PART 2 - CHAPTER 3: Losing Hope

Sitting at her desk, bored and perplexed by math’s annoying algorithm, Anna scratched her head. “Curse you Math.” She twirled the pencil in her hand and stared at the board of complexity.

She sighed again, getting the attention of a neighbor. “Hey, this math’s du-dumb, isn’t it?”

It was a boy, and talking to Anna made him flustered and nervous. Anna turned to her side, noticing his red face. “You okay there? You seem scared.”

“M-M-Me? N-No… I was just uhh, agreeing with you. That’s all, hehe.” The boy definitely had a thing for Anna, and it showed.

Anna grinned. “Is that so? Well yes, it’s a bit of a pain, isn’t it?”

He scratched his head. “Yeah… sa-say, uhh Annabelle, you know how the freshman dance is coming up… I—”

Anna yawned. “Huh. What was it, dance?”

“Yeah. Um, would you like to—”

The school bell rang, disrupting the boy’s chance of asking Anna out. Anna got out of her seat and stretched. All the students around them either did the same by packing their bags or leaving in a hurry.

“Why don’t we continue this conversation? Wanna guide me to the next class?” Anna said with a smile.

The boy smiled too. “Yeah, sure!” In bitter sweet excitement, he quickly packed his belongings to ask out the girl he’d had a crush on since the beginning of this school year.

Both were finally ready. They walked side by side and stepped out into the hall. “Say Annabelle, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable back there, so what I was saying is—” Looking into his right, Anna had vanished.

He rapidly blinked to comprehend how she did such a thing, questioning if it was possible. “An-Annabelle?”

Anna was in the same situation though, but in her instance she stood alone in the same hallway, though it was empty and eerily quiet. She looked both ways. Not a single kid or teacher was in sight, and the color beaming through the school windows was a sad red color. Anna sank deep into thought, figuring out the possibility of the strange occurrence.

But she quickly got into a panic. “Where am I?” Anna asked, frightened.

There wasn’t a single sound emitting in the school, the wind outside was the only sound. Anna gulped nervously and proceeded to walk forward in caution. Walking down the void of metal lockers against the walls, Anna was completely perplexed. She took a glimpse outside the window and saw the building was floating in a void of gray and red clouds.

“What’s happening?” Anna asked, gripping the strap of her bag.

As she stood there basking in the silence and shaking to death, she heard a very faint voice calling to her. She frantically looked over her shoulder and saw nothing down the hall she came from. The voice called out again. She turned to the other end and spotted nothing. The voice grew a bit louder but stayed faint.

“Who’s there? Who’s calling?” Anna’s eyes squinted.

In a state of panic, Anna’s breathing felt heavier every time the faint voice called out to her. Her eyes started fogging and she seemed to be experiencing a heart attack. She clutched at her chest and ran away from the bizarre occurrence. However, Anna didn’t realize that a trail of black smoke erupted out of the nearby classrooms and chased after her. While the horrid black trail chased after her, the lockers nearby exploded from its heavy force. Doors blew away, slamming against the other side of halls, ricocheting off the grounds to explode on impact. Anna ran down the school’s main stairs, almost tripping in the process.

Her chest felt tighter. She closed an eye from the growing pain and her breathing felt shortened. “What’s happening to me?” Anna said to herself, almost close to the school’s entrance.

The black trail caught her leg, tripping her and making her land on the ground face first. Anna’s eyes almost closed shut. Her face was sweating and she was still oblivious about the horrid smoke wrapping around her leg and climbing up to her open gasping mouth. Anna was determined, though. She crawled towards the entrance with all her strength. The sweat on her face dripped. The smoke eagerly wanted to climb inside her mouth and inject her with its corruption.

Almost… there…!

Anna built up enough strength to get back on her feet and she went to the doors and opened them, but then she started to fall from all the overbearing stress and fright. She got caught by Sarah. Her face was drenched in sweat while she panted heavily. Sarah quickly tended to her scared friend. They were outside the school now. A group of kids noticed that Anna was extremely pale, and the boy who talked to her earlier rushed inside to get a nurse.

Sarah was calm and wiped the sweat off her face. “You okay, Anna?”

