The Dartagnan Brothers Hotel

Chapter 21

"His mind was taken by the image of his own living room, back to when life was still normal and bearable. Lara was sitting on the sofa whilst he poured two glasses of wine and prepared a tray of snacks on the counter of his kitchen. She wore a black dress and had her legs crossed, sustaining a jealous posture, but what caught Jonas's attention the most was the way her face kept a mysterious and charming look. He had always found it easy to understand people, but Lara's expression was a mystery to him, and that was something that would always intrigue his most profound senses.
He was clearly out of his mind. He had spilled wine all over the counter, and the way he had arranged the tray of appetisers made no sense what so ever, but the expression on his face showed a sheer feeling of happiness, something he couldn't remember feeling in a very long time.
'So, what do you do for a living?' he asked as he joined her on the couch.
'A little of this, a little of that.' she replied keeping the mystery.
'I'm sure you can come up with a better answer.' he said, expressing himself with confusion.
'I work in a hotel outside the city.' she replied, trying to end that subject as quickly as possible.
'Hmm.' he realised her obvious lack of interest in the matter. 'I've never seen you in that bar, do you come to town often?' he was trying to find common ground so they could have a conversation that both parts would take in.
'I rarely leave the house.' she replied dryly.
Lara seemed to be impatient, waiting for something to happen, but Jonas wanted to keep the conversation going, to get to know the person who was sitting next to him better and, eventually, to do whatever came naturally.
'Where is the bathroom?' she asked as she got up from the couch.
Jonas led the way to the bathroom and watched as she walked in so elegantly. He thought he had won the lottery at that moment, a woman like that rarely appeared in his life, which brought out his superficiality and made him wonder about how they would be together forever and get married in a few days. His anxiety made his first impression of a woman take the best of him and led his mind to run a mock throughout a future that would never exist, which was never a good thing since his eccentricities would end up driving women like that out of his life extremely quickly.
She was taking longer than usual to get back from the bathroom, when Jonas decided it would be a good idea to check on her and see if everything was okay or if maybe she needed something that his man fashioned bathroom would not supply. He staggered to the bathroom door, making more noise than he wished to, and as he was about to knock on the door to offer help, he was able to hear Lara talking on the phone in a low voice.
'But what do you want me to do?' she asked.
He felt bad about eavesdropping the woman's conversation, but that was his own home and he was way to drunk to care about it that much.
'I'll need help.' she said whilst pushing down the flush and turning on the sink tap.
Jonas sprinted out from the bathroom door and returned to his place on the couch in the living room. He arrived there panting, trying to get back to normal and make it look like he had never left. Lara soon came back from down the hall with a smile on her face, as if her trip to the bathroom had brought her answers to questions he didn't know.
'More wine?' she asked rhetorically as she headed for the kitchen without looking at Jonas, making herself at home without his consent.
That was when Jonas felt that his mind was sending him a myriad of red flags. A sign that he had had too much to drink and it was time to rest. He was feeling dizzy and seemed to have trouble breathing normally; his mind was spinning and he couldn't focus his thoughts on a sole thing. Looking at Lara's face no longer gave him any feeling of awe or admiration, he was actually concerned to what he had just witnessed, as if his instincts were screaming for him to flee his own home and get as far as possible from that woman.
'I think it's getting late.' he stammered, unsuccessfully trying to get up from the sofa. 'Why don't we try this again some other time?'
Lara ignored Jonas's request and went back to the couch to sit beside him. That beautiful smile was back on her face as she seemed relieved of any distress that had previously plagued her mind. Jonas felt that he was increasingly let his fear and anxiety be shown through what was about to happen; what he had heard in the bathroom did not seem normal, and all of his instincts screamed for him to get out of there, but he was too weak to act in any way that could benefit his well-being.
'What's happening to me?' he asked as he realised that his mind was playing tricks on him. His vision swirled and distorted the image of things around him.
'Relax, let yourself go.' she said whilst stroking his head, forcing him to lie down on a pillow.
