The unexpected visitor

Epilogue

All of my surroundings inside the speeding vehicle were lost in the commotion. It was all one long washed out blur. The muted sound of the chaos that existed outside of my mind did not intercept, only the thoughts that entered and that I tried to escape from were of my concern. My head rested gently on my closed fist, arm leaning against the cold metal of the busses windowsill. I peered outside, the day was dull. Thick grey clouds masked the dusk covered sky as tiny rain droplets began to lightly tap the window pane besides me.  This couldn’t be happening. This can’t be happening. I took a deep rugged breath and tried to calm myself down, but the only sound I could hear was my pulsing blood that grew more fiery with each stuttered breath and the only thing I could see was red. I sank into my seat and placed my head into the arms that lay helpless on my thighs - I couldn’t do it.

The bus slowly screeched to a squeaky stop, sending all the suspended luggage overhead, smashing into the drivers grated security screen with a crash. My eyes faltered to the stop-off button above on the pole besides my seat. Two more stops. My heart began to pound as my forehead creased in anger, and my throat burned violently; it felt like I was going to be sick. I tugged at my hair with my hands as my crowded mind raged on. So many questions needed answering yet there was no one to answer them, in truth it was very possible they never would be resolved. I needed answers, needed them. I looked over out the window again, realising that the little rain droplets were no longer falling, and the sky was close to pitch black - there was still a faint light grey extended across the horizon, it was nearly nightfall. I didn’t understand why I had to do it but I didn’t have to understand, there was no choice. No way out this time. I cringed in my seat as images flooded my mind and stole my breath away. I inhaled as slowly as I could trying not to hyperventilate but no matter how much air I breathed, I always felt like I was suffocating.

It wasn’t long before the bus stopped off again, at a little bench on the side of the road. I could nearly see the street which was described to me. Shivers tingled up my spine and my stomach ached in pain. Though I could see the condensation of my breath escape my mouth, beads of sweat began to show on my face as the fear expanded inside me. Pins and needles covered me from head to toe, I couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or the adrenaline that now coursed through my veins. The side doors noisily opened, a young woman with long straight brown hair hurriedly picked up her backpack and her suitcase with help from an older lady; who I assumed had sat behind her, as that seat was empty. Her white earphones radiated the intro of a rock song and she wore a large jumper along with a tired, defeated expression. I glanced over to her face, she would’ve been very attractive if it weren’t for the bags under her eyes that accentuated the odd pale colour of her skin - she looked like she needed sleep. As she struggled to grab her tall suitcase appreciatively from the woman, she turned in my direction. Caught off guard, she quickly noticed my curious glance and her helpless facade turned into self conscious curiosity. She looked at me confused and then down at herself, then back to me again, staring at me with penetrating eyes that could turn you to stone. She never looked away from my gaze. In that one small moment, the mixture of confusion, anger and terror that all at once washed across her face was strange to see. Did I know her? Surely I would’ve remembered her faded persona, that strange look in her eyes as if I had known her. Maybe I had frightened her with my windbreaker on. I quickly looked away, pretending not to notice her - though it was probably too late for that. I think she had the same thought as she broke the harsh gaze and anxiously jerked her suitcase towards the open doors at the front of the bus. She walked down the bus ramp dragging her suitcase behind and awkwardly moved towards the bench and I watched her until the old bus kicked into gear and started off again with a groan - she never once looked back. One more stop. I let my head fall limply into my dead arms and legs again. The swelling and burning in my throat started again and I tried to cough it out but it stayed. My ears rang silence as tears began to well in my stinging eyes. For once I let them fall for a while trying to find some kind of release, but it didn’t relieve the torment I felt inside. I was far from a good person. I was the one they called when someone needed a job done, no matter how dirty...or illegal. And I had killed before, only a few times and it was enough to get the idea, but this was far from anything I’d ever done. I had never, once killed someone who was innocent, they were all either a threat to the rest of the gang or they’d killed one of our men. I had no choice...It was either me or them. I lifted my head and leaned back to lie on the headrest behind me, swallowing my pain and filling with the rage that burned inside. I opened my eyes looking out the window for the last time, the house was in sight just as had been described. I licked my dry cracked lips and squeezed my fists shut, trying to remember a time that wasn’t so dark and messed up...I couldn’t.

