The Brothers Locke, page 13
“I don’t care which one of you is the retarded one! You all make me ashamed. You hear me? Ashamed!”
“Stop it, Miguel! Just stop it!” their mother pleaded.
“Leave them alone,” said Mouth under his breath.
“Now, both of you say something! Anything!”
“He can’t talk dad,” Echo said.
“Now at least I know which one is which. You! Say something. Stop standing there looking stupid and speak! What are you, a baby?”
The yelling continued with Echo and his mother trying to convince Miguel to stop badgering Sharp. For his part, Sharp was trying his hardest to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as he strained to open his mouth and force anything — a syllable, a grunt — from his vocal chords. It wasn’t going to happen.
Miguel became increasingly frustrated and grabbed at Sharp again, tightening his grip this time to the point where Sharp winced in pain, but still, nothing could be heard from his mouth. Miguel thought this was the way. He’d force this boy to speak if it meant hurting him to get him to cry out. That would do it. That was the way. Tough love would do it, and it would be the first step to making his son normal.
“Leave him alone,” Mouth repeated, this time a bit louder.
“You are going to talk! I don’t care if I have to beat it out of you, do you hear me? Speak boy! Speak!”
Deep inside of Mouth’s body, he felt something stir. It was a tingling, a shifting in his gut that he had never experienced before. The pricks of sensation were slowly working their way up the inside of his stomach and into his chest, spreading across his shoulders and then easing into his throat. He felt it. He knew what it was the second he opened his mouth to speak again. This time, his father would let go.
“I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!”
The walls of their tiny home shook, the ceiling cracked, the windows broke, all a result of the unbelievable force with which Mouth yelled at his father. All he saw was a blur of sonic waves and falling bodies, the most prominent being Miguel, who lay in a crumpled heap against the opposite wall. His brothers got to their feet in stunned silence as their mother rushed to her husband’s side. She pleaded with Miguel to wake up, but he didn’t. Blood flowed from his ears, and his eyes were shut.
“What did you do? What did you do to him?” his mother cried as she cradled Miguel’s face between her palms.
Mouth knew what he had to do. His mother was taking her husband’s side, not that of her sons. She hadn’t protected them from his rage, and the one moment, the only moment, he stood up to the bullying, this is what she did. There was no question what had to happen next.
Without saying another word, Mouth turned to the door of their home and ran as fast as he could. He didn’t care where he was going, he didn’t want to see if his father had lived or died. All he knew was that he needed to leave this house forever. And so he did, and with him came his brothers who felt the same way.
Their life as runaways, which would eventually lead them to be Master Thieves, had begun. This memory, recounted as a dream, felt all too real and far too painful to revisit. Only in his deepest of slumbers did these visions come back to him. But now it was time to wake up.
***
“Where is Awolowo?” Bulk asked Bando.
“No idea.”
“I see him. He’s over there!”
“Who’s that with him? The courier?”
No One managed to corner the High Councilman between the fallen slabs of the chamber, holding his hand out as if asking for something. Awolowo was caught underneath some of the rubble, his right arm contorted at a strange angle and blood dripping from a large gash on his forehead. Before Bulk and Bando could come to his aid, the High Councilman handed over the coin and pointed to his office where the data cube sat on his desk.
“Mouth! Echo! Stop him!” Bulk yelled over the chaos.
Mouth heard his name being called not only by Bulk Brown but by his brother Echo, who had been trying to shake him back to consciousness. He sat up and rubbed his eyes as he was brought back into the living nightmare that was all around him.
The brothers sprinted to the office, but No One was already at the door. The dirty boy was quicker than they thought. Echo’s poor eyesight made him of little use in a fight, it was up to Mouth to keep the false courier from grabbing the items.
“Boy, don’t get yourself hurt,” No One warned.
“If you had any idea what we’ve been through for that stuff. I don’t care about the High Council, but we went through a lot for that stuff. You can’t have it!”
No One was a few steps from the office. He smirked at the young boy and then continued into the room. Mouth followed and did the best he could to wrestle the larger boy to the ground. It was no use. No One brushed him off like he was nothing. Kale and Jocelyn stepped in and the three of them were able to block the door so No One couldn’t escape. He was trapped.
“Okay, so what do we do now?” Kale asked his friends.
“Try not to panic,” Jocelyn answered.
“Just don’t move,” Mouth added.
“Move? I can’t even think of moving, or I might pee my pants!” said Kale.
No One wasn’t paying attention to their conversation. His eyes were beyond them at whatever havoc was going on in the chamber beyond. His mouth then curled into a smile, and he directed his attention back to the trio.
“I think you should move,” he said.
Jocelyn, Mouth, and Kale were confused, but Echo, who had managed to stay out of the way this entire time, screamed at them to get out of the way. All three turned just in time to see Mongrel galloping towards them. The beast smashed into the office, knocking all three teens to the ground. It stopped just short of hitting No One who raised his hand calmly. For a moment, Mongrel was subdued. The beast huffed as it watched its handler gather the coin, the cube, and a few other items from Awolowo’s desk. He then casually left the office with his objective completed.
