The man reached over to pull out one of those arrows. Instead of putting it on a bow, however, he put his fist over his other shoulder as if he was about to shoot it himself. The arrow was thin and slick. The tip of the arrow glared at him with hungry precision.
Riyad wanted to move out of the way, but his body was paralyzed with fear. The only thing he was able to do was cower and squeeze his eyes shut.
So, this is it?... he thought.
Cring! Cring!
Riyad slowly opened his eyes. The man dropped his arm and tapped one of his earbuds. The purple in his eyes dissipated to reveal a set of regular black ones hiding behind the smokes.
"Thank you for calling Bob's Donut! This is Vinh. How can I help you?" The man spoke with false cheer.
What kind of sick joke is this? Riyad stared at him, dumbfounded. He now considered a new possibility of being stuck in a TV show and almost caught himself waiting to hear the laugh tracks.
"Yes, today's special is Hawaiian Donut. Yes ma'am. Yes." The man began pacing back and forth.
Riyad saw the opportunity and began scooting backward but without even taking a peek at Riyad, The man called Vinh pointed the arrow at him and the long blade snapped onto his forearm again. Great, now I'm about to get sliced by a part-time donut shop worker.
Vinh continued with the call as if nothing had happened. "So basically, it's a glazed donut with barbequed pineapple bits on them and it's as delicious as it sounds. Yes, ma'am...so, six of them would be twenty-four dollars without the tax. Alright, perfect! Is it going to be to-go or...alright, ma'am. Perfect! Thank you so much."
Vinh stared at his palm until a cubic hologram appeared on it. After some tappings on them, he went back to pacing with his fists on his hip.
"Yo, six Hawaiian Donuts to-go for Jennifer. She should be there in about five minutes." His pacing quickened. "No! I can't. I was supposed to be clocked out already. I'll stay longer when I get a raise!" Without waiting for a response, he ended the call and approached Riyad.
"So what do we have here?" He squatted and rested his arms on his knees. His voice deepened and his eyes widened with intrigue. "This is fascinating. The fear in your eyes...I can almost taste it. I have also noticed the rhythmic shivers surging down your body. Amazing! You can almost cry, yet you don't. Why is that? Do you feel cold sweats? Can you feel your heartbeat in your temple?"
Riyad continued to stare at him with a dry throat.
"Wow, it is truly amazing how fear can render a being speechless. Beautiful!" He shook his head. "Anyways, we have about ten to eight minutes left before things can get any worse. You've already caused enough damage."
Riyad wanted to open his mouth and ask him who he was and what he had meant by the "damage," but his jaw wouldn't budge. He peered around the man and thought he saw shadows of movements for a second. Did a goat accidentally sneak in with the man? He felt sorry for the animal who would probably meet the same fate as him if it were to get in the man's way. The man was equipped with murder.
"Seriously? A kid? Whoever sent you here really thought they could outsmart us by sending a baby. Even the ignorance is remarkable." Vinh smirked, nastily.
A set of footsteps perked Riyad's ears before they were silent again, but the man continued to talk as if he hadn't heard the noise. "Who sent you here, buddy? The Bengals?"
Riyad begged his trembling mouth to open and form words, but the simple sight of the man made him forget how to speak.
Riyad jerked his eyes to the left. He thought he heard some footsteps once more. The noise was faint.
"Who am I kidding?" Vinh pushed his knees down as he stood up. "This isn't my job to make you speak. My job is to..."
He was disappointed by Vinh not mentioning anything about donuts. The man clutched the arrow over the opposite shoulder again.
Riyad's eyes jittered from the tip of the arrow to the man's eyes to a narrow silhouette of an object that slowly rose above him. As Vinh tightened his flex, the silhouette caught a twinkling star of light on its edge. It was a tip of a pickaxe. Yayli!
It all happened simultaneously: the arrow shot out to him as the pickaxe reached back and punctured into Vinh's back. Both Riyad and Vinh howled in pain. The arrow had struck Riyad on his forearm. Through the slits of his eyes, he saw Vinh stagger to turn around. Behind him, stood the unmistakable silhouette of Yayli. She held the pickaxe with both hands. She took a step back and her body fell into the light. Her eyes were widened with horror.