Anna finally caught her breath. “You… really know how to… set the mood don’t you, Sarah?”

Sarah nodded. “Quiet fool, you’re still recovering.”

“Fro-From what? Exactly…” Anna got on her feet. Sarah wrapped Anna’s arm around her tiny shoulders.

The two began walking and the group of students told them to wait for help, but both girls ignored them. As the two walked away from the scene, Sarah felt they were being watched. The set of eyes had hatred towards her. Stopping momentarily, Sarah looked around to see where they were being watched, but saw nothing.

“Sarah, where are we going?” Anna asked tiredly.

Sarah looked over her shoulder and found the source of the hatred. “We’re going home buddy, but right now we have to get out of here.”

“Okay. Can we stop by for a snack?”

Sarah didn’t say a word. She nodded and looked straight ahead with a mysterious glint in her red eyes. The two girls walked off the vicinity of their school and into the main public sidewalk. Above their school’s building, standing on the edge watching the two girls leave, was the girl in the white dress. Her elegant gothic white dress was fluttering about. Her hair flowed towards the direction of the eerie wind that blew from behind the building. The sky turned red as she watched both girls leave. The girl turned her head slightly left, and the wind swept some of her hair away to reveal glowing bloodshot purple eyes and slowly rotted off her white face.

***

A week had passed since Randolph’s tragic death. Eric and Jack still weren’t over it. It was just too much to bear for them, especially for poor Eric who was taking this the hardest. Eric was in no mood for anything, but business was business. He delayed their plans for later tonight to get his mindset one hundred percent. They knew Randolph would want them to continue the deal, so that was what they were gonna do, and after that they would focus on finding the people who attacked him. Angela, on the other hand, hadn’t been herself lately. She had been acting strange for the past week. She’d been on and off, confused, lost and feeling empty. Her personality had transformed into watching paint dry.

Jack disliked her behavior and had been mad at her. What made things worse was the fact that she’d forgotten about the ambush. But the worse thing was that she’d completely forgotten who Randolph was. She didn’t remember how he looked or how he spoke.

The new change in Angela left a huge aggravating burden on Jack’s shoulders, but now was not the time to play childish games. He needed his mind to be as clear as possible for the deal to go smoothly.

Jack and Eric were in the kitchen, grabbing something to quench their thirst. “Here you go boss.” Jack handed Eric an ice cold bottle of beer.

Eric took the bottle. “Thanks, now then here’s what we’re gonna do.” He took a chug and explained the plan to Jack one last time. Jack listened carefully and made sure he wouldn’t miss any details.

There was one last thing that had them worried: who was going to take care of Angela for the two, while they were away risking their lives to ensure a better life for everyone else. Eric suggested that he should get one of the boys to take care of her. Jack rejected the idea and brought up the situation with Brandon again. He thought she would be better off being home alone in the meantime.

Eric thought for a second, agreeing to Jack’s idea for once. Besides, there wasn’t anyone whom they couldn’t trust to take care of her at the moment.

Now all they had to do was wait for night to come. Jack walked upstairs to check on Angela, knocked on her door and waited. What’s gotten into her? She’s acting creepy and acts like she has amnesia. It’s really pissing me off.

Angela heard his knocking but she ignored it. She was sitting on her chair in front of her electric piano, staring at the keys as sunlight shone through the curtained window. Jack grew impatient. He opened her door and spotted Angela sitting with everything turned off. Angela was staring at nothing, not making any movement. She was as still as a rock. Jack walked up to her, then stood by her side to see if she would notice his presence. He stood there silently for a couple of minutes and got absolutely nothing.

Angela, what’s happened to you? You’re acting like a damn puppet.

Angela was frozen in place. Her eyes were empty. It was getting to Jack and made him uncomfortable. It sent chills throughout his body. Eager to get a reaction out of his broken sister, Jack gently pushed her. She reacted immediately by grabbing his hand. It spooked Jack, but he was glad that she reacted. She held his hand as tight as possible. It creeped him out even more, but he felt her hand tremble in their grasp.

Why is she shaking? Is she afraid of something?

Jack then broke the silence. “Angela, is everything okay?”

