Black Ops

Resupplied, Faith brought Josh and Julian back to the base of Julie’s door. “She isn’t due back for over an hour yet, but I think we should limited your excursion to no more than thirty minutes,” she said.

Touching his bare wrist, “Watches synchronized,” Julian said.

Faith grinned and shook her head, the slight grin on the corner of her mouth sent a shiver through the slender man’s spine. It was the same kind of smile she had worn when she put him in the toilet and peed on him.

She waited for the two men to scurry under the door before leaving. There was enough ambient light filtering in through the windows for the two to be able to see fairly well.

“After last time, maybe we should stick together in here?” Josh suggested.

“Screw that, I want to go check out momma’s room,” Julian replied, lopsided grin on his face.

“That wasn’t our mission,” Josh countered.

Julian chuckled, “What are we Green fucking Berets or something? We got thirty minutes to reconnoiter the room. You do this one, I’ll do the other,” he offered.

“I think we should just stick to the plan,” Josh replied.

“Stop being a retard like Carver, think about it. We don’t know what’s over in that other room, could actually be a means of unshrinking, don’t know. Smart money says the more we know, the better equipped we are to try and find a way out of this mess, right?” he inquired with a cocky grin, presenting his case and knowing the shorter man could not refute the logic.

Josh nodded, while he knew Julian’s primary motivation was undoubtedly fixating on Faith’s mother, the argument was sound. The more intelligence they could acquire the more options there were available to them. “Okay,” he conceded, “but there and back in twenty minutes,” he instructed, cocking his head and nodding toward the clock.

“Aye aye,” Julian retorted, saluting. Grinning, he nodded before dropping back down and slithering back under the door into the hall.

Traipsing deeper into the hostile environment, the musty smell emanating from the dirty carpet filled his nostrils, blotting out other he was sure were permeating the heavy air. Navigating a filthy cluttered room at normal height could be daunting, at his size, it was a definite pain. Clambering over discarded a discarded brassiere, he lingered to cut the material near the end of the underwire on one of the cups. He also slice several of the threads he believed to be the crotch of a pair of wadded up blue jeans. He was careful not to cut the fabric, a clean slice might arouse suspicion. Moving deeper into the room, he paused to grab what appeared to be a chocolate chip a little bigger than his hand. Sniffing it to make sure it was what it appeared to be before taking a bite, he opened his mouth and took a piece. The rich flavor inundated his senses, it was so good. Closing his eyes, he relished the delicious flavor filling his mouth. Cutting off a corner of his poncho, he rolled up the rest of the chocolate and tucked it under the tie about his waist.

He didn’t know where Julian had previously stashed the other tacks, but Josh set the new one he carried near the bed in the path between the door and the bed, deciding he could camouflage it by covering it with a fold of fabric from a button up blouse lying there. Placing the tack pointing side up, he picked up the corner of the fabric, tugging on it slightly to cover his trap. Under the fabric, there was something there on the ground. A slightly dehydrated and desiccated human arm, broken off raggedly near the elbow. It was too dried out to tell if it was male or female. Looking around the room, he suddenly wondered how many other partial bits and pieces of people he might come across. Bile and diluted chocolate tickled the back of his throat and he wasn’t hungry any more.

Further on, a metallic glint caught his eye. It was a pair of fingernail clippers, the sharp cutting edges stained dark carmine with dried blood and there were small chunks of something across the coarse edge of the attached file.

While Faith had kept them under the bed and he doubted Julie did the same, Faith had mentioned Julie seldom kept her playthings around for very long.

He wanted to try and get to a higher vantage, give him a better understanding of the landscape of the room. Circling around to the rear of the nightstand, he used the cord to climb up, mentally keeping track of the time to make sure he gave himself enough time to make it back to the extraction rendezvous.

Clambering on top the cluttered surface of the nightstand, he moved toward the front, pausing when he spied a small dark colored glass dish, like an ashtray containing two skulls pretty much the same size as his. There was no doubt in his mind they were real. The articulation of the bones, the teeth, these had formerly belonged to living people. At the back of each skull was a post affixed to it with a dollop of clear adhesive, the metal about the length of his forearm, each with a clear rubber stopper on it. He knew what it was. She had made herself a set of stud earrings out of the skulls of two of her captives. Shuddering involuntarily, he walked to the front of the nightstand, surveying the room. The layout was a near mirror reflection of Faith’s, a door leading to a closet and another to a private bathroom.

Glancing at the clock, his time was growing short. Crossing back over the nightstand, he paused to look at the skulls again before slipping over the edge and down the cord. Getting down was a lot easier than climbing up. Once on the floor, he set off toward the door, loping at an easy pace. Once there, he got down on his stomach and crawled partway under the door. Of Julian, there was no trace.