I was now off the bus, making my way down the damp, dimmed street - lit only by the sparsely spread street lights that glared fluorescent white. It was bone chillingly cold outside but I could still make out the scorching flames caught in my throat. My thoughts ran ramped that night, my head throbbed unbearingly from both lack of sleep and the immense stress I was feeling. I took a deep breath to calm my edginess, I was so jumpy and could feel my hands shaking as I quickly paced to my destination. So badly I wanted to scream out some horrible curse word but my emotions remained sealed shut, for now. My face blank and expressionless, I came to a halt. Slowly I turned my body to face the house on my left which was now in full view. This was it. 21 Lush Lane. I must’ve travelled further than I’d thought. Another pang of fear struck me like a jab of lightning but I remained stuck in place, blank as a sheet of fresh paper. I probably looked like one too. I swallowed and instantly whipped out my disposable and checked the time, date and place listed.  I would ditch it after the job. This was definitely it. I had to make sure it was the right house, because if it wasn’t- oh, I couldn’t even contemplate.

‘No I can’t, this isn’t right, this just isn’t right,’ I whispered roughly to myself. I knew what I was about to do was wrong, and I knew I would hate myself for it, but I knew for a fact that if you didn't follow boss's orders… I circled around me to make sure I had no audience, crouched down and quick as a flash began my crawl towards the front door. Donovan had disarmed the alarms in the house at approximately 3pm that evening and had said that the alarms would be switched off when I opened the door, but they couldn’t be completely disabled so I had exactly 300 seconds before I had to start running.

“Damn it, Donovan”, I cursed.

I couldn’t make out much in the dim light but I could tell, this family was well off, like the kind that send their kids to university or something. They had a short leafy hedge teeming with some kind of blossom that cut across the healthy lawn. And behind the hedge there lay hundreds of tiny little brightly coloured stones, surrounding a pond. On top of the pond lay dark brown coloured flat rock platforms that were a small circular shape, just big enough for you to plant your feet on to get across the pond. There were dozens of tiny golden fish swimming the the pond, creating tiny bubbles as they swished away from me when I was passing them. I passed by them and continued my crawl past the pond and to the front door. I looked to my left; they had on their driveway grey, shimmering pavers that led into what I assumed would be the garage but judging from the rest of the house, I would assume there was already an alarm on it. Yes, it was a small house but it was still well off, any house that was in that neighbourhood was well off.

I grimaced in envy. Maybe they deserved what was coming to them, well maybe not as horrific but they deserved to feel the same kind of pain I felt. I pushed the awful thoughts and memories down deep, where I would hopefully never see them again.

The pretty little blue house looked to innocent for such an act to occur, it would’ve felt out of place for anything like that to happen there. I took one final breath before pulling out my pick-lock and then began working on the handle. Start the clock. I’d done it plenty of times before and so it didn’t take long for the bolts to click into place and the door to silently slide open. I watched as the light from the moon crept further across the floor towards what I guessed was the loungeroom. I pulled on my black mask and like a cat stalking it’s prey, I leapt into the house and landed silently on the ground before closing the door as best I could (without clicking the lock into place to provide a quiet, quick and easy escape). I could hear faint snores that were emanating further down the hall. I snuck slow and stealthily through the main hall which was shorter than I expected and looked at every angle of the house now revealed before me with each step. Many photos of a happy family were scattered around the place, the most noticeable a large portrait on the dining wall of a little girl and her brother side by side grinning joyfully, sitting on a swing. My anxious stomach growled - I quickly checked to see if anyone had heard but instantly realised that was stupid. Any small sound in the tiny house became magnified like a funnel of sound, but I was an image of pure stealth...and they were all dead asleep. When I was certain that no one had heard, I continued slowly through the house. I swear, picture upon picture I became more and more weary of the act I was about to commit, the pain I would feel after it and the pain I would inflict on this innocent family member but what boss says, goes. You can never defy the boss, never...Charlie had found out the hard way. The memory replayed in my mind, I furrowed my brow, cringing inside at the scars that night had left on my mind. Poor Charlie.

