After she left the cafe she walked through the city's backstreets

Finally she came across a road scattered with homeless people

She walked by sizing them all up

Most of them had track marks and looked as if they were either dying or on the craziest psychotic break of their lives

After several minutes she sees a tall thin black man walking towards her down the road

He looks normal enough

He's walking a straight line

As she gets closer she can see he has clear eyes and appears to be sober

Hey man

Can you tell me where I can take a shit round here

The man smiles

Ahh is the bathroom broken again at the corner store?

That bastard ammahd started locking up the bathrooms and forcing a purchase before use last week at the shelf

Stupid fuckin name if you ask me

He raises his eyebrow at her

You're not from around here are you

She smirks

That obvious?

Nah man I'm just passing through

I left Cali about 6 months ago and I finally made it here

I don't stay in one place too long

He chuckled

That's good

Keep moving

Society is going to shun you either way

It's best not to give them a chance to get too close

Ya know

Just keep moving forward and don't get attached

She nodded

Exactly

C'mon I'll show you where you can go

He motioned for her to turn around

She looked at him

How'd you end up out here anyway man

He throws his head back

HA

It's a funny story

About four years ago maybe five

It's hard to keep track of time out here

I was working this desk job

I sat at a computer all day running numbers

I kept track of all the finances for my company

There wasn't one smug prick that could claim a mojito as a business expense without me knowing

Every penny

Every deal

Was my business

Then one day I find a link to an account

This client of ours was sending money to a suspicious account before sending money to my employers

It wasn't too weird

It was more of a gut feeling

So I dig a little and come to find out that account was receiving payments and making them to the employers and clients

It was part of a money laundering process

Since I'm the man in charge of finances I needed to know what to tell the IRS

I wasn't going to betray my company

But I suppose when I started asking questions they didn't know that

I couldn't believe I missed it

I suppose I wasn't supposed to find out

I started getting followed by men in black SUVs

Things started getting weird

One day my boss says that they're downsizing and splitting the company up

I'm getting cut

I go to my desk and start downloading all the files to a USB stick

I take pictures of all the paperwork that I thought was important

A man came to escort me out and caught me taking pictures

He broke my phone and grabbed me and drug me out to the street

Another man went into my office and I could hear him smashing my computer

By time I got to the parking lot I see my car was smashed

So I took the bus home

I get home and my wife of 15 years is packing her things and starts punching me

I tried to calm her down but she just throws a stack of pictures at me and leaves

They were pictures of my meetings with female clients at resorts and restaurants

I keep going through them

Then there's pictures of a man that looks like me with these same women at the same locations wearing the same clothes and they're kissing

Then there's pictures inside of hotel rooms with theses clients having sex with this man that looks like me

There's no clear shot of his face but it's convincing

I had to question myself for a moment

I thought I was crazy

My entire life came crashing down in one day

It wasn't until a week later when my ex employers had sold my house from under me and had police escort me out

I didn't even know they owned the house

At that time I didn't know they owned the bank where I got a loan for my car and a mortgage on my house

They falsified eviction papers

And by time I put it together I realized that all those meetings over the past couple years were all part of the set up

I lost my wife car my home my job my life

But I had the USB stick

I tried to sell it to a competitor to ruin the company

Needless to say it backfired

He paused

Oh I'm sorry

I'm just going on and on

Well long story short

I can't get a job

I can't get a loan

People wouldn't even lend me a stick of gum now

My entire reputation is ruined

It's like life put me on a blacklist

She looked so sorry for him

C'mon let's get you some clothes

What?

Yeah

I'm going to dress you up

Then we're going to get a hotel room

And I'm going to help you

He chuckles

Is this a trick?

No.

Well how do you expect this to work?

I'll explain later.

Right now we're going to change your appearance

Then we're going to the hotel off of 17th Street

You're going to take the cash I give you and get a room for a week.

I'll just be using it for one night with you

Your new name is Thomas Jones

They won't need an ID if you pay them extra

Try to avoid looking directly at cameras

I'll find you a job out of state

He looks skeptical

You'd do all that for ME

without hesitation

Yes

He raises his eyebrow

She says

We're all just trying to get by

He laughs

How do you know I won't rob you

She looks dead serious

You won't

He says

Ok

So

What exactly do you need me to do?

She smiles

Mac finally comes back

Hello

Anybody home?

He comes out of the bedroom he had locked himself in

Ah I see you've helped yourself to my clothes

I do have amazing taste don't I

Although they do look better on me

He lets out a smug laugh

Did you enjoy yourself?

Oh yes it was quite an afternoon

I was almost MOLESTED

Oh come now

Those girls aren't that vicious

Did you ---

Of course

I thought you could use some relaxing

What do you think the bottle was for

I thought you were my friend

And what kind of friend would I be if I left you alone without some skanky tramps and a 5 thousand dollar bottle of scotch?

