Afterthought by M J Marlow (red white royal blue .txt) 📖

wastebasket and the smoke was being fed out the window to make it appear worse than it was. She called the house and told them what had happened and Emilio assured her they would keep the children safe. She put out the fire and carried the smoldering remains out into the stables to see Silvano’s men on the ground. She saw the red tufts sticking out of their arms, back, and/or shoulders and knew it was a trap. She turned to see Aileen standing behind her. “Hello, Daughter,” she smiled coldly as she raised the tranq gun. “It’s time for you to join me in our new home.” Evangeline threw the basket as she saw the woman’s finger move and the tranq was deflected. She turned and ran and saw two men in the doorway, cutting off her route. She entered an empty stall and tried to open the doors out to the corral beyond. The latch was stuck and she could not make it loosen. She heard Aileen’s laugh and turned as the dart fired. It hit the wall just above her shoulder and she shoved the woman back and ran back towards the office. She was caught before she could hit the alarm and dragged back to Aileen. “You were not taught to be so disobedient, child,” Aileen shook her head as she took a dart and stuck it into Evangeline’s arm. She smiled as the girl collapsed. “We go now.” “Yes, Princess,” the men nodded. “What about the men?” “They will be punished enough when their superiors learn they have lost the little princess,” Aileen replied. She followed them out of the stables to their waiting vehicle. None of them saw the man watching from the shadows. He waited until they were gone and then went into the office and called the house. “The lioness has taken the lamb,” Petrie said simply. “Their transport has been tagged.” He hung up and went to see to the men, relieved when he saw that they were merely sleeping. He took the dart out of one of their arms and tested it. Once he knew what the sedative was, he gave them the antidote. They sat up and looked around groggily. “The witch has our princess,” he told them. “It’s time to move.” Evangeline woke up and saw that she was lying in a padded room. She was in a straightjacket but she had not been drugged. That was all right, she thought as she struggled to sit up and the room spun around her. The after-effects of the tranquilizer were making her groggy enough. She looked up as the door opened and saw Aileen coming towards her. “How are we feeling, baby?” she crooned as she crouched down and stroked Evangeline’s hair. Evangeline pulled away from her, glaring at her coldly, and Aileen laughed. “I see we are feeling angry.” She got up. “I couldn’t leave you there, baby. You should be with your Mama.” “Then you should have stayed with me!” Evangeline snapped at her. “We buried you, Mama…” “A necessary lie, child,” Aileen said sadly. “So that they would stop looking for me.” She opened a flap on the straightjacket’s arm and Evangeline saw that an IV had been placed in her arm. “You saw how they were, darling. I couldn’t leave you there knowing they were hurting you.” She tried to pull away and Aileen yanked her back. “Don’t fight me, baby. It will only hurt you.” She took a syringe out of her pocket and took the cap off the needle. She pressed the needle into the line and injected something into it that burned through Evangeline’s vein. “There we go, angel. You’ll be nice and calm when they start questioning you.” “I won’t tell you anything!” Evangeline snapped. She fell back as the room began to spin slowly around her. “What did you do?” “Just a little sodium pentothal, angel,” Elinor laughed as she came into the room. “We can’t let you lie to us, can we?” She stroked Evangeline’s cheek. “It will take about fifteen minutes for full effect.” She went to the door and knocked on it. “Bring our little pet to the apartment, please.” Two men came in and helped Evangeline to her feet. She was having trouble walking but she did her best to fight them anyway. They got her into the wheelchair and she heard something snap to the sleeves of the straightjacket, securing her to the chair. Elinor patted her cheek and led the way to the apartment. Evangeline wasn’t certain, but she thought she was back in the hospital in England again. The room certainly looked the same, if her drugged senses were to be believed. She heard the men leave and watched Elinor moving around. Aileen came out with a teapot and cups on a tray and set it down on the table. “Mama?” Evangeline could not believe it. This was her mother serving tea to the witch who had just abducted her. “Why are you doing this?” “She has been taught her place, angel,” Elinor laughed; “now she is our willing slave.” She sat down and accepted the cup Aileen handed to her. “Thank you, Aileen. Please go ready the transformation materials for your daughter.” “Yes, Doctor,” Aileen nodded and left the room. “Now, precious,” Elinor smiled as she sipped the tea and set the cup down; “shall we have our little talk?” She laid her hand on Evangeline’s knee. “This was supposed to be a trap to catch my brother and I, wasn’t it?” “Yes,” Evangeline nodded helplessly. “The men tagged the van so they could follow you.” “Then isn’t it a good thing we dumped that vehicle before we got to the airport,” Elinor smiled. She saw Evangeline frown. “You thought we were still in France?” “Yes,’ Evangeline replied. “We knew you were pretending to