Station 2-14: Chapter Twenty
Everything falls apart
Previous Chapter - Station 2-14
Chapter Twenty: Voss
It was all starting to fall apart. Voss can feel it. He knows that there’s something else going on, which is hindering his own plans. And when his plan was as simple as 1) Get Ley in the Games and 2) Ley wins the Games, it was difficult to know where it was all going wrong. Sure, there were a couple of false starts but Ley was the best player in their history.
Every problem that Ley had faced, she had overcome. In fact, she had grown more powerful. It was becoming stupid to bet against her. She was finding avenues to win that the games hadn’t accounted for. The odds were in her favour. But who would be making money on that? Or, more importantly, who wasn’t.
He remembered the deal that was proposed to him at Fernleigh’s. Dodgy Derek would have bet his life that Ellis was going to win. Derek had built his life around being the trainer of champions, and now Ley was a threat to that. But he wasn’t powerful enough to manipulate the Games. Let alone smart enough. He was hoping that Voss would do it. That he would take a cut and find a way to make Ley lose. As if that was even worth considering. Even if there was a way for him to rig the match, there was no way of convincing Ley.
As long as Ley had something to fight for - there was no stopping her. So long as her mum was alive, she was going to win to save her. He knew that in his bones.
They all did.
And maybe it was that certainty that led him down the hall to her mother’s room. Because as long as she was alive, Ley would win. And her victory would make some very powerful people lose a lot of money.
And wasn’t that the point? No matter what they preached about sportsmanship and moulding ability. Everyone was just trying to make a buck.
He approaches her mother’s room with a growing dread. A flash of movement draws his attention; the heel of a polished shoe rounding the corner, heading for the elevator. They were supposed to be alone tonight, even Avery’s staff had been sent home. So who was this person fleeing a scene?
Voss changes his course, racing to catch up to the phantom in the hall. But the pieces are quickly falling into place. He thought it was some complex scheme but it was simple.
Ley had to lose so that one man could claim his win.
He makes it to the elevator just as the doors open and Derek steps inside. Which is when the alarms from her mother’s room begin to blare.
He’s suddenly caught between two choices: follow the alarms to Ley and help her; or follow the man that caused her that pain.
But before he has time to react, the choice is taken from him. Derek barely raises his hand before Voss feels his invisible grip around his throat. He struggles against it, trying to breathe before he’s pulled forward into the elevator and the doors shut behind him. Derek shoves him into the corner, his feet dangling above the floor, and leans in close.
‘You know, I hate it when you skulk about. Just say what you want to say.’ He releases his grip slightly, just enough for Voss to wheeze out his words:
‘You killed her.’
‘Naturally. You should have taken your cut.’
The elevator jolts to a stop as the power blacks out, the emergency breaks kicking in to keep them from crashing to the ground. Voss falls to the floor gasping for air as Derek takes in his surrounds, bristling with anger at the inconvenience.
Voss takes his moment. He pushes himself to his feet and takes a swing - a sharp upper-cut that clips Dereks jaw and sends him crashing into the wall. Voss groans. He was hoping to knock him out and give him some time to think. But Derek just brushes it off, and laughs to himself:
‘Didn’t think you had it in you.’ Voss lunges again, but Derek stops him with his mind, holding him in place and letting him take it all in. He wants Voss to feel the power that he has over him. Before he steps forward and strikes him across the ear sending Voss sprawling to the floor once more.
‘Pathetic,’ he spits.
Derek turns his attention to the elevator and overpowers the brakes, slowly moving them to the ground floor before opening the door. Derek peers over his shoulder at Voss, smirking as he leaves.
He knows that he’s won.
Voss crawls to the door, desperate to catch up. He has no plan, no way of defeating a man who could kill him without lifting a finger. But he can’t let him leave. Not for what he’s done to Ley. He didn’t have to see her to know how it would break her. He wanted to hold Derek accountable. To make sure that someone was held responsible for the mess that he had dragged her into.
But what could he do?
Derek saunters out of the building to his idling car and Jin jumps out to meet him.
‘What happened?’ Says Jin. ‘The entire city just blacked out.’
‘Yep,’ says Derek as he pushes him aside.
‘Where are you going?’ Says Jin.
‘Out,’ he says and slams the door shut just as Voss catches up to them. Voss runs his hands through his hair, trying to tear it from its ends as he curses Derek’s name.
‘Hey - what’s going on?’ Asks Jin. Voss studies him, wondering how much he knows. How desperate is the Station’s poster-boy to stay at the top of the game? But Voss knows that he was never the one who wanted to be the champion. He was just the one who looked the other way while someone else made it happen. He was no saint. But he wasn’t responsible for Derek’s actions. He wouldn’t have had a hand in her mother’s death. And he wouldn’t have the nerve to stand up to Derek now.
Because if shutting the power down in the station didn’t kill Ley, then he was sure that Derek was going to find another way. First they take her mother, then they’ll come for her.
Voss was helpless against that. He needed someone who could protect Ley. Someone who would stand up to Derek and set things straight.
‘We need Tessa.’
