27. You, again.
1206 Words
These bandit-looking individuals charged forward with their weapons pointed towards Mrs. Peterson. Mrs. Peterson could see them approach, she only remained calm and waited for them to get closer. This was beginning to terrify her well behaved guests. They sat there worried about what would happen.
Mom, seems confident. Otherwise, why would she sit like that instead of standing her position? Shoot! They are getting closer. Should I really consider her confident or just fearful?
Francina grabbed on her fork and dining knife, she was ready for them.
As soon as they were near enough, Mrs. Peterson gouged out a pouch of what sounded like coins. She had it dangling at their faces as they paused right by her.
A silence. The moment was no longer intense, but it was silent…
The front man snatched the pouch and cried, “Ey, we’re settled!” The rest of his friends cheered along. They were high-fiving and chest-bumping. “I did claim that I am a woman of my word, fellas.” Mrs. Peterson cried, “Now, gather around. We’re feasting tonight. We’re feasting on a celebration of my daughter’s arrival!”
Her friends scattered themselves around the table. They were all so excited. It was the nicest thing to sit down and dine with Mrs. Peterson. “So, this is really your daughter?” one of her friends asked.
“Yes, the one I birthed and sadly had to quickly send away.”
“I thought she’d be much of a character like you are.”
“What are you talking about, douche bag? My daughter is a character. I mean look at her eating her little meat and… Her eyes pocking around like that… Okay, she is a bit quiet.”
“She seems depressed to me.”
Now, Francina spoke out for herself, “I’m right here and I can clearly hear you.”
“Oh,” Mrs. Peterson mocked, “sorry dear. We’re just not used to quiet people. So, how is your father?”
“I never met him.”
“And my hunch was right. That bastard never made it out of here as well. He’s also stuck somewhere in here.”
“That explains why your daughter looks so gloomy. She probably had a tough life. You were not there for her.”
“Hey, that’s not fair! I left her with her father. Damnit that scum, so he really sold off our daughter like that?”
Francina was taken aback by those words. She knew she had heard them before. It was back then when Jim was trying to explain to her why she had the diamond patch. “Sold me off?”
The man went on to explain how things worked and how people sell off their loved ones. “…and so, that was probably the only way you could get out of here. That diamond patch on your arm is a contract that you will come back to retrieve the totem for WIC. People write down the names of their family members hoping that any of them can find the totem and free us all.”
“What is the totem for?”
“Sweetie, I don’t know. I don’t know what it is, or what it looks like. But I do know that you get money for it.”
“So, you guys were also chasing money?”
“Not really. That i***t named Trunk tricked us into coming here. He said that we were going on some exotic trip for the holidays and the next thing people were drowning in some underground.” Mrs. Peterson sighed, troubled, “Then, I got pregnant. That was very stupid of me. I birthed in such a place. Your father and I were very reckless. I wonder where he is right now.”
“I kept seeing him in my dreams. He is somewhere by a stream. He put me a basket and sent me with the streams.”
“By the streams, huh? So, he made it that far…”
The people started telling Francina about her mother. They were more than happy to introduce Mrs. Peterson to her daughter. They wanted to present a good image of their friend to her daughter. “Oh, she didn’t stay in that prison for long. They scheduled her for hanging for intruding and trespassing into the palace.”
“Oh, but I own the palace now. Aren’t you proud of me, daughter?”
Kali was curious. He asked, “What happened to the previous owners of the palace?”
“In the palace dungeon—”
“Whoaat?” He enquired more, “You do realise you’re in trouble for that, right?”
“Ow, you can relax. That is why I have these guys here. They help me keep outsiders away from the palace. That way, no-one knows what happened to the king and queen. In turn, I pay them gold coins and I help with the kingdom’s economy. We’ve been keeping this up for close to a decade now. All is good.”
The next day, they all wore in the guise of kingdom commoners and spread out. Mrs. Peterson was taking Kali and Francina to WIC's secret basement in a cave far away from the village.
“Hey, Francina,” Kali whispered low enough for only Francina’s ears. “Is it true? Were you telling the truth when you said that no-one really dies around here?”
“So, you believe me now?” she was desperate to hear him agree.
“I was just wondering, why didn’t you tell us all that before?”
“Would anyone give it their best if they knew? No. Soon, you’d have many of them giving up too early and betting their lives on others. I don’t want anyone looking up to me to save them.”
“Come on, guys. Pick up your pace,” cried Mrs. Peterson. “They live in that cave. I haven’t gotten to see their faces yet but I know all their names so far. Trunk is such a traitor. That bastard, I will sure get him.”
“Wait. Did you say ‘Trunk’?”
“Yeah, you know him?”
“I was just asking…”
That’s my father’s nickname before her became The Boss.
“That scowl face. It turns out that he lured us in here. He pretended to be in the game too, but he was not. He had sent in a clone. And the rest of us got stuck in here while he was out there all along pulling all the strings.”
They were in the passages of the caves.
“He’s been watching us act foolish. Running on a goose chase all those years.”
They got closer to the guarded part of the cave. They saw only one man on guard. “There’s supposed to be two—”
“You, again.”
The three of them turned and saw the second guard behind them. He had his gun pointed at them and the red dot was especially on Mrs. Peterson forehead. “I knew I wasn’t crazy. I knew I’d catch you some day.”
- Writer
