Creatures of the Heart

Dormancy

Woon lifted Mimi and grabbed her mother-in-law's hand. She turned towards the bathroom door. Before they could take another step, the room door swung open. Her mother-in-law shrieked and Mimi wailed. She squinted at the flood of white light.

A silhouette of a short man stood at the door. His scalp glistened with sweat. A cackle and foreign words spilled from his mouth. The two women and child huddled in the corner, frozen in fright, as they dreaded their impending fate.

A tall man walked past the short guy at the doorway to the women. He grabbed Woon and eyed the crying child with a sneer. Woon hugged her daughter closer. The man hustled the women to Chin who spotted a bloody slash wound on his left cheek. A bearded man held Chin at knifepoint.

The robbers quickly bounded and lined up the hostages on their knees in the master bedroom. Mimi clung to Woon in fits of tears. The men continued to search the house, upending everything in sight, and taking all the valuables they could find.

The short guy found the safe at the back of the cupboard and demanded, "Open!"

No one moved. A hard slap was swiftly delivered across Chin's left cheek. Droplets of blood splattered on Woon's face. The old lady whimpered.

"Stop, stop! I'll open it!" Woon pushed herself up too quickly and received a blow from the tall guy. She crumbled to the floor.

The short guy grabbed the raised hand of his accomplice and signalled him to stop. He dragged Woon to her feet towards the cupboard.

They are not getting away with anything. The police will be here soon, she thought.

The backlight of the digital pad on the safe door glowed an eerie green. The bald guy nodded at Woon.

"Four, nine, five, seven, nine," she said.

Beep.

The safe door opened and the robber's grin grew at the stacks of cash and boxes of glittering jewellery.

In the background, the old lady's cries grew louder as she watched her precious gold necklaces and jade pendants disappear into the robber's bag. The gold bracelet, the only thing Woon's late mother had left to her, was next. She clenched her teeth in anger.

Where's the police? she wondered.

As soon as the last wad of cash went into the bag, the bald robber motioned for his two partners to leave. The tall guy stopped the short one. They exchanged foreign words rapidly. The conversation ended with the short guy leaving the room. His bearded partner followed, lugging the loot.

The tall guy picked Mimi up. The little girl's wails turned into screams.

"Leave Mimi alone!" Chin shouted.

"No, don't take Mimi!" Woon screamed.

Chin struggled to get up. The man hit him with a crowbar and he fell back down.

Woon hollered and the floor began to vibrate. The man steadied himself and swung the crowbar at her but missed. He headed for the door with Mimi still in his arm.

"LEAVE MIMI ALONE!" Woon yelled.

Her daughter's abductor quickened his steps. Woon grunted, and the air around Mimi shaped itself into a bubble and encased the little girl. She clenched her jaw and the man screamed in pain as the air bubble closed in on his arm in a ring of fire. Stunned, he let go of Mimi and turned to run out of the room. Woon shot him a steely stare. His foot lifted off the floor before he could move a muscle. The man froze in a running pose and rotated in mid-air to face his captives in the room.