Tangled Hearts Scene 2 Part 3

Chapter 258-2

Tangled Hearts Scene 2

Part 3

 

My mind was still reeling, I had thought all this time that Antonio was someone I and my brothers could trust; how many more I questioned that I have trusted that I shouldn’t have. Jeff gave me a weak smile kneeling down in front of me; “no one knows who trust, in this world. They are always covered in shadow. You risk your heart every time you do, but if you stop trusting everyone you meet. You will never find the good in them. Yet even though I can see and do things you can’t, not even I knew for sure, because I couldn’t look into his soul, he was hidden in shadow, but something seemed off and I followed him the moment I laid eyes on him.

“He was good, and he eluded me, and even my friends couldn’t detect him because where ever he was, he was covered in dark magic, of the strongest kind. Yet it wasn’t until recently he got careless, because when he saw you and Mr. Rothwell’s at Mr. Tate’s summer house.  It was like Christmas for him, because he and Crawford had been looking for you and the Rothwell’s. 

He went searching for you and them in every location Mr. Stringum sent word that there was a sighting of you and them. They questioned Shawn for days, but not even he knew where you moved too. But soon after Shawn made contact with his parents. Knowing sooner or later his parents would give in and, Crawford was right there guiding him, but he had to be careful not to spook them.

“Yet Stringum was crafty and every letter they sent from Heber. Came from somewhere else, every phone call was routed to a different place; but they knew soon or later. That they would slip up and they did.  Yet there was no way that Crawford could sneak anyone onto Stringum’s mountain without them knowing about it. They had almost given up Until Mr. Tate saw your picture in the paper during that big wedding fiasco.

“The moment Mr. Tate saw your picture; he started to work a plan on how to gain full access to you and the Rothwell’s. They knew if they kidnapped you Mr. Rothwell’s and Stringum would do anything to get you back. They got greedy, counting all that money, and they brought in Antonio. Knowing he could work his way in getting close to you and the Rothwell’s, but Crawford wanted more than just a little payback. He wanted you and the Rothwell’s too pay for what you did to him, by humiliating him in front of the entire LDS Church; his bread and butter. This was always his plan to make sure, he takes everything away from you and the Rothwell’s, Stringum was just an extra bonus.

“I warned Stringum and I warned Tony the moment I found out, but your adoptive parents refused to listen. So Stringum had me tail Antonio and Mr. Tate for weeks now. It was their ideas not to get you involved but to leave you be, but I swore an oath that you are my first priority and I had to pick and chose between who I owed an allegiance too. I knew you were fine and could protect yourself. The Rothwell’s have been a good fit for you, and have earned my trust. So I agreed to leave you alone and focus on my own duties, which was in a way to earn my repentance for what I had done. You didn’t need me, and you were learning from your own mistakes.

“I am very proud to say your not as messed up as you think, but the times coming when you will need me. Then we will have some decisions to make. I don’t know what the future will bring, and if I did I wouldn’t tell you, because you would change those advents and it would change other advents. I have explained this to you many times over the years.

“That’s like the ripple effect of throwing a stone into the water as each small stone creates a bigger ripple until it reaches the end of the pond.  I told you not to go home so you could tell your brother and grandmother goodbye, but you did it anyway. Even when I told you it wouldn’t be forever. You still did it, and that one single advent cost you the Downing’s.

“So this time I am choosing not to tell you what might happen, this time I am going to see how you handle making your own choices. Right now you and I are changing advent that could lead too more advents that neither of us wants to happen if we don’t stop it from happening. This advent could cost you the Rothwell’s and yours and their lives, but not just your lives, but many of those boys you and the Rothwell’s and Stringum have rescued from Mr. Tate and Crawford; if we don’t prevent this from happening, or if we don’t stop Mr. Tate and Antonio. More boys and more parents and others like them will be preyed upon and killed. 

“Crawford is at the top of our list, but he’s been smart up until now by getting his hands caught in the cookie jar. So you are here to help me break this chain and to make sure that we stop Mr. Tate and Antonio. But I must warn you that this advent could also affect your future with the Rothwell’s. I swore an oath to you that I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“I’d give you the Downing’s if I could, but that just isn’t possible. Because for one thing, your Pa and Ma are working on this side of the veil, but I always keep my promises that when the time comes you will be allowed to choose who you want to be with and the choice will be yours to make. You have earned that for all things you have done to help put away bad guys and helping the Rothwell’s, change their lives and help other boys like yourself the ones that can and want to be helped. Those don’t have parents anymore to care for them.

