Chapter 30
The camera sat on his right shoulder as he said, “In five, four, three,” and he fell silent, only signaling with his fingers the numbers two and one, then pointed at her.
“This is Tamara Macey with KTNV Channel Thirteen Action News. It’s 7:04am Saturday on the Las Vegas strip and as you can see it’s a lively, busy morning here in Las Vegas, Nevada. People of all ages and all backgrounds come here to have a good time. It’s common for people to never sleep and party into the morning, but before doing that, you may want to think twice. Missing person cases have risen by four percent over the last month, and there’s a twist. Friends and families are vanishing together in groups. The most recent are three men: Eric Stevenson, Marcus Lombardi, and Jeremy Risso. They were last seen at Caesar’s Palace one week ago and were celebrating Stevenson’s birthday. These young men are now part of the many other missing cases that have popped up here in Las Vegas over the last few months. If you have any information on these three men or any other missing persons, please contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department immediately. Reporting to you from Las Vegas, Nevada. This is Tamara Macey.”
Sophia turned off the television.
“We’re running out of time,” she sat on the couch in the living room of the cabin.
“We must prepare,” Lenore was steeping more tea, more of the ashes of their mother Belinda May Osborne.
“Prepare how? We’ve just been waiting here. Aren’t you incapable of dying anyway?”
Odette sat across from Sophia, the coffee table in between them.
She didn’t raise her voice, “That’s not how it works. There are evils so strong in our world, they could destroy anything, even themselves.”
Sophia stood up, “This is exactly why we should be moving fast. Cyrus will not stop until his army is built.”
Rose walked up to Sophia with a cup of tea and handed it to her, "Have some. We understand better than anyone that living or dying is a dangerous dance with time. The only way to stop Cyrus, is to wait for that supreme moment and there is only one. There is only one supreme moment and it’s our responsibility to catch it when we see it and conquer it. But the only way to do this, is to prepare.”
Sophia sat back down and sipped her tea.
“How do we prepare?” she said.
Rose looked at Odette and to Lenore. Lenore moved her eyes to Odette and over to Rose.
Odette waited for Sophia to swallow her tea, “You must take us to Freedom House.”
The cup was cradled between both of her hands and rested on her lap. Words did not have a place in that moment, only locked eyes with anticipation. The silence weighed down on the air around them and pressed on their shoulders. The cup in Sophia’s hands shattered and filled her lap with warm tea. She didn’t budge.
She only said, “Freedom House is gone, burned down to the ground.”
Lenore walked over to the bay windows and looked out at the narrow path lined by redwood trees while she spoke, “Evil is never really gone. Everything it has ever touched, every place it has breathed, is tarnished and upon returning to it, it shows no mercy. The closest to destroying it, is to destroy its maker.”
Lenore turned around to face them, “Don’t you understand Sophia? We are in the business of purging evil. And business is good.”
Odette smiled, “There are three types of people. Those who are evil. Those who fight evil and those who do nothing about it. Imagine a world where justice doesn’t have to rely on the turning hands of time to finally come to fruition. What if justice can be delivered sooner than later?"
Rose placed her hands on Sophia’s. The tea cup that had shattered in Sophia’s lap was now sitting on the coffee table in one piece and full of hot tea.
“Drink your tea. Then we will return to Freedom House,” said Rose. Sophia looked down at her lap and it was dry. There were no remnants of spilled tea on her pants. She leaned over to the coffee table, picked up the cup, and drank it all at once. She released the cup, letting it fall from her hand to the floor. It shattered.
“Finished,” she said.
Green moss hung onto fallen trees and shadows loomed over them. The sky was clear until it wasn’t. Lenore, Rose, and Odette formed a circle and at its center stood Sophia.
“What do I do?” Sophia said.
“Think about Freedom House and then become Freedom House,” Rose said.
Sophia looked up high above her head. Like a time lapse, the clouds rolled by, giving her only a glimpse of each one for a second. Her eyes closed but, even shut, she could see everything.
“Feel it,” Odette’s voice hit Sophia’s ears.
She felt the punch that Officer Morris delivered that day when she decided to go undercover into Freedom House. She remembered meeting Samantha Watson for the first time and Samantha being introduced as Ivy. She remembered when she shook Samantha’s hand, she held it three seconds too long to let her know she had come to save her.
