The Riot

Chapter 26. Don't Trust The Locks

The stage of the Portland Coliseum was an island of light in a sea of shadow. Rayna stood at center stage, her violet guitar strapped across her chest, the weight of it finally feeling like a shield rather than a burden. Above her, the rigging groaned under the weight of a thousand lights, and the air smelled of ozone and floor wax.

​"From the top of the bridge, Rayna," Caspian’s voice crackled through her in-ear monitors. He was a silhouette at the soundboard, three hundred feet away in the darkness of the house. "I want the delay on the loops to trail off like smoke. Don't let the bass swallow the shimmer."

​Rayna nodded, her fingers finding the familiar frets. She stepped on the pedal, and a haunting, ethereal chord blossomed from the massive line arrays, echoing off the empty rafters. It was beautiful- a cold, metallic sort of beauty that belonged entirely to the world Caspian had built for her.

​But the music was short-lived.

​Through the clear plastic of her monitors, she heard a muffled shout. Then another. It wasn't coming from the speakers; it was coming from the stage-left tunnel- the artery that led directly to the "Green Zone" dressing rooms.

​Rayna stopped playing. The sudden silence in the arena was deafening.

​"Caspian?" she called out, her voice echoing.

​At the soundboard, the silhouette stiffened. Caspian tapped his headset, his posture shifting from artistic director to predator in a split second. Even from the stage, she could see the tension in his shoulders. He didn't answer her. Instead, he vaulted over the edge of the sound booth and began a dead sprint toward the backstage area.

​Rayna didn't wait for permission. She unslung her guitar, propped it against its stand, and ran.

​The hallway was a bottleneck of adrenaline and black tactical gear.

​Jax was backed against the white cinderblock wall, his face flushed a dangerous shade of crimson. Max, Caspian’s lead "Suit," was a wall of muscle between Jax and the stage door, his hand planted firmly on Jax’s chest.

​"I told you, kid- stay in the lounge," Max growled, his voice a low rumble. "You don't have clearance for the stage during soundcheck."

​"Clearance?" Jax’s voice cracked, raw with the kind of street-level defiance that didn't care about tax brackets or nondisclosure agreements. He shoved at Max’s arm again, a futile gesture against a man who moved like a mountain. "She’s not your property, you suit-wearing hack! I found her. I saw her playing for change on a platform while you were probably counting your gold bars. She belongs with us, not locked in your plexiglass nightmare!"

​"She belongs wherever she's safe, and right now, that isn't next to a loose cannon like you," Max countered, his voice like grinding stones.

​"Step back, Max."

​The command didn't need to be shouted. Caspian arrived, his boots clicking rhythmically on the polished concrete. He didn't look at the guards; he looked at Jax with an expression of profound, weary contempt.

​"What seems to be the problem, Jax?" Caspian asked, his voice a dangerous, low-frequency hum. "Is the catering not to your liking? Or do you just have a pathological need to be a liability?"

​"Liability?" Jax lunged forward, stopped only by Max’s immovable arm. "You’ve got her jumping through hoops! She’s out there playing your loops, wearing your gear, living in your cage. You’re brainwashing her, Caspian! You’re turning her invisible so you can keep her as a trophy."

​Rayna pushed through the wall of black tactical vests, her heart hammering against her ribs. "Jax! Stop it!"

​Jax turned his head, his eyes wide and desperate. "Rayna, look at this! Look at these goons. They wouldn't let me out to get a bottle of water without an escort. He’s taking your voice, Rayna. He’s making you think you need him, but we’re the ones who brought you in. We’re the ones who gave you a mic when you had nothing."

​Caspian stepped into Jax’s personal space, forcing the slightly older man to look up. "You gave her a mic. I gave her a fortress. You gave her a chance to be heard; I’m giving her a chance to stay alive. While you’re busy playing the rebel, I’m the one paying for the perimeter that is currently keeping a psychopath from reaching her."

​"You love the control, don't you?" Jax sneered, his voice trembling. "You love that she has nowhere else to go. You’re not a protector, you’re a warden."

​Caspian’s eyes flashed- a spark of that raw, territorial fire. He leaned in close to Jax’s ear, his voice a lethal whisper. "If you breathe one more word of that nonsense in front of her, I will have my team escort you to the service exit. I will leave you in the rain, Jax. And I will tell the 'S' exactly where you're standing. Do you want to find out if I’m joking?"

​"Caspian, enough!" Rayna cried, stepping between them. She shoved at Caspian’s chest, then turned to Jax. "Jax, go back to the room. Now. You’re making this impossible."

​"Rayna, he’s-"

​"I said go!" She was shaking, her voice cracking. "I fought to get you in here. Don't make me regret it."

​Jax looked at her, his face falling. The fire died out, replaced by a hollow, broken sort of betrayal. He looked at Caspian, then at the guards, and finally back at Rayna.

​"Fine," Jax whispered. "We're going. Enjoy your throne, Queen."

​He turned on his heel and marched back toward Dressing Room B, Shane and Leo following like shadows.

