TnT Ch. 07

He ground his jaw so tightly he could feel the tension in his temples. Keeping her attention, he spoke in his most commanding tone. "Listen to me," he said, then slapped his hands to June's shoulders, shaking her slightly. "Listen!"

She blinked and stared at his face, a fragment of clarity fomenting on her features. "I have to find them, and deal with them," he stated. "But I'll come back for you. I promise. You hear me? I promise."

June seemed to muster herself, if only for the moment. "O-okay," she responded. "But you better come back. I'll fucking kill you if you don't."

Her comment made him smile, if only marginally. At least a piece of his feisty partner had returned. "That's a deal, then," he said, then pushed himself to his feet.

* * * *

Talon sat at the end of the bed, as naked as his brother, contemplating the lines on the palms of his hands. Thorne was absorbed in one of his PSP games and oblivious to the world.

He looked about the nearly claustrophobic walls of what, Talon was certain, was now their new home, if only for a while. The earthy aroma bothered him. It was everywhere; that cloying smell of clay and rock and dust and dirt and . . . something else. Something that had died long ago but never completely finished rotting away. His sinuses were already bothering him.

Aside from the set of stacked mattresses that formed the bed, the only other furniture in the cave-like room consisted of an old metal chair, a small table, and a large wooden chest. The duffels he and Thorne had brought with them lay against the chest, the only obvious claim they had made in making this chamber their own.

"We're not gonna be able to stay here long," Talon said.

"What?" Thorne asked rhetorically, absorbed in the punching of buttons upon his device. "Why not?"

Talon cast an annoyed look at his brother. "Could you stop playing that?"

Thorne did not look up from the screen that partially illuminated his face. "Just a sec," he answered.

"Stop it!" yelled Talon, lurching across the bed to slap the game from Thorne's hands. The black plastic device danced across the uneven floor.

"What the fuck is your problem?" yelled Thorne, partially lifting up upon the bed, glaring at his brother. "I was right at the fucking end of--"

"My problem," interrupted Talon with a forceful tone. "Is that we fucking kidnapped a God damned cop! And then you fucking raped her!"

Thorne chuckled abruptly, easing back down onto the bed. "She was pretty fucking tight, bro. You should give her a shot."

Talon turned away with a disgusted sigh. "Sometimes I wonder how the hell we ended up as twins," he muttered.

"The hell does that mean?" Thorne barked. "Fucking dyke deserved it. You know it, I know it."

Talon turned back, eyes fierce and direct. "Right now, I don't care about anything other than how the hell we're gonna get out of this shit. They're gonna come looking for us, and sooner or later, they're gonna come here."

Thorne sputtered dismissively. "Yeah, right. No one's gonna look for us here. We can camp out until the fucking zombie apocalypse in this place."

Talon shook his head. "Wrong," he said. "We kidnapped a God damned cop. They're gonna look everywhere until they find her. Probably bring in the fucking FBI, too."

Thorne chuckled, sitting back, lacing his fingers together behind his head. "Yeah, like they're gonna do a fat lot of good. They couldn't even find this place way back when."

"Yeah, but they know about it now," Talon pointed out.

His twin shrugged. "So what? This place is old news. Besides, no one would ever think we even know about this place. I mean, who'd think we'd come back to where our mother was raped over and over?"

Talon turned away, gaze falling to the floor as he wrung his hands. "You really think it was just like that?"

Thorne frowned in confusion, rolling up on the bed to come beside his brother. "Like what?" he asked.

"Rape," Talon said, not looking to his twin. "You really think our mother was just raped? Didn't you read her diary?"

Thorne swallowed thickly, lowering his feet to the floor so that they both sat side-by-side on the edge of the venerable mattress. "Yeah, uh . . . I read it."

Talon chuckled darkly. "No you didn't," he said, then sighed. "You just sort of skimmed through it, right? Looking for the juicy bits?"

"Hey--"

Talon turned his head, fixing his gaze upon his brother. "She fell in love with him," he said with all the surety of a minister delivering a sermon. "It wasn't rape. It was fate. He needed her, and she needed him. And when those fucking cops came in here, to this same fucking place, and forced our father to kill himself . . . they were trying to destroy us, even then. Even before we were born." Talon sneered suddenly. "But we're gonna have the last laugh."

Thorne nodded slowly, not fully understanding, but willing to go along with anything his brother said. "Fuck yeah."

"First things first," Talon said. "We need to get outta here, and we need to unload that dyke detective."

Thorne snorted with a short, harsh laugh. "Trade the bitch," he suggested. "Five mil and a fucking jet plane."

Talon pursed his lips with dark mirth, contemplating. "Maybe . . . ."

"She's our ticket," Thorne insisted. "Long as we got her, they aren't gonna try anything. Even if they could find us here."

