Malum Sanguinem (Bad Blood)

Chapter Two

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The clock chimed half past ten, grabbing my attention for few precious seconds, where I stumbled onto a branch. It made an audible snapping sound and I gasped in fright. The talking inside came to a dead silence and I heard retreating footsteps inside. It was my cue to leave but oddly enough, I couldn't. Trepidation locked me on my spot and my heart thundered against my ribcage, faster than lightning itself. Fear ran cold in my veins and my hands trembled.

"Who's out there? I'm armed and I won't hesitate to use my weapon! Show yourself." A man in his thirties barked. His potbelly jumbled while he demanded and his double chin jingled angrily. He couldn't see me from where I was hidden, but he was close.

I let out a small shaky breath and inhaled. I immediately cuffed my mouth with the back of my hand to stop from coughing at the pungent smell of beer and stale cherry flavored cigarettes. The man was wearing a short sleeved shirt and blue overalls and true to his words, he held a shotgun. He came closer and continued until he was standing directly in front of me. I held my breath, not daring to breath. The sound of my heart desperately pounded in my ears. The seconds gradually ticked by and my lungs threatened to explode. A minute later, I swear my face was blue from lack of oxygen. The man, much to my annoyance, stood there on the spot as though he knew how torturous it was for me.

I clutched my throat from deprivation of air and decided to make a run for it. I twisted my body away from where the man was standing and ran back to the bench, on the opposite side. I stayed light on the balls of my feet and let out the air which was building pressure against my ribs. My chest rose and depleted at my unrhythmic breathing and I gasped for air. It was quite difficult to focus on running all the while trying to breath. Behind me, I heard deep and irate barking of men before they started chasing after me. I knew it was only seconds until I collapsed into a heap but I had to keep going. My lungs were on fire and the air I breathed in was constricted. Tears burned at the edge of my eyelids and bile rose in my throat.

I had the bench within eyesight but what I failed to keep track of was the distance of the men behind me. At the last second, someone jumped on top of my running form and held me in a bearhug. I shrieked, hoping to catch attention but the man quickly covered my mouth. We tumbled to the ground and landed at the edge of the river. His body flattened mine and he held tightly onto me. It was uncomfortable to have his clasped hands poking at my torso and his chest against my back. I wiggled against the snake grip but when that didn't work I resided to the famous backhead move. I heard a satisfying crunch of his nose and the obscenities from his mouth were in utter vain. The other men, including the potbelly, soon caught up.

"Please, let me go!" I mumbled against his restraining hand. The man uncovered my mouth and I sobbed, "Please, let go of me!"

"What did you see?" the Scotsman gruffly asked.

I decided to tell a warped up story with a pinch of lie to it, "I was looking for my friend who had abandoned me while I slept, I was searching for him when I stumbled across your tent. I was going to come in to ask if you'd seen him but then someone came out with a rifle. I got scared and ran." I explained. It wasn't quite the lie I was thinking of but decided it would make it more believable if I added a bit of the truth, too.

The guy who had me pinned to the ground, released his weight off of me. I brushed my simple garments and got up. I was walking away when he grabbed me by my upper arm. I looked at him and recognized him as the brown-haired guy. "Won't you tell us a bit about your friend?"

I gulped, not liking the way he spoke. "Uh, okay. His name is Gerald Fritz and he's five foot eleven. He has dark brown hair which look black from the distance and his eyes are, urm, gray." I stumbled at the last part of the lie and heat flamed up my cheeks in embarrassment. I quickly covered it up though by pretending to glance somewhere else.