by Willow Rose
"Of course I do. And I really hate to have to kill you, since you actually saved my life. You're the reason I am alive."
"What were you even doing in that bunker? Why were you locked up down there?"
Victor was clenching my hand hard now. Officer Dan stopped. Then he walked sideways to the fireplace and grabbed a fire poker. I gasped when he raised it in the air. I gulped when all of a sudden the last pieces fell into place.
"You were born down there, weren't you? Your mom is Irene Justesen's daughter who disappeared when she was sixteen. She was pregnant. Someone locked her in that bunker where she gave birth to her baby, didn't they?" I gasped and held a hand to my mouth. "My grandmother? My grandmother did that to her?"
Officer Dan nodded.
"But why? Why would she do that to you and your mother? I don't understand." Thoughts were rolling in through my head now and I had a hard time keeping them in control. "You were really born in that shelter?"
"Born and spent the first seven years of my life down there. Until you came along and let me out."
I almost fell backwards thinking about the cruelty of this truth. The gruesomeness displayed by my own grandmother. Officer Dan came closer and now he swung the fire poker against me. I screamed and ducked while pushing Victor to the ground so he wouldn't be hit. Officer Dan grunted then lifted the poker again. I was afraid now, my heart pounding rapidly. I needed to keep talking to try and extend my time, time to figure out what to do. I needed to keep talking.
"So tell me, what did you do with the organs you cut out of your victims?" I asked slightly afraid of the answer. I had an idea what he might have been doing with them, but I really didn't like to think of it.
"The same thing I'm gonna do with yours when I'm done with you." Officer Dan smiled widely, then swung the fire poker once again at me. I ducked once again, but he managed to hit me on my shoulder. I hurt like crazy. I screamed. The poker continued its way through the air after hitting me and ended up poking a hole in the wall.
"Mommy? Are you okay?" Victor said when he saw me throw myself to the ground, screaming and holding a hand to my bleeding shoulder.
"I'm okay, Victor. It just hurts like hell." I looked up and saw Officer Dan standing bent over me with the fire poker lifted in the air. Victor shrieked.
"You ate them you filthy pig. Didn't you? You ate them."
Officer Dan laughed. "You could say I've developed a taste for human flesh while I was in the shelter."
I stared at him while trying to get up. Officer Dan planted his big boot on my stomach and pressed me down.
"Your mother," I moaned. "She wasn't there when I opened the door. You ate her too, didn't you?"
Officer Dan laughed again then swung the fire poker towards my head. I screamed as I watched the poker come closer, when suddenly I watched Victor out of the corner of my eye, pick up a golden Buddha statue and throw it at Officer Dan's head. I closed my eyes hoping the Buddha would be faster than the poker, and as I heard a thud and opened my eyes again, I watched the poker come down from the air and Officer Dan knocking his head against the tiles.
I jumped up and grabbed Victor by the hand. He was staring at Officer Dan on the floor with blood running into his forehead with open mouth. I think he was in some state of shock. Quickly I pulled him away, but as I did I sensed resistance. I turned and saw that Officer Dan had grabbed Victor's leg and was also pulling him. Victor looked at me for help.
"Mommy?"
"Let go of him you bastard!" I cried.
But Officer Dan was quickly back up and now he managed to grab Victor and lift him up and out of my hands.
"Put him down. He has done nothing to you. He has nothing to do with all this."
Officer Dan grinned while Victor tried to kick and hit him to get loose, but Officer Dan was too strong. I stormed against him and managed to push him backwards into the couch where he hurt his back. Victor fell to the ground, but Officer Dan moved quickly. He leaned forward and grabbed him, then he lifted his leg and kicked me in my stomach so I flew backwards into the wall where I hurt my head and neck badly. I slid to the ground while in the distance could hear Victor yell for me.
"Mommy!!" Mommy!!!"
"Mommy's coming," I mumbled but somehow I couldn't get my eyes to open. They felt so heavy and everything inside of my head was spinning so fast. I realized I was losing grip on what was real and what was a dream as I dozed off and suddenly found myself floating in a sea of nothing but darkness and stars.
