They kept driving.
Driving. Driving...
But where were they going?
Freddy wanted to ask that question so much!
But he was too afraid to do it...
And for good reason!
He was stuck in a car jammed between two murderers!
Wuan showed absolutely NO compassion for what he had just done running down that poor woman.
When Freddy thought about it his thoughts talked like this: I have underestimated this man. I thought he was a humble businessman out to make a quick buck! Turns out he is a complete psychopath!
O no!
GET ME OUT!
Freddy would have paid a small fortune to get out of that car right then if he could.
But no nice little miracle was on its way save him... (But when was it ever?)
It was starting to get lighter outside. Morning was setting in. Freddy could see things through the window at last. There was a large old rickety building up ahead and it looked like Wuan was driving towards it.
Freddy recognised the building. Why it was the old Gate House! The building had been abandoned and left to rot years ago during the riots.
But by the shape of things that was definitely where they were headed.
The car came to a halt at the front lawn.
'Do you know this place?' said Freddy. 'This is the Gate House.'
'I know. I own it,' Jish replied.
'Really?'
'Well nobody else does and it is a shame to let the place go to waist... So I claimed it for my own. It is the least this country can afford me after all I have done during the war.'
'Ahh! I see! So you are dosing in it then?'
'You do remember that I once was with the military?' said Jish disapprovingly. He didn't appreciate Freddy's candour.
Humbled, Freddy apologised for calling Jish a lazy tramp.
'Now let us get out of the car,' said Jish. 'It is time for us to kill a man...'
There is no need to describe the Gate House. From the outside and from the inside it looked just like something out of your typical gothic horror movie; old, warped, cracked, pointed, cobwebbed, dusty and terrifying. Once they were inside Jish told them he was going to leave them explaining that he had important business to attend.
So for a while Wuan and Freddy were left alone together.
'So what are we going to do now?' said Freddy.
'When I know our enemies have been defeated, and it is safe for me to leave this building, I am going to go home back to Singapore. That is what I am going to do, Freddy,' Wuan replied. 'What you do Freddy is up to you. You are no longer my concern. You are on your own now. If you need help with anything, like paying off your debts you are going to have to seek help in other directions because our business together is finished. Maybe you should approach the King's again for another loan...'
'Please Wuan! We were friends! Things don't have to end like this!'
'Yes they do Freddy,' said Wuan. 'Thanks to you I have lost everything. My shop is in ruins. My whole forgery business has been exposed not only to the eyes of the police but to the public as well. I am what they call finished. And that is why I have to finish with you. Even if I actually liked you, I would still have no other choice but to walk away. Thanks to your meddling I am now an enemy of the Gangs of Fenwick and the police forces. I need to escape the country. I am not going to prison because of your stupidity Freddy.'
'I didn't mean for this to happen!'
'Yes you did. You made the fatal decision to go on a date with a very dangerous woman who had blood ties with the Irish Gang. That was your choice to do that. Didn't you learn from your parents that we all have choices in life? And choices have consequences. Now you are living with the consequences of your choices. It is just sad for everyone else that your choices had the kind of consequences to implode a whole business empire and other people too. Congratulations Freddy. You are a practical ticking time bomb that has just exploded and everyone around you has been caught up in the blast.'
'Don't abandon me like this, Wuan. You can run to Singapore away from it all, but I am stuck here in a rats nest! I will be eaten alive! Please, stay. Help me. I will get you more G-Juice. We can find somewhere else to bottle it up and sell it like before. We can do this! Please Wuan. I am begging you. I will get on my knees and beg if that is what you want!'
And Freddy in that moment was like, damn it I will do it, and he literally dropped down and started begged like a dog.
Wuan raised an eyebrow. It was visually obvious by the cold expression on his face that he was bemused by the ugly and highly unmanly sight of Freddy begging.
Finally Wuan replied:
'Do you have any idea who I am?' he said.
'Of course! You are my mate!' said Freddy stupidly.
