Conspiracies

A bullet whizzed past Charles' ear, plummeting into a snow-covered pine tree in front of him. He was backed against another thick tree, trying to avoid the well-aimed shots from a bolt-action rifle. "I just want to talk to you," he yelled behind him.

An answer came in the form of another bullet, just missing Charles' arm. "Stand down!" he shouted, turning only to shoot his handgun into the ground, hopefully enough to disable but not kill his attacker.

He quickly peered around, looking for the assailant, but he couldn't see any hint of movement. "Go away!" said the voice loudly.

"Stop shooting first," Charles yelled.

The bullets stopped and there was a moment of uneasy silence.

"Toss your gun," said the voice from afar. Charles growled, but did so, ejecting the magazine and throwing them both aside into the snow. "Now the other one," demanded the voice.

"I don't have another one," Charles said, still standing behind the tree. It wasn't until another bullet whizzed past his leg did he angrily take out his second smaller handgun, unloading and tossing it aside. "There! Will you talk now?" he yelled, still staying safely behind the tree.

There was a silence, and Charles started to think maybe he ran away. Before he could turn around to check he felt the cool barrel of a luger press against his temple.

"What do you want?" came the voice. Charles raised his arms over his head, cursing at how he had gotten to him so impossibly fast.

"You shot down our drone," Charles answered.

Charles felt the barrel push farther against his temple. "It's forty miles south. Go get it and don't come back."

The moment the barrel had left his temple, with lightning speed Charles grabbed the attacker's wrist and flipped him to the ground, quickly pressing his foot against his chest to keep him down. He pried the luger from his hands as the attacker gasped from the force of getting slammed on his back.

When Charles finally got a look at his attacker he was taken aback. He looked barely like a young man, swimming in thick layers of flannel and a fur hat much too big for him. "How did you get that drone down?"

"If you're so smart then figure it out yourself," the boy spat, trying to wiggle out from underneath Charles.

"Well I tried but now we're missing three men. So do tell, where did they go?"

The boy grunted and tried to push Charles off, but he was much smaller. "Wolves probably got them. Now go away!" he yelled angrily.

Charles smirked. Wolves certainly did not leave bullet holes in their heads. If so, they had a much bigger problem on their hands. "Tell me your name."

"I said go away!"

Charles pointed the luger he had taken from the boy and pointed it between his eyes. "How old are you?"

The boy stopped struggling, only to lift his forehead higher to the barrel. "Sixteen, I think."

Charles narrowed his eyes, not lowering the luger, debating how crazy this kid was to lean into the barrel so willingly. "Come work for me."

"I'm fine right here," the boy said, holding still.

"You're a kid living in a hut alone in the woods. It doesn't look that fine to me."

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

Charles dropped the luger from between his eyes and outstretched his hand, pulling the boy up. "Special Agent Charles Sauer."

"That sounds fake."

"I can assure you, it's not. What's your name?"

"Xander."

"Well, not anymore," Charles said, pulling out an envelope from his coat pocket, handing it to Xander. "Now you're Owen G. Carter. At least for the next two years."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm offering you a job. You're going to live with me until you're eighteen. If you do what I say I promise you will be very successful. You can buy as many, um, huts as you want."

"That's stupid, I have everything I need. And it's a cabin."

Charles paused, not used to anyone rejecting money. Especially from someone who practically lives in a stick fort. He tried to think of other ways to bribe him with material objects, but he knew it probably wouldn't work. The only thing he could think of to sway Xander's mind was simply,

"What about adventure?"

AJ woke up to Oliver shaking her shoulder. Her eyes just barely flickered open lazily and focused on her surroundings. When she realized where she was, she leapt from the comforter, trying to recall how she got there. The chaotic incidents of the previous night unfurled in her mind, causing her stomach to turn into knots and her heart heavy in her chest.

"Get dressed," he insisted, her clothing already in his outstretched hand. "You can go home for now, but I'm picking you up at six."

AJ gratefully took her clothing, pulling off the baggy cotton shirt he had lent her for the evening. Oliver was already dressed in his usual work attire, straightening a crimson tie around his neck.