‘Stop moping around,’ I told myself as I remembered time was ticking. I continued crawling through the shadows until I came to the second hall at the end of the house. I moved much more cautiously now and I tried to control my breathing until I couldn’t even tell if I was breathing at all. Deeper and deeper into the darkness, further and further but still no doors. I kept going, beginning to wonder how long the hall actually was but then surely I saw the door’s silver handle as it glistened slightly from my ghastly, pale reflection. I came to a halt as I quickly looked behind me checking the perimeter was clear. Turning back forward, I extended my gloved hand towards the knob and twisted it slowly before opening it and entering. All I had was my sense of touch, hearing and smell in the completely shadowed room. I could feel the humidity in the warm, heavy air; it was almost as it the room was sweating. I could smell a sweet and humble scent that reminded me of some kind of flower in bloom. I could hear the gentle sound of breath, quick and short but also slow and deep. I thought for a moment, confused but then it hit me all at once. It was a little girl’s bedroom. I gasp of horror escaped my mouth, I tried to muffle the sound with my glove. How? How could they expect me to murder a little girl? I understood that the rest of the gang wanted to send a message to the leader of the Marco family (aka Mr Sinn); he had in fact murdered a close friend of mine. But this was wrong. She was so young, couldn’t have been older than two. I slowly rose to my feet, steadying myself on the cabinet beside her bed. My eyes began to adjust and I could see the faint stream of light that shone through the sides of the curtains ahead. The light trickled from the window to the carpeted floor, up the sides of the bed, (which I could now see was a pink and white flower pattern.) The light continued to go upwards onto the bed, where the little lump was lying. I looked down on the peaceful face I saw peeping through the tangled sheets, her eyes sealed shut, breathing slowly in and out. I felt an aleatory and strange sensation of calm as I watched the little girl sleep, the first I’d felt all day. I couldn’t put words to it, I felt...strange. I jerked my head away from the scene and filled with fear as I remembered the alarm. Shoot! I took one last look at the peaceful face that I could now more clearly see, her wildly mangled light-brown hair, her tiny dimples that creased her little rosy cheeks. And then, I ran. I checked my watch, oh no! Twenty seconds. I ran as softly as I could without waking the household from its slumber, thinking about each step with extreme precaution while still trying to get out of there as fast as I could. I could see the main hall now as I flew past the kitchen and living room. My eyes flickered down to my watch, ten seconds. I was through the hall now scrambling out the door and onto the street, completely forgetting that I needed to shut the door so that the alarm would reset. Oh god. I sprinted back to the door, rampedly searching my pocket for the picklock to quieten the sound of the shutting door. I unscrewed the lock with quick hands and closed the door shut. I waited ten agonising seconds at the front door to make sure I left the house undisturbed before a huge surge of relief flushed through me. I almost chuckled at how I made it just in the nick of time before I remembered...I’d forgotten. I didn’t do the job I was asked, the kid was still alive.

“Oh.....no no no.”

Just as a fresh layer of fear had laid itself on top of the old, I noticed an odd shadowed figure in the corner of my eye. I looked up. There stood the woman with the suitcase I’d seen earlier, earphones still on and frozen ghastly and pale as if her life had been sucked out of her.