Wuan continued:
'I am beyond you as I am beyond everyone else in this town,' said Wuan dramantically. 'Judging by your debts and the general way you conduct yourself in your dealings with other human beings I can predict that someone will kill you one day not far away. So it will not hurt my organisation if I reveal my greatest and only secret: I am part of a global cult loyal to the astral god Strasmagoth...'
WHAT??!!
'The members of our cult make a blood sacrifice once every three years...' said Wuan speaking in a casual way like he was talking to an old friend about what he and his family had done over the weekend, as you do.
'Damn Wuan! Don't do this to me!' said Freddy. 'I thought you were one of the more normal ones...'
'I am in contact with the members of the cult every single day. We operate in many areas of the world but we have a huge stake in Fenwick because we have a temple built right under the ground beneath the very heart of the city! You were going to be our next sacrifice, Freddy. But after our recent business together we found your blood to be...unworthy... So that is one hook you have been let off! The cultists don't want you! You are too annoying for them. Fine. So that means all you have to deal with now are the gangs...and the cartels. Enjoy your life, Freddy.'
There was a grandfather clock in the hallway nearby that was still working. Freddy watched the hour hand move five times. That was how long he and Wuan had to wait before Jish returned.
Jish walked through the door carrying two things with him:
One: A large suitcase that was almost as big as he was.
Two: A very crazy tale even for the standards of tales born on the lips of the maddest of the most mad of story tellers.
'I have finished my business,' said the dwarf. 'I am happy to say that the war is almost over. ALMOST! There is one last piece of the puzzle to solve and then we are done.'
'Okay. What's been happening then?' said Freddy.
'I made that cheeky call to the RSPCA like I said I would. I managed to get Joanne locked up in the local zoo,' said Jish. 'I told them on the phone that there was a walrus on the lose in a public area. The RSPCA responded quite quickly. I was surprised by their efficiency it was like they had dealt with similar situations before like this and had some experience dealing with walruses. I don't know if the walrus is native to Fenwick but the guys that turned up in the van to seize the creature definitely knew what they were dealing with. "My gosh how did that thing get loose?" I heard one of them say. "We need to bag that creature fast before it hurts somebody!" They tried netting her to begin with but that didn't work. She managed to escape! She is a tough beast our Joanne! So one of the RSPCA boys loaded up a tranquiliser and shot her down clean. Then they loaded her dosed up body onto the van. It took fifteen men to carry her. That was when disaster struck! Bill and Bo discovered what was happening to their mother and started a fight with the RSPCA boys! As I was watching the scene unravel I thought to myself: "Damn! The game is up!" But then the armed police span into view, someone must have tipped them off that there was a scene going on in the High Street. After a huge fight the police managed to arrested Bill and Bo and then they took them away cuffed up and defeated. So that is that lot nicely dealt with!
'All that is left now of the Irish Gang is Elfie Rooney and he is the most dangerous of them all. But I have a plan to deal with him once and for all and that plan sits right here at my side,' and then Jish dropped his massive dwarf-sized suitcase to the ground opened it up and cracked out a very lethal looking sniper rifle. Jish looked at the weapon with the kind of look a lover might have. The dwarf kissed the barrel of the weapon with a passion Freddy had never seen witnessed before by other people not even in his high school days. 'This is Jill! She is the love of my life!' Jish was talking about the sniper rifle. 'I carry her wherever I go. She has served me in many wars. And she is going to serve me now. I have setup a trap for Mr Rooney. We are going to play a game with him. I told him where we were. I told him to meet us at the Gate House for talks. I don't doubt he will come armed. But what he won't know is that I am armed far better than he is armed, and I can shoot him from very far away so if you excuse me, gentlemen, me and Jill must make our way up to the bedroom window above and make love once again.' As he said that he snapped the scope into place on that beast of a rifle of his. The weapon was almost larger than the dwarf! 'I only have one bullet left, saved from the old wars,' and Jish took the bullet out of his left pocket. 'It is the only bullet I need. So once again excuse me, my fine fellows. It is time to make magic happen...'
