Chapter 30
It was morning, the neighbours could be heard packing into the apartment down the hallway and the moving men went up and down, stomping loudly and barking orders. Earlier, two young women and came by to say hello to them and introduce themselves, apologizing about the noise that was no doubt disturbing them from their moving in. Pete had smiled that it was fine and ushered them out with his best charming goodbye. It wasn't up to fifteen minutes when one of the pair returned to borrow a box cutter which he gave out in the same charming manner, adding that she could keep it.
First, Nick arranged the video camera, closed the drapes around the whole house and lit a very bright florescent over the shower head. He was dressed in a grey vest, black jeans and a velvet mask for his silicone covered face. So even if they could for some reason and through some elaborate technical means figure out his face through the mask, it wouldn't be in any size, width or feature his real face.
He had purchased the silicone off a department store. Actually, he hadn't purchased the silicone himself because he knew little details like that was what got big shots caught. He never bought incriminating things on his own, no. Nick had simply tipped a teenage girl with a funny looking haircut and enough piercings to adorn twenty people, he'd given her $100 dollars and she had been more than happy to do the whole shopping for him, give hum her cellphone number and said he could call anytime he wanted someone that do any kind of shopping for him. Nick had simply smiled and went his way.
Back at home, Valeria hadn't exited her room since the crack and dawn and Pete had been in his too after sending Nick to get the accessories. Breakfast hadn't been served that morning and frankly no one quite had the appetite to eat anything, save for Pete who had woken really early and had leftover pizza with warm milk. Even Nick in his usual gluttonous habit hadn't munched or snacked on anything since morning.
At 11:07AM, Pete came out from his room and told the two to follow him. The hallway was relatively quiet but he could still hear hammers being hit and voices raised. The house was totally plunged in darkness, not a ray of sun permeated, the only source of light was the florescents that Nick had installed in Pete's large bathroom that very morning.
Valeria inhaled and exhaled deeply before wearing her silicone mask and pulling on the velvet black mask. She was clothed in a silver vest and a pair of black jeans. Nick stood beside her, wordlessly offering his comfort as she moved to see whatever Pete had come up with to send as a 'bold message' to the Brownsons.
When she entered his room, she at first had to squint her eyes to adjust to the dimness. It was totally black and she followed Nick to the bathroom where Pete sat, cloaked in a black vest, a black pair of jeans and a white woolen material over his silicone covered face. His eyes had tiny holes to see through and for his mouth, there was a very wide slit across that made him look like a masked villian from a horror movie, something Valeria thought was quite fitting considering the whole circumstances.
The bathroom was warm, warmer than the rest of the house and she glanced around to see if the thermostat was too high or malfunctioning, she was almost instantly sweating under her thick best. Before her, was a video camera on a small tripod stand, facing them, a reflector behind it and two external speed lights on either side. Valeria looked around, even the walls had been covered in cheap black wallpaper to cover the tiled walls of the bathroom.
She had known Pete for the longest and had seen him do really terrible things like shoot a man in the head or slice open a woman's throat. But in all occasions, the victim had either been pointing at gun at her or Pete himself. It was self defence and she knew it. One or twice, he'd made an unnecessary kill to get them to safety and she could understand that too. She wasn't a nun and couldn't pretend not to know what blood looked like up close. She had even seen a good number of dead bodies in her years, but seeing a child hurt was stretching it too far. And not just any child, Moses, her Moses that had lodged himself deep within her heart and the same child she had grown to love.
The past night, she hadn't slept but ironically, the child slept relatively undisturbed despite his mild fever and cries the previous night. She wished she didn't have to sit and watch whatever it is that Pete had decided to do inorder to prove his point, wished she hadn't taken this gig at all and wished she hadn't bonded with Moses the way she had.
"Bring the boy" Pete said and Nick rose to fetch him from Valeria's room where he still slept.
The moment he woke, Valeria knew because he cried out and then mellowed as he saw it was Nick. As Nick returned with the child, Moses reached out to Valeria in his usual style and Valeria reached out to take him when Pete snatched him off Nick and glared at her.
"Behave" he shot at her and took the baby.
"Are you ready?" He asked them, eyes moving from Nick to Valeria.
Nick nodded while Valeria simply stated at him wordlessly.
"Start" Pete said and went to sit on a low stool beside the tub.
Nick started the video recording and moved to stand beside Pete by the tub.
"After this video, a text will be sent to you, it would be in your best interest to comply and fast" Pete said into the camera, using his practiced German accent.
Nick handed him a marshmallow which he took and dipped in the tub, it came out soft and he tossed it to the floor.
It was then that it clicked. The heat in the room, the sweats, the fact that the bathroom was picked in the first place. Pete was going to boil the baby.
"No, please" she whispered and moved to the camera.
Pete slowly retrieved his gun and pointed directly at her, the video still recording. Valeria took her hands up in surrender and moved to her seat, mouthing her plea and kneeling down, weeping mutely.