“Somebody do something!” Mouth said. “They’ve got everything!”
Kale was the only one of the three who hadn’t been hit. Jocelyn and Mouth were rolling around on the ground clutching at their arms and shoulders. The horns of Mongrel had done their work at ripping into their skin.
“Oh God. Oh God. Oh God!” Kale muttered to himself as he gathered the courage to chase after the thieves.
His pursuit was short-lived as the monster saw him coming and, with one swipe of its massive arm, struck Kale with such force that he skidded across the ground and crashed through one of glass windows of the chamber.
Fortunately, he had enough sense to try to hold on to the edge. They were so high up off the ground that if he let go, he’d slide down the rounded side of the building and fall to his death. He immediately regretted his decision to try to play hero.
“A little help! A little help here!” Kale’s grip on the side of the window was slipping, and the glass was cutting into his arms. He couldn’t hold on much longer even knowing that if he let go, he’d surely become a stain on the ground below. As the pain was just about too much to bear, he felt a large hand clasp at his wrist.
“I need your other arm!” Bando’s voice bellowed at him.
Kale let his grip go and instead reached out to Bando. The giant hauled the boy up and back into the chamber with one motion. It was little effort to him but a minor miracle for Kale.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! A thousand times, thank you! You were always my favorite!”
On the other side of the chamber, Sharp had helped Dana back to her feet. They then noticed their leader was also knocked down a few feet away.
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Bulk Brown said as Sharp and Dana tried to help the mercenary to his feet. “No time to worry about me.”
“He’s right,” said Bando. “We can’t let them get out of here, and those guards downstairs will have enough problems when that thing starts wiping people out. They won’t be able to stop him.”
“What do we do?” asked Mouth.
“We aren’t going to do anything. You all help Bulk and Awolowo. Dana, I need you on this, though.”
“She just got herself together,” Sharp signed in protest.
Bando didn’t understand what the boy had said and motioned hurriedly to Dana for her to follow him in pursuit of No One and Mongrel. Weary but conscious, Dana reassured Sharp that she was okay before leaving with Bando. She turned back for a moment to check on Bulk Brown who pridefully told her not to worry.
“Make sure you hurt one of them for me, girl,” he said as Dana and Bando left the chamber.
The High Council Chamber was in ruins. In a matter of minutes, Mongrel had managed to rip down every seat, pillar, and structure within the hall. The security guards who had been entrusted with the chamber’s defense were buried under rubble. Those that had survived were just starting to dig themselves out. Awolowo was still trapped, but Mouth and Jocelyn were trying their best to free him.
“Did they get it? Did they?” he asked Mouth. The old man’s voice sounded as if he was about to take his last breath.
“Sorry,” Jocelyn managed to say.
“There’s not much you could have done. I should have known they would send someone. I just had no idea they’d be brazen enough to attack here, of all places.”
“That’s an act of war, isn’t it?” Mouth asked.
“If you ask me, Brother Mouth, I’d say yes. Especially since they almost took me out with this place.”
Mouth and Jocelyn had finally managed to pull Awolowo free from the broken pieces of wall that had confined him. He stood up as best he could but leaned on Mouth for support.
“Let’s hope your friends can stop them from leaving,” said Awolowo. “We are understaffed today. Someone should have raised the alarms by now, though.”
“Where’s the rest of the security force? Where’s the rest of the High Council?” asked Bulk Brown.
“They’re away on other business.”
“Which is why you wanted us here today. They don’t know what you’re up to, do they?”
“The fewer ears and eyes, the fewer chances for fear and lies, Brother Bulk.”
“But not the fewer chances for disaster, apparently. I hope we’re still getting paid.”
“Bulk,” Echo said, “now’s not the time, man.”
“No, it’s the perfect time. Look, I didn’t sign on… we didn’t sign on for this. I did my job. Whatever happened after we gave you all that mythical mumbo jumbo has nothing to do with our agreement. And I don’t know why you’re trying to be so sympathetic, Echo. Of all of us, I’d think you and your brothers would want to be out of here more than anyone.”
“You do realize what just happened here, right? Von Strauss has everything—”
“It’s not Von Strauss,” Awolowo corrected. “No, that boy told me who he’s working for.”
“He just confessed?” asked Bulk.
“Not in so many words, my brother, but he mentioned something about Avidity.”
“So he’s working for the Miscellany,” Mouth concluded.
“Likely, or someone working for the Miscellany. They have secrets within their own secrets there, you know,” said Awolowo.
Bulk Brown scoffed, “Says the man who is hiding secret missions from the rest of the High Council.”
“Fair enough. But my reasons were righteous, my brother. And you must keep this to yourself. If people found out—”
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t care. We won’t let your little secret out. Are we done here?”
“Bulk!” Echo said again.
“What boy? Bando and Dana probably need our help right now.”
“You’re in no shape to help them with that leg,” Jocelyn said.
“You’re siding with them?” Bulk asked.
“I’m not siding with anyone, Bulk, but there’s no rush to go get ourselves killed. We all need medical attention right now. We’ll get the money later, alright boss?”
