Mae sipped her coffee slowly, the steam drifted off the black liquid and filled her body with warmth. Though the woman hadn't slept well and the bags under her eyes from her lack of sleep drooped, she was still awake at nine in the morning, sipping her fourth cup of black coffee.
The steam formed white swirly fingers of mist above the liquid and created delightful designs in the air. She watched these designs, for she lacked the mental energy to do anything more. A tap-tap on the front door roused the woman. She yawned as she made her way over to the door.
Unlocking the lock without first looking through the window, two large men confronted her. They wore all black and held guns on their belts.
"Hello, ma'am," the one spoke. "We're looking for Mae Winter."
Bottom lip quivering, she straightened herself up. "I am she."
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the man who had not yet spoken, eyeing her with an all too familiar look in his eyes.
"Ma'am, I'm afraid you're needed by the federal government for an interview at the Pentagon in Washington DC." The first man's voice held not a bit of emotion. He pulled out a badge declaring him an agent of the FBI.
Terror began to fill her with the alarm of her own safety. Taking a step back from the door, she closed it a little more. She had hoped the other man wouldn't notice, but his quick reflexes proved her wish to be unfulfilled. He stuck his hand on his gun and his foot in between the wood of the door and its frame.
Upon seeing this, a terrible fright paralyzed Mae's body. She couldn't stand guns. When Devlin had wanted to bring one home shortly after they got married, she'd slept on the front porch until he'd gotten rid of it. He'd put up an argument with her at the time, convinced that sleeping outside of the safety of locked doors would put her in more danger than anything else.
"Ma'am, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." The man spoke as he looked at her through the tiny crack of the door.
"You have no right to take me from my home. That is illegal."
"According to Mr. Winter's will, this is Dr. Bhurr's home, therefore you're trespassing."
Eyes tearing up, Mae looked back in the house for any form of self defense but only found barren walls and empty rooms. She began to tremble.
"Wha- what did I do wrong?" she choked.
"That's not up to my leisure to say, ma'am. Please, get in the car and no one has to get hurt." The other man slid his gun out from his belt in response.
It was probably a taser, Mae reasoned. Nonetheless, she hated the sight of it. Her petite, thin frame couldn't stop trembling. In her mind, she begged for Eric to somehow come home early.
"Put the gun away and I'll open the door." Mae's voice wobbled, try as she might to steady it. With a look of disappointment on the quiet man's wretched face, he obeyed his partner's nod and placed his gun back in his belt. Mae opened the door as promised.
As soon as she opened the door entirely, one of the men grabbed one of her wrists. She didn't hesitate to slap him across the face despite the firearm that hung from his waist. In his anger, out of habit, he reached for it as a threat. The tears in her round eyes and her unstable voice softened him.
"I am going, alright? You do not need to drag me. Please."
Walking through the grass, she climbed into the back seat of the van and buckled herself in. Terror and confusion radiated off her. Neither man seemed capable of meeting her eyes. Each time they tried, her big blue ones would guilt them into shamefully staring back at the ground.
Looking about the back seat of the van, she didn't notice the gas system. Instead, her eyes landed on something in the seat next to her. Squinting a little as she noticed it, Mae's heart skipped a beat.
In the seat next to her, underneath the belts, sat something she would've recognized anywhere. It was the black and silver case of Ody's cell phone with his familiar white earbuds coiled around it.
***
Two hours later, Eric drove up to the front of Devlin's old house and parked the farm's car on the gravel driveway.
Climbing out of the front seat, Eric entered the house which was too quiet, unnaturally so. As soon as his feet crossed the threshold, a strange feeling passed over him. Something was terribly wrong.
Choosing to listen to his inner-voice, the man quickly pulled out his cell phone and opened up the home app to check the security. Originally, when Devlin had insisted on having these security cameras posted to record movement at the front and back doors, Eric had found the idea a waste of time and money. He'd not known the magnitude of Devlin's situation at the time.
Clicking on the last recording from when there was movement at the front door, he watched the video the camera had taken of the men with Mae. It didn't take long for rage to burn through his body at what he saw. Eric wanted to throw his phone, but he ran outside. Despite the time, he jumped directly back in the car, not even pausing long enough to pack anything.
Eric programmed his map to Washington DC military headquarters, the US Pentagon. Stepping on the petal, Eric drove through the country with only one thought in his mind: he had to get to DC.
Others might have seen his actions as rash or insane, yet inside his heart knew it felt something special for Mae. Although he didn't allow himself to fully acknowledge what it was, it undeniably existed. Something warm and golden that no matter what he thought, he couldn't shake from his heart.
YOU ARE READING
The Post Sunday Experiment | COMPLETED 2020
AdventureAfter his parent's divorce, Ody Winter moves to New York City with his mother, leaving behind the rolling hills he and his sister grew up on. Two years later, they learn that Ody's father, scientist Devlin Jax Winter, died from a peculiar suicide...
