Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 53
53
At a run, it was only a few seconds to the kitchen, one more to pull open the top drawer and grab the big knife, a few seconds more to run back, but those few seconds away from his sister felt to Luke like grains of sand falling through an hourglass, counting down to some unthinkable outcome.
He knew something like this would happen. He tried to warn them. But nobody listened.
If only he had been brave enough to kill that monster when he had the chance...
"Here!" He handed his father the knife, handle first. It was just a regular old kitchen knife, used for chopping vegetables or cutting through the occasional piece of venison, but it was long and sharp.
Dad took it without taking his eyes off the poker at Valery's throat. "Take your brother and go back upstairs."
"But what are you gonna do? Dad, if he -"
"Please, Luke! Just take your brother and go! Lock the door, and no matter what happens, no matter what you might hear, don't open it until I come get you! That's an order!"
Luke flinched, his father's slap still fresh on his cheek, but he couldn't move. He couldn't just abandon his sister! Dad was the biggest Fox he knew. Sure, there were Foxes larger than him, but Dad was still the biggest. But even he looked tiny compared to Banno, standing so tall his head almost brushed the ceiling. What kind of a son would he be if he turned tail and ran? What kind of a brother would he be?
"Luke, for gods' sakes, just take your brother and go!"
Banno started to chuckle. It was a low sound, full of wicked mirth. "I'm disappointed, James. Where is your confidence? Sending them away says more than you think. It says you don't want them to watch me tear you apart. Isn't that right?"
"Maybe I don't want them to watch me tear you apart, did you ever think of that?" Dad adjusted his grip on the knife, getting his fingers in just the right spot. Banno didn't seem troubled, though. In fact, he just threw his head back and laughed at the ceiling.
"Oh, James... You really don't understand anything, do you? I can't die. This entire world only exists because I do. If it weren't for me, none of you would even be here."
"You're mad!"
"Ohhhh..." Banno moaned, a pained expression on his face. "Your words, James, they cut me deeply."
"This knife will cut even deeper if you don't let Valery go. I'm serious, Banno. You're leaving me with no other options here. Just let her go!"
"Daddy!" Valery screamed, wriggling in Banno's grasp. "A knife won't work! He can't feel pain!"
What?
A string of memories flashed through Luke's mind in an instant. The day they found him by the river, the way Tim had poked a stick in his eye socket, the way he had stood on his bloody stump as if it was nothing. The way he never complained when Dad changed his bandages, or even winced. The way he was able to walk immediately on his brand new prosthetic foot the very same day Dad finished it.
He can't feel pain.
Banno slowly shook his head. "That's not true, girl." He removed the poker from Valery's throat and Dad tensed up immediately, but none of them could take action, or even move, when they realized what Banno was about to do.
They could only stare in frozen, uncomprehending horror.
Banno took the poker and placed the hook against the upper left portion of his chest, right beneath his collarbone. Then, in one hard jerk, he raked it across his chest, ripping open a long, red trench in his flesh. A flap of loose skin and fur dangled from his wound like a hellish tongue, dripping blood onto Valery's hair. She screamed and thrashed, kicking her legs, pounding her fists against the lunatic's arm, but Banno simply shrugged. "See? I felt that just fine. I just don't understand what the big deal is. It's only a feeling, no different from flavours."
All the strength flowed out of Luke's legs and he collapsed against the doorframe, fighting the urge to vomit. He could feel the roast chicken rise up in his gullet, could smell it in his nose, could taste it on his tongue...
Flavour...
He swallowed it back by force and grabbed Tim by the sleeve. "Come on! We have to go!" He tugged and pulled, but Tim was rooted to the spot, staring with wide eyes at the torrent of blood seeping down Banno's chest, making a crimson triangle in his pitch black fur.
It's like a black widow spider...
"Come on!!"
He nearly jerked Tim right off his feet, but at least it got him going. He ran back up the stairs, dragging his little brother with him, listening to his father's pleas fade into the background with every step.
"Please, Banno! You are very, very sick. Just let my daughter go and I can help you! Things don't have to be this way!"