When AJ was fully clothed, Oliver took her by the wrist and pulled her close to his chest. His strength was frightening. He put two fingers under her chin and tipped her head to meet his stern gaze. "We're going to a little party tonight, and I need you to be good this time."

AJ bit her tongue. If it was another event just like their night at the museum, then she had better start collecting any shreds of courage and pride she had left. Plan A didn't work, so it was time to formulate a plan B.

"I'm serious. This might be a bit overwhelming to you, so just stay calm and do everything I tell you to. Got it?"

No one ever in human history has calmed down after being told to calm down. This was no exception for AJ.

"What's going to happen?" she asked nervously.

Oliver removed his two fingers from underneath her chin. "I'm going to show you off, little bird. Now go home."

"Wait, no, what does that mean?" she said in a panic.

Oliver smirked and replied, "It means go home and I'll be there at six. Oh, and I'll let you wear underwear this time, as long as it's nice. In fact I suggest you do."

Before AJ could start asking more questions, he shooed her out of his apartment, giving her a pat on the head before pushing her out the door.

Once she was out of his building back on the bustling city street, she finally felt like she could breathe. The sun warmed her face as if she had been living in an underground bunker for years. She had felt so claustrophobic, but now she had been set free, a bird out of its cage. Well, for now.

As she walked home, she debated what to do with her day. There was a great deal of time, but in the back of her mind the clock was slowly ticking. It was time to take full advantage of her temporary freedom.

Her day was spent doing everything she felt like she had missed out on for a million years. Though it had only been a few days, her concept of time was skewed drastically. A lot of her day was spent at the local coffeehouse down the street with her favorite Orson Scott Card book, Ender's Game.

It was one of the first chapter books she had ever read as a child, and she knew every sentence by heart. Though rereading a book may sound boring to some, with knowing the ending and all. But every time AJ read the words, the images became more vivid in her mind. She felt like she had a personal relationship with the characters, like if she could close her eyes, she could whisk herself away to their spacecraft and never come back.

While just barely mouthing the words to herself while drinking a steaming cup of much-needed espresso, her mind trailed into a different direction. She had been replaying her failed escape in her mind, trying to come to terms with her defeat. Not even Ender and his intergalactic battles could keep her from thinking about it.

After feeling like a victim for so long, she needed to regroup. Maybe she couldn't escape now, but she could find ways to combat Oliver. He must have a weakness she could use to her advantage. It was time to turn on the deflector shields and prepare for war. He may be bigger and stronger, but she was smarter than she led people to believe.

At her apartment she showered in scolding water so hot it felt like she was shedding her old skin like a snake. Her worries were washing away, relaxing completely before getting ready to go forth into battle.

Five-thirty rolled around and she heard a musical tapping on her door. Before she could leave her bedroom, still wet and loosely wrapped in a white towel, she heard the jingle of the lock and Oliver pushing the door open.

He waltzed to her bedroom and leaned against the doorframe, hands casually tucked in his pockets. He was still wearing his suit, so it didn't appear to be anything as fancy as the museum benefit. That soothed some of her anxiety.

"What are you going to wear?" he asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.

AJ shrugged, still clutching the towel around her, her hair wet on her back. "I don't know, I don't know where we're going."

Oliver sighed and pushed her aside, starting to open drawers in her old monkwood dresser. AJ tried to peek over his shoulder to see what he was looking for, but he was just too large.

When he reached AJ's underwear drawer her breath hitched. She knew he had been through her entire apartment, but it still felt violating.

He dug out a pair of black lace panties and awkwardly tossed them to her. He may be a tad perverted but going through someone's underwear drawer still made him feel uncomfortable.

Then he started to rummage around her bras, humming as he tried to find something he found acceptable. "Ah," he said triumphantly, pulling out a lace bra that almost perfectly matched the panties.

"There. I don't care what else you wear."

He had to practically beat it in to her not to wear any underwear, and now he was commanding her to. His demands were so unreasonable, how could she ever keep up? She sighed and finished drying off, trying to get dressed under the towel. Oliver rolled his eyes at her attempt at modesty. "Let's go," he said, tapping his watch impatiently.

