A Game of Greed and Deception: A Mystery Drama (16 page)

Maria
was out of breath and knelt down to rest for a moment. In front of her was the
covered crawl space, and looking up she saw a small window into the kitchen.
I guess I can try and break that window. If
the noise is loud enough, Tammy will come running in the kitchen. She’ll think
someone is trying to break in. Then I’ll have to get back in that bedroom fast
so she doesn’t see me.
She crawled closer to the edge of the forest and
looked around on the ground for something to throw at the window. Digging in
the snow with her hands, she uncovered some fallen branches and leaves. After a
short while Maria found a stone about half the size of her hand.

She
took the stone and went carefully around the edge of the tree-line to the other
corner of the backside of the cabin. The ground was higher there and the window
to the kitchen was not too far away. She inhaled through her nose since her
lips were cold and wet and her chest stung a bit from the frigid air. She stood
up and took a deep breath. Then she cocked her arm back and, with all her
might, flung the stone at the kitchen window. It hit right on target and went
crashing through the window and inside the cabin.

Maria
started to run back to the other side of the cabin, but she slipped on the ice
and fell face down to the ground. Her heart was racing and her face was covered
with snow and dirt. She got back up and moved as quickly as she could while
staying crouched down to maintain her balance. In a few moments, she was back
in front of her bedroom window. She stood on the pile of snow, grabbed onto the
window ledge, and quickly pulled herself back inside.

***

Tammy heard the crash and
sound of breaking glass. She jumped up off the sofa with her flail in hand. She
stood with her back to the wall next to the door leading to the kitchen. She
held her breath and ever so slowly reached for the door handle. She turned it
so that the door was slightly ajar, and then kicked it open as hard as she
could while jumping into the doorway. Seeing nobody in front of her, she
stepped into the kitchen, with her head darting back and forth, while surveying
the surroundings. She saw shards of broken glass all over the floor and the
stone that had been hurled through the small window. She cupped her hands and
yelled towards the hole in the window.
Is
that all you damn well can do, Stephen? Come on, you bastard, don’t try me like
a fool! If you want me then come and get me, baby.
She felt light headed
from the adrenaline pumping inside her. She threw the stone against the wall
and kicked the broken glass in frustration.

Maria
peeped through the keyhole and saw that Tammy was gone from the living room.
She braced herself against the wall and pushed the bed away from in front of
the bedroom door. Knowing that she only had a few moments to act, she opened
the door, stepped into the living room, and then closed the door behind her
very slowly so that it did not make a sound. Then she quickly knelt down behind
the sofa just in case Tammy walked into the room. She peered around the edge of
the sofa and saw a lighter sitting on top of the coffee table. Checking once
again to make sure that Tammy was not coming back into the room, Maria grabbed
the lighter and stuck it in her pocket. She looked at the bookcase but did not
see the flashlight on it as was written in the letter. The she knelt behind the
sofa again and saw that the door to the master bedroom was slightly ajar. She
was just about ready to run into the master bedroom, when Tammy suddenly came
back into the living room.

Maria’s
heart raced and she felt a tremor of pure fear go through her. Even though she
was breathing heavily, she covered her mouth so as to not make a sound.
If Tammy sees me here, who knows what she
might do.
Now how am I gonna get out
of here and into her bedroom? What if she goes in there first?

Tammy
sat back down on the sofa, mumbling to herself.
He’s just damn well trying to terrify me, that son of a bitch. And it
ain’t gonna work. There is no man that can scare me, let alone that spineless
twat.
She looked around the living room to be sure that she was alone. She
craned her head over the back of the sofa, but Maria was ducked down and just
out of sight. Then she propped her feet up on the coffee table.

Maria
looked again at the door to the master bedroom and knew that she needed to open
it a bit more to get inside. Figuring that opening the door would make a noise,
she waited behind the sofa without moving a muscle. Each few seconds that
passed seemed like an eternity. Her heart continued to race uncontrollably and
she tried to take deeper breaths to stay calm.
Dad is the most important person in my life. I’ve got to get down to
that cellar. But if Tammy finds me now, she could do something terrible. If she
sees me go into her bedroom, I am gonna have to run downstairs and hide.
Maria
kept her head low as she peeped around the edge of the sofa just slightly to
see Tammy’s shoulder and follow her movements.

