Only the Strongest Survive (10 page)

The rain had
nearly stopped and
it seemed to be
brightening up. The horizon was blue again and the first orange
rays of the setting sun were already peeping out from behind the
dark clouds.

As soon as he
reached the house, he ran upstairs to Emely’s room. He went in
expecting her to be asleep. But to his surprise she was
awake
, and she stared calmly at
him.

“Emely?”

She said
nothing. Not a muscle on her face moved. It was as if she
wore a rubber mask.

“How are you feeling?”

Still
nothing. He looked at h
er thin, pale
hands lying at her side and for a moment he doubted she was still
alive. Not a finger moved. The only sign of life were her shining
eyes, boring into him.

He had to
look away because he couldn
’t stand it.
He was beginning to feel embarrassed. There was something in those
eyes. He could sense immense hatred, as if she could kill him with
a look. He sat on her bed and shook her slightly.

“Emely?”

She looked
away, barely able to contain the tears that had gathered in
her eyes. A fierce pain at the front of her head
had been throbbing since she had woken up. But there was a much
worse pain in her heart. Every time this vital organ pushed the
blood around her veins, she felt a chill in her limbs. Her hairs
stood on end and her every movement was accompanied by pain. She
wanted to die. Her brain was spinning with questions:
Why didn’t they leave me in that
grave? Why didn’t they allow my heart to stop forever?
She couldn’t believe they would do something
like that.

“
My
God, Emely, are you alright?”

She looked at
him like a snake
would and spit in his
face. “How can you mention God after what you’ve done?”

It came as
such a surprise that John screamed and jumped off her bed. He
looked at her with
astonishment and
reached into his pocket. “Damn it, I knew you were up to
something.”

Then
he
laughed, pulled a wrinkled
handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped off her saliva. He folded
the handkerchief twice and put it back in his pocket. He grabbed
her by the neck. “Listen, you bitch. If it weren’t for me, you’d
have been dead long ago. Which doesn’t mean you won’t
be.”

“What do you want?” she asked dryly.

“Let’s do everything in the right order.”

He let go of
her neck and stroked her face. Then he got up and pulled some
chewing gum
out of his pants pocket, put
it in his mouth, and began chewing noisily. He didn’t know where to
begin. “You mentioned two million dollars in a Swiss
account.”

“Yes, so?”

“
I hope it
wasn’t just a figment of your imagination. Because if it was
….”

“I’ve told you. No one knows about it but
me.”

He nodded in
satisfaction. If it transpired that she didn
’t have the money, he would simply have to get rid of her
again. “And how would you transfer the money to my account? I’m not
so stupid as to think that the police aren’t monitoring
everything.”

“
I can
arrange the transfer in five minutes over the
phone
, with a password that only I know.
It’s not a normal bank account, so don’t worry about the police.
I’ve kept this money for a real emergency, like a war or
something.”

“Good.”

He went
and
opened the shutters on the windows so
that daylight joined the light cast by the bulb. Then he adjusted
the heavy drapes. Dirty dark patches appeared on the walls that had
not been visible earlier. It was clear that the room had not been
painted for at least twenty years.

“
You’ll do
that tomorrow. Now I’ll
go make you some
dinner.”

After he
had
closed the door and she heard the
lock, she felt relief. Calm and completely without any feelings she
stared at the yellowed wall. She felt no fear, only hatred. She
could not care less about that money; she just wanted to live. She
wanted revenge.

Then she
remembered when they had buried her.
After she had regained consciousness in the coffin and
became aware of where she was, she had begun banging on the wood
that was constraining her. In the hope of opening the coffin she
pushed against it with her legs. She tried with all the energy she
had, but nothing gave.
Just a
bit more,
she told herself,
I’ll get it.

She continued
to bang and push. The air was getting thinner and thinner. She was
breathing fast and was barely able to give her lungs
the oxygen they needed. She knew she had no more
than a few minutes left.
A bit
more and I’ll manage.

She turned to
the sides. Instead of trying
to push, she
began to pull the planks toward her.
There must be a way of getting out.

Her chest was
beginning to feel tight
, but still she
did not give up. “I can do it …”

And then
suddenly
all her suffering was over.
Instead of the darkness around her, a wonderful light appeared. She
could no longer feel her body; it did not belong to her anymore.
She felt like a bud of cotton wool carried by the wind. She looked
around and saw a pleasant white light everywhere. There was a
particularly warm glow in front of her and she was slowly being
carried toward it. It was like approaching a large light bulb,
which was not hot or menacing, but attractive and
calming.

*

Two hours
later John went back to her. “Just to make things clear. My beloved
brother has no idea that you’re still alive. I’ll prepare a room
for you in the basement, where you’ll be safe. Sooner or later,
he’ll be back and the more noise you make, the greater the chance
of him coming to visit you. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“
You’re in an
isolated house, no neighbors anywher
e
near. It’s in the middle of woods, so even if you did manage to
escape, you’d have little chance of finding your way
out.”

He unfastened her right hand and stroked her
hair. She moved her head.

He said, “All
I expect from you is reasonable behavior.”

Emely nodded.

He
adjus
ted the collar on his shirt, which
was bothering him.

“And when will you let me go?”

“I suggest we go to the dining room. I’ve
made us a wonderful dinner and it’s getting cold.”