Pete outstretched his hands and Nick passed Pete the baby which he first shook violently before ripping off his diapers and clothes and then with a direct stare at the camera, dripped the baby in the steaming hot water.
The shriek from the one-year-old tore right at Valeria's chest.
"Noooooooooooo!" She yelled out.
"Restrain her, we don't want them thinking we're pussies" Pete whispered to Nick who left his side to take hold of Valeria who was still yelling.
"No! No! Please! He's got a fever!" She cried out as Nick bundled her out of the bathroom, kicking and tossing and punching every inch of him that she could get to.
"Please! Don't do this! Please! Pete!!!! Pete!!!!" She cried out as the baby continued to wail helplessly.
"Next time, it will be fire" Pete threatened into the recording which he hadn't disrupted a bit despite the baby's wails, he moved to the video recording and ended it. He let the baby soak in the water for a few more seconds before taking him out and leaving him on the floor of the bathroom. He then took out his phone and took pictures of the baby's red and peeling skin. It would go along with the video just incase they had doubts about how hot the water was. He needed them rattled and he knew if this couldn't rattle them then just maybe they were wasting their time and had to give up the whole idea at once.
He took a good look at the boy on the floor and then shoved his phone into this pocket before leaving to go and meet Valeria and give her a piece of his mind for the fiasco she just pulled.
"What the fuck! Now we have to cut out the part of that bitch yelling!" Pete snapped as he emerged from the bathroom and took off his mask.
"Stop it Pete! Don't call her that?" Nick snapped.
"Oh wow" Pete replied, taking one long look at him and laughing out, a deep bitter rumbling sound.
"Because you've fucked her brains out? Huh? That's why you're all good and holy now?"
"That has nothing to do with it and you know it, she's upset and she had a reason to be" Nick responded heatedly.
"I see, so now you're on her side? Huh? Have you really thought what this mission needs? What we should do to make it work? Or you don't care just as she doesn't?"
"Listen Pete, we have got to do some shit, I get it, she doesn't, and you can't force her to accept that, just let her be for a while will you?"
"She ruined the whole tape with her fucking tears"
"It's nothing, I'm sure they get the message from the rest of the video or better still, we'll cut that part off" Nick replied.
"Where the fuck is she anyways? Why is she acting all saintly now, what in fuck's sake is wrong with all of you, didn't we all agreed to this?" Pete insisted.
"To be fair, she didn't agree to this, so let her be. She passed out, she's asleep now" Nick replied and went to the bathroom to pick up the baby that was wailing.
"Fuck it all" Pete swore loudly and left to the backyard for a smoke.
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The bush where she hid was damp and smelt like freshly cut grass, the ground an irritating mess of dead logs and rotting bird carcass. She crouched, between a fern and a bushy shrubbery, her left hand on the floor to further support her weight and her right hand clutching the bundle she was trying hard to keep silent. A wad of cotton was stuffed in the baby girls mouth and although she had ceased crying, she was mutely babbling into the cotton still.
Valeria held her breathe, afraid that just one inhale would give her away. The bushes moved and she turned to the left, gasped, before her was the face she had fled from, one eye damaged by a knife wound, slightly glazed over.
"Hello sweetheart" he smiled, a wide menacing grin and then reached for her. Valeria sprang up, taking the child in her arms and turning to run.
The girl was snatched from her hold and she yelled, stretching and reaching but never truly getting to her. In a glint, she saw the bundle soaked with blood, red dripping on the ground of the forest, colouring the green leaves and giving it an eerie purple ting.
"Noooooo!" She yelled as she saw the head of the baby tumble and fall to her very feet, Moses eyes stared back at her, his face calm and a soft smile on his face.
Valeria sprang up from her bed, soaked in her own sweat and tears and tried to calm her breathing. She hissed and olced her own hands to her chest to calm her thudding heart. She wiped her face with the hem of her nightdress and sighed.
"It's just__"
"Fuck!" Valeria yelped, startled and moved to the farthest side of the bed, clutching her chest which was now almost breaking out of the ribcage.
Nick was seated on the bed beside her and he gave her a sheepish smile.
"You startled me goddamnit!" she said as she rubbed her face, getting rid of the tears.
"Didn't mean to, I heard you screaming, I wanted to make sure you're fine, but then I saw you were still asleep and I let you be. " he said.
"It's nothing" she mumbled and sat up right, pulling her messy hair into a quick bun.
"Nightmare?"
"Don't want to talk about it"
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier"
"Sorry?" She snorted and swung her legs off the bed.
"Yes sorry, I know how much it upset you but it had to be done" he said.
Valeria nodded, a sarcastic and stoic nod, one that was not in acceptance or agreement of any form.
"And you have to know that although it might not really look like it at the moment, Pete means the best for us, he's just trying to do this so we get out of this whole mess quick enough. " Nick added.