'I'm not waiting for anyone, ask them to leave.' he stammered again when he heard the apartment's intercom ring.
His will was promptly ignored as Lara got up and let whomever it was inside the building by pushing the button that opened the gate. Jonas's mind became more and more fragile and his attention could not be locked in anything but the reverie of his thoughts.
Within minutes the doorbell rang. Lara ran towards the door to let in the person who had come to her rescue, but Jonas could no longer distinguish the voices that were uninvitedly speaking in his own living room, much less shape the movements that dangled in front of him. The person's silhouette indicated a big, strong, young man, but he couldn't be sure of anything else by then. His mind could only think of resting and his eyelids could no longer keep his eyes open.
Gradually, his body let himself be carried away by the hands that swayed him from side to side, and his eyes watched one last image before they let themselves close, causing Jonas to fall into a deep sleep."
He woke up in the chaos that cluttered his mind; he did not know if his headache came from the mental confusion that had been created by the dream he just had or by the throbbing left by the blow he had received on his forehead by Lara's hands. Jonas was sure that he just had a dream, something that was hidden in his subconscious and he was finally able to access. He no longer had any of those chips inside his body that could release the drugs he had been receiving for hours, so the only alternative was to think that his own mind had come to his rescue, helping him remember something that could be useful in the situation he was.
The last image he had seen was a clear depict of the mysterious man injecting the nano-chips, that Douglas had just removed, into his arm, but what had caught Jonas's attention the most was that he was touching that same cylinder that Monalisa had captured in the garden. After a brief reasoning, he concluded that that object must be of great importance to Giovanni, which explained the fact that it was hidden in a place that no one could find, or at least that was what Mr. Dartagnan thought.
'I need to read what Monalisa wrote in that note.', he thought, making sense that he could find the answers he yearned for on the letter Lais Amon had left him as an inheritance. However, his desire to search the pockets of his jacket was hindered by the ties that held all the extremities of his body. His mind was so focused on what was just showed by the dream, that he had not yet stopped to observe the situation he found himself in after the short time he had been away from reality.
He could see that he was the only one that had his mobility restricted. He found himself lying on the damp, mud-covered floor, whilst Lara, Douglas and Getulio met in the other corner of the room, talking in such a low volume that Jonas couldn't understand what was going on. His arms and legs were tied by a weak and rudimentary rope, obviously the resources there were limited and insufficient for everyone to be detained, but Jonas was not thinking that he had been chosen at random.
'Hey!' he exclaimed aloud when he received a warning from all three to keep his voice low.
'I told you! This asshole will be the end of us...' Lara's words confused Jonas in order to practically erase everything he had understood until then. She was now covered, from head to toe, by the black uniform that Giovanni made everyone in his sect wear.
The three returned to talk abruptly, completely ignoring the presence of Jonas, who was trying to understand how that implausible alliance had came about, but as much as he tried to connect the dots, he couldn't make sense of anything that explained it.
The fact that he was ignored didn't bother him so much. What really made his blood boil with rage was the image of his belongings stored on the small table beside the bed. The device that controlled his dreams was accompanied by the mysterious cylinder and the unread letter that Monalisa had left him. Jonas felt that every step he took towards a possible exit for that situation was surprised by an intense push that took him back to square one.
'Can someone explain to me what's going on?' he whispered when he saw Getulio and Lara embrace, bringing even more doubts to the mystery that spread before his eyes.
Getulio spun the wheels of the chair and approached the corner where Jonas had been laid. The expression on his face contemplated a mixture of happiness, concern and anxiety. His will clearly fought against a mysterious dichotomy that dwelled in his mind and his eyes seemed to hide a very important truth for the outcome of Jonas's future.
'What do you have to tell me?' he asked when he realised that the old one-legged man had his words choked in his throat.
'I followed your advice...' he said, smiling and shaking one shoulder like a child who didn't know what he had done.
Jonas forced his memory to go back so that he could remember any advice he had given Getulio. The recent past events were clear in his mind, but the priority of how things were organised in his brain held no recollection of what the old man was talking about.
