Chapter 7 - Run boy run!

'It is not Hillsville, where have they put me' the boy stood in the middle of a dense forest. Didn't know how he got there, but this is the only chance to escape.
Trees all around, 'which direction should I run' He couldn't see anything farther than 10 feet. It was dark. 'Is it night? or do the dense trees cover up the sky?'
He slowly got used to the darkness. 'I can see something now - there is a small footpath. I should follow this. Some one might help me'
The footpath led him deep into the forest. The only sound he could hear was the crackling leaves under his feet. He took a closer look at the footpath he was following. There was a footmark. He placed his foot exactly on top of it. It matched perfectly. He continued.
‘What does it mean? Have I been here before. Am I taking a big circular path?’ he continued in the footpath.
The footpath came to an end. 'Who is standing there?' it was a blurred image.
He tried to take a closer look. He immediately took a few steps back in recognition of the image. It was his mother.
'You will be all right' she told.
'Why is the image blurred?' he rubbed his eyes with both his hands and took a closer look again. ‘Mom’ the boy cried loud.
'Shhh..' the image signaled him to stay calm. 'Listen, You will be fine soon'
'Take me out of this place to my father'
'Not right now, I will sure get you out of that place' she promised 'Now run back to your place'
The boy turned back to see the path he came through 'No, I am not going there..' the boy again turned back but the image was not there.
'I am not going there again' the boy ran off the footpath into the forest.
As hours passed by the trees became less dense and a while later he reached a plain land. Still dark, but not dark enough to miss noticing a distant train standing still. 'How far is it? A mile?' the boy was already breathing heavily. Can he make it before the train leaves. The boy ran towards the train with all his energy. He was sweating all over. 'I am hearing footsteps, louder and louder. Who is chasing me? Two wolves? He was not too far from the train. 'Will I make it? Something scratches my leg. My goodness, the wolves got me. The boy fell down forward and shouted for 'Help!'.
The boy woke up to reality with his own echo and to the screeching sound of his room door. It was Nick.
"How did you untie this?" Nick's face was stern as usual.
The boy got up "No, I didn’t. I said Bob that I would be good. So…” the boy was still sweating and breathing heavily. He couldn't believe it was a dream.
"Bob!" Nick shouted.
The old man came in.
"Why did you untie him?"
"He is a kid and there is no way to escape from this room. I trust him. He will behave good"
"You are answerable if we mess this up" Nick left the room.
"Nightmare?" the old man asked.
The boy nodded.
"I will bring you some breakfast soon" the old man locked the room behind.


"When does the task end?" Nick asked the old man.
"Mr. Clark said, it should be tonight" the old man lit his pipe.
"Any idea, how much the boy is worth to him?"
"Not a clue. As long as Mr. Clark pays us our cash, I don't care what the boy is worth to him" the old man replied.

"It was your idea to get paid after the transaction. We have never done this with anyone else. Why this special consideration for Mr. Clark"
"Trust, Nick, Trust. He paid us good for the previous task, more than what we agreed upon. We need to show some trust. We need to make him feel, that he is our special client. That is how you keep your customers"

"Whatever, any task right now?" Nick stood up.
"Josh just called from Hillsville. He said 2 people came into James' house an hour back. I want you to call James and ask who they are. Also, tell them again, that their boy will not return alive, if they go for cops"

"What if they ask what we demand?" Nick asked.
"We can't answer that. Mr. Clark will call them regarding the payments. Just say, we will call back on our demands"

"As you say, Bob" Nick opened the front door and waved a good bye.



Josh was sitting near his parked van behind a tree and peeked through his binoculars at the James house situated across the hill. He had already updated Bob on the arrival of 2 people to James' house.
Now they were leaving. 'Where are they going?. Should I follow them?' Josh murmured.

He called Bob again.
"Bob, Those 2 people are leaving his house. Should I follow where they are going?"
Bob thought for a while.
"No keep watching James house. Keep me updated on who else comes to his house. I have already got Nick to find out who those 2 people are"

Josh hung up and continued his task of monitoring who all were coming to his house.


It took a while for the boy to get his heart beat at a normal pace. An hour later,
Bob opened the door with breakfast for both of them.

"Do you like this food" Bob asked.
The boy nodded.
"Who are Mike and Charmaine?" Bob asked chewing his chicken sandwich.
"They are my dad's friends. What's the matter?"
"Do not ask me questions, boy. Just answer to my questions
Why have they come to Hillsville?" Bob continued.
"I have no idea"
"What can you guess?"
"My father might have called upon them for moral support"
"Where do they come from?"
"From Folly Island, if I remember right"
"What do they do there?"
"Don’t know exactly. Working in computers I think"

"Alright, good boy, enjoy your breakfast" the old man left the room.