Chapter17

I stood up and started limping as fast as possible through the woods. Places were beginning to get darker. The last night had been a lucky one. Any wild animal could have found me and made me its meal. I had to find a place. Worse again, it was going to rain. Heavily. I limped and limped, ignoring the endless pain in my knee and under my feet. Heavy raindrops began to fall. I increased my speed. I was week, tired and hungry. The rain began to slightly increase. Soon I was soaked and shivering. It was really cold. The weather had gone from hot to freezing. I didn't stop moving. I had hopes. As I limped in pain, just when I was about to give up, I noticed something. A house! That house I'd shown uncle Ken and dad. I quickly made my way for it. I was gonna break in. I didn't care whether there were snakes in there or whether it was dirty, old and hunted. I needed a house. I climbed up to it's balcony where dad, uncle Ken and I had protected ourselves from rain. I went to one of the windows. It seemed easy to open. I picked a stick and forced it open. When it did get open, I almost screamed in joy. Without wasting time, I got into the house and closed it's window behind me. I was in darkness In the house. It didn't smell old. I searched through the dark and accidentally stepped on an object that hurt my feet really bad it made slid and fall back. Luckily my back touched the wall and I heard a click. In a second, the place was lighted. * I was speechless. I looked around. The house wasn't old at all. Nor did it seem abandoned. I seemed to be in the living room of the house. The chairs and furniture were clean. There was even a chimney. "Wow." I began to explore. There was no picture nor any signs of life. There was a shelf full of books. I went towards it and began to touch the books. I opened one to look at the pictures in it, when I suddenly heard some sort of click. "Don't move!" an angry male voice startled me, causing the book to drop from my hand. I began to tremble, not having the guts to turn around. "P– please..." I stammered, fear in every part of me. "Don't move." the man warned dangerously, "I have a gun. One move and I kill ya. You little thief." I felt tears fill my eyes. I was so afraid I could pee on myself. "Please! I'm not a thief. I– need help." The person was silent for sometime. Then spoke. "Turn around." he ordered. Scared to death, I turned around and the first thing I saw was a gun pointed at me. "Sheridan??" the man said in a shocked voice. The fact that he'd called my name caused me to pull my eyes away from the terrifying gun and look up. I was more than surprised. "Mr– Mr Victor??" It was my dad's ex assistant. He threw his gun aside. He looked at me in confusion, shock and wonder. "What happened to you??" I stared at him silently. *** That night, I took a warm bath. I washed myself carefully and slowly because of all my bruises. When I was done, Mr. Victor gave me a T-shirt that was big on me and sport shorts with warm socks. Then he gave me a little blanket to wrap myself up from cold. "Come sit here, buddy." he said, pointing at the couch. I did, he went into another room and returned with an aid box. "You're lucky I have some stuff here to treat your wounds. As for the knee, we'll see about that tomorrow." He took a chair and sat in front of me. He cleaned my wounds and treated them. For the bruises, he rubbed them with some kind of pomade that according to him, would help me. I felt clean and taken care of. "You hungry?" he asked. "Y– yes, please. Very." "Okay. Let me warm the soup and give you some. You can eat while you tell me what exactly happened to you." I hadn't told him anything yet. "Okay." He got up and went to the kitchen. I waited for him patiently as I watched the flames from the chimney's fire. Some minutes later, he returned with a hot bowl of soup. I thanked him when he handed it over to me. Without wasting time, I started swallowing as much soup as possible. I was so hungry. He watched me silently. I saw pity in his eyes. I looked at him. "Can you tell me what happened to you?" he asked in a low voice. I had to tell him. "How did you turn out to be in such a state? What pushed you into the woods?" "Ah– aunt Christina." "Ken's wife??" "He's dead." Mr Victor's expression saddened a little. "I know. I heard." I began to tell him everything that had happened after uncle Ken passed away. Mr Victor listened to me in total silence and shock. I told him everything. "She made you sign all your father's property in her name??" "Yes." "Oh my gawd." he stood up unable to believe his ears, "And she's also the reason behind your wounds and starvation??" "Y– yes." I said in a shaky voice. Mr Victor was angry, shocked and sad at the same time. He looked at me with pity in his eyes and sat down again. "Sheridan?" "Y– yes, sir?" "Call me uncle." Hearing that made me feel safe. "Yes, uncle Victor?" "What do you want?" "Huh?" "Answer me. What do you want?" "Um, my father's property back?" I said with doubt. "No. You're property. And?" "And what?" I was confused. "Revenge." The word left his mouth in a whisper. I looked at him. I'd never thought of it. It wasn't a bad idea.