Chapter 30-Psychotic Impulses

A pair of ropes was empty. It wasn’t the earlier pair that I had passed, but one of the four I had been at a moment ago. I ran my eyes along the faces. Mitch, Kat, Joseph, and..no Kyle. I turned quickly to see him lounging in a large chair at the head of the table. He gave me a big smile. "Hello there Melanie," he said. "Glad you could join us."

I could feel my jaw drop and I backed up toward my friends into a pair of arms. I struggled out of them and whipped around to see Madeline. I looked back and forth between them, unable to believe my eyes. "Kyle..? Madeline..?" I said, my disbelief thick in my voice.

Madeline smiled evilly at me and nodded. Kyle was suddenly near us and he wrapped his arms around me. "Yes dear friend," he said. "It is us."

"Why?" I whispered.

"All in good time," he said with a grin. "All in good time."

Suddenly I looked over as a figure emerged from a large hole in the side of the cave. I couldn’t believe who I saw. It was Señor Montello. I wondered if I was seeing a ghost because he was dead. He certainly seemed alive though even from here I could see that his eyes seemed withdrawn and had a wild look to them. He was dragging behind him the unconscious form of Cerant. "Hey!" said Madeline angrily. "What are you doing?"

"Madeline, Madeline," said Kyle. "He needs to be here as well."

"You said you would not hurt him," she said through clenched teeth.

"Well that just wouldn’t be practical," he said. "Hugh has been taken care of and Cerant is the only witness left."

"If he’s harmed, so is she!" she exclaimed and grabbed me by my hair, yanking me backwards. Then she pressed a knife to my throat. I resisted a scream though pain was shooting through my head.

Kyle’s expression turned stormy and he glared at Madeline. "I would advise you to let her go," he said, his voice dripping with venom.

"Let Cerant go first," she warned and backed away from him. My mind was racing trying to take everything in and I was scared out of my wits but I knew I had to do something about this woman threatening my life. Her arm was near my mouth and I clamped my teeth onto it. I could feel myself drawing blood and she suddenly tore away from me with a scream. She mumbled something angrily in Patois and then lunged at me. She was unbalanced and the move was awkward so I caught her arms easily and threw her against a side of the cave, causing her to drop the knife. Then Kyle came up next to her and slammed a rock down on her head. I could see her eyes roll back into her head as she slumped down.

"Thank you Mel," he said, stepping toward me.

I took a step back though. "You’re not welcome," I said. "I did it to save myself."

"Oh Mel," he said. "You’ve only succeeded in jumping out of the fire, straight into the frying pan."

"Isn’t that supposed to be-" I began.

He cut me off and snapped, "Have a little imagination."

I had been backing away from him and then I hit the cave wall with a start. He chuckled to himself and said, "You don’t have anywhere to go." I glanced back at the hole but Señor Montello was still there with one of his legs on Cerant’s back. I looked over the rest of the room then out to the sea. I could possibly swim for it but Kyle would catch me. I knew he would catch me. He was a great swimmer. I couldn’t leave anyway. I would never leave my friends.

"You’re right," I said. "I don’t because my friends are still here. I would never abandon my friends. I owe them more than that. I’m not so heartless that I would leave them to die to save myself." I know my tone was challenging and accusing at him.

He glared and walked over to them. "Who?" he demanded. "These three pieces of garbage aren’t worth your time Melanie."

"How can you say that?" I asked, my voice was thick from tears I could feel rising. "What did they, we, ever do to you Kyle? How were we ever not your friends? How did we ever not do everything in our power to help you when you needed it?"

Kyle kicked each of them swiftly and then walked over to me. He grabbed my arm strongly. I didn’t realize he was so strong. He must have been working out. "As I said before, you will know all in time." Then he pulled me over to the table and shoved me down into a seat. "Stay here," he said and walked toward the other three. I did only because I didn’t know what else to do. I had to figure out something to do. Señor Montello had begun dragging Cerant over to the table and propped him up in a chair across from me. Then he took a seat at the right hand of Kyle’s chair. I looked over at the man. His eyes didn’t seem to focus on anything. They just stared ahead. Then he turned them to me and I felt myself shrinking under his gaze.

"My sons," he whispered. "My beautiful, beautiful sons."

"It wasn’t our fault," I replied just above a whisper.

His expression suddenly turned wild. "Your fault!" he shouted. "You and your friends making us go out when it was not safe!" He reached across the table toward me but Kyle jogged up. He had been dragging Mitch and dropped his head thoughtlessly against the stone as he abandoned him.

"Don’t excite Señor Montello," he hissed at me then turned to him. "Señor Montello. It was not Mel. It was the other three. One for each of your sons." The man seemed to accept this and sank back down into his chair. Without pausing a moment Kyle returned to Mitch and dragged him into the chair next to mine. He set him in an upright position then tied his arms and legs.

"Kat will sit next to him," said Kyle, seeming to be thinking out loud. "Then Joseph next to her. Yes, that will do nicely. Keep you two the furthest apart." He directed the last part at me but I just stared at him. I didn’t know what to say.

He worked swiftly and set everyone up around the table. He even brought Madeline over, though her head seemed to be split wide open and she must have been dead. Then he disappeared up into the hole and brought down a bunch of food on sparkling plates. "You will have to thank Cerant’s gourmet chef for this meal," he said. "Though I’m not entirely sure he can hear you any longer. Sadly I don’t think any of his other poor servants can hear you. They had a boating accident and all were lost but the chef. He has been cooking for me but I think he has died of a broken heart. Or perhaps it was the broken neck."

I stared at him in horror. "And why did they deserve to die?" I asked.

"They just stumbled into the wrong place and the wrong time," he said with a fake sigh. "So tragic. Who wants pork? I bet Madeline wants pork!" He tore off a piece from one of the dishes and carried it over on a plate to her lifeless form. "Eat up," he said. "You don’t look too well." He had lost his mind. He must have lost his mind. He saw me looking at him and said, "You no doubt think I’m insane. Perhaps I am and perhaps I’m not. Have some food."

I glanced over the food. I remembered thinking how I wanted so badly to eat food by the gourmet chef. It looked and smelled delicious but the prospect of eating made my stomach turn, and I wasn’t about to do anything he asked me to. "I’m not hungry," I replied.

"Eat!" he shouted and slammed his fist on the table. "All of you!" I glanced down the table. Señor Montello was chomping away happily on a piece of chicken. Beside him, Cerant seemed to be stirring but wasn’t fully conscious yet. Beside me, Mitch was also mumbling things and moving himself a little. Kat was awake but seemed to be paralyzed with fear. When he shouted she quickly picked up some food and shoved it in her mouth though. Joseph appeared to still be out like a light and I felt tears springing out of concern for him. Kyle was staring at me expectantly and I picked up a vegetable and placed it in my mouth. I chewed slowly and returned his gaze.

He grinned and sat down in his chair. "We're all one big happy family again," he said. "This on the same day that I found the perfect present for my mother. Lets celebrate with a story." He seemed to look mainly at me. "It begins 18 years ago," he began.