Angela slowly turned her head toward Jack. Her eyes were hollow and empty, which sent shivers down his spine. Angela tried to talk, but she got stuck on a certain word. “H-He… H-He, H-He...” Staring directly into his eyes, she kept stuttering the same word.

Who’s he?

Jack felt more uncomfortable. He grabbed her hand and tried to get her off him, but she was clinging on too hard, not letting go of his protective warmth.

“Angela! What’s wrong? You’re freaking me out.”

She continued muttering, still clinging onto her brother’s hand.

“He… He…. He—H-He…” Angela gripped tighter and her muttering tone rose in pitch, which scared Jack.

Jack had enough and used his strength to get her off his hand. “Snap out of it!” He gently slapped her, which was enough to make her stop but not hurt his sister’s precious face.

She blinked a couple of times, snapping back into reality and gently massaged her cheek. Angela seemed rather shocked that Jack slapped her, even though it was a soft one. That didn’t change how her eyes still expressed emptiness.

Angela turned to him. “He’s coming.”

Hearing that made Jack’s eyes grow in fright. The way she said it, froze his bone marrow. Jack hugged Angela, hoping to cheer her up. Angela wrapped her arms around Jack, holding him as tight as she could. Her nails started piercing Jack’s skin through his jacket.

He pushed her off because it began to hurt. For some reason Jack didn’t feel safe being around her. “He’s coming?” Jack said to himself.

Just who is he? Why is she acting like this? Angela. Angela…

“Angela, Eric and I are heading out. We-we’ll be back in an hour or two.”

“Don’t go!” she shouted. “Please don’t-don’t leave me. Hold me in your arms. Don’t leave my side!”

Jack put out his hands, “Angela, calm—”

“Your lingering warmth is what keeps me sane, Jack!”

He quivered, retracting his arms to his sides and staying quiet for a moment. “Ja-Jack?!” he mumbled.

“He’s coming to take me!” Angela whimpered and held herself, repeating the same words again and again.

Jack’s eyes trembled. In that moment Angela said his name, the tone in her voice changed to the ones he’d heard in his nightmares. But one thing that stood out more for Jack was that his sister’s hair had been changing lately. The highlights she had had grown a little more and her eyes gleamed a different color too. It was a color he was all too familiar with.

Eric walked in and asked what was all the shouting about. Jack pointed at Angela and told him she’d gone crazy. But when Jack turned back around, Angela was playing her piano without it being plugged in, which erased the tense atmosphere that occured only moments ago. Her eyes closed and she hummed a creepy song that belonged to his nightmares. Jack had enough of this craziness and walked out, heading outside to wait for Eric. Eric glanced at Angela, knowing that something was off. He noticed Angela was still shedding tiny droplets of tears, because they dropped on the floor beneath her floating feet.

“We’ll be back later tonight. Don’t worry princess. Hang in there.” As Eric was about to leave her presence, Angela slammed her fingers on her keys.

She stopped playing, then looked over her shoulder, and said to Eric in a soothing gentle voice, “Take care of Jack. No matter how low he’ll get, he’ll become vulnerable.” She turned back to her piano and continued playing.

Even Eric felt a little scared of her. “Okay sweetheart. Umm, if there’s any trouble please call us.”

As Eric was about to leave again, he heard Angela mutter, “Help me...” Eric turned around again and saw her still playing with no noise. He didn’t want to leave her by herself, especially in this state, but they didn’t have a choice. Letting out a long sigh, he closed her door and finally headed to the outside where Jack was waiting for him.

Jack was inside the car, biting his nails for the first time in over five years. He felt that something wasn’t right.

Eric finally got in the car and asked Jack if she was fine and insisted that they don’t leave her in such a broken state. Both men tried to think of something, but it was no use, so they both sighed. Jack took a box of cigarettes out and handed Eric one. They smoked to relieve their stress and to make sure they stayed focused on the mission. As the two finally calmed down, they finally drove off toward their destination.

They didn’t know they were being spied on by mysterious men in white, parked in a single van. The vehicle began to follow the two to wherever they were going.

The men inside the van radioed Dr. Cato and they told him the details. He couldn’t help but smile, finally getting the chance to see Angela again and take her back to his side.

