave.

One
by one, the women were led up the wooden steps, placed underneath a rope, and
each one’s arms bound by the rope above their head before they were lifted into
the air so that their feet were barely above the floor. When each had been
placed and secured in position, Emory and Vincent traveled back across the room
to take their places by Aaron’s father. Pulling his blade from the sheath
secured to his back, Aaron started across the room to deliver a quick end to the
women who had outgrown their usefulness.

Climbing
up the steps, Aaron moved toward the first slave. His hand moved quickly as he
sliced his steel across her throat, waited for her blood to spray out onto his
clothing and skin, and then waited for it to pool down below the slave’s feet
hanging inches above the stage. The executioner wiped his face clean with the
sleeve of his shirt, and took a step toward the next slave, but was stopped by
the booming voice of his father.

“Halt!”
Walking slowly from the stage, Aaron’s father traversed the space until he
stood next to
Maddy
. Aaron’s shoulders rolled back,
his spine becoming a steel rod with his fury. Every muscle in his body tensed
up with anticipation of what his father had planned next.

“Now
what kind of entertainment is that?” His father reached down and took
Maddy’s
hair into his hands, pulled her up into a position
where she could see the carnage of the executioner. “You are too quick to kill,
my son. Moving at that pace, all of our preparation for today’s events would
have been for nothing more than a show that lasted only a few seconds.” Looking
down at
Maddy
, he smiled with a lascivious grin.
Pulling against her hair with more force, his smile brightened when a cry
escaped her lips. “Don’t you want to see what the man you call your Master is
capable of doing? How very cruel he can be when taking someone’s life? You are
to watch him, whore. Do not look away because if I see you so much as blink
while he executes the slaves, I’ll request that you be strung up when he’s
finished.”

Maddy
looked into the steel grey eyes of the man she detested most in
this world. Her heart was already breaking for the women whose lives were being
ended for entertainment, who’d been enslaved the same she had. If not for the
knowledge that the man holding her head would soon die, she would have fought
against him, welcoming the death sentence he threatened. Turning her eyes to
the stage, she locked them with Aaron’s, providing him strength with nothing
more than her presence.

“I
want them disemboweled, Aaron.” His father released
Maddy’s
hair to turn in the direction of the gallows while giving his instructions.
“Let their entrails fall to your feet while the light dies in their eyes.”