If I go for it now and Tammy sees me go
down in the cellar, she will follow me down there. Then I would have to do what
dad told me to and get out in time. I don’t think she would let me leave.
Her
heart was pounding so hard that breathing had become difficult. She had to
muffle all sounds and hide her feelings of terror.

After
a few more grueling minutes passed, Tammy leaned over to take a drink from the
water bottle, being careful not to bump her bandaged hand. Sensing that this
was the best moment, Maria stuck her leg out and pushed the door to the master
bedroom open. Then she stayed still and waited in silence, fearing the worst.
Tammy set the bottle back down after a sip of water, not seeming to have
noticed a thing. Maria continued to breathe slowly and deeply with her hand
covering her mouth. She was just a few feet from being inside that bedroom.

She
waited and waited, until Tammy finally got up to go have a quick look into the
kitchen again. Maria decided to make a run for it. As soon as Tammy’s back had
disappeared through the kitchen doorway, Maria scurried into the master
bedroom, leaving the door open, and ducked down behind the bed. She counted to
ten silently, too paralysed to move. Tammy had her back turned and didn’t seem
to see or hear anything.

SIXTEEN

Maria went into the walk-in
closet and opened the door to the wine cellar.
It’s so dark down there, how am I gonna be able to see?
She took
the lighter from her pocket and tried lighting it. The flame stayed burning
while she held the top of the lighter. Leaving the cellar door open, she slowly
started down the stone stairs. It had gotten rather cold in the walkway and
Maria could see her breath as she went along. She moved slowly with each step,
being careful not to trip or bump into anything, since she could only see for a
small space around her. She shook a bit as cold air with a bit of a foul smell
blew through her hair.

Looking
down and approaching the archway, Maria saw a few drops of blood on the red
tile walkway. She gasped and stepped over and around the blood spots. Then she
turned her head swiftly and looked over her shoulder to be sure that nobody was
behind her. She had a strange feeling that she wasn’t alone. After a few more
steps the trail of blood became heavier. She stopped under the archway and
looked up at the brickwork, seeing smears of blood with fingerprints.

Maria
quickly entered the larger room. She crinkled her nose as there was a smell of
rotten eggs. On the floor in front of her was the designer shirt of her
father’s that had the sleeve torn from it. Only now, it was soaked in blood and
still a bit wet. Maria gasped, swallowing a big gulp of air.
Oh my God, this is dad’s shirt! And it’s all
bloody. He has to be hurt.
“Dad, are you down here? Is anyone here and can
you hear me?” She spoke loudly, holding the lighter in front of her. A few
moments of silence passed and then she started to move again.

She
looked nervously to either side as she went by the small cubby holes. The one
that had had the old pair of gloves was now empty. As Maria passed by the
wooden table, she saw that the small box and partially smoked cigar were gone.
On top of the table was something that she had never seen before. It was a thin
metal device with two prongs on each end, connected to a leather collar. Each
tip of the prongs was stained with dried blood. Next to this metal device was
the old wrinkled piece of paper with the hand drawn map, showing dotted lines
for the basement. On top of the paper there was a
Capri
cigarette butt and a small piece of painted finger nail.
So Tammy was down here again and didn’t tell me. And she was the one
that tore dad’s shirt and lied about it. Everything she says must be a lie. If
that is dad’s blood, then she did something terrible to him, I can just feel
it.

Maria
turned with the lighter to see the other end of the table. There was another
folded piece of paper, only this one looked new. She opened the paper and drawn
on it was a diagram. The diagram showed two coffin-like boxes full of spikes.
Small human figures were drawn above the boxes, one of a man, the other of a
girl. Underneath the diagram was an image of the strange metal device on the
table with a written description. It read: “The Heretic’s Fork, Medieval
Torture Device. Place the collar around the neck of the individual and tighten.
Be sure that each end of the prongs penetrate the flesh in the upper chest and
chin areas.” Maria gasped and dropped the paper. She had trouble catching her
breath and stood paralyzed with fear.
Oh
my God, Tammy has been plotting to kill me and dad all along. She plans to
torture us with that thing. She is a killer just like dad said in the letter.