This time they did not take a cab. AJ didn't know if that was better or worse. Taking a cab could mean one more witness, or just another victim. But she had to admit his car was very comfortable for a long drive. It was hard to complain about driving with heated seats in the winter. Again they were leaving the lively city onto the highway, an orange glowing sunset behind them.

When the traffic started to thin and eventually disappear around them, Oliver broke the silence and pressed play on a cassette tape that had been previously left there.

It was a recording of a radiobroadcast, fuzzy in just a way that you knew it had to be very old. At first it sounded like any general broadcast of the news, but it didn't take her more than a minute to recognize Orson Welles voice.

AJ realized he had been using her passion of science fiction to his advantage. Like training a dog, conditioning her. He knew getting lost in the magic of the silver screen calmed her.

Well, it wasn't working now. Playing the War of the Worlds radio program was not a way to calm her down. In fact it was getting her amped, ready to courageously fight through the night however she could instead of cowering in fear and pity. And even if they physically overpowered her, there had to be other indirect ways to defend herself.

It wasn't ammunition or manpower that killed the Martians. It was simply germs they weren't immune to. Tiny little germs, something so simple yet so effective. And this is how she would defeat them. She couldn't match their strength, but somehow she would storm up a clever strategy to take these sadistic bastards down once and for all.

They exited the highway in a small torn-down town, taking ancient brick side streets into an open country road. Houses became sparse and few between. Fields and forest took over their surroundings. They drove slower as wildlife scampered across the road, avoiding hitting any deer or opossums they could spot from the headlights.

AJ tried to keep her breathing steady, feeling increasingly more nervous the farther they drove into what seemed like nothingness. Out here there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no one to hear you scream. Why anyone would want to live in this horror movie setting she did not know.

Oliver turned to a thin worn-out road, grass growing through the center of the gravel. All of it made her uneasy. But in no time, they were pulling into a driveway so wide it made her mouth drop.

It looked like an oil painting. Through the center of the driveway were intricate fountains elegantly spewing streams of water like it belongs to a miniature Bellagio. Oliver scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Fucking ridiculous."

It wasn't just the fountains in general that annoyed him, but the fact that they kept them on at all times in the middle of nowhere where no one could see. It was for no one's benefit but the owners. Though no one truly knew but Sauer, Oliver had what would be considered a great deal of money. But going about showing it off to everyone was shameless. There was only so much that physical objects could do for you, so why go around advertising it to the world.

Oliver was similar to AJ in his ability to disappear. Though, his reasons for doing so was different. His life was his job, and for the line of work he was in he needed to be invisible. And that was just one small detail of why he wanted AJ so much.

She made herself invisible by choice. She was ready to abandon a whole life as if it was nothing. He had lived that life, and on some level knew how she felt, and of course he was going to take advantage of that. He could fill all of that empty space with no problems at all.

Oliver drove the car up to the tall doors of what AJ believed would be a mansion. She didn't have a frame of reference, but the house was so large it looked like it could fit an army. As they exited the car Oliver tossed his keys to a formally dressed younger man. By his attire AJ could only guess he was either a butler, valet, or penguin enthusiast.

AJ was becoming suspicious this was not a work-related event. As the well-dressed young man drove around the dark driveway AJ looked at the front of the massive house. It was a white so clean it could've been painted yesterday. Decorative columns where on each side of the red doors, towering over her.

That's where she started to truly panic. The fanciest occasion she had been at was the museum, and before that a funeral. She was very uncomfortable around lavish things, as she did not have much money growing up. She wasn't dirt poor, but she was the only one in school who had to have the government pay for her food.

AJ clutched Oliver's sleeve, catching him by surprise. "This is weird. I'm gonna be weird, I shouldn't be here," she pleaded, pulling his sleeve to keep him from walking farther.

Oliver shrugged and said, "You are weird. That doesn't change a thing. Now come with me."

As Oliver opened the wide doors of the house they walked into an enormous front foyer. The floor had a white and grey marble design, the wallpaper on the walls was intricate and detailed. The furniture was so regal it looked fake. A chandelier hung above them, light bouncing off the crystal in a thousand directions.

