The Notebook.

Chap. II

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The foreign youthful woman hastily jogged through the bushes with her fragile wounded arms clenched onto a brown leathery bag once she fiddled with the papers inside. Theo's eyes narrowed down, intently staring at her presence before resting the gun back in his pocket.

"So, it's just a girl?" His voice rasped in between the cigarette as he extinguished it on the ground, then went for another one while fidgeting in his front pocket for a lighter. His curiosity was set on her, puzzling the reason behind her concern.

Theo scoffed humourlessly back in his throat as he leaned further back on the Hellcat. "Where the fuck is—"

Unexpectedly, he was cut short to witness the petite young woman storming near the erratic white two-wheeled vehicle and vigorously booting her leg against the reel. "And screw you, Michael!"

His eyes crinkled into thin slits while staring at her ranging from outrage within a second to completely sorrow—continuing to walk from the area with no knowledge of his existence. As odd and distracted he was by her, this wasn't a typical event for him. On numerous occasions; it either involved violence or further chaos. But a woman being hysterical was far from his list.

Theo finally caught onto the lighter as he held the sparkling fire sizzle on the cigarette; but his attention was lingering on the woman disappearing down the road—almost out of focus when the small flame simmered on the tip of his thumb, aching a dull throb.

His eyes grew once the pain strengthened the pressure, promptly drifting his attention to his lighter before violently waving it. "Fuck!" 

He let out a scornful groan—flaring his nostrils in annoyance while staring at his flushed thumb. "Jesus fucking Christ."

His priority was nowhere near fixating the pain. Whatever the young woman ran from in the forest, reduced him to resist the irritation from his thumb and stride forward through the perennial woody plant. In the back of his mind, this wouldn't surprise him if something horrible has happened.

A crowd of trees were gathered behind the bushes, hardened dirt with newly fresh grass crushed underneath his black forces, searching for any movements beneath the bristle of leaves wriggling from the humid breeze. His legs were moving cautiously as if they have a brain of themselves, almost preying for something.

Nevertheless, his feet came to a halt through the bushes once his attention was grasped in one. Two pieces of paper were lying on the ground and a bloody shoe beside it. Theo was determined with a set expression, kneeling to examine the materials.

Theo had no interest in putting his newly cigarette away from his lips; instead, he grabbed the papers. But nothing could comprehend his sudden reaction to terror once he grazed the first line.

"Baltimore's research papers," His brows furrowed in disturbance, resting one forearm on his kneecap. "What the fuck is this shit?"

A sudden vibration rattled in his pocket, to which his hand puzzled up the phone to scan the notification presented on his lock screen; Jason was calling.

He took a deep breath before pressing the green button and propped it against his left cheek nearly to the ear. "What you want?"

"Hey, chief," Jason's husky voice was somewhat disturbed. "Baltimore is looking for you. Some meeting he wants you to attend."

Theo exhaled through his nostrils, still skimming through the paper of various narratives about the family. "He'll call if he needs me. Some other bullshit came up."

"Got it. You need backup?" Jason's computerized tone came out of the phone.

He tilted his head near the bloody shoe, calculating the motive behind an unexpected puzzle. "It's Geo."