Chapter 44 An Unexpected Return

"Ugh!"
My ear rang when my head hid something solid, warm liquid gushed from it as I opened my eyes, only to find out that my head is covered with a cloth that smells like rotten cheese.
I inhaled. I don"t feel anything weird on my body other than the aching on the right side of my head, making me feel queasy and dizzy at the same time. Both of my hands and feet are tied and a cloth muffles my screams. So I just decided to stop and feel everything around me, listening to any kind of sound. After a few more minutes, I heard groans not too far from me. It"s Jayson! I know it"s him.
The air is cool
Struggling to release myself from the rope that is tied so tight to my wrists, I screamed again, moving my head from right to left, hoping that the cloth would get loose from my mouth. I push it out with my tongue, still moving despite the feeling that I think my head is going to spin off my shoulders. With determination, the cloth finally loosened and I gasped for air through my mouth, my throat feeling so dry and sore. I wonder how long I was out.
I crawl towards the sound. "Jayson? Jayson is that you?" I called him in a hysterical, croaky voice and the muffled sound suddenly turned louder, as I called his name. It"s him.
Shivering with both cold and fear, I continued crawling, the rough edges of the stones pierce through my jacket and jeans, making me wince in pain. There is no single light in the place where we are. I can"t remember how we got in here in the first place though but I feel we are somewhere, outside. I just can"t tell exactly where because of the cloth that is covering my face.
"Timothy? Timothy, are you there? Please make any sound so I know you"re also safe!" I yelled at him and I heard a muffled voice on my left and a banging metallic sound. It"s the car! The car is here thankfully!
I went to the one closer to me. To Jayson who is just a few feet away from me. I kept crawling and despite the cold wind blowing on my bare shoulder, my forehead was beaded with sweat. I kept on going until I felt him, he made a muffled sound again, an incomprehensible words that I think he"s saying grateful things about me being alive.
Moving closer to him, I had to feel what part of his body head was touching. It"s his legs. I have to go behind him and let him reach my wrist so he can untie the rope on it.
The gravel underneath me made sounds that don't look good because it hurts when its round edges poke or pierce through my skin. I quickly shifted my position and as I got closer to him, his loud breathing became clearer in my ears. I worried if he was also injured or something so I made my movement quick, pulling myself and sitting upright next to him, feeling his hands behind me.
"Reach for my wrist, Jayson. Try to untie me so we can get out of this place. I hope Mona and Li were not found by Melvin"s men. That rat! He deceived us!"
I felt Jayson"s hand on my hips, I presume his hands are also tied on his back, as he fumbled to reach the rope that binds me. His hands became busy on it until I felt it loosen, and the first thing I did was to remove the cover on my face and see what place Melvin"s men threw at us.
My mouth gaped and I am not sure if I"ll believe what my eyes are seeing right now.
We are in front of the Gas Station.
Seriously?
I was baffled when Jayson made an urgent muffled cry again and my hands quickly searched for the rope on his hand and untied him. All of us were covered with stinking fabrics on our heads and after I released Jayson, I quickly turned towards Timothy to help him next.
Both of their reactions were the same as mine as soon as they saw the gas station in front of us. I checked the whole place and the car is just beside Timothy. It"s almost dawn and the sky is getting a little bright, the stars are slowly fading behind the thin clouds.
"What happened?"
"I don"t know... But they brought us back here." I touched my head and it feels wet on my hand. When I checked on it, my palm and fingers were tainted in red. I could also feel that the blood was almost drying because some had already crusted on some parts of my hair. I grimaced when a sharp stinging pain overwhelmed my senses.
"Oh, god, Harriet, you"re bleeding," Timothy noticed and he came closer to me to check how bad the wound was. We have to clean it. Come, let"s check on the others. I hope that guy didn"t take them as collateral for what they are demanding of us!"
I exhaled and just let Timothy help me walk toward the gasoline station. I glanced at Jayson but he stood still in front of them and said, "Go ahead. I have to check this thing if it still works." He nodded to us and me and Timothy proceeded on walking to find Li and Mona, hoping they were just still in the convenience store, waiting for us.
My right ear is still ringing from the impact of something that hit my head. Whatever it is, I know that the person who did this has a great anger on me because he or she had almost broken my skull.
"Are you ok, Cassy? What do you feel?"
"I-I"m fine. I"m just a bit dizzy," I answered him in a hoarse tone. My throat is still sore and dry.
When Timothy and I were almost near the convenience store, we both saw that all the glass doors and even the glass walls of it were already shattered to pieces, scattered under our shoes. I feel like my heart sank when I saw that all the shelves inside it were empty, a sign that Melvin"s men had been in this place and looted everything.
"Li?! Mona?!" I screamed their names inside the building but no one answered.