You're not making any sense mate

Look I appreciate the gesture

But I'm just not into

Into what?

Don't tell me you're...

What? No.

I mean I've grown up.

Ahh I see

You're looking for love

Well let me tell you something

It doesn't exist

All these women just want you to buy them things

Shower them with lavish gifts

Expect to be your one and only true goddess

As if they deserve to be treated like a queen instead of the rubbish they are

But they'll damn well spread their legs for any old chap

You're nothing but a blank check

So have a little fun

Throw them away like trash

And pay them to keep their mouth shut

They already open it for free

He smugly laughed again

Human behavior

Especially in that world

Wasn't lost on him

Yeah I suppose

So do you want to have a drink with me?

Mac smiled

Well at least I know you won't rape me

Mac laughs

Don't be so sure

He grabs the Bottle from the counter and opens it

He seems confused

Well I hope you wouldn't...

Are YOU ---

He tilts his head

I am a businessman and enjoy what I enjoy

That didn't answer the question

Mac laughs again

I'm just messing with you

You really are uptight

The girls come walking back in

Soaking wet

Completely naked

Mac why do you have such loser friends?

Mac looks at them angrily

Go put your clothes on you filthy tramps

And go home

You're making my guest uncomfortable

But we -

Shut up you stupid twat!

Now

Out of my sight

Mac looks back at him

I am terribly sorry

I always seem to mess up when I'm trying to do the right thing

After several more hours of driving

He arrives with the driver at a very elegant apartment complex inside of a gated community

Not exactly a place that looks low-key or off the grid

He assumed he was being rushed to a safe house

In mac's mind

This is as safe as you can get

The richer the neighborhood

The less questions people ask

As they pull into the garage Mac is standing there waiting to greet him with a bottle of aged scotch

I'm glad you made it

Mac is grinning in an eerie way

Well you know me

I'm a survivor

Mac laughs

Right of course

...

You can stay as long as you need

If you make any calls or use the internet it's all run through proxies but I wouldn't suggest calling home just yet

I rarely call home

To do so now would seem odd

Mother is probably on a vacation with her tennis instructor on some island and father is probably still touring Asia wooing businessmen and prostitutes

Good

So make yourself comfortable

I got you this

Mac hands him the bottle

I've got some errands to run

You're not staying?

He looks confused

Oh I'll be back

don't worry

I shouldn't be too long

Mac grabs a small black bag from the table in the hallway

He forces a smile

Alright then

I'll just wait until you return to open this baby

Suit yourself

Mac leaves

His thoughts are still racing

But what else could he do

He goes to the balcony to get some fresh air

A magnificent waterfall flowing into an infinity pool

And a hot tub built into the top of the faux rocks next to the water feature

Very nice

He slips off his clothes

Keeping only his boxers on and climbs to the hot tub

A nice relaxing soak should help calm his nerves

He's been through so much

Why shouldn't he relax?

He was ready to get out and find clean clothes after about an hour

But before he stood up

He heard voices

So he fucked down behind a rock

Two young girls in bikinis came out

Giggling

They started taking their clothes off

He paused for a moment and wondered if he should announce himself or just hide

How long would he have to hide for?

Omg! I just love big dick. Like ya know?

Omg me too! I really love getting fucked in the ass.

Idk how you do it. I'd rather suck on it.

It's a shame we don't have any men here.

Do you want to come keep me warm?

They start giggling again.

Omg they're kissing and touching each other's breasts.

He thought of how inappropriate this was.

If he were 10 years younger this would be his ultimate fantasy come to life.

But he loved someone else now.

But she left him

He struggled with this for a moment

Then he heard loud moaning

They were fingering each other

He got a boner and felt instantly remorseful

He lost his footing and slipped splashing some water around

Oh no he thought

Fuck

Hey! Is someone up there?

Yeah! Don't be shy. We don't bite. Unless you want us to.

The girls giggling and calling to him

One of them shouted

I'm coming up

He stood up

No please don't do that

I uh I am engaged

Oh?

The girls perked up

They began floating on their backs spreading their legs and touching themselves

One says

But does she look like me?

The other says

Does she really give you what you need?

He starts getting out of the hot tub and climbing down

They swim to the edge of the pool to greet him

No ladies you have the wrong idea

Oh we're not ladies

He scoffs

Yeah I see that

One looks up at him and moans

Come fuck me I know you want it

The other says

You really really want it

Staring at his obvious boner

You can have us both

They say at the same time

He thinks

Ok this is too creepy

I have to go

He hurries away

He can hear one of them yell

What are you gay or something?

How are you going to pass on this?

The other screaming

Loser!

You can't handle it

You're not man enough anyway

Yeah you little dick prick!

