It had been weeks since the last one came.
It had started with small things. Some of the flowers in the garden had been pulled up. Graffiti markings appeared along the fence line. Gratuitous images were carved into some of the trees around the property. All of it could be explained away with some adolescent vandals. But the latest attack made it all too clear who the culprit was.
Arthur had just come home from work the day that it had happened. Daniel had just learned a new word: no. Elizabeth looked about ready to start pulling her own hair out.
“He refuses to eat what I give him. He refuses to take a nap. He refuses to let me do anything!” Elizabeth vented to Arthur as soon as he got home. “I’ve disciplined him every way I can think of and nothing helps.”
Arthur glanced over at the boy, who was sitting on the floor and playing with his blocks. Sighing, he hugged Elizabeth, resting his head on top of hers. Arthur opened his mouth to say something when there was a crash from the front room.
Elizabeth immediately dove to grab Daniel, who had started to cry. Arthur grabbed his gun out of his briefcase and went to investigate the sound. Elizabeth followed close behind Arthur as he slowly made his way into the family room. Arthur held up his hand for her to wait while he made sure it was safe.
The room appeared empty of attackers, but Arthur could see a cloud of dust out the window as a car sped off the property. The window itself was completely shattered, glass shards littered the floor. A brick laid in the middle of the carnage, obviously the object used to break the window. A note was tied to it. Written in a hand that looked vaguely familiar to Arthur were the words: Vive la Révolution.
“Francis,” Arthur whispered, cursing under his breath. It was a clear message. They knew where Arthur and Elizabeth were and they would stop at nothing.
“He found us,” Elizabeth whimpered from behind Arthur. She had followed him into the room and leaned over his shoulder to read the message. “What are we going to do?”
“We have to go,” Arthur replied after a long silence. “We can’t leave any trace behind. It’s too dangerous to stay here.”
Elizabeth nodded solemnly. “I’ll go pack.”
“Right,” Arthur murmured. He stood frozen as Elizabeth left the room. After a moment, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Alfred’s number.
“Yo dude,” Alfred answered, the sound of a busy fast food joint in the background. “What’s up?”
“Francis found us.” Arthur told him. He explained about the little attacks that had been brushed off before and about the most recent development. “Elizabeth and I are leaving. I’ll ditch this phone, which means I won’t be able to talk to anybody for a while.”
“Wait a minute,” Alfred interrupted. “That sounds more dangerous. If something were to happen to you guys, we’d have no way to know, to help you.”
Arthur grumbled to himself before answering. “Then do you have any bright ideas?”
Alfred thought about it. “Lead him to believe that you’re leaving. You still have an old cell phone that you don’t use anymore? Go and dump that. He’s bound to be following you. Then take a really roundabout way to get home. Lay low. Don’t leave the house. Keep any and all curtains closed, et cetera, et cetera. I’ll do the whole false info drop in communications, you know the drill. No, I don’t want mayo on that. Anyway, I think that might work.”
“You think?” Arthur sighed, holding up a hand to Elizabeth who walked in with a suitcase.
“Should. How’s the little guy doing, by the way?”
Arthur ruffled Daniel’s hair with a smile, “He’s a little shaken up, but he’s doing alright. I still won’t be able to talk as often though, since we’re going to be pretending that we’re not here. I think I’ll even purchase tickets to leave, just to throw them off track.”
“Sounds good,” Alfred paused as he took a bite of something. “Stay safe.”
“Will do,” Arthur nodded, hanging up the phone.
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This one got cranked out a lot faster than the last one. Of course, I had outlined what I wanted to do with the plot from here on out (I highly recommend that strategy!!!).
This one, I think, is shorter than the last one. And I think the next couple will probably be shorter too, but there will be more action coming up soon. Things will really start happening! After this, there will only be 4 more parts.
Just as a preview, the chapter titles willbe: Fire, War, Confrontation, and Nineteen Years Later.
Hope you enjoy this part!
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Story of my Life (Hetalia One Shots)
FanfictionWhen England decides to take a vacation in California, he doesn't realize just how much his life is about to change. He finds his soul mate in a young American named Elizabeth. After dating for a few years, they finally decide to get married. But wh...