I can recall nothing but seeing one of the twins on top of him.
My head was still spinning. I was tied to a bed. My hands felt numb, the ropes burned against my wrists.
“Look who decided to join us,” McDowell’s voice was muffled, I had still not quite regained my hearing.
He tossed the twin off of him, and moved closer to me. I felt his cold hand move up my thigh. He dragged his other hand through my hair. Was my sister going through the same thing? No, nobody would do that to such a young child. Or so I hoped.
“So beautiful..” He mumbled as he untied me. My hands were brought to his waist.
BOOM. An explosion shook the house before McDowell could proceed any further.
“Ah shit! They’re here!” He flung out of bed, into his sandals, and then ran downstairs wearing only his robe. Who were they?
With my hands free, I quickly got out of bed. The opium still made me feel the intense gravity weighing me down, but I kept going.
“Where are you going? We should stay here and wait for master,” one of the twins said.
“No! I’m getting out of here, you should too! Flee while you can!” I dashed out the master bedroom. I remembered the shotgun in McDowell’s office. I would need something to defend myself with.
I should have known that McDowell had the same idea.
“Don’t run off now girl, we aren’t done just yet,” he had taken the shotgun down from the wall and was loading it with a fistful of shells. “It’s dangerous out there.” More dangerous than sticking around this rapist? I didn’t think so. He grabbed his ammo pouch and headed outside. It was time to make my escape.
I noticed that bad weather had started coming in once I stepped outside the wide open front door. Sounds from a firefight a couple of streets away could be heard, I decided to walk in the opposite direction.
The wind was picking up. I saw a large cylindrical object hovering over what appeared to be the tallest building in town. A sparkling light fell from the hovering object, and landed in the streets.
BOOM. Dynamite.
I made my way further down the street, I had to find Maria. A poster drifting past in the wind got caught on a lamp post. In big black letters: “HARALD LOWELL’S ANNUAL AUCTION 15/10 AT THE GRAND THEATER” and in smaller black letters: “For further information visit the front desk of Harald’s Tower.” It came with a convenient silhouette of the tower.
Comparing it with the building beneath the hovering object, I realized it was identical. The angry thunder sent shivers down my spine as raindrops began tapping on my shoulders. I walked up the steps to the building. I thought about how they felt under my feet, this was the right place. The dynamite had made a deep crater right in front of the revolving glass doors. I peered into it. Red rags in a pile of raw mince. A sight I hoped I’d never have to see again. There was, however, a rifle among the various limbs and organs. Due to the fact that I had nothing to protect myself with still, I got down on my knees and extended my arm as far as I could. The rifle was just out of reach so I leaned my weight a little forward. Then, I lost balance. I tumbled down into the crater, getting soaked in mud and blood. Now I smelled worse than the eggs I left out in the sun one weekend while visiting my grandparents. Repulsively nauseating.
Nevertheless, I grabbed the rifle and climbed back out of the crater. I wiped my muddy bare feet on the carpet inside. The room went silent as soon as I shut the door. There was not a single soul in Harald’s lobby. It felt like an exclusive hotel with its decorative green marble pillars and high ceiling. I took the elevator up.
Harald Lowell stood looking out his large window at the airship getting closer when I kicked the door in, with my newly found rifle in hand.
“That took longer than expected,” Harald said as he turned around.
“Take me to my sister.” I pointed my rifle at him.
“Oh what a nice firearm you brought with you, little girl, but there’s no need for that here,” Harald chuckled. “All transactions are kept in my logbook over there.” He pointed at the thick blue notebook on his desk.
I approached the notebook, still keeping my eyes on Harald. I put my rifle on the desk and flipped through the pages. Just numbers. They never bother asking for our names. I found one entry that matched my sister’s: #24398 - HEIGHT 127CM - WEIGHT 29KG - AGE 8 - RECIPIENT JOE BARTH.
“Hey, where can I find Joe Ba-” I looked at Harald who had snuck up on me, and was now holding my rifle. The airship was awfully close behind him.
“You should have escaped while you could,” he said. “But now you must die.”
He began applying pressure to the trigger.
CRASH. One of the windows shattered, Harald was startled. The bullet whizzed past my right ear. The airship had burst into flames, then the dynamite went off.
The shockwave sent us both flying. After landing, the collapsed floor sent me sliding towards the big newly made hole in the wall. I went over the edge, but caught onto a steel rebar sticking out the side of the hole. Harald slid past me screaming. There was nothing for him to hold onto, so down he went.
I struggled to climb back through the hole.
“Where’s father?” I was surrounded by little girls on the floor right under Harald’s office; girls from the paintings in the red corridor. Many of them looked like they hadn’t seen the light of day in years.
“You just missed him. He’s dead now,” I told them. There was no point in trying to convince them to leave with me.
“Dead?” One of them asked.
“Gone, forever. I got rid of him,” I explained.
“You got rid of father? Did it hurt him?” She seemed upset.
“Hope it did. I really have to go now, byeeee.”
“YOU HURT FATHER, YOU TRAITOR!!” They attacked me. Their nails dug into my skin and ripped my already ragged dress.
I was cornered next to the fireplace. An axe leaned against the pile of wood on my right. It was life or death. Me or them. And they appeared to be a lost cause. I did what I had to.
Skulls sound much like walnuts when being cracked open.
