TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES(26)

I headed back, and this time I kept going until I ran into a dead end that wasn’t truly a dead end, but a conglomeration of rooms of different sizes. The largest one was marked “D.” I wasn’t certain of my reasons but I placed my hand on the knob and to my utter disbelief it opened without giving me any trouble.

I was shaking less and less even though the fear kept me on edge.

That place must have doubled for a supply room. There was a table with all kinds of paraphernalia on it, from stationary to bullets. But there was one other thing in there.

“Colton!” I dashed toward the tiny see-through cell. The barrier of solid glass blocked my need to reach out for him. “Colton!” I screamed a little louder so he would come awake. He was on that ridiculous tiled floor, even though there was a bed in there to one side and when he opened his eyes he looked at me groggily and stared. He must have had trouble believing I was actually there. “Jake?”

“It’s me,” I said, gesturing to myself, as if he wouldn’t see me otherwise. “Colton, you’re okay. You’re okay, right?”

Fear tugged at me when he didn’t answer right away. When he did speak, it wasn’t the words I wanted to hear. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Colton, what’re you talking about? We have to get out of here!”

“How?”

I showed him the keycard.

“Jake, the cell is passcode protected.”

He was right. When I paid attention to the tiny block of plastic panel sitting on the glass barrier, I almost banged my head against the wall. “How do we get past this, Colton? Tell me. You’re good at this kind of stuff!” “I break into Dad’s century old liquor cabinet, that’s hardly the same thing!” I knew I was getting agitated but I didn’t know how to control myself. “Fuck.”

Colton came near the wall standing between us and I placed my hand where his was on the smooth surface of the glass. My brother was a few inches away from me and I still couldn’t touch him. It was tearing me apart inside. I could only guess at what he was going through since he was on the other side of this glass cage.

“There might be something,” Colton said.

“Tell me.”

“One the guards keeps a loaded gun in one of the drawers, in case of emergency.”

“Good… good… that’s good Colton, good boy!” I darted toward the desk, and started rummaging through the desk, checking the multiple drawers until I found the one with the weapon. “Are you sure it’s loaded?”

“We won’t know until you actually pick it up, Jake!”

“Fine, I’m picking it up, jeez!”

The last time I held a gun in my hand was when Colton stole Dad’s Glock and we were playing with it for several days. My brother was always okay with that kind of risky behavior, but guns always freaked me out. Regardless, I pointed the weapon at the floor.

“What’re you doing?” Colton yelled at me.

“Trying to see if it’s loaded.”

“Why would you waste bullets like that!”

“There are like hundreds of bullets in here!”

“Yeah, but we don’t know if they all belong to this particular gun. Not to forget, Jake, I know you can’t manage loading bullets into this thing to save your life.”

“What do you want me to do, then?”

Colton stepped away from the wall. “One shot, at the glass.”

I positioned the gun in the general direction of where he was pointing and took a shot. Holy shit, my arm shook. Everything shook. The blast was loud and would have been heard outside which meant we had to be short on time.

“Bulletproof glass,” Colton said, disappointed.

I took one more shot just to be safe but nothing.

So, that plan failed.

I wondered if there was a way we could crack the code. Then, it hit me. “Step back, Colton.”

With renewed courage, I took two shots at the panel. There was a spark and the smell of burned electric wires, and the tiny door moved. It was ajar now, but the gap was miniscule. It wouldn’t fit a finger, let alone an entire person. I tried so hard to pry it open but it didn’t budge. I was still thinking about our next move when the alarm went off. “Shit.”

Colton looked terrified.

Watching him with that frightened look in his eyes made my resolve to help him into an obsession and I went around like a mad man trying to hit the glass with whatever was available and prying the door open.

“Jake…”

I knew it was useless but how could I just give up? I needed him more than he needed me. I wanted to be able to touch him…

“Jake, stop!”

The door burst open and a bunch of guards barged in. They wrestled me to the ground and the gun dropped from my hand.

The guard pulled me up off the floor and I turned to my brother. “Colton! Don’t tell them anything. They can’t know!” Understanding fell over my brother’s face but the fear surpassed everything and I couldn’t tell if he was willing to do what I had asked him to do. One of the guards punched me in the face and my nose started to bleed. I still wasn’t about to give up. Desperation led me into this mess, maybe it could get me out.

“Keep your mouth shut, Colton,” I pleaded.