Somebody places a thick canvas bag over my head and everything becomes dark again.
***
I’m lying on a cold flat surface. I can’t see anything and my hands are cuffed behind my back. Panic mixed with rage envelop me. Growling and twisting, I roll across the floor in a desperate attempt to remove the bag from my head.
“Relax,” I hear Wreck’s voice. “I’ll take care of you in a sec.”
“Where are we?”
“No idea. Just lie still for a minute.”
His presence has a calming effect on me. I lie on my side, listening, willing my body to relax. My shoulders are sore and my head is still aching. I hear Wreck cursing quietly.
“What are you doing?” I ask, trying to turn my face into his direction.
“Practicing acrobatics.”
“What?”
I hear footsteps approaching, then he removes the bag from my head.
“You all right?” he kneels beside me, his hands now cuffed in front.
“I’m fine,” I look him over. “How did you slip your hands from behind your back?”
“Well, I’m flexible.”
I take a look around. We’re back in the basement where Gabriel killed Amy and was strangling me. A handcuffed Maxine sits in the opposite side of the cage, leaning against a wall, a bag still over her head.
“Are you planning to remove this stinking thing off me or not?” she asks angrily.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Wreck smiles. “The hood really suits you. Makes you more attractive.”
Maxine groans. “One more word and I’ll shove this hood down your throat.”
“With your hands behind your back?” he chuckles. “Well, good luck with that.”
“Why do I have to have such an idiot for a brother?” Maxine sighs.
Laughing, Wreck finally approaches her and removes the hood. I don’t get how they can joke around in this situation. It feels suffocating, as if somebody is squeezing my throat.
“Right here,” Maxine motions her head toward her left leg.
Wreck pulls a small piece of metal wire from her pocket. He inserts one end of the wire into a lock of his handcuffs, turning it a few times and a moment later his hands are free.
“Where did you learn that?” I ask, watching.
“In jail,” he answers curtly, removing my handcuffs.
Once my hands are free, I rise to my feet, stretching. My head is spinning. I approach the metal bars, grab them tightly and pull. They’re too strong to break. I feel claustrophobic. I check my pockets, realizing that my trophy knife is gone.
“Hey, what about my handcuffs?” Maxine glares at her brother.
“Well, I like how you look in the cuffs,” Wreck says. “I think you should keep them.”
“Oh please. Don’t start again. You’re not the slightest bit funny.”
Wreck unlocks her cuffs and plops down beside her on the floor. I continue shaking the bars, feeling more panicked with each passing moment.
“You won’t break them,” Wreck says. “Come sit with us.”
“Maybe you could try to help?” I give him a hard look.
“Nah, we can’t break these bars. I know. I used to live here. Remember?”
“What about the lock? Can you do something with that?”
“Nope. I need a key to unlock it. A piece of wire won’t work.”
I groan, kicking the bars in frustration. “But we have to do something!”
“We should get some rest,” Wreck offers, glancing at Maxine. “What do you think?”
“Sounds good to me,” she yawns. “We should recover a little and try to break free when guards arrive and unlock the door.”
“Sounds like a plan,” says Wreck.
I stare at them in astonishment. How can they remain so calm? At the moment they look more like twins, even sitting in the same position against a wall, with their eyes half-closed and faces painted. Maxine wraps an arm around Wreck, pulling him closer, and there’s something genuinely sweet and protective in her gesture. I begin pacing the cage.
“Somebody ratted us out,” I say. “Samuel knew we were coming. His guards were ready and waiting for us.”
“Well,” Wreck cracks one eye open, watching me. “I trust you, Maxie and Jin with my life. And I don’t think Tanya would rat us out either. So, somebody must have overheard us talking and learned of our plan.”
“Who could that be?”
Wreck laughs. “Probably any one of the two hundred well-trained stalkers we have in our village.”
I groan and sit down on the floor beside Maxine, holding my head. I have no idea what we should do. How can we escape?
The sound of approaching footsteps makes me rise back to my feet. Samuel and two guards walk toward our cage. Wreck slowly stands, maintaining the same calm expression and folding his arms across his chest. He takes a few slow steps toward the bars, facing his uncle. They both remain silent. My blood boils. I envision Samuel holding the lit match with my mother tied to a tree, her clothes soaked in gasoline.
“I didn’t want everything to end like this,” Samuel finally sighs.
“Oh really?” Wreck smirks. “How did you think it might end? You butchered my entire family. Did you expect me to just forgive and forget? Did you really think I wouldn’t come back for you?”
“You have nothing to do with any of that, boy. I ordered my soldiers to stop looking for you. I let you live. Why couldn’t you just have stayed away? Why did you have to return?”
“To kill you of course. I came to repay you for what you did to my family.” Wreck stares right into his uncle’s eyes. “Tell me, Samuel, how did it feel to murder your own sister? Do you sleep well at night? Do you not remember having your soldiers take the heads of your little nieces? I know you remember how they were screaming and crying
