Chapter 63

"Marcus, I don't think your sister is fine. She is going backward."

"What do you mean?"

"She is saying things that make no sense, and she kept singing, hush, little baby."

"Thats a song my mom sang to us when we were afraid."

Marcus grew concerned, clenching his fist, "those assholes fucked her mentally."

"We must take her to a doctor for an MRI."

Marcus walked over to the window, staring out. Lacy white-edged clouds rolled in over the blue sky, their centers as deep as any shoreline rock.

"The weather is getting worse. It looks like we are expecting a storm."

Angela hurried over to the window glancing out, "What about Jack?"

"He's like a cat with nine lives." Marcus joked, regretting his words afterward when seeing how concerned Angela was, "he will be okay."

Angela looked at him with her deep soulful eyes, then walked over to the other end of the window, "Do you know Jack has always been the strong one in our family."

"I do not for a moment doubt it. He is well trained, so you must keep calm and not worry too much." Marcus faintly smiled.

There was a sudden bolt of lightning striking through the windows.

"Marcus, it's best you do not stand there. That lightning might hit you."

Rain roared down a rage of torrents as it collided against the pavement and caused a flood of emotions to erupt. Its frosty droplets cut deep into her thoughts and counseled her tears as a mother would her child-Angela embraced it. It was like a demon in disguise, hidden behind the fallen pieces of midnight hair on the tall grass, watching me. The rain wasn't the only thing that chilled her that evening; It was finding out who Martin was. He was with claire all this time in the same clan, Marcus cold face and stormy eyes screamed distaste. "What are you doing here?" Nicole asked hollowly. It took a few seconds for them to respond.

"We are waiting for Jack," Angela responded.

Marcus turned from the window, closing the curtain. "He should be back in the morning." He gave a fake grin.

"So, are you guys planning to stay up all night?" It was clear as daylight Nicole had medication, and her eyes were closed. "you wouldn't mind if I go sleep, will you?"

"No, of cause not. I will go to bed shortly."

The rain poured so loud that all I could hear was raindrops falling from the house's rooftop; all darkness made the mood gloomy. Hearing the leaky ceiling drip with rain just put a damper on my parade. It was raining so hard that it began to flood. The rain did not try to let up either.

"Nicole, do you have enough blankets?"

"Yes, I do. Thanks, Angela, I found extra in the wardrobe."

"This place must have cost a fortune."

"I would think so."

"Keep quiet." Angela looked upwards, "do you guys hear that?"

"It sounds like someone is upstairs," Angela whispered.

Angela removed her steel knife from the back of her boots which had a loop to hold a knife not visible to the naked eye.

"Where did you get that from?"

"My dad when I was little."

"Your dad gave you knives to play with as a kid? Thats like giving a gun to a kid and telling them it fires through the back."

"Yeah, well, not all dads are the same."

The footsteps sounded like there was more than just one person. The voices also sounded like they had come from multiple guys. They could hear the guns being checked. Angela then walked to the tv, "I am sure this is more here for the view than just entertainment purposes."

Angela switched on the television and searched through the channels until she found a media played which stood LS she accessed. "Just as I thought."

Marcus stepped closer, "so we can see everything happening upstairs and a 360 view around the property. This is so awesome."

They had seen four men scratching things in the kitchen, "what do you think they are searching for?"

"Could be that paper Mark had."

"Well, Claire had done a great thing taking it from where ever she found it."

"Nicole, go back to sleep, honey. You need your rest."

"What about those guys upstairs?"

"They will leave soon after they dont find or find whatever they are looking for."

Nicole yawned, "I feel safer here."

Angela moved over to the sofa, "come over here and rest your head on my lap."

Marcus was surprised at how caring she was towards his sister. Nicole had laid down on the sofa, with the rain pouring and the thunder roaring like a hungry lion. Nicole looked around, slightly frightened, curling up. Angela gently ran her fingers through Nicole's hair. She eventually drifted to sleep.

"Thanks for everything you are doing for her."

"You don't have to thank me. She is like a sister to me."

Nicole started shaking and sweating in her sleep, "No, no, leave me please, I dont want to, help me please."

Nicole was talking in her sleep, shaking from fear and sweating, "Nicole, wake up. You are just dreaming."

Marcus was sitting opposite. He rushed over, running his hand over her head. "Wake up, sis. It's just a bad dream."

Marcus felt guilty. He should be there for her. Nicole suddenly sat up and looked blankly at Angela and her brother. "Are you guys okay?"

Angela turned and looked at Marcus, "We are fine. You are in safe hands," Nicole laid down and went back to sleep.

"I wish he could come already."

"Who, Jack?"

"Yes, I would never have imagined it taking him this long. I hope he's okay."

Marcus also started to doubt it because he should have returned a long time. The radio screeched. Angela pushed the button, "Jack, is that you?"

A familiar voice said, "no, it's Mark."

"Mark, what do you want? I told you not to bother me again."

Mark cleared his voice, "sorry if I'm calling at a bad time, I can call back in the morning."

"It's okay, Mark. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I think I saw your brother. Some guy wearing scarves had his hands tied with a brown bag over his head."

Angela dropped the radio in shock. Nicole was awake and sat up, "Is Jack in danger?"

"We not sure yet, but according to mark, they caught him."

"We have to go after him," Nicole insisted.

"I will go look for him," Marcus said.

"No, we will call the cops and give them the location," Angela replied. "It's safer."

"Jack wouldn't want to draw unwanted attention," Nicole argued.

"It's my bloody brother. Do you think we can save him on our own? When we had to leave him behind because Marcus was dying of hunger, you, Nicole."

"What about me?"

"Nothing, I am sorry," Nicole said, looking pale, "I just think we should call the cops and let them do their damn Job."

Angela hurried towards the phone, realizing there was no signal. "how do you intend to call the cops without a signal down here, and those assholes up there?" Marcus asked.

"I have a backup plan."

"You do?"

"Yes, we radio the guy to who we spoke to ask him to take the radio to the police station."

"We can't trust anyone. We should do this on our own. What if you call the cops, they will ask where the call is coming from or even trace it."

"They can't trace a radio these days. Can they?" Marcus questioned.

"With all this new technology, you will be surprised, Marcus."

Nicole stood up, "I say we go out there and get those assholes."

Marcus stood up, "let's go save your brother. He needs us."

"It's dark. We can't see a thing out there."

"Fine, we will wait till sunrise, but I still think us doing this on our own is a bad idea."

Marcus agrees with Angela, "but what if the cops investigate them and discover who he is?"

"I agree we will go out searching for him first thing in the morning."

They had all gone to their rooms. Angela felt restless. She had worried about her brother, after all his all family she had left. Minutes felt like hours as Angela lay awake staring up at the roof. Was this person who was on the radio telling the truth? What if he was setting a trap? Angela lay sideways. Mark, they had met only once. Could she trust him? But why would Mark want to hurt them if he was with those people selling organs? Why were they being targeted? First Nicole, then all of them. Angela stood up and snuck out of the safe house. She sat in the car, thinking of her next move. "I should follow my guts, and my guts are telling me to go to the cops," she started the car up and drove through the tunnel.

She drove over the sensor, and the door started sliding up. There stood Mark with his hands in his pocket. "I've been waiting for you," he smiled as two men climbed out of the car.