'I spoke to her. I spoke to my daughter!' he said whilst his eyes seemed to fill with tears.
He did not remember that as an advice, but as a mere remark he had made to the weeping man who had told him a sobbing story about his past. Actually, he didn't think that was such a good idea, quite the contrary, he thought that any cloistered feelings that might arise at that time would hinder his plans to get out of that place, but due to the direction the situation was taking, his survival did not seem to be a priority for anyone but himself.
'Why am I tied up again? It's really frustrating to wake up like this all the time.' he asked as he showed no interest in the story of the unholy reunion.
'Unfortunately, the plans have changed.' replied Getulio, who seemed genuinely saddened by the situation he had imposed on Jonas.
Instead of freaking out and letting his anxiety take over all his impulses, Jonas calmly showed interest in Getulio's latest turn of events and tried to empathise with the the old man's situation, who had just confessed to his daughter about the evils he had done throughout his life.
'Good, it seems that you're happy now.' he said, smiling and glancing at Lara and then resting his eyes on the objects that had been confiscated from him. 'So, what's the plans now?'
The three exchanged glances as if they had not yet decided who would deliver the bad news. Douglas had been quiet for the entire time since Jonas woke up, which seemed to further accentuate his supporting role in the chaos. However, even though he was tired of all that game, Jonas realised that a mystery was being hidden behind all that indifference that was presented to him. 'I need to get my hands on that letter...', he thought as he returned his mind to his main goal.
'We can't afford to waste any more time.' Lara finally spoke. 'We must take him to Giovanni, it's the only way to get out of here.'
'Come again?' asked Jonas as he let his calm escape.
That conversation was spiralling out of control as it continued without Jonas being included in it. Lara, Douglas and Getulio seemed determined to give segment to their new plan, which did not included him in a good sense. Jonas felt betrayed, but he already understood the rules of the game; he knew that he couldn't trust anyone, and the mistake of having followed Douglas and Getulio in that trap was no one's but his own. Deep down he knew that the terrible plan Getulio had just told him was nothing but a diversion to get him willingly involved.
'You see, my dear. A few months ago, when we had our little adventure, I had the courage to talk to Lara and tell her all about my past and finally tell her who I really am.' Getulio seemed to be willing to include Jonas in the conversation that was supposedly deciding his future. 'We've spent some time getting to know each other until we decided to give ourselves a chance to start a life out of here, as father and daughter.'
'Really? After all he got you through? That's just lovely...' Jonas fixed his gaze on Lara's face, who seemed to raise anger with every word he left out of his mouth.
'In the end, my dear boy, we'll do what is best for ourselves, won't we?' Getulio moved forward without letting Lara interrupt him.
'What about you, doctor?' Jonas was willing to appeal to anyone who could help him. 'I thought Giovanni didn't know you were involved in my disappearance.
'I play for the winning team, Jonas, nothing personal.' he was not at all surprised. The mercenary doctor answered as expected. 'And by now, Giovanni already knows everything, and all points of entry and exit of this property must be covered by security.'
'None of that makes any fucking sense!' exclaimed Jonas, trying to get rid of the bonds that held him. 'You just risked your life to get me out of Giovanni's hands, why this sudden change?'
'I needed you out from that place so I could deliver you myself. Things changed during the two hours you've slept...'
'Two hours?' he asked aloud, thinking he hadn't been out for what seemed more than ten minutes.
'Lara was finally able to speak to my brother.' Getulio made his voice predominant once again. 'And he has agreed to let us go if we hand you over to him.'
'There must be a way that we can all get out of here together.' Jonas was about to beg.
'Unfortunately, there isn't.' Douglas looked genuinely disappointed.
'I was also surprised by the proposal, I thought Lara was looking to hand all of us over to my brother, that's why I was inert when I realised she had spotted us.' Getulio seemed keen to explain the situation in a way that would make sense to Jonas.
'And all that talk about saving the world and freeing people from the psychopath that is your brother?' Jonas was getting angrier by the second.
'I want a chance to fix the past, young man.'
