Katja looked away as Smith went into a desperate struggle in his final moments to try to breathe. It was as if he were submerged in water, his motions that of a man attempting to reach oxygen, but while he had all the air in the world available to him, his body was no longer able to make any use of it. His face turned bright red, the coughing intensified as he struggled to raise his body, and then he totally collapsed in exhaustion. His hand reached out to my foot, almost as if to feel the comfort of another human being in his last, dying, moment, but I stepped back. The gurgling slowed in a manner that reminded me of a balloon held underwater – as the air finally exits, a few popping bubbles and then silence. Smith no longer fought – aside from a couple of spasmodic jerks of his torso. A few seconds later he gave up his fight and died.
It felt almost too easy to kill Smith. We pulled his body out of plain sight – hiding it under the ramp and hoping that nobody came by before we had a chance to retrieve it and put it somewhere it could decompose without ever being discovered. Our next objective was Meyers. However, I wanted something special for my last target – he had tried to kill my family and he had killed Katja’s sister. I had been put through degradation…he would not have an end that was as easy as his friend. I wanted him to suffer.
I was proud of Katja in those moments. After hiding the body she looked at me and smiled, “It was freaky when he was dying, but it wasn’t so bad I guess. I never thought I would say such a thing.” She was silent a moment and asked, “Before all of this had you ever taken a life?” I sighed, “There will be time for conversations after we finish this once and for all.” She nodded her head and I hugged her and asked, “You sure you are up for one more? I mean, this could be messy.” She again nodded and said she knew it was necessary. I sighed, “You’d better get dressed then.”
We were fortunate that the house was in such an isolated location. I took note that there was some mud in the road, but no fresh car tracks, and so we probably did not have to rush to kill Meyers as he was alone. After we killed him we would find a way to dispose of both bodies. We took a deep breath together and headed through the forest to find our prey. At that moment I suddenly remembered Nicole’s dream. In a way it seemed to have come true, except it had certain elements mixed up. I was the female hunting a cop, not being hunted by a female cop. However, I wondered if my wife was indeed somewhat psychic.
We soon came to what had to be Meyer’s house. When I noticed a shotgun and police light inside the car parked in the driveway it was confirmed. I was unsure of how I wanted him to die, but as I motioned for Katja to hide in the bushes it hit me.
Thankfully the car windows were rolled down. I snuck up from behind, careful to avoid possibly being seen from the windows of the house. Mimicking some police show on TV, I clutched my gun in my right hand, and aimed it in all directions before leaping up and looking in the car. I did not dare attempt to steal the shotgun as it appeared locked in place, but on the passenger seat was a pair of handcuffs and a key. I was in luck! I grabbed them and quickly crouched back onto the ground.
I waved to Katja and motioned for her to come over to me. I held the gun tight in my right hand and desperately tried to determine where Meyers might be. The feeling of being both the predator and prey was both exhilarating and terrifying. She darted to my side and we remained motionless, listening, scanning our surroundings, and waiting.
Suddenly the house door swing open, and we crouched down further. I quickly turned to Katja whose eyes were wide open and whose hands were clenched so tight that they appeared to be turning purple. My heart was racing as I then looked under the car as a pair of black boots stepped onto the ground and stopped. Then I heard him say to himself, “Damn, he’s still out there fishing?” and then the feet began to move to the right. When they disappeared behind the wheel I had absolutely no choice! I jumped up and screamed, “Freeze!” again as if I was imitating some police drama. Our eyes met – we were in silence. The only thing that caused his attention to shift was when Katja stood up and he took a quick glance at her. He then looked at me smugly and smiled, “Oh give me a fucking break, what the hell are you doing with that?” I did not move and I did not say a word – I just stood and glared at the man who had come so close to killing my family. I did not want to pull the trigger though – not yet, if I could help it.
He slowly raised his hands, just like in a cop movie, and he reacted with an uneasy laugh, “Come on put the gun down. Someone is going to get hurt young lady.” I replied, stuttering a little as I was so hyped on adrenaline, “You come closer and it will be you who will get hurt. I mean it!” He took a deep breath and tried his manipulation of me, “I don’t know why you are here, or why you are mad at me – I have never hurt you. And I know you don’t want to hurt me. Hey, want to see I am really a nice guy? Let me throw you my wallet so you can look at the pictures of my two little boys. One is named Charlie and the other is Peter – Peter just turned four and has blonde hair just like you.”
I continued to stare despite his attempt to pull on my heart-strings. I replied, “Move away from the car, now!” He nodded and replied, “Okay, okay, don’t shoot – I plan on playing ball with Peter this evening, okay?” I repeated, but louder, “Get away from the car!” He replied, slowly stepping away, “Yes, yes, you are in charge. Please take it easy though. Hey, you look like a nice young woman… can we promise that we won’t hurt each other?” I did not flinch. I answered him, “Look, I will feel safer if you put these handcuffs on your right hand and hug the porch post before fastening the left hand. Do it!” As I tossed the cuffs towards him he laughed, “Oh come on, my own handcuffs? They may be tight. You don’t want me to do that, do you? You can trust me – you have the gun after all.”