"Mommy's coming now."
But I didn't. I couldn't.
53
2012
My head hurt insanely when I woke up. I tried to move, but couldn't. I looked around me and realized I was tied up to a radiator with a pair of police handcuffs.
"What a cliché," I said and tried to move my hands but in vain. I scanned the room I was in. It seemed to be his bedroom. I realized there was someone on the bed. I saw a pair of sneakers and jeans and realized it was Victor's.
"Victor?"
"Mom?" he said and lifted his head. His hands were tried to the end of the bed.
"Are you alright, Victor? Has he hurt you?"
Victor shook his head fast. "No. No he hasn't but I'm scared Mommy. I'm so scared."
"I understand buddy. But we need to stay calm now, okay? It's important not to panic. We need to be able to think clearly. Can you help me do that?"
I could tell he was breathing heavily. I tried to smile to calm him down. I didn't know if he could see it. Outside the window it was still snowing heavily and I could hear the strong winds squeak.
The door opened and Officer Dan entered. He was smiling widely. "Oh you're awake. Good. Just in time."
"Just let us go now Dan. I understand why you're mad at all these people who hurt you and your mother, I really do, but please just let me and my son go. There is no need for all this."
"Well why would I do that now? And ruin all the fun?" Dan said and closed the door behind him. "I have so much prepared for us."
"At some point they will start looking for me."
"Oh I didn't tell you? I used your phone and called your dad. Told him it was snowing too badly for you to drive home now and that you and little Victor here would spend the night. I'd sleep on the couch naturally once I got back from my nightshift."
"How noble."
"Well I am after all a gentleman."
Officer Dan walked towards Victor and sat on the edge of the bed. He stroked his hair a few times and touched his cheek gently. Victor's body froze completely.
"He doesn't liked to be touched," I said. "Please get away from him. He doesn't like it when you're this close to him."
But Officer Dan didn't move, he kept looking at my son and touching his face. "Oh but no one likes it at first, do they Victor? I didn't either when they came to me at night in the orphanage. But you get used to it eventually. See it makes you popular among the right people so when you need something, cigarettes, a pocket knife, they will be able to provide it for you. It's all about using what you've got, what this world offers you. If you get lemons ... well you know. I was forced to eat my dead mother but it was the only way I could have survived. I was forced to be with these old men night after night at the orphanage but in the end it was the best for me, since they ended up protecting me, when I killed one of the older boys who was harassing me. They stood up for me, they told the police they hadn't seen anything, when in reality they had. It is all about having the right friends in the right places. And you'll enjoy this too, Victor. I know you will. Because you know it is going to be the last thing you'll ever get to do."
"You leave him alone you sick sick bastard!" I pulled and pulled my hands trying hard to get free. It cut the skin off several places, but I didn't care. "Touch him and I'll make sure to kill you."
Officer Dan kept looking at Victor. Victor wasn't moving. He was whimpering, his body shaking heavily. "Don't you listen to her, Victor. It's all about you and me now. I'll make your deat
h as pleasurable as humanly possible."
Then Officer Dan opened Victor's belt and started pulling his pants down. I was screaming in anger by now, yelling, spitting, but he paid no attention to me. It was as if the angrier I was the more he enjoyed it.
I watched him pull down Victor's underwear and then I started crying. "Please, please! Take me instead. I'll do anything! ANYTHING! Just not that. Just don't touch my son!"
Officer Dan glanced at me. At the bedside table next to Victor he had placed two knives. One of them was a scalpel. I had a vague idea what his plan was with my son and it made me feel sick.
"Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him!"
Officer Dan moved towards Victor's crotch while glaring at me like my anger and desperation was feeding him, nourishing his cruelty.
"Now just close your eyes and enjoy this," Officer Dan said to Victor as he opened his mouth and leaned in over his crotch.
54
2012
"NO!!!" I was screaming from the fullness of my lungs. I whimpered and sobbed hysterical feeling hopeless, helpless and abandoned.