“So?”

“Let’s take things one at a time. I’ll tell
you about my plans for you.”

He
gave her the clothes she had been wearing when
she was kidnapped, all freshly washed. Only now did Emely become
aware that she was almost naked.

“Get dressed. I’ll wait outside the
door.”

After they
sat down at a huge wooden table, she was surprised at all the
food.
From the covered ceramic dishes
wafted the smell of roasted meat and cooked vegetables. Two places
were set with expensive plates and silver cutlery. John uncovered
one of the dishes and a cloud of steam rose from it, drops of
condensation gathering on the edges of the lid.

“Vegetable soup. It’ll do you good.”

Even though
the food smelled wonderful and she was hungry, she
didn
’t feel like eating. All she wanted
was to find out what his intentions were. The smell of dust and
dirt that had not been cleaned for a long time was irritating her
nostrils.

“
Come on, get
some soup.”
He watched the light from the
candles reflecting in her eyes.

They
ate in silence. Using a large spoon she ate the
soup with bits of vegetables and chicken floating on top. It was
tasty, but Emely’s thoughts were elsewhere. She looked at John with
anger as he passed her a plate with a large veal cutlet and
potatoes. She wanted to grab the plate and throw it against the
wall. But she controlled her impulse and cut into the meat with her
silver knife. To her surprise, the meat was tender and delicious,
interestingly spiced.

John added
salad,
with a yoghurt dressing. For
dessert, he served a Napoleon pastry with caramel sauce.

“
This was
very good,” she said without feeling, hoping that
he
’d finally begin talking.

“
Thank
you
. Cooking is one of the things I’m
good at,” he said, lifting his head in pride and unbuttoning his
shirt collar. “I’ll make us some coffee.” He went to the
kitchen.

Emely looked
around the huge room which was obviously intended
only for dining. There were stuffed boar and
stag heads on the walls. There was even a bear’s head.
Clearly there’s no shortage of
wildlife in these woods,
she thought. The
tall windows were draped in blue velvet curtains. She wondered what
it was like outside.

From the
kitchen, John said,
“My dad was a great
hunter. We often used to come here.”

She could not care less who his father was.
She just wanted to get away, go home, as soon as possible. She
wanted revenge.

“
Once he was
attacked by a bear
,” John said, taking
his seat. “Luckily he was very athletic. He ran down the hill and
got away—”

She
said, “Listen, I’m really not interested in what
happened to your father. What I’d like to know is what’s happening
to me.”

He ignored
her comment and went on: “Instead of coming home all scared because
he had just managed to escape the paws of a grizzly, he was filled
with re
venge and decided he would get at
least one bear. And seven months later he did. You can see its head
on your right.”

Irritably she
once more looked a
t the motionless head,
and clenched her fists.

“Considering we’ll be spending quite some
time together, there will be plenty of opportunities to tell you
more about my family.”

“
What do you
mean,
we’ll be spending quite some time
together?”

He
leaned
against the tall back of his chair
and his face grew serious. “Just so that you’re clear. If you think
that you can redeem yourself with a lousy two million, you’re very
mistaken.”

She stared at
him in horror
.

“
Our company
that you took over was worth
much more.
Considering you’re such a renowned expert in securities, it won’t
be a big problem for you to turn the two million into ten. Have I
made myself clear enough?”

“What? What do you think I’ll do?”

“
Quite
simple. I’ll get a room ready for you in the basement that will
serve as your bedroom and study. The computer I’ve bought will be
connected to the
Internet, but because of
the special filters you’ll only be able to see specific sites that
show stock trading. You won’t be able to communicate with the
world.”

Emely looked
at him with dismay. She was becoming
nauseous.
This man is
insane.
“Impossible. If I wanted to make
ten million dollars out of two, I’d need at least two years, and
that’s with a lot of luck.”

“So?”

“
What do you
mean, so? I can’t live in a basement for two years.” Her
face
flushed and the corners of her lips
were trembling. “Besides, I’d have to trade with the highest degree
of risk. That means I’d have to speculate exclusively with shares
that bring the highest return, meaning the most risky
ones.”

She grabbed
the edges of the table with her hands and
leaned forward as if she wanted to convince him with her
body about the gravity of what she was about to say. “There are not
many companies in the world with shares that would grow by more
than 30 percent a year. I’d have to buy only the shares of smaller
and medium-sized companies, the so-called gazelles.”

“
What?”

“
Gazelles are
fast
-growing companies with a high
return. They are smaller companies turning into medium-sized ones
that later change into a joint-stock company. Due to their success,
the value of their shares grows exceptionally quickly. If I wanted
to increase the capital by more than 400 percent, which is what
you’re asking for, it would mean speculating only with these
shares, but this involves the highest risk.”

“And where’s the problem?”

Emely could not believe that she was dealing
with such an idiot. “The problem is in the fact that these
companies are very unstable. They invest their capital in very
risky deals. Today they’re making a profit and tomorrow they may be
bankrupt. Almost all financial institutions invest their funds into
the shares of large companies which bring in less profit but are
much more stable.”

John covered
his mouth as he
yawned widely. Then he
stretched his arms. “All this is way too complicated for me. All I
want is the ten million you took from me. When you’ve repaid your
debt, you’ll be free, I promise. But until then ….”