Andrei stopped a moment before opening the door to the safe room. "Sandy, this is a test. Your goal is to send a message. Keep in mind this is not official stuff, if you follow my meaning." Meaning, it was a job for the mob, which was another way to say there were no red lines. "Let go, boy. Let me see what you're made of."
I sighed. "Okay. But, may I ask, what has the target done?"
He put on that creepy grin of his. "Does it matter? Sandy, your job is to send a message -- it's not to ask questions nor to make decisions."
I swear he did it on purpose. I'm completely sure he had a good reason for it all -- no matter how twisted, he did have principles. But in the end, it didn't matter. I took a deep breath before replying. I wasn't going to fail him. "Gotcha. Open it already."
He patted my shoulder. "That's my boy."
I couldn't help smiling. "I'm not a boy anymore, don't you think?"
He tried hard to not burst into laughter. "Let's see."
I smiled at the joke as he unlocked the door and we got in.
The room was in semi-darkness, only lightened by a soft spotlight in the center. Trying to hide in a corner was a young man, maybe a few years older than me, curled in a ball, his sobs barely audible even in the dead silence of the fully sound-proofed room. An assortment of lockers and cabinets lined one of the walls.
I took a deep breath. This was it. I had to. No buts. No matter how heartbreaking it could get. I grabbed a sturdy wooden folding chair from a corner and opened it right under the spotlight. Then I turned to the man. "Sit here."
"I haven't done anything, I swear... please..."
I pointed at Andrei with my head. "Tell him, I'm just following orders here."
He looked at me, at Andrei, without really seeing anything.
"Grab him, Sandy. There's no need to be nice."
I walked to the man and crouched in front of him. "Hey. I know you're scared. But don't make this harder for yourself, man. It's gonna be hell anyway, but keep in mind it can always get worse."
He was already broken -- probably from the shock of having been caught. I grabbed his hands and got him on his feet, and then gently guided him to the chair, where he sat, still sobbing softly. "Please..."
Andrei handed me his ID card. "For the cabinets' locks. Search around. See if you can surprise me."
No, I couldn't. Not in a literal sense, anyway. But a 'good' decision could be a surprise, so I strived for that. I opened the first locker. Power tools. Shit. My heart skipped a beat, fully realizing what was about to happen, but I ignored it all and focused on the task at hand. My eyes stopped on a nail gun. Was that surprising enough? ... Well, it would have to do. I took it and closed the door.
Andrei was beaming when he saw it. "Not bad, Sandy. Now let me see what you can do with it. Do you need help?"
I pointed at the man. "I don't think he'll put up much of a fight."
"Adrenaline can give you some nasty surprises, boy," Andrei said as he sat on the guy's lap, grabbing his arms, immobilizing him.
I knelt by the man's side, trying to get a good angle. The answer to the unasked question was obvious. Use the nails as restraints. I placed the nail gun against his wrist.
"Wait, Sandy. You don't want him to get free. Use two nails at different angles. So he can't get out no matter how much he pulls."
I adjusted the angle for the first nail as the man started to mumble. "Oh, god, please... please... no no no no...."
Tchak.
The first nail sent him wailing, my ears ringing for a good while. Andrei wasn't happy about it either. "Damn, another scream like that and we'll be deaf before this is over. Make him shut up."
I glanced at him. Shit. Okay. Okay, I got this. I lightly pressed the nail gun against the man's throat -- right against the larynx. That would shut him up.
Andrei stopped me again. "Wait! ... Test it somewhere else, you don't want to discover that it can easily shot through bone, do you?" ... Meaning, it would severely damage the spine and that would be it.
And no, that wasn't the idea. Andrei held the man's mouth shut as I tested it on his arm -- straight into the bone. It held -- judging by the head's height, it had barely penetrated the bone. Okay. Green light. I then held his head straight as I drove a nail into his throat, before finishing the restraining part -- both wrists and ankles.
He still tried to scream, but the pain from the nail soon made him think twice about it. Plus, it being right through his vocal chords meant only guttural growls could come out of his throat anymore.
Andrei was beaming. "Now, I'm wondering what else can you do with that." He finally got up and went back to leaning on the wall.
I didn't say anything -- didn't know what to say at that. I just looked at the man. He was now silently crying -- maybe trying to make a sound, but it wouldn't come.
Andrei interrupted my train of thought. "Wait." He handed me a knife. "Cut off his clothes, I don't want you miscalculating a shot and hitting an artery." His eyes said more. Don't play nice.
