Torment In Time

Chapter 2

He had been watching her for a long time now. Lurking in the shadows unseen. Stalking his prey, but the only difference between a lion hunting a gazelle and him hunting this woman is that in his mind it seemed a lot easier. He could have pounced at any moment, but he liked the waiting game. His father had always told him when he was just a boy that good things will come to those who wait, and he desperately wanted those good things.

He was born and raised in a small village in South Africa. Life was tough for him and his family. Poverty had taken over the land and their government to which everyone depended on, turned a blind eye. Nobody cared about these people, to many they seemed worthless and easily replaced. Slavery was still hugely going on in many parts of Africa at this time, with his father being one of them. His mother struggled to protect and feed her four children especially after a group of rebels raided their house in which they killed her husband, raped her and burned there home to the ground. Suddenly he became the man of the house. Without any understanding his mothers and three sisters welfare depended on him, but he managed his responsibilities as he grew older and stronger. Pain and grief had become a permanent part of his life and this he thought he had accepted. Then finally he found his breaking point. His feelings to which were dormant for so long had erupted to the surface when his mother became very ill. The man blamed himself for not bringing her to get treatment, as money was rare to come by. He could still remember vividly what his mother told him before she died in his arms. She told him that it was not his fault and there was nothing he could do, although she knew he would never feel the same way as he got his stubbornness from his father. With her last words she made him promise her two things, the first is that he will take care of his sisters and do whats best for them. The second is that he will no longer hold on to his past, that he will move on and do whatever he needs to make him happy so the world can see his beautiful smile once again for the first time in over twenty five years. So after his mothers death he found suitable partners for his sisters to which they would marry so they would be provided for, and he moved as far away as possible to start a new life.

Everything was going to plan he bought a small bungalow and got himself a minimal wage job but that was just enough, and yet now he found himself in the middle of nowhere late at night on Christmas Eve driving distantly behind a woman making sure his headlights were off so she was not aware of him. He knew everything about her, well everything that seemed important to him. Where she lived, who she was in a relationship with and even how she smelled, but all of this information was primarily just a means to an end, he just needed to have her and tonight would be his night.

He watched her turn into a gas station knowing that she must be hungry as he hadn't seen her eat all day. He parked his dark grey van opposite the front of the gas station making sure it would be hidden in the thick brush. He grabbed his night vision binoculars and placed them up to his dry sore eyes. She was talking to an employee and had a few items on the counter. He could tell from her body language that she seemed distressed and tired. The employee began pointing out the window and she was looking the same direction. The binoculars plummeted to the floor of the van as he ducked down trying not to be detected. If he had then it was all over. Months of work spoiled due to his own idiocy. The man took a deep breath, snatched his binoculars off the floor and slowly peeked his head back up to examine the situation. All was good. It actually looked like the employee was giving her directions, but to where? He had seen enough, now he needed to know everything the employee did.

The door of the van quietly opened and he stepped out into the cold air and wet gravel. He tucked his handgun into the back of his trousers for a quick release and began walking cautiously to the side of the building. His dark clothes blended him perfectly into the shadows as the woman scurried past him and headed for her car. Struggling with her keys he watched as the rain poured into every orifice that she obtained. When her back was completely turned he slid into the store.

Unknowingly the door was attached to a wind-chime which produced an unnecessary high pitched tone as the hollow metal bars struck each other recklessly when the door was opened.

" I knew you couldn't resist my offer" Brad laughed from the storage room in the back.

"I'll be out in a minute."

The man walked around the aisles but not for supplies, no, he had come here for one reason and one reason only; information, and he knew exactly how to get it. He could still hear the shuffling of boxes coming from the back room and decided to follow the sound. The man opened the door carefully and stepped into the storage room.

"Well I think I know why your here babe" Brad said unknowingly of the mans presence behind him.

"Good, that will make this go a whole lot easier for you" The man replied.

Brad paused in perplexity of the deep masculine voice that he did not recognize. Slowly he turned to face the mystery man who was now standing only two feet in front of him.

"It's time to start talking."