Chapter Nine

I was still contemplating who the person might be as I heard a powerful and strong noise. Then I stood up to check. Lo and behold, a military tank had pulled down the gate and driven in. What followed the tank were battalions of soldiers fully armed with modernized guns. They were up to twenty. My heartbeat increased rapidly.

"Lie down on the floor, Brinny," my mum whispered.

"Mum, wait, are these not dad's men?" I responded.

"They are never... lie on the floor," she said, as she went quickly onto the floor.

I followed her into lying on the floor. Brims of sweat started from my forehead and dropped down to the floor. My face was directly toward the floor. They shot their gun five times in the air simultaneously. After the gunshot, I heard the bending of the door handle; that was when I knew I was doomed for trouble.

"Open this door before we set this house on fire." I heard a harsh and deep tone ordering us.

My mum and I were glued to the floor. The palpitation within me increased to the point where I felt my heart looking for a way to come out.

"God, manifest yourself now," I whispered.

"I know that there are human beings in this house. Do you want your meat to be roasted? And at the failure of someone to open this door at the countdown of ten. This house will fry your meat." I heard that same voice ordering us again.

My mum stood up and beckoned me to stand alongside her. She breathed out noisily.

"They claim to set us free from a despotic ruler. But they pound them with killings, fear, loss of property, and untimely deaths, thinking we will surrender, but we won't surrender. Even if it takes me to eternity, I will give it a go." My mum said, stretching the last five words.

Tears rushed out of her eyes. She cleaned it immediately. And then she took a bold step and summoned me to walk with her. We left the living room and headed to the kitchen through the passage, which was across from the entrance door. However, the entrance door came first before the kitchen door. Suddenly, we heard giggling and whispers coming from outside the entrance door. Suddenly, my mum tapped me on the hand. I stared at her. She signaled to me to stop moving and then gestured with her hands that I should wait for her at the entrance door while she went to the kitchen and brought out a knife when she came out. I fidgeted a little when I saw the knife. She placed her left index finger in the middle of her lips. I quickly understood the gesture. She walked nearer to me and pushed me behind her, while she stood at the front of the main entrance door.

"Servicemen, you dropped your guns, and then I opened this door."

"Sonofabitch… open this door. At the countdown of ten. Let's go, 10, 9."

My mum kept the knife at her waist and used her blouse to cover it as they continued counting.

"5, 4―"

My mum quickly unlocked the door and opened it wide. They all pointed their guns straight in Mum's direction.

"Hands up," they ordered with a frightening tone.

My mum raised her hands while I followed suit. They walked inside the house in a rhythmical manner. After they all went inside, one of them brought out a picture.

"Yeah, she is the one," one of them said after looking at the picture.

"Is your maiden name, Britni Keaton?" A soldier spoke out, looking directly at my mother's face.

"Yeah, of course," replied my mum.

They laughed hysterically.

"You got married to Konovalov, right?" another asked, dropping his gun.

"Yes," responded my mum.

"And where is he?" another asked.

My mum dropped her hand slowly as they all raised their guns straight at her head. She turned around to stare at all of them. Hot tears rushed down my cheeks. I couldn't believe that this would be happening to me.

"I said, where is he?" he shouted.

My mum grinned. Perhaps she thought of a word that wouldn't implicate any other person. "You know the job of a serviceman, do you?" She finally spoke out.

"So how many bullets do you think he would have shot at our colleagues?"

My mind began racing with so many thoughts. I hope they haven't captured him. I hope he is not in that tank. How did they know about my father? Who gave them a clue about my dad's occupation? Dad, wherever you are right now, I wish you lasting peace.

A serviceman came up from their midst and then gave a nod and a gesture with his hand. Immediately after that signal, what I saw surprised me. They all broke out in groups and scattered themselves around the house. The ones inside the house started ransacking the house. It remained only the serviceman who gave the signal that remained with us. He then ordered us to go to the kitchen. My mum defied the order. He then raised his gun to my mum's head and threatened to shoot her if she didn't obey. He was going to blow her head out.

"I am never a coward, and I won't obey your command."

"Your husband is inflicting losses on our colleagues. We have noticed him on the battlefield, but he is so smart that we couldn't catch him. And your native country, America, keeps providing weapons for him and his colleagues to kill us in numbers. But we are here to show you the horror that our fellow soldiers feel before dying."

"Who told you to come here and attack us?"

"We are fighting for our father's land. Stop saying thrash and go straight to the other door right now."

My mum and I still stood there. Suddenly, he smiled and dragged my mother by her hands into the kitchen while I followed him. When he had succeeded in his mission. He locked the door and smiled.

"It's between the both of us now," he said, dropping his gun to the ground and thrusting his hand into his pocket and pulling out a nylon. The smell that oozed out of it was so terrible that we had to close our noses.

"You must eat it. These are the meat that burst out from one of our colleagues, when your stupid husband killed him."

"I think that is an empty threat, and if you really know me, you will dread me," my mum responded.

"Your sonofabitch, do you ever recognize who you are talking with right now?"

"I am talking to a human being that has been transformed into a robot, to kill humans."