He gets to a room and locks himself in

Whispering

What the fuck

The man who isn't Tony goes back to an empty apartment and reads the poem

On the back he sees

POR GSFJWQS WB FCCA SZSJSB HKSZJS WH WG CBS OBR CBS TCIF SOGH FCOR CT HVS JWZZO ROMN

He starts writing under the letters on the paper

dias de la villa

He whispers

It's a hotel

He looks at the poem and starts writing down the capital letters

The first word is Tony

She didn't pick that hotel by accident

He burns the paper

Hoping he got the message correct

He pulls out the contents of the bakery box

He takes the baguette and breaks it open

There's a piece of paper inside

On one side

48.271617

On the other

2.692918

He asks himself how does she even manage this shit sometimes

He assumes Mark helps a lot

Next he goes for the cupcakes

52.5074751

13.3902827

He goes through every detail of the box

Not touching the macadamia nut cookie

If anyone orders those nuts for him

They're trying to kill him

Sir there's a farm up here to the left

He took a good hard look

Just keep driving

Shortly after they had passed the farm

The driver gets a call

Yes sir

Right away sir

The driver looks at him

Sir there's been a tri-state manhunt issued looking for aan that fits your description

We're going somewhere safe

Where are we going

Mac has a place for you sir

Ok

They stayed silent for the rest of their ride

She always seemed to have a pen and a small notebook on hand

She wrote

Dear Tony,

nostr:nevent1qqs0cjk4zyggvmyl7r4q3aecejknprc5zfun6yd7yymj7sx4m9kvs6spz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdupzqwrh7y3n3uwadrz247488az2hhrtsgg64qtwqumxhwxpzcstsz5sqvzqqqqqqyj39rrg

Bang bang bang

Ni xianzai xing lai

Bang bang bang

You wake up now

Fuck had it been 5 hours already?

She got to her feet and opened the door

Police say they look for crazy man

I tell them I have no crazy man here

They look at sheet

Omg are they here

Why you so scared

You in big trouble

No no - I uh

Who are they looking for

Henry

But I'm Henry

No

you no exist

I wrote Henry down for front room

Front room empty

Henry vanish into the night

Henry in big trouble

Thank you so much

How long was I asleep?

Four hour

This count as wake-up call

You have two hour left

Thank you

Thank you so much

She shut the door and sat on the bed

How am I supposed to sleep now

She asked herself

She tried to turn on the TV but it didn't work

She started drawing and writing a poem

It was all she could do to cancel out the deafening silence and the terrible thoughts swirling in her head

He woke up

Still in that shit hole cell

Still locked inside a cage

He sat up

Thinking what's the point

Then he noticed

The cell was open

He worried if it was another mind trick

He didn't care

He was going for it

An elderly woman stepped in front of him

With a raspy voice she said

Honey yer in my way

It's my break time

Feel free to not look at the paperwork on my desk

She shuffled passed him

He started to walk quickly to the door

He wasn't going to actually look what was on her desk but a picture caught his eye

It was of the car accident

Shirley you beautiful woman you

He was giggling like a school girl

He would get answers now

So he thought

No mention of the other driver being at the scene

No tags

No way to identify the car

The car was taken to a lot about a half a mile up the road to impound

What the hell...

He whispered to himself

This-this can't be

He had no answers he needed

He heard Shirley coming back

He had to leave

He rushed out the front door and started walking

He thought

What was he to do now

Going back to the scene wouldn't help

Would it?

He knew exactly where it happened

That is what he wanted

But he had gotten his hopes up so high again

He thought he'd be able to skip that entire process of looking for something that might not even still be there or never was

He had to try it's all he could think to do

He reached for his wallet

It was gone

His keys were gone

Oh fuck He thought

Fuck fuck fuck

Shit

He had never spent a day in his life this low

He's never gone without a phone

Without money

Without a car

Not like this

He was used to very fine things

Very expensive things

He wasn't an elite stuck up narcissist

But he was never a poor boy either

He made his way to a nearby diner and asked to use their phone

Hey Mac

I need you to wire some money

Nothing happened I just lost my keys and wallet and car

Listen I don't need a lecture

I just need money

Idk where I am

Hey honey where am I?

The waitress gave him the location

He repeated it to Mac

Ok thanks

He hung up

Is there a Western Union around here?

The waitress told him there was one three streets over and four streets up

Thanks

I better get walking

He makes it to the western union

It's closed

He pulls on the doors

What the fuck?!

Come on!

There's a car in the parking lot flashing it's lights

He throws his hands up

A man rolls down the window

And waves him over

Get in

What?

Why would I --

Mac sent me

He reluctantly gets in the car

I've been instructed to drive you wherever you need to go, sir.

I need to go to highway marker 51 on the S-75

Alright then, sir.

The man was quiet the entire ride

They made it to the area

The road still blackened where it had been scorched

He tells the man to pull over and gets out

He stands in the middle of the road just looking around

There's nothing they've already cleaned up

There's nothing

He walks over towards the treeline on the roadside

He noticed some broken branches

One minute

Just wait a minute

He signals to the driver

He starts looking closer at the trees

The branches are broken but so are the ones on the trees behind them

He starts making his way through

It looks like something plowed their way through this entire area

He comes back out

Hey! He calls to the driver

Hey man. Where do these woods let out?