Jish went up stairs.
Another went by and then there was the sound of a car engine outside. The sound was accompanied by the piercing screech of rubber eating gravel as the power of the vehicle was brought to a halt.
A second later there came the sound of a bullet.
Three seconds later Jish returned. He came down slowly. There was a clear tear in the dwarves eyes.
'It was magical,' said the dwarf. 'Mr Rooney will bother us no more!'
Wuan heard this and responded in a cold and dark voice:
'Marvellous. Now Jish you and I will return to what is left of the gas station. I still have some equipment to gather there before we go. We must make plans to get out of Fenwick. Let's get back to the car now...'
'What about me?' said Freddy. 'What do I do? Do you want me to go with you?'
'We have already talked about this, Freddy,' said Wuan darkly. 'You are on your own now.'
And with that Wuan and Jish drove away, leaving Freddy no choice but to attend the long walk home all by himself.
On his long walk back Freddy was thinking about what he was going to do next.
He felt pretty doomed so he thought he might as well have a drink of whiskey and then just go to bed. "What else can I do? I will drink until I am drunk like most drinkers do. I will drink until I forget everything that I will indeed do!"
As Freddy opened the door, hoping to enjoy a chilled evening after two intense days of being on the run, he got the shock of his life!
There was a tough looking guy sitting on the chair in his living room.
O no! It was Frank King and he was holding a gun!
'How has your day been Freddy?' said Frank.
'O! Wonderful, in a horrible sort of way. Thanks for asking Frank,' Freddy replied nervously. 'It is good to see you Frank! But why are you here? Would you like to help me toast the end of the war?'
'No. Not me, thank you. The war has only just started for me Freddy boy,' said Frank.
Freddy asked him what he meant, and Frank said, 'I woke up this morning ready for another day of business only to learn from the police who came knocking on my door this morning that my brother is in hospital, fatally wounded, and my mother has been killed in a car accident.'
'Good gosh! That sounds terrible!' Freddy replied. 'Sounds very much like your having a worse day than me, sort of.'
Frank got up from the chair and turned around to face Freddy directly.
'My mother is dead Freddy,' said Frank. 'I thought about it for a long time. She was knocked over by a speeding car the police told me. I asked them if there was any CCTV footage of the event. They said there was. I asked to see it. They said no. I offered the officers five thousand each and they showed me the CCTV footage. The footage that captured the whole scene is quite good. Very clear. And when you pause the footage at a certain moment about three seconds in, you see the faces of the people inside the car that killed my mother. There was one guy I didn't recognise. But I knew the face of the man sitting next to him. I saw your face Freddy...'
'Frank please! Let me explain.'
'Save it.'
'I wasn't driving the car!'
'But you were in it. And you didn't think to stop to see if my mother was okay?'
'It's not how you think it is! I wanted to stop but I had guns pointing at me in all directions! Are you going to kill me Frank?'
'Yes. I am going to kill you,' Frank raised the gun right up to Freddy's head. One pull of the trigger and Freddy's day was done.
But Frank stopped there and continued talking saying this:
'You have got one debt left, Freddy. Pay it off and I will let you live.'
'What do you want me to do?' said Freddy, who was trying desperately not to pass out with terror.
Frank lowered the gun and stepped right up close to Freddy. Then Frank slipped the gun into Freddy's quivering fingers...
'Kill Wuan for me,' said Frank. 'Kill Wuan,' he repeated. 'And when the man is dead consider your debt paid.'
(Remember! All spelling errors and grammatical mistakes are intentional - the author 😆)
Previous part here
There is a prequel to this story. Check the link below if you would like to read it: Jim's Subway part 1
===========================================================
Also take a look at:
My Games
Play Give 'em Hell
Play Elfin Quest
Witches Brew a short text based adventure game!
Also take a look at:
My YouTube Channel
My Books
No comments:
Post a Comment