be Lenore Otto and have been watching the gallery and you since you left the estate that day.” “I see.” Elinor frowned. “They will check out the hospital in England, won’t they?” Evangeline nodded and she smiled. “It will be a waste of time, precious. We aren’t in England. They do not know this place because I am not connected to it in any way.” She saw the fear in Evangeline’s eyes. “Your programming will be handled by my old mentor, Oscar Angelis.” The door opened and Evangeline heard footsteps coming her way. But her head was spinning badly now. She had a vague impression of a silver-haired man with concern in his brown eyes. He touched her cheek and she flinched. He frowned and turned to Elinor. “I was saddened to hear about your sister’s situation, Elinor,” Oscar said softly. “I shall endeavor to undo the damage done to her mind once she is returned to us.” Elinor nodded and he looked down at Evangeline. “So this is the pretty child your brother will have as his bride. Lovely girl.” “Won’t…marry… him,” Evangeline forced out. “I don’t…belong…to him!” “Stubborn little girl, isn’t she?” Oscar frowned. “It won’t help.” He turned to Aileen. “Do you have everything ready for her, Aileen?” “Yes, Doctor.” “Then let’s get started,” Oscar nodded. “The sooner we begin after the drug has been given, the more permanent the results will be.” Evangeline could feel herself spiraling down into the darkness and she did not fight it any longer. The last things she saw were Aileen and Elinor’s triumphant smiles while Oscar bent down to check on her. When she came awake again, she was in the padded room. She was shackled up against the wall by straps around her throat, around her waist and on her upper arms and wrists. An IV stand was hung on the wall beside her and a drug was being fed into her vein. The door opened and Oscar stepped inside. He smiled at her sadly as he checked the drip on the line. “I know Elinor is lying to me, child,” he said as he touched her cheek; “but there is nothing I can do to stop this for now. We must make her believe she is winning.” He pulled a needle out of his pocket and injected the sedative into her IV line. Then he pulled out a pair of headphones and put them over her ears, attaching the line to a plug in the wall. “When this is over you will believe you are Landry’s loving fiancé unless your cavalry arrives in time.” Evangeline begged him to stop this but he kept walking. The lights went out in the room and the slit in the door closed. She was alone in the dark and terror flooded through her mind. As she struggled to control that fear and remind herself she was only in danger of having her mind stolen from her, the program began. “The only way you will be safe from the shadow men,” Elinor’s voice sounded over the recording, “is to marry Edward Landry. He loves you and will keep you safe from them. You love him and will willingly do whatever he asks of you.” “No!” Evangeline screamed and tried to pull free of her bonds. “There are no such things as shadow men. It’s all a lie!” She heard something move and a figure stepped out of the shadows. It was a man, all grays and blacks. He was smiling nastily at her and reaching out for her. “No! It’s not real!” But she felt his hands on her arms and saw his black eyes. “We’re coming for you, Evangeline,” the man told her. “We have been waiting a long time for you, pretty girl. You will be one of us…just like your pretty mother.” “No!” Evangeline screamed and raised her legs to kick out at him. He went flying and she saw he move back into the shadows. “Leave me alone!” She wiggled her hand around and tried to undo the strap on her wrist. Pain shot through her as she bent it a bit too far but she let it hurt. She had to get free! She got the wrist loose and freed her other wrist. Then she reached up and yanked the plug out of the wall. She had the straps loose and threw the headset into the corner when the door opened. Evangeline screamed as a man came towards her and struck out blindly in her fear and anger. “No!” she cried in protest. “I won’t go with you! I won’t let you turn me into a slave!” “Hush now, Princess,” Emilio’s voice sounded in her ear. He removed the IV line from her arm and held her as her knees buckled. “Why would I want to do that?” “Emilio?” Evangeline burst into tears and she threw her arms around him. “How did you find me?” He tapped the earrings she was wearing, plain gold studs that had been overlooked by her captors. “You bugged me?” “We weren’t taking any chances,” Silvano said as he flipped on the lights. “You poor angel. What have those horrid people done to you?” He removed the contact lenses and scowled. “My mother,” Evangeline cried and started to run. She would have fallen on her face if Emilio hadn’t caught her. She looked at her uncle in desperation. “My mother is here, Uncle! I saw her!” “We’ll find her, sweetheart,” Silvano nodded as he picked her up in his arms. “We got in before any of them could slip out.” He carried her out of the room and down the front stairs. Evangeline saw Elinor and Oscar in handcuffs, but the other woman was missing. The woman glared at her coldly, but Oscar looked relieved. “Doctor Angelis. I would like to thank you for your assistance. We couldn’t have gotten in if you hadn’t turned off the alarms.” “You did what?” Elinor hissed and turned on her old mentor. “How could you, Oscar! Knowing what we hold on you?” “It is