Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

frustration, trying to get her to make a connection with me that wasn’t totally in another world somewhere. “Tell me how old your baby is.”
    “What baby?” she asked, smiling sweetly.
    I squeezed her arm, hoping it would help her focus. “The baby you have down in there,” I said, gesturing with a nod towards the stairs under the cabinet behind her.
    “It’s not a baby,” she said, frowning. Then she got angry, her words taking on a vicious tone. “It’s a demon that needs to be killed.” She shook me off and grabbed my arm, a fierce look on her face, spittle flying as she growled out her next words. “You’re looking for a boy. A tall one with a German accent. I know where he is. You kill that demon down there, and I will tell you where you can find him.”
    I grabbed her hand that had wrapped itself uncomfortably around my wrist and pried it off, stepping back away from her. I was so angry, I was liable to punch her in the throat and gouge out her eyes. I needed to put some distance between us so I could think properly.
    Winky spoke first. “We aren’t killing your damn baby. It’s innocent. It didn’t do anything to you or us. Now tell us where Bodo is, you crazy bitch!”
    I felt her moving to go after the girl, so I stuck my arm out to block her progress. “No. Not like this. We can’t beat it out of her - she’s a mom.”
    Winky stopped pressing on my arm. “Oh, shit. Yeah. I didn’t think of it that way.”
    I held my hands up in supplication. “Listen, um, sweetie …” I was taking a page out of LaShay’s book now. “ … We just want to help you out as best we can and find our friend. That’s all. No one needs to be killed or murdered.” I took a step towards her, ignoring the cries that came up from the stairs again. “You’re a mom. You can’t have your baby murdered. It’s not right.”
    “But it’s not a baby,” she whispered, tears now finally coming down her cheeks.
    I was so relieved to see those tears; they gave me hope that she wasn’t totally broken into a million irretrievable pieces.
    “It is a baby. It’s your precious baby. Just like you were your mom’s baby about … fifteen years ago.”
    “I’m seventeen.”
    “Okay, then, seventeen years ago.”
    “But my mother wasn’t forced to have me. By a demon. My father wasn’t a demon.”
    “No, she wasn’t … and no he wasn’t a demon, I’m sure. But the rape you suffered doesn’t mean the baby isn’t a human being … a tiny baby that needs your love.” I stepped closer and took her hands in mine. “Is it a girl or a boy?”
    “It’s a boy,” she whispered, “just like the monster.” She smiled, nearly glowing with happiness. “That’s why you have to kill it!” She said it with such hope in her voice, it made me think she had been pretending to be a little sane in the hopes that she’d be able to convince me to carry out the murder of her child.
    I jerked her hands down once to try and break through to her conscience. “I told you. I’m not going to kill your baby. Please tell me where Bodo is. I’m begging you.”
    She tilted her head to the side, her face a mask of innocence. “Isn’t that fun?”
    I furrowed my brow, confused. “Fun? What’s fun?”
    She straightened her head back up and fixed me with an evil grin. “That we both want something so bad, we’re willing to beg for it.” She jerked her hands away from mine and took a step back. “Kill the demon below and you will find your boyfriend. ” She spat the word out and then jerked her head back, reaching her hands up slowly to readjust her headband. “I’ll meet you downstairs. I have to go feed it.” She paused halfway down the stairs, her voice coming up from below. “Oh, and by the way … did I mention you’d better hurry? Yeah. Your boyfriend needs you. Before things get ugly.”
    That did it. I took off after her, ready to wring her neck, baby or no baby.
    Winky grabbed me by the back of my shirt, halting my murderous rampage. “No!” she said in a low tone. “That’s exactly what she wants. Don’t go into a trap.”
    I stopped fighting her and thought about it for a second. She’s right. Be smart. Think about your opponent. Read her signs. Measured strikes. Measured reactions . My dad’s voice was coaching me again. It warmed me with confidence and the sense that he was somehow, some way, communicating his love for me. This is going to work out. I am going to find Bodo, and I am most