No Way To Escape | Novel

CHAPTER 15: FRED

Fred, Mark, I and some police officials assembled in my flat. I prepared each a cup of coffee and all of us got seated in the hall with Fred facing us all.

'Let's start this, Fred. Your words are gonna be the ultimate statement to the police', said Mark.

'Yeah... That rascal! He tried to kill me', Fred said with abhorrence.

'As instructed by Liam, I arrived just before he set out for the doctor. After bidding him good-bye, I returned to Larry's apartment. He was quite sober till then. We were having some quality time together. He was seeming relaxed and we were gossiping on different aspects of our respective jobs. He was talking about how his work has got affected during this phase as he has been unable to go to the hotel most of the days because of his illness. He further added that he is on the brink of losing his job as the manager, the errand which he has been loving, the only thing which had been giving him some respite from his mental and physical condition. Then we shifted our discussion to other different topics. After sometime, I realized that I have got to shave. So I went to the bathroom.

'I had just finished my shaving when I heard Larry talking to someone in his bedroom. I tried to overhear him. His tone was requesting and appealing. He was begging for something either to himself or to someone in his imagination, I don't know exactly. His voice was not that much clear. I tried to move in closer to the place where he was sitting. Then suddenly he became silent, so I thought his illusions stopped. I went back to the bathroom, gave my beard a final touch and returned back to Larry. He wasn't there in his place. There was an eerie silence in the room. The fluttering of the window screens by the wind was somehow giving me a creepy feeling. I searched for Larry and then found him in the balcony. He was standing there motionless. I called him but he did not respond, so I got to him and confronted him. I looked at his face. It was filled with a strange, alarming stillness. His eyes were constant, dead constant. I asked him if he was feeling fine, clutching his arm. It was really numb and cold. Then I touched his forehead but surprisingly that was extremely hot. I had to retrace my hand sharply. This combination startled me. I became quite nervous and worried. I shrieked at him if he could hear me and warned him not to act smart in front of me but still, he did not reply.

'I tried to help him to get to the couch. His body was ice cold, believe me. He was not helping himself and was walking like a zombie. With great difficulty, I finally got him to the couch and seated him down. His face had become paler. Being alarmed at his physical condition, I decided to give him a glass of hot milk. I got to the refrigerator and took out the jar of milk.

'While I was warming up the milk on a bowl, suddenly I sensed fast approaching footsteps from my back. I turned back sharply. Larry had got himself a mallet from the utility and was running towards me to hit me with that. As the mallet was going to hit me on my face, I backed off and the mallet head whistled past my nose. Then he aimed at my skull and swung the mallet vertically. I leaped to my right and thus, the mallet hit the stove, breaking it. The fierceness in his eyes was unseen before. I was extremely afraid by the look on his face. Before he could hit me again, I ran with fright. He chased me. While I reached the living room, he almost got me. This time also I survived, somehow. But I heard the mallet hit the floor behind me as I was running for my life. I got to the utility room and locked myself inside. He reached out there and started hitting the door ferociously with the mallet. It was when I contacted Mark frightfully. With every flying piece of broken wood, the fear in my heart was increasing slowly.

'He managed to break the door by kicking it ultimately. He swung the mallet again at me. This time I got hold of the handle. He was having some mighty strength in himself. Then a strong push from him made me fall down to the ground but still I hadn't left the mallet. Seizing an opportunity, I kicked his foot which made him fall and lose the mallet, which I picked up and threw away. He got up and charged at me. We engaged in a grapple.

'He tried to shove me again but I bent down, got hold of his legs and jolted him back. Then I tried to get his shoulders as he charger back in my direction. But he held my hands, twisted it back and pushed and thrashed me onto the kitchen refrigerator. Holding both my arms at my back with one hand, he started giving blows to the back of my head with the other. Then he turned me back and pounded his head upon mine. I screamed with pain, holding my nose which started bleeding profusely. I fell down on my knees, holding my face which was hurting a lot. He went back, got the knife and charged forward to stab me but I got hold of it just when it was going to pierce my chest. I tried my best to save myself but the vehement vigor in his body was impossible for me to tackle. Realizing myself to be overpowered, I bit his hands. He backed away yelling with pain, dropping down the knife.

'I made a last attempt to give a blow to his head but he snatched my fist, swung me back making me hit the wall and started to choke me. I was gasping for breath when I suddenly got hold of a cup and crashed it on his face, braking it into pieces. He receded but even before I could react, he got the porcelain vase and smashed my temple twice, almost fainting me. I was lying there on the ground when I saw him get the knife and retrace back at me. But then thankfully, Mark and his men broke into the flat, got that scoundrel and saved me'.

Whatever Fred said, I would not have believed if I hadn't encountered Larry during the session. Larry was never like this. His gentle attitude had now slowly perished.

'Thank you, Mr. Frederick for your co-operation', said the investigator who had come with the police.

We moved further to Larry's apartment. The police and asylum guards had taken him away.