Colombia (11) - Lighting the fire

It was a few minutes past midnight. Most of the guys had already gone to bed, still trying to wrap their heads about how could the Big Brother crash completely -- and out of the blue, at that.

Meanwhile in Moscow, the tech department at the agency were scratching their heads --they had just come to work to find out the WHOLE system at South America was out of commission. They all thought their system was… fully secure -- in fact, this was the first time it had been hacked.

In the jungle, in the darkness, someone saw a light. And then another. And another. They were growing too. Soon, all the plantations in the zone were on fire.

Andrei groaned as he crawled out of bed to pick up the phone -- it was too damn early, for hell's sake. Then his face stiffened. Half of Colombia was on fire. … and he knew exactly what half.

On a lone cabin in the woods, listening to the radio and grinning like a lunatic, was Kay. … the operation had been a success apparently. The world was on fire. Now, these people didn't have any hope. Now their lives would finally change, one way or another.

I watched as people tried to make sense of it. Yes. It had been a success indeed.

Colombia (9) - Training

I wasn't the only rescue. There was a handful of us ready to do anything for her -- we owed her our lives, some even in the literal sense.

To the people, we were just more people dragged into the business. To her, to ourselves, we were the future. A little runt army against the system.

She had us train every single day. The physical conditioning was just the first part -- and you'd have thought the bald man was right, that with one too many squats and presses it'd do.

"Faster!! FASTER FOR GOD'S SAKE! You wouldn't outrun a snail at that pace!"

No. That was the very tip of the iceberg. That was easy. Even her nagging was… only mildly annoying. We had a purpose, and we knew well she was doing her best to help us.

We also did lots of combat training -- much more so with knives than with guns. At first, she used to cover her eyes and tell one of us to see if we could dominate her. "I can heaaar youuuu…" She'd grab our hands way faster than we could react and disarm us, every single time. We all thought she was cheating until she made us wear the blindfold and try to listen to her. … And that's when we understood. We had been as quiet as a school at recess. After that, we still couldn't dominate the situation, but we were definitely closer.

Then there was the standard sparring. Lots and lots of hits, falls… pain. We needed to know it so we could overcome it in actual combat, she said. It was all good until we started training with live edges. The pain. The blood. She also got cut a handful of times, but she didn’t react. Again, we had the theory that she was somehow cheating, but… this time we had no clue how could she even cheat when we were seeing the blood flowing from her cuts.

And yet, that was still only the beginning.

- - -

"Salvador, mind if I bring the kids into this?"

He laughed. "I'd say it's about time you did. All that training would be useless if they aren't willing to do actual work."

She smiled back. "Oh, trust me, they will. They owe me, after all."

That evening, she brought us to the dungeon. In the small, dimly lit cell, a man was tied to a chair. He laughed when he saw us. A few of us recognized him: an old junkie, he had robbed the plantations' warehouses a handful of times. … Why people like that don't just ask for a job in there escapes me.

Kay briefed us. "So, this idiot in there, he's got away with ten kilos of merchandise. We need to find out where does he hide it. Now, I need a volunteer."

A few of us raised our hands, not knowing what loomed in the horizon for us.

"Carmen, you will do fine." She picked me.

I stepped forward.

"Well, ask him where he's hiding it, for a start"

As soon as I faced him, he laughed at me. "You think I will tell you, you little bitch? If only you didn't look like a fucking butch, you might stand a chance." … Ouch.

Kay laughed too. "Will you let him talk to you like that, Carmen? …Show him why he shouldn't."

I looked at her, confused. Show him… how?

"Beat him up."

I turned around and faced him. He kept laughing. "Oooohh little butch likes to tickle--" He lost his breath as I punched him in the solar plexus. Then he started laughing. "You'd have to try harder than--" Again I hit him, taking out his breath.

Kay winked at me. "Check your pockets."