The driver looks at him

Sir there's tens of thousands of acres of Forrest

Then there's even more of crops

And a few farm houses

In this area

So what is that

Sir that's several miles of trees

Several miles of crops

It would take hours just to walk straight through

How many hours?

Probably about 6 or 7 unless you're running

Sir

Ok well how long does it take to drive around this area?

Hop in sir

We'll circle the area

Should I be looking for anything in particular?

No no it's

It's just that

Well just let me know if you think anything is strange or notice anything out of the ordinary

Very well sir

She drove into the next state

She found a hotel that looked pretty cheap

She could probably give cash and a fake name

She backed into a spot at a 711 on the next street and switched the plate with one she stole from the farmers

She noticed the plate had two days until expiration and thought she could steal their car after they came home

She didn't expect to steal a horse

She was going to switch the plates and hope she made it far enough to not be found out

The local sheriff would maybe know better

But the next state over would be looking for a car with a make and model and plate if something didn't match they would maybe overlook her

But she had to go with a different option so it didn't matter

Until now

She walked up to the hotel and there was a small window with horizontal and vertical bars bolted to the frame

A tiny Asian woman sat in a swivel chair watching a Spanish soap opera

Jaja!

Roberto muy mal

Rosa si el no es un hombre - Ahora

Adios muchacho

She had the weirdest accent

Her footsteps got softer and she made sure her hair was covering her face

Excuse me

She sounded timid

Yes yes what?

You want room?

You pay me 50 a night

You sign

She points to a sheet of signatures

You give ID

I give you key

You get ID when you leave

If room is no messed up

You understand?

I-i uh

YOU WANT ROOM?

I am missing show.

Money or go!

I don't have an ID

Awe too bad

No ID no room

Can-can I please just-

Collateral!

The woman bellowing

She still couldn't get the accent down

It was so odd

Can I give you an extra $20 for the night and you keep it?

That is not ID!

She looked interested

Y-yes. That's true. But you get to keep it. If I were to buy a new ID it would only cost $15.

Ahh, but then how I track you down when you bring crackhead boyfriend in without paying and you start fighting over crack and put holes in my walls and leave drugs everywhere?

Oh-oh Kay. Well I am alone my boyfriend just broke up with me and we were not on crack. I just need to rest before I travel to my mother's house upstate. So please. Let me pay you $80 for a couple of hours.

You pay 150

I replace camera footage

We say your name Jennifer Mills

I come kick you out in 5 hours

She pulls out her wallet and flashes 175 dollars using her sleeve

Henry Mills and you wake me up in 5 hours but I get another hour to collect myself

Tell me if you see anything weird

And you give me directions to 1-95

Mista Henry Mills

Here is key

You at the end

More private

Drop money

She opened a metal diy mail slot type thing with the key in it

Thank you

She walked to her room

It was dirty

It was small

It probably isn't even worth 30 bucks a night

But it works

It worked perfectly as long as the weird little lady at the desk keeps her end of the deal

They didn't actually have a real agreement

But she just had to hope

He just sat there staring at the slime covered wall

Feeling like he was being thrown into complete madness

Two cowboy looking guys came into the station talking loudly

I'm tellin ya sheriff

She couldn't just run off

Well Dale

I don't know what to tell ya

We ain't had no reports of missin horses

Well Annie told momma that y'all brought in some kinda psycho

And I heard sum strange man's voice sayin he did unmentionable things to our sweet Maybelle

Maybe he knows

Yeah ya thought it were me

I can't believe ya-

Dale now I said I'm sorry

We need to find her

Alright

The cop said

C'mon now

...

Hey! Psycho boy.

You seen a horse runnin round?

He stood up.

Oh now you wanna hear me talk?

Dale puffed up

That were a $250,000 show horse

If'n ya know summin ya best start talkin

Gee idk if I feel like talking

He scoffed and turned his back

Boy

Show some damn respect

Make me

The cop reached through the bars and grabbed him

Pulling him close and smashing his face into the metal

Michael leaned in

Now we're gonna ask ya one more time

His face squished

Or what?!

What the hell are you going to do?

He started turning red and spitting

I lost the love of my life

SHE'S FUCKING GONE

I ran out of gas in the middle of the road and got fucking electrocuted

That fucking car crash

That fuuuucking car crash this morning might have

He began to cry

She might have blown up

I can't get any answers

I'm losing my fucking mind

The cop let go

Dale and Michael looked sad and shocked

Simultaneously proclaiming

Dayum

Woo boy

That's rough

Sheriff

Why are ya puttin this man through this

Michael looked upset

Oh hell I ain't know

We ain't process him yet

I spose we could let him out

But how do we know he's not lying

Michael said look me in my eyes

You swear ya ain't lyin?

