Chapter 16

I woke up on Sunday in an empty bed. Erika's bedroom glowed with sunlight. When I walked out to the corridor, I heard Wayne's deep voice downstairs in the living room. When I looked into the living room, I saw Erika, who was still in her pink pyjamas. She was trapped in a tiger's cage. She held the metals bars with her small hands and tried to break them. Her efforts were futile. A giant crate sat about ten metres away from the cage. This giant crate, I knew, contained the big hairy spiders. Wayne stood near his daughter. Near his feet was white nylon rope.

"I'm going to lock this cage now," he said. "Before we proceed with your punishment and release the spiders, do you have anything you want to tell to me?"

"I'm thirsty," said Erika. "Can I have a glass of red cordial?"

Wayne paused for a moment. "Okay, whatever you want." He disappeared into the kitchen.

I had two options. I could stay at the top and watch Erika be tortured or I could try save her.

I ran back to Erika's bedroom to fetch my father's handgun. The gun had no bullets, but Wayne didn't know that. Perhaps I could scare Wayne by pointing the gun at him.

I sat at the top of the stairs. Wayne came back. Erika received her glass of red cordial. She took a sip and like a spoilt brat complained that it was too warm.

"I can't drink warm cordial," she said, handing the glass back to her father. "Put some ice cubes in it."

Wayne didn't seem too happy but remained silent. He took a deep breath and walked back to the kitchen.

Women on TV are always going on about how they preferred "brave" men. Assuming that Erika's tastes in males was similar to those of women on television, I needed to starting acting brave now if I wanted to win her approval.

Holding the gun tightly in my hands, I walked downstairs. Halfway down, Erika saw me and tried to shoo me away.

"Go back upstairs!" she said. "If Wayne catches you..."

"I have a gun." I held up the revolver. "I can scare him away. You can come with me to the police. They'll protect us."

When I heard Wayne just about to come out of the kitchen, I bolted behind the pot plant at the corner of the room.

Wayne came back with the red cordial. "Were you talking to someone, Erika? I heard noises."

She took the glass from her father. "I was just talking to myself."

"You shouldn't do that. When you grow up, people might think you're crazy."

"I talk to myself when I want to clarify my thoughts."

Wayne didn't care about his daughter's ideas. He grabbed a crowbar and prepared to open the box of spiders. Just before he smashed the crate, I came out from the pot plant, pointed my gun at him, and screamed loudly.

"Drop the crowbar!"

Wayne turned around and, seeing the gun pointed in his direction, did exactly what I said. After it fell, the crowbar chipped a bit of wood from the floor.

Wayne stared at me. "Didn't I tell you never to invade my personal property?"

"Unlock the cage now!"

He pointed to the crate. "The spiders aren't poisonous. She'll be in pain, but she won't die. I need to punish her."

I walked closer to Wayne. Every step I took made him more nervous. "What about the bomb? The fertilizer bomb."

Erika looked at her father. "What fertilizer bomb, Dad?"

Wayne looked back at his daughter. "The boy's crazy! He's making things up!"

I couldn't stand anymore of Wayne's talking. "Unlock the cage! And put your hands up against the wall!"

Wayne unlocked the cage, turned around slowly, walked towards the wall, leaned forward, placed both hand on the wall, and spread his legs. Before opening Erika's cage, I knelt down to pick up the white nylon rope on the floor.

The moment I reached for the rope, Wayne thought he had an opportunity to do something. He kneeled down further and picked something up from the floor. Since Wayne was a heavy man, I saw him do this and screamed out, telling him to stop or I'd shoot him. If I had bullets Wayne would be dead by now. Since I didn't have any bullets, Wayne came back up with a six-inch butcher's knife in his hands. He threw the knife at me. The lethal dagger flew at me as quickly as a lightning bolt. I barely had time to move. All I saw was a silver flash flying in my direction.

When the knife entered my chest, I felt a force push me back, like the hands of a bully. The gun flew from my hands. My back slammed against the wall. Erika didn't cry or scream. She looked at me with silent shock. I looked down and saw the knife handle sticking out of my chest, as if I had a third arm. I couldn't breathe properly. The knife must have punctured and ruptured one of my lungs. It hit me on my right chest. My heart was still beating.