A cold shiver races down my spine as he steps into the room his eyes steady on me. I stare back at him a million questions rushing through my mind.
‘We have got to stop meeting like this Heather.’ He says as he kicks the door closed, ‘really, it’s unbecoming.’
‘You are crazy,’ I mutter
He laughs, ‘ha you said that the last I saw you—do you also know what you said Heather?’
I manage a scoff, ‘it’s not like I spent two years remembering you.’
‘Oh Outch—you don’t remember promising to kill me if I don’t kill you?’ he tilts his head to one side, ‘I have been waiting for the day of reckoning Heather that is just so disappointing.’
I hold his gaze. Dark empty eyes hold mine as he approach me steadily like a predator. I don’t as much as move until he is a meter away from me. He sinks his hands into his pockets and studies me.
‘We like taking care of problems pretty quickly around here, I have to travel back today.’
‘Why? You have another victim to assassinate?’
He tsks, ‘you watch too many thrillers.’
I am not sure what he want to do with me but my logic and sense are screaming—we are all gonna die. My wild mind reflects all the horrible ways he could end my life. I wait for the moment I start replaying my whole life but it doesn’t come. My mind is blank as he retrieves his hand from inside his pocket and pulls out one of those pocket knives that you flip or whatever you do and it points sharply out. It even glitters. Geez, who walks around with a pocket knife nowadays? At least it’s not a gun.
‘Neat.’ He mutters, ‘silent and quick.’ His eyes travel up and down me, ‘you can imagine how I felt when I heard the news. Your existence have been stealing my peace of mind ever since that night Heather... and to hear that your dear father wasn’t there to protect you anymore was…’ he sucks in a breath, ‘let’s just say liberating.’
‘I can imagine.’ I say, ‘psychos like you are really rare.’
‘Oh please Heather—what toughened you up all of a sudden? Where is my freaked out victim?’ he inches closer to me. ‘And my don’t you have it for the bad boys.’
He laughs at his own joke his eyes glimmering devilishly at me. And it happens like the classical case of any case like this—my back against the wall and I am trapped. He closes in on me amusement dancing in his eyes. He raises his hand, and I don’t forget the knife he is fisting in it. The knife clad fist comes fast and hits the wall behind me, bringing his face closer to mine.
‘I like this feeling.’ He says in a muttering frenzy manner, ‘to have someone trapped like this—their breath at the moment in my hands, their fear my doing—I am the end of your life story.’
I don’t like this feeling at all—my mind counters. Being trapped here by a poetic psycho who I was sure I would never clap eyes on ever again years ago. Beautiful just beautiful.
‘Alex you can’t.’ Celine’s voice and the pounding on the door makes me jump. Alex raises his other free hand and plants his palm on the wall trapping me between his arms, ‘open the door before you do something stupid!’
I vaguely hear the knife opening or should I say unfolding. My breath freezes as he ignores Celine’s yelling and pounding on the door. My hearing seem to dim as well—all I can see, feel and hear is my fear and my dismay as the glistening cold looking sharp steel in his hand advances towards my throat.
I imagine what the pain would feel like as the cold steel touches my skin. Blood rushes into my ears as a whimper escapes my pressed lips.
‘Out of words now are we?’ his lips stretched into a lopsided smirk, ‘you know that Billy here plunged into your boyfriend’s flesh before I threw him into the river.’
I have a flash memory of Stephan’s limp body floating on the water. That had been my undoing—my moment of shut down from the world.
‘This is just romantic isn’t it?—but I don’t get to throw your body in the river though—damn semiarid country.’
Fight—my logic and sense tell me—you can’t just allow him to kill you like a trapped cat. I am a trapped cat! Emotion counters. You may have to murder someone today—that’s wild mind.
He presses the steel harder against my throat. Fear turn to tingles that rush all over me like lightning bolts. I squeeze my eyes shut. I can’t describe how it feels like to be at this side of the knife. I don’t know when he is going to just plunge it in my air supply. I don’t even want to know the amount of pain I would experience.
Would I die instantly or would I writhe in pain for hours while he mutters poetic gibberish over my dying form. Would he wrap my body in a white sheet after wards—and yeah the sheets on the bed happen to be white. Would he dump my body somewhere and vultures will feast on my flesh before a clueless hiker or litter pickers finds me—it would probably take them days to identify my body—or even months – I’m not sure about their investigative technology in this country.
And when they do, people will be shaking their heads sadly at my picture on the front page of Mmegi or the Daily News—or one of those emerging publishers looking for a story to breakthrough in the market
‘Alex open the damn door before you do something stupid.’ Celine yells at the other side of the door.
A small grimace of a smile forms on his lips, ‘he’s gonna be here any minute now,’
And like a sudden thought I have to ask, ‘why are you doing this?’ my brain companions give me a thumps up for my steady voice.
‘I really hate that question.’
‘That makes two of us.’
His head tilts to one side a little before he leans close to my ear to whisper, ‘you will find out soon.’
Soon—the word echoes in my mind seconds before a loud crashing sound followed by a sickening crack. At the same time Alex comes behind me and wraps his arm around my waist making me face the door. Except there is no door anymore. It has fallen off its hinges and what remains of it is lying on the floor in messy pieces. Beyond all that is a furious Celine, a livid Taylor and Lawyer sending Alex reprimanding looks.
‘oh drop the dark looks,’ Alex’s mouth is so close to my ear that I flinch when he says that out loud, ‘let’s all relax we are here to negotiate and come to terms.’
‘You are insane, unreasonable and insane.’ Celine mutters angrily
‘Get your hands off her.’ Taylor seethes as Lawyer holds his arm when he is about to advance. At least Alex is not holding me in the classical knife on the throat and demand action style.
