croaked, holding an arm up.
âYou might not believe it, but thisâll hurt me more than it hurts you, son,â he said, bringing the bat up to shoulder height. âI donât want to do this. I want you to stop me. Iâm counting on you stopping me.â He stared at me expectantly. âI will smash you up,â he warned, and flecks of foam formed at the corners of his mouth. âI will break you in half and grind your bones to make my bread.â
Veins stood out across his forehead. His eyes were bloodshot and bulging. They watched me as I shakily got to my feet.
âOK,â I said.
He frowned. âOK?â
âKill me.â
He laughed at that, my dad. He actually laughed. Then he stopped as suddenly as he had started.
âWhat?â
âDo it. Kill me. Youâll be doing me a favour.â
He seemed to consider this, then he shrugged. âFair enough.â
The sparks flickered all through me. They danced behind my eyes, lighting up the world, begging â demanding â I put them to use. I saw the bat draw back again, as if in slow motion. I saw the look of demented glee on my dadâs face as his grip shifted and he took aim at my head.
And then I saw Ameena. She caught him by the shoulder, stopping him before he could swing. I realised for the first time she was wearing the brown robe, but with the hood down.
âWait,â she said. âYouâll kill him.â
My dad looked from her to me. âAnd?â
Ameena glanced at me. Was that pity I saw in her eyes? Sadness? Regret? âHeâs no use to us dead,â she said gruffly.
Probably none of those things then.
âThe plan,â she reminded him. âThe plan to save everyone. To bring them through here.â
âAmeena, Ameena, Ameena. There are many plans,â my dad said. âPlan A, yes, in an ideal world, would involve us breaking down the barrier and turning this world into the Darkest Corners, thereby saving the poor unfortunate souls trapped over there.â He scowled at me. âBut my darling son is proving to be more stubborn than I thought, so we may have to move on to Plan B.â
âWhatâs Plan B?â Ameena asked.
âI beat him to death with this cricket bat.â He looked at her coldly. âDo you have a problem with that?â
She hesitated, just for a moment, then shook her head. âNo.â
âGood. Because Plan C involved torturing you while he watched. I bet he still cares about you enough to want to stop that happening.â
He laughed at the look of shock on Ameenaâs face. âJust kidding,â he said with a wink. âYou see the thing is, between you, me and my boy here, Iâve never really cared about saving anyone.â
âWhat?â Ameena frowned. âBut⦠but you saidâ¦â
âI know what I said. But it was all just an excuse, really. I wanted free. Me . And not just for a few minutes or a few hours like I can do at the moment. Free. Truly free. For ever.
âAnd I wanted him to suffer, of course,â he continued. âSuffer like I did, stuck in there, rotting away in the Darkest Corners. I wanted him to feel pain like I had, feel loss like I had.â
He gave a self-satisfied smirk. He was looking straight at me, but talking as if I wasnât even in the room. âIâve killed everyone he loves, and Iâve made him feel that heâs the one to blame. Iâve stolen his whole life away, just like he did to me. Oh, sure, having him break down the barrier and bring about the end of the world would have been a nice touch. A really fitting finale. But we canât have everything, right? So Iâll settle for beating him to death. Maybe heâll man up and try to stop me. Maybe he wonât. Either way, Iâm chalking it up as a win.â
He raised the bat again.
âI get all that. Itâs just... after all the planning,â Ameena
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