Primal - By D.A. Serra Page 0,83

There is only five feet between them and she tries with brutal desperation to control the sound of her panting but she must take in air - her body demands oxygen. She needs a few seconds more.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” Confidently, Ben flips on the kitchen lights, which really panics her - she likes the dark - she needs the dark - it is her friend and she knows that. It’s so bright. God, so bright! The timer: nine… eight… He easily figures out where she must be. He starts slowly to circle the butcher’s block.

“I’m looking forward to seeing your son again when we’re done here. Such a cute boy reminded me of Kent when he was little.”

Alison slides open the drawer and pulls out the very long two-pronged barbecue fork. The timer: three…two… He’s at the corner of the island.

He smiles, “Peek-a-boo.” He looks over. She’s right below him.

The microwave buzzer goes off. He spins involuntarily toward the unexpected sound from directly behind him. Alison rises up and jams the barbecue fork into the flesh of his side. He lurches forward and releases a wail of angry pain. It is the scream of an enraged and injured beast! She uses the moment to bolt for the basement doorway thankfully open. Alison dashes down the stairs while Ben has to pull the fork from the soft tissues of his body and from where one of the tongs has punctured his right kidney. Game over. He is injured! He is in a fury of hate. No matter what happens, even if he has to go with her, he’s not leaving until she is dying painfully at his feet. He stuffs a kitchen towel under his shirt to quell the bleeding. He turns and moves to the basement, and then, he stops abruptly. He has underestimated her all along. He will not do that again. She’s a survivor, a fighter. He knows there is a chance someone has heard the gunshots. He will need to move it along. His eyes slowly take in the scene and he considers his options. The basement must be a trap. Why else would she run there instead of out the back door of the house? It’s not logical. And she has proven to be logical. Ben walks over to the kitchen sink and opens the cabinet door underneath. He reviews the products available to him. He pulls out the can of oven cleaner. He opens the drawer where she got the barbecue fork and removes the long sticks of matches. “What a predicable little homemaker.” He ignores the pain in his side and with only the ghost of a limp, he walks to the basement door where he strikes the match, points the can and sprays into the flame creating a blowtorch. He moves the torch meticulously around the door molding setting the paint and wood trim on fire. He grabs the newspaper from the kitchen table and tosses it on the floor; the pages catch quickly and begin to burn throwing off plumes of black smoke.

Downstairs, Alison scrambles over all the obstacles and wrenches open the dresser drawer. She throws Jimmy’s Batman pajama to the floor and unearths the Mossberg rifle. Gratefully, she grabs it and lifts it out. She spins quickly around expecting him to be right there! Where is he? Why hasn’t he followed her? What’s keeping him? Then, she smells it. Smoke! She moves quickly back to the stairs. Her eyes widen as she sees the flames at the top. Oh, no.

Ben revels in the colors of the flames. Exquisite, he thinks. Even while he was watching Uncle Rafe burn to death tied up inside his Canadian cabin, Ben had to note how brilliant and attractive the flames were as they licked their way up the walls. Fire is truly captivating. Something about the energy, the waving shapes, and bright yellow and blue, makes him want to stick his hand in it. He did that once as a kid and he remembers it as being thrilling although he still carries the scars. With the flames eating up the kitchen wall and steadily on its way, he proceeds out the back door. Once outside, he turns the corner of the little home, passes the barbecue, and stops in front of the two wooden trap doors a few feet from the ground that lead down to the basement. The two doors are partially covered with ivy. He noticed them a