Damon took in a deep breath and looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. "Okay, First think of a person who lives in disguise, who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next tell me what' the last to mend, the middle of middle and the end of end. Finally give me the sound often heard during the search for a hard word. Now string them together and answer me this, which creature are you unwilling to kiss?" When Damon was done reading the riddle, he looked at Cayllum helplessly. "What the fuck is this. What the fuck did I just read?" Damon said softly as their hopeless situation dawned on him.
"Maybe, maybe I can help." Amy's shaky voice came from the corner. Her hollow eyes pleaded with Damon to give her a chance to try and make things right.
"Damon let her we need all the help we can get." Cayllum said softly when he saw Damon's hand going for his gun.
"Speak bitch and you better be right about this for your sake." Damon said in a cold voice that spelled nothing good for Amy. Zoe gasped softly when she heard her father speak to Amy like that.
Amy swallowed nervously. "We, we have to break the riddle down to get to the answer. The first part speaks of a person who lives in disguise. The person in disguise refers to a SPY, so the answer to the first part of the riddle is SPY."
"Go on we don't have all day." Damon said in a menacing tone.
"I will, I'm sorry my throat is a little dry." Amy said in a weak voice.
"I don't give a fuck about your throat maybe my gun against your head will make you talk faster." Damon said. He took out his gun and pointed it at Amy.
"Daddy please, please don't." Zoe said softly. Her shiny sad eyes begging him not to shoot the woman.
When Damon heard his daughter's voice and seeing the sadness in her eyes, he calmed down and put his gun away.
"Now the second part of the riddle that says what's the last to mend, the middle of middle and the end of end. The letter D is the last letter in mend, in the middle of middle and the last letter of end. So, the answer is D. The last part asking us to give the sound often heard when we search for a hard word, is ERR. When someone can't think of a word they often say, "ERR". Amy said and giggled nervously. "Okay, and lastly we must put the words together to form one word like this SPY – D – ER.
"Spider. Is that the answer? You better be damn sure about this." Damon said with eyes piercing through Amy.
"Yes, it makes sense daddy." Zoe said excited. "Which creature are you unwilling to kiss? A spider, right? I mean no one in their right mind will kiss a spider."
"Yes of course" Damon said with renew hope in his eyes.
"Spider is a six-letter word, so the first number is six" Cayllum said and wasted no time to pin the number in. The steel strap around Zoe's waist sprung open with a loud click.
"Almost there princess." Damon said and kissed her on her head. He then turned to Amy and said. "You should have just said spider from the start now we wasted precious minutes."
"I'm sorry I wanted to be sure I get it right." Amy said and looked away from Damon's glaring gaze.
"Now you want to get something right? I'm going to enjoy taking you apart limb by limb." Damon said in a cold voice.
"Not now Damon. What's the second riddle?" Cayllum asked with a worried look. There were only three minutes left on the clock.
Damon took in a quick deep breath to get himself under control. "Okay, the second one is, I'm something you might eat, but I also kill. I can cause blindness and burns. Because of me, people lose limbs. I've been known to crash cars. And yet I'm considered beautiful. Small children play with me and parents don't mind. Some people even live in me. What am I?" Damon said and sigh out loud. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any crazier."
"I think the answer is snow." Zoe said.
"Are you sure? Snow is a four-letter word. If I type in four and its wrong the clock will go faster." Cayllum said softly. He squeezed her hand when he saw how scared and unsure, she looked.
Zoe swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "I'm something you might eat. Every kid has taken a bite of snow, but I also kill, thousands of people die every year in snowstorms. I can cause blindness,that's Photokeratitis, otherwise known as snow blindness. Because of me people lose limbs. If your exposed to snow for too long you can lose limbs to frostbite. I've been known to crash cars. Just an inch or two of snow makes them treacherous. And yet I'm considered beautiful. Recent snowfalls make the world white and beautiful. Small children play with me and parents don't mind. Kids love to build snowmen, snow forts and have snowball fights. Some people even live in me. Some people live in igloos built out of snow." Zoe said. She was slightly out of breath when she was finished explaining the riddle to her dad and Cayllum.
"Let's go with that answer Cayllum. My daughter is right." Damon said quickly.
Cayllum again wasted no time and typed in the number four, to everyone's relieve the steel strap on her left wrist click open.
"The last one." Damon said.
"One-minute left on the clock Damon we better hurry."
"A precious thing to most, in order to take it, you must already have it. What is it?"
"Water?" Cayllum said and looked at Damon.
"No, I don't think its water. I think its life. The answer is life Cayllum." Damon said as tears welled up in his eyes.
Cayllum nodded his head and typed in the last number. Relieved washed over Damon when the last steel strap clicked open. He quickly scooped Zoe up in his arms and within seconds they were out. He was sprinting with her in his arms out of the house with Cayllum and Amy hot on his heel. They made it out just in time before a thunderous sound shook the house to its core shattering all the glass in the windows covering the house in a thick big ball of dark smoke.
"Jesus Christ." Damon said eyes wide from shock and horror when he looked back at the house. That bomb was meant to destroy the whole house and everything in it. Zoe who was in his arms tried to turn her head to take a look at the house but Damon put his hand softly on the side of her face and turned her head back so that she can't see the house. "No don't look. Its over. You are safe." Damon said as tears welled up in his eyes. "You are safe."
"She wanted me to die in there too. She was lying to me the whole time." Amy said in a daze. It was clear to see that Amy has reached her breaking point. She looked defeated and utterly exhausted.
"We have to leave now Cayllum, bring that woman with you." Damon said over his shoulder as his walking with Zoe in his arms to his car.
Amy did not put up a fight when Cayllum took her by the arm and lead her to Damon's car. She got in like a lamb to the slaughter. Her mind reasoned that it was no use to fight or run its over for her anyways.
…