Clearly, Lara had outwitted Giovanni's henchmen in order to convince Getulio and Douglas that this would be the best way out for everyone. Jonas was really surprised by the sudden change and still did not believe that everyone there was in the same page. It did not make any sense that Getulio had abandoned all of his plans to follow up his sudden heartfelt episteme to mend his wrongfully doings from the past. But Jonas was the one still tied up and he would have no chance of getting out of there safe and sound unless he could not get his hands on that mysterious cylinder and the letter left by Monalisa, which were now very safely guarded by Getulio in his wheelchair; his only hope was to wait for any of them to make a mistake so he could take his chance to just run away from everyone.
'Let's go now! I do not want Giovanni to think that we have given up on fulfilling our part of the agreement, I haven't made contact for a long time.' Lara seemed anxious to find her lover, the head of the sect.
Jonas's most haunted thoughts were about to happen. They went out the door and took the path that led to the C.P.F.'s ceremonial hall as he didn't even bother looking around to plot an escape plan. He knew enough about that infamous path he was walking on to know that he would have no chance of escaping Lara Farlet's clutches, mainly because he still had his hands tied and was being guided by her through gun point.
'Do not try anything funny, I will not hesitate to shot you.' she spoke as if she had no intention of losing sight of him.
That path seemed to get shorter and shorter every time Jonas went through it; that back and forth between the underground and the ceremonial hall was starting to get old, and the time it took to get to where Jonas had lost not just one, but two loved ones, was getting shorter and stripped of any scape possibility.
The place was practically empty. Some people were cleaning the blood waste left by the recent deaths, whilst others were picking up the rest of human entrails that decorated the floor. Giovanni was sitting in a chair on the altar beside the priest who held a cross in his hand and prayed without opening his eyes. Mr. Dartagnan had an expression of sadness on his face and he did not seem to exude the same enthusiasm he had held whilst applying his backward methods of torture and penance.
'Where is everyone?' asked Lara, when she approached and kissed Giovanni on the cheek, causing Getulio to curl up in his chair in disgust.
'The few that are left, are already upstairs.' he replied, indicating that the place where Jonas would suffer his penance had changed.
Giovanni jumped out of the chair, wielding the red staff and changing the intonation of his mood as if he was skipping a television channel. He put a smile on his face and started to spin the mysterious object as if he was playing a part in a play; he walked among his new guests without meeting Lara's eyes, just pointing with his staff so that she would clear the way and leave his sight.
'Well, well, what have we here.' he started humming. 'My old brother, it's been too long!'
'I see you've made some changes... No longer using the church, are you?' he asked referring to the fact that those meetings used to take place somewhere else.
'We've moved around since we last spoke, brother. Sounds clever, doesn't it?'
Getulio tried to agree with a smile without having to defer a single word. The old one-legged man did not seem at all happy to be in the presence of his brother, who he had learned to ignore and hate over the years, his patience was explained only by the fact that he wanted a chance to make amends for the mistakes he had infringed upon Lara during the first decades of her life.
'Lara told me you have an offer to make.' he replied dryly. 'We are here to accept it.'
'Easy now, dear brother. You know I don't like to haste things up.' he replied whilst walking around Getulio and passing his hand over his shoulder as he looked at Douglas with disgust.
The doctor was, without any doubt, the strangest figure in that place. His mercenary personality gave him an advantage in a unique situation like that, but, as logic would dictate, his options got more and more limited by every choice he made. He observed every aspect of what was happening very carefully and measured his words with ease before compromising his situation.
'I didn't think I would have the honor of your presence so soon.' said Giovanni without slowing down.
'You know very well who I am.' Douglas intoned a mystery as he raised his voice confidently for the first time.
'Indeed I do. Let's talk, you and I, later.'
Giovanni finally got close to Jonas. His face showed a mixture of happiness and concern, which made no sense for Jonas since Mr. Dartagnan, finally, had him exactly where he wanted.
'You have been a complete fucking nuisance in my life, young man.' said Giovanni as he started to show anger. 'All of your little misadventures and willingness to avoid the inevitable did a lot of damage to my organisation.'