Officer Dan suddenly stopped. His body froze and he lifted his head and stared at Victor. It took me a few seconds to realize what was wrong. Victor's body was shaking heavily and now he started screaming. A high pitched bone piercing scream, that I knew all too well.
Victor was having one of his seizures!
"What the hell?" Officer Dan said and moved away. Victor's body was moving in spasms, his upper body looking like a bow above the bed. Officer Dan turned to look at me. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's having a seizure. I told you he doesn't like to be touched. Let me free and I'll help him."
Officer Dan looked at Victor then back at me.
"Please let me help him. He might swallow his tongue. At least turn him so he is no longer on his back. Please?"
"No. No. I can't." I could tell Officer Dan was freaking out now. Then he looked at me with a grin. "Well I guess I'll just leave him like this. You can watch him die then. It's not quite what I planned but it might turn out to be even better."
"No. You have to help him. You can't do this! Why are you so cruel towards me and my son? What have we ever done to you?"
Officer Dan walked closer to me, then bend down towards me. I groaned and tried to kick him, but had no luck.
"You stole my childhood. You had the life I should have had," he said. "Now you have to excuse me I have somewhere to be. Hope you'll enjoy the show while I'm gone. I can't wait to hear the details on how your son died when I come back. My favorite moment watching someone die is when they take that last breath, do they scream, or do they pass on quietly. It's never quite the same. Each person has his or hers own way to go. It's quite fascinating."
"You're sick."
Officer Dan walked towards the door and opened it. He looked at me one last time before he left. "You kids be good," he said and waved moving all of his fingers.
Then he was gone.
"Victor?" I said. "Victor are you alright?"
The entire bed was still shaking heavily, while Victor's body was moving in spasms. I was crying in desperation, not knowing what to do. I pulled and pulled on the handcuffs, but it was no use. Victor was making choking noises now.
"Victor. Sweet poor Victor. I'll help you right away. I just need to figure out how to ... how to get out of these handcuffs. For crying out loud!! There has to be a way."
I was yelling the last words when suddenly I realized Victor had become quiet on the bed. The silence was unbearable and suddenly I wished for any kind of sound coming from up there, even if it was of him choking.
"Victor?" I cried. "Victor?"
No answer.
"VICTOOOR!"
But still nothing. He was lying lifeless on the bed.
Oh no. Not that. Not that dear God. Please, please help him, please help me, please don't take him away from me!
I was crying hard now, screaming from the top of my lungs, when suddenly I was interrupted by the sound of glass breaking. Right in front of me on the wooden floors landed a concrete birdbath with a loud crash. Glass shattered all over the floor and I turned away from it to not get hit in the face.
I heard a thud behind me and turned to see someone jump into the room through the broken window.
"My God! What is going on here!"
I felt a pinch of hope. It was Jack. He turned to look at me.
"Victor," I said my voice shaking in despair. "Take care of Victor. He is not breathing."
Jack jumped towards the bed and I saw him feel for the pulse on Victor's throat. He looked at me and shook his head.
"NO!" I yelled.
Jack pulled Victor's head backwards and started giving him mouth to mouth while pressing on his heart. I was screaming and sulking while pulling my bloody hands against the handcuffs. Suddenly I realized the water pipe I was tied to was moving and was about to get loose from the wall. While Jack worked on my lifeless son, I pulled and pulled and suddenly it came loose from the wall. Hot water spurted out into the room, but I was free to move and ran towards Victor. As I hit the bed and started shaking him, screaming his name, he suddenly coughed. Jack turned him to the side and soon after he was breathing again.
"Victor? Victor, my dear boy," I yelled and tried to hug him with my handcuffed hands around his neck.
"Mommy," he said and looked at me with a wonderful smile. "I think I'd like to go home now."
55
2012
"When you didn't come to see my painting as planned I was worried," Jack said as we jumped into the car. He held the door for me, since I was carrying Victor in my arms and the boy refused to let go of me again. I had finally gotten rid of the handcuffs since Jack had found the key on the kitchen table in Officer Dan's house and opened them for me.
I decided to sit with Victor in the backseat, we were breaking the law if I let him sit on my lap all the way, but at that moment, I didn't care. Something urgent had entered my mind. It was something Officer Dan had said before he left me.