Maria
wanted to scream but nothing would come out. She gathered what courage she had,
made her way to the back of the room, and found the stack of old barrels. She
paused for a moment to catch her breath, her heart racing. The foul smell was
really intense in the back of the room. Looking up, she saw the barrel on top
of the others to the far right as described in the letter. She stood on her
toes and held the lighter up higher to see the barrel better. It was old and
dusty with rusty metal trim along the bottom. She looked for the small opening
and wick as described in the letter but didn’t find anything. Having trouble
seeing all around the barrel, she ran her hand along the base just above the
metal trim. She felt something sticking out from the base on the lower right
side. Maria reached out with the lighter to get a better look, and saw that it
was a long wick sealed with paraffin.

A
rush of nervous energy invaded Maria. She felt light headed and her arm was not
so tired from holding the lighter so she could see. She remembered a time a
year and a half ago, on the forth of July when, with a few neighborhood kids
playing in the yard of her father’s estate, she set off a few bottle rockets.
The wicks looked long as if they would give her enough time to run away. But no
sooner did she light the wick and turn to run, there was a
WHOOSH
of wind and smoke flying by her ear lobes.

 
 
What if the wick burns too fast? How does
dad know it will take 15 minutes? Will I be able to get out of here in time and
get Tammy to come down? What am I gonna tell Tammy?
She crouched down on
her knees, wrapping her arms around herself after putting out the lighter.
I can’t believe that Tammy has been lying to
me and dad this whole time. She is a killer and we had no idea. I’ve just got
to do this. I know how much dad loves me.
Maria stood back up and ignited
the lighter. Her hands were shaking so much that it was hard to keep the flame
steady. She reached up as far as she could, and held the flame in front of the
tip of the wick.
Here we go.
Then she
lit the tip.

There
was a soft sizzling sound and some sparks started to move up the long, slow
burning wick. Maria wanted to run but she knew this would extinguish the
lighter and she would not be able to see her way out. She started to walk as
quickly as she could, but the cold breeze put out the flame. Panic-stricken,
she tried to light the lighter again. The flame burned once more and she moved
slowly through the room, keeping her other hand in front of the flame to block
the airflow. She made it back to the arch and saw a bit of light down the
walkway. In another minute or so, she was heading back up the stairs into the
walk-in closet, leaving the door wide open.

***

Tammy
was seated on the sofa when Maria burst into the living room. “Tammy, come
quickly, I found Stephen and he is down in the cellar! He tried to hurt me.”
Maria was panting and out of breath. She shook violently as she spoke.

Tammy
stood up to look Maria square in the eye. “You mean you actually fucking saw
Stephen? Where exactly did you see him in the cellar?”

Maria
shook her hands wildly to signal Tammy to move towards the bedroom. “Yes, I saw
him! He was in that big room down there, over by the barrels. He was hiding and
suddenly came out and tried to grab me.”

Tammy
held her weapon firmly by the end of the rope. “He was hiding down around the
barrels? Where was he hiding, Maria?”

“I
don’t know, but somewhere behind one of them. I didn’t see him until the last
moment and then he came out. He is dangerous Tammy, just like you said, and you
have to hurry and go down and stop him!”

Tammy
had a puzzled look on her face. She spoke sharply to Maria. “But why were you
even down in the wine cellar, Maria? When did you go down there and why didn’t
I see you? And how did Stephen get down there without us seeing him?”

“I
heard some noises coming from down there so I went to check them out. I didn’t
see you so I ran down into the cellar myself. That is when I saw it was dad
doing something!”

Tammy
inched closer to Maria and started to shout. “What damn noise did you hear,
Maria? Describe it. And how the hell did you hear it from your bedroom if it
was all the way down in the cellar?”

Maria
was sweating and fidgeting nervously with the lighter. She tried not to look at
Tammy when she spoke. “I heard some footsteps coming from down below my room.
So I knew that someone was down there. So I went to see if it was dad.”

Tammy
smiled at Maria. She looked exasperated and arched her eyebrows. “You say you
heard footsteps? Maria, that damn wine cellar is insulated with hard clay walls
and brick fucking flooring! You can’t hear nobody scream down there let alone
some dang footsteps. Now I want to know why you went down there and what it is
exactly that you saw. Give me some damn answers.”

