SHADOWS OF KAYLA

THE ESCAPE

Kayla.

“Zen?” I asked myself as I let the questions sprint all around in my head as to the reason why Zen, who was one of Van's men would kill other Van's men. I had no idea if he was on our side or was on Van's and had been asked to do the job on his own because Van couldn't trust his men to do a good job.

However, my thoughts started to lean more towards the former, when I saw the concern in his eyes. Zen knelt by the bed on the side where mum had been placed on, pulling the tape off her mouth.

“Ow!” Mum screeched from the pain, finally blinking her eyes rapidly to adjust to what was happening.

“Who are you people? Who sent you to us! Who sent you? Where's my husband?” Mum shouted angrily and sat up, moving to where Tom was with tears in her eyes.

“Tom! Tom? My darling, wake up. My boy…” she cried, slapping him gently on the cheek.

“He won't wake up…” Zen said, and mum swung her face angrily at him, burning him with a hateful stare.

“What did you do to him? He won't wake up? Why?! What did you do to my baby?! Did you kill him, you bastard!” Mum cursed.

“He won't wake up…now. He won't wake up now. At least let me finish my sentence.”

“Why won't he wake up now?” She seethed.

“He's still sedated. And lower your voice, Sandie…if you want to leave here alive.”

“How do you know me? And who are you? What is all this? Who are you people?!”

“I said, lower—your—voice. There's no time to answer your hundred questions.”

“Here, strap the boy behind you,” he told the younger guy, throwing him the belts of a back carry. The man looked confusedly at the object in his hand for a while before figuring what he had to do.

“What are you doing? Don't touch my son, you monsters,” mum frizzled frigidly and held Tom to her chest.

“You want to remain here?” Zen asked her, his temper rising.

Mum said nothing and looked ahead at nothing in particular.

“We're leaving from here through the window, and your son obviously can't descend a ladder on his own, can he? So let him strap your son.”

“I'll strap him myself!”

“As you wish, woman. Just know it won't be my fault if you get dizzy and miss your footing. Nobody survives a fall from this high, at least not anyone I know.

Mum was obviously still very weak from the sedative, she looked it, and it was expected she'd still get dizzy from it. I hoped she wouldn't argue any further and just let the guy take Tom down the ladder. And indeed, she said nothing after that, which hinted her succumbing to whatever plans Zen was making even through it was obvious she held no trust for him. At least not until after she was sure she and her son would be safe.

She let go of Tom, and we watched the young man finally getting Tom strapped to his back after much struggles. He still looked scared. I wondered how he got to work for someone like Van. He looked like he had never even touched a g*n in his life before. I imagined if he had a family, and what would have become of them if Zen had killed him.

Zen took his silenced g*n in one hand and helped mum up with the other.

“Do you know my husband?....Do you have any idea where he is, he's safe, right?”

“Are you an ATM machine or what? You keep dispensing questions like they have been lined up in your throat. You'll get your answers once we're out of here.”

Mum pursed her lips tiredly and looked around. Zen pulled the curtains open, revealing the already opened windows. He looked down for a bit, like he was surveying the grounds below.

“I'll go down first. And don't try anything funny, you,” he said to the other guy, waving his g*n in his face. And without waiting for any response from them, he climbed over the window and headed down. The scared guy followed immediately down after him, with mum being the last person.

Once they were all in the secluded part of the building, they headed stealthily towards the tall fence, where another ladder was waiting for them.

“Now you go first, Sandie,” Zen told mum. She hesitated at first, petrified at what was happening and what maybe waiting on the other end of the wall.

“Go on,” he urged her while he watched her climb the ladder slowly.

“Follow,” Zen told the other guy.

“No…if I leave I'll be dead…” his voice shook and there was horror on his face.

“You'll be dead if you stay.”

The young man looked even more scared now. Zen studied his face silently for a while before talking.

“Hand the boy over,” Zen said to him. He hurriedly detached Tom from himself and handed him over to Zen. Zen took the boy from him and slung him over his shoulder, also taking the belts from him.

“Thanks, really,” the young guy smiled.

“Van will kill you, boy.”

The smile on his face disappeared and was replaced with the former dread, perhaps a worse one.

“But I will help you escape his wrath somehow. Also leave this dirty work when you can. You're still too young to be having deals with Van. And if you say anything about me or what happened here, I'll hunt to down and butcher you into pieces. Run along now!”

The guy had started crying now.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” he thanked Zen and headed back towards the building. Zen raised his g*n and shot the guy in the arm from behind and I gasped watching him fall to the ground, groaning in pains.

“That should buy you some innocence.” And with that, he climbed the ladder.

Although, I was sorry for the guy who was still wincing in pain, I understood that Zen did it so that he wouldn't be suspected to have witnessed or aided the escape.