"I suppose it is funny," I tell her. "Well then, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way—wait here. I'll be right back. I need to see if our test subject is ready for you yet."
"Test subject?" Her voice falters, sounding as if the words got caught in her throat. There are the nerves I was waiting for. She tucks a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and stands up from the ground—all signs of apprehension.
"Yeah, it's no biggie. Just give me a second," I tell her as I head down to talk to Everett. If I let her sit for a few minutes, it’ll massage more paranoia into her head.
5
Harley
The ass finally returns after chatting with his buddy—the doorman, and my patience is starting to wear thin. "Okay, really … what is this job position? Oh, and before you give me another half-assed answer, let me just tell you that persistence can accompany desperation. So, I'd appreciate an answer."
Axel straightens his posture and rests his hands on the top of the desk chair. "Once we know you're qualified, we'll go over all the specifications."
"Awesome," I say with a huff. If I hadn’t needed to sell my watch to pay for another month of heat, I’d highlight my irritation by glancing down at my wrist.
"Now that the questions are out of the way, are you ready?" he asks.
"Whatever," I tell him. I'm not giving him the satisfaction of thinking he’s freaking me out with his whack-job interviewing tactics. Just as he's been doing since we came down here, Axel takes another long minute to stare at me like he is trying to read every thought running through my head. It's creepy, even if he is one of the hottest men I've seen in a while. At least if this goes south, I could think of worse ways to go out. Maybe if my gut worked like any normal person’s, it would have prevented me from coming down into this hole, but it seems like I have no warning triggers left. So, here I am, waiting for whatever hides behind door number two.
When Axel decides to break his stare from my face, he heads down the adjoining hall. "Let's go." The new hall looks different from the one we originally came down, but not necessarily in a good way. It has the feeling of a medical facility—clean, bright, and so perfect, it looks staged.
Axel takes a key from his back pocket and opens a utility-looking closet door, then leans into the dark room. He flips on the light, which shines down on a woman who’s hunched over a table. It’s as if she’s on display in the center of the room. She doesn’t budge an inch, even with the sudden change of lighting. Her forehead is resting on her propped-up hand, and her pale complexion makes me wonder if she’s drugged. The woman’s shoulder length hair is stringy and absorbing the light, which makes it look wet. "Go on in," Axel tells me. "Harley, meet Shawnda."
"What am I supposed to do in there?" I ask, looking back and forth between Axel and the Shawnda. "You're not locking me in there too, if that’s your little game."
"Don’t worry. I’m leaving you in control of whether you stay or leave," he says.
"I’m supposed to just take your word on that? I mean, don’t get me wrong ... you seem like the most trustworthy person I’ve met in the last five minutes, but how do I know you’re not baiting me into confinement with this other lovely lady?"
"This is the interview. Are you going in or not?"
Once again, I’m a magnet for trouble. Whatever. I have no purpose in life left. It is what it is at this point. I ignore the warning signs of entrapment and step inside the room, remaining close to the door, and Axel places his hand on the doorknob, obviously ready to lock me in like I figured he would. "Wow, you are a sneaky one, aren’t you?" I ask him.
"I'm locking the door, but the door will unlock in ten minutes or less." He closes the door half way, then reopens it. "Oh, and only one of you can walk out of here, or neither of you are leaving. If you try to work together, neither of you are leaving. If you try to escape, neither of you are leaving." Without a clear second to process what he’s saying, Axel slams the door in my face.
Shit. What the hell does he expect me to do in here? Shawnda lifts her gaze slowly, pinning me with her somber eyes that are surrounded by dark circles. I continue my assessment of her features, trying to figure her out, but everything becomes a little clearer when I notice the track marks lining the insides of her arms. "Are you okay?" I ask. She’s definitely not okay.
With the strength she’s struggling to muster, her head lifts off her hand and she forces her eyelids open a bit more. "I've been sitting in this room for an entire day, detoxing," she says, her words sounding more like record scratches. "What the fuck did that asshole mean by saying one of us leaves or neither of us do? Are you detoxing too?" she asks.
"I uh—uh. Um. Yeah." I decide not to answer her. Information about me isn’t needed in this situation. I may not be here to detox, but it seems obvious that Axel meant only one of us will leave here alive. I lean my back up against the wall, feeling a sickness grow from within the bottom of my gut. As I lose my focus and nod my head with confusion, I try and breathe through my stress. I don't know what she’s capable of, but if it’s between the two of us going down, I can't let it be me. Despite knowing I’m lucky to still be alive at this point in my life, this isn’t how I’m going out.
"Wow, you're more screwed up than me … you can’t even speak properly," she says with a choked laugh. Her words penetrate slowly, pulling my attention back to the present. As I refocus on her face, I see she’s glaring at me with a look I can't decipher, nor do I want to figure out.
"Yeah … " I tell Shawnda. How can I get out of this in one piece? I think for a minute, searching around the room, spotting a tin can on the table she is sitting at. How the hell does Axel expect this to happen? I’m not about to murder this woman. I’m already carrying around enough baggage.
I know ...
"I'm not doing this again," I groan, tugging at the roots of my hair. "God, I can't. You know? I just can’t keep fucking doing this." I circle around, pacing slowly as I inhale and exhale in uneven increments. "The pain, the suffering, and nightmares … no way … I’m not I detoxing again." I scratch my arms while wildly looking around the room to avoid eye contact with Shawnda.
There was a time when I felt like I had the world at me feet. I was accepted into the university of my dreams, able to take the first steps toward a future I had planned since I was young. I was my parents’ pride and joy and they reveled in the experiences I was able to take part in. They made it clear they wanted nothing more than the best for me. They would call me with the sound of excitement in their voices every few days, wanting to hear what was new in my life, and what new theories I had uncovered within my studies. They were my biggest supporters until the day I managed to land myself in as much trouble as they were once in. My troubles were for a very different reason, though.
"I can't go through another detox either," Shawnda seethes, bringing me back to the situation at hand.
"Obviously. But most people in our situation wouldn't even be sitting up straight right now. That just goes to show we have more control over ourselves than they think we do," I say, stuttering for an added effect, while I slide my back down the length of the wall until I’m seated on the ground.