Blood is Thinner Than Water

10/15/2019 4:30 PM

The sun was setting by the time he reached the trailer. It took him longer than he thought; a few hours longer.

The trailer looked abandoned enough. A perfect yet stereotypical place for a fugitive to hide in. Roof sagging, panels rusted wth ivy growing all over, a few broken or cracked windows.

Even in the fading sunlight, he could make out Ryan and his partner on the other side of the trailer, hiding behind one of the trees. Making his way towards a larger tree, making sure not to make too much noise (which was difficult with dry, brown leaves underneath his boots), he texts Ryan.

We wait a few more minutes for it to get darker, and then on my signal, we go in.

You got it.

A few minutes felt like hours. This was it. The moment where he will commit an act of murder. Not that this is his first rodeo, but it's the first time killing someone he knows and loves.

As soon as the sun was low in the sky, enough for him to still be able to see but not too much where he could be easily spotted, Jake texts Ryan the go ahead for them to surround the trailer.

He slowly and quietly creeps towards it and peers through one of the grimy windows. He beckons his crew to wait against the wall on either side of the trailer. It was hard to make anything out in the trailer, but he makes his way towards the off white, plastic door, cracks it open a hair and peers inside.

Absolutely nothing. At least where he was standing.

Finally making his way inside, gun raised, he makes his way towards the only living figure that he sees in the room on the west side of the trailer. It was resting on what appeared to be a mattress. The light was dimmer of course inside than it was outside, so in order to investigate better, he tiptoed his way over.

The floor creaked under his feet, but it didn't seem to bother the still sleeping figure.

As he got up to the mattress, he finally makes out to his surprise, a person he doesn't even recognize but at the same time he knew it was his own niece.

Emaciated, her hair ragged and a little damp, pale, and small. Those were the best words to describe what remained of Marleen. He could hear her uneven breathing. Despite the fact that it wasn't nearly as cold as it could be outside, and the fact that she was only stuck in these woods for a day and a half, he could tell that it all took a toll on her. Combined with the water from the river, she must have been freezing.

Almost instinctively, he grabs one of her small, shaky hands and she instantly wakes up.

Suddenly, Jake was no longer seeing his 23-24 year old niece, but a little newborn baby. The way that she was sleeping soundly, almost peacefully, and the way that her blue eyes looked up at him real wide and terrified when he woke her.

He experiences a brief flashback.

...

As soon as he had heard the news of his aunt giving birth to this child, he wanted to be there that day but his work got him tied up to where he couldn't get off until two days later. But as soon as he was relieved, the first place he went to was the hospital.

Excitement, anticipation, and even nerves, overcame him. Would the baby even like him? He knew he wanted to be a part of the baby's life no doubt about it. But would he be able to help raise her right? Especially with the type of family she would be born into?

Once he made his way there, found out the room his aunt, uncle, and new niece were in, he stepped into the room and saw her for the first time. All of those worries vanished instantly. A beautiful, innocent baby was lying in her crib; a baby blue blanket with a wool hat to match it wrapped around her.

He did not need an invitation to pick her up and hold her in his arms for the first time. She was so tiny and so fragile. He was afraid one wrong move and he would drop her.

Her eyes weren't open at the time, but he could still feel the instant connection between them. He hugged her and held her close to him.

"We figured that you would have liked to see her first hand," His aunt had said after a few moments of silence.

Jake felt something surge inside of him that he wasn't used to feeling. To this day he still could not tell what he was feeling but if he had to sum it up, probably joy.

"You were right," Jake answered with a small lump in his throat. Also something he wasn't used to. "I want to be there for her. No matter what. Not just now but I mean for her whole life. Am I allotted that?"

"Of course, Jake. You're family after all," His aunt had smiled, holding on to her husband's hand. "I'm sure our little Marleen would like that."

After learning her name, he looked down at her, took one of her soft tiny hands and held it in his.

"I promise I will always be there," He had whispered in her ear as he went to put her back in her crib, kissing her forehead.

...

"I promised..."

Jake utters those words with that same lump in his throat while holding the gun to Marleen's forehead.

Marleen didn't say one word. Just looked straight at him. Silence fell between the two of them for a long stretch of time. Neither one said another word to each other during that span. It was almost too quiet to the point that if he didn't just hurry up and shoot her already that the guys standing outside will be wondering what's going on.

Now was the time to pull the trigger. The moment was practically gift wrapped for him. But now that the moment was here, he was hesitating. For what? He almost couldn't wait to shoot her yesterday before this whole fiasco happened. And to make matters worse, Marleen is making no attempts to get away. She was lying perfectly still while he was holding her hand in a firm grasp, a gun practically digging into her forehead. Almost as if she was accepting her fate.

All he had to do was move that stubborn finger of his on the trigger. Just one simple move and he would be done. Lord knows how many times he's done it.

Maybe she figured that since there was really no places for her to run to or hide in, and with the lack of resourcefulness that she has already, that she was as good as dead no matter if Jake was the cause of it or not.

For a split second she closes her eyes and...