He was obviously referring to the emptiness of the room they were standing in. It was no surprise that gunshots and bombs on iron doors would drive away those who did not have the same level of insanity as Giovanni. Sticking around to see what was coming next was suddenly not appealing anymore. Jonas, after all, had managed to fulfil one of Getulio's wishes; even if unconsciously, his random acts had led him to disperse Giovanni's followers. Only a few people stuck around the ceremony hall; some security guards, obviously there for the money, and some other sect members remaining from the illusions promised by a deluded old man with no sense of limits on what power could bring him.
'You didn't think that this kind of madness was really going to go on for much longer, did you?' asked Jonas as he felt another blow in his face, which was already swollen by the excessive amount of strokes he had been taking during his time of captivity.
'The human being is nothing but adaptable.' Giovanni seemed to be changing his mood every few seconds through a sharp bipolarity. 'We will continue the ceremony with the few remaining faithful, those who truly believe in the power of god, which, by the way, only strengthens our cause.'
'Your brother told me the whole truth about you... Be sure that you will never get away with this.' Jonas tried to be aggressive so that Giovanni would not let his overconfidence put him on an even higher position.
"Oh he did, didn't he? Tell me then. How did he explain to you about the dream you had where your friend Rodrigo was quartered? How did he know all these details before you even knew this place?'
'This has already been explained to me, you goddamn lunatic! I know very well that you've programmed these things into my mind...' Jonas seemed to have an advantage over Mr. Dartagnan at that very moment.
'I bet he failed to mention that he already knew everything that was going to happen, didn't he?' said Giovanni as he looked back at his brother. Getulio had an expression of anger and regret hidden behind the sadness in his eyes.
'Would you care to explain?' Jonas let his voice collapse along with his naivety. He knew he could never have believed the words of a person he never met before.
'I've already told you, my boy. This is all part of a much bigger thing than you can possibly comprehend.' he replied without showing remorse or any feeling that expressed guilt, contradicting his bigger plan ideas as he had recently chosen to abandon everything and go play house with his new found daughter.
He finally understood that the lies were coming from everywhere, realising that Giovanni had been, in a somewhat contradictory way, the person who had been most honest with him.
Jonas wanted to throw up every time Giovanni opened his mouth to boast about the crazy things he called a divine cause. The man he had met during the weekend seemed to have a lucid and wise expression about everything that happened around him, as well as showing great enthusiasm and intelligence in each word he'd spread and tremendous appreciation for all life around him. However, what Jonas saw before his eyes, at that moment, was a desperate, confused, and partially abandoned man. Even Lara, who had spent her life with him, was about to leave him to resume a non-existent relationship with the father she had never truly met.
'Giovanni...' said Getulio, who seemed in verge of losing patience. 'We've fulfilled our part of the agreement, now I need you to let us out of here.'
'All in good time, brother.' replied Giovanni without taking his eyes off Jonas. 'Soon Lara will be back.'
'Where did you send her?'
'Be patient... you'll soon understand everything.' Giovanni seemed really mysterious with what was about to happen, which seemed to confuse Getulio, who already thought he was getting to the end of that conversation. He wanted his brother to fulfil his part of the agreement and put aside those games that seemed to give him so much pleasure.
Jonas, as usual, in situations like that, tried to remain silent and hope that the outcome would give him any opportunity he could take advantage of, but the more he expected, the stranger Giovanni's actions became.
'You need to fulfil your part of the agreement!' shouted Getulio, finally losing his patience.
'You do not give me orders!' Giovanni countered without letting the loud volume of his brother's voice overcomes his.
Tension was starting to build up between the Dartagnan brothers. Getulio seemed to be afraid that Giovanni would not fulfil his part of the agreement and, even worse, that he could use Lara to take revenge for the mishaps he had been causing him; he knew exactly that there were no limits to Giovanni's cruelties, but his actions were limited by the situation in which he found himself. Giovanni's advantages over him were countless as he couldn't even move himself without someone else's aid; the place, which he had once called home, was strange to him and the people there present saw him as a confused old man, not even willing to call him a threat.