Whereas Oliver was seeing the chandelier as nothing annoyingly fancy and uptight, AJ was seeing every movie scenario where a chandelier has been fatally dropped on someone.

Through the hallway came Crystal, dressed like a blonde Jessica Rabbit. "Ollie!" she squealed, greeting them happily. Oliver put his hands on AJ's shoulders and scooched her in front of him. At first, she was thinking he was trying to keep her safe, but quickly realized he was using her as a human shield.

While Crystal scurried to the two excitedly, her white pumps clicking against the floor loudly, Anthony Gallo approached them from out of the hallway. "Ah, Anthony!" Oliver said, giving a sigh of relief.

The monster of a man greeted them and wrapped his arm around the fawning Crystal, whose attention was now fixed on AJ. Oliver was dearly hoping that Anthony would divert Crystal's attention, but she was shaking off his enormous hand, leaning a few inches to meet AJ's eyes.

AJ looked back into her blue eyes nervously. Her eyelashes were so long AJ could almost feel them tickling her skin. Since she was a woman maybe she would save her or have some sort of pity, but Crystal was talking to her like a pet just like everyone else. "You're so cute! I just want to dress you up and put you in my pocket!"

To AJ's surprise Crystal reached for the front of her blouse and started to pop open the buttons. AJ took a step back, but Oliver was still behind her, hands firmly on her dainty shoulders. "She is such a doll, I want her!" she said, pulling AJ's shirt off and tossing it to Anthony. Her potential savior turned out to be just as violating as Oliver.

"Sorry, she's mine," Oliver said, his hands clenching tighter.

Crystal found the zipper to AJ's skirt and let it fall, leaving her in her underwear with her skirt around her ankles. "Give her to me tonight," Crystal whined, tugging the lace of AJ's black bra.

AJ's eyes stung as they bulged out of her head, her brain momentarily shut down. Oliver himself was too much to handle, so she did not want to be passed off to someone else. It had been a very long time since AJ had been with another girl sexually, and she was not prepared. Though men may have strength on their side, women are better at dominating in other ways. AJ was much more scared of that. Psychological torment was worse than physical any day.

Anthony leaned to Crystal and gently took her arm, making it disappear in his thick fingers. "Come on Crystal, you have other toys to play with."

Crystal pouted, but followed Anthony down the hallway, leaving Oliver and a nearly naked AJ standing alone in the foyer.

AJ turned and looked at him with frightened eyes, speechless. Being stripped so casually after only a moment of entering the house did not bode well for the future of her night. Oliver sighed and said, "Avoid her."

"Why, is she going to bother you?"

Oliver snorted and said, "Oh no, she's super gay. It's you she's going to bother."

AJ was taken aback by his statement. She was so sure she was some sort of past girlfriend or lover, or she was trying to sleep with him.

"What about Anthony?" she asked.

"They're best friends. Definitely a strange pair, I don't understand it. Well, let's go," he said, gently pushing her forwards.

Extravagant paintings lined the walls, marble benches were scattered through the wide hallway. The more lavish her surroundings became the more dread she felt in the pit of her stomach. It was like being at Julius Caesars' home

When they reached the end of the hallway, they entered a ballroom, just as luxurious and regal as everything else she had seen. It seemed fake, nothing in their surroundings looked of little value. It would take lifetime after lifetime to have money like this.

She turned and pressed her hands against Oliver's chest, trying to push back in the hall. "I can't do this," she whimpered, desperation high in her voice.

Oliver took her by the arms and pulled her close, leaning down to her ear. "Don't you remember last night? You don't have a choice. Disobey me and you're going to jail. Run and I'll put a bullet in your head," he said, poking her forehead with his finger. "Do you understand?"

AJ nodded.

"Now if you're a good girl and do everything I say I won't punish you. Maybe I'll even do something nice. So stay calm, stay quiet and only answer to me unless I say otherwise." Before AJ could plead anymore, he took her wrist and pushed past her, leading her along the right wall of the ballroom.

The center of the room was full enough that she couldn't see past the crowd. Past decorative columns along the walls were crimson wing chairs, small glass tables neatly between them.