My hand flew there -- to find a pocket knife. HOW had it gotten there, I had no clue. WHAT was I going do with it… I had even less of a clue. Again I looked at her as the man kept laughing. "Oooohhhh… little dike has a knife huh? SCAAAARYYY"

"Seems to me he's a laugher," said Kay. "I wonder if he'll keep laughing once that stupid smile of his is carved into his face."

I froze. …. Granted he was a violent robber, but… but…

She came to the rescue. "As always, if you don't do it, I will. But I thought you said you'd do anything?"

Yes, we all had said that a million times. We did mean it. None of us imagined it could mean disfiguring someone, though. Much less what was to come. You see, after that, it became clear that she didn't really give a shit about the man -- this was a test for us -- for me. A test she'd make sure I didn’t' fail.

- - -

Back at the barracks, Kay offered us drinks. I couldn't possibly drink after what I had done.

She bottomed-up a full glass of firewater and then looked at us. "So. Anyone wants to chime in on what happened in there?"

I looked at the floor. No. No, I just wanted to fall asleep and… not wake up. I'd have guessed the others, not having done it, had an easier time, but no-one said anything, everyone suddenly too interested in their drinks or the floor, or really, anything but her.

She got another glass and came to join me. "I'm especially interested in your thoughts, Carmen."

I couldn't lie, not to her. "I wish I'd fall asleep and not wake up."

She hugged me, teleporting me back to the day we met. Mother and Father. I had left them --their hell-- behind. I had joined her. She had given me life. "It's okay, Carmen. You did what you had to. You had no choice."

I started crying in silence, my mind drifting back to what had just happened. Then again to the day we met.

"You need to fight back." She'd told me that day.

I harshly freed myself from her arms. "NO! No, I'm not gonna play this game. You taught us to be FREE. This--"

She grabbed my hands and made me look into her eyes -- they were full of hellish fire. "THIS is the way to freedom. You can't just expect freedom to come to you, Carmen. You have to FIGHT for it. And yes, people are gonna get hurt. It's the only way."

I was almost hypnotized by her eyes. Behind the flames, there was pain and suffering -- more than I thought possible. She had been to hell and came back, stronger. And she was trying to teach us the way out of our own hells.

"There's only one way to fight evil, and it's to be worse than it. Else, it ALWAYS wins. And believe me, I know my fair share of it."

We spent the next hour listening to the tales of her life. Of how much good she'd even done by doing bad. And of how, by being nice to them, the bad people always won.

Colombia (8) - Father

I grabbed the clippers and proceeded to shave Mother’s head -- soon we both were crying, but that didn’t stop me from finishing what I’d started.

Kay oversaw the whole thing, but her mind was drifting. She knew about the immediate future, but … what next? Would the girl actually learn? She came back from her mind trip when I placed the clippers back in the bag and stared at her, not having a clue on what to do next. “Oh. Wow, that was quick. Now, for the next part of the lesson, I’m giving you an easier role.” Kay pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to me. “I need you to record what I’m about to do. Oh, and do take a seat, this will take quite longer.”

I sat on the chair and hit the record button.

Kay looked at Father with a devilish smile -- the man, for the first time, understood. She was no lunatic… no, she was far, far worse. She put on a rider’s helmet, hiding her face -- she didn’t like it, but she couldn’t risk being recognized in the video if it ever were to go public. And that was definitely something that could happen.

She drew a hunting knife, which made Father go white. Good. She laughed. “Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you. Just teach you a little lesson, that’s all.” She dexterously used the skinning hook to cut off the man’s clothes, leaving him fully naked.

I had to look away. Seeing Father naked was too much. Yet I didn’t say a word, nor put the phone down.

“And now,” Kay continued, “how about a bit of grooming, huh?” She took the clippers and started with the man’s head, but then went on to shave his whole body, leaving his crotch for last.

Midway, the man had started crying, and now he couldn’t seem to stop.

