Chapter Four

It was nearly 9 o'clock, as it really seems like the time was flying out faster than it should, just as they could barely noticed; though there were already cluster of stars shining bright up in the sky. But again, a quick reminder soon made them feel very much at ease because the neighborhood appeared to be very unusually quiet tonight. The man turned the car key in the ignition switch as the van was geared into motion, he pulled the car off the yard and cut it towards the highway descending down the road that leads out of town. They moved up in such a slow but steady drive at first, obviously observing the place whether or not if it was safe for them now to sneak out tonight immediately. So far, in close to an thirty minutes of driving, they had talked at first but only about the route and the road conditions. Just as they passed through the town, a small one, and then a sign told them to resume their normal speed. He stepped down on the accelerator after straightened up the steering wheel, which he held firmly as the motor sped. When they looked back at her she was starting to cry softly. There was no traffic and the road was narrower but also free driving.

They could only noticed snowflakes at the sides of the road, then some on the pedestrian walkways along the street early on. Freya was beginning to feel extremely scared. She struggled helplessly and seemingly endless trying to untied the ropes around her waist. Here she could rarely imagine what must have become the fate of her mother and younger brother, then her life now is at stake. Once Bob Joker get his bloodthirsty hands on her it is over for her family because he will definitely spare no time to get rid of them. It won't be necessary to for him to keep bothering himself about the crime tape anymore.

It was as if her anger aroused thinking about what Frank and Gwen have done. Not even thinking twice about her life being at the brink of a sudden dangerous situation. It felt like falling down a cliff rather than dying in the hands of such a mindless Bob. Frank was the type of person who gets desperate need for making money no matter the circumstances. As long as the amount is huge he wouldn't give a damn piece of shit about the odd reason. He tends to enjoy being involved in crime and others will get punished for it. He was never will to change from wanting to be a convicted felon. Yet Gwen would never listen to anyone who will point at his flaws for him. Pissed off. She's been a fool for too long trying to trust people. She shed more tears realizing that Gwen was no more than a dead lady back there now.

They laughed. It seemed like they were having some good times together and have nothing to worry about at the moment. One of them took out his phone and dialed Bob Joker immediately.

"Hello Boss, guess what? I've got a surprise for you."

"I despise guessing games. Speak what you have to say immediately don't waste my time."

"We've got the girl, Freya Harvey. Will you like to speak with her?"

"Good news. But no, thank you. I'd love to speak with Freya one on one later. I'm in a meeting now. Just keep her safe and no mistakes otherwise I'll pull the trigger finger and blow up your motherfucking brains."

"Copy that. We're gonna be there shortly."

"Good... I'm expecting nothing but her." Bob said, with a frightening baritone voice over the phone. And they could all hear it from the background.

"Of course, boss. We're coming home tonight."

He hang up the call. Heaved a sigh of relief while he shook his head and said, "When a man dies in the course of or maybe as a direct result of the commission of a felony, the felon is guilty of murder in the first place."

"Oh really? Wait a sec, did we commit a felony?"

"Technically, no we didn't in the first degree. But right now we have because of Bob. Now we are all guilty souls. I'm guilty of first degree murder and you're my accomplice. I pulled the trigger and shot Frank and Gwen on the same night, likewise Bob."

"Gosh! But Bob is the real murder. Everything we've been through was because of him. So what will... " he got interrupted abruptly.

"You mean, happen to us? Nothing, actually." He paused. Then continued talking again. "Relax, there's a proper procedure to clean up the piece of shit, then get away without a stain."

"How does it work?"

"I don't always get involved in felony charges but a friend of my do. He once told me something about putting the corpse under roadbeds. His kinda expert on that anyway. I introduced him to Bob and he never screwed up."

"How did he go about Whitley and Barney's corpse?"

"You mean, her father and friend, right?"

"Of course."

"The guy I introduced to Bob you know...he works with a friend doing highway construction, Bob Joker paid them a huge ransom; and they shovel the bodies into the roadbeds during the night and cover them up for real. And they're buried forever and ever. I bet there are hundreds of dead bodies under the Los Bahamas railroad track. And Bob was responsible for the death of more than eighty-five percent who were buried there. About thirty percent were buried alive."

"God, I bet we gonna be having a lot of zombies outbreak in Los Bahamas very soon."

"Perhaps."

Surprisingly, Freya managed to maneuver around and get the rope loosed from off her wrist, through the help of her teeth. There was a small opening in between the front seats and where she was listening to their conversation. And they could equally see her very well through that same rectangular hole. Unfortunately, the men were still busy talking about one thing or the other, when she charged with rage against them from behind.

