Prison of Blood and Lies

Twenty-Three

“I-I’ll be right back. Sorry.”

I pushed through the crowd toward the exit and looked around. I saw the back of his head over the others.

“Excuse me! Sir?”

It could have been my imagination, but he picked up speed. I ran to catch up to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He spun around. Up close, it was clear that this was no look-a-like.

“Vance?” Tears welled in my eyes. He was alive. I smiled up at him. “You’re alive.”

He gasped. He made the face he always had when he was trying to hide something.

“Vance? I think you have the wrong person, ma’am. Sorry.” He turned away and started walking away. I grabbed his wrist.

“I know it’s you, love. Please, why don’t you recognize me?”

“I already said. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please leave me alone.”

I kept hold of his arm, afraid to let him go. I something shiny reflected streetlight off his hand. I glanced down at it. A wedding ring. And it wasn’t the one I gave him.

I dropped his hand. “What is this? Vance? Vance? Answer me, dammit.” The joyous tears in my eyes were replaced by heartbroken tears.

He looked down at me. Was it pity I saw in his eyes? I needed to know. I threw my energy at him. He was going to tell me what was happening, one way or another.

He swayed on his feet and smiled.

“Alice,” he murmured.

“I knew it was you, Vance. Tell me what’s going on right now.”

“I go by Richard Hayes now. Vance is dead.”

“Richard? Your name is Vance. You’re my husband. Why didn’t you look for me?”

“Because I didn’t want to.”

I couldn’t hold my concentration any longer. I dropped my energy. Since he was still human, he would be under my effects for a few more moments. He turned, stumbled, and walked away.

I let him go.

I had no words. There was no rage. Only the desolate void my broken heart left in my chest remained. I felt nothing. Numb.

I wished that he had, indeed, died. It would have been better to mourn his death for the rest of my life than to learn whatever it was that I just learned. What did I learn? I couldn’t even think straight.

I dragged my feet for the few blocks back to the first nightclub. I don’t remember what I said to the bartender, but I cashed out.

I couldn’t muster the energy to call another taxi. I trudged to the prison, lost in my dark thoughts.

Why would Vance not want to look for me? Why wasn’t he happy to see me? It just didn’t make sense. We were happy. We’d been on vacation together before everything happened. It was a last hoorah before we became parents. Everything in our lives was perfect until the attack.

I wrapped my arms tight around myself and let the tears flow freely. There would be time for questions later. I just needed to be alone with my heartbreak.

Robert didn’t say a word when I walked in the front doors. He didn’t try to make me go through the screening. He just let me pass.

Gemba sat in his office with the door closed. Through the glass panel, I saw another person in there with him. It looked like they were having a heated discussion. Gemba threw a pen at the man’s head. He ducked and it hit the window of the door, leaving a spiderweb of cracks behind.

I kept walking until I reached the office area. In the bathroom, I undressed and drew myself a bath. I hung my messenger bag on the hook behind the door. They needed to be in my sight at all times.

When the tub filled with hot water and the bathroom filled with steam, I lowered my weary body into the water. I laid back until the back of my head rested on the bottom of the tub. I opened my eyes and looked out the water to the ceiling.

I stayed at the bottom of the tub and let the sounds of the water echo in my ears. A benefit of being undead was that I didn’t need to break this peace to come up for air.

I stayed under the water, staring, lost in my thoughts even when the water turned cold. I didn’t have the energy to move my body, so I lay there and shivered. I just didn’t understand. I must have been missing something. But what?

Finally, I crawled out of the tub and wrapped a towel around myself. I took my belongings and forced one foot in front of the other until I reached my room.

I collapsed on the bed, shut the lights off, and pulled the covers over my head. The world could wait for me to process.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke tangled in the blankets. The thought of facing the day was too much. I couldn’t bear dealing with reality just yet. I fixed the blankets and went into the comforting darkness once more.

Maybe hours, maybe days, perhaps minutes passed. I couldn’t be sure. Maybe it had only been a few seconds. Someone pounded hard on the door.

“Go away,” I called out.

“Alice. Get up. I need your help.” It was Gemba. He sounded pissed.

“Not now. Later.” Getting out of bed seemed like an insurmountable task best left to someone else.

“No. Not later. I wasn’t able to get anything out of Tucker. I need your skills. Right now, Alice.”

“I can’t. I don’t feel well.”

“You’re a f*****g vampire. You don’t get sick. Get up or I’m coming in there.”

I thought maybe if I ignored him, he’d give up. I rolled over onto my side, facing away from the door.

A loud boom hurt my ears and made me flinch. The wood frame of the door splintered, and the door flung open, bouncing off the wall.

I sat up and pulled the covers up to my chin. I realized that I’d gotten into the bed nude. Gemba was the absolute last person I wanted to see me in this state.

“What? Please leave.”

“Jesus, Alice. You look like garbage.”

“Thanks,” I snapped.

“What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“In that case, get your ass dressed and meet me downstairs. That s**t Tucker isn’t cooperating. You need to get him a little more compliant for me.”

“Fine,” I said.