At around eight in the evening, the whole house was quiet. Aunt Vicky recently came back from her friend's house and decided to retire for the night, Jessica however was yet to return from the night party.
The neighborhood was quiet too, I heard the Count's farmland where the party was being held was far from us. It was uphill. I had wanted going there before but considering how bad my day went, I changed my mind.
Jessica pushed me to the wall, but despite that I still cared for her. In fact, I couldn't sleep because I was worried she might be in danger or something. Of course I trusted her friends, especially Shirley. They wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to her in their presence.
But what if someone lure her to a corner or somewhere quiet? Just like what happened in the motel, none of her friends could tell about her whereabouts. What if the same thing happens to her?
Aunt Vicky thought the freedom she gave her daughter was an achievement, she might be thinking her daughter would never be harmed, and might be sleeping tightly now thinking her daughter would be back home safe, but what if something ended up happening? Something terrible?
Should I call Jessica and tell her to return home right this instant? Or perhaps I should just sneak into her mother's room and use her phone to text her? That way, she would definitely honour the call. But what if she returns and learns I fooled her? She would definitely be pissed off, and Aunt Vicky may likely be pissed too.
I kept thinking about what to do until, suddenly my phone began ringing. It was Frank. "Hello!" I said the moment I picked the call.
"Hi" he said, however I couldn't hear him clearly because the background was noisy. He was obviously in the Count's farmland too, I could hear the sound of music and people wailing. "Still awake or did I just woke you up?" he asked.
"Still awake" I responded.
"What did you said? I didn't heard you well" he exclaimed.
"Okay, I SAID I AM STILL AWAKE!" I repeated, laying emphasis on the words.
"Oh, okay, I get it. Can we meet now? I mean, can I see you now? Trust me, it's safe. And your sister is here too, she's busy dancing and drinking" he said.
I almost turned down his request but by the mentioning of Jessica's dancing and drinking situation, I quickly changed my mind.
"Okay" I muttered.
"Is that a yes or no?" he asked.
"Yes," I responded, "but you have to come and get me 'cause I don't know the exact location"
"Okay, I will be there in a jiffy"
"Alright" I ended the call.
Thus, I got myself prepared and went out of the house. I didn't wear my costume because I wanted to appear like a sane person, just like Frank. Even though he came all the way from Mainland for the festival, he didn't wear any costume. He was in a casual dress.
While standing pathetically outside in a tee and skirt combo, I couldn't help but look around for the sign of Frank's car. It was ten minutes already since we talked on phone, he should be here hy now or was the place that far? I wondered.
Just as I was about dialing his contact, I noticed a headlight from a distance moving forward in fast pace. It has to be him! I concluded the moment I started hearing the sound of the engine as the car approached.
Finally, he's here! I walked over to the car the moment he pulled over and then pulled the front passenger door open. "Hey!" I said, hopping into the car.
"Hi, I kept you waiting, huh?" he said and apologized, "Sorry, I couldn't get Paul off my neck, he wanted following me"
"Paul? Who's Paul?" I shut the door off.
"The Count's son, my friend" he giggled, "He's such an assh*le"
"Oh, okay. So, how's Jessica? Was she really drunk?" I asked, wanting to be sure.
"Yes, of course she is!" he said as he swung the car into the road, "She was dancing around with her friends, why did you asked? Wasn't she used to getting drunk?"
"I don't know. I mean, yes she is!" I paraphrased, trying not to be rude. "But I don't like it when she's drunk"
"Why?" he asked.
"Because," I cleared my throat, "I don't want anything bad to happen to her. I don't trust the guys around here. That's why!"
"Hmm, insecurity" he remarked.
"Sort of" I muttered the moment he made a turn and began accelerating towards the hill. "The road is empty, and everywhere is quiet around here. Don't you think it's dangerous to be out at this hour?"
"Dangerous?" he giggled, "No, it's safe. Trust me. Nobody's gonna ambush, harm you, or..." he said as a deer appeared from nowhere and almost got itself hit by our car. "Jesus!" Frank regained control of the car and continued driving, not minding to reduce the speed.
"I think it's dangerous to be out here" I said and quickly fastened my seatbelt, "I wouldn't be out here if not for Jessica. I want to lure her back home before something bad happens to her in her drunk state, I don't want someone to take advantage of her"
"You really love this your sis, and you also have a good heart. People like you are hard to comeby these days" he said, prompting me to blush.
"Thanks for the compliment" I folded my arms across my chest.
"You are welcome, Laura!"
"Okay. So, if Jessica is drunk then getting her back home on foot won't be easy. Plus this road isn't safe, I don't want something bad to happen to us while on our way home" I lamented.
"Don't worry about that, I will get you both home. The only problem is, how can you convince her to follow us? Will she be able to leave her friends there?" he said, rendering me speechless.