Luke pulled his little twin through the second door on the landing, then slammed it shut behind them. He turned the key, not because he thought it would actually protect them, but simply because Dad had told him to. But honestly, what was behind that key plate? A square piece of metal no thicker than his thumb! If Banno wanted to, he could break it open with one kick.
He needed a weapon.
He scanned the room, disgusted by how useless everything was. His chair, his table, his bed, his cupboard. Even if he managed to break off a leg or something, what possible use would it be against something that could rip open its own chest just to - just to - he didn't even know what!
He could still hear their voices down there. He could still hear Valery crying. It was just one layer of floorboards. He was probably closer to her right now than when he was at the foot of the stairs.
Useless.
Luke ran his hands through his hair and ripped out a sticky, sweaty clump by the roots. Breathing heavily, he watched the strands peel away from his fingers and float down to the floor.
Useless. And as for Tim, he was just standing there, staring off into space, his mouth slightly open, his eyes wide as saucers.
"What are you doing, Tim?" Luke asked. "Nothing? That's what I thought. It's what I'm doing, too. It's all any of us can do. Nothing! I told him from the start, but he wouldn't listen! I tried to make him understand, but he wouldn't believe me! Now look! Can you see, Tim!? Can you see!? Answer me!"
Tim wasn't even looking at him. He was like a doll, just staring at wherever his head was pointed at. He was like this once before, right after Mom died.
"Valery's not dead, Tim! She's not dead, and she's not gonna die tonight, so snap out of it!" Luke reared back and punched his little brother on the shoulder as hard as he could, but it was like hitting a pillow. He simply staggered backwards without even crying out, staring straight ahead. "What's wrong with you!?" He pulled his fist back again, intending to punch Tim until he came back to his senses, but then...
"He can't do it," Tim said, barely moving his lips.
"Hah?" Now Luke was the frozen one, standing there like a statue with his fist in the air.
"Dad can't do it," he said again, meeting Luke's eyes for the first time since this nightmare began. "Dad can't do it..."
"Stop talking bull pies! Dad is the greatest Fox in the whole world! He'll kick Banno's ass! You'll see!"
"He can't do it, Luke. And it's not because Banno is bigger or stronger, it's because Dad can't kill. Didn't you hear him down there?"
Understanding dawned upon him in a flash of insight.
Okay, big guy, let's all just calm down and have a nice, quiet, civil little conversation...
It's nice and warm in here. We've got a fire going, we can make some tea if you want. You don't need to worry...
Please, Banno! You are very, very sick. Just let my daughter go and I can help you!
Help you...
Dad wasn't just trying to save Valery.
He was trying to save Banno, too...
Luke couldn't keep his anger bottled up anymore and he just let it rip loose, punching the wall with all the strength he could muster.
"That fool!" he cried, grinding his bleeding knuckles against the wood. "Doesn't he understand that thing wants to kill Vee!? The only way to save her is to kill it before it gets the chance!"
"But then why hasn't Banno done it yet?" Tim asked, his brow creased into a deep frown.
"Because Dad has a knife!" Luke screamed in his face. He was tired of constantly having to point out the obvious to everyone around him. "He's using Vee like a shield! That's why!"
"No, you're wrong." Tim insisted. "Did you see those marks on her neck?"
"How couldn't I? That's our little sister!"
"And remember how Banno said something about 'swallowing' her? I bet those marks were made by his teeth."
"You're not helping, Tim!"
"Just shut up and listen! Do you really think Banno is scared of a knife after what we saw him do? If all he wants to do is kill Val, but he isn't scared of Dad, then why not stab her right away? It's the same reason he's held himself back for so long. It's because he doesn't just want to kill her and be done with it, he wants to 'swallow' her, and that takes time. The reason he hasn't killed Vee isn't because he's using her as a shield, or because he's scared of Dad or a knife, it's because he doesn't want to be interrupted."
"How do you suddenly know all this?"
"Because he basically told us himself. He said he doesn't want her to die 'outside', and when he says 'outside' he means everything that's not him."
"If that's really true, then he's even crazier than I thought, and that's saying a lot."
Tim reached up and started to chew on his thumb claw. "If Banno needs time... time, time, time..." He looked up and regarded his big brother with a look of utmost terror. "Vee's not the one who's in the most danger right now."