'We should put aside our disagreements, for now. I promise you that you will get what you seek, my brother.' began Giovanni. 'Now, please, will you accompany me to the ballroom.'
The main hall, where the party had been taking place, was now completely empty, indicating that most of the people had already left. They, however, followed the path to a place that Jonas had forgotten he had set feet on. Mr. Dartagnan's artefact museum was partially occupied by some of the sect's members. He soon noticed the presence of Catarina, the distinguished lady he had met in his sole visit to the place, who no longer behaved as a mere maid, but as another member of the C.P.F., dressed and polished as one of them, which was no surprise at that point. 'No explanation necessary.', thought Jonas, connecting the dots between the place she was supposedly guarding and the man she worked for.
'Catarina!' exclaimed Giovanni as they entered the room. She still held that same mysterious, empty look of someone who barely had any contact with the outside world.
Whilst Catarina and Giovanni talked about what seemed to be something of extreme importance, a different structure was being set up around there, something that was no longer new to him. 'The return of the chair...', he thought when he saw the object that had started his unexpected journey that weekend; he knew that things were shaping up to surround him as the main attraction. He was the one who was going to be tied up to that chair against his will, whilst the rest, smarter than him, would go on living outside of that place as if nothing bad had ever happened.
The chair had been placed in front of a large television as it was surrounded by Giovanni's subjects, whilst the priest was preparing himself to start the next ceremony which was about to, as it would seem, bring the end of Jonas's path in that place. Getulio, who was still supported by Douglas, became increasingly uneasy and, little by little, used words - the only weapon he had - to imply that his brother did not deserve to carry the name he had for not honouring his own word.
The old one-legged man, however, suddenly fell silent when he saw the return of his daughter who had suddenly entered the back door of the small room. Lara Farlet seemed to be the center of attention; she appeared completely different from when she had left them. She was fully dressed in nun clothes: a tunic covered by a scapular and a veil that would shadow her own face as she carried a heavy cross hanged in a necklace around her neck. She kept her head lowered, glancing at her clasped hands, from which she would deviate, from time to time, to find direction.
Jonas did not seem to believe what his eyes were showing him, whilst Getulio appeared agitated and desperate in his chair so that he could take Lara's arm, shake her, and have common sense brought back to her head, but he was incapacitated of doing anything as he was very well surrounded by Giovanni's henchmen; Douglas had already left the post at his side, when he realised that the game was swaying to the opposite direction. The mysterious Ms. Catarina had her mouth open with her teeth exposed, showing a smile that Jonas had never seen before.
Giovanni had changed his expression from apprehension to one of extreme satisfaction, realising that Getulio was taken aback by the image that spread in front of his eyes.
'My dear and loved Lara.' Mr. Dartagnan began to speak. 'I present you to our companions, followers of god, as the most courageous and brave offering that this group will ever have the pleasure of knowing.'
Those words seemed to physically hurt Getulio, as Jonas, at that point, couldn't expect anything more than a surprise like that from those people that seemed to live inside their own world.
'Lara, ladies and gentlemen, even though many of you don't know, is the result of a broken relationship. My heretic brother's bastard daughter.' he spoke those last words as if he was taking a dagger from his chest. 'Yes! You heard me well.' he followed, noticing that some people were startled by the fact that the two were always in public showing an affection that would not be normal among people of the same blood. 'This beautiful young woman, today, decided to set aside all her disagreements with her father who had once abandoned her. Today she will make peace with my brother and ease the burden he created before god.'
The last words seemed to have calmed Getulio down as he presumed that his brother would keep his word by adding a little more spice to a situation, that was already embarrassing and humiliating enough, in front of all those people, but as long as he could have a chance with his daughter, none of that mattered. However, Jonas knew that all of that sweet talk was certainly carrying a mystery that was not so sweet to the ears of those who still had a certain level of sanity.
'My niece Lara, ladies and gentlemen.' he continued as the whispers about his private life had ceased. 'Offered her own life to our organisation.'