Yes

Fuck yes

I'm trying to find out what happened to the woman I love

She drove off in the morning and by the next day her car is all over the news in flames her phone is dead and no one knows where she is

Please

I just want answers

Yeah us too

Dale seemed skeptical

Michael looks at him hard

I need ya ta say these words

That's why she fucked ME

Just like that now ok

He thought this was odd

But if it gets him out

He'll do it

That's why she fucked ME

He almost cried

Nah sheriff it ain't him

Michael looked sure

Alright then

Let's come over here and Shirley will help y'all fill out the missing livestock report

W-wait!

What about me?

He thought why aren't they letting him out

The cop laughs

What about you

Ain't no one know yer here and I can holds ya as long as need be

What...

WHAT?!

he started pulling on the bars trying to rip them out

YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!

boy I will fuckin zap ya ass again

Now keep quiet

The guys went to fill out paperwork with Shirley and he sat there

Yet again his hope was crushed

He wondered why the world was so cruel

He tried to sleep

He looked at his tan baggy pillow and thought

I bet it used to be white

He punched it and it formed into the exact shape of a vagina

Sobbing he screams

God I miss her and slams face first into the pillow soaking it in tears

Fuck the horse was gone

At least she knew where she was

While she was at the diner she studied the maps on the table

She just needed to travel about 250 miles in less than 12 hours

With no horse

And no car

She started walking through the woods

She could hear the birds chirping and the sun was shining through the trees

It was truly beautiful

In despite of it all

A branch hit her leg and tore her pants

Great

Now I'm bleeding

Can this get any worse?!

She walked for a couple of hours before reaching another road

It was dirt road and a sparse residential area

She had a few hours before sun down and she didn't even sleep yet

She was tired

She noticed a family coming out of their house

She fucked behind some bushes

They all got in the car and left

She quickly rushed over and snuck up to the house

She looked in every window

No one was home

She found a piece of metal on the ground

Long and smooth

She picked it up

She thought to herself

I'd rather be back in bed holding a cock

But that time of her life was over with

She snuck back around the house to the second vehicle parked out front

She looks around and doesn't see anyone

She uses the metal to jimmy the car door

She gets in and starts pulling at wires

Let's hope this works

Here goes nothing

She whispers

She tries to make a spark

Nothing

She tries again

Nothing

Must be the wrong wires

She tries again with different wires

A small spark

Ok c'mon baby

Do it for momma

She does it again and the car tries to start

C'mon c'mon

She got it

She drives off

She's going to make it

As long as she doesn't get caught

She uses the napkins to wipe her prints from the coffee mug and lay cash on the table as discreetly as possible

Then she walks out while everyone seems distracted

She goes around the back to grab her bag and noticed a busboy by the trash cans smoking a cigarette

She has to wait and pray he doesn't find it and no one pulls in

Shit someone is pulling in and not just anyone

That's the farmer's SUV

She wondered if Maybelle was still by the river and if she was like a car or a dog in the way that they can recognize their owners at great distances due to their amazing hearing

She didn't know much about horses

But she knew to worry about every little detail

She got down quickly and pretended to be tying her shoe still keeping an ear out for the bus boy

A bloodied Dale and limping Michael stepped out of the vehicle and went inside

She was terrified that she left a trail and they found her somehow

She heard footsteps coming up behind her

Are you ok ma'am?

The bus boy was right behind her

Yessir

I'm just keepin my laces tight

She thought she sounded so dumb

And was afraid to look up

As long as you're alright ma'am

I'd be much obliged if'n ya not mention me

She looked up and exposed her face

Shit she thought

Well ma'am

I ain't sposed ta be smokin ya see

I was jus sposed takin out the garbage

I'm not old- I uhh - I'm not only doin jus this

She smiled and winked

Don't worry darlin

Yer secret is safe wit me

I never saw nuthin

...

Do ya need a hand

Ya can finish yer smoke and I'll throw the bags in fer ya

Nah ma'am I couldn't ask you ta -

Oh honey it's no problem

She walked over to the cans and her bag was still there

A sigh of relief

She took the lid off a can and placed it on top of her bag

She started grabbing the bags from by the back door and walking them over to the cans outside

Ma'am I sure preciate this

I ain't fittin ta forget it

Oh hush

Please don't

There's no need

We're all just tryin to get by

Ya know

Yes ma'am

Yer done yer smoke

Ya can go on ahead and finish yer other work

I got this darlin

Thanks ma'am

She waited a moment then grabbed a bag

The busboy came back out

Ma'am did ya happen to see a horse?

What?

These men in here are lookin fer a horse

They don't know if she was stolen or just ran off or somethin

Oh

No sorry Hun

...

Did ya tell em I was out here?

Ma'am, I don't know what yer talkin bout

We never met

Member?

