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EMPTY EYE SOCKETS CHAPTER 12
Domino was in a very, very bad mood. He was mad at himself, Meche, the escaped slaves and most of all, he was mad at Manny.
He couldn't believe that he had let the man deceive him that easily! He had had all of the cards and the situation in control and then bang, he lost it all. Domino rubbed the back of his head; the mechanic demon knew how to hit.
And had a weak heart. Domino knew that Glottis had more than enough strength to smash someone's skull, but the demon hadn't done that. Manny wouldn't have cared, he had always thought that everyone took care of themselves and he had never felt any compassion for those he didn't care about.
And Domino didn't need to be told what the relationship between him and Manny was. They both wanted to see the other one in pieces.
And that left him with the fact that Manny's demon friend was an idiot with a weak heart.
Domino sighed in frustration and with one thought caught a shining piece of coral that had loitered on his desk, and threw it against the wall. The coral flew back with a high sound and broke.
On top of that he was angry he was also desperate.
Hector LeMans had given the island and the slaves on his shoulders. The crime lord had trusted that Domino could take care of things and Domino had thought so too. How hard could it be to lead an island that was inhabited by slaves?
Until now everything had been a child's play, the slaves had laboured without a complaint and he had had a pet octopus to take care of those who were stupid enough to rebel.
Or maybe a pet was the wrong word; a business partner was a much better option.
But Domino didn't want to think about the demon at the moment, he had much more severe problems to take care of.
Like what he was going to do in order to avoid getting sprouted?
Hector LeMans couldn't stand traitors or failures, Domino knew that better than well. He remembered what had happened to Don Copal and the problem hadn't even been his fault. He had just had bad luck, but that hadn't stopped Hector from sprouting him.
What would the crime lord do when Domino was the only one to blame?
Domino collapsed to his chair and swore. He was so in trouble!
But he couldn't let it depress himself, everything would be fine if he just thought it over and was careful. Firstly, he would have to get off the island and soon. After that he'd find Manny and bring him to Hector. Yes, then he'd be on the crime lord's good side again and could sigh in relief.
He nodded pleased with his new plan and decided that the situation wasn't as bad as he had first thought. Or he was just trying to be positive; it was a habit he hadn't got rid of.
"Domino?" a careful voice asked and the man remembered he wasn't alone. It almost made he think of the last piece that was missing from his puzzle.
Why had Meche stayed?
"What do you want?" he asked coldly. The woman was just as guilty as Manny and it had been Meche who had lured him down. He didn't forget things like that very easily. Meche had proved that she was his enemy -- Domino had never thought anything else -- so why was she here now?
Manny would have never left her behind, he had searched for her for two years and not even an idiot like Manny would let that time be for nothing.
So had they just forgotten about her? She didn't look like she was very sorry. If that had happened, that is.
Or had she stayed voluntarily? No matter how much he tried Domino couldn't guess why the woman would have done that, it was too stupid. She couldn't be a spy; there was no use in spying a man who was stuck on his own island.
Domino shook his head. He'd find out one day.
Meche looked uncertain and stopped at the door.
"I just wanted to come and see how you are," she said and Domino laughed dryly.
"How I am?" he repeated. "You should have thought of that before helping your boyfriend to destroy everything."
"Manny is not my boyfriend," Meche replied. Domino looked like the matter didn't interest him at all.
"Whatever. But what are you doing here?" the man asked. He wasn't blind with rage like a moment ago, but it was clear that he was still angry. Meche didn't reply, she didn't think she was ready to reveal the real reason behind her decision to stay.
"Well?" Domino questioned in impatience. He wasn't actually on the mood to listen useless chit chat.
"I... I didn't want to go with Manny. He has no right to just appear here and drag me with him. Besides, I don't like the company he is in," Meche said quickly. It wasn't a good explanation and she didn't like saying it aloud, she thought it insulted Manny and his friends, but it was all she could think of.
To Meche's surprise Domino laughed.
"What is so funny?" she asked.
"You really thought you could deceive me? I am not blind Meche; I know what this is really about. It's love," the man said and sounded like his own amused self again. Meche flinched and felt shocked, surprised and relieved at the same time. So she wouldn't have to come up with a bad excuse after all.
"You know?" she asked.
"Sure. You were stupid enough to fall in love with Manny and waited for him to appear here to save you. And when he comes he has another woman with him and you were so mad that didn't leave with him," Domino said pleased with the fact that he had finally got the situation.
It made so much sense; why else would Meche have stayed? There was no other reason.
Meche's shoulders sunk with disappointment, but she didn't say anything to correct Domino. It would just make the man angry again. Especially if she told him the real reason.
