CHAPTER 29: SINS OF THE PAST

M ARIEL PULLED OPEN the door, her eyes darting back behind her in the hallway to make sure no one was coming. Once it opened, a gust of stale rotten air came rushing into her face, overwhelming her senses. Absently, she grabbed the keys from the lock, thrusting them in her pocket as she took a deep breath and forced herself into the dimly lit room. A quick look around confirmed the two girls she had seen through the window and Caitlyn across the room. Out of the corner of her eye to her left, she saw another young girl sitting on the floor near the door, obviously another captive. She smiled over at the blond girl on the cot, her voice a whispered greeting.

"Caitlyn!"

The door closed behind her and she watched as Caitlyn's mouth opened to say something before she felt her feet tripped up and she went sprawling across the floor. The blond girl's words came too late.

"Mariel, watch out!"

The scientist felt the weight of someone land on her back and she struggled, attempting to roll free. Tara was straddling her back, the teen's hands clutching in Mariel's hair as she laughed.

"Gotcha, blondie!"

The commotion and scuffling in the room roused Lisa just a bit and she groaned, turning over in the cot to see two forms on the floor. She had thought she heard someone calling a name she knew in her dreams. At the moment, she was trying hard to focus, her body still feeling lethargic from the heroin.

Recovering from the surprise attack by the girl she had dismissed on her way in, Mariel lifted up, her arms holding up the weight on her back. She settled down and focused, her training coming in handy now. Feeling the girl on her back pulling hard against her hair, she lifted her right hand from the floor and let herself collapse to that side, tucking in her shoulder as she landed. The move threw Tara off balance and she landed against the floor on her back as Mariel's weight rolled on top of her. With a quick elbow, the scientist delivered a blow behind her, knocking against the teen's jaw, her hair released from Tara's grasp as the girl cried out. Turning quickly and nimbly, Mariel pinned Tara easily to the ground, her size and strength overpowering the smaller juvenile.

"Give it up!"

Mariel ground out her words, angry now from the attack and angry that Tara was trying to kick and claw at her. She looked down at the dark haired girl who was huffing before she spit out her words.

"Fuck you! I'm going to kick your ass!"

Mariel assessed the situation. The girl was laying on her back, the scientist holding her arms firmly to the ground, having no problem subduing her. Was this girl stupid? With a shake of her head, Mariel took the girl's arms and pulled her up a bit. Wrestling, she pushed Tara's arms down, forcing her on her stomach against the ground. Lifting herself up a bit, the scientist placed a knee against Tara's back and sighed.

"You're deluded. Just give it up."

Tara let out a frustrated noise and struggled a bit more before she stilled, her face pressing against the dirty ground. Mariel quickly looked over her shoulder at Caitlyn and used her head to motion to her as she spoke.

"Caitlyn, come on over here and help me with her."

As the blond girl got up from the cot, Lisa stared, her eyes trying to focus on the woman on the floor, that voice...

"Here, let me undo your hands first. Are you ok?"

Caitlyn nodded and smiled, turning around so that the scientist could release her. Mariel used a hand to untie the girl's hands from behind her back and the both of them worked the cord around Tara's wrists. Just as they finished, a faint weak voice hesitantly filled the room.

"M..Mariel?"

The young doctor froze, recognizing that voice immediately. Slowly, she turned her head. Her heart dropped to her knees as she saw in the dim light a figure struggling to stand from the cot. Her face was unmistakable. The air in Mariel's lungs was suddenly gone and she could practically feel the blood draining from her face. It couldn't be...

"Lisa?"

Mariel's sister got to her feet, wobbly as she moved towards her. In an instant, the scientist scrambled up, running to catch Lisa just as she pitched forward, falling, her arms holding the girl tight. She felt Lisa sob against her as she maneuvered them to the cot and sat them down, simply hugging the shaking girl to her tight. With soft murmurs, she soothed her, her mind unable figure out this almost surreal feeling. Her sister. Here. Instead, she just reacted from her heart.

"Shhh...it's ok..I've got you, Lisa...it's ok. Everything's gonna be fine, I'm here."

Lisa clutched at her, sobbing and feeling so relieved and safe she was sure she was still asleep. Pulling back, she looked at Mariel with reddened, bloodshot eyes, reaching up to touch against her sister's fair cheek to make sure she was really there. Her voice was trembling and soft.

"Am..am I dreaming? Are we still in the cornfield?"

The scientist closed her eyes and shook her head, pulling Lisa to her tightly as she whispered, tears in her own eyes.

"No, you're not dreaming, honey. I'm right here with you. You're safe now."