“Remember Sophia. Remember as much as you can,” Lenore shouted and Sophia’s ears rang.
She felt Jonas’ hands around her neck, squeezing past the veins until breath and light escaped for a moment. It was her first pain meditation.
“Think about the pain, the suffering, the disgust,” yelled Odette.
She remembered The Compassion Room and that she chose to break protocol. The white mattress in the middle of the room with the sunroof above was the illusion of comfort. She remembered he made her choose from the wooden wardrobe, carved with intricate designs to distract from what was inside. He made her pick the toys and then he showed her how much pain a human could tolerate. It’s the pain right before death ensues. It’s when Death locks eyes with you but you know if you can just get through this, you might just survive to remember the pain forever. You might just survive to live with the nightmares and wake up screaming but at least it’s only that. It’s the kind of pain that makes you wonder if death was the better choice?
“The more you remember every detail, the closer we are to taking him down,” Rose shouted.
The red door and the faint chanting that came from within its depths of Hell. Girls chanting. It floated through the blackest corridors where even the rats ran away. That chanting stayed behind the red room and taunted, knocked, and begged to be let out. She remembered Samantha returning from her night in the woods with Cyrus. It was the first time they were alone together, feeding the chickens and pigs. Sophia could never forget that childish look of shame in Samantha’s eyes. A guilt forced upon her that was no fault of her own. Sophia remembered asking her what her real name was and how this question turned Samantha’s face so red that when her tears made it over the duct of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, they seemed to sizzle off her skin.
Her words to Samantha echoed in her head, agitating layers of discordant volumes that stabbed at her ears, “My name is Detective Sophia Rey and I’m going to get you out of here.”
Sophia brought her hands over her ears and slammed her head left to right.
“My name, get you out of here. Detective, I’m going to get you out of here. Sophia Rey, going to get you out of here, out of here. I’m Sophia Rey, you out of here.”
She opened her mouth to scream but not a sound escaped and then, a sudden snap, and the echoes stopped. All sound seized and Sophia took her hands off her ears and opened her eyes. She was standing in the hallway of Freedom House. Light was not welcome there and the confining walls were all too familiar. At the end of the hall, the Red Room door was wide open and the darkness stared at her, waiting.
“This is Tamara Macey with KTNV Channel Thirteen Action News. It’s 7:04am Saturday on the Las Vegas strip and as you can see it’s a lively, busy morning here in Las Vegas, Nevada. People of all ages and all backgrounds come here to have a good time. It’s common for people to never sleep and party into the morning, but before doing that, you may want to think twice. Missing person cases have risen by four percent over the last month, and there’s a twist. Friends and families are vanishing together in groups. The most recent are three men: Eric Stevenson, Marcus Lombardi, and Jeremy Risso. They were last seen at Caesar’s Palace one week ago and were celebrating Stevenson’s birthday. These young men are now part of the many other missing cases that have popped up here in Las Vegas over the last few months. If you have any information on these three men or any other missing persons, please contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department immediately. Reporting to you from Las Vegas, Nevada. This is Tamara Macey.”
Sophia turned off the television.
“We’re running out of time,” she sat on the couch in the living room of the cabin.
“We must prepare,” Lenore was steeping more tea, more of the ashes of their mother Belinda May Osborne.
“Prepare how? We’ve just been waiting here. Aren’t you incapable of dying anyway?”
Odette sat across from Sophia, the coffee table in between them.
She didn’t raise her voice, “That’s not how it works. There are evils so strong in our world, they could destroy anything, even themselves.”
Sophia stood up, “This is exactly why we should be moving fast. Cyrus will not stop until his army is built.”
Rose walked up to Sophia with a cup of tea and handed it to her, "Have some. We understand better than anyone that living or dying is a dangerous dance with time. The only way to stop Cyrus, is to wait for that supreme moment and there is only one. There is only one supreme moment and it’s our responsibility to catch it when we see it and conquer it. But the only way to do this, is to prepare.”
Sophia sat back down and sipped her tea.
“How do we prepare?” she said.
Rose looked at Odette and to Lenore. Lenore moved her eyes to Odette and over to Rose.
Odette waited for Sophia to swallow her tea, “You must take us to Freedom House.”
