The Medusa Deception

Chapter 29

DAWN BROKE OMINOUSLY as rings of crimson lit the cumulus clouds building in the eastern sky. A storm was coming. Soon the heavens would unleash their fury.

Seth's nerves were frazzled. Normally, the approach of a ceremony filled him with anxious anticipation, but tonight, his brother and Mandy were up. He wished it wasn't so. His only brother, an annoyance much of the time, but family. And Mandy, for a time she'd been like a daughter.

Raw emotion ate away at his gut. Conflicted, he steeled himself, resolving to be true to the Brotherhood, his only family now. He would put himself in their hands. They were his faith, his reason for being.

In preparation, he entered the crypt holding area pushing a cart containing a flat-screen monitor and computer equipment. He positioned the cart in front of the cells, retrieved the power cables, and plugged them in.

Mandy came to the front of her cage and grasped the bars. "Seth, I'm so sorry. Please, can't you get us out of here?"

Seth's eye twitched. Mandy's plea stomped on his last nerve. "You can't begin to understand the damage you've done." Seth spun to face her. The veins in his temple throbbed. "I gave you a future, not just a job. I trusted you!"

She stepped back. Her shoulders hunched and she lowered her gaze.

Seth spat. "And this is how you repay me: you violate my sanctuary, steal my most private treasure and tear my family apart. No Mandy, it is I who am sorry. Sorry to have let you into my life!"

"I truly am sorry. You did give me a future and I'm grateful. I wish I'd never used that key; I had no right."

Mandy's penitent tone and pleading eyes did nothing to cool the fire in his veins. "You're damned right, you had no right! But now, it's so much more. Your actions gave birth to an avalanche that cannot be stopped. YOU did this." Seth waved his open hands before him. "You have no one else to blame."

"I was worried." She averted her gaze to the floor.

"You have an odd way of showing it," he grumbled.

He turned to leave and slammed the door. The conversation was over.

* * *

WHEN THE DOOR latched behind Seth, Mandy turned to Ryan. "I knew he'd be pissed, but he's nearly unhinged. I've never seen him like that. He may be in way over his head."

"You don't get a sense of power from him, like from the Superintendent, do you?"

"No. He's scared. The Superintendent was downright giddy by comparison."

Ryan shrugged. "I guess that gives us an indication of who's the boss, in case that's at all useful."

"Yeah, I suppose. I wonder why Seth brought in the monitor?"

"Can't be good."

After a prolonged silence, Ryan asked, "So, how did you come to work here?"

"Well, in a way, it was an act of fate stemming back to when I was in high school. One day, on my way home, I was accosted by a group of mean girls a year older than me. One of them grabbed me and I panicked."

"How so?"

"Well, like I mentioned before, my dad was abusive toward my mom. I kind of have an aversion to bullies."

"Understandable." Ryan nodded.

"Well, usually, conflict avoidance is my first choice, but I'm not a pushover like she was, either."

"So what happened?"

"Instinct kicked in I guess. I spun out of her grasp and punched her in the throat. She doubled over, gasping for air and I ran. I didn't look back. I was really freaked out. I didn't know where to go, certainly not home."