Patterns of Betrayal

(6) Fallout

~~

Rys' three days are up.

After my experience with Mother's poison two days ago, my body struggles to feel at ease.

Trying to sleep yesterday had been a frustrating task, my body seemingly never being able to relax. At one point, I had to stand up and do a series of push ups in an attempt to loosen the pent up muscles in my body. Yet, my hands were shaking as the sleepless night dragged on, and my pulse couldn't calm down. I had tossed and turned until dawn approached. By then, a growing pain up my neck had started to form from a series of tense muscles. 

I long after the sweet, numbing release I had felt the night before. After I had swallowed the poison. After I had almost died.

I wait for Mother in the living room as she finishes up talking with Adrian regarding the three new siblings and their process. A rumour has spread amongst the siblings in the house concerning the loss of Howard, the oldest of the new batch of sibling brought from the train station about one week ago. So far, none of the rumours have involved Mother.

Yesterday, as we were cleaning up the garbage littering the driveway caused by the storm the night before, Ana had suspected that Howard had been murdered on his first day on the street. Celeste broke in, claiming he was kidnapped and sold off to trafficking. I hadn't participated in the hearsay conversation. In my head, I had tried my best to ignore the image of the young boy's wide, watery eyes finding mine, unflinching as his head lifelessly hit the concrete floor.

Mother enters the living room with a muffled sigh. Her hair is slightly disheveled, and she isn't dressed in any formal attire. It seems she doesn't have any meetings today.

I continue to watch the news on the television as she takes a seat on the couch next to me, resting her elbow on the armrest. From the corner of my eye, I see her looking at me.

We're silent for a minute, and soon her attention shifts to the television instead.

«Any word from Rys?» I ask once her heavy gaze moves away from my face.

She brings out a phone from her back pocket. I glance at her from the corner of my eye and catch the quick shake of her head.

«You'll go out to meet him again in an hour.»

I nod absently in agreement, my eyelids heavy from the lack of sleep.

«He won't be at the factory you visited him three days ago. Since he hasn't paid his debt, he may have done one of three things.»

She leans forward in the couch and holds up one finger. «Packed up the essentials and moved as far away from civilisation as possible with his wife and kid.»

She holds up a second finger. «Taken the little remains of his cash and fled the city by himself, to heck with his family.»

She flips up the third and last finger. «Jumped off the bridge nearby his house and disappeared from the face of this earth without a trace, like the coward I know he is.»

Leaning back into the couch cushions, she rest her hand back down onto the armrest.

«In the span of two days you will find out which one of these choices he took. I've already contacted my partner in the city, he'll help you with the bigger decisions. You'll just help assist his tracking and deal with the smaller problems you'll meet on the way, understand?»