For a few prolonged seconds, I stood too dazed to move staring at the girl as she mirrored my every emotion. Each second that ticked by felt like it was going in slow motion, like it was happening to someone else and I was just watching as it unfolded; an innocent bystander. But time seemed to catch up to me and the seconds now raced passed as I now remembered the girl. I stood, feet frozen solid to the ground watching as she slowly turned and looked at the door and hoarsely whispered,

“Nala.”

In that split instant, she dropped her suitcase, her earphones and ipod crashed to the floor and she sprinted past, through the inside of the house.

“Nala! Nala!! Please god. Nala!”

As soon as she bolted inside, I ran straight after her. I went through the door, following the sound of her nearing voice.

“Nala! It’s okay, you’re alright. Thank god you’re alright. Everything’s okay, you’re alright.”

I ran through the now familiar surroundings and slowed as I reached the shaky voice that comforted herself more than the child. I nudged the half opened door at the end of the hall, just as I had before. On the floor, the woman had pulled the little girl to her, cradling her in her arms as she sat kneeling on the carpeted floor. The young girl looked shaken, it must’ve been from her being woken; I wish the woman knew I never hurt her. Tears ran down both their cheeks and the woman began to sob. Was the woman I had seen, part of this family too? But, it couldn’t be, I saw all those photos and she wasn’t in any of them. Plus I checked the Marco’s records; all of them. I looked through the all family's documents with extreme precision and it said nothing about another daughter. I knew for a fact just looking at her that she wasn’t the mother, plus Mrs Marco had been confirmed dead 3 years ago; 'apparent' heart failure, the document had said. something smelled fishy either way. I needed to find out who she was, and why there were no records of her existence as well as her connection to the girl named Nala.

“Boss isn't going to be happy about this,” I mumbled indistinctly.

The sobbing woman and the little girl known as ‘Nala’ looked up from her tear soaked jumper sleeve, straight at me with that penetrating gaze again. Anyone with eyes could clearly see how much the two looked alike. It was peculiar indeed. Both of their eyes penetrated mine in a way that made me feel strange, and I did not like the way it made me feel. As I stood there looking, for that short moment I was marvelled as I wondered how I had not noticed it before. It was only now that I realised that woman's eyes were so big and wide...and absolutely beautiful. Big, blue, gorgeous eyes. They seemed to be blue, but an indescribable palette of colours and shades were painted on the gleaming canvas. They seemed to glow in the blanket of darkness that covered the rest of the room. My heart fluttered a little bit and my already uneven breathing became too noticeable. I closed my eyes and swallowed, making goo-goo eyes with the soon-to-be hostage didn’t help anything. I looked at the floor and began walking towards her; she shut her eyes as she cradled the child tighter and buried her head in the arms that enveloped her body. I now stood right behind the woman, I could hear her shaky breaths turn into panicked pants. Speaking in a low and soft murmur I spoke,

“You’re coming with me.”

My voice sent a wave of shivers up her spine, from her lower back, all the way up to her neck. There was no response, as she scared and stubbornly sat still on the ground. The mask I wore slightly muffled my voice and covered the lower half of my face, only revealing my eyes and messy bronze hair but the hair was covered by a black beanie. She was probably frightened of the mask too as well as the situation.

“Get up.”

It was our duty as members of the crimson dragons, to treat each other like family and to protect each other at all costs, to give your life for the gang. As I quickly resonated on this, I realised that I had to play my part; I had to do my duty, even if it was behind the bosses back.

“Get up.”

I nudged the intertwined human ball that sat on the ground.

“I said GET UP!”

My voice boomed across the small room and sent another shudder across the woman’s body. I roughly jerked her up from underneath and stood her up as she screamed and writhed around in panic. Struggling against her stubborn body, it took but a matter of seconds to actually get her to her feet. I had not yet decided where I was going to take the two but I knew I had to get some information out of this girl somehow. Suddenly, an idea began to form in my head...it was good enough.

“Do you have the keys to your car?”

