Psychic

20. Freedom

The Captain led Rai and Lestat out the same way they had come in. There was a black car there and Marlene was sitting on the trunk, waiting for them. She motioned for them to come to her and pushed herself off the trunk. She opened the back door and stepped in, gesturing for Rai to sit beside her. Before Rai stepped in, Marlene made eye contact with her and pressed a finger to her mouth. She pointed at the back of the drivers seat with her thumb where a soldier was sitting. Rai briefly caught sight of his face in the rear view mirror before she sat. Neither Rai or Lestat had never been in a car before but they were under far too much tension to enjoy the moment.

"Let's go," Marlene told the driver in a whiny voice.

"Not yet. The General is leaving with us."

"Well, how much longer is he going to take? Are we just supposed to wait for him all day?"

"Head General's orders."

"Ugh, Tolaymus isn't a god you know."

"He takes lives just as easily."

Marlene turned her attention to Rai. "How was... last night?"

"Acceptable."

"No... intrusions?"

"None." Rai leaned closer to Marlene and whispered. "Do you know where our friend is?"

Marlene pointed subtly at a cargo truck a short distance from the car. "He's coming," Marlene announced, sitting herself up straight. Reno gestured to the cargo truck as he approached the car. He had cleaned himself up so well, no one would have guessed he had slept off a disappointing high on a public bench the night before. He stepped into the seat in front of Marlene as the cargo truck drove off ahead of them.

Shortly into their drive, Marlene asked loudly, "hey, you want to see something funny?" Marlene put both her feet up on Reno's headrest and started kicking it. "It's funny because he can't do anything about it."

"Keep it up," he growled, "I dare you."

"I never liked him," she told Rai and Lestat, continuing loudly. "Ever since forever he's always tortured me."

"You make it so easy."

"One time, he told me that one of my toys was in the laundry chute. I wasn't allowed to go down to the laundry room so I tried to go down the chute and got stuck in there for the whole day."

"How did you get out?" Rai asked her.

"I fell all the way down after a bunch of people's laundry was piled up on top of me. The worst part is, everyone was looking for me. I could hear my nanny calling me."

Reno said calmly, "you're not going to tell them about the time you jumped out of the window? Idiot."

"That wasn't my fault. That was because of you."

"Yeah, I made you to jump out the window. I kicked her stuffed animal out a window and she jumped out after it. Why? I'll never know."

"How old were you?" Lestat asked Marlene.

"I was seven when I got stuck and five when I jumped out the window. He's always tortured me."

"You use the word torture too lightly. You got off easy."

* * *

When they arrived at Laridion, the car and truck parked just outside one of the city arches. Reno went to the back of the cargo truck and they could see him opening the doors as he and some soldiers in the truck, one being Tolaymus, unloaded Kiyo in his iron maiden prison. Tolaymus told Reno that he and the driver of the truck would escort Marlene back to the palace. He gestured to the car for her to come out.