When we arrived at the party ground, I quickly stormed out of Frank's car and began looking for Jessica. There was no need to shout her name since it would be in vain, the whole place was noisy and crowdy.
I kept searching for her until I mistakenly bumped into a huge guy. The guy turned angrily, holding a bottle of beer in his hands. "Sorry!" I apologized about leaving when he held me with one of his hands.
"Sorry?" he belched, smelling awfully.
"Yeah, sorry" I muttered.
"I don't believe in sorries!" he laughed out loud and gulped his beer.
"Get your hands off me, it wasn't intentional. I was looking for my sister" I tried to extricate from his tight grip.
"Well, what I am about to do won't be intention too... or will it?" he smirked, drawing me closer to his chest.
"You motherf*cker, get your hands off her!" Frank came and pulled me away from the guy, he then pushed the guy away and ran away with me.
As soon as we arrived at a safe spot, he asked what the hell happened back there. "You should have waited for me earlier" he added.
"I was eager to see my sister, and that guy... I mistakenly bumped into him while searching for her" I explained while panting.
"Is that all?"
"Yeah, I apologized for bumping into him but he said he doesn't believe in sorries. I don't know what exactly he's up to but I believe he's drunk" I added.
"Okay, from now on stick with me. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, and you know how unsafe this place is. Most of the people here are under the influence of alcohol, you don't wanna find out how crazy other drunkards can be" he said.
"Okay" I muttered.
"Good!" he encircled his hand around my waist, "Nobody will harass you if they see you with a guy" he looked straight into my eyes and smiled.
"Hmm" I crooked a smile and quickly turned my face away. I wasn't used to being that close to men, and I wasn't used to being held that way. By the way, I still viewed him as a stranger and that made me insecure.
"Don't worry, I know where Jessica is. I will take you to her. They are over there" he pointed with his other hand, "she and her friends. But first, I would like to introduce you to Paul. Would you like to meet him? It won't take a second, just say your HELLO's and HI's, that's all"
Paul? I wanted turning down his request the fact that I was worried about Jessica but something told me not to, he had done a lot for me already. I owe him a lot. "Okay" I nodded my head positively.
"Alright" he heaved a sigh and began walking us to one direction.
When we arrived at a group of people hanging around an SUV and taking all kinds of smokes, he called on Paul. I thought the huge one among them was Paul but then, a short slim guy came out of the car and dropped the cigarette he was holding, thus he light it off by smashing it with his boot.
"Hey, man" he coughed out the smoke in his lungs, "welcome back" he extended one of his hands to Frank for a handshake. Was this the kinds of friends Frank mingle with? What if I was wrong about him? What if he wasn't trustworthy?
"Thanks, dude" Frank shook him. "This is Laura, my..." he said as the guy cut in,
"Your new chick huh?"
"Hmm, you son of a bit*h!" Frank averted from me and threw a friendly punch on the guy.
"Ouch, that hurts!" The guy feigned hurt.
"What did I told you about smoking and drinking at the same time?" Frank sarcastically scolded him.
"Did you see me with a beer?"
"Well, it's obvious you took some sips before we arrived. Anyways, she's just a..." he lowered his voice and continued talking with the guy while I scrutinize the environment.
The place was smelling badly, different kinds of smokes and I was already getting uncomfortable. At some point, I had to cover my nose stylishly to avoid inhaling harmful materials.
And that Paul, I heard he was the Count's son. He probably was the leader of the gang too. As someone in his position, I don't think it's a good thing to indulge oneself in such a bad behavior. He was supposed to be a good exampler. Sadly, reverse was the case.
As for Frank, I had questions for him in store to be answered as soon as we leave for Jessica. He would have to answer what he was doing with those guys, and if he was also into what they were doing.
Even when I was in College, I was scared of guys that smoke. You could be a drunkard and still be able to hangout with me, but smokers... I just didn't like it when people smoke in my presence. The smell, it used to make me uncomfortable and sometimes sick.
One of the guys around offered me a stick despite seeing me covering my nose, "Take it, little angel. Just one draw and you are in the game" he tried to persuade me, "You are gonna enjoy it, trust..."
"I don't want it!" I declined and moved few steps away from him.
"Hhhhh" he laughed and coughed at the same time. He obviously didn't know the danger of what he was doing, if only he knew how bad it is to engage into what he was doing.
"That's definitely gonna kill you someday if you don't quit smoking" I politely advised him.
"This?" he stared at the stick in his hand and giggled,"This can't kill me, and it can't kill you either. We are too strong for it" he smoked it and continued, "But do you know what kills fast? Fear, Darling, FEAR" he laid emphasis on the word and burst into a scornful laughter.
Just then, Frank came and held me. "What's going on?" he asked me, concerned.