Maria’s
voice started to crack and she was fighting back emotion. “Just go down there
and look for yourself if you don’t believe me. Dad is down there and I think he
has gone crazy. Like you told me before, everyone has a dark side, and
sometimes they lose their mind. Hurry Tammy, before he comes up here to get
us!”

Tammy
smirked, hearing the quavering in Maria’s voice as she spoke. “That’s fine, if
he wants to fuck with me, then he can come out of the cellar and I’ll be
waiting for him. If we know where he is then that makes things even easier, now
doesn’t it?”

“Please
Tammy, you have to go down there now! If you don’t he will do something
terrible. Hurry, we can’t wait for him to come up here.”

Tammy
slung the weapon over her shoulder and grabbed Maria by the arm. “Ok fine, then
come along with me, and let’s just see what’s in that cellar.” She pulled Maria
with her into the master bedroom. “Ok, now you go first, and I’ll be right
behind you.” She shoved Maria into the opening of the closet.

Maria
tried to yank her arm away from Tammy’s grip but couldn’t. “I can’t go down
there Tammy, I am too scared! Dad wants to hurt me. You were right about him,
he’s lost his mind. You are the only one that can stop him. Please, you have to
go. I will wait right here.”

Tammy
pushed Maria against the closet wall. She sneered at her and squeezed her arm
hard as she spoke. “Are you trying to trick me, little girl? Why do you want me
to go down in the damn cellar? What is down there that you saw? I want some
damn answers and I want them now.”

Maria’s
heart was racing and she felt panic exploding inside her from not knowing what
Tammy might do. Her voice was shaky and she had to fight to get the words out.
“I told you what I saw! He’s hiding down there. I am not going down there – I’m
afraid that dad will hurt me.”

“Is
that so? So Stephen tried to hurt you – his precious little girl - and yet you
by some damn miracle escaped without any problem to come tell me to go down and
deal with him? And how in the hell did he get down there? I’ve been here in the
cabin all day. There is no other way to get down into that cellar except
through the closet. And someone hurled a stone from outside through one of the
kitchen windows. Do you have any idea who could have done that?”

Maria’s
eyes glossed over in her pallid face like a foggy windshield, fighting back the
tears. She was terrified and fumbling for her words. “Please don’t hurt me
anymore, Tammy. We need to get out of here. I don’t know what else to do. I
just…”

“I’ll
tell you exactly what we’re gonna fucking do. You’re gonna go down into that
damn cellar right now and stay locked inside there until I find out exactly
what it is that you saw. Now let’s go.” Tammy started to pull Maria by the arm.

Maria
shrieked. “No, Tammy, stop! I can’t go down there – I’m afraid.” She pulled her
hardest until she was able to wriggle free from Tammy’s grip. Maria scurried
back into the living room with Tammy right after her. Maria stood in front of
her bedroom door, too petrified to move. The door was closed and there was no
way that Tammy would let her get inside.

Tammy
stood in front of Maria. She raised the flail over her head and started to
swing it around, faster and faster. It made a “whooshing” noise as the sharp,
rusty points of the nails flew by Maria’s wide, glossy eyes embedded in her
delicate features. “Ok then, you little brat. If you don’t want to give me the
answers that I need, I’ll force them the hell out of you.” Maria closed her
eyes and winced, preparing to be struck.

Suddenly,
there was a deafening sound, like the thunderous roar from herds of horses
trapped in a barn. The whole cabin shook violently, just for a few moments, and
a blast of fire raged up the stone stairway. The living room bookshelf fell on
its side and there was a sound of breaking dishes in the kitchen. The heat that
came out from the flame blast was intense and could be felt all the way in the
living room. Tammy was so shaken from the blast that she fell down backwards on
the floor in astonishment. She could not fathom what would have made such an
explosion. Maria tumbled against the wall but then immediately stood back up
again. She took the chance while Tammy was down on the floor to open her
bedroom door, darted inside, and closed it behind her. She didn’t notice that
the small, brass key had fallen out of her pocket.

Tammy
peeled herself up off of the floor and looked into the master bedroom. The
glass on the window had cracked but otherwise it looked the same as before. She
felt no urge to walk inside and check out the situation any further. She saw
the brass key lying on the floor, took it, and put it into her pocket. Then she
sat down on the sofa to recover from the shock and to think about her options.