Chapter 8 My Little Freya

Freya stood up trying to balance on her feet. She touched her lips. There was blood there but no cut. She felt a sting on her face where she got hit but there was no bruise. She wasn't sure if her eyes saw correctly. She had just seen the man of her dreams, her hot mexican papacito. It might have been a sort of hallucination, after all, it was night time already. She thought. She looked at the floor, the only thing she saw was blood everywhere. It must have leaked from the men's bodies. Whoever it was that saved her, hit these men badly.

Not like she had any pity for them since they got what they deserved, but the hits they received were swift and smooth. Whoever must have done that must have been extremely trained in fighting. But then, what was with the sudden disappearance? He could certainly have stayed back to receive a "thank you" from her. Maybe he was trying to be the superhero portrayed in movies. Maybe her mexican papacito was actually alive, here in her city.

She walked forward a bit, looking back and forth, hoping she would see him but there was no one except a cat which seemed abandoned by its owner.

"Hello!" She called out. Her voice echoed but she got no response. She looked around and called out again, hoping someone would come around but no one did.

It was getting dark, her mother would have been sick worried about her already. It was time to head home.

Immediately Freya caught sight of her fallen bicycle, She ran to it and raised it up. Using her palm to bat away the sand particles that had stuck to it. As she tried to sit on it, she began to hear loud sirens. She looked around to see where it was coming from. Shit! Someone must have called the cops. So, someone was actually present all along. She thought. Well, the cops of that city had a thing with coming late to every crime scene. If she had counted on them, the only thing they would have found hale and hearty was the bicycle.

The headlights of the cars shone brightly at her. She quickly raised her elbow across her face as a shield. They assembled out of the patrol cars pointing out their guns at her. " Freeze!" One of them said.

Freya slowly raised up her hands, it wasn't like she had any other option. One of them ran lightly towards her, still with the pointed gun. He moved closer to her, pointing lights to the ground as if he were looking for something. As soon as he saw the blood on the floor, He lowered his gun, bent down and pressed his fingers against the blood.

"Is this yours?" He asked Freya

" No". She said. The leader of the squad pointed the lights at her to see if what she said was correct. Her face was stained with blood but she was okay. When he confirmed that she was right, he put down his lights.

"What happened here? " He asked.

"I was attacked by a group of thugs." She said.

"Where are they now?" He asked

"I have no idea. I was hit in the face by one of them, blacked out and when I opened my eyes, they were gone." She said avoiding eye contact with him. The Cop didn't seem to believe anything she said but he didn't seem to have a choice.

"We received information that there was a fight here."

"Really?" She acted ignorant. "I don't know..." She said as she climbed her bike. "I've told you all I know. I'm sorry, my mum would be extremely worried by now. I need to be home."

The cop looked very Confused as he signaled to the rest to put down their guns too.

"No problem" he said as she headed home and they retreated into the patrol cars.

* * *

Maybe this was the reason her savior vanished into thin air. She thought as she rode home. Maybe he was scared of having to deal with the cops. Could he be a criminal then? He didn't seem as one. Are criminals strikingly handsome? She thought to herself. No way, he couldn't be a criminal.

In little time, she had gotten home. Her mother was sitting at the little verandah that projected outside the house. She parked her bicycle and walked hurriedly towards her. Vera looked at her with worry written all over her face. "where were you? i was so worried. What happened?, I thought you weren't supposed to do any night shift today."

"It's cold mum, you shouldn't be out here by this time". Freya said smiling as She placed her hands over Vera's shoulders and led her inside.

" You haven't answered my question," Vera complained as they got inside.

" You know how work can be sometimes. Is Jeremy home?" she suspected that Vera knew she wasn't telling the truth. That wouldn't change the fact that her mum needn't know about anything. It would only Instill fear and worry. Changing the topic was the only right thing to do, her mum always fell for that trick.

"Yes he is, we were taking turns out here, waiting for you" vera said.

"Oh that's new." Jeremy, her brother couldn't care less as she had always believed but there he was, sitted on the sofa. On the sight of her, he stood up.

" Freya! You're back!" He sounded delighted, raising up his arms for a hug. "And yeah, he's back" She muttered, rolling her eyes. She quickly turned away from him, avoiding his embrace. In total awkwardness, he embraced himself and turned to his sister.

"Ouch!" He hollered.

"Where have you been Jeremy, you've been gone for two weeks!" She yelled at him.

"Calm down sis, that's not what we're talking about here, this is about you, not me! Where have you been?" He asked placing his hands on her shoulders. Freya pushed his hands off.

"I was at work, now talk" she said indifferently. Jeremy turned around, caressing his chin with two fingers.

"I see...." He looked at her. "Last I remembered, you worked at a restaurant. Did you plan on having a night shift at a restaurant? I'm not dumb. You know." He continued fixing his gaze on her.

Freya slapped her palm against her forehead in disappointment

"It's so sad that I'm trying so hard to send you to school and you're still very dumb." She mocked, extending a side of her lips, curving it into a fake smile. ".. I work at an hotel too, I also do delivery for a bakery. I do a lot of things just to ensure that you don't remain dumb" she continued.

Jeremy frowned. "If you put it that way, I'll start feeling guilty. That's heartbreaking." He held his chest.

"Mum! I'm off to my room!" Freya said to her mother who seemed totally uninterested in their conversation. "Okay" Vera responded as Freya turned to leave

"Wait! .." jeremy stopped her. "why does your face seem so red, did you get hit or something?".

Freya paused. She could not lift her legs. The question nearly paralysed her.

"Really?" Vera now seemed interested.

Why wouldn't he just mind his business? Freya remained quiet, scared to turn around.