"What do you mean?"
"He's gonna go after Dad, Luke! If he needs to take his time with Vee, then he has to get rid of Dad first!"
"Oh, crap." Luke paced back and forth, trying to force a brilliant idea to manifest itself in his head, but he could barely string two thoughts together.
"What are we gonna do?"
"I'm thinking, all right!?" Luke stopped, took one last look around his room, and came to the conclusion that they wouldn't be able to do anything up here except waste time. But they couldn't just go back downstairs either. That would only put them in the same boat as Dad, stuck in a stand-off. If only there was a way for them to get behind that monster, maybe they'd be able to take him out before he could harm Vee. But that was impossible, since their living room only had the one entrance.
Well, except for...
This is probably the stupidest idea I've ever had, Luke thought and clambered onto his desk.
"What are you doing?" Tim asked.
"Hell if I know," Luke replied, staring out the window, out into the pitch black night. He could just barely see the skeletal outline of their hastily repaired barn in the moonlight, and right next to the barn was the shed, and inside that shed was exactly what he needed: an axe. He flipped the latch on his window, shoved it open, and a frigid gust of wind slapped him right in the face, cutting down to the bone, reminding him that he was still in his night clothes. "Tim, hand me my jacket will y-"
Tim was already holding his jacket out to him, as well as a pair of shoes, gloves, a ball of socks, and his winter shirt and pants, all bunched together in an untidy bundle. Not only that, he was already halfway dressed himself, with one of Luke's old sweaters pulled over his head, the arms dangling from around his neck.
"No, you stay right here!"
"Like hell I will!" Tim yelled and threw the clothes in Luke's face. "You think this room is any safer than what's out there? I'm coming and you can't stop me!"
"Urgh, fine!" Luke yelled and started to get dressed in record time, pulling on his socks and pants and tying his shoes and buttoning his jacket in the most illogical, randomized order ever. "I got an extra pair of gloves in the drawer you can use. And don't bother with the green pants, they've got holes in them, use the brown instead. And don't mess up that jacket, it's my favourite one." He sounded angry, but in truth, he knew Tim would act this way, and although he didn't say it in words, he was grateful he wouldn't have to do this alone. Tim probably knew it, too.
When they were done, they climbed up on Luke's desk and peered through the open window, both of them trying not to shiver and failing completely.
"How far do you think?" Tim asked, his voice trembling.
Luke shrugged. "Not that far. Twelve, fifteen feet maybe? Just try to roll as you land and you'll be fine."
"The snow will probably help, too."
"Probably."
Luke closed the last button on his jacket and stepped onto the window sill, his head bowed and his clothes rippling in the wind. From up here the snow didn't look so soft, and in the middle of the night, it didn't even look white, just grey. If he looked at it for too long, his head started to tell him it wasn't really snow at all, but just a solid slab of rock, and that if he jumped down he would break both his legs and end up writhing in pain, screaming in the night until Banno finally came along and finished him off.
He suddenly felt Tim's hand on his shoulder and he nearly tumbled out the window face-first out of fright. "Good gods, Tim! Gimme a second!"
"I'm sorry. I... I'm so sorry..."
"Tim? What are you -?" Luke turned back and saw his little brother in tears, his shoulders heaving, wiping his streaming eyes on the sleeves of that old, worn out jacket.
"I should have listened to you from the start," he hitched. "I shouldn't have gone out to that big black thing in the river, I shouldn't have poked it with a stick, I shouldn't have dared you to do the same... You told me to keep away from it, but I was so bored! All of this because I was such a stupid idiot! All day that day I wished something interesting would happen, but I didn't want this! I'd take it back if I could! I'd wish every day to be nice and boring again! It's because of me... It's because of me that Vee -"
"Vee's gonna be fine. She's our little sister and we're her big brothers, isn't that right?"
Tim wiped the snot from his nose and nodded his head vigorously. "Uh-huh."
"And as her big brothers, it's our job to take care of her, right?"
He nodded again. "Uh-huh."
"So that's what we're gonna do."
"Right!"
"Okay then." Luke turned back to the deep, dark night, filled with nothing but wind and cold. "Let's go."
He stepped out over the empty air, and then he was falling.
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