Now, the vehicle was about negotiating a sharp curve on the highway, but it was still moving very fast as they approached a speed bump but didn't noticed; because the snowflakes have nearly buried it up and was not very visible for them to see before they came close. Just immediately after the car violently crossed over the bump, sending a terrific shock upon them. All of a sudden, she held the neck of the man on the driver's seat and the moving vehicle loose control into the woods. It skipped across the iron barricade. It didn't go way too far from the road side before it collided against a massive Christmas tree trunk.

Consequently, one of the sprawling low branches broke the windshield and straight forward, it pierced the driver through his chest until it came out at his back. He died immediately on the steering wheel because of the force. The accident was as such very fatal, to the extent that Scorpion broke his arm and most of the shattered pieces of glasses also injured his head. Then he fell resting his forehead on the dashboard. Freya on the other hand, fell down unconscious at the back of the vehicle.

Two days later, after she'd been resuscitated by a good samaritan. Freya Harvey still haven't realized herself at the unfamiliar territory where she'd been taken into an inn, close to a subway entrance at the outskirts of town. On a wooden table inside the inn a radio blared. It was an old cowboy's jams and the song was likewise an old one, Dolly Parton "Love is like a Butterfly." The inn was built with plywood and was immaculately painted with white. There are lots of beautiful wild flowers used to decorate it. She was made to lay down inside one of the supposed guest room, and that was where she'd been receiving her treatment for a while ago.

The air was thick with cooking smells. Also the words of those mafias were still echoing in her mind, even while her eyes remained shot in her unconscious state. Soon she began talking from sleep on the bed.

It was strange, but she had never thought of herself still living among humans. Indeed, it was quite an archaic term that conjured up all sorts of bloody images while she closed her eyes. Maybe it could probably be a near death experience the old man and his wife thought between themselves. It was somehow surprising yet everything she was saying seems to be very obvious that she was going through an emotional trauma. Little wonder that Freya could also recalled the eerie feeling she'd had as a result of her betrayal. A feeling that she was seeing the past or perhaps the dead come back to life like a premonition.

Later, she started breathing heavily and at the same time struggling on the bed as though she was having a nightmare. "No, no, no!" she screamed, then suddenly woke up from sleep, and sat in upright position immediately.

There was a frightful look upon her oblong even as she continued breathing heavily. She shifted her gaze from one end to the other until she finally had it focused on the old couples. But most of the time passed in a long silence. They all stared at each other for a few more minutes without a word. It was not for lack of things to say to each other, or because she behaved weird early on before them. Little dialogue did not take place and good conversation was hard to start immediately with her.

So the time goes by gradually turning into midday. "What's the matter with you, young lady?" asked the old man impatiently. He was a heavyish man with stringy hair.

She looked up at him. She was worrying her lips with her teeth. "Please don't come close to me. Stay away from me now." Freya said, tears rolling down freely on her cheeks.

"Is that all you've got to say?" he asked again. Now he talked to her without looking at her, his eyes conveniently fixed on the phone that he was now holding. Scrolling through it as he synchronize the phone. "I guess you need to see the police," he said, "We will take you there before night fall."

"No. Just give it back. That phone is very important to me, if you don't mind. And I'm not seeing anyone neither am I going anywhere with you."

"Why not? Your life is obviously in danger." said the woman in their midst softly.

"I said I'm ain't going nowhere with the two of you." Freya retorted, then immediately after speaking in such a hash tone, she began to sob quietly, putting her face in between her knees.

The woman gently put her right hand first on her shoulder. Then later she sat next to her and quickly Freya embraced her and wept more on her feeble shoulders. Soaking wet the flowering linen blouse that she wore with her tears. As she continued patting her back before she laid her down on the bed again.

"Maybe you should rest a little more, sweetie." she said. Then kissed her forehead.

After about fifteen minutes they heard Freya easy rhythmic breathing and knew at once that she was sleeping. The man looked at her pensively, shifted his gaze from Freya to his wife; and back to her again. He sucked in breath and shake his head and sit up on the extreme of the bed frame, towards her legs side. Her heart beating fast and hard. The bandage around her head had a blood stain close to her right brow. Mr Marcus turned around to his wife, Beatrice. Her head covered up in grey just like her husband. They didn't talk to each other for the main time.

She picked up the coffee cup that she had brewed for Freya and left. He heaved a sigh as he often wondered what could possibly happen if Bob Joker, the notorious drug lord should find out about her cohabiting with them. From time to time he got out of the bed and sat on a rocky chair by the window, smoking a cigarette and started pacing back and forth pensively. He held a loaded rifle barrel by his side.

