Jonathan Roy

I throw the lawnmower with fury, letting it shatter the glass and explode into pieces, while the rest of the frame, along with the device, hits Jon, sending him crashing backward. I don’t think or run to the greenhouse as the detective does; she wouldn’t have time. By the time he entered, it would only be her lifeless body on the ground. My body is overtaken by rage and hatred, and the paralysis of my mind turns into fear. I wish I had smashed that damned glass earlier; the only thing that held me back was Dexter, who needed Jon to keep talking while he recorded. My little submarine had been smart, getting Jon to speak as much as possible. His pained face, his eyes lifted towards me, filled me with terror, and everything inside me exploded. My legs leap over the casters, avoiding the small body convulsing in fear, crashing into the wall, eyes squeezed shut. Dexter bursts through the door, sending Lira crashing to the floor with a hit to her face. Lorane looks at me, frightened, grabbing the fallen knife.
“Drop that knife, Lorane!” I snarl with hatred at the crazy woman.
“I can leave, but James comes with me!” Lorane turns her face towards Baby, raising the knife to stab the unconscious body. I need two steps before my clenched fist hits her face, making her stagger backward.
Lorane lunges again with the knife raised, but the shot is precise to her chest before her arm can lower to harm my sister. I look at Dexter, who holds the gun in his hand, returning it to the holster. He walks over to Baby and lets his fingers touch her throat.
“She’s weak, pulse is low.” Dexter holds Baby’s wrist, looking at me with concern.
“Untie her, we need to get them out of here!” I turn my eyes to Jon, unconscious, lying near Gim, with the lawnmower on his stomach pinning him to the ground.
When Dexter found me at the pier, picking me up in a frenzy, searching every corner of the island for Gim, I couldn’t believe what the detective told me, so I went to see for myself, and it was horrifying. Jon’s grandmother was dismembered, stored in parts inside the refrigerator. The decapitated head had its eyes open, wide, with coagulated blood around the cut meat.
“How did you know?” I shift from the rotting head to Dexter, who stands beside me.
“Miss Fox. She received a call where your headless sister confirmed that the old woman hadn’t left the island.” My fingers are already on his jacket, pulling him up while I glare at him.
“You saw her? Where is she?” I snarl between my teeth, feeling a wave engulfing me with each beat of my heart.
“Are you talking about Miss Fox?” I nod, clenching my jaw with rage for him not telling me right away where she is.
“I left her at the mansion…” My jaw clenches, furious. Whoever did this to Jon’s grandmother is now inside the mansion, with Ginger.
The man stays on the ground as I run out the door, getting into the car.
I grab the fallen knife from the floor in my fingers, returning to Gim, who lies curled up in a fetal position with her eyes closed.
“Hey, look at me, Gim. You’re safe, baby.” She just cries, shrinking her body with each touch.
I pull her legs, using the knife to cut the tape from her ankles, and then her hands, pulling her into my arms. I release her mouth, hearing the sound of pain blending with screams of terror.
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, Gim.” I hold her face, pressing my own against hers to steady myself amidst the madness that took over me when I didn’t see her, when I feared losing her, finding her in that greenhouse.
I had left the car two kilometers from the mansion’s entrance, circling the residence with Dexter. When he reached me, I was going to enter through the back doors until my body froze when I heard Ginger’s scream coming from the greenhouse.
“Jonathan… Oh my God!” Gim mumbles through tears, fumbling with her fingers, hugging me in desperation. I hug her tighter until her body is pressed against mine.
“It’s over, I’m here… I’m here, little one.” I have never felt anything as strong inside me as the fear of losing this woman.
I wouldn’t survive. Nothing would be left of me if Gim were gone forever. I could live off the crumbs I’d discover about her, but I couldn’t live if she were no longer in this world. My heart races, compressing my arms around her back, burying my face in her neck and smelling her scent, which has become my air.
“I thought I was going to die, I thought I would die without seeing you…”
“I’m here, I’ll always be here, my submarine.” I would always be here, waiting for her. For the rest of my life. I lift her up, pulling her with me to sit her body on the wooden table.
“Jon! Oh my God! The things he said, what he did, Roy…” Her thin arms cling tighter, retracting her body. “I was so scared, scared of how he could hurt you.”
I hold her tightly, encaging her in my arms, kissing her tear-streaked face, feeling my body coming back to life once more. Ginger is so terrified that she cannot understand that the only thing that has the power in this world to hurt me and throw me from paradise to hell is her. Lira’s screams make me pull away from Gim. I see the maid raising a garden shears. Dexter holds Baby in his arms, trying to dodge the attacks of the bloodthirsty woman. My arms separate from Ginger as I walk angrily towards the damned woman. She raises her hand, running towards me with her wild, crazed eyes. I extend my arm, grabbing her raised wrist in the air, delivering a headbutt to her face, disorienting her and making her stagger backward. She spits blood on the ground but then raises the shears towards me again, charging with savagery. My hand tightens around her throat, using the other to hold her arm.