Autopsy of a Mind

"Yes," I said. It was a barefaced lie. I was sure that the drug helped my face remain stoic and free of any signs of my lie slipping through.

She inched back before moving out of the room. 

Benny was eyeing me curiously and I could tell that he was slowly losing patience. He had worked very hard to come in front of me in this manner. He was ready to test me and my pretending not to remember him or have no clue was thoroughly confusing him. 

I could see it clearly in his eyes.

"Why did you do that?" he asked. I was impressed by the hint of fear in his voice. It was surely pretense, but at least he was trying.

"What do you mean?" I asked, blinking my eyes.

"My dad is high up in the police so I was trained in hostage situations," he said in a hurry. It was true, high ranking officials in the government and big businessmen often took classes on this subject so that they didn't get killed if a financially-motivated criminal took them hostage. 

How the rich live!

"Oh? What did they teach you?" I enquired. I was also curious as to what he would tell me. The truth or something else. 

"We were told not to speak unless we are directly being spoken to. I was told not to overly sympathize with the hostage-taker, too. One wrong move and you can end up dead, don't you know?" he said in a biting remark. 

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Jade quiver in place. Her hateful glare was back. 

"If you don't keep quiet, we'll get killed. So, please… stop talking!" he pressed. His eyes flitted to the other two people in the room.

"Is that really what you want to say?" I asked finally.

"What else would I say?" he looked offended but I could see the mirth in his eyes. 

"You're General Director Phillips' son, right?" I stared at him intently. He looked stunned for a second before nodding hesitantly. "How did they capture you again?"

He didn't answer. "What an eclectic group we are, huh?" I laughed. "One person who was brought here to torture and turn into a sex slave. One person who saw the kidnapping and was brought along to make sure no one else found out. One person who was investigating the matter and got kidnapped because they found out the real criminals." I paused for my words to settle in. "Why did they bring you in? There is no logic to you being here."

That threw him off. I was getting sick and tired of his pretense, so I wanted to play with him a little. I wanted to speed up his reactions. The less calm he was, the more control I would have over the situation. Therefore, I could only instigate him. 

"How should I know? Maybe they have something to do with my father."

I hung my head and my shoulders shook with silent laughter.

"What are you laughing about?" Jade spoke up finally, paranoia clear in her voice. 

"I just think getting kidnapped twice in my life is a real impossibility." And then I laughed some more. "Did you know that the probability of a person being attacked by a serial killer once in their life is lesser than being struck by lightning?"

Gene grew very silent. "And the probability of meeting two is impossible. I have met a lot of serial killers by now because of my work, but I have already been abducted twice and been held captive by four serial killers." I think my laugh was hysterical at this point. 

"Don't you think it is funny?" I couldn't stop. 

"You… you have experience?" Jade whispered. "I thought you were helping them… so…"

I glared at her. "I know how to communicate with killers and criminals. Negotiation and interrogation of victims is my specialization. Even another serial killer isn't as good at convincing people as I am," I told her. 

She frowned. 

"Benny, right?" I turned to him. "You've been following your instructor to the best of your capacity and staying silent. And you should keep doing that. You won't die this time. But leave my life in my own hands. I don't need you to teach me how to manage myself."

I think my voice was too loud.

"Why are you shouting at me?" he asked, affronted. "I am just trying to save myself!"

I scoffed. "Then don't try to hurt others. Don't make comments or contradict anything I say. Just sit there and watch the show like you intended to. Don't put these two in danger," I sneered.

Gene sniffed and I knew that she was holding back her tears. She hadn't met Benny's eyes since I told them to be careful. Jade was more cautious, so she remained suspicious of the rest of us. But Gene… innocent Gene didn't know how to hide her thoughts. 

If Benny wasn't focusing solely on me, he would have caught her weird reactions long ago. 

There was one thing that made me think, though. Benny was cautious… but he didn't seem to be this evil mastermind that I had imagined him to be. He was missing signs and looking bewildered in this situation. 

He was clearly not in control but he wanted to be.

That gave me great pleasure.

He grew eerily silent.

Actually, the idea to get the female assailant to open my phone and find the exact medication was an attempt to give out a signal to Sebastian. He would be looking for my cellphone and where the last signal was. If they brought it with them, they would surely open the phone and give out a signal to our location.

"How long have we been here?" I asked.

"According to the meals… it's been more than twenty-four hours since you arrived," Gene commented. "Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"When you see the insulin bottle, you'll be able to recognize if it is the right one, right?" I coaxed her to respond. 

She nodded. "I know how to administer the shot, too. My parents taught me," she said quietly. 

I squeezed my eyes shut. "I don't know if they drugged you, but if they did, I don't want your medication to clash. Look at the bottle, confirm with me. I will take care of the rest, okay?"

I waited for her to respond. She nodded hurriedly. 

"Why don't you try to save yourself and leave us to care for ourselves?" Jade asked, perplexed. 

I shot a look at Benny. "I've been in this position before. I survived it once, I know I will survive again. The others who were with me didn't have the same luck because I was inexperienced back then. Now that I can help you, I won't sit around and watch you be killed. Understood?" I barked. 

I had to be hard on Jade. She had gotten used to being treated poorly, so I couldn't give her sympathy. She would be more suspicious. Indeed, no one understood the pain of others, so she would assume that I was being ingenuine. I could only be commanding and allow her to feel secure in my rationale. 

Gene on the other hand saw me as her shield, as a protector. So, I had to grit my teeth and make sure not to show her pain or confusion, or fear. If she was reassured, she wouldn't make any comments that would hurt the three of us. 

This was managing the scene. 

Nothing else. 

More time passed and the daughter was finally back. She indeed had a bottle of medicine in her hand. She came over to me and showed me the bottle. It looked like the same one I had seen, so I looked at Gene. 

"Show it to the little girl," I asked. She did as she was asked. The bottle was passed to Gene and she looked disappointed.

"Evie, this is not the same dose," Gene informed me. I turned to glare at her.

"You're a nurse, don't you know how important the right medicine is?" I reprimanded her lightly.

"Are you going back on your offer?" she hurried to ask. "Your cellphone… we didn't bring it. So, I found the medicine that would work for her. I will give her the right dose," she promised.

I blinked and looked at Gene. She nodded slightly. 

"Okay. Leave the bottle at the center of the room. I'll tell you what you need to do." She gingerly placed the bottle at the center of the circle and stepped back. "The first step is to ensure that none of the hostages die. If any of them are hurt, they can pin the blame on you. You were the one who kidnapped them so the police will point their finger at you. Your father might go scot-free. Say that he wasn't even at the scene." 

Her eyes burned. "He could do that?" she choked. 

"To save himself? Sure. He used you all his life. Why can't he continue doing just that?" I smiled at her sadly. "Don't let him come down. He's still mad and if he hurts any of them, you'll get into trouble. He's used you enough. No more," I insisted. 

She shuddered and nodded.

"You'll be okay, right?" I asked sincerely. I needed her to be reserved for this plan to work. I was treating her like another hostage because I could easily place her in that victim mentality. She succumbed to me easily and I couldn't help but smile as she left the room to bring us another round of food. 

This time, I tasted my plate and Gene's carefully before handing it to her. 

Gene ate. She breathed the food down.

When the daughter was gone Gene whispered to me.

"Why didn't you let her give me the medicine?" she asked. 

"You need to take it tomorrow. Right now, we need to make sure there is no residual drug in your system. So… eat properly and take care." 

The problem was… how long could I keep this up? Sebastian… how long will you take to find me?