His Wet Nurse

Whats left of me (52)

There was no holding back from the destruction that brewed within her this time. She was headed for the fireplace, the mouth of the volcano, to be taken up by the gnawing flames. Jema marched through the dark corridors in heavy steps, her flip-flops which were part of the mandatory requirements for patients at the center slapped noisily against the German floor as she made her way to the tennis court.

The center, as scrawny as it looked, had at least provided them with a few good recreational facilities, but the swimming pool wasn't one of them unfortunately. After a suicidal patient launched himself into the shallow end of the pool and bled from an open skull, the facility had deemed it dangerous to have one. Jema would've loved nothing more than to soak herself in the chilling effects of a swimming pool when she'd arrived but her disappointment had no measure when she learned there wasn't one.

But other games like tennis, badminton, and chess were allowed with strict supervision. She felt the warm glint from the sky hit her collar, nursing the previous chill on her pale skin, an effect from the cold empty halls. She halted when she found Fiona arguing with another patient by the other end of the large tennis table. Jema wasn't sure how Fiona had let herself fit into the mind-sucking environment but that wasn't what she was here for.

"Fiona!!" The overzealous woman turned to the sound of her name and smiled when she saw Jema by the entrance. Suddenly she was reciting words to another player who was as eager to play as she'd been while handing her bat over with reluctance.

"Hey, how did the visitation go? Was it your parents?" Have they come to get you?" Fiona rumbled off.

"Tell me everything you know, why am I here, Fi?"

Fiona looked taken aback by Jema's curt demand. "Hey, take it easy girl. Why are you so suddenly interested in knowing what I know?" Jema turned and walked over to an empty chair because she was sure her trembling legs might give up as soon as the words spilled from her lips.

"Who was it that visited you?... I'm guessing they're not your parents then."

"It was Theodore Newman,"

"What?!" Fiona exclaimed with gooey eyes. "The master? That can't be true Jema, what has he got to do with you, hun?"

Jema spared her a curious glance and then said. "I guess you don't really know why I'm here then."

"That's not true, I know for sure that Madame set you up as much as she did me. And that you must've been here due to some compromise."

"Why would she have you put in such a place Fiona? What did you do?"

"Well... contrary to what you think of me as a gold digger and for leaving Otis for a much richer man. I was paid by a big name to spy on the master and went into hiding once I got paid for a job well done. But somehow Madame caught me." From the hood of her lid, she peered carefully at Jema who was so invested in her story. "And instead of taking me to the master for whatever dreadful punishment he'd have for me, we struck a deal."

"What deal?" Jema whispered, she managed to clasp her trembling fingers in between her thighs as she waited on Fiona like a servant would pray to their god.

"I'm sorry, Jema. I had to look after myself first, and I know it's selfish to have put you in the middle of this but I couldn't just risk being shot in the brain if the master discovered I was a—"

"Wait, why are you apologizing, Fiona? What have you done?... did you?" A thought suddenly occurred to Jema and as the dreadful chills ran down her spine she finally saw the picture. "You sold me out, I was your scapegoat, huh" A strained chuckle left her throat as it all made sense.

"She made me lie against you Jema, I wouldn't have done it if she didn't catch—"

"Made you tell a lie, huh?" Her eyes soaked that of the deceitful woman beside her. "I'm glad your sentence was softer, always glad to help, Fiona." Jema stood with force and inhaled the afternoon air, willing her lungs to calm down.

"I know that's the story behind your stay here, she's made the master think you were selling information about the Brick mansion to hitmen while pretending to be something else. It's an easy buy, he believed it the second it was spoken and that's why you're here. I'm deeply sorry for putting you through this,"

A ruckus of laughter spurted from Jema's lungs as she bent over with her hands on her knees. Then she came up for air and stared impassively into Fiona's dazed face. "It's much more than that Fi, you only accounted for five percent of the reasons. They all had it planned from the get-go."

Fiona sighed. "No wonder he came to see you himself, it's much more than I thought. You know something crazy is that they own this facility,"

"What?! The Newman?"

"Yes but... not directly, they helped build this from scratch and have been major contributors to the success of this place which goes back to their forefathers. It was rumored they would use this facility to torture enemies of several countries and extract delicate secrets from them then sell it to the US government. Out of the many establishments the Newman empire owns, there's one major one that the public has no idea about, and that one is where the real money comes from."

"What is it?"

"Information, they sell information to the highest bidder. They're cutthroat business people and it's not just Theodore Newman who runs the company, he has cousins, relatives, and associates from different backgrounds... like a cult. He's the one with the influence and somehow the most powerful that's why he can't be easily defeated. Many have tried as I've heard, but suddenly disappeared into thin air."

That alone pulled Jema into a viscous state of reminiscence and how she'd watched Theo torture the hit man who'd attacked her. It all made sense now, how he was so comfortable with violence, with cutting open another human in the name of revenge. It wasn't a residual effect of being in the military, it was just his genetics playing out that day. "How did you get to know all this?"

Fiona shrugged and cleaned her sweaty palms on her trousers. "I mingled with the nurses and some patients who've been here for a while. It's easy to get information from people if you're friendly. Also, I had to trade my favorite meals for some juicy details. I needed to know who I was up against." She added, as if it didn't make sense that she was going about asking questions about the facility like she was planning an escape.

"H-have you ever," Jema moistened her dry lips, the words heavy on her lips. "Ever thought about escaping from here? Yunno, find a secret exit like a prison break?"

Fiona raised her face to the sun and batted in its warmth. "More times than I can count," she admitted with her eyes shut. Then she tore it open to stare directly at Jema. "There's no way out, I'm sorry," she stood and strolled off towards the tennis court.

"So you're just gonna die inside here without even trying?!" Jema yelled, unable to contain her emotions as the realization that this was all a smoothly orchestrated plot by a certain group of people and that no matter how good her medical records were, she was never getting out of this place unless the puppeteers pulled the strings.