"Oh, they'll find us all right," his twin said. "It's just a matter of time." He moved close and cupped Thorne's face. "We need to be one step ahead of them. We need to be ready for anything."

Thorne nodded, staring into his brother's eyes. "Long as we're together, we can handle anything."

A smile spread across Talon's face, warm, affectionate. He smoothed back Thorne's thick, shaggy hair. "Together, forever," he whispered, brushing his lips against those of his living reflection.

They kissed tenderly, hands beginning to roam. Arousal grew swiftly between them, unhampered by the absence of clothing. Simultaneously, Talon reached for Thorne's stiffening cock while Thorne did the same, cradling his brother's phallus in his hand.

"I love you, brother," Talon whispered.

Thorne smiled, even as his brow furrowed. Romantic declarations weren't typical between them. Still, he responded in kind: "I love you, too." They kissed, deeply, passionately, with Thorne falling back and bringing his brother with him.

"How nauseatingly sweet."

The brothers lurched up upon the bed, looking to the doorway to behold Detective Parande standing there with a pistol in an outstretched hand, pointed in their direction. They glared upon the man.

"Uh-oh, the long arm is here," quipped Thorne with a sarcastic snarl.

Riaz glared back. "Don't think for a second I won't kill you both," he growled. "In fact, that would make finding the key to June's chains easier. But I'm willing to go by the book as long as you two play along. Get up. Stand by the bed."

With only a brief, voiceless exchange, the twins moved toward the end of the bed. As he did so, Talon let his hand slip between the two mattresses, finding the butt of the pistol they had taken from June.

Riaz's eyes flickered, reading the movement. He panned his sidearm toward Talon. "Don't try it—" he began.

But as he spoke, Thorne was a blur of movement, leaping from the mattress and ducking low. He planted one foot upon the earthen floor and kicked out with the other, catching Riaz in the midriff even as the detective pulled the trigger.

The report filled the air, but the bullet found only clay and rock in the far wall. Riaz stumbled back, falling against the wall of the tunnel beyond the room's entrance. Thorne was a savage whirlwind before him, hammering a pair of blows into first his solar plexus, then across his jaw. Riaz winced as the back of his head smacked against the wall.

"Go!" cried Talon, aiming his pistol at Riaz. "Kill that fucking dyke!"

Without a word, Thorne sprinted down the hall, leaving Riaz to his brother's lack of mercy. But Talon was no crack shot; as he fired, Riaz rolled out of the way, avoiding the bullets which tore chunks from the wall above him. He darted further down the corridor, away from the direction Thorne bolted . . . and away from June.

Can't let him reach her, he thought desperately. He made a quick decision, realizing only peripherally that following it could lead to his own demise.

He charged after Thorne.

A new series of reports shattered the air as Riaz ran past the doorway of the Tolomeo brothers' bed chamber, but none of the bullets found their mark. Encouraged, Riaz sprinted as fast as he could toward the fleeing Thorne, hoping to catch up to him before he made it to the cavern where June was held.

But Thorne was young and quick, making it to the cavern just seconds ahead of the older man. He ducked to the right, out of sight.

I can still get him, Riaz thought, pouring on as much speed as he could.

But behind him, Talon stepped into the tunnel, leveling the pistol and sighting. Both hands bracing the weapon, he fired a single shot.

Riaz grunted as he felt the sting of the wound in his back. Heat flashed through the the upper part of his back and left shoulder. Instantly, it seemed, the majority of his strength vanished. He careened into the wall just at the opening of the large cave with enough force to make him cry out and drop his pistol. The weapon danced across the uneven ground before falling into the rattlesnake pit.

Hearing the cacophony behind him, Thorne stopped his mad charge when he was a mere few feet from June. He turned back, looking upon Riaz with a triumphant sneer. "Impotent old man," he snarled. He glanced to June, who sat up with a fearful expression, clutching her partner's shirt close around her slender frame, then back to Riaz.

"Maybe I'll fuck her one more time, just to let you watch, before I kill her," Thorne spat, then approached June.

Riaz started to speak, but pain flashed through his shoulder and back. The bullet had cracked a few bones, he figured. Slapping a clawing hand to the wall, he tried to pull himself up while watching the more brutish twin advance upon his partner.

"How about it, bitch?" Thorne sneered as he stepped toward the junior detective. "Up for round two?"

She glared back, a mixture of hate and lucidity controlling her now. "Fuck you," she answered acidly.

Thorne chuckled. "No, fuck you," he responded, leaning over and reaching in.

Panting and grunting, Riaz tried to muster the strength he needed to save his partner from the murderous man looming over her. But even as he managed to gain his footing, Talon came up against him from behind, pressing the muzzle of the pistol against his temple.