Good boy

She threw the last bag in a can and grabbed her back and hauled ass back towards the river

He scratched at the grime on the walls

He wrote

nostr:nevent1qqszx4xrf66zq3lysy8dqjzyftcm43v8mpzpne786gy6734u6n9khagpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdupzqwrh7y3n3uwadrz247488az2hhrtsgg64qtwqumxhwxpzcstsz5sqvzqqqqqqyhvcmmt

Looking out the window

Rattling his cuffs and fidgeting

He sighs loudly

Repeatedly

The cop turns up the radio

Fuckin hurricane by Luke combs

Like I'm not in enough pain

He grunts at the cop

What the fuck was that?!

He screams so loud the cop actually gets startled and swerves

What in tarnation?

Boy when I get a hold of you yer gonna regret it

No! It's not my fault!

I just saw -

Well I don't know what I saw

It looked like a giant deer or some coyote standing on it's hind legs just dart into the woods

It was just up there

I swear I saw it stand up for a minute and then jump behind the trees

Shut yer mouth boy

I'm fittin ta hit ya wit extra charges

For what?!

That's it!

He gets on his radio and tells dispatch that he's bringing in that psycho that was resisting and he just almost caused an accident

He paused a moment and says

I think he tried ta escape

We better take more precautions wit this one

What does that even mean?

Boy I WILL zap you again!

When they got to the station he was met with two very large gentlemen holding shotguns

He almost shit himself

Good thing they hit him in the head knocking him out before he could embarrass himself

They drug him into a cell and decided his processing could wait until tomorrow

He woke up in a literal shit hole

Not just because they propped him up against an unclean toilet and his face was inches away from someone else's floating shit

But because it was the dirtiest place he had ever been in his life

He started to cry

He wanted to yell for answers

But he knew it wouldn't help

She wrote on the napkin

nostr:nevent1qqs945mvugyxq42pfmynsaqu6dcdeu8rh0hc7mys9gudrd55xxh6kzcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdupzqwrh7y3n3uwadrz247488az2hhrtsgg64qtwqumxhwxpzcstsz5sqvzqqqqqqyv5y5tr

She manages to get the horse to stop

She ties Maybelle to a branch before getting off

She finds the road again and sees a sign for hotels and restaurants at the next exit in 1.7 miles

She thinks for a moment

She knows she can't be seen with the horse

But where is the safest spot to keep her

She sees a cop car coming

Her immediate thought

What if they're looking for her

Did the farmers notice Maybelle was gone already

She seemed important

Did she kill a woman

She started to panic

Retracing every single step she made

Going over it again and again in her head

Asking if she missed something

Running back to the horse she prayed

The horse was gone

The fucking horse was gone

She thought that this may make things easier

She worried what if she got lost

Eaten by some wild animal

Hit by a car

What if the horse causes a trail leading to her

Shit

She started looking for tracks

Broken branches

Hair caught on a tree

She wasn't seeing anything

She called out the horse's name

Finally she wasn't sure what direction she was even in

She was ready to cry

Then she heard running water

It was a stream

And that big beautiful horse was just upstream

drinking

Ok she thought

Things can be fixed

Maybelle

Maybelle baby

She called the horse as if it were a puppy making little kissy noises

Maybelle kept drinking

Until she tried to grab her

Then she jumped to the side

So she got close to the horse again and tried to grab the saddle

The horse jumped again

She started walking slowly

But so did the horse

She knew this was delicate situation

Then she saw between the trees

A little diner

She looked back at the horse

Well I guess this is safe enough

She whispered to herself

She hopped across the river from rock to rock

When she got to the other side she tried to wash the dirt off of her face hands and shoes

She still had her black duffle bag strapped to her

It might look suspicious so she would stash it behind the diner before approaching the front door from the opposite direction after a perimeter check

Before approaching she pulled her hair in front of her face

It would be harder to identify someone if their hair was covering their eyes half of their nose and part of their chin and the tell tale beauty mark on her cheek

She went straight for the bathroom

She noticed she had leaves stuck in her hair

And she was still dirty

She also noticed a lot of farmers and truck drivers

Maybe if she left the rest of the dirt on her she wouldn't look out of place

She came out of the bathroom and went up to a waitress

Honey, could you grab me a coffee please when you get a chance?

Sure thing ma'am.

Thanks darlin

She didn't even know why she got a country accent

It just came natural in the moment

She stared at the steam coming out of the cup for a moment

planning her next move

She found a trail to ride down

She needed to find a way to get water for the horse and find out where she was

Still grappling with the fact that she just left the love of her life behind and got a man severely beaten for an act of beastiality with some type of special horse that he didn't actually commit and may have caused an unconscious woman to be engulfed in flames maybe even costing her her life

She had no choice but to put it out of her mind and focus on the next task

How could he let himself run out of gas in the middle of a highway

He starts screaming and punching his steering wheel

In the middle of a 4 lane highway

He throws his door open and steps out in front of oncoming traffic that has to swerve out of the way

With no disregard for himself he runs towards the shoulder barely dodging a fusion of man metal and asphalt

He starts running along the shoulder of the road until he hits a big rock and falls scraping his knees

His pants are torn

He's bleeding

He's limping

After about a half mile he realizes how crazy he looks

It's like he's in a fog

Cars racing past

Some honking

He didn't even know the exact stretch of road the accident happened on

What was he doing

He turned to try to flag down a car

Waving his hands

Looking desperate

Noticing one stopping just seconds after he started waving

He lets out a sigh of relief

A man steps out of the car

Oh fuck it's a cop

Sir is that your car back by Mike marker 51?