The cup was cradled between both of her hands and rested on her lap. Words did not have a place in that moment, only locked eyes with anticipation. The silence weighed down on the air around them and pressed on their shoulders. The cup in Sophia’s hands shattered and filled her lap with warm tea. She didn’t budge.
She only said, “Freedom House is gone, burned down to the ground.”
Lenore walked over to the bay windows and looked out at the narrow path lined by redwood trees while she spoke, “Evil is never really gone. Everything it has ever touched, every place it has breathed, is tarnished and upon returning to it, it shows no mercy. The closest to destroying it, is to destroy its maker.”
Lenore turned around to face them, “Don’t you understand Sophia? We are in the business of purging evil. And business is good.”
Odette smiled, “There are three types of people. Those who are evil. Those who fight evil and those who do nothing about it. Imagine a world where justice doesn’t have to rely on the turning hands of time to finally come to fruition. What if justice can be delivered sooner than later?"
Rose placed her hands on Sophia’s. The tea cup that had shattered in Sophia’s lap was now sitting on the coffee table in one piece and full of hot tea.
“Drink your tea. Then we will return to Freedom House,” said Rose. Sophia looked down at her lap and it was dry. There were no remnants of spilled tea on her pants. She leaned over to the coffee table, picked up the cup, and drank it all at once. She released the cup, letting it fall from her hand to the floor. It shattered.
“Finished,” she said.
Green moss hung onto fallen trees and shadows loomed over them. The sky was clear until it wasn’t. Lenore, Rose, and Odette formed a circle and at its center stood Sophia.
“What do I do?” Sophia said.
“Think about Freedom House and then become Freedom House,” Rose said.
Sophia looked up high above her head. Like a time lapse, the clouds rolled by, giving her only a glimpse of each one for a second. Her eyes closed but, even shut, she could see everything.
“Feel it,” Odette’s voice hit Sophia’s ears.
She felt the punch that Officer Morris delivered that day when she decided to go undercover into Freedom House. She remembered meeting Samantha Watson for the first time and Samantha being introduced as Ivy. She remembered when she shook Samantha’s hand, she held it three seconds too long to let her know she had come to save her.
“Remember Sophia. Remember as much as you can,” Lenore shouted and Sophia’s ears rang.
She felt Jonas’ hands around her neck, squeezing past the veins until breath and light escaped for a moment. It was her first pain meditation.
“Think about the pain, the suffering, the disgust,” yelled Odette.
She remembered The Compassion Room and that she chose to break protocol. The white mattress in the middle of the room with the sunroof above was the illusion of comfort. She remembered he made her choose from the wooden wardrobe, carved with intricate designs to distract from what was inside. He made her pick the toys and then he showed her how much pain a human could tolerate. It’s the pain right before death ensues. It’s when Death locks eyes with you but you know if you can just get through this, you might just survive to remember the pain forever. You might just survive to live with the nightmares and wake up screaming but at least it’s only that. It’s the kind of pain that makes you wonder if death was the better choice?
“The more you remember every detail, the closer we are to taking him down,” Rose shouted.
The red door and the faint chanting that came from within its depths of Hell. Girls chanting. It floated through the blackest corridors where even the rats ran away. That chanting stayed behind the red room and taunted, knocked, and begged to be let out. She remembered Samantha returning from her night in the woods with Cyrus. It was the first time they were alone together, feeding the chickens and pigs. Sophia could never forget that childish look of shame in Samantha’s eyes. A guilt forced upon her that was no fault of her own. Sophia remembered asking her what her real name was and how this question turned Samantha’s face so red that when her tears made it over the duct of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, they seemed to sizzle off her skin.
Her words to Samantha echoed in her head, agitating layers of discordant volumes that stabbed at her ears, “My name is Detective Sophia Rey and I’m going to get you out of here.”
Sophia brought her hands over her ears and slammed her head left to right.
“My name, get you out of here. Detective, I’m going to get you out of here. Sophia Rey, going to get you out of here, out of here. I’m Sophia Rey, you out of here.”
She opened her mouth to scream but not a sound escaped and then, a sudden snap, and the echoes stopped. All sound seized and Sophia took her hands off her ears and opened her eyes. She was standing in the hallway of Freedom House. Light was not welcome there and the confining walls were all too familiar. At the end of the hall, the Red Room door was wide open and the darkness stared at her, waiting.
