by Robert Olsen
Aggggh, Donald screamed, reaching out and fortunately grabbing hold of the banister preventing a fall. Before he knew it, she bolted back into the long east hallway. Hauling himself to his feet, he turned and fired the gun down the hallway, but the figure disappeared possibly heading for the home’s formal front staircase. Donald took off after her.
In the basement, Kathryn was fighting with the ropes, trying to free herself when she and her mother heard the gunshot.
“Oh my God, mom, Richard’s here, I just know it,” she cried out. Realizing she may have little time, she frantically pulled herself up with her left arm using every ounce of strength, and while holding on to the beam, freed her right arm unlatching the wrist cuff. She fell to the dirt ground, free at last.
Scrambling to her feet, she ran to mom and untied her.
“Stay here. I’m going upstairs. I don’t want you near that madman with a gun.”
Donald had checked the back bedrooms, opening the east door to the master bedroom. Nothing. He assumed the intruder, went back downstairs. He returned to the front staircase and looked down the stairwell.
“Good. Coast is clear.”
Standing at the top landing, his foot on the first tread and the gun in hand, someone gently tapped him on the shoulder. He quickly turned around looking Dr. Richard Marks in the eye.
“Richard, you son of a bitch,” he screamed as Richard punched him between the eyes knocking him completely off his feet and down the full flight of stairs. Instantly, he fired two shots, one of which hit Richard.
Donald saw Richard go down, knowing at least one of the bullets got him. Amazingly, Donald survived the fall, although the pain in his body was excruciating. He could barely get up, hobbling into the Parlor, stopping to catch his breath.
Completely at the other end of the house, Suki, found the back stairway just as Kathryn had managed to leave the kitchen. They missed each other by less than a minute.
“Mrs. Becker,” Suki cried out reaching the cellar.
“Suki! Oh Suki. Did you find Kathryn? She went upstairs.”
“No. But I need to go after her. Donald is dangerous and has a gun. Please, stay here. We’ll come get you, I promise. I need to find Kathryn and Richard.”
Meanwhile, Kathryn made it to the kitchen and passed thru into the dining room.
At the top of the stairs, Suki, paused to listen. She heard faint noise coming from the dining room which distracted her for just a second. Suddenly, something else caught her attention. It was a shadow that moved in the living room. Getting ready to attack, she remained poised in her battle stance as Donald emerged. Suki charged, but this time he was prepared. She leaped, missing her target, but fortunately hit his hand, knocking the gun to the floor.
Suki tried to overpower him with a punch but Donald was too big, and too strong. He grabbed her arm pulling her toward him. They wrestled, Donald’s weight and size a distinct advantage against her tiny 125 pound body. Beautiful little Suki was raised up, off the floor by this madman and flung against the sink. The pain was unbearably as she hit the cabinets. Donald charged forward, forcing her backwards, pinning her to the sink. She pounding him wildly with her fists but the punches had little effect. Donald reached up and flicked a switch turning on the garbage disposal. As her hands were thrashing every which way trying to find something to grab, she spotted a small paring knife, clutched it and started stabbing Donald multiple times. He cried out at the top of his lungs calling her every name in the book, while trying to curtail her thrashings. Blood spurted everywhere as a result of badly wounding him. He pressed his weight against her body back and forth trying to slam her again and again against the rim if the porcelain sink as he struggled to get the knife.
Finally, his one hand found the hand that was holding the knife. He arduously pulled her hand lower and lower into the sink painstakingly attempting to shove it into the garbage disposal. He managed to place the knife and her hand into the drain hole. The noise of the knife blade making contact with the disposal sent chilling images to her brain. She let go of the blade clenching her fist just as Kathryn came running, leaping onto Donald as if she was riding a horse.
All at once, Kathryn, tried wrapping her hands around his head, scratching and clawing at his face with her fingernails, as Donald screamed, swinging his right arm at her attempting to knock her off. He let go of Suki for just a second as he grabbed Kathryn hurling her in the air like some toy. She crashed into a cabinet with plate glass doors, dishes, and other glass objects. The shattering glass made a horrific noise as well as penetrating Kathryn’s half naked body slicing and cutting her to threads, blood appearing everywhere as she fell to the floor.
Suki freed again, managed to get off one good kick knocking Donald back into the corner. But when she tried the second time, Donald reached for her leg twisting it and slamming it down over his knee, in such a way everyone could hear the leg bone crack. Suki screamed in pain and fell to the floor.
Donald climbing over Suki’s slumped body, reached up pulling a huge carving knife from its place. Kathryn, still lying on the floor covered in blood, could not summon enough strength to get up and run. Donald screaming as loud as he could, ran toward Kathryn diving toward her broken body lying on the floor, with the huge knife in his hands, just as Richard picked up the gun firing again and again and again at Donald until the only remaining sound in the room was the click, click, click of an empty chamber.
Richard looked in horror, as Donald, and a huge pool of blood spilling onto the floor, completely covered Kathryn’s motionless body.
Suki gasped at the horrific site, Richard eyes filled, and Kathryn’s mother, who appeared at the landing, cried out in agony over the gruesome site.
Suddenly, they all heard the cough. Faint at first, but then louder. Donald’s body slowly started moving as Kathryn’s hands struggled to lift his dead weight off of her. Richard, also bleeding profusely from where the bullet penetrated his shoulder, crawled over dragging Donald’s dead body off of Kathryn and reaching out amorously to hold the woman of his dreams.
“Oh thank God you’re alive. Kathryn, Kathryn, my precious Kathryn, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Thank you dear Lord,” Richard said as he gently lifted her into his arms. Kathryn was violently sobbing as she tried to summon the strength to hold the man she was so madly in love with.
Hysterical, with tears flooding her face, she kept saying over and over, “you came for me, you came for me. I knew you would. I love you so very much, Richard.”
Sirens rang out as the police cars besieged the residence at Beach Street. Kathryn’s mother was kneeling on the floor caring for Suki when they walked in. Suki was not in too much pain. Although, her leg was broken, the break was not too bad. A cast, and plenty of time off, she’ll be good as new!
Richard’s arm would be in a sling. Of course, doctors make the worse patients and Nurse Kathryn will probably be on duty 24 hours a day, but they’ll survive.
Kathryn, was extremely fortunate. Several cuts were quite deep and one came extremely close to severing an artery, but she too will recover just fine.
When Detective Peters and Detective O’Donnell arrived on the scene, they walked into the house, and immediately walked over to Kathryn and Richard.
“May we ask what the hell happened here?” O’Donnell said.
Kathryn looked at him, “I have no idea what you’re talking about detective,”
Turning again, to Richard she said, “this has been one hell of a year.”
“Yeah, but at least tomorrow will be the best day ever!” Richard replied.
“How can you be so sure?” She asked him.
“Because tomorrow, I am writing a Dear John letter to your landlord. You’re moving in with me forever kid-o, so I can keep an eye on you. And we’re not giving into the rush ever again. You know, I just might conjure up some evil intent myself, like c
haining you to the bedposts and making love to you for the next hundred and fifty years.”
“Sounds like a wonderful plan, honey!” I knew there was a reason I love you so much!
The End