Is it in the middle of the road?

You think this is funny boy?

Is this some kind of entertainment for you?

He laughed

Not because he was enjoying the moment but because of how fucked up his life had become since yesterday morning

Sir put your hands behind your head

And walk slowly towards me

He laughs harder

This is fuckin great

Sir do what I told you

He starts making wild hand gestures

You know my life was perfect

He starts crying

I was having the most amazing night of my life

Now she's gone

She's fucking gone!

She could be kidnapped and dead

She probably hates me

The cop reaches for his belt

Put your hands above your head

Now!

He starts walking towards the cop wagging his finger

Do you know-

Zzzzzzzzz

The cop tased him

I told you boy

Now I don't know what kind of psycho shit show you got goin on in yer head and I'm not taking my chances

I'm not a damn therapist so what we're going to do is get you some help

The cop is grunting while struggling to handcuff him

He throws him in the back of the car

He just laughs

This is fuckin great

...

Can you tell me about the accident? From last night.

A car was blown up.

Tell me boy

What do you know about it

Nothing that's why I'm asking you

I think you're going to need a lawyer

He sat back and kept his mouth shut

After she made it through the woods and found another road she followed it west

She was walking for miles

No clue where she was exactly

Not sure what to do

Not sure if she was going to make it to her destination on time

She spots a farm up the road

She sneaks not so stealthily onto the property

Only alerting every animal on the premises

No human in sight however

She could only hope that they were all in church for Sunday morning service and she had anywhere between seconds to hours until they showed up

She found a graveyard of cars

They all looked like scrap metal except for two

One of them still had unexpired tags but they expire in two days

She thought that should be ok

The seats were torn but there was no real outside damage

The keys were in the ignition

Perhaps a bad sign

She tried to start it

Making sure to use her sleeve to not leave a single print behind

It sputtered and stalled out

She lifted the hood

There were some loose wires and the fan belt was off

She went to work

After making all the adjustments that she could by hand she checked the oil which was dangerously low and the gas tank there was none

She looked through the other cars and found a tube in the backseat of one and another with half a tank of stale gasoline

She had no choice

She found a bucket nearby and had to siphon the gas out by mouth

The taste was unbearable and she left a DNA trail of vomit on the ground which she tried to cover up by kicking dirt onto it

She put the gas in and tried again

More sputtering and stall

She tried again

And again

Until she flooded it

Punching the dashboard

Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! FUUUUUUCK!

she let out a little cry

Why? ... Why?

She got out of the car

The rough edges of the torn seat snagged her hair

Angrily she said

Oh no you don't

And snatched her DNA back from the grips of this useless time wasting hunk of junk and kicked the tire as if the car had emotions

She stuffed her hair into her pocket

And looked around the area some more

A car pulls up

Her heart sinks

I'm fucked she thinks to herself

She crouches behind a stable and waits for the people to go inside the main house

Surprisingly the horses aren't spooked by her but they definitely know she's there

She can hear them gathering on the other side of the wooden wall

She can see the shadows of their feet

They seem anxious

She hopes they don't get too noisy

After a short time she sees 3 people get back into the car and leave

She forgot to count them before

She can't remember if there are 3 of them or 5 of them

How stupid

But she can't dwell on that

She needs to move

She starts creeping up towards the house

Hiding behind a tractor

Ready to make her move up to the window for a closer look when she hears shouting and a young man pushes open the front door angrily

I'm your brother Dale! How could you even -

Lemme stop you there Michael. She didn't want you!

Great a fight over a mutual love interest of brothers

They're going to be too distracted

They keep shouting about someone named Maybelle

Finally one of them starts walking away

Towards her

She thought this is not going to go well for her

He's getting closer

But he looks so angry

Like he's still ready to fight

She does her best to deepen her voice and throw it

By using a piece of metal to direct the soundwaves towards nearby equipment that should direct it back at him

This is either going to sound really stupid and get me caught or it's going to work

She takes a deep breath

That's right, walk away you coward. Maybelle only wants a real man.

He slows down and turns as if he's going to look back but doesn't.

Oh god she thinks

It didn't work

She knew it didn't sound like the other guy and it seemingly came from the side not behind him

She takes another breath and makes her voice deeper

That's why she slept with me

You son of a bitch!