“Look!” I yelled, “If you know what is good for you you’ll pick those things up and get them in place now or you won’t have a hand to put them around!” He then had the audacity to joke, “That little gun is not powerful enough for that.” I then glared at him, “No, but it will certainly do a job on your manhood if you don’t do as I say right now!” His cool demeanor changed slightly as he walked backwards to the porch. Still, he pointed to the pole in a questioning manner and I pointed the gun and nodded. He pouted and smiled at me as he again asked, “Oh please, do I have to?” I took aim at his groin. He got the message and I heard the cuffs click on his right wrist, and then another click as he was now hugging the pole.
Katja approached me and Meyers looked at her and commented, “What are you doing here?” She remained silent and moved very close to me. I turned to her and asked, “Is he the other one at the pool?” She began to tremble and the evil facial expression she gave Meyers answered my question. He looked bewildered and asked, “Okay, I know the Russian but who are you?” I looked at him and sarcastically asked, “So you remember people you rape? How honorable of you!” His face went blank, but then he smiled and said, “Hey, at least I let her breathe once we were all finished.”
Katja then lost it! She darted over to him and flung her fist into his chin, but before she could do anything else he was able to clench his hands onto her hair and yanked her to the ground like a rag doll. She screamed and he attempted to get her head between his arms and the post. I noticed a large block of wood next to the steps of the porch and quickly grabbed it and hurled it into Meyers’ face. He screamed in pain as it connected to his right eye with a thud; causing him to release Katja, who fell flat onto the ground before crawling away from him as quickly as she could. I was careful to stand away from him and warned Meyers, “Try that one more time and you are dead!”
Katja came back to me and I took her right hand, “Please, don’t do that again. You will have your revenge, just be patient, okay?” She apologized, but again fixated her eyes on him as if she wanted to tear him apart. Meyers attempt to hold his arm over his eye as he growled in pain. He then screamed, “You fucking bitch!” I laughed, “What now, do I go to jail?” He got hold of himself and replied, “No, I was the one w
ho grabbed your friend. I am truly sorry. Can we start over?” I finally had my fill of his manipulative kindness. I folded my arms, gun in hand, and said, “Look, I have studied psychology and I have even lectured cops, so knock it off with the head games.”
He looked at me like I was crazy and replied, “If you say so!” I then motioned Katja to follow me into the house to make sure we were alone. While just inside the door he yelled in, “I have a friend who will be here soon. You might want to get out of here while you still can!” I replied, in an arrogant tone, “Don’t worry about your friend, he passed away about an hour ago.” Meyers, twisting around to look at us as we exited the house was silent. For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes – at least the one that was not swelling shut.
We went back into the house. There was nothing remarkable, just a regular little cottage. It appeared he had just finished making some breakfast, and that there were still sausages in the frying pan, and fresh rolls on the table. I for one was starving, so we checked every room before returning to the kitchen to eat – after all, Meyers was going nowhere.
While we sat there enjoying our meal I looked at Katja and wondered what she was thinking. She had been through the horrors of being Adlan’s slave, and had in less than a day helped kill four men. Yet I figured I had plenty of time to psychoanalyze her – we still had one more excuse for a human being to deal with. Yet even when Meyers began to yell into the house again, wondering what was going on, I asked Katja, “This is a cute little house, you sure you wouldn’t want to look for a place like this and make me breakfast every day?” She actually smiled and said, “If this is a formal marriage proposal then I expect a big diamond ring and a fancy wedding you know!” I laughed and said, “That could be arranged.” as I reached out to hold her hand. She pulled my hand up to her cheek and looked at me with her big green eyes and smiled, “Stop teasing me. I will never let you leave your family – but I could go for the diamond ring and a little house across the street from you perhaps? We had a tsarina who bought homes for all her lovers.”
Meyers continued to protest. I did not care about him but then Katja asked, “What shall we do with him?” She obviously knew that he had to die, but was what I had in mind going too far for her? I asked her to wait a minute, but then Meyers yelled in the door, “Hey, let’s make a deal – you can leave here with a lot of money and I will never turn you in!” I suddenly had a flashback to the scene in the hospital when I visited Matt. I became so angry my sinuses became congested and my muscles tightened. Then I remembered what I had to endure from Nazir almost every day and then…I was sure my revenge would be both symbolic and well deserved.
I turned to Katja and instructed her, “Hey, do me a favor and look all over this house for any hard liquor. I am going out back to check for gardening tools. Katja drank her milk and began her search right away while I went out the back door. I noticed a large grape arbor in the back yard. The old vines had been pruned and were in a neat pile at one end, and there was a rake lying next to the debris. I picked it up. Smiled as I ran my plan through my head, and then, with all my strength slammed it against a stump, once, twice and then, upon the third attempt I snapped off the end, leaving a sharp spike above where the metal portion had been attached. I examined what was now a spear, measuring about four feet long. It was perfect!
