Two

There was a situation in the quartenage, somewhere in the camp. Maximus was made aware of it and immediately he and his battalion went back in a rush. There were land mines buried everywhere around the camp, hidden cameras that could easily be ignored by anyone without military field expertise, and gunmen camouflaged to invisibility.

The battalion arrived at the camp and Maximus rushed to the quartenage to handle the situation. It was a well-built facility with deep underground tunnels. Security here was unearthly and dangerous, to say the least. The only two places in the building without cameras were one of the basements down below and the red room.

Maximus stormed through the hallway, heading directly for the red room. Suddenly the door opened and a woman stepped out. She was as beautiful as a dream. She had eyes as blue and enchanting as the sea, and her skin and color were breathtaking. Her beautiful hair appeared rough and messy. He examined the lady as she approached. She tried with a few subtle hand movements to fix her tight skirt and to handle the situation of her exposed cleavage. In a moment he noticed her eyes, glistening with tears as she approached. He stopped, trying to remember if she was the same girl that appeared in the same situation a week before or two weeks before that.

His brother, Don, had a way of making women feel like the center of the universe for a short while, then he would dispose of them. This pretty innocent lady was probably one of his victims.

“I thought he cared for me,” she said quietly when Maximus stopped in front of her. “Tell him that I never want to see him again.”

“What happened ?”

“He handed me cash. He said it was for my service. I am not a whore and I won’t let him treat me like one.” Tears streamed down her face. There was a sexual timidness in her posture. A sense of shame was overwhelming her.

“Lady........how did you get here ?”

“I was brought here, blindfolded by some men”

“Good,” he said. “I’ll ask someone to take you home. The blindfold is still necessary.” He examined her a little more, sympathizing with her. “Take my advice, you seem like a good person, and for that, you should go as far from this country as you can. Change your identity if you have to. My brother can be very dangerous.”

Two guards came in from down the hallway, to lead her out. The lady could not stop staring at Maximus, as if seeing a bright light in a pitch-black world. He moved from her sight, into the red room. Don was grooming himself in front of a mirror. There was satisfaction on his face. This was where he would bring all his women. Maximus had had enough, “How can you even stand there to look at yourself ?” he snapped at him.

“I look at myself every time I look at you, little brother.” “I am nothing like you”

“No....you are not. You just haven’t sprouted your devil horns yet. But it won’t be long-”

“You won’t be alive to see anything if you keep up with your attitude” he interrupted, infuriated.

“What is that supposed to mean ?”

“You’ve been pissing off a lot of people lately and only if you would take time to handle your damn mess, I would appreciate it”

“I am handling everything” he answered back absently.

“Oh, like you’re handling the Gringo brothers or this Chaplain guy who by the way, sent eight men to get rid of you”

“I don’t know anyone named Chaplain.”

“My point exactly. You don’t know who your enemies are anymore.”

 “Am handling it” he repeated, calmly.

“You are going to get yourself killed. Now listen to me carefully. We are supposed to meet with the Gringo brothers at the harbor tomorrow. You should be on your best behavior. We need to make allies, not enemies.”

“We don’t need the Gringo brothers. We are fine, you worry too much, Max”

“We need them damn you! We need their explosives. It’s going to be a peaceful transaction and no bloodshed. Do you understand ?”

“Whatever you say, Max. Now can you allow me a few hours of sleep, am exhausted, that girl was......” he stopped there, amusement flickering on his face as his brother glowered at him.

Maximus decided to retreat to one of the rooms in the building. Making his way there, he heard the parking of trucks outside. A few moments later, there was movement in the elevators going to the underground basements. He followed. The lighting down there was as bad as it could get. It was like entering the underworld. There, Maximus followed the sudden swelling of echoes. There was a trail of blood on the ground and as he got closer to the light, he could hear familiar voices of muffled screaming.

Don sent his men an hour before that when there was the attack in the woods, to re-capture the three surviving criminals after they were set free. Now, the three men had been brought here and Don was there, intending to handle this secretly, accompanied by a few of his guards.

“No one ever sees my face and lives to tell the tale” Don promised. Maximus was watching from the side of the wall, unnoticed. “Now, I am going to let you go” he added. He shot, six bullets in total, two for each, and then asked his men to clean the mess, the blood, the horror. Don isagise Hassien. He had gone too far. He was no longer a man but a monster. He was becoming what people said he was. If he continued like this, then there would be no redemption for him. Unless he found that one thing or someone that he would care about. Only time would…. time