Michael turns around and runs straight for his brother

There's no way they'll notice her make a move now

She runs back to the horses and goes for the first stall she sees

Ok it's time to go buddy

Please don't throw me

She grabs a saddle hanging in the stall and puts it on the horse

I hope it's tight enough

She hears a muffled scream

You're one sick mother fucker

She hopes that they won't kill each other

But she hopes they don't cool down before she gets out

She clumsily climes on the horse and digs her feet into it's sides

Mush!

It doesn't move

She pulls on the reins and digs her heels in harder

Let's get the fuck out of here

The horse starts trotting

She smacks it on the ass and it takes off running towards the barbed wire fence

Oh shit oh shit oh shit

She doesn't know what to do

At the last second the horse jumps and clears the fence

Oh thank God she thought

But they're heading into more thick woods and she doesn't know how to control this horse

She's already bouncing around and struggling to hold on

Bam

She gets hit in the face with a branch

Bam

She gets hit with another

Bam

Another

Fuck ok stop!

The horse keeps running missing most of the obstacles

Luckily for her the horse slows as they approach a thicker patch of trees

The ride gets a lot smoother

She pets the horse and starts telling it how sorry she is that she took it from it's home but she really needs to be somewhere

She leads the horse a little further into the wooded area before she circles back around to the road

As she's trying to enjoy the scenery

Stroking the horses hair every so often

She decides to look down at the saddle

She reads the name

Maybelle

The fuckin horse was Maybelle

She starts laughing hysterically

He crosses state lines

Then he crosses state lines again

He pulls up to a gas station

Inside it's small and dirty

Glass separating the clerk from the rest of the world

Not exactly what he was used to

Every neighborhood he passed seemed to get worse

Why was she even in this area he thought to himself

He noticed a TV behind the counter

The news was on

They were talking about the accident

Hey! He shouted

Hey! What do you know about that?

Can - can you turn it up?

The man behind the counter looked annoyed

No you won't be able to hear it

TELL ME WHAT THEY'RE SAYING!

Or what?

He smashed his crying face up against the glass

.. please...

The clerk could see this insane man was in pain

So he tells him

A woman was seriously injured and taken to the hospital after an explosive car crash last night just a few miles from where they were

Where's the hospital

He begged

The clerk gave him directions

Forgetting to buy gas he ran out of the door and started driving again

He makes it to the hospital

Panicking

Where is she?

Where is she?

Everyone looks confused

A nurse asked who

The woman in the car accident

He's sobbing

I was going to ask her to marry me before she left

I never got a chance

God please tell me she's alive

I have to see her

She has to know how much I love her

Another nurse overheard and said she's in room 1208 on the second fl--

He was already running for the elevator

He gets to the second floor

Following the signs

Determined

Running

1205

1206

1207

... 1208

The room is empty

Omg! Where is she?

Where is she?

Please! Someone!

The woman in this room.

A man approaches

Who are you?

Please! Please sir. I love her. Where have they taken her? I need to know if she's alright.

The man became angry.

I'll ask you again

Who are you

I'm her lover

The man punched him in the face forcing him to stumble backwards

Her lover?

You're her lover?

He punches him again

Who the hell are you?

He covers his now bleeding nose

Who the fuck are you?

He lunges at the angry man.

Daddy?!

A small child cried out.

The men stop and see a little girl holding a stuffed purple bunny looking deeply concerned

Nothing mija

Edwardo what are you doing?

A cut up bruised woman limps towards them

Who is this man Edwardo?

He says he is your lover

He is some crazy stalker pendejo

Oh no

No no no

You have it wrong

I am so sorry

So sorry

Ma'am where did they take the other women who was in the accident with you

She limps closer

She could see his pain and felt sympathy

There was no other woman

Wha-what do you mean?

There was no other driver

When they put me in the ambulance I asked what happened then I asked about the other driver

The paramedic looked down and shook his head

I said oh dear God are they -

He interrupted me to tell me there was no body at the scene at least not in the front of the car but it was still on fire when we drove off

What does that mean?

Wh-what was she in the trunk?

Did someone take her?

Was she --

I didn't see anything

The car was on the side of the road with no lights on when I hit it

They never came to me about it

I wanted to know if I - if I had killed someone

They told me that they would need a statement either way but so far there was no body recovered

No body?

No body recovered?

He grabbed his head

He couldn't comprehend what was happening

He started crying and grunting

Raw pain anguish fear anger was bubbling up just beneath the surface as he tried to hold it in

He shouts WTF?!

Edwardo says

I'm sorry for hitting you

What you feel now is -

I get it ok I get it

I just need to know what happened

Security was coming around the corner and a nurse was pointing at him

Thank you

I'm sorry

He looks at the child

I'm really sorry

He runs towards the emergency exit and starts jumping down the stairs

His mind is racing

He has to find her

He makes it to his car and drives off

He gets into the highway to see where it happened

Maybe there's a clue

He runs out of gas