"Don't eve try it, detective," the young man hissed in his ear. "I'll blow your brains out in a second if you try anything. You wanna live, then you better watch what my brother does to your dyke friend."

Riaz seethed. "You'll kill me anyway."

Talon laughed darkly. "Maybe. Who knows? Let's see if you can be a good boy."

But as he spoke, and as Thorne reached for June, the woman erupted into a sudden fit of violent activity. Clutching a handful of heavy, rusted chain, she whipped it up toward her abuser, smacking Thorne across his shins. The weight of the chain and the force behind it was enough to crack bone and make him stumble. And June was quick enough, with her desperate rage, to take advantage of the situation.

"Thorne! Watch out!" cried his brother, but the warning came too late. As Talon's brother fell toward her, June whirled the chain around his neck, pulling the young man close. As Thorne floundered upon the mattress, June scrambled atop him, screaming like a feral creature as she crossed the chains behind the man's neck and pulled viciously.

"Thought you were gonna fuck me again?" cried June as she viciously tightened the grip of the chains. "Now I'm fucking you! How's that feel, you fucking shit? How's that fucking feel?"

"No!" screeched Talon, snapping the pistol away from Riaz's head and aiming toward the woman. But as he did so, Riaz reacted quickly, lashing out to grasp Talon's wrist and shove the pistol upward. A single shot exploded through the air, impotently sending a bullet into the cavern's ceiling.

Fueled by vestiges of strength he never knew he possessed, Riaz pivoted, twisting Talon's arm. The pistol fell to the ground as Talon grunted with pain. Pressing on, energized by hope, Riaz slammed his own weight against the smaller, slimmer man, stunning Talon as he smashed against the earthen wall. Taking advantage of the moment, he lifted Talon from the ground with a single hand about the man's neck, carrying him to the edge of the snake pit. He glanced toward June.

But his young partner needed no help. Beneath her savage, naked form, Thorne flailed impotently with his arms, trying to reach back. The chains about his neck cut off the supply of air and blood, making his face redden and bulge. Atop him, June pulled upon the chains amid animalistic shrieks, wanting nothing less than the brutal death of the man who had defiled her. She screeched and screamed like some vengeful banshee spirit, gaining strength through sheer anger and pain.

Crack!

With a sudden snap of bone, and the immediate limping of limbs, Thorne Tolomeo was instantly transformed from a living being to little more than a bag of flesh.

Upon realizing this, June suddenly let go of the chains and scrambled back, emitting unintelligible howls of anger, sadness and pain. She kicked the corpse away with her feet.

"Th-Thorne," whispered Talon fearfully. He looked to Riaz's dark, uncompromising eyes. "She killed him! You let her kill him! That's murder!"

Riaz dangled Talon out over the snake pit. Below, dozens of anxious, hungry serpents danced their rattles in anticipation of a kill.

"It was justice," Riaz corrected.

Talon clutched tightly to Riaz's forearm, looking down at what awaited him. "So you're just gonna drop me in?" He asked fearfully. He looked back, eyes blazing with inhuman madness. "What if they don't kill me? I raised them, you know. Every fucking one of them. They won't kill me. They'll obey me. They'll rise up and come after you and--"

Abruptly, Riaz let go, more from a lack of strength in his arm than a desire to end Talon's righteous speech. The pale-skinned young man cried out as he fell, then grunted when he impacted the ground below.

The snakes swarmed in quickly, slithering about Talon's body. He tried to scamper back, but one of the serpents struck quickly, sinking fangs into one of the young man's feet. Then another latched onto an arm, and another onto a muscular thigh.

Bite after bite made Talon wince. Venom flooded through his veins. He tried to stand, tried to escape, but he could not even gain his footing before falling back down into the nest of deadly serpents. His final act was to stare with hatred and pain at the man who had delivered him into this pit of pain.

Riaz staggered back, the effects of his wound taking their toll. His shirt, soaked with blood, stuck to his skin. He managed to make his way toward June, falling to his knees before her. He reached with his one good arm.

"I . . . I killed him," she sputtered, face as contorted as her body as she tried to cover herself. "I fucking killed him."

She's in shock, Riaz realized. In more ways than one. "He deserved it," he told her. "They both did. You know that."

Eyes wide, wet, and shimmering with many levels of pain, June slowly took her partner's hand. "I just wish I didn't have to do it," she whispered.

He nodded numbly, fighting back the fatigue that threatened him. As June curled up against him, hugging his arm like a frightened daughter, he managed, with painful effort, to lift his left hand and settle it upon June's head. "But you did," he said simply. "And it was right. No one will ever fault you for that."

Clutching desperately, June trembled as she wept, finally letting out all the fear, anxiety, and pain she had endured.

End Part Seven