CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: strangled, again
I kick my feet and cough as I try to breathe. My nails scratch deeply his skin, trying as hard as I can to break free from him.
John B and JJ come fast enough, both of them pulling Persaud away from me, yelling at him to let go of me. But Persaus is a very strong man, and the fear I can see in his eyes is the whole reason he's still fighting.
"We..." I cough, "...know Professor Sowell..." I try to say with a raspy voice as he keeps cutting out my airflow.
"Who gave you that name?"
"Let her go, dude!" JJ yells again, with a trembling voice.
"She's telling the truth, we're friends, okay?!" John B yells desperately too, trying to take thim off me. "You were in Orinoco last year!"
That seems to mean something to Persaud, as it seems the pressure on my airpipes seems to be softening.
"With five other people, right?!"
"How did you know that?"
"Just let her go!" JJ yells once more.
And then, Persaud lets go of the machete, and JJ takes a hold of it. Both boys manage to get him away and stand up, cornering him against his counter.
I roll on my back, gasping for air, coughing and holding my hands to my throat in agony. I hear the boys talking to Persaud, threatening him to stay still and telling him we just want to talk.
All I've managed to do is get on my knees, grunting and still trying to catch my breath. JJ is holding the machete to Persaud's neck, but still glances at me briefly out of the corner of his eye.
"You okay?" He asks panting.
I give him a thumbs up, as my brother grabs my arm and helps me stand up. "I'm okay." I breath out.
Persaud looks between me and my brother, and I think there's a hint of recognition in his face. He must've seen our father in us, because he stops fighting, and JJ is able to put the machete down.
"Jesus," Persaud sighs.
"Look, we were just with Sowell yesterday." My brother explains. "He, uh... He didn't make it."
"He's dead?"
"Yeah." We nod our heads. "I'm sorry."
Persaud breathes shakily, stumbling around his house, "I'm the last one left." He takes a seat then, grimacing in pain.
"I'm so sorry, sir." I say, walking towards him slowly. "That's why we're here. We had to get to you before they did."
"And I almost killed ya." Persaud shakes his head, "I'm sorry, young lady."
"It's fine. Not my first time getting strangled, I'm used to it." I shrug it off.
"But if we found you," JJ states, "they can too."
John B pulls out from his pocket a drenched paper. "We just have a few questions." He puts the drawing on top of the table for Persaud to see, "Solana, you've been there, yeah?"
"That is a place of evil." Persaud nods his head, looking between us three.
"Okay, that stone piece right there," John B points at a part of the drawing, "me and my dad found the thingy that goes in the center."
Did he just fucking call an archeological discoverment thingy?
"It's a gnomon." I shake my head slowly, closing my eyes.
"The gnomon," Persaus says at the same time.
"What's a gnomon?" JJ asks.
"The gnomon." John B confirms. "Hey, I got it. I got it." He whispers to JJ.
"There's some guys that have taken our father to this place," I keep on explaining, "They're gonna kill him." My voice breaks a little at the last part.
Persaud looks at me in the eye, and I can see he has sympathy for us. But I'm guessing he doesn't want to be a part of this. If his friends have died for this, why would he want to help us?
"We need your help, Neville. Please. We just need to find this place. That's all we ask." I beg in a whisper.
"No, no, no, no." Neville shakes his head, standing up.
"No?" John B repeats.
"The curse has already done enough."
"It's not a curse, okay? We understand that it's dangerous but we need your help." John B tries to convince him.
"Hey!" JJ says then, shushing my brother.
"What?"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
We fall silent, looking at one another. Then I hear it. A boat engine revving. I whip my head to JJ with wide eyes, knowing that we're probably in deep shit right now.
"Hey, Neville... How much traffic do you get on this river?"
"Nothing," Neville scrunches up his nose.
"Neville!" A man screams from outside, "Neville Persaud!"
I catch a glimpse of two men outside through the window, and my heart starts beating faster when I notice the gun in the hands of one of them.
"Get down!" I yell, throwing myself to the floor.
