TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES(43)

It was hard to say what he was thinking but Trey went up to the glass rack to one side and picked up a tiny box and rummaged through the contents that weren’t visible to me from where I stood. “What’s the matter, Weldon?” he said. “Afraid you don’t have anything to hold over me now that Aubrey’s no more?” If he had stopped there, I would have been pissed but not as much as I was when he added the next sentence. “Did you think I would do what you did to Ryan? How you let him die after poisoning his sugar, and how he never got any medical attention until they pronounced him dead, so your secrets would be safe?”

I picked up a scalpel placed on one of the carts and examined it to make my point. “Ryan got what was coming to him,” I said. “And if you don’t change your tune, you might meet the same fate.”

“I’m not that dumb,” Trey said and turned to face me.

“Good to know,” I said.

He had a smug look on his face. “No, I meant that Ryan made a blunder,” he said. “He didn’t have any diabolical plans.”

“Well, diabolical plans are sort of my forte.”

Trey grinned. “That may be true,” he said. “But this is one of those times when the underdog wins and the audience is left fulfilled with a heavy dose of adrenaline in the process.”

I scoffed. “And I suppose you are the underdog in this story?”

“I guess I could easily be the villain,” his words carried a silent threat. “I suppose it depends on what role you assume, Mr. Huntington.”

No one in this world called me by that name and Trey knew it. I knew he was doing this on purpose, trying to remind me of the fact that he knew things that he wouldn’t be afraid to tell the whole world, secrets that I fought tooth and nail to keep, I was aware he was ready to spill them all.

“I don’t like threats, Trey.”

“That’s funny because threatening people is your whole deal,” he said and something fell from his hand, there was the obvious sound of glass shattering and I looked down just in time to see the purple fumes emanating from the floor and before I could make sense of it, I felt my knees going weak and I stumbled to the ground next to the fumes.

I was still trying to figure out what Trey wanted when there was a sickening feeling in my gut that made me want to throw up. I looked up and saw Trey, but it wasn’t his usual face, he was wearing something… a mask… I realized that was the reason the fumes weren’t affecting him.

“You killed Ryan,” I heard Trey’s voice. “You killed the man you claimed to love!”

Before I could think about a way out, there was a thud and everything went dark.





TREY


ONE WEEK AGO



I pushed the door open.

It was submerged in darkness. I couldn’t see a thing. But I could hear the soft sobbing that emanated from one corner of the room. I fumbled for the light switch in the dark, and flipped it on. The room was suddenly drowning in the dim orange glow of the overhead bulb and it illuminated a figure sitting on the plain floor that smelled oddly of antiseptic.

He instinctively reached his hand up, shading his eyes from the hurtful glare. His lashes blinked off the drowsiness of the variety of drugs he was on and he stared at me.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. His body looked weak, weaker than ever before, so I knew he hadn’t been eating again. I went right up to him and took out a piece of chocolate from my pocket and I offered it to him.

After a bit of hesitation, he accepted my offer. There were tracks made by tears still on his face and I used my hand to try to wipe them off. Then, I sat across from him on the spotless, clean floor and waited.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” his big brown eyes threatened to shed tears again. “If he finds out…”

“I have a proposition for you,” I cut him off.

He looked terrified. “Whatever you want from me, Trey, I can’t give it to you, so don’t bother wasting your breath.”

“Please just listen to what I have to say…”

He started to get agitated and kept glancing at the door. “No…” he said, first just the one time and then he started saying it over and over like a chant. When his anxiety started to get worse I had to physically subdue him. “Hey!” I said, holding him and trying to get him to calm down. He started to breathe heavily but I continued to hold him. “Ryan, hey.” I ran a hand over his head. His soft dark hair was a little sweaty. I looked in his eyes. “He can’t hurt you,” I said. “You have my word.”

He pushed me away. “Yeah?” he scoffed. “Isn’t that what you said the last time we tried to take him down?” He was screaming at me. “That’s how I ended up in this prison!”

“You’re alive, aren’t you?” I screamed back. I know, not my finest moment.

“Alive!” he said. “Everyone thinks I’m dead!”

I knew I had to calm down if I wanted to get my point across. “Look, I know how terrible it’s been for you, but it was the only way!”

After a long pause, he looked away. “You didn’t come once,” he was shaking. “You didn’t…”

“Ryan… I couldn’t risk him catching me…”