"What are we going to do now?" she asked instead. Domino glanced at her quickly as if he was surprised for that she wanted to have something to do with him. Then he remembered their situation and realised that being with him was the only thing Meche could do.
And maybe it was also the other way around, but Domino didn't want to think about that.
"We will take our leave. We have to find something so that we can build a raft," he said. He was sure of that Manny and his friends were heading for Puerto Zapato, because that was the place where you could travel anywhere. He believed Manny was going to continue to Nuevo Marrow to take care of Hector. The old Manny he had known wouldn't have done that, but then again, the old Manny wouldn't have freed the slaves either.
Domino definitely thought that he liked the old Manny more.
"There are some useful tools down in the mines," Meche suggested. She was relieved for that they were talking about something safer at the moment. Maybe everything would be fine after all. Maybe if she just had some time with Domino... maybe she would make the man understand and show Manny that everything was possible.
Domino nodded, but seemed to be thinking about something.
"Right. You go down and I'll try to find something here," he said. He had automatically taken the role of a leader and Meche had nothing to say against it.
"Fine," she agreed, thankful for that Domino didn't yell at her. Apparently the man had gained the control of himself and listened to his own advice; always be positive.
She had almost left before Domino spoke once again.
"And Meche, be quick. I mean it," he said.
---
At first Meche didn't know what Domino meant, but thought that he just wanted to get away as soon as possible. And she wanted it too, now that the island was deserted a gloomy atmosphere had crept everywhere and she thought she could hear the place falling slowly apart.
She hurried to the elevator and went down to the sea bottom where everything was even more depressing. Abandoned shovels and other tools lay around. The water was cold and black, most of the glowing coral had been taken away and small pieces lay here and there.
Meche snorted.
"And what use are these?" she asked herself. There seemed to be nothing more at the mines, Domino had never let the slaves own very much. Though Meche believed she might find something in their sleeping quarters.
She walked around in the dim light of the coral and finally came to the conclusion that she'd find nothing useful. She was just about to leave for the sleeping quarters when a current went past her.
Meche turned around, but saw no one. The sea was always full of currents, but there shouldn't have been any at the mines.
"Strange," she thought aloud.
Suddenly she felt the current again and this time it was stronger. She flinched and after taking a quick glance around decided that it was time to go back up. There was nothing for her at the mines, just memories of Manny and the longer she stayed down, the more she wished for that she had gone with him after all.
She returned to the elevator faster than she would have liked, something down there made her nervous. Just before the doors of the elevator closed she though she saw something in the sea and she was happy for deciding to return.
Meche shook water off her clothes and went to see if Domino had found anything. She thought the whole situation was weird; she had never thought she and Domino would be working for the same goal.
And yet the situation wasn't actually what she wanted. Meche wasn't a fool and could be realistic enough to realise that Domino just wanted to get away and their alliance held nothing personal.
Domino wasn't in his office anymore, so Meche headed for the warehouse where she thought him to be.
She noticed she was right when she arrived there and saw Domino going through all the stuff they had there. It wasn't much, nothing extra had ever been brought to the island but everything had had a purpose. Back then Domino had thought it was a good idea, but now he cursed it.
"Found anything?" Meche asked and Domino turned to stare at the woman. So, she was still in one piece.
Domino straightened his back and shrugged. He felt really strange; this situation he was in was totally unfamiliar to him. He was used to that everything was in his control and now when it wasn't he felt very confused.
"We have seven wooden boxes, a few plastic ones, paper and thin rope," he said.
"Sounds good," Meche stated, but Domino threw the rope at her.
"Good? Try to build a raft with this. I'd be surprised if it manages to keep a post package in one piece!" the man said and Meche had to admit that the white rope wasn't actually what they needed.
"Let's be positive. We have much of it and it should hold together if we use it all," Meche stated borrowing Domino's own words. The man didn't reply, but glared at her as if positive thoughts were impossible for him to create.
And it was true, sort of. Domino's advice of always being positive had sounded fine when he had been on top without a problem. It sure wasn't difficult to be hopeful in such a situation.
"How about you shut your mouth for a while and carry something to the piers so that we can start building, huh? Each moment here takes us closer to Hector LeMans," he said harshly and lifted two boxes in his arms and started to carry them away. He stopped for a while though.
"You didn't see anything strange down there, did you?" he asked and Meche remembered the strange currents and the feeling they had given to her.
"No. Why?" she said deciding that she didn't want to tell Domino about it. It was hardly anything important and the man would just laugh at her.
Domino shrugged as well as it was possible with the boxes.
"Forget about it," he said sounding somewhat relieved.