“So are you willing to help me change this advent, knowing the risks? Or do I send you back and let Tony bumble his way through it, not only killing him and Jenny but those parents inside. Then take the chance that you and your adoptive parents with the help of Stringum can prevent Mr. Tate and Antonio from getting away with it?”

It wasn’t a hard choice to make, in fact, it was the first time I could recall Jeff being so honest with me. I nodded and he smiled at me, and then guided me towards the mine, telling Tony, to hold his position.

I Knelled down and focused on the little black box hidden in the dirt and described it to Stringum and Jeff told Tony how to disarm it.  I found three more at the entrance and I shivered feeling a cold draft as I walked through the darkness as the dark shadows on the walls moved.

Each time they came close to me Jeff moved me behind him hiding me, and protecting me because they were drawn to my spirit and my very soul. Tony complained how cold it was as we moved further down the shaft of the mine as his men carefully and methodically took out each of the men the moment I saw them using nothing but tranq darts.

We finally came upon a wooden door seeing light seeping underneath it. Jeff told me to wait here after Tony broke the spell that would allow Jeff to enter undetected.

The door opened and what I saw would hunt my dreams forever. Several bodies of young children were hanging from the rafters naked and cut opened as the shadows of men were feasting upon them like cattle.

They didn’t see me or Jeff, but the moment Tony and his men entered the room they froze. I could see their yellow eyes and sharpened teeth-like points as they ripped the flesh off their bones. Tony didn’t hesitate as he and his team fired their weapons killing them quickly as we heard the painful screams of parents chained to the wall begging us to save them. Many of them were dead, as Tony removed their hoods gagging form the smell. Jeff said to leave them, for they are nothing more than the very monsters that did this and would become these creatures we had just killed.

One of the men didn’t listen and had cut two of them down only to be attacked as he was ripped open by the very people he was trying to save. Tony ended his suffering as he put a bullet through his head and then killed the ones who attacked his man. Everyone counted the bodies with their eyes, there had to be hundreds of them. We slowly made our way down further towards the cries of help.

Jeff waited for Tony and me to break the complex spell, but this time we couldn’t open the door. Because we didn’t have the special key’s to open it. There was nothing more frustrating than not being to open the door and not being to help those that were inside. Tony cursed as he quickly explained to Stringum what we found as we left the mined to get some fresh air and to go searching for the keys. We couldn’t blast a hole through the wall without knowing what was on the other side.

Jeff was about to give up when Jenny came in with a bag full of goodies from the guards we had taken prisoner. She emptied the bag on the ground and we found two of the keys we needed. They were each shaped in the form of a demon. Tony fitted them in place and turned the keys hearing large metal bolts slide away from the door.

The moment that happened Jeff and I noticed a shimmer of light that faded quickly, Jeff shrugged his shoulders and stepped through the door. Then back out and said. “We may not be able to break the door down. There are several enchantments that will prevent it anything other than those keys to open it. But there is a weak spot in the wall where those monsters we encountered have tried to gain access.”

Jenny squealed with excitement because it meant blowing something up. However, my time was up, as Stringum said that Mr. Tate is now looking for them. I was afraid to ask, but Jeff said. No, only their father was here, but he’s dead and looks like they ate him. 

Tony said, for me not to say anything to Terry or his sister. They don’t need to know that their father was eaten. Not that I could tell them how I knew that in the first place without them laughing in my face with disbelief.

Jeff brought me back as Stringum and Dad hurried me along asking me a million questions, but it would take to long to explain everything and we didn’t have the luxury of time or a place where we could talk openly. I quickly ran into the bathroom and vomited into a toilet feeling very sick after seeing that scene of carnage.

Mr. Tate opened the door of the restroom as I was peeing into the urinal, he said. “You look like death warmed over. I have been looking all over for you and your Dad; he said you had to take a leak. I just wanted to congratulate you on a fine job with Terry.”

I said. “I gave you my word that Terry would be ready to perform today. What more do want from me?”

He said, “Oh it’s like that is it. I was hoping you would reconsider my offer of coming to work for me. I still think with you taking care of the boys, and teaching them how to perform like Terry and your other new brothers. We could rake it in… more so with me then Mr. Stringum. You will be 18 in another year or so, your adoptive parents can’t hold that leash on you anymore the moment you become an adult according to our great United States. You won’t need their permission any longer.”

