Beneath the whispers

Chapter 23

Hurried footsteps and panting is all the old villagers that stuck their head from their house would see – that explain their judgmental look at me, added to the fact that I had pretty much knocked on most of their doors just this morning.

They must pity the shit out of me, that thought alone make me all the sicker. So I pause for a minute to steady my breath before resuming my search

I had not gone to the hotel because my gut suggested that Tony would be out looking for me and going to the hotel would be a waste of time so I stall around the forest shouting his name and slowly angling towards the hotel – the sun won’t stay up forever though so I need to hurry back eventually

The cold breeze brush against my skin which had lost its smoothness since I arrived in this forsaken town and my body hair stand out with goose-bumps roughening my skin all the more from the thought of the dark clouds hovering around me – come to think of it, I keep pushing that to the back of my mind.

I tsk, nodding my head negatively in pity and trying not to burst into tears, hours of screaming for Tony through the village on a practically empty stomach is not going well with me.

I am just trying my very best to convince myself that the hoody guy did not do anything to hurt him. But the vivid memory of that old woman convulsing in his hands begs the question

“What the hell must he have done to Tony?” I mutter to myself, running my hands through my dreads looking curls but I end up tugging at a huge knot so I push the stray strands to the back of my ears instead. I need to stay positive

I wonder where he might be looking for me – what if we are going in circles? But that is the very reason I have been shouting my voice box off so he could hear his name

What on earth made me doze off right in the middle of the farm half into a chase? Tony is strong enough to give the hoody guy a hard time – these conflicting thoughts are making me crazy

Maybe he is done looking for me and retired to the hotel probably searched for me through the forest first. For this reason, I think I should return now, besides the sun is red and kissing the hills and it is bad enough that I am in the middle of nowhere

if he doesn’t see me when he gets back, he might plunge out again to look for me thereby putting himself in danger so I need to return to the hotel, and maybe find him on my way there.

I draw in a huge chunk of air and tighten the muscle in my belly, ready to give out the loudest shout of my life. Maybe one last call before I give up, after all the evening was quiet and –

“Where the hell did you go?” Tony’s voice interrupts me from behind. His dark grey eyes is engulfed in concern, cringing his forehead and his brows raised slightly, he is half jogging with the old woman’s frying pan looking coal lamp

Game or whatever, some psychopathic demons seriously made people carry coal around like some medieval times slaves

His hair is messy and his shirt hangs on his waist over the jean he wore since the day before. Approaching me he drops the pan to my feet and pulled me in for a tight hug “don’t scare me like that again” he declares

“I dozed off in the forest,” I say slowly enough to catch his reaction. he breaks free from me, tilting his head with a puzzled look

“You slept in the middle of chasing a potential kidnapper?” I think he is making it sound a lot more stupid than I thought it was. But oh well, I still caught the guy and I know where he lives

“I was hungry and so tired, I stopped to catch my breath, and just like that, I was gone” I respond trying to pretend that making cute faces wouldn’t make me look worse than I already am

He chuckles looking at me in amusement. Then the rustling in the trees behind me flashes alert in his eyes, he slowly tugs me to his back “pick the coal” he orders

I pick up the frying pan looking coal lamp that had burning charcoal inside like a child obeying her father oblivious as to why.

The rustling sounded like a breeze to me. The growing whispering in our ears alerts me, grasping the handle of the said tin, we try to stay close to the heat as possible and breathe calmly. Like wind the whispers blew past us, growing distant until we couldn’t hear them anymore

“it’s heading for the hotel” Tony yelps, grabbing my hand and sprinting into minutes of mind-drenching run. And again I am stuck with trying to meet up with his speed

Good thing we got to the Old woman’s hut before my lungs give out – wait why are we stopping at the woman’s hut instead of rushing to the hotel?

He seems too tense and that is beginning to worry me. the fireplace beamed with red hot light slivering through the parchment-like door that covered it.

The series of events after my arrival had prevented me from realizing that the town had been cut out from electricity good thing I was avoiding my phone because of Jeffery – it probably still has battery

Tony drops the pan hard that I click out of my thoughts, wondering what the alarm was all about “we don’t have extra coal here and the one on the pan is burning out” he places his hands on his head, not bothering for even a brief glance at my confused face

“what’s going on?” I ask trying to pull his attention. he stops moving, his brows raised like he suddenly realizes that I don’t know whatever it is that he knows.

This puts me off the edge even further, fisting my fingers slightly with a frown, I order “start talking, what is going on?”

He let's out a heavy breath and lightly clears his throat “After I lost the hoody man, I couldn’t find you so I went back to the hotel hoping you returned earlier, but you weren’t there” he pauses lingering his hand at the back of his left shoulder, obviously not from scratching it.

What is with the pause after the obvious detail? “After that day at the hotel, everyone ran into the village including the teenagers” he continues

“Well …” I am growing impatient. if Tony had understood where I stood with this whole town madness, he would know to just vomit any news whatsoever

“Some residents and teenagers came back from the massive shadow attacks in areas near that tunnel we found, and there was an attack yesterday night and an old woman was taken in front of their eyes. Thelma claims she saw the woman disappear and this happened after she worked them through how the whole kidnap happens”

“I thought they –” my words trail as something hits me, speculation and he nods like he read my thoughts, this was why everyone was even a lot closed up on us and not willing to even let us in – maybe talking about these things will put them in danger as well

“They are taking anyone with information. The blind woman you met with Thelma on the first day is missing too, her hut was searched over and through”

“and Mrs. Story teller is gone as well” I add

What?” a look of shock and surprise in his face

I drift my gaze away, letting out a breath before replying “well, he woke me up from my nap, I watched him pass and I decided to follow him, we got to a place where he digs out something just by one of the trees. Then the woman comes by and he launches at her. They struggle for a while before she starts to convulse and that was it, she is dead” I narrate the fastest I could

“Wait… you saw her die?”

I nod “I think so, but when I got back looking for you, I didn’t see anything, she was gone”

“just like that?” Tony seems to find it hard to believe me – even I don’t understand anything anymore, he lets out a brief breath and continues “Olivia’s wound did not disappear though, she broke her wrists and cut the flesh on her other arm. The bandage still seeps blood”

“What happened to Olivia?” I panic, she might be my ex-best friend but I still need her to be alive and healthy so I can hate her attitude

“I don’t know the full story but I know it has to do with the attack, and all these happened at the hotel”

“They have drawn their sword against us” I sulk in the air and gasp lightly “we should go”

“They will be fine, we gathered coal together and set the place up, the shadows won’t be near them but if we leave like this, they will attack us when our heat runs out”

I am finally calm, I drop to the mat, immediately regretting it when my ass bone knocked on the floor through the mat – I miss my bed. I wince in pain but still manage to slip into the mat, thankfully Tony was too busy ransacking the woman’s store to notice. “I will roast some potatoes, are you game?”

“When did you learn how to do that?” I tease

He chuckles “I will take that as a yes” he says and I smile in response

I am beginning to think all these mind tricks are on me? I am the one having wounds that disappear, seeing the shadows and yet don’t get taken, watching someone die and not finding her body minutes later, if not an hour. Someone, please make this make sense because I am losing my mind.