Dr. Cato radioed Danny, who was taking part of the scheme to ensure the plan to seize her back into the doctor’s grasp.

Dr. Cato and Mathew were inside an SUV with their own protection. They waited for their other men to ambush Jack and Eric, who were driving to their destination. The ambush would ensure they could buy time for both men to take her. Danny was exhilarated. He’d never felt so excited in his life. He couldn’t wait what they were gonna do to Jack.

Angela was still in front of her electric piano, alone in the dark. She took a deep breath, licked her lips, and blinked slowly, then relaxed her body as her fingers hovered over the keys. She begins to play a song, a song full of her hidden agony, a song full of despair… A song that’s riddled with inner selfishness. She’s moving her body along with the rhythm, her eyes closed, the girl who’s in a broken state of mind started to sing.

Dr. Cato radioed the men at the bar after half an hour, he wanted to be sure that those two were there. “All misplaced fruit should be…?”

The one in charge, a tall built man, replied, “Placed and held in the basket.”

Dr. Cato laughed. The SUV they were in was heading towards the house Angela was at now. Quickly, multiple vehicles pulled up in front of it. Dr. Cato’s SUV was the last to arrive. Danny spotted the doctor as he got out. He was surprised that Dr. Cato wasn’t some old creep. He was well dressed and had glasses. Mathew, on the other hand, was tall and had huge biceps, but he also had a huge beer belly and wore a similar outfit to a lumberjack.

Danny started talking. “So this is the guy who wants Jack captured and the girl returned? Doesn’t matter to me, so long as I get my revenge and money.” He turned to a guy next to him that was standing still. “Am I right? Eh, eh!”

The man ignored Danny.

Dr. Cato walked up to Danny and patted his head. “Well done, my boy. You did a good job here. As soon as I’m done introducing myself to her again, I’ll hand you your money.” He began walking up the steps, along with his guards and Mathew.

Danny stopped Dr. Cato. “Hey! Just who is this girl? Why is she so important?”

Dr. Cato chuckled beneath his breath. “She’s a very special person. This is for her own good, alongside everyone else who wishes not to succumb to darkness.” Dr. Cato didn’t look over his shoulder to say that. Hearing him say that was enough to creep Danny out. So much that he ran off opposite of the direction they were walking to.

Mathew noticed and pointed at Danny, fleeing. “Hey! That punk’s running away! Get—” Dr. Cato stopped Mathew.

“It’ll be fine. I don’t think this will be the last time we’ll see him, my friend.”

Mathew chuckled and patted his friend’s shoulder. “You’re right. Let’s go pay a visit to our favorite patient, shall we?”

They both smiled and walked to the front door. Both men couldn’t resist reacting in disgust when they noticed how bad the door’s condition was. To them it was typical low income areas like these that held back society, and knowing that Angela grew up in an area or a home like this boiled their blood. They quickly based their judgment on the living conditions and assumed she was raised rather poorly by a bunch of mindless thugs.

Mathew had enough and ordered the men to break the door down. They both readied themselves, using their legs to kick down the poorly maintained door. It easily fell flat. Once they did, they heard Angela’s angelic yet haunting singing from wherever she was creating such magnificence.

Dr. Cato couldn’t help but be astonished by her mesmerizing voice. She sounded like an angel. Her singing alone could rock the heavens.

“My, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. She’s grown well from the sound of her beautiful, innocent voice. I really have to thank you, Jack, for taking care of her. I really am thankful. Truly, I am!” Dr. Cato laughed alongside Mathew.

They ordered the men to inspect the house to find out where the singing was coming from. Mathew decided to spit on the floor and join in their search, purposely destroying things in the home. As they searched and ruined the home, the two heard where the singing was finally coming from. With smiles on their faces they both walked upstairs, slowly and quietly, making sure she wouldn’t hear a creak or sound. They found her door but before they could enter, Mathew stopped Dr. Cato.

Mathew patted his back and looked serious. “If anything goes wrong, remember I still have this!” Mathew pulled out his cross pendant made out of beautiful stone.

Dr. Cato smiled. “I don’t think we have much to worry about if she’s sounding this happy.”