Once done, she looked at her work before touching him, making a big show about expecting him to be baby-soft, but theatrically recoiled as her hand glided up his back. “Oh, shit. No. No, this won’t do, you’re as silky as sandpaper. Hold on.” She ran off to another room, then came back with a triumphant smile, and a razor blade in her hand. “Now, THIS will make your skin soft!” She laughed as she proceeded to, again, shave the man’s whole body.

Father kept sobbing the whole time, his mind dividing between the understanding, and the urge to kill that woman -- or worse.

Kay laughed and again looked at her work, her hand again gliding up his back.  “There! Now you’re soft as a baby!” she got behind him and whispered into his ear “I’d go ahead and fuck your ass, but I don’t think Carmen is ready to see that.”

The man started sobbing far louder. She was no angel, no, she was indeed a demon.

“Okay, Carmen, you can stop the recording now.” Kay paused a second while I stopped it. “Alright, pa. Now, I’ll say this just once. If I hear you’ve done ANYTHING to her, the video goes public. … and I’ll make damn sure everyone you know sees it. Understand?”

The man looked at her, his mind broken. How could someone be so evil?

“Mr. Santana. I need an answer. Nod if you do understand.”

He nodded slightly.

Colombia (7) - The lesson

A few hours later, keys jingled again at the door -- Mother just came back from grocery shopping after work. Upon entering the living room, the bags fell out of her hands and she let out a loud scream as she saw the scene. Father had his hands tied with a rope hanging from the ceiling, hooked where the lamp used to be. He had a black cloth bag over his head. On the side, I was sitting on a chair, my back to the door, and thus to her. Further behind, a stranger in military clothing leaned against the wall, overseeing the scene.

The stranger smiled. “Good evening, Mrs. Santana. I’m… sorry about showing up like this. But see, I thought Carmen here could use some… help.”

The woman couldn’t hear, she rushed forward to the kitchen and frantically reached for the phone, trying to contact the police. … She frowned when she noticed the phone wasn’t giving the dialing tone, only to realize the cable had been pulled off the base, right as Kay entered the kitchen following her.

She casually leaned against the door frame. “Well, can’t have you calling the police you see, would make quite a big mess.”

Mother wouldn’t go down without a fight, it seemed. She opened a drawer and pulled out a chef’s knife. “NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!”

Kay almost burst into laughter. “Look, I just want to talk, okay? Listen. I’ve come to help.” In two long steps, she was beside the woman, her hands firmly secured into Kay’s. Better safe than sorry. “I’m not here to hurt you. Your husband -- what he did, it’s not okay. Can you see that?”

Mother looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

Kay understood. No, she didn’t see it. At all. She thought it was… the normal thing to do. … to a degree, she was his accomplice. She needed a lesson too. Kay shifted around and knocked her out in seconds, long before Mother could realize what was happening.

She woke up a few minutes later, but was already tied up to a second chair, right in front of Father. She tried to scream, but her mouth had been taped closed.

I was now facing them, my mind racing but not stopping anywhere in particular.

Kay smiled softly. “Finally we can begin the lesson.” She pulled the hood from the man’s face, revealing his taped mouth. “Carmen here has something to tell you both, right?” She looked at me.

I stood up. “Yes. Father. You shouldn’t have done this to me. …. ANY of what you’ve done, actually. See, I thought Kay was a demon, but it turns out she’s my angel.”

Father tried in vain to scream at the heresy.

I continued, ignoring him. “She’s gonna free me from this hell. Because I hadn’t realized it, but that’s what it’s always been. And Mother. I know you too fear him. But you too need to learn to fight back.”

Mother started crying in silence, while Father kept trying to curse under the tape without much success.

Kay went away for a moment and came back with a small bag. Both Mother and Father closed their eyes when they saw it. … The damned clippers. The woman was a lunatic indeed. Kay offered me the bag. “Let’s start easy, shall we? I think ma needs a… lesson. An eye for an eye, if you will. I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t actually lose an eye, or this would get bloody.” She laughed at her own joke. “Shave her.”

I looked at her, shocked. … it wasn’t Mother’s fault. … this… no, this wasn’t … justice. I couldn’t do that to her… right?