"Your death is near; do you know that?" he asked.

My mum laughed hysterically at him. "Is anyone still afraid of death? If so, that person is a coward."

His eyes squinted, and then his facial appearance changed to an angry one. I could see the devil in him gradually forcing his way out. Then he charged towards my mother and dragged her to the floor, then began forcing the chunk of meat into her mouth with so much rage burning within him. My mum kept on struggling, despite the chunk of meat being rubbed on her lips repeatedly. When he noticed that she was hard to get. He stopped and breathed out nastily, then sat down on her stomach. My mother screamed out. Tears rushed down from her eyes. I nodded my head in sympathy and thought of what to do. I saw the gun still lying bare on the floor.

How I wish my brothers had taught me how to operate a gun. I would have shot him dead. I pondered.

He successfully dropped a bit of the meat in her mouth and then laughed mockingly at her. My mum spat it back straight at his face. He was shocked. He then blew on her chest twice with his hand. My mother screamed again; the veins on her head and neck popped up, and her eyes were red. She was spitting out foamy saliva. I knew my mum was at the point of death. My head ran with a lot of thoughts on what to do in order to rescue her. Suddenly, I remembered that she kept a knife inside her blouse. I quickly went nearer to her. I was about to kneel when he looked at me with a ferocious eye.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

I didn't answer him. I watched as he struggled to force a chunk of meat into my mother's mouth. He became so engrossed with his action that he didn't know when I bent down and crawled nearer to my mum's blouse. I became scared all of a sudden. My hand started vibrating as I raised it.

What if he turns and catches me? I pondered.

I stretched my hands nearer to her blouse as I kept watching and, at the same time, became alert. My hands reached her blouse as I quickly scanned for the position of the knife. Finally, I saw it. The knife was positioned at her left waist, allowing me to swiftly slide my hands through and delicately retrieve it. My eyes became misty all of a sudden. I stared at my mum again. I observed that she was already weak. She was gasping for breath, but her lips were pursed and also bleeding at the same time. This was the first time I saw what they called 'brutality' with my own eyes. Then I decided to take revenge on him.

My mum can't be going through all this pain while I look at her. I have to fight for her. I don't care if I lose my life rescuing my mum.

I used my index finger and my left thumb, which forms a shape of 'U," to slyly use them to hold the handle of the knife firm. I stared at him. I noticed he hadn't gotten a strange feeling about my presence. I tried dragging the knife slowly and carefully in order to avoid it tearing my mum's skin, but it was hard to pull out. I carefully widened the blouse with my right hand and gently removed the knife with my other hand. As I removed the knife, I prayed she wouldn't react and draw his attention towards me. Whenever I noticed that his body movement was worthy of suspicion, I stopped.

Finally, I took out the knife and quickly dropped it on the floor, and then I sat on it. Suddenly, he looked in my direction. I threw my face away and then used the corner of my eyes to watch him. I saw him stretching his neck to see if his gun was still in the place he kept it. He turned his head back to my mother's face as he kept his two hands on her breast, squeezing it. I became mad. I took the knife out and raised it up, my eyes scanning for the best place to pierce it.

God, please forgive me. I have to rescue my mum. This was the prayer that went through my mind.

I pierced the knife straight at the back of his neck with all my strength. Immediately I heard him scream out; that almost damaged my eardrums. He quickly placed his right hand at the back of his neck. He started nodding his head. Tears gushed out of my eyes. I couldn't believe what I had done. I went over to my mum's face. Her eyes were popped out, but they were closed. She was still breathing.

"Mum," I called, looking straight at her eyes, "Mum, Mum, are you still alive?"

A strong palpitation began immediately within me. She looked at me and smiled.

"Turn, mum," I summoned her.

She turned, and the serviceman dropped to the floor. I saw a pool of blood on the tiles and also on her belly.

Suddenly, I heard a loud bang on the kitchen door. It was consistent. I became confused about what to do. I stood up and ran to take the gun. Unfortunately, I didn't have an idea of how it was operated. I stared at my mum; I saw her beckoning on me with her hands to come closer to her. The banging of the door continued. I became more confused. I looked at the soldier lying lifelessly as tears continued rolling down nonstop. I ran to answer my mum. She told me to get her some water. I went to the sink located on the left side of the room and got the water for her. The banging became more consistent and faster. I ran over to my mum and poured the water in her mouth. She threw it out immediately.

I looked at the door. A side of the door hinges pulled out. I was still perplexed and confused at the same time. The blood was still flowing from the soldier's corpse. I ran over to the edge of the door, picked up the gun, and went to hide it below the kitchen sink. My mum was still panting for air. The door was pulled down, and then two soldiers popped up with their guns pointed at my face. They scanned the kitchen quickly as they gently navigated their way inside the room. The first soldier at my left side was fair in complexion and had a smooth head. His face was rough, with a bushy beard that could allow forest animals to live in it. He had an average height and a well-built physique. I saw his name above his breast pocket: "Andriy Dark." The second soldier was thin and had a chocolate complexion, with a shaven head that gleamed in the light. He was very tall. The name I saw above his breast pocket was "Igor Zakharov."

