Poison
David carefully eyed Anton as he rushed down the flight of stairs at the end of the corridor. He turned to step down, stopping as soon as he saw the scalp of a black-haired man. Looking to his left, he silently placed his finger to his lips before returning to his brother and Lindsay.
“There’s someone downstairs…,” David whispered, wiping his forehead.
“Are you sure it’s not Melissa?” Dante replied quietly.
“I’m certain. It’s a man with short black hair like yours.”
Lindsay paced back and forth looking more worried with every step. “It’s the window. It has to be, your friend Melissa,” she turned to Dante, “if she’s a street worker than I’d be willing to bet she was followed by her boss.”
“She told me she didn’t have a boss!” Dante whispered furiously.
“Could it be the same person stalking us?” David proposed, folding his arms in contemplation as he fixed his gaze at the top of the staircase.
“I say we rush him and ask questions later,” Dante argued.
“Right, and what do we do with Anton?” David replied, shifting his focus to the red-haired Dante was supporting.
“I can watch over him while you two head downstairs…,” Lindsay proposed.
“No offence Lindsay,” Dante started, “but we can’t leave you with a guy in this shape, he could do anything.”
“I’ve come prepared!” Lindsay whispered back, opening her purse. David raised his eyebrows when she pulled out a can of pepper spray.
“What if he has his eyes closed?” Dante continued.
“I’ve got this also,” She added, pulling out a red round key chain. “It’s a personal alarm which emits 105-decibels, if you’ve been drugged you have an increased sense of hearing right?” She asked Dante.
“I’m not the former nurse,” Dante replied suspiciously.
“Well I’ll be fine, just drop Anton on the ground somewhere and see who that guy is.”
The two brothers looked at each other. Finally Dante placed Anton carefully on the floor so that he was lying on his back.
“Maybe one of us should stay?” He asked cautiously.
“There could be more than one guy below. I saw two hikers on my drive here,” David answered firmly as his silver hair sparkled under the broad lighting above.
“Let’s go then.” Dante agreed as they walked quietly to the staircase below.
“Do you have a plan Dante?” David asked as they slowly walked down the spiral staircase.
“If you see him just tell me.”
They walked past the second floor and continued down the spiral staircase to the first floor.
“There!” David breathed to his brother, pointing at a man below who had his back turned to the staircase while he observed a stereo system on a wooden shelf below.
Dante stepped onto the railing of the staircase. Sensing what his brother was about to do, David rushed down the stairs. The man turned towards David as heard the footsteps descend. He was pale and chubby with black messy hair.
“Don’t you people know to lock your windows?” He growled, as David observed a spot of blood on his left cheek.
“Oh this?” The man said, observing David carefully. “It came from your maid.”
“We don’t have a maid,” David replied firmly, simultaneously taking a step forward. The man stepped backwards but encountered a firm obstacle.
“A little too close there punk,” Dante smirked from behind. He kicked the man’s legs out from under him.
“Hold him down!” David shouted as he rushed to place his knee on the man’s back.
“Now who the hell are you?” Dante asked. “Wait, hold that thought. We should probably go close the window in case any of your friends decide to come in as well.”
“How do you know I didn’t come alone?” The intruder mumbled angrily, as David continued applying pressure with his knee. “Okay, I’ll squeal! I really did come alone.”
“With a wild mufloni?” David pressed.
”What answer do you want from me?” The intruder shouted.
“Loosen your pressure G.I. Joe,” Dante warned his brother. “We’ll only get lies from his mouth that way.”
“How do you plan to make him talk?” David asked as he rose to his feet.
Dante started dragging the man by his boots toward the staircase. “If you don’t be honest with me. I might just decide to stop dragging you to our top floor, and let you take the expressway down to the ground floor. Understand?”
“Please, just let me go! I just saw an open window and wandered in….”
David looked into the man’s eyes with disbelief, before going down the corridor towards the room Melissa was in. He opened the door and entered the empty room. Walking towards the window, he noticed blood smeared on the bottom of the large windowsill. Walking closer he saw her body lying in a bush, a foot below. He closed his eyes in grief as he pocketed a small item from the bush. Death seemed to plague his family and those who made their acquaintance.
“Let me know when you feel like talking!” Dante shouted into the man’s ears.
“He killed your friend,” David said without emotion, returning to his brother’s side.
Dante abandoned his plan to drag the man up the flight of stair, opting to press his left foot on the man’s back instead.
“Did we pack the white arsenic bro?”
“Not in my belongings,” David replied, looking at the intruder’s face that had turned bright red. “Maybe we should ask him some more questions before you decide to kill him.”
Dante looked toward the gap in the spiral staircase above.
“Everything okay up there!”
“Uh huh,” Lindsay answered. “Wait he’s starting to move again!”
“I’ll go check on him, you play good cop until I return.” Dante instructed David.
“Don’t think I’m letting you go that easy.” David spoke softly to the man lying on the wooden floor.
Dante ran up the spiral staircase shooting his brother a quick glance before resuming his flight.
