Marlene swerved to the side.
Behind her was the menacing form of a man, arms folded, his back to the wall. For a moment, she thought it was Voter Luis. She screamed.
But wasted no time.
Marlene the Brave lunged at Keller, who dodged her and grabbed her by the arm, squeezing it hard. The pain forced her to let go of the spoon. It fell to the floor. Marlene felt herself being lifted up. In vain, she struggled.
Keller shook her and sent her thudding into the wall. She felt the vibration of the impact travel down her shoulder to her elbow and then up to her head. She was seeing double.
Keller picked her off the floor and lifted her up once again in his steel grip. “I refused to believe it. I refused.”
He shook her again, his face a mask of animal hatred, and flung her to the floor. Her forehead hit the floorboards. A spider’s web of white lights whirled in front of her eyes.
Keller took her by the hair and dragged her out of the room. She attempted to struggle free, kicking and trying to sink her nails in the floorboards.
“I refused,” he cried as he dragged her towards the stairs. “I refused to believe it.”
Klaus!
Marlene crossed her arms over her belly, raised her knees and bent her head, instinctively, to protect Klaus at all costs.
Pain each time she hit a step. Teeth clenched, tears in her eyes.
Her bones did not break.
Keller was still shouting. “She told me! Yes, she told me!”
Marlene mumbled words of apology, words that made no sense.
“I told her it couldn’t be true,” he went on. “That you weren’t a bad person.”
They reached the Stube.
Keller crouched over her, his breath smelling of poppy. “I was wrong.”
Marlene curled up, but he did not hit her.
“I knew it. I knew it.”
“Please . . .”
“She never lies,” Simon muttered. “Never.”
Marlene turned just enough to look him in the eye. “Who?”
He opened the door to the cellar. She tried to crawl away. There was a poker next to the fireplace, which she could have used as a weapon. But her head was spinning and her shoulder throbbed. The violence of Keller’s attack had been a real shock. She was slow. Too slow.
“Who?” she said again in a thin voice.
Keller lifted her by the ankle as if she were one of the animals he hunted and killed.
“Who?” Marlene cried one last time.
There were nine steps down. She did not hit a single one. She landed straight on the floor, in the dark.