"What is going on?" Meche asked. She felt like there was something Domino hadn't told her about.
"Nothing. Just forget," he said again emphasizing the last word. Meche took a wooden box angry because the man hadn't told her anything, but she didn't want to endanger the situation by starting an argument.
They emptied the warehouse fast and dragged everything to the piers. Domino took a step back and eyed their work in thought. Anyone could see that the raft -- if they even managed to build one -- wouldn't be very good, but what other options did they have?
He suddenly realised that he had started to think of them -- he and Meche --, not just he himself. He would have to get rid of that.
Neither of them knew how to build a raft, but they had an idea of what they were supposed to do. Domino looked at the rope in his hands and let it fall.
"Damn," he muttered and Meche looked at him in confusion.
"What?" she asked. Domino turned to face her and looked very frustrated.
"What use is it to build a raft? How can we get away with it when the current is so strong that it takes everything with it over the Edge? Even ships can hardly move here, what chances does a raft have?" he asked and just now Meche remembered that they really were on the Edge of the World.
She sighed.
"That's it then," she said. They had arrived there about a year ago with S.S. Lambada which had left them in Puerto Zapato and from there they had continued with the submarine. It had been one of the worst rides of Meche's life -- both previous and this.
Domino kicked a wooden box angrily and watched as it fell in the water. He felt so useless and didn't like it at all. It was starting to really get on his nerves.
But there had to be a way to get away. There just had to be. He didn't want to be on the island when Hector sent his men to see why he wasn't getting any more coral.
And then he thought of something.
It had its risks and if it failed they'd both meet a very nasty fate, but that was all he could come up with.
"I have an idea. Stay here," he said to Meche, who looked at him in curiosity.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, but didn't get a reply from Domino. If he had told her she would have probably attacked him and he didn't want to deal with a screaming woman -- at least if they weren't screams of pleasure.
"You'll see. Just stay here like I say. Understand?" he said sharply and Meche snorted angrily. Who did Domino think he was? What right did he have to order her around like he owned her?
"What if I want to come too?" she asked.
"Don't you understand what I said? When I tell you to stay you do that!" Domino snapped. Who was Meche imagining to be? She had stayed voluntarily so she was responsible to do exactly like he said.
"Fine then. I'll stay here," the woman said coldly. She felt very confused and realised she loathed herself. How was it possible that she could feel anything for such a monster? Love was supposed to be gentle and caring, but it was obvious that Domino didn't know the meaning of either word.
She noticed that Domino had already gone and she blamed herself for not really noticing where. Meche took a glance around herself, didn't see the man anywhere so she sat on a box and sighed.
---
Domino hurried to the elevator and thought his plan over once more before stepping in and going down to the sea bottom. He wasn't completely sure of it, but there didn't seem to be any other option. It was impossible to get away from the island without a strong boat and he really didn't have the time or desire to wait for Hector's men.
Cold water washed over him and he found himself wondering how long his fine suit could take the salty water.
He stopped right next to the elevator ready to run back in if the situation got bad. The water was cold and he didn't like the silence; he thought it was far too dark. A current brushed against him and he knew he wasn't alone.
"Show yourself Klarhet, I know you are here," he ordered and waited for a while. It didn't take long before a huge purple octopus neared him and its big eyes became visible.
"The slaves are gone," the octopus said with a gargling voice.
Domino nodded.
"I sent them away. We are finishing here," he announced. Klarhet growled in surprise and stretched its strong tentacles.
"You are leaving?" the demon asked and hope was obvious in its voice.
Klarhet didn't actually collect the souls for fun; the creature had an agreement with Hector LeMans. The demon thought Hector was much stronger than what was the truth, the man knew how to give a fine performance and how to make everyone fear him. In truth Hector could do nothing about the huge sea demon, but Klarhet wasn't very intelligent and hadn't realised that yet.
Besides, like all mothers, Klarhet didn't want to risk anything but would do everything to protect its children from that dead man.
Domino shrugged like it was practically nothing.
"Well, sure. You thought we'd be here forever?" he asked. He saw how Klarhet slit its eyes in suspicion, the octopus was stupid but not as idiotic as Domino would have preferred.
"Why are you leaving? There is more coral here," the octopus said. It didn't hate anything as much as these humans who had disturbed its peace and almost killed one of its children.
"Mister LeMans knows where to find gold. We are moving there, but we need one more favour," Domino said.
Klarhet didn't like that. It was very gentle towards its children, but it knew nothing more enjoyable than ripping a dead soul apart. In fact, it had done that quite often when the mines had still been full of slaves.
Both Hector and Domino had known of Klarhet's habit of catching a slave or too and feeding them to its children, but neither had said anything. They had thought the demon's habit was disgusting and had not liked losing workers, though.