The intruder, realizing he was no longer physically held to ground, rolled sideways to gain some distance from the other brother.
“How did you find us?” David asked calmly, carefully maintaining his focus on the chubby man in front of him.
“I though it was evident by now,” The intruder coughed, placing his right hand toward his chest. “Your brother almost killed me.”
“Listen,” David snapped back. “I could kill you in an instant, so instead of complaining about your welcome answer the question.”
The man rose to his feet as he proceeded to walk towards David menacingly, clenching both fists.
“You want answers tough guy, I’ll spit it out. I don’t know what the hell you were talking earlier about a mufloni haven’t seen one of them since I was a child, and well… that was a long time ago.”
The man retreated slightly. David stepped forward to keep the distance.
“Are you armed?” The intruder asked, raising his eyebrow.
Dante rushed towards the third floor. “Everything alright here?”
“It is now, I just thought I saw movement,” Lindsay replied, paying Anton a few glances.
“Let me know if the situation changes. I have to go check on David interrogation isn’t one of his strong suits. You wouldn’t mind I borrowed something from that purse would you?”
“Don’t change the topic,” David pressed calmly. “How did you find us?”
The man slowly began walking forward. “Can I hug you first? I need a hug, we all need a hug?”
David allowed the man to a get a foot from his body. Turning sideways, he stuck out his right foot in front of the stunned man before pushing him forward. The man tripped, bracing his fall with both hands. A small dart fell out of his previously clenched fist.
David bent over to pick up the dart. The man quickly recovered the dart as David backed off.
“You know what’s in here don’t you…” The intruder pressed, rising slowly to his feet.
David eyed the dart’s translucent cartridge. “Good thing I didn’t let you hug me,” he remarked. He could feel his blood pressure rising, this was not good for his health.
“Your brother was asking for it earlier. Little did he guess I always keep this beauty close by…”
Dante began descending the staircase.
A broad grin swept over the man’s face as he threw the dart towards David.
Cornered between the staircase and CD shelf, David swatted the dart to the ground.
“No!” Dante’s voice echoed as he observed the intruder’s face brighten into a bigger grin.
“Kill me. I’ve done what I was sent to do.”
Dante pulled out a small red pistol and fired two shots.
The intruder collapsed to the floor as both of his legs started bleeding through his black sweatpants.
“Dammit bro!” Dante said, as he ran down the remaining stairs toward his brother.
David held out his left hand, the dart had scratched his palm leaving a light slash.
“I’ll be fine.”
“What was in the dart?” Dante asked.
“White arsenic.”
Dante paused for a moment. “I’ll go check my supplies to see if I packed an antidote, you should play it safe. Did you take one of those gel buttons your shirt has?”
David nodded as they both turned to look at the wounded man in front of them.
“Hang tight,” Dante comforted his brother. “I’ll take him outside, he’s making a mess.”
David slowly walked up the staircase to the third floor as Dante grabbed the bleeding man.
“White arsenic?” Dante whispered.
“Medici classic.” The man grunted, wrapping both arms over his legs. “Why didn’t you kill me with your little gun?”
“Oh that wouldn’t be as much fun as what I have planned for you….” Dante trailed off, watching his brother slowly head upstairs. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Dante removed the man’s jacket tossing it aside. The man reluctantly let Dante lift him onto his shoulder.
“How much do you weigh?” Dante grunted, walking towards the front door.
The man mumbled something unintelligible as he tried to clutch his bleeding legs.
David nursed his bruised hand as he emerged onto the third floor.
“How’s everything?” Lindsay asked, staring at his glowing skin.
“Dante’s dealing with him.”
“So you’re okay then?” She said unconvinced everything was okay.
David walked past Anton into a random room.
“Found the map I dropped earlier,” He said calmly, emerging from the room a few seconds later. He wielded the illustration over his head using his right hand as he walked closer.
“David what happened downstairs?” Lindsay blurted out uncontrollably.
David gazed at her eyes. Whether the makeup was smeared from sweat or tears, he could not tell.
Sensing he was staring at her. Lindsay pressed the question.
“Are you going to give me a straight answer?”
David shuddered slightly as he recalled what happened. “He killed the girl Lindsay and dumped her body out the window!”
Lindsay stepped back, caught by surprise.
“Dante killed him though, right?”
“I last saw him fire two shots into his legs before carrying him off some hell forsaken place.”
David suddenly let out a scream as his palm seared with pain.
Lindsay rushed towards him. “You’re hiding something from me. Never hide anything from me.”
“He was also equipped with some injection dart that…” David but his lip as droplets started forming on his eyes, “…brushed past this hand.”
“I knew something wasn’t right when I saw a the button was missing from your shirt…” She confirmed, scrambling through her purse.
“Take this,” Lindsay instructed handing him a golden capsule. “But break it with your teeth and smear it on your palm. It should absorb faster that way. At least the first capsule should stop it spreading beyond that hand.”
David bit the capsule and squirted the liquid into his palm. The searing pain subsided as numbness took control.
“It feels numb.”
“Wait for at least an hour,” Lindsay persisted, examining the blister on his palm.