Mariel took a long shuddering breath and held tight. Ever since she had left for college, she had felt guilty about leaving Lisa behind. In some ways, the scientist had felt like she had abandoned Lisa, left her to fend for herself. Her younger sister had always been so very sensitive as a child, even more than she herself was. It had been hard for her too, Mariel had always been there to help. Lisa had awkward social graces, had never really done well in school, didn't have the same kinds of dreams Mariel had. One phone call had been the last she had heard from her sister, her parents calling her frantically to tell her that Lisa had just left the farm. Gone. Years they spent searching, worrying. And now, right here in her arms, she was safe and sound. Alive.

"I'm sorry, Mariel...I n-never meant to hurt you or Mom and Dad...I.."

Her sister's words were quiet and muffled against the scientist's chest, the young woman clinging tightly to her. Hugging her close, Mariel reached up and smoothed her hand through Lisa's disheveled hair, her voice soft.

"Shh...it's alright. We can talk about that later."

Taking a deep breath, she would have given anything to stay right here and never let Lisa go but she knew that she had a job to do and in order to keep them all safe, she was going to have to think fast. Quietly, she called out across the room.

"Caitlyn, is that other girl alright?"

Mariel was referring to Valerie, who was as weak as a kitten, her body shaking and sweating. She wasn't in any danger of dying, but the way Valerie was looking, it appeared the girl wished she could die. Caitlyn gave one last check to the tie around Tara's hands and got up, looking over at Valerie.

"Yeah, she's going through drug withdrawal though. I've seen it before at school. She should be fine until we can get her help."

Tara laughed, causing them all to look at her. Turning her head to the side against the floor, the juvenile spoke harshly as she smiled cruelly at Mariel.

"Blondie, you shouldn't give a rat's ass about that girl. She's the one who sold out that chick sitting next to you to Cirra."

Mariel narrowed her eyes first at Tara, before she leveled her gaze at Valerie. She'd have to sort this out later, right now there wasn't time for it. With Lisa still in her arms, the scientist looked up at Caitlyn.

"I've got to go call for backup and help Tina. I think you should be safe right here. I can't risk taking you all out of here, not with Lisa and the other girl as sick as they are. It wouldn't be safe."

Caitlyn nodded, knowing that she was being asked to take care of things here. She was more than happy to do that if it meant catching Cirra. She had her own debt to settle with her. Mariel continued, her arms still holding Lisa close, her sister's crying slowly stopping until she was taking soft halting breaths.

"I've got the key to the room and I'm going to lock the door and take it with me. No one will get in here, I promise. Lisa?"

Mariel's head turned down, her hand gently coming under Lisa's face and raising it a bit. A soft smile crossed her lips, just happy to have found her sister and grateful that she was safe. With a shaky smile back, Lisa looked up.

"Lisa, honey, I'm going to have to go for just a little bit but I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can, ok?"

Fear crept into the younger woman's eyes, her hands clutching even tighter around Mariel's body. Hoarsely, she spoke, her words panicked.

"Don't leave me, Mariel...not again...please."

Mariel closed her eyes against the pain of those words as she pulled Lisa to her tighter. She was taken back to time long ago when they were kids, running around on their parent's farm. Lisa had gotten lost, separated in the cornfields around their place. Hours and hours later, they had found each other and her sister had said the exact same words to her in the exact same way. It nearly broke Mariel's heart. Taking a deep breath, she hugged one last time and pulled back, knowing it was necessary but hating it nonetheless. In an emotional whisper, she looked deep into her sister's eyes.

"Lisa, I am not leaving you. I've got to get help for us. You'll be safe here, I promise."

Lisa looked back at her, her emotions warring on her face. Right now, she felt like she was six years old again, the comfort of Mariel's arms felt that good and that secure. Caitlyn crouched down in front of them and put a gentle hand on Lisa's knee.

"I'm going to be here with you. I won't let anything happen, I swear. Your sister here has got a really tough friend out there who's gonna take care of everything. Mariel needs to go help her right now, ok?"

Lisa looked back at this young slip of a girl, her pale blond hair and grey eyes were brave and honest. Taking a deep inhale of air, Lisa looked back up at Mariel, nodding just a bit.

"Ok.."

The scientist smiled one of her genuine comforting smiles as she patted her sister on the back, rubbing just a bit before she released her and stood. In the dim light, Lisa could see how much Mariel had changed from the last time she had seen her, strong lines and muscles rippling over her body, fierce determination evident in her stance and on her face. Looking down at Lisa, she spoke.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

Caitlyn sat down next to Lisa and put an arm around her, giving her a steady hold to help her sit. Nodding up at Mariel, Lisa let a smile cross her lips, her words quiet.

"It's good to see you, Sis...I missed you."

Mariel chuckled a little before she reached out and patted Lisa's shoulder.

"Good to see you too, hon. I'll make this as quick as I can."

