TWENTY-EIGHT

ANISHA'S POV

The door was roughly opened and in came Dylan, looking exhausted and all drained out. Eden was following closely behind, fuming as if he was going to burst. Dylan was pushed to the floor and he fell on his knees. Eden pushed him into the sitting position, and he turned to look at Terror.

"Bring them in!" he snarled.

Immediately, men were pushed into the room, all of them dressed in all black. They were Eden's men, obviously. Some of them I had seen before, but one face looked new to me. Pastor Everdeen was also dragged in and made to sit next to me, for Eden said he wanted the pastor too to witness what happens to people who betray him!

"On your knees!" Eden shouted so loud that Liam was startled and held tightly to me. Eden saw the child's reaction, but choosing to ignore it, he turned to Dylan and asked, "which one of these men assisted you to escape?"

Dylan looked at Eden and spoke, "none of them. I did it by myself."

Eden walked up and down the room, looked up at the ceiling and laughed hysterically. His laughter resonated throughout the room, more so because the door to the larger room was wide open.

"Impossible!" he spat in immense rage. "Impossible! de Milo; it is impossible that you managed to escape on your own!"

"But I just did," Dylan did not sound scared. I feared for him. What if Eden failed to control himself, and he just did something crazy? He already looked and acted crazy. I did not want to visualize the unfolding of events once Eden lost his mind. He looked like the type that could lose his mind and do the unthinkable.

"Who helped you!" he walked closer and stood very close to Dylan, and before I closed my eyes, I saw Dylan wincing.

"You cannot kill me. Once I die, Liam dies. He is already very sick and I know the medicine which he needs. Kill me and he also dies." Dylan seemed courageous enough to continue debating with the lunatic.

Eden laughed out loud; it was one of his mad laughs.

"You're wasting time. Let me go and get help for the child. He needs a special type of medicine, and if you let me go, I will help you save his life." Dylan continued with the negotiations.

"And then I will go to jail? What good will that boy be to me once I am in prison?" Eden sneered in irritation.

"What good is the boy to you now?" Dylan spoke back.

"I want this boy alive and well, do you hear me? I said I want him alive and well!"

"The child must go to a hospital!" Dylan shouted at Eden.

My bowels nearly gave way. I was scared. I wanted Dylan to be quiet. It was not right to push Eden to the limit. Who knew what that man would do once pushed to his limit?

"Dylan…" I began to speak, but Eden made sure that I did not finish whatever I would have said,

"Stay out of this, woman!" he shifted his gaze from Dylan to me, and I shook terribly in fear.

Eden turned around and faced his men who were still on their knees. With clenched teeth, he began to speak, "One of you has chosen to betray me. May that person confess now, and I will make the punishment lighter."

"Not me, boss", all the four men spoke one after the other.

"Terror! Connect the machine. The betrayer will talk!" Eden commanded.

After a short time, Terror came in with a small square gadget in his hands. A man followed him, carrying a chair in his hands. The machine was placed on the floor and Terror pressed a button. He roughly pulled one of the four men and brought him to the chair.

"It doesn't have to come to this, boss! Please don't do this, boss!" the man pleaded.

Eden ignored his pleading. Swiftly, as if he was very used to doing what he was doing, Terror placed a peg-like gadget on each of the man's thumbs. He pulled out a belt which was connected to the machine, and tied it around the man's waist.

"Start at level 3! I don't have time to waste!" Eden barked.

Terror pressed something, and the man writhed in great pain. He hissed, sighed and groaned; and his whole body twisted. It was not hot in the room, yet he began to sweat profusely.

"Speak!" Eden growled like an angry animal.

"I…I did not betray you, boss!" the man's voice was horse and deep, pain written all over it.

"Up to level 4!" Eden said. Terror nodded his head and pressed a button.

The man who was in the chair grunted from his throat, straightened his legs in front of him, before he jumped to his feet in a frenzy.

"I did not do it! I did not do it!" the man cried out. His body shook uncontrollably in violent spasms, and his blood red eyes bulged out, threatening to pop out at any minute, and he let out a huge growl of pain. Although I was not attached to the machine, it was visibly clear that the man was melting in pain.

"Up to level 6!" Eden gave his order.

"I did not do this, boss!" the man said in a commanding tone.

It sounded like he had had enough, and in his pain, he lost respect for Eden. He forgot to speak calmly to his boss, as the pain took control over him. Eden seemed to sense that too, and he gave an order for the man to be removed.

When Terror removed the pegs and belt, he carelessly pushed the man, and he fell on his face. What? Is he alive? Is he dead? I looked at Dylan, trying to find an answer in his eyes, but I found none. The second man was pulled roughly and planted in the same chair. The pegs and the belt were quickly fastened on to him, and the machine switched on. The man remained fixed on his position.

His teeth were clenched together tightly, his jaws printed visibly on his cheeks, tightened forcefully. His whole forehead was a maze of bulging veins, and the muscles in his arms seemed to grow even bigger. He clenched his fists and remained in the sitting position, neither uttering a word nor moving an inch.

"Talk, Toast, talk!" Eden told him.

"You know me better than this, boss. I would die for you!" the man said.

Eden and Terror looked at each other.

"Boss, I trust Toast," Terror spoke on behalf of the man.

"Let him off!" Eden said while his hand pulled the third man and pushed him towards the chair. The third man was none other the thin man who usually brought us food.

"I…I did not …I did not do this!" the thin man struggled and managed to find his way off the torturing chair.

"Sit!" Eden shouted at him.

The thin man shook his head and refused to sit down. Visibly annoyed, Terror took some steps forward and took the thin man by the arm, pulling him, yet the latter refused to give in. Who would have guessed that such a thin man could fight back against Terror, considering that Terror's frame was much bigger?

In their fight, Terror pulled the thin man roughly and he fell. While the man sat on the floor, Terror walked up to him and as he meant to hold him, the thin man escaped. The man crawled on all fours and stood to his feet. He looked dizzy, but he fought on. When Terror meant to catch him again, the man dodged the slap and jumped to the other side. Right then, something fell off his pocket. A watch. The watch. All eyes shifted to the watch which lay on the floor.

"I can't believe you can afford such an expensive watch," Eden picked it up slowly and scrutinized the watch. He looked at the man and said, "I believe I once saw this watch on de Milo's wrist. Care to explain how it ended up in your pocket?" Eden looked at the man from head to toe, and from toe to head. He walked slowly from the man and went towards Dylan.

"Does this belong to you, doc?" he asked calmly.

"It is mine." Dylan answered, equally calm. Eden looked at the thin man who was shivering in fright.

He walked towards him and spoke in his face, "even a fool can tell what happened. You offered to let him go in exchange for this highly expensive watch? Am I right or am I wrong?"

The man looked fearfully at Dylan, then at Terror, and finally at Eden. "Boss, I was…"

"Am I right? Am I wrong?" Eden asked with an emotionless voice.

"You…you are right, boss. It was not my plan. I…I wanted to tell you but I…." the man did not finish his sentence, for a sound was heard.

What! What was that? It took me close to 5 seconds to see that Eden shot the man.

"I am Israel Bassard! No-one betrays Israel Bassard!" Eden, or rather Israel, said with finality before walking out of the room.

"Carry the traitor's body!" Terror gave an order to Toast, and he turned to the fourth man, pointed at the blood splattered on the floor and said, "clean up this mess!"

"Yes boss," the fourth man nodded with a grin.