From the Claws of the Tiger

I woke up to the sound of vigorous knocking. Immediately, I sat up and grabbed my backpack. They were here. I bolted to the living room where my parents and Sukhram Chacha were staring at the door, wide-eyed. The moment I stepped into the living room, my mother turned around and grabbed me by the arm.

"Mumma, we were supposed to leave," I whispered. She shushed me; dragging me to the study room. "Hide behind the desk!" she whispered insistently. "Now!" I complied with a racing heart.

My mother sank down until she was at eye-level with me. Her brown eyes were shining with tears. But behind them I could see a burning passion in her eyes. She was ready to sacrifice anything and everything. "No matter what happens," she commanded, "do not come out of the desk." With that she just left. My cry was swallowed up by my shock. Then I heard the front door open.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard unfamiliar voices in my house. Why did have to happen today? Just one more day and we could have been safe. But now, we were doomed to die in our own house.

Mustering whatever courage I had left, I opened my eyes. There was a small slit in the desk; Just enough to allow me to peek. So I did. I barely had time to muffle my gasp.

There was a tall, lanky man towering over my mother. His dead-straight black hair covered most of his face. His brown gloves and attire matched his skin tone. But nothing caught my eye as much as the shiny knife in his hand; the same knife which was pointed straight at my mother. Even as she faced death, her expression was full of fierce determination.

My pounding pulse echoed in my ears. I couldn't let her die trying to save me. I just couldn't. His hand started lowering, making a beeline straight to my mother's heart. I couldn't stop myself. "WAIT!" I yelled, tumbling out of my hiding spot.

The blade stopped inches from my mother's heart. But I had no time to rejoice. Both of them snapped their head towards me. A maniacal grin spread over the man's hideous face, while my mother's contorted in shock. I gulped as the man faced me completely, his blade pointing towards me. My legs turned to jelly.

Before he could even take a step forward my mother swung her fist at him. It hit him square on the jaw. "Run!" my mother shouted at me. "GO-" her word ended in a shout of pain as the man twisted her arm behind her back. "No," I cried out but it was of no use.

Instead he just tugged her hand behind tighter. "Stop it!" I yelled. Outside I could hear my father's and Sukhram chacha's shouts and an unmistakable growl. "Stop!" The roar of the tiger echoed inside my house. Everyone was going to die. I couldn't let that happen.

"STOP!" I shouted with every ounce of my strength. It was all silent.

I panted. The man's eyes glazed over like he was hypnotized. His grip loosened on my mother's arms and she stumbled free. I had no time to recognize her shocked expression. "LEAVE!" I commanded.

To my surprise, he actually listened.

The man did a 180 degree turn and walked straight towards the door. My eyes followed him as he stepped out of the house. A confused tiger cub hot on his heels. My father and Sukhram chacha ran to the study room. Other than a few scratches, they looked fine.

"What happened" my father demanded. My mother was gaping. She opened her mouth, pointed a shaky finger towards me, but no sound came out.

"Quick," I said. "He'll be back soon." I fished out a rope from my backpack and swung it to my Father. "In the window," I commanded. The world snapped in action. Both my parents looked confused but nevertheless followed my instruction. "I will stop him," Sukhram Chacha said.

I regarded him for a second. His blood was boiling and his eyes were ablaze with the desire of vengeance for his family. I gave him a stiff nod and watched as he marched to the living room. That was the last thing I saw before jumping into the window sill.

"Sukhram chacha?" I paid my mother no attention and instead focused on the iron grills an with all the strength I could muster, I pushed them apart. There was enough space for the three of us to pass. " Jump" I told them.

My parents gaped at me, but as soon as they heard the shots echoed in our house, they did as told. Their foot landed onto the roof of the fourth floor apartment. I too followed the same. The plastic roof bent under our feet. I spread out my hands to balance out my momentum successfully.

"Hold on!", I yelled to my parents, who managed to grab my waist through their shock. As so as they did so, the plastic roof cracked and we were free falling through the air.

Both of them screamed squeezing me until I could barely breath. The air was slicing through my hair and I managed to twist such that I could grab the third floor's apartment grill. My biceps ached upon their weight. "Oof", I gasped. I managed to look into the third floor house. The stench of fresh blood filled my nose and my eyes saw the corpses of our neighbors or, what was remaining of them. My stomach convulsed and my hands gave out.

We were free falling once again, but this time, I immediately caught on to the second floor grills. "Rope! Rope!" I managed. My mother understood as she snatched the rope from my father and swung it to the first floor grill."Come on!", she called out my father who grabbed her. Before she could call out to me, I shrugged both of them off and looked up. The man who had attacked us was about to jump off of our fifth floor grills. He bared his teeth at me and jumped.

He was falling in a straight line right to collide with me. His intentions were clear. I wanted to kill me. I could barely focus on my parents who had safely reached the ground and were screaming my name. I had to finish this, for once and for all.

His grin widened as he knew that he would easily kill me. I didn't move. Just as his legs were about to wrap around my neck, I twisted.

He flayed his hands, trying to reach me, but I was faster. I grabbed his throat with my legs.

I could hear him growling and his hands trying to grab my limbs. I squeezed them together. I could feel his pulsating throat at my thighs. His nails dug into my flesh, but I didn't stop.

This was the man, who had killed almost all the occupants in this building. He had killed Sukhram Chacha. With all the strength I could muster, I squeezed his throat as hard as I could . I could hardly feel his desperate attempts. Then I heard a sickening crack. His body went limp. With a tired sigh, I opened my legs and allowed his body to fall.

My arms trembled helplessly. I had no strength left. The next thing I knew was my grip loosening and the air slicing my hair once more. My parents cries felt far away and then the impact came.

For a second I couldn't see, feel or hear anything. But then a sharp pain rose up my spine causing me to cry out. The world was spinning too brightly and my ears were ringing. Then slowly everything stopped and I realized that my parents were carrying me. We were alive.

I didn't know how I had manged to survive a two-storey fall or manipulate that man. All I knew was there was still hope. The world still had a chance.