I sighed as I took the knife. He was right, of course, But that didn't make it any easier. I quickly tore through the fabric. Don't play nice meant not caring if I got a tad too close to the skin, so the target got a couple shallow cuts in the process. Oh, well. It only made him cry harder, a weird sound sometimes emerging from his throat.
Again I took the nail gun. Yeah, the exposed skin made it much safer -- meaning only that I wouldn't hit any major blood vessel. I took a deep breath. Today was not a day to complain or even to think. To hell with everything. I'm sorry, man, but I gotta follow orders. Except for once, I didn't say it out loud. I shot a few nails into his thighs -- right into the bone. Better that than going too deep.
Yet Andrei wanted more. "His knees, Sandy."
Sigh. Okay. I drove a couple nails into each knee, right into the articulation. Shit. I knew well he wouldn't ever walk again. And I kinda had figured out that he was going to live through this at the end of the day -- which made it all the more heartbreaking. But I wouldn't fail Andrei.
I left the gun back in its place, thinking about what to do next. There were too many dangerous tools in that locker, and I knew I shouldn't take unnecessary risks, so I closed it, ready to search the others. And then Andrei handed me a nicely folded plastic bag.
I hesitated for a split second before taking it, more from the surprise than from anything else.
"You know what to do, Sandy."
Yes. Yes I knew. I circled around the man to look at him, forcing a smile on my lips. "Hey man. Look, I'd say I'm sorry, but... you know, I'd be lying." ... No, I wouldn't, but the truth didn't matter at all.
He redoubled his sobbing efforts -- it came out as a soft growl.
I unfolded the bag and put it over his head. He tried to resist, but the pain from the nail restraints soon made him stop. I twisted the rim around his neck -- just tight enough to leave it airtight. This one was all about timing. You don't want them to faint, just to feel like they will. It's a pretty safe thing to do -- but not a nice feeling at all.
I waited there 'till he started thrashing, the lack of air making him forget the pain from the naily restraints. I was going to take the bag out, but yet again Andrei stopped me. "Wait. Feel his pulse. Wait until it spikes."
Shit. "That's... essentially shock." I searched for the man's pulse as I looked at Andrei -- I was quite uneasy with this. Lack of oxygen is a dangerous thing, and I didn't think brain damage was in the script, anyway.
He grinned at me. "My point exactly. Don't worry, worst case he faints, you take it off, and that's it."
The target's heart was beating steadily faster and harder, to a point I started to worry he'd had a heart attack. I tore the bag off his head.
The man gasped for air, pain from the nailed throat obvious in his teary eyes. He tried to mumble something, but only managed to make an unintelligible growly whisper.
Andrei was beaming, his eyes glistening in the semi-darkness with pure madness and cruelty. "Again."
I took another breath as again I put the bag over the man's head. He soon started thrashing around, even harder than the first time. I looked at Andrei the whole time. He had that grin of his, that made me realize he didn't care about the target at all -- this was about me. We stared at each other for what felt like forever. The man's heart rate going wild in the meantime.
Andrei never said anything, but I just knew, I had to take the extra step. Let the target faint. And so I did. Looking at Andrei the whole time. Drowning in a sea of madness.
"Take it off." He finally said.
I had lost track of time -- the target may as well have been dead already. Still, I tore it off.
"Wake him. This isn't over."
I got in front of the man, leaning over him so my eyes were level to his. I softly pet his cheek. "Hey. Wake up."
He opened his eyes, confused for a second 'till his sight focused on me, and then he panicked, hard. He again tried to say something, but the only thing that could be heard was a pitiful groan. It was heartbreaking to see. But I couldn't let that get to me.
I looked at Andrei, asking in silence for more instructions.
He handed me a cauterizing pen and pointed at him. "Our man here is a filthy liar. I want him to never forget that I'm always listening."
The man growled, probably trying to deny it all. You idiot, can't you see it doesn't matter? Can't you see this isn't even about you?
I looked at Andrei, awaiting further instructions. I had a good clue on what was he after, but I'd rather have actual explicit confirmation.
He looked at me, amused. "Do I have to spell everything out? Brand him. Where -- up to you."
Oh, well. Such is life. I took the pen and plugged it in. The tip turned bright red in seconds. I held the man's head forward as I branded his back, shoulder to shoulder. 'LIAR'. He kept trying to scream the whole time, but only managed to make a soft growl. It was almost cute.
"And now, I want everybody to know who did this. You know how."
Yes, I knew how. The mark --this time a brand-- on his cheek to make it a public statement of sorts.