"Who the heck are you?" The man straightened and the blades snapped onto his forearms. "Strange. I wasn't expecting any interference...Can't believe you caught me off guard like that! I am so not going to get the goddamn raise!"
Yayli's legs began trembling as she slowly stepped back once more. "L-leave Jasper a-alone!"
"Jasper?" Vinh looked at Riyad over his shoulder, but Riyad's eyes were still glued to Yayli. He couldn't comprehend why she would risk their lives to save him. If he were to slip into a waterfall, the best Irfan would do would be to stick his toe out for Riyad to hold onto. She probably wasn't expecting to find a killing machine in the barn when she sneaked in. Still...
"Let's get over with this quickly," said Vinh as he suddenly rushed toward Yayli with one of his arms almost touching his back as he charged up a jab.
C'mon Riyad, do something! Time slowed to a halt as he glared at his legs. As if he was stuck in a dream, his legs refused to move the slightest, despite how much he wanted them to. If she's risking her life for you, then so can you! The paralysis crawled up to his neck.
Vinh shot out his fist before he could reach her, but within a split second, another shadow leaped out of the darkness and halted right in between them.
C- Carter! Are you cra― Riyad couldn't finish his thought. His throat went sandy as he watched the blade dig deep into Carter's chest. Vinh lifted his hooked body and threw it to the side. The limp body broke through the animal enclosure and thumped onto the ground. It wasn't long before blood began pooling around.
"Whatever that was..." Vinh shook the blood off his blade.
T-this is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. Riyad's eyes pooled and the pain on his arm numbed. Why's this happening? Where am I? What is going on? He cursed himself for not looking away. He saw it all: how the blade sliced into Carter's body and got stuck, how he struggled on the blade as Vinh lifted his arm, how Carter screamed in pain. Riyad had to swallow the vomit that crawled up to his throat. For the first time ever, he began wishing for the sight of his parents and his aunt Nur. The horror suffocated him.
Vinh didn't hesitate at the sight. Instead, he approached Yayli, who was shaking badly. She didn't speak a word. She didn't yell her brother's name, either. Tears waterfalled down her cheeks and the weight of the pickaxe overcame her as it hit the ground. Riyad expected her to scream Carter's name and charge at Vinh with the pickaxe, but all her energy seemed to have drained. The same Yayli who was throwing jabs at him was now cowering with despair from her brother's death. He detested seeing her in that state. That was not the Yayli he knew. Wake up, Riyad! Please, wake up. Pleaseee...
"That was your brother, I'm guessing?" asked Vinh. "Again...beautiful. I'm speechless, to say the least. I'd even shed a tear if it weren't for the lack of time in my hand." He raised an eyebrow at Yayli's tool. "Back to the matter at hand...This is a tough pickaxe, I'll give you that. " Vinh snatched the pickaxe out of her hand with no effort and broke the handle in half. "I'm sure you're curious about how it feels to be stabbed by a pickaxe..."
Riyad pushed down on the ground to lift himself off the floor, but it was as if his arms had zero strength. He then tried to bring his legs close to him, so he could jump up, but they continued to stay frozen. Jesus Christ, Riyad. You're just going to sit here like an idiot and watch the person who tried to save you...die? This time he wasn't crying for Carter, but for himself. I'm a failure. He closed his eyes.
"I'll show you something even better," Vinh sneered.
Riyad shut his eyes tighter. He could now hear the soft sobs of Yayli, but he quickly muffled his ears with his hands. I'm sorry, Yayli. I'm sorry Carter. I'm sorry Nur.
Deep within him, he felt that Yayli would be spared and the man would disappear just like the ship, but his wish shattered as he heard the thin and sharp noise of the blade passing through Yayli. Sling! Then he heard something hit the floor and roll down. A shiver went down from the tip of his toes to the hair on the back of his neck. There was another thump, but this time it was heavier and larger. Did Yayli somehow manage to save herself and kill Vinh instead?
The sound of two blades snapping back echoed around the barn along with metallic footsteps reaching his direction.
Maybe, Yayli brought some blades with her. Maybe, she was wearing some heavy boots, too.
"Alright, back to business."
Vinh's voice rang a pang in his heart. No...She's mimicking his voice to mess with me...
"We're running out of time, Jasper...or whatever your actual name is."
Riyad was finally able to open his mouth and the barn filled with the weight of his scream.
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