Only the Strongest Survive (41 page)

“
It’s not
only revenge
,” Emely said.

“
What?”
Ronald said, jolted from his dream.

John also gave her a surprised look.

Emily
repeated,
“I think it’s not just an old
grudge.”

“
What are you
talking about?” Ronald said.

“I think it’s more a desire to kill.”

“
Of course,
because you deserve it. You took something of ours, something that
wasn’t yours. Simple.”

Emely continued speaking calmly. “No, it’s
not just that. It occurred to me a while ago. I’m almost certain
that you actually enjoy killing.”

H
e admitted to himself that she
was not stupid. His eyes sparkled. “And what led you to this
conclusion?”

“Every time you attacked me, I noticed a
little smile on your face. It wasn’t just anger, it was something
else.”

“Stop talking such nonsense.”

Her calmness
and confidence got on his nerves.
Instead
of screaming and begging, she was analyzing him.

“
You’re a
murderer. You kill because you enjoy it. You’re sick!”

His arousal
turned to rage. He figured he’d let her talk, and when she saw her
grave, she’d start squealing again. He shuffled awkwardly in his
seat.

John clenched
his teeth as the anger in him grew. He resolved not to let it
happen again.

“I think you even enjoyed shooting John.”

“
I don’t have
to listen to this,” Ronald said. Yet he asked, “What are you
talking about?”

“Your mouth is always slightly open when
you’re about to kill. Your eyes get a twinkle in them and your face
looks somehow neutral. I noticed all that when you shot at
him.”

*

Ronald was
losing control over himself, squeezing the gun with incredible
force. He felt like hitting her hard on the head.
He denied to himself that he enjoyed the
thought, convinced that it was simply inevitable.

Ronald
said, “If you don’t shut up this minute, I’ll
break your neck.”

Emely
realized that making him angry was not the best idea, and stopped
talking.

While
transferring the gun to his other hand, Ronald thought about her
words. Without being aware of it, he relived the moment when John
had attacked him. He saw his brother’s strong body and furious eyes
full of danger. Ronald had to defend himself. That was not John, it
was someone else. John had lost his mind by falling in love with
her. He had to be stopped.

Ronald now
had his finger on the trigger, wondering if he really had to or did
he simply want to. He remembered the incredible desire that had led
him to nearly kill his brother, a desire that was out of his
control. But it was not John, it was someone else. A stranger. And
then there
had been that odd
silence.

John, while
driving as ordered, was furious, and repeated to himself that he
would not let it happen.

Emely
look
ed out of the car window. At least
she would be able to tell the world where they had buried her if
she happened to save herself. And so she stared at the
surroundings, trying to remember every detail. They were midway up
the slope, around six hundred feet high, and she was able to see
clearly the forest far around. Everything was dark green. She had
never before seen such a vast area of woodland. As if they were
surrounded by a huge dark-green sea.
Who could just happen to wander into it?

She knew the
answer was no one,
and they were alone in
that wilderness. No loggers, nobody. Just them and the
trees.

Once more the
vehicle leaned dangerously sideways. Suddenly a steep drop appeared
on their left and Ronald said, “I told you to drive
carefully!”

“
Alright,”
John
said curtly, his anger so great now
that he could no longer feel the deep wound inflicted by Ronald. He
kept wondering how to protect Emely against his brother. He glanced
at her staring out of the window. She seemed so beautiful to him,
and brave. He would have given anything to be able to kiss her on
the lips. He was about to lift his arm to caress her hair, but
remembering his brother’s threat, he changed his mind.

Emely’s and
John’s eyes met and they could see the pain in each other. It was
only a fraction of a moment, but it made them both feel better when
they looked back at the road. He touched her hand briefly and they
looked at each other once more. His sad face made Emely cry, she
wanted to hug him so much. She asked
God
to help her one last time.

Then she
thought that John was trying to tell her something. Although he was
looking ahead, she had a feeling that he would look at her soon
again and tell her something. A second ago his eyes had looked
somewhat sharper
. Something in them drew
her attention. She moved her head slightly to the left, not too
much, and pretended to look straight ahead. But in fact she was
waiting for John’s next look.

And it came.
After only a few seconds, his eyes met hers and this time his face
was even more serious. He looked first at her, then at the window
on the right, and then at her again, twisting his eyes in a strange
way, and Emely knew he was up to something. Again, their eyes
turned to the road.

What is he trying to tell me?
It
was definitely something, but she didn’t understand
what.

The vehicle
leaned to one side again. Emely looked at John and as their eyes
met and she saw that his were glistening, Emely knew.
Oh my God, he’s not thinking
that?
She had a feeling he was trying to
tell her to get out at a particular moment.
How can I get out?

She moved her
head left and right slightly in the hope of letting him know that
she couldn
’t do it. But he returned a
serious look in which she saw that there was no other
option.
But what will he do?
He’s fastened to the steering wheel. Why does he want me to get
out?
She was confused, not knowing
exactly what he wanted from her. They were coming near the top of
the small hill and there was something she did not comprehend. So
she waited for John’s next look, afraid Ronald would notice
something.

John
didn’t glance at her, but she could sense that
he was going to do something. He kept searching with his eyes and
she could see that he was ready for something. Once more he
embraced her with his eyes, lovingly this time, blinking gently as
if to give her hope.