"What does he want me to do?" the demon asked angrily. Apparently it had hoped it could forget everything about the humans. And at the same time its eyes revealed the greed it felt, maybe it would benefit some of the matter.
"A ship was supposed to fetch us from here, but the engine broke in Puerto Zapato. We don't have a lift away from here so Hector LeMans wants you to take me and my partner to the nearest island from where we can continue with a boat," Domino said. He knew that to be a risky demand, Klarhet hated him and could think it to be too arrogant.
And he was right.
The huge octopus straightened to its full height and in order to watch it in the eyes Domino almost had to twitch his neck. Water whirled around him as the demon moved its huge tentacles and he was ready to run in the elevator if needed.
"He wants me to carry humans?" Klarhet asked with a shocked tone.
"Yes. I suggest you to think carefully, you must remember what happened to Orkan."
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, just saying how things are," Domino replied.
Orkan was Klarhet's youngest son, way too restless and curious, even for a young demon. Hector had known that and told his men to keep an eye on the small demon and attack it so that Klarhet would realise who it had to serve. The men had cut two of Orkan's tentacles dooming it to be a weak demon. After that Klarhet had been sure of that Hector LeMans could do anything.
And the demon didn't want to endanger its other children so it had decided to do as Hector wanted and had taken care of the slave delivery.
Klarhet growled in anger. It was clearly against the idea but didn't want to anger Hector.
"My children are hungry. Give me a slave and I'll take you to the closest island," it suggested.
"I already said the slaves are gone," Domino replied. Sure, he had Meche, but he didn't like the idea of giving the woman to the demon. He knew what the underwater demons did with their preys and he didn't want even Manny to suffer that fate.
"You have a partner with you. You might not need her as much as my children do," Klarhet said.
"She is my partner, I can't give her. Hector LeMans wouldn't like that," Domino said reminding Klarhet of who it was dealing with.
Klarhet snarled.
"I know how humans take care of things; you betray each other once you get the chance. Surely you can tell Hector something so that I can give my children a treat," it said.
Domino thought about it and shrugged.
"No deal. I want you to take me and Meche out of here. After that you can your children can be in peace without us. This is the last opportunity and if you cause trouble it might be that Hector changed his mind," he said.
"I see," Klarhet said quietly and swirled one of its tentacles so fast that Domino could only yelp when it wrapped around him. The demon brought the man near its ugly face and Domino could see his reflection in the demon's eyes.
Klarhet looked at him in thought.
"Is this Meche your mate?" it asked then and Domino laughed quickly. He was still shocked because of the sudden change of situation; the octopus had been much faster than he had thought. He had also trusted himself far too much.
And he was surprised to hear the demon's question. He hadn't expected it at all.
"Meche? Of course not!" he replied not understanding why the demon even asked. A mate sounded too permanent and boring in Domino's ear holes and he didn't like the word.
Klarhet tilted its huge head.
"You act like she was. Hector LeMans would have sacrificed a woman to get what he wanted," it said.
Domino was about to say something, but a loud scream caught the attention of both he and Klarhet.
When he looked down Domino saw that Meche had grown tired of waiting -- that impatient woman! -- and come to find him. And it looked like she didn't like what she saw at all and regretted coming down. Then again, who wouldn't? Running in the arms of a huge octopus had to be a nasty thing to happen.
Domino expected her to run back in the elevator before Klarhet managed to do anything, but to his surprise she caught a shovel and tried to threaten the demon with it.
"If I were you I'd let him go now!" Meche said voice shaking a bit. Domino was very surprised; he had never thought someone who hated him so much to do anything for him.
Klarhet snorted. Domino didn't hear it, more like felt the demons body flinch.
"And she acts like that too. You humans are strange creatures," it said putting Domino down. "I don't want Hector to hurt my other children. Hop on," it continued.
"What is going on?" Meche asked in uncertainty. She had never liked Klarhet; the creature had always made her feel afraid.
Domino straightened his suit and tried to collect his pride.
"I got us a lift away from here," he stated.
---
It was a dim night in the city of Nuevo Marrow and though everyone was having fun the atmosphere was unusually quiet. Maybe it was because Hector LeMans wasn't playing that night, but would concentrate on other business. Or maybe it was because somehow everyone knew how the rebels had stolen something valuable and no one wanted to attract extra attention.
Well, whatever the reason was, Olivia liked the change. The woman leaned against Hector's chest and sighed quietly as the man caressed her back, but her thoughts were somewhere else.
Nick Virago.