Around five, he dozed off. At a quarter to six he heard a frightening sound from his sleep and was instantly awake. It was Freya. Her head on a pillow, her eyes shot, and she was crying in her sleep. He woke her up and soothed her and assured her that everything was all right. After a few minutes she fell asleep again, and he got up and put a duvet on her body. She rolled over to the other side of the bed without opening her eyes. He beamed a narrow smile.

Two days later, during brunch at the dinning room. The old man and his wife were also sitted at the table. She had tea too and was eating a toasted English muffin. Marcus weren't eating now. His cigarette burned slowly in a glass ashtray. Right in front of him was a deodorizer placed on the center of the table. He was not smoking the already lit cigarette. It seemed like he was lost in his confused mind. Perhaps, his instincts were always there when he noticed that she wants to say something to them. After taking her last swallow then she shoved the plastic tray aside.

It was around seven when they went into the dining room. She cleared up her throat after a sip of tea again. Marcus who had already knew what the gesture means slowly dropped off the burning stick of cigarettes on the ashtray but hesitated before he asked if everything goes smoothly. She recognized the familiar smile upon Beatrice wrinkled face immediately.

Freya took her right hand on her left hand and his left hand on her right. Then after a little while in silence, as if she was waiting for the right thing to come for her to complement them now. They looked at each other in a surprise, yet they couldn't read any meaning out of her cheeriness; rather than to smile back at her. It seemed to Freya that the old couples might be misjudging the influence they could bring into her life during the week that she'd stayed. She intimated them concerning the ordeals, which they undoubtedly gave much thought and insisted that she stay with them until they make Bob and his thugs pay for their felony. She soon realized that they were willing to take care of her as their own biological daughter. However, she felt like she wouldn't afford to put their safety at risk because of herself. And again she felt they are just too old to gamble with their lives for a stranger they never knew, as she'd already had enough lost in the past. Bob Joker would never spare any life relatively close to her until he gets rid off her and his crime tape.

"We hope that you're strong enough to fight back since you wanna go home to your family? But if otherwise you need our help, be rest assured that we gonna be there at all times." Beatrice told her.

Freya blushed. Then she covered her face in her palms while she smiled. A moment later, after the smile had faded into what appeared to be a gloomy countenance she said, "For now, I have no other family besides Marcus and Beatrice, who are sitting right next to me." she said. Then she took a deep breath and relax for a while, as tears soon cloud up her vision spontaneously. She continued. "Should anything but the worst happen to me and if I never see your faces again among the living, know that I'm gonna be waiting for you two at the beautiful paradise gate, to embrace y'all for your generosity."

She never finished before tears started rolling down freely on her cheeks. But she didn't even bother to wipe them away as more tears keep running down until they got the hem of her pajamas soaked.

"We gonna miss y'all too." Marcus told her.

They hugged each other for a while in solace. She sobbed quietly until her eyes became very red. Even the old lady couldn't help herself too. Around noon, after all their pains have subsided, though there was still bandage around her head. They called Freya and gave her some money so that she could at least feel at ease to get food on the way.

"I understand that you cannot put a monetary value on emotional solace. But at least you have to take care of your own self in time like this." he said.

"Affirmatively right. So where are you going from here, Freya?"

"Well, I've contacted someone already at Herbiscus Island and he asked me to come over."

"I guess you need to board a train. But my fear is how you can be able to escape through the check points down the road. That's a awful headache dear."

"Of course. I quite agree with you, Marcus. I bet you gonna get yourself into jail by your own hands. The risk might be cumbersome sweetie."

"Sure I know. But I might have an idea of escape by the time I shall get started perhaps. Who knows ma'am, another hero might just be out there waiting to save the day for Freya Harvey." she resolved.

He chuckled. They were not gonna let her take the risk. But she seemed to have made up her mind about this decision. And she wouldn't allow them to discourage her mind because they too weren't safe. That's if she continues cohabiting with them. She has no money to pay for all the necessary help that they have rendered.

"Sweetie, just do be careful for goodness sake, okay?"

"Sure ma'am. I'm gonna be fine."

"Definitely. But you still have to be extremely careful on your own side. You know what? My papa used to tell me when I was still a young man. That sometimes the dangers we may try to avoid can come in a surprise. That's why we have to be very careful always."

"Wow, thank y'all for that wonderful piece of advice."

She hugged him. Then moved to Mrs Beatrice and also hugged her. They all smiled at her cheeriness. It's hard to believe that she weren't their own child. They wished to keep her forever but if only wishes were horses; then maybe they would have definitely have at least one child to call their own long before she came to live with them. And again they urged her to spend one more night before she says goodbye.