Reaction

Security Measures

D walked quickly away from the Bean Box, beating a fast path back to his apartment where there were, blissfully, no annoying girls asking probing questions. Something about her was uncomfortably familiar, and it was unsettling. Hopefully Luce could get her away from here as soon as possible, and back to whatever little thieving outfit she worked for. Although, he was curious what had possessed her to steal from the mafia when she clearly didn't have the skills to get away from them. Desperation, perhaps? His musings were interrupted by a metal clink as his house key fell from his hand on the floor in front of his apartment door. His hand was shaking, refusing to bend it's fingers long enough to insert the key and turn. He was shorter on time than he thought. He shoved the key with stiff fingers back in his pocket and descended the stairs with his bags in tow, taking a right and heading back in the direction of the drop site from last night. He controlled his breathing as he ran through the mental checklist that had become a necessary habit. He would have to do without the usual creature comforts, but Luce had the spare key, he had the chains and wire to replace what had been destroyed last time, and there was probably enough time for him to implement the usual security measures. His heart was tapping out a skittish rhythm as he entered the old business district and took another right turn, taking a path out of town that was rarely trafficked by anyone besides himself. D stopped in front of a crumbling building on the very outskirts, inhaling deeply to confirm there was no one near by. His fast pace had put him pretty far out of the main body of the district, but he needed to be sure no one had followed him. Nothing but the smell of corroded metal and the wind playing with discarded trash. He elbowed the door open and went straight to the back, weaving around the rotting desks and dust covered magazines that used to entertain the occupants of the abandoned insurance firm. A small cleaning closet was the only thing of interest, with a numerical keypad barring entry to all but a few. His trembling fingers punched the code, finally getting it correct on the fourth try and yielding to his urgent palms.

The closet was empty except for a manhole like cover on the floor, which he promptly removed, and proceeded to descend down the rusted rungs to the old sewer lines. The flashlight he held between his teeth waved crazily around the cement walls and mostly dried channel that used to direct the city's waste water, but had since been rerouted elsewhere with the continued expansion of the city.  The sound of his footsteps echoed around the tunnel, the repeated slaps of his sneaker's soles on the concrete following him to a massive metal gate that spanned the entirety of the tunnel, where he moved the flashlight to a sturdy lock on the smaller access gate for maintenance.  He fumbled out a different key and inserted it in the lock, affording a quick glance to the gate to confirm there hadn't been any problematic decay or rust since his last visit. Supposedly, the gate was put in place to keep both wild animals and the homeless out of the tunnels, and its sturdiness had served him well over the years, but that could change eventually.  He leaned heavily on the small access door, creating a high pitched squeal as the hinges resisted his efforts until he made a gap big enough for his wider frame.  His entire body was starting to wrack with spasms, but he gritted his teeth and shut it, reaching through the bars to lock it from the outside before tossing the key as far away as he could in the direction of the hatch.  Luce would presumably find it later, or he would if she couldn't.  He pulled the length of chain and a spare lock out of the bag as well as the wire before a stronger spasm put him on the floor. He grunted in pain as his muscles rippled in rebellion, but he managed to get his shirt and pants off and also through the bars before he went down again.  His vision blurred, so he navigated by feel to the chain, of which one end he wrapped around a pole and locked shut with one of the many locks he had bought. The other end he wrapped around his own leg and locked, despite his hands slipping from the sweat and attempting to foul his efforts. D was going for the wire when his vision suddenly cleared and his body stopped responding, landing him in a trembling heap on the cold concrete.  The chain will have to do, I guess he thought as the trembling turned into shaking, then violent spasms as he ceased his efforts to hold back.  Gruesome cracking and squelching sounds accompanied his grunts and occasional screams of pain, making a soundtrack similar to a pack of rabid wolves tearing into a poor bastard unlucky enough to wander into their path.  The flashlight provided poor illumination for the stomach turning scene, which was probably for the best.  Any passerby would probably never get the image out of their head.  Even Luce, who had only ever seen him do this once had nightmares about it for years after.

He passed out at some point from the pain, but the sweet release never lasted long enough to save him from all of it. When he awoke, there was an absence of light- he had probably destroyed the flash light while he was passed out.  He didn't need it to see now anyways, and he knew it upset Luce to look at him, though he never stopped asking her to come check on him in case he broke out.  The chain rattled as he lay down on the hard, unyielding floor and cleared his mind. D had found from experience that the whole performance would close the curtains if he stabilized his vitals and calmed his thoughts until he regained control, but it used to be much more difficult.  Enough that sometimes there were serious consequences.  He closed his eyes and put those thoughts out of his head, passing an hour, then another in the still darkness until his heartbeat picked up again as the rabid wolf soundtrack made a rerun, leaving him exhausted and naked on the floor.  Resisting the impulses took a massive amount of energy out of him, but he had heard Luce coming and was tired of this repetitive story.  Sure enough, a grating sound soon followed, along with cautious footsteps as she followed his earlier path.  "All done niño?" she called out, shining her light through the gate. D raised an arm and responded weakly, "Just throw my clothes over here.  Can't have you looking at all this without paying."  Luce laughed and climbed down the ladder to pass him the previously discarded clothes, leaving him to get dressed while she unlocked the gate and then the chain. It had survived this time, but would probably break from stress in another few visits.  She eyed the unused wire and crushed flashlight, but said nothing, offering a hand to haul him to his feet as he regained his energy in small amounts.  He accepted and leaned on her, working his way outside before shutting and locking the gate for next time.  His aim had been pretty good this time- the key was a few feet from the ladder, saving them from a lengthy search for the little bronze bastard.   D stooped to collect it before following Luce back up the ladder, looking over his shoulder at the cage that served as both his prison and saving grace.  The thought had often crossed his mind of what would happen if someone opened that door and freed what was inside. But following that line of thinking was unacceptable.  He already knew what would happen if they opened that Pandora's box.  As he left the tunnel in black silence once again, he bitterly smiled at himself for that naive style of thought. Cages were not created for the safety of those within, after all.