Olivia had done her best to catch the man's attention and to have some excitement in her so boring afterlife, but it looked like the man had build invisible walls around himself to keep her away.
And yet she had seen him accept the company of other women when he had some spare time. It disturbed Olivia, why wasn't she good enough for him?
She sat her legs crossed and watched as Nick sipped his drink and concentrated on reading one of his papers. The man was working again and Olivia just didn't understand why he bothered.
Did Hector really demand him to do all that? Didn't Nick have the courage to say that he had had enough? If that was the case, Nick had to be a bigger failure than Olivia had thought.
Then why had she decided to seduce him? There were many men in Nuevo Marrow and they all would have pleased her if she just asked. And yet she was fascinated by this lawyer.
Olivia snorted softly to herself. Maybe it was because Nick was a challenge and she already knew him.
"Do you have something to say or are you here just to waste my time?" Nick asked not lifting his eye sockets from the papers.
Olivia shrugged. She remembered that when they both had still lived in Rubacava Nick had showed some interest towards her, but now he was like ice.
Why?
"I stopped to say hello," she said.
"When you last time did that you ended up insulting all men. What do you really want?" the lawyer asked. The signs Olivia showed were clearly enough, and he would have wanted to reply them -- the woman was pretty and special, he had to admit that --, but he didn't want to endanger his soul by fawning on Hector's girlfriend.
"Don't be boring, Nick. We both know why we are here," Olivia said starting to sound frustrated.
"I am here to work. I don't know about you," Nick stated.
Olivia sighed.
"Why do all men want the same thing? Except you!" she said playfully.
"What are you thinking about, my love?" Hector asked softly and Olivia woke from her thoughts. She had remembered her attempts of having fun with Nick, but the man had proved that he was really boring. Or a coward.
"Nothing important," she said lifting her gaze to see the man who though he was everything to her. How stupid, no man was good enough for Olivia Ofrenda. Hector did have money and power -- the things that meant her the most --, but in his own way he was boring too.
Hector snorted.
"I have many things on my mind too," he said. Olivia knew that she would have to play interested now. If she had still had eyes she would have rolled them, Hector's business didn't interest her at all.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I have a traitor among my men. It is impossible that a mere guard could be behind it all and I believe that one of my close men has betrayed me. We have one of Salvador's dogs among us," Hector said.
Olivia thought about it a while. Rebels among Hector's men? She had never even thought about it.
"How exciting," she said.
"I want you to be careful and keep an eye on the situation. The rebels might try to contact you and hurt me through you," Hector continued. Olivia nodded. She would follow the events with interest and see what direction the situation would take.
She doubted anyone would defeat a powerful man like Hector LeMans, but it would be fun to see someone try.
---
When Nick finished his work that night he knew exactly where to go. It had been a few days since the so called rebels had stolen the cargo and he wanted to meet Chowchilla Charlie in order to know more about the situation.
The whole Nuevo Marrow had heard about it and though no one said it aloud some were clearly hopeful and believed that Salvador Limones would lead his men into a glorious victory over corruption.
And some thought that the freedom fighters had no chance and wanted to see as many sproutings and possible.
Nick headed straight to the now familiar club. The music there hadn't changed at all since his last visit and Charlie was sitting on his usual place.
The man didn't say anything when Nick sat in front of him, but stared at the table like usually.
"Well?" Nick asked when it looked like Charlie wasn't about to say anything. The man glanced at him.
"The rebels did it," he said sounding strangely bitter. Nick shrugged. So everything had gone just the way they had wanted. Maximino's men had done the job dressed up as freedom fighters and the leader of Rubacava was stronger again.
"Then everything is like it was supposed to be," he stated. This time Charlie gave him a longer glance and took an angry suck from his cigarette.
"Idiot! The real rebels have the guns!" he snapped.
For a moment Nick couldn't say anything, he was way too surprised, but then he gained the control of himself.
"The real rebels? Salvador Limones with his troops?" he made sure and Charlie nodded looking dark.
"The real dyed-in-the-wool rebels stole our cargo and are who knows how much stronger," he said.
"How did they know about our plan?" Nick asked.
"Maximino would like to know that too. I think we have a freedom fighter among us. Very clever, pretend to work for Hector, betray him and be on the third side all along," the small con artist said.
Nick couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You think I am a rebel?" he asked. How could someone think that he, Nick Virago, was some filthy rebellious idiot? Ridiculous!
"Who else could it be?" Charlie accused.
"What if you are the traitor?" Nick asked.
"Come on, Nick..."
Nick shook his head and tapped the table with his bony fingers. Everything had supposed to be fine, but now it was all falling apart around him again.
"I don't like this at all," he said.
To be continued...
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