Butterfly's Year

59. Fire

His hand shook slightly, but he seemed desperate and willing to do anything to achieve his goal. The little creature inside me turned violently pale and leaned against the wall of his small apartment to keep his balance. I could feel my blood freezing in my veins, but Victor had turned into an absolute beast.

– Oh, you whore! – he roared in a booming voice. – You're aiming at my girlfriend!

He tensed his muscles and clenched his jaws until his teeth chattered. Then, with a flawless flick of his wrist, he threw my knife at Manuel's arm, striking his wrist with the small blade.

Manuel dropped the weapon with a hiss of pain, and as soon as he did, Victor charged at him like a bull at a bullfighter. Again, using the element of surprise, he threw him against the nearest bookshelf, but Manuel was not so easily defeated this time. His determination to keep me in the house gave him strength.

The two locked in a boxing embrace and tugged at each other briefly. Still, eventually, Victor, who was in much better physical shape, began to gain the upper hand over the previously battered Manuel. He landed a series of powerful punches that eventually knocked him to the ground, and once he was down, he added some more solid kicks.

I had never seen Victor so angry. It was the first time in my life that I had ever seen him treat a man who was basically already on the ground and had given up trying to fight back in such a cruel way.

– Viktor, stop it! – I shouted. – That's enough! You're hurting him!

He lifted a look at me, dark with anger. He looked as if he did not understand the words I had spoken. He stood there panting over Manuel, who was writhing in pain, with a wild stare fixed on my face, but as he looked at me, the darkness in his eyes gradually receded.

He looked at Manuel again, then at me, at the fire spreading through the library, and finally, he let go.

– Let's go, darling – he said, taking my hand.

He pulled me towards the door, but I didn't move.

– Manuel! – I shouted, pointing at the man struggling to get up from the floor.

– Leave him alone! – Wik shouted, waving his hand carelessly in his direction. – We have to go!

– But... – I hesitated because you couldn't leave a man like that, even if he were completely out of his mind.

Viktor looked at me as if trying to decide whether I was mad or not.

– Paula, he wants to kill us all! – he roared in a booming voice, drowning out the sound of the roaring fire that was beginning to eat away at the oak floor. – He wanted to kill me! He was going to kill you while I wasn't with you! He had a gun on you a moment ago! He is dangerous!

– He's sick! – I shouted.

– That's for sure! – he snorted, giving Manuel, who was writhing on the floor, a look of contempt mixed with pity.

I looked at Victor pleadingly.

– You can't leave a man to die. Crazy or not, no one deserved the risk of dying in flames.

– Fuck... - Viktor groaned, but he walked over to Manuel, who was slowly getting to his feet and held out his hand.

– No! – Manuel spurned the outstretched hand and tried to aim his weapon at Viktor, but he kicked it out of his hand in time. – No one gets out of here. Not you, not her, not me. We're all staying here! Do you hear me?!

He tried to get up but lost his balance again.

– Don't be stupid! – Viktor shouted, clearly impatient. – You want to burn down here to make your point?!

Manuel didn't answer. He just swung his leg at Viktor and kicked him in the knee.

– What the hell are you doing? – A disgusted Viktor jumped back about a metre, massaging the battered part of his body.

– I told you so! – Manuel said hoarsely, pointing an accusing finger at Viktor. – I told you so! Either she's with me, or she's with no one! I won't let you take her for yourself! You're not good enough for her. I'm better than that. Do you hear, Paula? I'll take better care of you. I will never let you down again!

Victor no longer tried to approach Manuel.

– It's no use, Paula! – he said, looking at her with pity. – Let's go! I'm not going to burn to death here because a madman refuses help! And I'm not going to let you die either! Not here and not with him.

I nodded, still unable to take my eyes off Manuel, who stared fanatically at Viktor from one side of me to the other.

I was sobered by the crack of a wooden beam from the ceiling above us.

– Let's go – I said at last, turning on my heel to leave while there was still somewhere to go, but I became dizzy and lost my balance.

I didn't fall, though, because Viktor's strong arm caught me in time. He picked me up and carried me over the threshold in his arms.

– Paulina! – I heard a sad voice behind me. – Don't leave me, Paulina! I love you! Do you hear me?! I love you! Only you and always you!

Victor paused in the doorway for a few seconds and turned behind him. Manuel slowly picked himself up from the floor but didn't follow. He reached into his violin case and took out the instrument. Then, as if nothing had happened, he began to make more sounds.

Viktor did not wait a moment. He ran down the stairs, then along the corridor and finally to the exit door. I involuntarily listened to the melody Manuel was playing and finally recognised it. The hymn „To be Closer to You I Want" had been imprinted on my brain and sounded more and more intense as we moved further and further away from the source of the music. We stepped out of the door into the fresh air. Victor was carrying me, and the music seemed to follow us.

I turned in the profile behind me. A tall column of smoke rose from the library window into the sky, painting a dark streak across the dark blue background. Fiery tongues slowly emerged from the same window of the building, and the sound of violins could still be heard in the background, sharply contrasting with the sound of burning wood.