I hurried back to the house and Katja met me at the door with the bottle of whiskey I had retried at the club. Hardly any had been used either. I opened it and Katja reached out, “Can I have a little?” I handed it to her and she started gulping it down. I reached out and grabbed her arm, “That’s enough Katja.” She stopped drinking, handed me the bottle and wiped her mouth, “When this is over I am going to get so drunk. Will you join me?” I sighed, “Sure, but I’ll let you do the drinking.” She laughed, “Okay.” I retrieved my purse and put a few drops of the tranquilizer into the bottle. Meyers continued to call to us asking to make a deal. I looked at Katja and said, “What I am about to do to him will be more horrific than what you did to Aslan. Follow me and I will explain.” She asked, “Were you in the military?” I sighed, “I said I might tell you later, okay?” She replied, “Okay, it just seems like you are used to killing, that’s all.” My heart jumped but she continued, “I don’t care though…and you never have to explain if you choose not to. I will obey anything you ask of me.” When I looked in Meyer’s direction she took my free hand and said, “You are going to spear him, aren’t you? If so I understand the symbolism. I personally would like to drown him, but this will be even better I guess.” We began to walk through the house to get to Meyers but Katja stopped and in a very gentle, loving voice asked, “Melanie, I will never let you abandon your family for me, but could we maybe take off to the mountains for a few days after we are through here?” I nodded and said it was a great idea – not taking account of the promise I had made to Tiffanie though.
We stepped onto the porch and I put the pole down. I took the whiskey from Katja and asked Meyers, “What kind of deal are you offering?” He seemed relieved and eagerly said, “Now you girls are making the right choice. Let me out of these and we can work out a business arrangement suitable for both of us.” I laughed and said, “No, you are a cop…a little on the fat side, but still, you are too dangerous for me to approach and unlock those things.” He said he understood, but that I had nothing to worry about if Katja would do the honors while I held the gun. I shook my head, “No…oh wait, I have an idea! You drink this until I am satisfied you are drunk and then I let you go. When you sober up we can talk. He then asked, “Hey, just curious, what time is it?” I said it was almost 11am and he replied, “Oh hell sure, why not?” I handed Katja the bottle and warned Meyers that I would shoot off his testicles if he did anything stupid. He assured us that he would totally cooperate.
For the next few minutes Katja held the bottle to his lips and he took in the contents a little at a time. When he was starting to show intoxication I asked, “Hey, Craig, I demand honesty, okay? What did you do with the Ivanova girl?” he began to laugh and then said, “Oh, that little Russian gal! I told her to stiffen her neck, but she didn’t listen.” He paused a moment and continued, “Hey, where is Adlan? We have a meeting!” I asked, “For what to kill the girl’s sister?” He laughed, “Yeah, gonna string her up like her sister.” I would have expected Katja to go into a fit of rage, but she maintained her calm, quiet stance and continued to force him to drink. Despite his protest he took a couple more gulps and then spit out a mouthful, rolled his eyes and went limp as he passed out.
I asked Katja, “You trust he is really out cold?” She replied, “Not even a Russian man could drink that much and stay conscious.” I then asked her to unlock the handcuffs, and when she did his body plummeted down to the ground with a loud thud. I surprised her by demanding she remove her dress again, as well as undress him – I warned her that it might be messy as I put the gun down on the hood of his car and began to disrobe as well.
Once out of my clothes I picked up the gun and instructed her to snap the handcuffs back on him, and then we grabbed him by the feet and pulled him to the back yard. It was not that hard actually – but again, the adrenaline must have helped. When we flung his body down I ran back to the porch and retrieved the pole, as well as our clothing. I also went back into the house and found a small, sharp knife. Upon my return she asked, “You going to castrate him too?” I laughed, “Yes, and much worse. Have you ever heard of Vlad the Impaler?” Katja stood up straight and said, “Sure, from history class. He was a patriot who defended his homeland from the Turks.” I replied, “Correct, and what is famous for?” She laughed, “He ran stakes through his enemies?” Suddenly her eyes flew open and she asked, “So I was right? You are going to ram that pole through him?” I nodded and said, “Like I said, and much worse.”
I explained that I had watched a documentary on Vlad and that he had been raped by some sultan while he was studying in Istanbul. So his practice of impaling was revenge for his b
eing violated; which I could relate to. I said the documentary had demonstrated how he impaled people alive and that they would take days to die. I then explained what we were going to do to Meyers.
She seemed a little shaken but expressed support none-the-less. I stooped over his limp body and checked for a pulse – sure enough he was still alive. I then instructed Katja to turn him onto his back and sit on him to hold him down if he awoke. While Katja’s back was to me I said, “Now you son of a bitch it’s my turn for revenge!” and quickly rendered him a eunuch! I threw the results into some bushes and grabbed the pole. I was surprised at the lack of reaction from his body other than his legs contracting; and a few moaning sounds. I attempted to penetrate his pelvis through the wound but with no success. I grabbed the knife performed some amateur surgery, cutting through protective fat and some muscle tissue, but making sure not to cut too deep. Of course this caused his body to react violently! While he remained unconscious he let out a shriek and tried to buck Katja off his torso. Katja managed to stay on top of him however, and at the moment his thrusts subsided I grabbed the pole and used the smooth end to do the ultimate probe…making sure to maneuver around any vital organs as the documentary had indicated it had been done in Vlad’s day.
Descent Into Darkness Page 31