Just a second later, we hear a gunshot and a hole is pierced through one of the walls. The boys throw themselves to the floor, and so does Neville. Gunshots keep flying, and we cover our heads with our arms, trying to keep ourselves safe.
"Get the anchor!" Neville yells, crawling towards the tiller.
I see JJ grab the machete from the floor. I follow him and my brother. We crawl to the side of the boat, John B climbing down to the water first. JJ is next, with the machete between his teeth.
I keep cursing under my breath as I lower myself into the river. The boys wait for me, looking behind us at the small boat where an armed man stands. John B gestures for him and me to go towards that boat, while JJ is supposed to try and get the anchor.
JJ nods with the machete between his teeth, looking like a maniac. My brother and I swim our way towards the boat as quietly as we can. He hoists himself up just enough to catch a glimpse of the keys on the ignition.
"You get the key," He mouths to me inaudibly.
I nod, and while he keeps watch, ready to jump on if I need help, I swim closer to the boat. My arms shake from the tension as I hoist myself up. Trying not to make a sound, I hover my leg over the border of the boat, straddling it.
I lean forward, biting down on my lower lip, reaching my fingers out til my fingertips graze the cold metal of the keys. I grab them in my fist, trying to keep them from clancking, and I slowly pull them out of the ignition.
Unfortunately for me, they do make a sound as I pull them out that alerts the man. I whip my head to him just in time to see the alert in his eyes. He cocks his gun, and I widen my eyes in horror, ducking down trying to avoid getting shot again.
John B is there fast enough, grabbing the barrel and pointing it up so the bullet misses both of us. With a grunt, my brother pushes the gun up, hitting the man in his face with it.
He stumbles back, crashing into me when he falls to the river. But in the crash, I lose my balance and out of reflex my hands search for something to hold onto, letting go of the key for just a fraction of a second. It is enough to see them hit the water and slowly sink.
"Oh, great." John B scoffs.
"Shut up, John." I push my brother, ignoring his annoyed face.
I squint my eyes trying to find JJ in Persaud's boat. He's nowhere to be seen. And I'm not sure if that's actually a good sign.
I get in the water again, swimming towards the boat with my brother right behind me. We climb up just in time to hear Persaud fighting with the man.
JB pushes me out of the way when the gun is thrown in front of us. He takes the lead, and tries to get to it first. However, the man comes out and kicks my brother in his chest, throwing him rolling on his back to the floor with a grunt.
John B gets back on his feet swiftly, and changes places with the man who's now holding the gun aiming at him.
I swim towards the back, until I'm right behind this man. I hear him speaking to my brother, saying something like not this time. I'm assuming these are the same men that tried to kill him the day before.
I'm not letting that happen.
I move as fast as I can, climbing up the boat as my brother gets down on his knees following the man's orders. I'm almost there, still with one hand on the ladder when JJ appears next to me, still with the fucking machete in his mouth.
He taps my arm, and points with his chin towards the man, and then his eyes snap to the river behind us. I nod my head, understanding what he's saying.
We both reach out for the man, grabbing him by his clothes, and with all the strength I have in my upper body, I pull at the same time JJ does.
The man stumbles back down, tripping on his own feet and falling to the water. I climb up the ladder quickly, with JJ behind me.
"JJ!" John B calls, "The machete!"
JJ tosses the weapon to my brother, and yells for him to cut the line. With a swift movement, the line is sliced by the edge of the machete, and John B sighs in relief when Persaud's houseboat sails away leaving behind our new enemies.
The three of us rush inside, joining Persaud in the cabin, shouting at him to go.
"Are they coming?" The man pants.
"I doubt it." I say, trying to get a glimpse out of the tiny window.
"No, we're good." JJ confirms.
"You owe me an anchor." Persaud says, looking back at JJ.
"You're welcome." He says sarcastically, looking astonished at Persaud.
John B laughs under his breath. I let my head fall tirelessly on JJ's shoulder as I let out a chuckle, and he wraps his arm around me, kissing the top of my head, still giving Persaud a side-eye.