Kay smiled at me. “Do it. … you see, this is as much of a lesson for you as it is for them. Things won’t change if YOU don’t change.” She paused, noticing I wasn't buying it. “Okay, I’ll make it easier. … if you don’t to it, I will. Same end result.”

I understood. Yes. I HAD TO.

Colombia (6) - Carmen

(sometime later)
They were all at the bar, Salvador and Kay sitting at their usual corner, simply enjoying their drinks in silence, the rest of guys here and there boasting about their wrongdoings. One conversation caught Kay’s ears.

“... that little bitch. She thinks she can get away with anything, I swear.” The man took a sip of his drink. “She tried it again, as if last time’s lesson wasn’t enough.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yes, I found her with her hair just past her shoulders!”

The other man shook his head.

The first man sipped on his drink again. “But I’ve taught her the lesson this time. … Last time’s short bob wasn’t enough of a lesson, so this time it was a full shave. That ought to teach her."

The second man looked at the first as if he was mad, but said nothing.

Kay’s blood was almost boiling. She had to stop herself from getting up and beating him senseless -- there were too many people there to stop her. …and killing them all wasn’t an option. Not when Big Brother was Always Watching.

- - -

(next afternoon)

I almost jumped in place when someone knocked on the door to my room -- who the hell … no, wait -- who on earth had gotten in the house?

The door opened to show a… figure in military clothing. Said figure looked at me for a good second before saying anything. “Hi, Carmen, I’m … sorry for showing up like this. Figured out you wouldn’t open the door if I had simply called.”

I froze in place. A stranger had gotten into the house -- only God knew with what intentions.

The woman sat in my bed, patting her side for me to join her. “Come sit. I just want to… offer my help.” She glanced at my hair -- or rather, at the lack of it.

I broke down crying, and in an impulse, joined the stranger in a hug and started crying on her shoulder. … Help. I had only wanted a pretty haircut, something a bit more fashionable than the waist-length blunt cut my father so much loved --and don't I dare tie it up, a real woman wears her hair loose. … But he wouldn’t have it, so he decided it would be either all or nothing.

Kay simply hugged me. I could use a break, after all, she thought. … Could I take control of my life? … it didn’t matter. Things were gonna change whether I became part of it or not -- she was going to make damn sure of that.

We sat there for what felt like hours, the silence only broken by my own sobs. Then, some rattling keys made me jump in place. “Oh god he’s here, you need to go.”

Kay smiled at me. “... no. No, I’m here to help. I’m here to offer you freedom.” She offered her hand. “But I need you to be on board with this.”

I didn’t understand. … freedom? Father would come any moment and if he saw her there… not good. Not Good At All. My fears came true when the door to my room swung open. “What the hell have I told you about closing the--” he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Kay. He took a deep breath before continuing. “Okay. Who the fuck are you and what the hell are you doing in MY house?”

Kay got on her feet and offered her hand. “Name’s Kay. I’ve… noticed you two seem to have a disagreement about what her freedoms are. I thought I could help.”

Father looked at her as if she was a lunatic --which wasn’t too far from the truth, to be honest. “And WHO exactly asked for your help? Because I don’t remember having called you!”

Seeing him like that made me crawl into a ball on the corner of the bed and sit there, completely motionless.

Kay smiled. “I don’t think I need to be asked, pa.”

Father, hearing such a disrespect, was overtaken by rage and jumped at her like a beast, fully intending to beat her up -- or worse. … He hadn’t expected her to mysteriously appear behind him and choke him, way faster than he could react. He tried to free himself, but the damned lunatic was way too strong, and soon, he passed out.

Kay pulled a syringe of Special K from the pocket in her cargo pants and gave him a shot.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from it. Injected drugs… dangerous things. Really dangerous.

Kay saw my reaction and came back to me, softly cupping my hand with hers. “It will simply put him to sleep for a couple hours. I need time, you know.”

I nodded in silence.