‘Chill man—no one will get hurt if we talk reasonably about this.’
‘Reasonably? You are holding a knife to my wife’s throat.’
Oh I guess the knife is still there because I feel him retrieving it and he actually raises the hand in the air, ‘I am not going to hurt her.’ He says but his eyes has a look that says—yet--, ‘I am simply trying to bring important issues on the table.’
A tense silence falls and I have a feeling all these people understand this weird topic more than I do. Well what do I know? I am just the little in appropriate wife. Hard feelings aside, I am about to die here I will harbor other things later. I eye the knife in Alex’s hand—well if I live that long.
Alex shoves me forward suddenly and I stagger on till I face plant on Taylor’s chest who immediately holds me straight and start surveying me. I shake my head as my way to tell him that I am not injured anywhere. Except my sanity of course but that can also wait.
‘So are we ready to talk?’ Alex flashes a faux smile.
‘By all means.’ Lawyer replies while Alex and Taylor share death glares. A smirk then forms on Alex’s face and Taylor tenses while Lawyer maintains being the pace maker, ‘why don’t we go to the living room?’
Taylor disconnects his eyes from Alex’s and pulls me closer as we pass the damaged door into the dark hallway.
‘Don’t run from me,’ Taylor whispers to me the same moment I hear Celine growl at Lawyer in words that sound something like
‘You are paying for my door.’
‘Shut up Celine.’ Lawyer tells her.
And so we arrive in the living room which is not in any better shape than the room we just came from. Ignoring my wide eyed shock, Taylor turns and over turned couch before dragging me to sit with him. Lawyer, Alex and Celine do the same and within minutes everyone is seated as if Alex wasn’t a holding a knife to my throat minutes ago.
‘Okay let’s get straight at it—you have something we all want.’ Alex looks pointedly at Taylor, ‘if you have not been so stubborn we wouldn’t have come to this point.’
‘What you just did requires a death sentence.’ Lawyer glares at him, ‘who made you a sacrificial hero?’
Alex laughs, ‘it still doesn’t count—Taylor you have not fully accepted your rights—you can’t flash any of the rules to me—I simply must use something to get you to come to your senses.’
‘I will surely make that part right Alex you won’t be disappointed.’ Taylor hisses
‘Oh we have been waiting a long time.’ Alex says, ‘outcast or not the little—
‘Alex!’ Lawyer casts him a death glare, he actually looks scary.
‘Ah sorry—I mean Heather, as unfitting for our world as she is turns out to be useful after all.’
‘If you touch her again I will kill you I don’t care if you are the great uncle.’ Taylor growls at Alex.
Great uncle, a snort escapes me as three pairs of eyes land on me—I just shrug. Alex wears an amending smile
‘Always reckless aren’t you Taylor Phatshimo?’ he says, ‘I shouldn’t have helped raise you.’
‘Alex are you high or something.’ That comes from Celine, ‘or are you so confident of your position that no one will put a bullet into your head?’
‘We will settle this later Celine.’ Alex says.
‘We will.’ Celine gives him a dark look.
‘Now here is the case.’ Alex sits back on the couch, ‘dare I go over all the terms again- bottom line is you will get the Man-man contract to us. We don’t care how you will do it anymore as long as it is completed by the end of this month.’
‘You are the one to set deadlines now?’ Lawyer mutters
‘It’s on demand and one in a lifetime—we could have done this the easy way but I guess that won’t work as well.’ Alex says his eyes on me.
‘Why don’t you just get it yourself?’ Celine says, ‘I don’t see any rush here unless it has something to do with your need for a balance in the clan—why don’t you come right out and say it?’
‘Every member knows the importance of the clan, I am not the son who is about to throw away everything that the family stands for.’
‘We can’t have this same argument today.’ Taylor says a little too easily for the issue at hand.
‘So tell me something that won’t keep us here for all eternity.’
‘Consider it done,’ Lawyer says and pins Taylor with a don’t-even-say-a-word look, ‘as long as you keep your claws from our own.’
Alex wrecks me with a wicked gaze, ‘a charming temptation—but I will pass.’ He grins.
Taylor starts to stand, I turn to face him and place my hands flat on his chest. I have seen enough violence for today.
‘Ah—as I said before, she is useful after all.’ He chuckles lightly and I hear him walk out the room and out the door.
I can’t believe he is gone just like that when only seconds ago I was sure he would end my life. This is just insane. And why were they afraid to touch even a hair on his head—is it something to do with him being the great uncle?
Taylor raises my face to look up at him his gaze searching.
‘Taylor no need to keep fantasizing killing Alex, she is fine.’ Celine says.
Taylor’s nostrils flare as he turns to look at her, ‘not a word Celine.’
Celine shrugs, ‘she ran to me, you obviously didn’t feel safe to be around anymore.’ She winks at me. What?
‘You let that crack pot Alex into your house.’ Lawyer glares at her.
‘One crackpot works with another.’ Taylor mutters.
Celine plants her hands on her hips, ‘don’t push me Taylor—why don’t you try to explain to Heather the real truth.’
Taylor’s gaze returns to mine. I don’t think I want to hear anymore—as they said crack pot—secrets right now. But I would be happy to know what man-man is I almost died for it for Pete’s sake.
‘Let’s go.’ He says and without looking at either Lawyer or Celine leads me out of the room. I manage to share one last look with Celine—and for a moment I feel like I have seen a side of Celine that no one else ever has. I don’t think I can call her crack woman any longer. Every one of these people have facades. Even Taylor. Maybe even me.