Dr. Cato slowly opened the door, revealing the past he wanted to welcome back into the present. His heart sank with many emotions, he shed tears of guilt and joy.

Sunset reflected off her beautiful charcoal black hair, her pale skin glowed along with it, and the purple highlights shimmered. Dr. Cato slowly walked behind Angela and listened as she finally finished her selfish song full of agonized depression.

Angela sighed with joy and smiles, then looked at the window, watching the sunset coming to an end. But in her window’s reflection, she saw someone approach her from behind. Before she could turn around, Dr. Cato placed his hand on Angela’s shoulder, freezing her in place. Angela quivered violently because she thought she was about to get robbed.

“Hello… Angela,” the gentle voice of her darkened past said, trickling out a gasp of utter shock. “It’s good to see you again.”

Angela knew who it was. The voice alone made her hair stand up. Turning her face white, a single tear fell from her face. No… Dr. Ca… to…?

***

Jack and Eric arrived at their destination. It was a beat up bar where a lot of rival gang leaders came to drink and play pool. But instead of going inside right away, the two men stayed in their car for thirty minutes. They were killing time on purpose to relax their nerves from seeing Angela’s strange behavior. Even after easing their nerves, Eric still felt something wasn’t right. Jack noticed it as well. Eric got out of the car first, looked around the area to see if anything was odd.

“The clock’s ticking, Eric,” Jack said as he hopped out too, closing the car door.

Eric looked around one last time, closing the door, but still felt something was wrong. But they had to focus on their current mission. They walked in and spotted the men they had to negotiate with. He welcomed them and kindly asked them to take a seat. They both sat in front of the guy.

Eric wanted to laugh because of how ridiculous the guy’s outfit was.

Jack didn’t hesitate but raised the edge of his lip in disgust. “You look like a gay pimp.”

The guy smirked and lay back on his chair. “I’ll take that as a compliment since you’ve basically said I take good care of myself.” He crossed his legs and wiped away his smile. “Now then, enough joking around, I’m all ears.”

Eric nodded and Jack stayed alert, observing all his guards around them for any suspicious movements. The two leaders went on for about ten minutes, discussing deals, ideas, and more notably turf claims. Eric was careful, making sure he wasn’t mishearing anything that the leader would try to secretly slip any loopholes or traps. Jack stayed observant, not saying or even intervening in their conversation.

After final discussions, the rival leader cracked his fingers and put his hands behind his head. “So boys, what do you say, huh? This new deal of ours sounds precious. How do you like it?” The rival leader took a shot of liquor after and chuckled.

Eric crossed his arms and looked around. “Not too shabby, my guy. Though I find it quite unfair you guys want 70% and we’re only getting 30%. May I make a suggestion?”

“Ohohoho, sounds wondrous to me, big guy!” said the rival gang leader.

“Hey, why do you talk like that? Is it your personality?” Jack asked, finally intervening.

“Hmm, listen tall man, mind ya business for now, and let the men talk here.”

“Alright… dick.”

Eric and the turf leader negotiated more until mysterious men in white stormed the bar, interrupting the entire meeting. Eric and Jack looked back and saw them rushing out at everyone else. Everyone dispersed and fled to the nearest exit.

The turf leader shouted before leaving, “Ya fuckers had the feds on ya! Oh, hell no!”

Eric and Jack tried fleeing as well, but the men quickly surrounded them.

“Fuck Eric, what the fuck’s going on? Who are these guys?” Jack raised a fist.

Eric raised both his fists. “Fuck man, I don’t know. They sure as hell ain’t no police that’s for sure.”

Eric clenched his fists. Jack did the same. The two were back to back.

“Yo man, I knew something was fishy! Fuck is going on here?” Eric said as he glared at each guy.

Jack started having PTSD. He felt like he could recognize the mens outfits. “Eric,” he said nervously, “we need to get the hell outta here. Now!”

Jack pulled his gun out and fired a round into the air, hoping it would scare off the strangers. But the men in white rushed him instead, tackling Jack and separating him from Eric. Jack made contact with the ground and his gun slid away.

