“I don’t care how you do it, just do it,” Dominic intoned. “And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me dude?”
“Sorry, du—Dom,” Cheese replied as he bent down and slid his arms under Brian’s armpits and hoisted him up off the floor. As he lifted, Brian’s head dropped forward. I kept hoping for a miracle; that Brian would wake up and take on our captors and free us from this nightmare. But he only groaned a little as Cheese propped him up in the chair and secured him to the back of it using another length of rope. I watched him as he tied it and realized that he had no idea how to tie knots. If I could get Brian conscious, there was still hope.
“What are you going to do, baby?” I asked sweetly.
Dominic walked around behind Brian, rested his hands on his shoulders, and said with a smile, “He will no longer be an issue, pretty girl. You will be mine and he will cease to be.”
My stomach turned as I heard Dominic discuss his horrible plan to ensure that we would have a beautiful future. He would make sure he got what he wanted even if he had to kill Brian in the process, and my brain spun as I tried to figure out a way to talk him out of his disgusting plan.
“Dom, do you think that’s the best idea?” I asked sweetly. “I mean, he’s really kind of a nobody, and if you off him then he becomes somebody, right?”
“Ava, Ava, Ava, you’re so very naive. Sweet, but naive,” he chuckled. “You see, if I off this jarhead, then I will also make sure that no one knows I’ve done it. He will simply disappear into nothingness and no one will know what happened to him, so he will still be a nobody. Do you see, my darling? I’ve got it all planned out.”
“Oh, okay!” I said as brightly as I could and smiled a big, fake smile. “Well, if you’ve got it all planned out then I guess it’s done, right?”
“Yes, except for one thing,” Dominic smiled. I didn’t like that smile, it was the one he always used on me when he was about to punish me for some imagined infraction and then blame me for the pain he was forced to cause me. “I need him to be conscious so that he understands that I’m making the choice to end him. I need him to look me in the eye as I lead him out of this world and into the next one.”
I knew now that Dominic had gone completely mad. Up to this moment I wondered if it was just grief and ego that drove him to try and reclaim me, but now I knew for certain that he had descended into madness and that he really was going to kill Brian. I quickly worked to come up with an alternate plan that might give us a little time. If I could buy us time, Brian might be able to figure out a way to break free and disarm Dominic and Cheese. Cheese. Shoot. I’d forgotten about him and the fact that he was now holding Brian’s gun.
“Wake him up,” Dominic ordered Cheese. “I want him awake. Now.”
“But du- Dom, I don’t know how to bring a guy out of unconsciousness,” Cheese protested.
“Throw some water on him! Slap his face! Yell in his ear!” Dominic shouted. “Why do I always have to do everything around here?”
“Fine, fine,” Cheese grumbled as he went into the bathroom, filled a glass with cold water, then walked back out and dumped it on Brian’s head.
“Are you a complete idiot?” Dominic yelled as he began to pace the room. “You have to throw it in his face! He’s not going to come to if you drip it on the top of his head!”
“I’m not an idiot!” Cheese protested. “How in the hell am I supposed to know how to do this?”
I stole a glance at Brian as Dominic insulted Cheese and restlessly paced the room. Brian seemed to be breathing alright, but I couldn’t figure out why he was still out cold. The knock to his head hadn’t been that hard, and he was someone who had been trained to take a lot of abuse before his body gave out. Something wasn’t adding up.
And then I thought I saw him move. Or did I? I thought I saw the tiniest movement of Brian’s finger, but I wasn’t sure. Had he moved? Or was it simply my imagination playing tricks on me? It was agonizing to think that we were all going to die in this room, and I knew it was up to me to divert attention from Brian just in case he was conscious.
And if he wasn’t, well, I’d think of that later.
Dominic and Cheese were still fighting amongst themselves and as I looked over toward the door, I saw the poor room server still lying facedown on the floor. I’d forgotten about him.
“Dom, baby?” I called in the sweetest voice I could muster. “Don’t you think that it would be wise to let the poor little room server go? He doesn’t have anything to do with this and he’s scared out of his mind. I think he might have even wet his pants.”
“Jeez, what a baby!” Cheese laughed. “Pissed his pants like a little baby!”
I had hoped that the room server would be smart enough to pick up on my cue and actually wet his pants, and by the sound of Cheese’s reaction, I’d played my cards right.
“Shut up, Cheese,” Dominic ordered. “That little baby is going to go out with the meathead here. I want you to take care of him. Do you understand me?”
“Wait, what?” Cheese looked at Dominic with a frown. “Hey, I didn’t sign on for hurting anyone. You told me it was just going to be getting the girl back and then leaving.”
“Well, sometimes things don’t go as planned, now do they?” Dominic smiled. “And you have to adjust your plan to fit the circumstances.”
“Dude, there is no way in hell I’m killing anyone!” Cheese declared. Dominic looked at him for a moment, then turned and walked over to me.
“Ah yes, the big, bad frat boy turns pussy,” he laughed as he began to loosen my ties. “I had a feeling this was what would happen, so I made sure that I had a backup plan. Always have a backup plan, Christopher.”
“Hey, wait a minute,” Cheese protested. “Seriously, you did not tell me that there was going to be real killing involved. I don’t want any part of that, Dominic.”
“Then if you will not participate,” Dominic said in a low, sinister tone. “You have become part of my problem, as well.”