What is he up to? Please, John, tell me what
you’re going to do.

At that
moment they reached the summit and what followed happened quickly.
Emely saw the road ahead, which turned sharply to the right in
about twenty yards. Nothing but the blue sky could be seen on the
other side of the bend, which meant the terrain dropped down.
John’s last look followed, the one she would remember
forever. It lasted only a few hundredths of a
second, but she could clearly see it was a goodbye. She could see
in it immense pain and love. If she could stop time at that moment,
she would have. Then she saw John’s fist hitting Ronald on the
nose. John leaned to his right and opened her door and before she
realized what was happening, he had pushed her out so that she fell
on the stony road. A horrific scene followed as she watched the
vehicle speeding toward the precipice.

“
John,
please, don’t!” she screamed so loud that her voice carried at
least two miles. She knew what he was going to do. “John, damn it,
no.”
There must be another
solution.
She saw Ronald looking back at
her. She could see those terrible eyes of his, full of contempt and
hatred. For a moment she thought she could also see the gun, but
then he spotted the abyss and she could clearly hear his last
scream, the one that later often woke her from her sleep. The
scream that signified Ronald’s demise and her
redemption.

The vehicle was speeding along as if wanting
to fly. Tears of despair ran down Emely’s face, but there was no
way in which she could prevent what was to follow.

“John, please, don’t do this,” was all she
was able to say as the SUV flew into the air.

Now time did
stop. A horrendous pain gripped her heart as the car engine roared
in midair.

Emely covered
her eyes, screaming
, “Damn it, John, why
did you do it? Why? You shouldn’t have. You damn idiot. Why …
why?”

All she could see was his last look into her
eyes when he was trying to tell her. That look spoke volumes she
understood well. She knew how much he loved her and how sorry he
was for all the suffering she had been through.

“No, John, no!”

The vehicle
crashed down the rocks and she could hear every sound clearly. She
put her hands over her ears but couldn’t shut out the
noise.

“
John, why
did you do it?” She was choking with tears and the immense pain
inside. “John, no. Why did you leave me?” Her fists were banging on
the ground
. She wished she could die with
him. “John, John, my John!” She covered her face.

Then everything went quiet, only birdsong and
the breeze remained.

Maybe he’s not dead after all
.

The silence
was rocked by
a huge explosion, so strong
that she had to cover her ears again.

“Oh no, John.”

*

She
had no idea how long she had been sitting there
crying, maybe half an hour or an hour, when she finally got up and
walked back. The next few hours she could not remember, as if they
had never existed. She walked and walked, but she was not really
alive inside. Later she was surprised that she had not fainted.
Clearly her survival instinct led her on, all the way to the house
in which she had spent so many horrible and wonderful
moments.

It was lucky
she had spent the journey looking out of the car; otherwise she
would have been lost. And who knows if she would have otherwise
found her way out of the woods.

When she
approached the house, Emely was terribly pleased to see Kitty
barking a greeting. She played with the dog for a while, then she
sat in John’s car and drove northward, to her previous life. She
had wanted this for so very long, but now that she could return,
she wasn’t sure that she wanted her old life back. So much had
changed. Nothing would ever be the same.

Chapter
21

_______________________

Alexandra burst into Blake’s office.

“Damn it, Alexandra, I told you that you
can’t come in here without being invited.”

It was
half
past seven in the morning. He had
slept badly and his head was throbbing. He was drinking his coffee
and reading the newspaper.

Alexandra was
holding the morning edition of
News Continental
and threw it on
his desk. “I thought you might not know yet. Look at the front page
and you’ll know why I’m here.”

Blake Crouse saw a headline in huge
letters:

EMELY DONNOVAN DEVOURER OF HELPLESS
COMPANIES

Blake was
astonished. He went on to read a short summary on the front page.
The full article appeared on page two.

“
This
journalist of yours, Robert Miles, has betrayed us,” Alexandra
said. “I knew from the very beginning that we couldn’t trust
him.”

“
What do you
mean, this journalist of
mine
? You were happy with him
too. How did he find out all these things?”

“
Journalists
do
. They’re driven by a desire for
success and they sniff around better than the police. You know what
this means?”

Blake gave her a surprised look. “What?”

“A big shitty pile of trouble.”

The phone
rang. “A
Daily Press
journalist wants a meeting with someone,” Maria
said.

“
Tell him
that no one is available today,” Blake
replied, and put the phone down.

“Clearly it has already started. Not only has
Miles set the press onto us, it’ll probably also attract the
inspection services. And the value of our shares will fall
again.”

Another phone call. “A journalist from the M3
television station wishes to talk to you, Blake.”

“
Damn it,
Maria, tell everyone who calls today that I’m not here. Make
something up
. Just don’t talk to me about
that journalistic vermin.”

Outside his office, Maria rolled her eyes and
got rid of the caller.

“What do you plan to do now?” Alexandra
asked.

Blake gave her a sharp look. “First, I’ll get
rid of you. Get out of my office now!”

Alexandra
left without a word, but Blake could see she was glowing inside. He
knew how happy she was that he had problems.
Damn you.

He lifted the receiver. “Call a meeting of
the management board.”