I stared at them, watching for their next reaction.

"What is this?" Andriy spoke out, staring at the blood on the floor.

He moved quickly to the soldier's corpse.

"Ici." He yelled as he scanned the corpse's body and placed his hand directly on his nose.

I became scared of what they might do if they found out that he was dead. I prayed for forgiveness. After some minutes, I sighted Andriy nodding his head and then standing up.

"Who killed him? If you don't talk right now, you would join him in the spirit world." Andriy threatened.

If I confess that I was the one who killed him, I would be shot dead. And if I kept quiet, I would still be dead.

"Are you deaf? Talk to me right now." He shouted angrily, putting his left index finger on the cork.

"Hey Vinci?" His other colleagues beckoned on him.

Andriy looked at him with a ferocious eye, then brought down his gun and went nearer to him. My mum signaled to me to come nearer to her, which I did.

"Mila, have you prayed?" she asked, whispering into my ears. I could smell an offensive odour oozing from her mouth.

"Yes, mum, I have prayed. I am ready to die now…." I said, staring straight into my mother's eyes.

She grinned and then patted me on the shoulder, and then she closed her eyes.

"Pull out your clothes, right now." Andriy ordered.

I pondered for about a second or more about the person he was referring to.

"Are you deaf?" he continued his threatening words on us.

"I am sorry, sir, why should I do that?" I asked.

He came closer to me with a burning rage and then slapped me hard on the left side of my face.

"How dare you reply when I give an order?"

I covered the affected ear with my left hand. As I tried to reflect on what I had said wrong, he forcefully ripped my nightgown from the shoulder. I pushed him hard; he moved a little bit back and then came nearer again at me and punched my shoulders twice. I felt weakened after the severe punch. While I stared at the both of them. His colleague was also trying to tear out my mum's clothes. I was going insane from what I was seeing. There was nothing I could do. I was totally weak, to the point where I couldn't move an inch. I screamed out. He covered my mouth forcefully with his hand. When he was done stripping out my nightgown, he left me and stood back. I attempted to escape, but he struck me again, this time on my chest, causing me to cough repeatedly. He then laughed at me. I couldn't imagine that the only cloth remaining on me was my pants. I also saw my mum struggling against her opponent.

So we are going to be sexually assaulted. I pondered.

I was tired of wasting my energy on shedding tears because it wouldn't solve the problem that I was going through. The earlier I understand that I am in for the ordeals that a war brings, the better I become.

"You either give up or never give up." I said it to myself.

Then I saw Andriy unloosing his trouser cord. When he was done, he dragged down his trousers and ordered me to turn my face in the other direction.

"What do you want to do?" I asked with a hoarse voice.

"If you dare say anything, I will disfigure you. You can bet on that with me. You obey every order given to you... your stupid father should have taught you this," he roared, "turn your face to the other side now."

I was frightened the more after he spoke out, as I turned my face to the other side. Suddenly, a dark, thick cloth covered my eyes from behind. When I tried turning back, a rough hand pushed it back. It became tighter as it pressed my eyes inside its hollow. I struggled to free myself, but my weakness overtook me. Before I knew it, he lifted me by my waist, dropped me to the ground, and began unlocking my crossed legs. It then dawned on me that I was going to be raped some minutes from now. My eyes began hurting due to the clothes tied tightly around them. I was already experiencing hell on earth. After several unsuccessful attempts to unlock my legs, he began punching my thighs as I screamed in pain. He then seized the opportunity to widen my legs as he used his hands to drag down my pants from my waist. I wished I could see what he was up to, but unfortunately I could not. I tried pleading to him that I was still a minor and I could die during the process, but I was too weak to talk. After some seconds, I felt an object enter my body as I screamed out. The object persisted in penetrating my body despite the obstruction it encountered. It was becoming so unbearable for me that I began praying for death to take me away from this dreary world. I couldn't imagine that the world could be this horrendous. I never knew that a person would be this wicked and heartless to their fellow humans. The object entered deep into my body as I screamed out, even though my scream was like a whisper. I heard him laughing as he continued thrusting and thrusting into my body. I tried crying, but tears could not come out of my eyes. Then I felt a hand touching my breast, squeezing and shaking it simultaneously.

"Dark," I called faintly, "what have I done to deserve this wickedness that you are doing to me?"

I heard him chuckling as the object went deep into my body. It was as if a hot iron was passing through there. I stiffened my body to suppress the pain I was going through.

"How do you feel about killing my colleague?" he asked, squeezing my breast.

"I was never the cause of his death. He was the cause of it," I faintly spoke out.

"Oh," he said, punching my bare chest.

I coughed.

"Why don't you kill me with your gun straight rather than allowing me to go through a slow death?"

"Oh never, you must continue my generation."

"God forbid it." I uttered.

He laughed again.

"That is the harsh reality. I am enjoying you" he said.

"The God I believe in will judge you."

"Let him do what pleases him, but he can never stop what I am enjoying now."

I felt the object go deep into my body as I screamed out.