She stopped screaming as confusion struck her. Her tear streaked cheeks turned scarlet. I looked at her waiting for an answer, when she realised I was waiting she spoke up.

“Um….I-I don’t...I don’t h-have one yet,”

she mumbled in an abashed tone. Shoot. This girl had either looked a lot older than she was or she hadn’t passed her drivers test, I prayed that it was the second option.

“Does your family own a car?”

She didn’t speak. The little girl clung to her legs tightly and quietly sobbed. I sighed, rubbing my head back and forth.

“Look, I don’t particularly want to hurt you or your little….friend there. I just need answers, and for me to get some answers I need you to cooperate. Understand?”

She nodded hesitantly, still in shock.

“Good. Now go get the keys to the car and the garage, we’re leaving.”

She nodded once again and turned to the door, running out through the hall and into the kitchen area with the girl. I followed close behind her, making sure that she didn’t try to trick me or make a run for it. I stood behind her watching as she approached the kitchen drawers and opened the third one down, it wasn’t long before I heard the clinking of keys as they hung from her hand.

“Thankyou,” I said in a voice as cold as ice.

She cringed at the touch of my glove as I grabbed the keys.

“From now on, you don’t speak unless spoken to. If you need something, that is the only time you can break that rule. If you struggle or try to escape you are only going to make things worse for yourself and for me, so just do as you are told and we should be alright. Understood?”

She stared at the ground blankly, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

“I understand.”

I felt like I was potty training a dog, and I didn’t like it. Nala looked up at me with innocent pleading eyes, I didn’t look back at her.

“Good. Now get in the car, I want you both in the front seat where I can see you.”

The girl rushed off into the garage with Nala in her arms and I heard the sound of the car door slam shut. I took a few deep breaths, what had I gotten myself into? I was already spent from the nervous breakdown I had on the way there, and now I had hostages. I really was going to have to lay low, I knew exactly where to go. I walked past the kitchen turning right, towards the garage door until I stopped. I took a few steps back and looked to the left, through the lounge room on the wall. There was that picture I’d seen earlier of the boy and girl on a swing set, I wondered to myself where the little boy had gone. I now looked at the girl in the photo, confused I took a step closer. The little girl had big blue eyes and long brown hair, she was smiling widely and had little dimples on each side of her slim cheeks. Even me, a total stranger to this family, could know just from looking that the girl wasn’t Nala. Nala had curly hair, looked much more chubby and also the picture looked too old for it to be her. It must’ve been the other girl. I looked away, realising I got side-tracked and continued walking into the garage. As I opened the door I saw the car; a white model of ford, I was pleased to see that it wasn’t too inconspicuous. Hopping in the car, I fastened my seat belt; not looking once to my left.

Just as we had arrived and parked rain began to fall again, this time pelting down with extreme force. I jumped out the car and circled around the front to the passenger side. The little girl had fallen asleep on her lap and the other was sitting almost completely vertical on the seat, her eyes wide, cautious and tired.

“Get out.”

Immediately she listened and unbuckled herself, climbing out the car quickly and carried Nala across her shoulder.

“Where are you taking us?”

I turned to the little girl shocked by her sweet tone in awe of how well managed her voice sounded. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that the girl was old enough to speak so properly yet. I was stuck for words.

“U-um... I-I…”

I cleared my throat, trying to return to my original icy tone. I must remember to stay stern and professional, I had no intention of seeing these two again after that night. The woman almost gave me a hint of a smile, as I saw the quick flash of her dimples appear and even quicker fade away. I didn’t want them to get to close or comfortable with me, I had to remain the blank sheet of paper for a little while longer, at least till I could figure out the mess I’d created.

“A place where I can talk to your big sister and ask her some grown up questions.”