You stole my childhood. You had the life I was supposed to have had.
At first I had thought it was nothing, but the more I thought about it, it made sense.
"So when I went to your house your dad told me you were staying at Officer Dan's house, because there was too much snow on the roads for you to be able to get back tonight. As I walked back to my own house I realized the snowplows had been working all afternoon and that most of the roads had been cleared by now. Especially downtown. So I thought something had to be wrong, but went home anyway, feeling very uneasy. I can't explain it, it was like something inside of me told me you weren't alright. I kept thinking about Victor actually. There was this spider sitting on my sister's arm when I fed her her dinner. It reminded me of him, so I thought it wouldn't harm anyone if I went down there to check if everything was alright. As soon as I came close to the house, I heard you scream from the back. I noticed Officer Dan's car was gone, so I went around the back and saw you two through the window. The rest you know."
"What can I say? We owe you everything!" I said with tears in my eyes while kissing my son for the fifteenth time since we entered the car. I didn't care if he didn't like it. Jack was driving slowly through the blizzards that seemed to have gotten worse. "If you haven't ... well I don't really like to think about it."
Jack looked at me in the rearview mirror. "Me either."
I looked back at him and shaped a 'thank you' with my lips. I had noticed he hadn't stuttered all the way in the car even if he was the one who had talked the most.
I was the first one who saw it. I noticed it as the first thing when we drove into the street. The island's police car was parked in front of my grandmother's old house. I leaned forward and put my hand on Jack's shoulder. "He's here," I said. My heart was beating rapidly now. Officer Dan was on duty and now he was inside of my house? I felt Victor's body start shaking in my hands.
"Let's go to your place first," I said to Jac
k.
We turned off the headlights of the car and parked in front of Jack's house. I carried Victor inside and put him on the couch with a blanket over his little body. I kissed his forehead. "What's that man doing in our house?" he asked.
"Don't you worry about him," I said. "Try and get some sleep. You need it. Jack here will keep an eye on you while I go over there."
Victor grabbed my shirt and pulled me closer. "Don't go Mommy. Don't go over there." There was panic in his voice.
"I have to buddy. Grandpa is over there, so is Maya and all the kids. I need to make sure they're all right."
Victor seemed pensive for a few seconds. Then he looked into my eyes. "Look for the spider," he whispered. "When the spider bites you make your move."
I looked at him thinking he was hallucinating. I touched his forehead making sure he wasn't running a fever. He wasn't.
"Get some sleep," I said and tucked him in. "It's been an eventful day."
"I have some soup if you're hungry," Jack said.
Victor smiled.
"I think he'd like that, thank you very much," I said and walked towards the door. As I grabbed the handle I turned to look one last time at my son, whom I almost lost earlier that same day.
I didn't like to do it, but I couldn't help but wonder, was I ever going to see him again?
"Here bring this. It's the closest I come to a weapon," Jack said and handed me an old dagger. "It used to be my dad's."
56
2012
I felt strange walking across the street with a dagger in my hand. I ran through the snow feeling anxious that I might come too late. I wasn't surprised to find Officer Dan here. I had somewhere along the way figured out that my dad was supposed to be his last victim. It hurt me so badly to admit it to myself, but it was all very clear right now.
My dad was the father. My dad was Officer Dan's father. My dad was the one who had gotten Irene Justesen's daughter pregnant at only sixteen. Then the church people with my grandmother, Mrs. Heinrichsen and the pastor in front had decided it was too great a scandal, which had to be somehow covered up. Apparently my dad hadn't wanted to be the father of this child, and so my grandmother had paid Irene Justesen to let them take her daughter away, maybe they didn't even tell her where to. But they had locked her in that bunker where she gave birth to her baby. Seven years they lived down there before my grandmother went to the hospital with a broken hip and didn't return until it was too late and the mother had died from hunger. The boy was forced to eat her remains to stay alive had then been released from the bunker when I found the key and opened the door. That was the story and now Officer Dan was revenging himself and his mother. The only person left was the one meant to be number one.