Burnington Gaol

F O R T Y - N I N E | Adeline

As the dust and the dirt settled around my sleeping frame, I felt my mind being gently pulled in and out of consciousness. Wherever I was, it was dark and warm, and there was terrible smell that made my nose crinkle.

A loud clunk snapped me to attention.

I jerked upright, felt the restraints pull me back. My wrists were chained to the wall behind me. I sucked in a gasp, felt my stomach knot, eyes darting around the small room. Four dirt walls, lit by a faint yellow light. Tony was there, leaned over a wooden bench in the far corner, the light shining behind him. His head twisted and his piercing eyes cut into me, lips curled into a cruel smile.

"Adeline," he said, "you're awake."

His voice was light but the undertone was black and slimy. I crawled backwards, pressed my back to the wall.

"Don't be afraid," he said. "It'll all be over soon."

Tony turned back to the bench and I spotted Billy's crumpled body beside me. I rushed to his side.

"Billy?" I asked. "Billy!"

Tears welled in my eyes. He couldn't be dead, but the blood that pooled around his head suggested otherwise.

"What did you do to him?!" I cried, his shirt balled up in my fists.

"Nothing of importance," Tony said, not bothering to turn around. "He'll be awake soon."

I pulled him close and, with great amounts of strength, pushed him onto his back. I touched his face, examining the deep gash across his temple. Then, with fury burning in my eyes, I looked back at Tony.

"You killed her," I said. "Susie... and you framed Frank and Jimmy."

Tony chuckled.

"You act as if they are so innocent," Tony replied nonchalantly. "They deserve everything they get."

"Jimmy was a good man! And Frank..."

"Jimmy killed my sister!" He roared, voice so deep and loud that the dirt walls threatened to cave in. "And Frank helped cover it up. And it's not just Lisa. You can't even imagine how many people Frank has killed in his lifetime, how many families have suffered because of him. No. They deserve to be punished. They deserved to die."

Tony looked away, raked his hand through his blond hair. Then he looked back at me, a horrifying determination in his features, before dropping his spanner on the bench and storming over to me. I sucked in a breath and scurried backwards until I was against the wall again.

"Why don't you think about it like this?" Tony said, squatting in front of me. "You see him?" He asked, pointing to Billy. "Imagine you woke up one morning only to discover that he'd been killed – murdered, because he wanted to do the right thing and expose the truth. Imagine spending years grieving that death, knowing you could never see him again, never talk to him and never see his eyes light up with pride or love or anything. Imagine that for a moment."

Tony was so close to me that I could feel his breath brush across my face, could smell the smoke on his tongue.

"And then you find out who did it. You find out that the person who was supposed to love him and care for him was the one who took him away, and that his brother helped bury it so they could go on living some perfect, apple-pie life with their lovely little stolen daughter while you suffered and hurt and bled. Think of that. Surely you can understand why I am the way I am, why they deserve to die."

As I stared deep into Tony's dark eyes, I saw all the pain, all the hurt that eaten away at him for so long. I realised then that I did understand. I thought back to the day I walked into that diner, because I'd have rather died than be forced to live without my brother. I thought about the day he was shot because he wanted to do the right thing and expose the truth. I thought about when we were young – the nights I read to him, tucked him in, made him supper... Every memory, every emotion shone in my eyes, and Tony saw it all.

"You see it now, don't you?" He asked, rocking back on his knees.

I nodded slowly.

"So you must understand why I have to do this."

Tony got to his feet and turned away from me. I looked up as he headed for the bench, and what I saw made my body turn cold.

A bomb.

It ticked away on the countertop, the red numbers getting lower and lower. All my muscles tensed up, ready to snap.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked, voice quivering.

"Don't you see? It's the only way to put an end to all this, the only way to make sure he suffers."

"B-but there are innocent people here! People like my father, like the guards you work with. Your friends. Good people."

"Good people?" Tony snapped. "The criminals that occupy this godforsaken place? Hundreds of murderers and rapists and thieves? Or the guards, who spend day after day beating them for sport, tearing strips of flesh from their backs or breaking their bones for the sheer joy it brings them! They're all as bad as each other; they all deserve to die."

"But what about my brother?" I asked. "You know what it's like to have a sibling taken from you, how could you do that to somebody else?"

Tony, leaning his back against the bench, smiled.

"Don't you see? Once this is all over, you'll all be together. No survivors, no one to feel the pain. Just peace." Tony approached me slowly, that same gentle smile on his face. "It's been lovely knowing you Adeline, and you have surprised me every step along the way, but in the end, this is how it must be."

He reached out and laid a hand on my shoulder. The touch made me shiver.

"Enjoy your last twenty minutes on earth."

Then, without another word, Tony got to his feet and he left.

© A.G. Travers 2018