Sonata (Butcher and Violinist 2)

The whole group now wore moving uniforms. The words Proctor and Sons had been written on the backs of their smocks. I counted ten of them today. Only half from whenever they’d taken me.

They didn’t have masks on either. Just horns and flames like the Devil, but theirs were smaller. Their eyes didn’t glow red. Instead, their eyeballs were solid black, almost a mirrored surface.

Those eyes will melt from the fire.

They’d brought another couch in. It sat near me and out of place. This couch was blue and white striped.

“Eden!” My favorite childhood character materialized on the top—Uni the Unicorn. Glitter sprinkled where he appeared. He waved his rainbow tail. “Look. Our friend is here. Everyone say, ‘Hi, Eden!’”

Invisible kids giggled. “Hi, Eden!”

I’m losing my mind.

Still, I waved at the kids that I couldn’t see. “Hi, everybody.”

The Devil’s men looked at the space that I was waving at. They were so evil; they probably couldn’t see the unicorn.

That’s how this works. I see things because I’m good, and the demons can’t see shit.

I laughed at them. Loud and bold.

Someone muttered, “We may have to put her down.”

“I would like to see you try!” I laughed some more and turned to Uni.

“Would you like some ice cream, Eden?” Uni giggled. “I make the best ice cream in Imaginary Land.”

“No, Uni.” I rubbed my eyes. “But do you have a gun?”

“Uh. . .Eden.” Uni frowned. “That question made me sad.”

That question made me sad too, Uni.

A dark cloud appeared above him. Black and silver glitter rained down on Uni. “It’s not nice to play with guns.”

“Yeah. Well, I need a gun right now.” I fisted my hands.

“Jebo screwed us by drugging her. She’s gone in the head.” A man with a beard scowled. “She won’t know where it’s at.”

Uni pulled out a purple guitar with gold stars. “Maybe, we should sing a song to brighten the mood. When I’m sad, I love to sing songs.”

“Or.” My vision blurred a little. I smoothed the air to try and clear it up. “Uni, instead of singing, how about we get some knives and fuck these guys up.”

Uni frowned again. Lightning struck the dark cloud.

“Eh!” The Devil snapped his fingers in front of my face. “I just saved your life.”

Uni disappeared, but the glitter remained.

I blinked. “You saved my life?”

“That was Jebo.” The Devil pointed to the dead man. “He gave you that stuff to fuck you up. He wanted to rape you. He’d planned on coming here and doing it, but I got him.”

“And you shot him?”

“I did.”

“But only because you want to kill me yourself.”

The Devil nodded. The flames rose. “This is true, but one shouldn’t get lost in the details. I saved you in this moment, Eden. Where is Shalimar?”

I glared at him. “If I knew where Shalimar was, I would draw you a fucking map!”

The Devil chuckled.

Because of Shalimar, they’d been led to me. Because of Aunt Celina, they’d been led to Leo and Vibrato. My aunt’s greed and Shalimar’s silence had killed innocent people and trapped me to a bunch of psychos. As far as I was concerned, it was survival of the fittest.

“Rafael would know.” I thought about it. “If you follow Rafael, he could show you. I’ve heard that he goes by her house at night and sleeps in his car.”

And if you follow Rafael, he may know you’re following him. He’ll have Louis check you out. And maybe Jean-Pierre will find me.

The Devil glanced over his shoulder. “Where is Rafael now?”

A man walked up to him and looked down at his iPad screen. “Rafael was in the penthouse hours earlier talking to Jean-Pierre.”

My heart boomed. It took everything in me to not run over there and simply stare at the screen. Could they see Jean-Pierre now? Was he okay? And what about everyone else?

At least Jean-Pierre didn’t get shot. He was above me. He was alive. I may not be safe, but at least he is.

My fingers shook. “What about Giorgio? Is he okay?”

Please, be alive. Please, be alive.

The Devil shot the question away. “Giorgio is none of our concern. Focus on the objective.”

“Okay. We have a tracker on Rafael’s car. I’ll check his past movement.” The guy pressed on the screen. “Rafael went to this location. It’s heavily guarded by Corsican.”

“How many?” the Devil asked.

“I’m getting at least twenty heat readings around the house.”

“Twenty men.” The Devil shrugged. “We can handle it.”

Another man wrote the location down.

“Rafael stayed at this location for about twenty minutes.” The guy slid his finger across the screen.

“Where did he go after that?” the Devil asked.

“His car went to the hotel after that. Where they had the big shoot out.”

Shootout?

“Okay. So, Rafael was at the hotel shootout early this morning. That makes sense.” The Devil nodded his head. “Jean-Pierre would’ve wanted the best at his side. And with Giorgio in the hospital, Louis and Rafael would’ve been with him, when Jean-Pierre took the Lion’s whore.”