TALES OF DANSVILLE: EPISODE ONE

"God, am I being followed?"

 Nora thought as she made a left turn in her blue Hyundai Elantra. She drove to the tunes of her favourite country musician as the cold breeze hit her from the open window. She hated driving this late but there was so much work to do. Her monthly report was already due and the bank was looking to lay off some people so she had to work extra. She wasn't a lazy person, she'd say to herself every time she got to work two hours late. Her dad, Mr. Abeka owned the bank so she knew she wouldn't be sacked. But the idea that she didn't deserve the job nor did she put in enough work annoyed her and so fought to maintain minimum requirements to keep her job. Any time someone would question her, she'd just show her work input.

 Nora was sweating, the car still followed closely. She tested her hypothesis by making a stop at the fuel station. The car was gone. She went into the shop and picked up some candy, tissue and a bottle of cold water. The coast was clear, there were a few cars but all passed by. She drove away onto the main road and checked behind her. No car.

"Just drive"

She screamed and for a second lost control of the steering wheel. The car almost veered off the road but she regained composure. Her soon-to-be captor, probably in his late 30s had a gun to her head. He looked well-built in his black shirt. Nora couldn't make out his face because it was dark. 

She drove silently with the criminal giving her directions until they got to a deserted building where he told her to stop.

Should I get out and run? But he has a gun.

Nora opened the door and dashed anywhere away from this criminal. He quickly got to chase after her. When he got closer, he dived to grab her leg and Nora fell to the ground. The captor stood up while still holding her and smacked her face with the pistol grip. Unconscious, he picked her up into one of the rooms. 

The building had not seen paint in a long time and the walls had lots of cracks. The three-floor story stood in the middle of a big park and there were no surrounding houses, only bushes. There were barely any lights and so the whole area was dark. He dropped her on the floor as soon as they entered the room which was well lit. There was only one glass window that had been halfway sealed with wood. It was empty except for the chair in the middle of the room, chains, cuffs, bleach, pliers, and whips. He closed the door behind them, removed the coat and trousers she was wearing and so was left in her shirt and underwear. He sat her in the chair and cuffed her to the arms. The captor sat on the floor and spent the whole time she was unconscious looking at her.

She gained consciousness and then screamed when she saw her reality. The criminal quickly got up and went out. He barely heard her screams outside

"Good", he said to himself. He decided he was just going to sit outside and allow her to scream her lungs out. 

As the breeze passed over his bald head, his mind roamed back to the beginning of all his problems, and the beginning of his thirst for blood.

A memory of an 8-year-old flashed in his mind. An innocent, fun-loving and intelligent young boy whose only dream was to ride a horse once he grew tall enough. He smiled at that thought. Then he became incensed. The boy didn't grow tall enough to live his dream. The boy, his younger brother, was shot dead in their home by a drug lord. Their dad, a drug addict, owed him a lot of money.

 James hid in one of the cupboards upstairs when they came so he didn't see anything. He heard two gunshots and only came out after their car left. His brother laid there in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to his abdomen and his dad too had been shot. He called 191 and they came for their bodies. 

He didn't know what or how it happened but he was going to get his revenge. The next years of his life involved planning and plotting, following leads and gathering information. Once he got old enough, he joined the police force, using their resources to his advantage. It was off -book of course because the man was too powerful to get legal justice.

He had been tracking Nora for quite some time now. It'd be the perfect way to get his revenge. He sat in his car waiting for when she'd finish her work. He was just going to follow her but decided this was the best opportunity to start his plan. When he saw Nora come out of the building, his heart was racing, he'd finally get his revenge. 

Here he was, taking his time to suck in the vengeance drug. He sighed and then walked back to the room. Nora started screaming again, to let her go. He thought it was funny that she had the guts to make requests.

"I'm not going to kill you. I only need you to corporate".

"What do you want with me then?" Nora was frustrated at this point and her endless ugly crying made it difficult for her to talk as her nose was blocked. 

"So here's a story..." He told her the whole story about his brother's death without mentioning names and then when he was done, he said,

"So, I need you to call your father and tell him to meet you here" he drew closer to her and looked her in the eye.

"Why would I do that?!" She tried aggressively to come out of the cuffs, unsuccessfully.

"You see, your dad is the killer in the story, and that little boy is my brother."

"No, I won't!"

He reached for his gun, licensed, loaded it with bullets and pulled the trigger.

She screamed as the bullet hit the glass window shattering it.

"I'm not joking around" he yelled. 

"Alright, alright I'll do it" she started crying again

"We don't want him suspecting anything so get your act together." He didn't want to kill her, that wasn't his target. James picked a small Nokia phone from his pocket and asked her to call out his dad's number. It then occurred to him that things would be easier if the call was made through Nora's phone. After using her finger to unlock her

phone, he dialed. 

1 ring...2...3

"Hello, Nora it's almost 11, what's happening?" She hesitated and James reminded her of his gun by lifting it slowly to her face.

"Nora?"

"Oh yeah uhh... yeah, I need you to come and see something. I know it's late but I think it'll be a good investment for you"

"Can't we do that tomorrow? I'm really tired"

"No no! It has to be tonight...please" Her tears choked her.

"Nora, is everything okay? Where are you?" She hesitated, her dad probably knew something was up. Her dad's death would be on her, was it something she was willing to live with?

"Daddy, no don't come. I've been kidnapped and they want to kill -"

She felt the bullet rapturing the walls of her heart as she struggled to breathe. She was dying, she sensed it. The pain in her chest was so excruciating she placed her hand there. She locked eyes with the criminal as she slowly gave in. Her muscles were going numb and her legs were the first to give in. The pain was reducing suddenly and her eyes were shutting

What had he done? This wasn't the plan. He dropped the gun and uncuff her. He checked her pulse, nothing. 

"No, no" he yelled as he threw the gun on the floor. He sat on the floor, his hand covered in blood.

I have become the person I hated

Killing an innocent person

Someone who didn't need to pay for the sins of their father

What have I done? 

I've become the very person I didn't want to be 

His face covered in tears, he picked up the phone and called the police. They were on their way. He was filled with guilt and pain. This should have made him happy, a son for a daughter. But he couldn't help feeling like trash, pacing in the room, trying to convince himself. He couldn't, he just couldn't. Her father's face flashed in his mind. He imagined the pain he'd go through the next day. Then he looked at Nora, he couldn't. He still loathed her father but the guilt was still there. The police cars closing in on the building. He cried out of remorse and picked up the gun. Was he going to surrender? Or act like he came to meet this and continue his pursuit for revenge? And live with this guilt? 

He looked at the gun again. 

"I'm sorry, Mike" 

*gunshot*

As the bullet ran through his skull, his last thoughts were that day, when his brother, Mike died.

By the time the police got into the room, he had fallen dead in the floor with his index finger loosely hanging on to the gun