The woman was suddenly struck, I think it was because she was surprised I knew she was her sister. It wasn’t exactly hard to tell that they were closely related. I ignored it and gestured them to follow. The rain pelted down with immense force. I started to fast jog and the woman followed until I saw the building. The blindingly orange light of the front office glared not far off in the distance, maybe about 300 metres away. I started jogging faster, the girl following close behind until we reached the door, I held it open and walked through. I was still holding the door open when I looked behind, she was still standing outside and panting from the jog. The woman stood in the pouring rain unsure of what I was playing at. Just because I had her hostage, it didn’t mean that I couldn’t be a gentleman. Rolling my eyes I pulled the family of two through the door forcibly and put my hands on her shoulders. She tried to move from my touch but I just shook my head, she remembered what I had said before about listening and nodded once. Good girl. I remembered I still had my mask and gloves on so I quickly removed them and stuffed them in my pocket. I looked over at the counter relieved that no one had seen, I also looked up at the security cameras and like some miracle they were broken and yet to be serviced. That was one of the reasons I went there to do jobs a lot, no one asked questions and if they had questions, there was no way to find who or where I was. Still behind the woman I looked up at the little girl's face that hung across her shoulder, she was fast asleep. I took my hands off her shoulders and moved to stand at her side then, putting on my best flirtatious persona, flashed a dashing smile at the receptionist who walked into view.

“Good evening.”

The receptionist blushed a little and realigned her specs. In the corner of my eye I could see the hostage woman looking at me in disbelief, of what I was not sure, but she looked surprised and more shy rather than frightened as she had been before. Maybe it was the mask.

“Good evening. How can I help you sir?”  

“Please, call me Jack.” I grinned at her and pretended to be interested. She shyly smiled and fell for it.

Predictable.

“We would just like a room for the night.”

She looked slightly disappointed, but tried to hide it unsuccessfully.

“Sure, sure. Let me just get your details and then we should be all set.”

My stomach churned slightly when she said ‘details’.

“Just put your mobile, email and full name and I’ll go get a room key card for you.”

She handed me a sheet of paper and a pen. Standing, I quickly filled in the sheet - all fake of course. I didn't need the feds nipping at my heels.

“Thank you, Mr Jack Carson. I hope you enjoy your stay at the Two Palms motel. Here is your room's key card, just swipe and it should open right up.”

She bit her lip and smiled, handing over the card as she said this. I looked over at the woman who was standing besides me and saw her disgusted face, I chuckled to myself, pretending to be chuckling at the receptionist.

“Thank you so much...Peyton.”

Her cheeks seemed to get even pinker as I said the name, printed very boldly on her name badge. I put my arm around the woman who had stood silently beside me and moved her along.

We had made it to the room, rusty metal plates showed the number 9. The wooden door was scratched and partially faded near the outer corners and in the middle of the door was a small palm tree sticker. Taking the key out I swiped the card and the door clicked open as promised.

“Go inside and put the girl in the second room. I don’t want her to wake up while we have our little chat.”

Her face shifted in fear as she opened the door and went into the other room.

The rooms hadn't changed since last time. The walls were a chalky cream colour and were ashy to the touch as I swiped it with my hand. The carpet looks relatively clean but there were discoloured patches scattered across it. Stains. The room smelled like soap and clean sheets. I took a deep breath, both sighing and inhaling the familiar scent. I needed to think and speak carefully from now on. If this woman heard any important information about the gang, there’s no doubt on my mind that she’d tell the rest of the Marco’s and even if she swore to keep quiet, I couldn’t take that risk. I’d have to kill her, and I really didn’t want to have to kill an innocent person...or at least I thought she was innocent. It was a wild accusation to think that she would be part of their gang but I couldn’t risk it; I'd be putting all the other men involved in danger. I walked in and shut the door, listening as she put the child to bed. A few seconds later she walked out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her, then slowly walked towards me and sat on the wooden chair besides the desk at the very corner of the room. Her head faced down, wearing an indecipherable expression.

“So, where would we like to start?”

Author's Note

mind the spelling or grammar as there are probably some mistakes sorry :(