​Caspian let out a sharp, jagged breath. He turned to Rayna, his expression softening just enough to be human. "I told you he was volatile. He thinks his history with you gives him a pass to ignore security."

​"He’s just scared, Caspian. He feels like he's losing me."

​"He is losing you," Caspian said, his voice flat. "To a world he can't understand. But that doesn't give him the right to compromise the perimeter." He turned to Max. "Check the lounge again. I want a full sweep of their room. If he’s that agitated, I want to make sure- "

​"BOSS!"

​The shout came from Dressing Room B. It wasn't Jax. It was Leo or Shane.

​The sound was different. It wasn't the sound of an argument; it was the sound of pure, unadulterated terror.

​They moved as a single unit. Caspian, Rayna, Max, and the guards sprinted the twenty feet to the door of the Iron Vanguard’s lounge.

​Jax was standing in the center of the room, frozen. Shane and Leo were backed into the corner, Leo pointing a trembling finger at the coffee table.

​The room was supposed to be the "Green Zone." The most secure place in the stadium. It had been swept by K-9 units an hour ago. The guards had been posted at the only door.

​There, sitting in the center of a silver tray of fruit and bottled water, was a small, velvet-lined box.

​Caspian reached for his belt, pulling Rayna behind him in one smooth motion. Max drew his sidearm, the click of the safety being disengaged echoing in the small room.

​"Nobody move," Caspian commanded.

​He approached the table slowly. He didn't open the box; he looked at the lid. Taped to the top was a small, hand-calligraphed note.

​THE CAGE IS ONLY AS STRONG AS THE LOCKS. AND I HAVE THE KEYS TO EVERY DOOR. -S.

​Caspian used a gloved hand to flick the lid open.

​Rayna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Inside the box sat a Polaroid photo. It was a picture of the Iron Vanguard’s dressing room- taken from the exact corner where Shane was currently standing. The timestamp on the bottom of the photo was from ten minutes ago. Ten minutes ago, while they were all shouting in the hallway.

​But it wasn't just a photo. Resting on top of the picture was a master electronic keycard. It was the specific, high-clearance card used by the arena’s building management- the one that could bypass every biometric lock in the facility.

​And draped over the keycard was a single, long strand of lilac hair.

​"He was in here," Jax whispered, his face turning ghostly white. "While we were in the hall... while we were five feet away... he was in this room."

​"Max, lockdown!" Caspian roared, his voice shaking the walls. "Close the tunnel! Nobody leaves this wing! I want a headcount of every janitor, every tech, every local hire!"

​Caspian turned, grabbing Rayna’s shoulders. His eyes were wide, the mask of the "King" completely shattered. He looked genuinely terrified- not for himself, but for the breach.

​"How?" Rayna whispered, looking at the lilac hair. "Caspian, how did he get past your men?"

​Caspian didn't answer. He looked at the keycard, then at the photo. He looked at the Iron Vanguard, who were shivering in the corner, and then he looked at the ceiling, as if the stalker were watching them through the vents.

​"He didn't get past them," Caspian said, his voice a haunting, hollow realization. "He's not a ghost. He didn't bypass the system."

​He looked at Max. "This keycard... it’s not a copy. Look at the serial number."

​Max leaned in, his face hardening. "That’s the Arena Director’s personal card. He’s supposed to have it on him at all times."

​"The Director is in the front office," Caspian said. "The only way to get this card is to be someone the Director trusts. Someone who belongs in the 'Green Zone.'"

​Jax took a step forward, his fear momentarily replaced by a cold, sharp clarity. "You said your perimeter was perfect, Caspian. You said we were the 'points of failure.' But the leak is on your side of the fence."

​Rayna looked from Jax to Caspian. The two men who claimed to be her walls were now staring at each other across a room that had been violated. The "Green Zone" was no longer a sanctuary; it was a hunting ground.

​"If it's not us," Rayna said, her voice steady despite the trembling in her limbs, "and it's not your team... then who is left?"

​Caspian looked at the door. "The venue staff. The promoters. The local 'hospitality' crew." He turned to Max. "Bring me the list of every person who has entered this wing in the last hour. If they aren't on my payroll, I want them detained."

​"You can't detain the whole stadium, Caspian!" Jax shouted.

​"Watch me," Caspian snapped. He turned back to Rayna, gripping her hands "The show goes on. If we cancel, he wins. He wants us paralyzed."

​"Are you crazy?" Jax cried. "He’s in the building! He’s in the wires!"

​"He's in the wires," Caspian agreed, his voice regaining that terrifying, cold edge. "Which means we change the frequency. Max, move the Vanguard to the Obsidian bus. Weld the doors if you have to. Rayna, you stay in my sight. From the moment you leave this room to the moment we hit the stage, you do not breathe without me."

​Caspian picked up the master keycard and snapped it in half with a single, violent motion. "We aren't trusting the locks anymore."

​He led her out of the room, leaving the box and the lilac hair behind. But as Rayna walked through the silent, white-lit hallway, she couldn't shake the feeling that the "S" wasn't just a stalker. He was a virus. And he had already infected the fortress.