"Show me your face, Freya" her mother demanded.

Freya smiled and turned right away, holding her cheeks. "Really?" She asked.

Jeremy moved closer to her. "Yes! It is." He acted concerned.

"While I was returning, the path was all dark so I fell from my bicycle" she lied. That obviously didn't add up.

"Poor thing, you should have told me.." Vera hurried towards her and touched her face "... You'll need an ointment for that, I'll be back." She Said as she left the living room.

" You fell from your bicycle? ... " Jeremy said in disbelief.

"You need to stop over thinking things Jeremy" she said rolling her eyes.

"Did he do this?" He asked.

" Who?" Freya was puzzled.

"Your boyfriend..."

Freya hissed and walked away.

"Am I right? Do you now have a boyfriend? " He shouted but got no response. She had left already.

"Did I say something wrong?" he soliloquised.

* * * *

Freya laid in her room. She picked up one of her favorite novels and tried to read it but had trouble concentrating. The memories of every thing and person she encountered that day began to play out in her head. From the woman she met at the restaurant to the thugs she got into a fight with. She slammed the book against the bed, closing it shabbily. The day was supposed to be a good one, but the only thing good about it was the Mexican man that saved her from the thugs. Life wasn't getting any easier or funnier. As a child, she had thought that all she had to do was grow up, but now, she wished she could turn back the hands of time. The times when she didn't have to worry about anything. Times when it was just her and her brother playing games and making fun of their mother, Vera. But now, it was all different. Her brother was in college, coming home whenever he wished and her mum was not so healthy, battling with several skin disorders. She had always wanted to meet her father even if it was just for once. She had a lot to ask him because a lot of things didn't add up in her family. There were too many loopholes in the stories Vera told her about her identity as a child. She and her mother were nothing alike. There was a remarkable difference in their height, size and even character so the chances were high that it was her dad she took after. That was the only explanation that could make sense to her. But then, those thoughts were to be discarded since there was no way to find her father. When she was younger, Vera would always tell her that her father went on a very long journey and he would be back soon. As she grew older, Vera told her that her father had died. It was burdensome having to hold back her questions. The topic was too sensitive to be discussed anyhow.

Anyways, it felt good to have her brother back at home. It comforted her to know that she was going to meet someone else at home apart from her mum.

Thinking about her mexican crush made her cheeks turn red. At that point, she was beginning to doubt if she even knew what she saw. Those men could have been attacked by anyone. That anyone would have been a man. Certainly not a woman. Chances were high it was Nicholas, the man she saw in her dream. She was not sure but she would just have to keep her hopes alive. Maybe she would see him again, someday. She realized she hadn't given much attention to why she would see him in her dream, she admitted it was strange but she chose to not give much thought to it. "It doesn't matter anyway", she thought.

Her mind wouldn't stop wandering and thinking about several different things at once. From the incident at the restaurant, to the thugs attacking her and the most beautiful part of the day, the man of her dreams showing up. Her mind wandered for hours and then she slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

* * * *

It was a dark and hollow space that seemed like a passage way to somewhere she didn't know. It definitely wasn't inside the house, neither was it at the restaurant or the hotel. "What the hell am I doing here and where is this place" Freya thought to herself but her thoughts wouldn't give any answers to her questions anyway so she decided to talk,

"Hello" she said and all she heard was the reverberating sound of her own voice answering her. She heard waters dropping from a nearby tap but it didn't seem like a place where taps should be. It was so dark and hollow, she could not see a thing. All she could feel was the walls on both sides, it was indeed a narrow place too. Instead of standing in one spot, she decided to start walking. She kept moving forward but it didn't seem like there was an end to this passage way, she took the other end and it was all to no avail. She became restless and began to run, but it didn't seem like she was going to reach the end of the passage way. She yelled and all that answered her again was the echo of her voice yelling back at her countless times.

Slowly, she began to feel the wall closing in against her in both sides, fear gripped her and she increased her pace, tripping and falling a number of times but regaining her stance to keep running.

Suddenly, she felt a bang in her head and the sound of many bells ringing. It became very unbearable and she became terrified, holding her head with both hands. She continued to run, trying to withstand the pain, her mind began to wander again. "Could this be the end?" She thought to herself. "This definitely can't be the end", another part of her mind answered the doubting one. There was definitely a lot on her bucket list and it just isn't going to end this way. The walls that were closing in against her said otherwise. What would happen to Vera if she died? How would Jeremy cope? These were questioned that the voices of her heart asked her.

As she kept running, she suddenly heard a whisper and her legs paused as if it were in a game. She couldn't hear what the voice was saying but whatever it was, it meant she wasn't alone in this dark hollow space and someone somewhere was trying to talk to her. As the voice whispered, it brought some level of comfort. The ringing bells and banging heads stopped, so did the walls that were closing In.

She began to walk towards where she had heard the whisper and she continued to hear whispers although it was indistinct. She began running towards the whisper and all of a sudden she heard a distinct voice that sounded like the reverberating sound of many waters, it sounded as though it was the running waters from the taps that was talking.

"VERMIA" the voice resonated and it didn't seem to make any sense to her. She paused, hoping for the voice to say something else. There was silence for a number of minutes and then finally, the voice spoke again.

"You seem lost, my little Freya. I will help you find your way".

She looked around but didn't see anyone "Who are you?" She called out. Her heart had begun to race, her breaths had become short and shallow. Why wouldn't the voice answer the question? It was already messing with her mind. Suddenly, she heard a loud wail behind her. She froze, too scared to look behind. Something was definitely behind her but she didn't know what it was and didn't want to know. It got louder. Was this the end? Was she really going to die now?