The Outlaws

Chapter 7

I awake at three pm since my doorbell is ringing. Hm…, am I so popular lately? Probably it is only advertising mail delivery. I walk to the door to see another package like in the morning on the floor. My heart beats fast. No sender name this time, is it from Honey, aka the Doctor again? But in the morning, she wrote her alias there.

I sigh and breathe. Probably it is not from Honey. Calm down, Jem. You will end up in a mental hospital in no time if you keep so paranoid like this. 

I close the door in a hurry, grab my cutter, and open the package. Like deja vu, I see it again—the phone with the same color and type. My heart is beating faster now. It should be from Honey, since it is the same phone of color and brand, in the same size and color box as yesterday’s package. 

I don’t need to wait for long since the phone is ringing now. I grab it, and I hear the voice I recognize immediately.

“Mr. Trevor, help me! Please help me! They’re trying to kill me. Help!”

It is Ann! Oh, no! “Ann, calm down. Follow their order,” I say. 

“They asked me to tell you if I want to stay alive, you must come to the address they’ll tell you. Please, Mr. Trevor, I don’t want to die now. Please help me! Don’t call the police too. Otherwise, they’ll kill me,” Ann pleads to me. 

Before I can reply, I hear Honey’s voice again—still deep as the first time she called me, “Playing so naughty, aren’t you? Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should know that I am the one who is in charge of everything.” Suddenly her voice changes into a crisp one. “Everything! Now, I have your teller, Ann Horace. So, will you prove yourself as a hero as everyone said?”

“I am not a hero. I only did my job to protect my customers yesterday.”

“You need to learn not to debate me, my naughty boy. I am not in the mood for chit-chat. Let’s go straight to the business and save everyone’s time, shall we? The address is 23th West Avenue. I am sure you can be here in less than an hour from your place. If you are late even for a minute, consider Ann has died,” Honey says. 

I snatch a piece of paper to take a note of Honey’s address. Since I am too shocked to reply, somehow Honey startles me by yelling, “Are you clear?”

“Yes, ma’am!” I reply automatically. 

Honey laughs. Her voice is back to the deep, calm voice, like the first time she called me. “Wonderful, Jerome. I suggest you go now. The traffic is unpredictable lately. You don’t want to be here only to receive Ann’s corpse, do you?” Honey’s evil laugh is loud in my ears.

“I will go now. Don’t hurt Ann.” 

“Of course not, if you are a good boy as you have to be.” Honey emphasizes the ‘if,’ and then she hung up the phone.

I grab my car key and the note, also the phone from Honey. Then I run to my parking lot, enter my black sedan, and drive it fast to 23rd West Avenue. I check the speedometer and then make mental notes—not over-speeding. At the intersection, I glance at my watch. It has been ten minutes already. 

Waiting for the traffic light to change from red to green is torture now. Hurry! Hurry! When it turns green, I drive fast. After forty-nine minutes, somehow, I arrive at the destination. 

I run to the door. There is a bell. I press the button, but then unexpectedly, something or someone hits my head. Then everything is black. 

***

I feel aching on my head, then trembling. Someone was splashing icy water on me. I instantly open my eyes. There is a dim light in front of me. They tie my hands and my feet to the chair. 

“He awakens.”

Then I hear the voice, but it is not the voice I heard before. I don’t know if the one in front of me is Honey or not.

“Welcome, Jerome. It is nice to see you though I expected we didn’t have to do this. So, some-” The person stops for a second, then continues, “-encouragement is required to faster the purpose.” The person covers their face with a mask. 

Somehow, I feel it is indeed Honey. She is playing a game with me. She is excited now, that evil woman! “What do you want, Honey? Let Ann go! I have come here as you told me. Are you happy now? Fine! You got me. But release Ann!”

Then the person unplugs a small device. She is laughing now. Yes, she is Honey. “Jerome, I am totally impressed with you. Even in such a dire situation, you still think of the insignificant woman.” Then Honey orders her men, “Bring the girl here! Don’t forget my X-tube.”

Soon I can see Ann come. They plaster her mouth and tie her hands. 

“Ann! Are you alright?”

Ann nods, but she doesn’t meet my eyes—she looks at the floor. Again, I feel something weird here. I cannot explain why; I only sense it. 

“Jerome, I will release Ann now. Tomorrow you can check her yourself. We don’t harm her at all. I will release you too soon.”

I sigh to hear that. “Please do that.”

“Bring the girl to her house. Blindfold first. Then leave her there. Make no mistake!” 

As they bring Honey outside the building, I stare at Honey and think, why did she kidnap me? 

“Curious already, Jerome? I am interested in you. So, I will give you the honor to join a team to work for me.”

Honey startles me. It is the last thing I expect. “Work for you? But why? I have already had a job. I am a banker, you know.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Jerome, please don’t insult my intelligence. Of course, I know you are a banker. What do you think I am?” Then Honey is grabbing a chair there and slamming it on the floor. “Never insult me again!” 

I am speechless. This woman is totally crazy! 

“So, what do you say, Jerome?”

“Why me? I mean-” I almost say she doesn’t know me, but fortunately, I stop on time. If I say things she doesn’t like again, who knows what she will do?

“Because you have skills and connections I need. Also, I like you. Well, it can change if you are so slow like this.”

I sigh to hear that. “What do you want me to do?”

Honey is laughing. “Now we are talking. I want you to be in charge of a team of three people, including you, to get a code from a private facility.”

I frown. “A code? What facility?”

“I will tell you the details later once I meet you with your co-partners. So, what do you say? I will even give you an incentive. I believe you want to have a holiday. Hm, Maldives, Hawaii, and Bali?” 

“How… how do you know that?” Then I remember my search on my laptop. “You hacked my laptop too?”

“Ah, now you have been normal again, the smart banker I like. Yes, Jerome. I will give you a compensation of 100K. What do you think?”

I shake my head. “It is illegal, isn’t it?”

“Well, the term is arguable. If your team can get the code successfully, it is legal.” Honey waves her hand. “It is only a term.”

“I cannot do something against my principles nor my conscience,” I say

“It is too bad. You know, Jerome, you should recognize a golden opportunity offered in front of you. But, well, usually, kind men die first.”

My heart is beating so fast now. Will Honey kill me?

Then Honey explains again, “I like you. Seeing you sacrificed yourself for those undeserving people was so satisfying. I will give you a third chance. Ah, it must be your lucky day.” Honey calls her man, “Vladimir, open the box.”

The man, Vladimir, follows Honey’s order. 

“The tube please?”

Again, Vladimir does as Honey commanded him. The blue liquid tube is in Honey’s hand now.

“I have an alias of the Doctor for a good reason. I am a genius who is developing a new experimental potion. This is my new baby—the X-potion. I have not tested it yet on humans. So, I will test it on you first. It is a gift and honor for you, actually. It will help you be a better you, a new Jerome.”

“What is the specialty of the potion?”

“It will change you into a superhuman. Kindness and all the decencies of yours are so boring. This magic potion will help you to be the opposite.”

“What?! How?” 

Honey grabs my chin. I can see her grey eyes now. “You will change into a vampire.”

“What?! You are not serious, aren’t you?”

Honey is laughing again. “Well, let’s see if I am serious or not.” Then Honey forces my mouth to open.

“Don’t do that! You will pay for this!” I say as I fight to close my mouth.

Somehow, Honey gives a signal to Vladimir, and he forces me to open my mouth. The last thing I see is Honey pouring the liquid into my mouth. Then all is black again.