The 10th Victim - Volume two - Strangers

Chapter six: - The house of madness

I felt everything like an illusion, or is it really a dream? It’s my dad with the Cyclops killer. What was my dad’s business with him?  What’s really going on here? What on earth is happening to me? This isn’t happening, no way at all. I took closer at the photograph once again thinking that my eyes are deceiving me. It wasn’t. It was my dad without a doubt. They were both in tuxes. Dad looked smart as always. The location was somewhere like an office or a hotel. Are they friends? I questioned myself.

I heard a door creaked open behind me, then footsteps. Who could this be? Dad? I turned around without thinking twice. It wasn’t Dad. He was in complete black. From shoes to the leather jacket, all were black. The face belonged to a person who was in his forties. I took a glance at the picture again. It was the same face I saw when I was with Doc. James Ridger, the Cyclops killer.

“Hello Robert” his voice was stern. I had only one question to ask.

“Who are you?” I asked, standing up automatically.

“Sit down, Robert, I will tell you everything, right here, right now” he offered me to sit again. I sat with an arrogant frown at him. James took no concern about it. He sat on the other side and placed the hands on the table. I waited quietly even though a volcano had almost erupted in my head. It was going up in smoke right now. The sweat had been trickling down my head like lava.

“Ok, first of all I must apologize for all you have been through. Even though we tried to pull you out of it, we failed. They acted faster than us. I believe you have met them.”  This guy is talking bullshit.

“Cut the crap asshole, what are you doing with my dad? What do you want from me?” It was getting deep on my nerves right now. Can’t help guys I had more than enough. “I have been played with various kinds of lunatics for the past couple of days and this madness had to stop.

“I will come to your dad, I promise by the time you leave this room. There won’t be anything hidden at all. First of all I will tell you who I am”

“I already know who you are” I snapped. The doc at the facility told me everything. Then I told the story about the scythe and all the gibberish until he escaped. When I completed the last sentence he laughed out loud like a fool.

“Is that what they told you about me? That I escaped from the facility and the rest of the bullshit, damn these guys are good!” he exclaimed. “Well the scythe part was true, also the Cyclops killer part. But no, I did not escape from there, that is a one big lie” right now I started to wonder who to believe, the doc or James.

“What are you talking about? They said that you left without a single trace and…..”

“It is because they released me. Just like they released you, and they had released you early because they took my bait. I made sure that they will see me through the surveillance cameras at Tropical apartments. At the moment you came out, I blew up a car at the basement to create a distraction and brought you here”

“The body at Nina’s place. Who did that?”

“I did, he came to kill Nina and put the blame on me, which will make you hate me and get to me” What is this guy saying? How on can I get to him? I saw him for the first time of my life.

“What does that supposed to mean? Why would they do that?”

“That place is a house of madness, Robert. Right now they want that madman they created long time ago. Who managed to breakthrough from all their shackles and escape” I did not grasp a single word he said. My expression was more than enough for him to understand that.

“I know you are confused. But I’ll tell you one thing. They were after you for sometime. On the days you have started your….” He paused. Addiction I think he is going to tell me about my habit. That habit.

“…..Addiction” he filled the word himself.  “You did kill three people I believe” that had became no secret anymore.

“Yes, I did. They were……”

“I know all about it, they were not innocent and yes I have every detail about him” James did not let me speak. He completed the sentence.

“When I managed to hide they had no clue where I was, Therefore they had to search for clues to get to me. But they could not find any, until they found the connection between your dad and me”

“How do you know my dad?” James looked at my face carefully for a while. Stared at the photograph on the table for a while with silence, he closed his eyes for a few moments thinking what to tell me. Then I saw him giving a small shrug and looked at me.

“Your dad was the one who hid me after I was released, Robert. A week after I was free they lost all the signals and contacts with me. One I hid in the shadows, your father asked a favour from me, The Scythe.

“What kind of favour?” I found myself asking. “What does my Dad has to do with all of this?”

“He gave me a list of names and to be the Cyclops killer” What sorcery is this? Seems like he is really insane, also he is dragging my dad into this. I had enough with this playing. I have being played al this time.

“How do you know my dad? Answer me” I screamed the question while slamming my fist on the table.  James looked at me carefully, and answered.

“Your dad and I worked as a team sometime back, Robert, He was my Boss”

“My Dad is your Boss?” I felt my lips trembling slowly. “What did you two do together?” I questioned.

“Things you wouldn’t believe” I started to think what they were.

Continued to chapter seven: - The favour