I walked to the sink and washed my hands and said. “My answer is still no Mr. Tate. In fact, I am thinking about retiring from the movie business and entirely and go to a good culinary school and become a world famous Chef likes Chef Philips. And personally the idea of working for you longer then I have too makes me nauseous. If you will excuse me, I have a pep rally to attended and fight scene. So you can film another boring sex scene. Without our students getting wise to what we are really doing here. For some reason, if these students and their parents found out that in truth Tangled Hearts nothing more then snuff film they would tar and feather you and put you way in prison for the rest of your life.”

I started to walk past him as he grabbed by the arm hard, stopping me; and then growled angrily in my face feeling his hot disgusting breath that smelled of cigarettes and booze.  “How dare you talk to me about quitting my movies and my magazine? Must I remind you I own your a*s as well as your entire adoptive family? I am not the only one who raped each of those boys like you and your Dad did with Terry last night. I have everything on film from the moment you and I met. All I have to do is leak a copy to your father’s lawyer showing you and your Dad rapping each and every one of those boys.

“I on the other hand never was that stupid to be seen like that on camera in my own damn films. I am a very powerful and very rich man. Richer now thanks to you and your family of perverts. All I have to do is make one phone call to the family court Judge and he will see to it that you will be facing sexual assault charges, for having sex with a minor.

“Then make a second call to any prison in the United States and you will be found dead with your throat cut and your balls cut off as a set of pearls around my neck. So think about my offer, and I would suggest you take it for the good of your family and friends.” He let me go as Dad asked if I was still in here. Mr. Tate answered. “He just needed to splash some cold water on his face, Mr. Carrion… must be due to the heat.”

Dad said. “I can’t seem to find Terry, have you seen him?”

Mr. Tate said. “Yes, he needed to lye down for a bit, so I sent him to your trailer since we won’t need him for the next scene.”

Dad said. “I see then I’ll go check on him.”

Mr. Tate said drying his hands. “Do what you like, Mr. Carrion you always do.”

Dad said. “Is that a threat or just your opinion?”

Mr. Tate moved past him said, “Does it matter?”  Opened the door and walked down the hall towards the gym.

Dad said, “I really, really hate that man.”

I said. “Yes Dad I know, but let’s do what we got to do and then get home. We really, really need to talk about how we are going get rid of Mr. Tate, but right now I have fight to start, and you have sex scene too make, but don’t you dare let Mr. Tate even near them, trust me, he is worst then man we think he was… if he is a man at all; any word from Tony?”

Dad said. “No just that they blew something up.” I nodded and opened the door and found my seat.

The moment everyone found their seats, Mr. Tate came into the Gym and took his director's chair. He gazed around the room counting heads, and gave everyone warm smile stood up and gave a short thank you speech and told everyone to make sure they pick up a ticket at the door, at the end of today shooting and take their ticket stubs down to Raging Waters Water Park for a weekend pass, and free lunch on him, causing everyone to cheer. He quickly said pep rally scene take one. The band started to play as the cheerleaders came out with their pompoms and I got into position as our Mascot dressed in wolf custom rallied us.

I stood up and punched Mark, and then he took a swing at me missing me as he stumbled out of the bleachers. Everyone moved away as I leaped at him as we rolled on the ground hitting each other; as we watched Cindy and Jake disappear into the boy’s locker room. It was our job to keep fighting as we rolled back and forth on the gym floor trading punches until Mom and Antonio came to stop the fight.

The moment they both dragged us away out the door, Mr. Tate yelled. “Cut. That’s a wrap folk. Thanks for your help. I look forward to seeing you all at movies. We will be asking for applications for those that would like to part in our movie Tangled Hearts and will begin addition next Thursday. Please pick up a script of the character you would like to audition for on your way out.”

Dad came into the Gym with Terry as the last of the students were leaving and Terry faces turned into a snarl when he saw Mr. Tate and Antonio, Dad held him back as Mr. Tate and Antonio walked passed him going into the locker room. I had no desire to be anywhere near them.

I had done my scene and it would be while before we moved on to the last scene of the day. I found my mother and my adoptive Mom talking with Loren about the little afternoon shopping trip as they were watching the sex scene of Jake and Cindy.

Mr. Tate had already informed them that Terry and Jessie wouldn’t be needed until 2 pm for the last scene of today’s shooting; which gave them plenty of time to break for lunch and do some shopping. Dad suggested that I go with them, which pleased my mother greatly. Jeff still hadn’t come back and there still was no word from Tony… and Stringum had disappeared entirely.

Dad said. That by the time they reached the classroom setting. That Crawford was long gone and Stringum and Landon with the help of Jeff were chasing him down, but so far once more he has given us the slip.