Twisted Mercy

Stern Talking To

November 8th, 2021

1:13pm

Location: Bixby, OK

**********

Genna's grip on Josh strengthened as I began to explain the situation that they had put us in. The poor boy's normally pale caramel hue was taking on more of a purplish color as she squeezed his throat.

"G, I know you're pissed at being asleep for nearly a week, but let go of him," I stated.

"I'd hate to have to explain a dead body to hospital staff," Samuel lazily added. I swatted his arm as Genna narrowed her eyes, but she let go of Joshua. He gasped for breath and began coughing.

"Thanks for the help, dude," Josh shrieked. If I weren't busy trying to get Gia to bear with me, I'd join Samuel in laughing.

"Anytime, man. Anytime," Samuel replied with a smile.

I moved closer to the hospital bed. Gia was mad. Not angry. Not pissed off. Genuinely mad. She should be. She has an allergy to chloroform. It knocks her out for days and causes headaches and nausea when she wakes up. It broke my heart to see her holding back a wave of nausea. She shouldn't be having to go through this.

"We got caught," I stated.

"I see." Her tone was solemn and she put a fist to her mouth to avoid gagging. I raised the Gatorade to her mouth again, but she moved it away once more. After a while of her squeezing her eyes shut to drown out the nausea, she leaned back into her bed and looked at me. "What are they doing here?"

I sighed. "They kidnapped us."

"I put that together, Lillian. Tell me what they are doing here."

The venom in her tone made the hairs on my arms stand up. I've seen Gia mad before. Our first boss, Gerald, smacked her for not learning the coding he gave to her two hours before. She launched herself at him. He was in the hospital for two weeks after that. We've only fought a handful of times. Even though she was in no condition to fight now, who's to say that wouldn't change when she's discharged?

"Samuel, the tall one, he... well, he said he wanted to help us. He said he was tired of taking orders and that he could help us. I was tired of running, so...," I trailed off. I didn't meet her eyes. Instead, I busied myself with trying to straighten her blanket, fluff her pillow.

"You said yes," she hissed. The boys, who were whispering behind me, suddenly went quiet.

"You, uh, ya know, Sam? How's about we take a lap around the floor? Make sure everything is as it should be?" Joshua's attempt at sounding normal was poor.

"Yeah, let's go," Samuel added quickly.

Traitors.

"Lillian. They kidnapped us," Genna calmly stated.

"Yes. I'm glad we agree on that little factoid."

"You let our kidnappers come along with us?"

"It was either that or kill them. I couldn't risk their bosses putting a mark on our heads as well."

"How do you know they aren't feds?"

"Samuel told me he wasn't. Joshua, the one you almost killed, lent me his laptop since you update your password every week and refuse to share it with me - hurtful, by the way. I used it to look them up and see if I could find anything on them. When nothing popped up on Joshua's computer, I used my phone just to make sure he didn't just wipe his own computer clean of details of the two. When nothing in the database for any of the ABC agencies could be found, I swiped a doctor's card and used a hospital computer. I couldn't find anything. They're not feds."

She leaned her head against her pillow. I could tell she was trying to fight off another nausea wave. Beads of sweat were sitting on her temple as she took shaky breaths. In her nose, out her mouth. In and out.

After a bit, the boys came back in and she opened her eyes, looking past me and right to Sam.

"If you're tricking us, it's not Lily you have to worry about," she began. Her voice was menacing. More chills. "She's more powerful with her punches, but no one, and I do mean no one, is able to match my skills on a computer. I'll find out who you are and tear you apart online. You'll have records you didn't even know were possible. Any and all online presence that you have will be destroyed before I blink."

Samuel gulped. Joshua paled. I smiled. Yep, she could be vicious. I must be rubbing off on her.

Joshua cleared his throat. There was a bright red mark around his throat. "We, um, well... We haven't exactly been, uh. Look, what I'm trying to say is - OW!"

He rubbed the back of his head as Samuel lowered his hand and rolled his eyes. "What my friend here is trying to stammer out is that, well, we haven't been properly introduced yet." He held his hand out to Gia. "The name is Samuel Velazquez. My tongue-tied partner here is Joshua Hernandez."

Gia regarded him with the same look one would give to an announcement of having roadkill for dinner. I poked her shoulder and gave her a sharp look. After a stare down, she rolled her eyes and grabbed his index finger between her own pointer and thumb and shook it. It took everything in me not to laugh.

The nurses came in to take her vitals and said the doctor would be by shortly. The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound in the room until Josh asked "So, now, uh, now what?"