And with that, Mariel turned and walked towards the door, the stakes having been raised higher now that her sister was involved. Stopping, she briefly checked Tara's ties, satisfied the girl wasn't going anywhere. With a glance over to Valerie, she let a little bit of her anger out, knowing that girl might be responsible for her sister's pain. She'd make sure things got sorted out later. Reaching for the door, she opened it and turned, smiling back and waving a little to Caitlyn and Lisa, seeing them smile in return. When she had closed and locked the door behind her, she let her back rest against the cold metal surface taking a deep breath to steady herself. Her temper and frustration were now free to be unleashed and she narrowed her green eyes, pulling the nightstick from her belt as she went to do her job.

* * *

There are times in one's life when it becomes clear that nothing will ever be the same again. Years, decades, lifetimes later a single event can have so much meaning it hurts. The past has a way of never leaving, no matter how hard or how much one might wish for it to simply go away. Everyone has their demons and their secrets, ugly in the light of day, exposed. Living with those ghosts is a burden that only gets heavier with time. Right now, Tina Amphipoli was about to crush or be crushed by one specter of a ghost from her past, Cirra Callistone.

The detective looked up at the blond, her statuesque form standing in the light shining down from above. Tina narrowed her eyes before she slowly shrugged off her leather jacket, not caring as it slipped to the edge of the catwalk she was on and fell over the side, landing on the cargo bay floor below. In just her black t-shirt, she didn't even notice the chill in the building, even though her breath was visible as she breathed out, never taking her eyes off Cirra. Speaking in a low voice that carried up the distance between them, Tina's face was unreadable.

"Cirra, why are you doing this?"

The blond cocked her head to the side as she put a hand on her hip and another to her neck.

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks for asking."

Tina moved further along the catwalk, stopping so that she was even with Cirra who stood above and in front of her, the distance between the catwalk and the platform a mere ten yards. From where she was, the detective could see the brown glint in Cirra's eyes. In a drawl, Tina shook her head up at the woman.

"Cut the bullshit, Cirra."

Cirra smiled grandly, her eyes mocking down at the dark haired detective. Her heart was pounding from the excitement of this, the supreme bliss she was going to receive from toying with Tina. Drawling out her own words as well, Cirra shifted her hip to the side as she spoke.

"Really Tina, is that any way to greet an old friend? I would have thought you'd be happy to see me, you know, relive old times, reminisce."

The investigator narrowed her eyes, trying to remember anything in the past that would have led this woman to be here, now. From what she recalled, Cirra was a few grades behind her and then, it seemed like something happened and she dropped out of school. Back at the Cage, the only thing she had to go on was a feeling about Cirra. And that feeling wasn't good. Speaking slowly, she cocked her head to the side.

"Why the slave ring?"

Cirra's dark brows came together as she thought before she waved her hand dismissively and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, that. Slaves, schmaves. That was just a stupid little something I whipped up so we could get together and talk."

At that moment, Tina realized that the more or less normal girl she had barely remembered from high school was quite possibly insane. To have gone to the trouble and planning of an entire sex slave operation just for a chance to talk was a little wacky. And dangerous.

"So, you brought me here so we could talk about old times?"

Cirra laughed, a deep hearty giggle before her face changed in an instant to stone cold anger. She was losing it, she could feel it, but she was going to hold on long enough to make this bitch pay.

"Funny, I don't feel like hearing you talk. It's my turn, Tina."

The way Cirra said Tina's name was with total disdain, drawing out the syllables in a high pitched whine. Lowering her eyes, the blond reached out and took hold of the platform railing, letting her fingers trail over the cold metal before she looked up again, her voice low.

"July 5^th , 1988...remember that day?"

Tina's brain went into overtime but nothing came. With an indifferent shrug, she affected a bored look. The longer she kept Cirra talking, the easier it would be for Mariel to call for backup. In the back of her mind, though, she doubted that Cirra would be kind enough to simply wait around for the Chicago PD and FBI to show up before she did something stupid. Tina would just have to be ready for it.

"Not really. What does that have to do with us?"

Cirra narrowed her eyes, her voice shaking in its quest to remain in control. As it was, she nearly shouted.

"It has everything to do us!"

Tina watched as Cirra began a slow pace around the metal platform, turning in place a couple of times while her hands clasped and unclasped each other before she ran a hand up through her blond hair. Stopping, she turned to Tina, her face totally blank, no expression, nothing.

"That was the day you made me, Tina. You see, you created the monster you're looking at right now."

Cirra let out a low chuckle, but it was without feeling or emotion or any expression. It just was. With a shrug of her shoulder, brown eyes found blue and locked, a hint of anger and sadness and insanity all passed between them. Tina's brows came together in puzzlement. She couldn't even begin to imagine what Cirra was referring to, what she was talking about. In a low voice that gave away nothing, she spoke.

"What do you mean, 'I made you'?"

Cirra raised an eyebrow, her head cocking to the side as her voice was challenging.

"Do you remember Grosse Pointe?"