Bulk Brown was in no mood and had no patience for this whole ordeal. He was coming more from a place of fear than practicality, despite what he was trying to make everyone else believe. He saw it on their faces. They saw right through him. He had never seen anything like Mongrel, and it was rare that anyone got the best of him. This was new territory for his ego, and he didn’t like it. The judgmental stares of his companions were speaking to his conscience right now.
“Fine. Let’s just get out of here for now and get some aid. But I want my money by midnight, Awolowo.”
“Yes, Brother Bulk, yes. You’ll have your money by midnight, seeing as that’s the only thing you think is important right now.”
“Damn right!”
The Brothers Locke
Episode 6: A Heel Among Us
The lobby of The Paramount was a disaster. Bodies were thrown everywhere. The walls showed the scars and stains of monster Mongrel’s path out of the building. The only people that remained were either unconscious, tending to the fallen, or dead.
The Locke Brothers emerged from the elevator along with Bulk Brown and the teenagers to see the carnage left behind. It took a moment or two for them to take in the savagery that must have happened here. As much as they may have been concerned about those injured, they were more concerned about the fate of their companions, Bando and Dana, who went in pursuit of Mongrel and the operative called No One who had brought the creature to the building.
“I don’t see them,” Mouth said as he looked around the lobby.
“They may have followed them out of here,” Bulk Brown suggested while still clutching at his injured leg.
“I see them,” signed Sharp to his brothers. “Or at least, I see Bando.”
He found the seven-foot tall mercenary slumped against the wall near the entrance to the lobby. When they reached him, he was conscious but apparently in severe pain from an unseen wound. His hand was on the left side of his abdomen as he grimaced from his injury.
“They … they … took her,” he said.
“Who took who? They took Dana?” Bulk Brown asked.
“Yeah.”
“Why would they take her?”
“No idea. Can you help me up?”
Bulk assisted Bando to his feet. He clutched at his stomach again and then took a few deep breaths.
“How did that happen? Where did they go? Do you know?” Sharp was signing frantically.
“What’s he saying?” Bando asked Mouth and Echo.
“He’s concerned about Dana. He wants to know if you know where they took her,” Mouth explained. “He wouldn’t know, brother,” he said turning his attention back to Sharp. “She’s gone.”
Mouth watched as Sharp, whose feelings for Dana had been no secret, tried to process his fear and anger at her abduction. His eyes welled up, but before the tears rolled down his face, he turned from the rest of the group and walked off to be alone.
“They left you here?” Echo asked Bando.
“Well, they did try to kill me, but it looked like they were in a rush. Ah, my stomach! That thing hits hard! They didn’t say anything, they just took her, and who knows where they could be now. They took one of the security vehicles and could be on their way out of the city by now.”
“We can check the security cameras,” Bulk suggested. “Maybe we can see where they were headed or pick up something they might have said.”
“That slimy guy shot out all the cameras, apparently,” Bando said.
“So there’s no way to find out where they went.”
“Oh, I’m sure we can track them down, but who knows where they’re going or who they’re meeting up with. Did the Councilman have any clues?”
“All he said was that the slimy guy was probably working for The Miscellany,” Kale said.
“Well, that’s a start. We should go ask him a few more questions,” Bulk said as he found a broken piece of a guard rail to act as a crutch for his injured leg.
“You guys go on upstairs, we’ll get our brother,” Mouth said to the group.
Sharp was standing in one of the few areas of the lobby that wasn’t littered with broken bodies. He stared up at the ceiling, tears streaming down his face. It wouldn’t make sense to anyone else. He knew that his crush on Dana was not reciprocated and that there was no future in it. She was a full-grown woman, and he was thirteen years old. Not only was it inappropriate but it was improbable. Still, he had overwhelming feelings for her, a sensation that he had never experienced before. The first taste of love. The first taste of desire for another person. It was confusing, embarrassing, and at this particular moment, heart wrenching.
“Sharp,” Echo said quietly to get his brother’s attention. “We’re all going upstairs to talk to Awolowo. He might know something. They’re going to go after them.”
Sharp continued to stare at the ceiling, not responding at all.
“Look, we’re going to find her, brother. We’re not here to make fun of you or anything,” Mouth added.
“Come on upstairs. She’ll be fine, you’ll see!” added Echo.
Sharp turned quickly with a look that his brothers had never seen before. His eyes were blood red from crying, his face flushed and his mouth quivering.
“What can I do? Nothing! I’m just a kid. I couldn’t help her then, and I can’t help her now!”
“Don’t say that, Sharp,” said Mouth.
“You know it’s true. We’re not even supposed to be here. If I hadn’t stolen that stupid Key, none of this would be happening.”
Echo could hear how fast his brother’s heart was beating. “It would have happened either way. You heard them before. They were after this stuff long before we got involved. Instead of thinking we can’t do anything because we’re kids, you should maybe think that it’s because of us that she’ll be okay.”
For some reason, the words cut through the self-pity and anguish Sharp was feeling. He took a few deep breaths. Echo could hear Sharp’s heartbeat slow. He put his arm around his brother, who responded in kind with a hug. Mouth stood quietly for a minute before his brothers pulled him in as well.