They tried to tackle Eric, but he was too heavy and tall. He casually elbowed the two guys who tried tackling him. More men stormed into the bar. They had batons and used them on Eric. But each contact they made felt like they were hitting a boulder. Eric didn’t react, he only scratched it away and startled the men. They tried swinging again, but Eric caught every single baton and broke them in half with his bare hands.

“This ain’t shit!” Eric punched one man and another rushed in, grabbing a hold of Eric.

Eric wrapped his giant arms around the dude’s waist, lifted him off his feet, then slammed him on a table with an overhead suplex. A smaller man in white grabbed a bottle nearby, then broke it and yelled as he made his way towards Eric. Eric applauded the man’s courageous rush with a nice side kick once he came close. He flew away, colliding to the side of the bar and went unconscious.

Jack was still pinned down, struggling to get them off. One punched his face and the other punched his gut. All the torturous pinning aggravated Jack. He used all his manly strength to push the men off of him, then threw a punch or two, managing to knock one out. The other sent a high kick to Jack’s face, making contact. Jack went down again but rolled back up and attacked him with a straight jab. But the guy casually dodged his punch, then gave him a nice underhook to his gut. Jack gagged, but powered through with a stab of his elbow to the guy’s gut.

“Fuck off!” Jack made contact with a fist to the guy’s face, knocking him out.

Eric threw another guy over the bar as he walked backwards. Jack used a nearby pool stick to fend off others. The two were back to back again, surrounded by ten guys now. Some even had tasers. Things were starting to look bad for them. Both men raised their fists and said “Fuck!” as all ten rushed in at once.

Jack and Eric dodged, tackled, slammed, punched the remaining men, the only one who was inflicted by any damage was Jack because of his lack of fighting posture. The two were heavily exhausted. They took most of the men out now. There was one left now, and it was the one in communications with Dr. Cato. They decided to interrogate the guy.

Eric grabbed him and pinned him up against one of the chairs. He held the guy down and Jack grabbed his gun, pointing it at the guy’s face. Jack demanded answers. The guy refused to expose any details and he even spat at Jack’s face. Jack wasn’t having any of it. He pistol whipped the guy, knocking him unconscious and wiped the spit off his face.

“Just who the fuck are these guys? They look like cops, but they look like some damn church fools!” Eric said, pushing the guy’s unconscious body down.

“I know, but I have a feeling I’ve seen these outfits before, but where? Where!” Jack kicked a random guy’s unconscious body. “Damn it! Why’s this all happening?”

Jack and Eric decided to check the guys’ bodies and see if they could get any more information about where they came from.

Jack and Eric walked outside. It was almost dark out, and as they approached their car Jack heard a girl scream off in the distance. He looked around and asked Eric if he’d heard a scream. Eric declined, calling him crazy.

Jack’s phone rang. He pulled it out and realized it was Angela. He opened it and placed it against his ear. “Everything alright, Angela?”

She didn’t say a word.

“What’s wrong, Angela? Hello?” Angela’s phone stayed silent. All Jack heard was soft breathing. “Hello?! Angela! If you don’t say anything, I’ll…”

“You’ve grown so much, young man,” a middle aged voice said very calmly, which caused Jack’s heart to fill with fear.

“Oh how you’ve changed, Jack,” Dr. Cato said.

Jack gasped. His breathing intensified and his chest tightened. “Who’s this!” Jack shouted, scaring Eric. “What have you done to my sister?!”

Eric had heard enough. He got so angry he pulled his gun out and loaded it. “Jack, let’s go now!”

The stranger hung up. Jack screamed.

He rushed in the car and loaded a fresh mag into his handgun. Eric was already in the car and once Jack rushed in, he floored it, driving as fast as possible back to the house. Jack began to twitch. There was an immeasurable amount of pain coming from his heart. He sweated profusely, but ignored the pain.

“Yo, you good?” Eric asked.

Jack was too focused on getting back to the house to even pay attention to Eric’s question, which left him feeling worried. The pain got greater and greater. Jack screamed at the top of his lungs.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Eric asked.

“Don’t worry. Just focus on driving,” Jack said.

They were about to approach the home, but the closer they got, the more noticeable the tire marks were evident. They pulled up and noticed that the door was busted down. Jack dashed out the car and rushed inside, noticing the place was trashed. His eyes turned blank, his mind went static. Jack felt empty and hollow.

