Control Freak ✔️

26 the devil's dirty work

"A bomb?" Caleb muttered. John tossed the box as far as he could into the street.

"We need to get to the basement!" he exclaimed, darting down the hall.

"A bomb?" Caleb vapidly repeated to himself. He meant to follow his dad, but before he could move forward, he felt himself being intercepted by an arm around his throat. Taken completely by surprise, he found himself at the mercy of a sharp forearm wedged against his gullet and no space to breathe. He quickly lost consciousness. Ivy, clad in her gray jumpsuit, put a pillowcase over his head and shoved him in the back of the van with the piles of boxes.

"A bomb?" Seguerra grunted. He paused. "They saw us coming!" He threw his headphones down. "Everyone move NOW!" he roared, charging out of the back of the police van. "Stop that delivery van!"

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Hayakawa cried into the radio, before hustling behind Seguerra, pistol in hand.

"It's a diversion. He's onto us! Cut off all the exits."

The delivery van had quickly peeled off and turned down a dead end road.

"Hey, you back yet?" she said, slapping his cheeks.

"Yeah," he groaned, rubbing his temple. "Hey, what the fuck, Ivy?"

"I missed you, too, darling, but there's no time to talk. I'm busting you out of here!"

"Ivy!"

"Here, get in the car and put on the uniform in the front seat. There's also a pistol in the glove compartment, as well. Once you put it on, we gotta go. Backup will be here any minute."

"What are we gonna do with him?" Caleb asked, nodding to the naked policeman in the back seat.

"He's riding with us," she simpered. "We need a hostage."

"'A hostage?'"

"'Kay, no more questions, honey, get dressed!"

He did as he was told, buttoning up the uniform and pulling the cap down low over his brow.

"Okay, ready? Drive. Keep the lights off."

Caleb slowly put the car in drive, making a right, just as a squad of backup came racing past. He turned the lights and sirens on and followed them to the intersection. Once the cars split up, Caleb changed direction. Once they hit the highway, they were gone.

"Woooo!" Ivy cheered, feeling unrestrained once they had made it to the countryside. She peeled her jumpsuit down to her waist and undid her ponytail, letting her hair cascade down over her white t-shirt. "Hey, let the window down a little," she called through the partition. Caleb let it down halfway.

"Oh my god, what is happening," he whined to himself.

"Look, baby, I know you told me to leave you alone, but I couldn't let you get arrested. Your crooked dad was wearing a wire. It's the truth, love."

"He was trying to set me up," muttered Caleb.

"Yup," she sang.

"And you came and got me."

"Yup yup," she chirped.

He couldn't hide his smile. "Well, thank you, Ivy. This is all so surreal. What are we even gonna do now? We're officially 'on the run.'"

"Just trust me, boo. Have I steered you wrong yet?"

"Is that a trick question?" he quipped.

"You both won't get very far," the officer warned. "Once they realize I'm gone, they'll locate the car using its GPS. They may already be on their way."

"Hm." Ivy's expression turned dark. "Hey babe, pull over."

"Why?"

"He's right. So we're gonna ditch the hostage plan. Pull over." The car slowed to a stop. She opened the rear door, yanking at the officer by the crook of his arm. He struggled at first until she removed the pistol from her waistband and dug it into his neck.

"What're you gonna do?"

"I'm killing him," she replied in her usual, bubbly tone. "Unless you want to."

"Uh?"

"It's okay if you're scared to do it. I don't mind doing it, just keep the car running."

She led him in a straight line down the road. The blazing headlights made it hard for Caleb to make out exactly what was going on. He could only see Ivy's back as she stalked forward.

She put the gun back in her waistband. "Okay, Mr. Policeman, you're free."

"What?" he replied, his brow wrinkled in his befuddlement.

"It's just what I said, I didn't bring you out here to kill you. You can go. Run to the nearest city and tell them where we are."

"Why?"

"My Caleb is great, but he needs to step it up a bit," she muttered, sifting through her back pocket. "This is the only way I can think of to get him totally on board." She emerged with a switchblade. "Run."

She lifted her shirt up and turned the knife on herself, running it across her side. "AHHHHH!" she screeched. "CALEB HELP!" Caleb rushed to grab the pistol stowed in the glovebox.

"You crazy bitch!" the wide-eyed policeman cried as he turned to scurry away, nearly tripping over himself as he was still bound by the handcuffs locking his arms behind his back.

"CALEB!" she wailed. With her head turned and pointed to the ground, he couldn't see the wicked grin smeared across her face. "HELP ME, CALEB! HE HAS A KNIFE!"

He saw the puddle of red growing by her knees. The gun shook in his quaking hands. "You have to stop him, Caleb," she whimpered. He charged forward after the fleeing policeman. "Caleb, shoot him!" she cried.

He pointed the gun and fired as he ran. He missed.

"Caleb! You have to get him!"

He fired multiple rounds. They all missed.

"Caleb!"

"No!" the officer cried.

He pulled the trigger. The officer fell forward, with nothing to break his fall. He had hit him, square in the back of the head, it seemed. Caleb stopped chasing. He dropped the pistol to his feet.

"I— I didn't mean to..."

"Good job, my love," Ivy purred, though he was too far ahead to hear her, and her voice had grown weak, as she faded in and out of consciousness.

Caleb fell to his knees. "I didn't mean to," he stammered again as the horror spilled from his eyes.

On that lonely country road, no one heard him, as he screamed through the night.