The detective's mind went blank for a moment before it started to come to her. Grosse Pointe. That was an eastern suburb of Detroit, not too far from their high school. July in Grosse Pointe the year after she graduated? At that instant, Tina Amphipoli remembered. Everything. And her face showed it. Cirra smiled, another smile without feeling as the look of dawning memory crossed the detective's face. Cirra's voice alternated between tonelessness and ragged halting words as she spoke at the stunned detective.

"That was the Fourth of July weekend. We had a party the night before too. My sister. My mother. My father. Fireworks and hotdogs. All American. They were going to church the next day. Sunday. I wanted stay home and practice piano. Did you know I used to play?"

She said this, not expecting a response from Tina, not wanting one. It was all rushing back into her brain, the crowded images starting to whirl around. She was determined to make sure the woman responsible for her years of misery heard every single goddamned word she was going to say. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

"I went outside to wave goodbye. I still remember them smiling at me from the car, backing out of our driveway. The grass was so green, the sky was so blue. Do you know what happened next, Tina?"

The blond leveled her eyes at the detective, rage starting to boil in them. Tina swallowed. Indeed, she knew what came next and it was something she had tried to forget all this time, tried to tell herself she wasn't responsible, she wasn't there. Cirra's voice began to get louder as she continued, a crazy smile starting to spread across her face before an expression of rage replaced it.

"You made my life a living hell that day! I saw the car come speeding down our street before I saw those fucks you called friends inside it, smiling and drunk, driving and yelling and shouting! They were fucking laughing when they slammed into the back of my father's car! Laughing! I heard them!"

Tina stood stunned, all she could do was listen as Cirra paced back and forth in front of her on the platform, running her hands through her hair mindlessly as she yelled, her eyes wild.

"Did you know they kept on driving and didn't stop? Didn't even fucking stop to see if my family was alive! I started running to the street and right before my eyes, I watched everything explode! I heard my family's screams coming from our burning car!"

Tina cringed, knowing that Grosse Pointe was the one time her little gang was responsible for the death of innocent people. She had told the guys not to drive when they left that stupid little abandoned building they used as a party place. They had been up all night, celebrating the Fourth in their own style, drinking from a keg they had stolen that day. She would have been in that car herself if she hadn't stayed to finish it off. The guys, she didn't even remember their names, had never been caught, ditching the car by Jefferson Beach right into Lake St. Clair. They had lied to her at the time, saying no one was hurt, just a stolen car accident. It wasn't until a year later that she learned what really happened, learned that the Callistone's had been killed and Cirra had left Detroit soon after. By then, those same guys -- it seemed like one was named Ray or something, Tina almost remembered -- had skipped town and she...just...didn't..say anything, to anyone. Ever. With a choked voice, Tina tried to control her emotions as she spoke to the woman who looked at her, all full of hate and anger and sadness and no one to direct it at except for her. In a quiet voice, she spoke.

"I am so sorry, Cirra. I can make sure those guys are caught, even if I have to do it myself."

She didn't know what else to say, knowing it was the best she could offer. How could she ever make amends for her part in this, and for her silence? The statute of limitations had expired on anything she herself could be charged with, a misdemeanor if anything. The guys directly responsible could probably still be charged with manslaughter. At the time, she had shrugged it off, not wanting to care about it, wanting to forget that chapter of her life. Now, her conscience was different, was demanding she pay for it. Pain showed on her face at the memory of her misdeed. She watched as Cirra took a breath, closing her eyes before she spoke softly.

"Hurts, doesn't it? Welcome to the club."

And then something inside of Cirra Callistone snapped, like a tight thin wire that held every single solitary piece of her mind in place, it all came crashing to the ground as the image of her sister's face, contorted in pain and screaming, started to melt and burn and singe and blacken and flame, the fire engulfing her as she was trapped in the backseat of the car. Cirra watched herself run for the garden hose, anything, as she screamed at the top of her lungs, the peaceful suburban neighborhood they lived in deadly quiet and deserted on that early morning. Her family died right in front of her, her soul quickly following. Cirra let it all out in a bloodcurdling high pitched scream that echoed through the factory around them. Reaching up, she grabbed a chain and swung down from her platform, her body in a direct line as she collided with Tina on the catwalk.

Mariel ran down the hallway when she heard a scream so scary in its complete rage, she thought she was reliving an old horror movie. Skidding around the corner, she tore up the distance between her and the scream until she came to a screeching halt in the cargo bay, too stunned by the scene unfolding above her to notice the body at her feet near the Porsche. There, on the catwalk, she saw Cirra's body swing through the air and crash into Tina, the detective taking the blond's weight in a thudding jolt. Both women fell to the ground, the momentum of Cirra's swing knocking them off and over the edge of the walkway. They were headed directly for the jagged tool and dye machinery below them as Mariel felt herself scream out in pure reflex.

"Noooo!!!!!

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 509