Standing at the entrance of their home, a sudden flash of light flickered from outside. Jack’s shadow flickered as nature’s angered cries brightened the room. A storm was coming and it was a big one. As thunder kept clapping, lightning flashing. Jack slowly approached the stairs with hollowed raging eyes. Making his way slowly up to the top floor. Every step he took creaked.

Jack stopped at the top, spotting Angela’s door broken. His heart sank as he shook his head. He walked up to her doorway then stood there observing the room. Moonlight passed through her window, showing nail marks on the floor similar to the ones in his nightmares. It made Jack so ashamed of himself. As he stepped inside, he spotted a duffel bag and a note on her bed.

Jack clenched his fists, angrily walked to the bag and picked the note up to read it.

Dear Jack Samr,

“I know this is a strange reunion between us, but rest assured, my friend. I want to thank you again for taking care of Angela through all these years. Giving her a home, education, respect, certainly but more importantly, raising her to become such a beautiful and talented individual. If she were still in that facility she probably would’ve never become the person that she is today. Thank you for everything, my friend.

Hey, good news though. There’s five million dollars in the duffel bag to live out the rest of your miserable life, so take this as a token of my gratitude. I hope you can live out the rest of your life in peace. Try to make better decisions for yourself and not endanger those around you.

Goodbye Jack. Don’t worry, Angela has already said her goodbyes to you. I wish you well in life and hopefully one day, you’ll revert back to the boy I once knew.”

Sincerely, your old friend and doctor, Dr. Cato.

Jack’s eyes widened. His eyes were so bloodshot. Lightning flashed in Angela’s room as he screamed and ripped the paper apart. He grabbed the duffel bag and threw it out the window.

Eric walked to the backyard and heard glass shattering. He looked up and saw the duffel bag fly out the window. Money rained from the sky and landed all over Eric. He thought it was a blessing until he saw which window it crashed through. He rushed upstairs and heard Jack screaming and pounding.

He spotted Jack repeatedly punching the walls in Angela’s room. It was such a sad and horrible sight to watch, so much so that Jack’s knuckles started bleeding.

Eric couldn’t take watching Jack have such an awful mental breakdown, so he went to Jack’s side to calm him down. Though his efforts were meaningless, Jack pushed Eric away, and Eric got angry. Eric grabbed him and held Jack against the wall. The poor teenager was in such a raging state that he screamed at Eric, pleading to let go of him, but his uncle felt so horrible for Jack. He’d never seen him that mentally weak before.

As the two struggled, Jack heard a vehicle closeby. He pushed Eric off of him and rushed outside, spotting a white van driving off. That was his chance to get Angela back, a sign of aid from God. He hopped in the car and immediately pursued the vehicle. Eric tried stopping him, but it was too late.

Eric watched Jack drive away, thinking that if he would return hopefully alive or dead. Eric clenched his fist and squinted. He couldn’t bring himself to think of such an awful possibility. He had already lost his closest friend to the same state Jack was in, he didn’t want to lose them both.

As Eric turned back around, he spotted a woman in a red dress a couple of feet away from the door. She walked out the front door and stood in front of the porch.

From what Eric could read, she looked extremely worried about something.

Eric was astonished by her beauty, but was confused and creeped out on how there was a perfectly dressed woman standing there in the first place. He tried to walk up to the front porch, but as soon as he got close, she faded away with a sudden flash of light from the angry skies.

“What’s happening, man? All this crazy shit, what has life come to… Jack, please be careful, my guy. It’s already bad enough I’ve lost my best friend. I don’t think I’m ready to lose both of you as well.”

Eric had no clue of the events occurring, but he felt so sad. Just what in the world is happening?

Eric walked up the porch steps and spotted a rose on the floor where the woman stood. He examined it and noticed how much it glowed beneath the moonlight.

“Just what the hell is that?” He sat down and stared at the moon. “Jack, you better not die on me fool. Like I said, I don’t want to bury another friend.”

As Eric stared upward, he had no clue that the rose he held was wrapped around his arm and printed onto his skin, embedding a form of protection for him.