Lies and Damnation

Ch.16: Nicholas and Valentino

Ch.16: Nicholas and Valentino

The female captor kept the gun to Milo's head while the man crouched in front of Nicholas, untying his ankles. Then he stood, grabbed Nicholas's arm, and forced him to his feet. Nicholas walked arduously along towards a rickety door to the left, sparing one last pitiful glance at Milo.

The door creaked as the man opened it, dust swirling off the edges. Nicholas coughed and tilted his face away, and then looked back into the space beyond the door with a frown and squinty eyes: there was a steep staircase that led to a small room below. Lit-up candles lined it all around, and a lounging chair was set in the middle. 

A hand pushed on Nicholas's wrists that were still tied behind his back, so Nicholas made his way down the stairs, his heart dropping every time a worn rung groaned under his feet. He felt like it would crack and his ankle would slip through the hole, but he ended up reaching the room safely. 

The man forced Nicholas onto the chair and started tying his ankles to it. He freed his wrists, made him wear a new, clean black dress-shirt, then tied his hands down onto the armrests. 

Nicholas was silent the entire time. He didn't even try to resist, even when his hands were free. Not with Milo at risk. Anything, anything, but causing him more pain. 

Nicholas only tensed as the man grabbed his hair and forced his head back, until it hit the backrest. The captor brought a lens, prepared it, then put it in Nicholas's eye.

Nicholas's eyes burned and teared up from the discomfort, and he watched through watery vision as the man climbed back upstairs to get Valentino. A few seconds later Valentino appeared at the top rung. The captor escorted him down and started untying his hands. 

"Don't try anything stupid," the woman called from above. "Both of you. Unless you want to hear Milo cry louder, or maybe I'll just shoot him. Try your luck if you wanna find out." 

Valentino rubbed his wrists as the man made his way up the stairs again, then closed the door, releasing a slow, loud squeal. Chains clattered, and Nicholas felt like was back in the beginning, locked with Milo in the captors' house. His heart skipped a beat at the recollection. 

But they didn't have any time to waste, so Nicholas said, "I have a plan." 

"Me too." Valentino glanced over his shoulder at the staircase behind him. He lowered his voice even more. "But it depends on you." 

"No, it depends on both of us. How long did you tell them the ritual will take?" 

"Thirty minutes."  

"Look. We can't do anything as long as she's got the gun on Milo. I'm not risking him," Nicholas said. "We need to get them both away from him before we can try taking them down." 

Valentino nodded. "They're both obsessed with their son. They both miss him. You can make them lower their guard pretty fast if you act well." 

Nicholas couldn't believe his own self right now. Despite the situation, there was a part of him that still wanted to argue. A part that wanted to tell Valentino to shut up even though he agreed with him. A part frustrated with Valentino explaining something he already knew. 

"I can," Nicholas said. 

"You have to." Valentino bent a little closer, gazing at Nicholas with soulless, exhausted eyes. The pattern drawn under his eye was a little smudged now, oozing towards his cheekbone. "You can't mess this up." 

"You can't mess this up. I'm gonna distract them, but you have to knock them both out alone. Can you do that?" 

"Yeah."