LJ Idol Chapter 16.5 (Run-Off): Making Fire
From the kitchen I hear a shriek and something that sounds like a black bear gargling thumb tacks. "Stay right where you are," I warn Barbara as firmly as I can. As far as I am concerned, she is the source of all of my current problems. Her and Andrea.
A few weeks ago, Andrea came into my office. She was worried about her friend, Carol. Carol had traveled to Omaha to meet an internet boyfriend who called himself Jason. I've since learned that "Jason" was a photograph of Sarah's husband, Louis, taken by the leader of this bizarre cult, Barbara.
I take a step back, careful to keep the gun trained on Barbara while I get an eye full of the events in the kitchen. Sarah has both hands clasped at her mouth. Her eyes are as wide as saucers. Andrea is unconscious on the floor. Her right hand is soggy hamburger.
This is not good.
"What," Barbara asks me, "what happened?" She seems genuinely concerned. And, why wouldn't she be? In her own way, she considers herself responsible for the people she has lured to this cult. Earlier today, she tried to explain to me that the people here would not want to leave, because she provides for them. She gives them safety and sanctuary, she provides for their wants and needs, she supplies food, housing, drugs and sex.
Things have gotten out of hand. I hear movement upstairs. The people I saw earlier. They must have heard Andrea's screams. They are coming to investigate. Their footsteps on the stairs are cautious. She must have told them to stay out of the way. But, curiosity brings them out anyway.
"Come over here," I say to Sarah. She presses herself up against the counter and steps over Andrea's body. Her face is expression of horror. It makes me wonder if she even realizes that she was the cause. She hides her face in my shoulder. I guide her back out of the kitchen.
"Where is Andrea?" Barbara asks me.
"She needs an ambulance," I reply. I turn to Sarah and ask, "Where is your phone?"
"We don't have one," Sarah says with a small voice. She looks up at me with puffy red eyes and explains, "Barbara says we don't need one." From the table, the leader of the cult tries again to explain how she provides for her people. They don't need a phone because they have no one worth calling.
I explain that we need to call nine-one-one. Andrea and Louis both need medical assistance. Unfortunately, Barbara is playing the blame game. "This is all your fault," she insists. "Everything was fine until you got here."
"I didn't start this," I tell her. "You brought Carol here. You told her all about this place you created. She contacted her friend, Andrea, and they came up with this plot." What plot, she asks me. She leads us to the land line in her bedroom while I share what I deduced earlier. "Carol and Andrea like what you created. They decided to get rid of you and take over. They got me involved, expecting that I would blow the whistle and bring the police in. They would arrest you, leaving them to take over caring for the people."
"They intended for you to bring down the house?" Sarah asks me.
"They intended for me to light the blue touch paper and then rescue everyone after the fall out," I tell her. That was why Andrea knocked me out in the park. She intended for me to escape, but instead I confronted Barbara and Louis in the dining room. Once Louis was down, she decided to stab me in the back, literally. That would serve the same purpose. Authorities would have to be called. Barbara would go to jail. The plan would go back on the rails.
Then, Sarah saved me and took out Andrea. At this point Carol could still salvage everything. I have to come up with a way to get both Barbara and Carol arrested so that the authorities can help everyone here detox and get back to their normal lives.
Fortunately, Barbara does care for the people under her control. She makes the call and asks for an ambulance. Everything is going to be fine.
I should have seen it coming. But, when Carol barges into the room I am taken completely by surprise. Sarah screams as the chair leg that I abandoned in the kitchen meets my face. I see stars and my hands go to my head. The gun clatters to the ground. The air evacuates from my body as the makeshift club drives me to the ground. Carol picks the gun up and squeezes the trigger without a word of explanation.
This is my entry for the run off for Week 16 of LiveJournal Idol, Season 6. To read the other entries in the contest, click here.
A few weeks ago, Andrea came into my office. She was worried about her friend, Carol. Carol had traveled to Omaha to meet an internet boyfriend who called himself Jason. I've since learned that "Jason" was a photograph of Sarah's husband, Louis, taken by the leader of this bizarre cult, Barbara.
I take a step back, careful to keep the gun trained on Barbara while I get an eye full of the events in the kitchen. Sarah has both hands clasped at her mouth. Her eyes are as wide as saucers. Andrea is unconscious on the floor. Her right hand is soggy hamburger.
This is not good.
"What," Barbara asks me, "what happened?" She seems genuinely concerned. And, why wouldn't she be? In her own way, she considers herself responsible for the people she has lured to this cult. Earlier today, she tried to explain to me that the people here would not want to leave, because she provides for them. She gives them safety and sanctuary, she provides for their wants and needs, she supplies food, housing, drugs and sex.
Things have gotten out of hand. I hear movement upstairs. The people I saw earlier. They must have heard Andrea's screams. They are coming to investigate. Their footsteps on the stairs are cautious. She must have told them to stay out of the way. But, curiosity brings them out anyway.
"Come over here," I say to Sarah. She presses herself up against the counter and steps over Andrea's body. Her face is expression of horror. It makes me wonder if she even realizes that she was the cause. She hides her face in my shoulder. I guide her back out of the kitchen.
"Where is Andrea?" Barbara asks me.
"She needs an ambulance," I reply. I turn to Sarah and ask, "Where is your phone?"
"We don't have one," Sarah says with a small voice. She looks up at me with puffy red eyes and explains, "Barbara says we don't need one." From the table, the leader of the cult tries again to explain how she provides for her people. They don't need a phone because they have no one worth calling.
I explain that we need to call nine-one-one. Andrea and Louis both need medical assistance. Unfortunately, Barbara is playing the blame game. "This is all your fault," she insists. "Everything was fine until you got here."
"I didn't start this," I tell her. "You brought Carol here. You told her all about this place you created. She contacted her friend, Andrea, and they came up with this plot." What plot, she asks me. She leads us to the land line in her bedroom while I share what I deduced earlier. "Carol and Andrea like what you created. They decided to get rid of you and take over. They got me involved, expecting that I would blow the whistle and bring the police in. They would arrest you, leaving them to take over caring for the people."
"They intended for you to bring down the house?" Sarah asks me.
"They intended for me to light the blue touch paper and then rescue everyone after the fall out," I tell her. That was why Andrea knocked me out in the park. She intended for me to escape, but instead I confronted Barbara and Louis in the dining room. Once Louis was down, she decided to stab me in the back, literally. That would serve the same purpose. Authorities would have to be called. Barbara would go to jail. The plan would go back on the rails.
Then, Sarah saved me and took out Andrea. At this point Carol could still salvage everything. I have to come up with a way to get both Barbara and Carol arrested so that the authorities can help everyone here detox and get back to their normal lives.
Fortunately, Barbara does care for the people under her control. She makes the call and asks for an ambulance. Everything is going to be fine.
I should have seen it coming. But, when Carol barges into the room I am taken completely by surprise. Sarah screams as the chair leg that I abandoned in the kitchen meets my face. I see stars and my hands go to my head. The gun clatters to the ground. The air evacuates from my body as the makeshift club drives me to the ground. Carol picks the gun up and squeezes the trigger without a word of explanation.
This is my entry for the run off for Week 16 of LiveJournal Idol, Season 6. To read the other entries in the contest, click here.