The Blackmail Topic

Sarah's POV

I heard my own heart beat unsteadily when he said that. We were hardly ever wrong when we sniffed the air, and if he felt like someone was coming, then I wasn't going to argue with him. Though I hadn't yet gotten a whiff of the scent.

I remembered that the lights in the main house were still turned on, and maybe that had drawn someone's attention.

"I need you to stay here, John. Be quiet and don't make a sound," I told him. "I'll handle whoever it is, alright?"

He grunted.

"Do we have an agreement, John? I don't need you blowing your cover. That person might be an enemy. So you have to promise me that you won't make a sound."

"Alright," he said., and retreated towards the sacks. I realized that was going to be the only thing I'd get out of him. No promises just yet. I kept that in mind.

I walked to the barn door and looked out. Saw no one heading toward the house yet, at least not from my side of view. And if there was really an intruder, I wondered from what direction.

If it were straight down the road, then whoever it was would see me exit the barn door because the lamp was still on. And if I turned it off?

I decided to take my chances and killed the light. Then I moved away from the barn and stayed beside the main house and waited.

It was a couple of minutes before I heard the person approaching. And even before I saw who it was, I could tell by the footsteps. Could never mask that gait, could he?

I stepped out even before he raised that gun of his. "Good to see you again, Mikey."

"There's nothing good about this. How come you feel that way when I don't?"

"Oh, you could always change your attitude,"

"Yeah, right," he said, and shouldered his gun. "You brought him here?" Old Mikey asked.

"I did, you know I would."

"I met your brother," Old Mikey said, as he headed towards the house. I followed beside him, opened the door and locked it behind us.

"Where?"

"First, turn off the lights. We'll stand by the window."

I did that and rejoined him at the window overlooking the road. The moon was enough to offer illumination. Then the thick white curtains shielded most of our figure.

"Some ways away," Old Mikey answered my question. He took his gun off that shoulder and leaned it against the wall. "Was waiting by my carriage by the time I got there. He's been looking for you, Sarah. With his henchmen. And it sounded as if he went to the doctor's place."

"David wouldn't give us away."

"Yeah, I know that. But what if he did to David what he tried doing to John?"

"He wouldn't hurt David, and you know that."

"I don't know that for certain, Sarah. But if you feel you know your brother, then fine. Is he alright?"

"He is."

"For now."

"He's stable Mikey. I'm more concerned about what my brother would do to him."

"And what would your brother do to you?"

"It's the blood moon ritual, Mikey. No doubt he's taking John to the slaughter house. What do you think we should do?"

Old Mikey never said he didn't know. All he would ask for was some time to think about a way forward. It was one of the reasons why I was drawn to the man. The other was as a lack of parental care.

I saw the man as my father, the one I never got to spend enough time with while growing up. Old Mikey was there, even Lucas never complained about it. Maybe he just didn't care about what happened to me. As long as I had some clothes on my body, ate meals, and didn't seem to be dying soon, that was enough for him.

"Sooner or later, he's going to use you to get to him, Sarah," he said. "One way or the other."

"And how is he going to do that? I'm not that attached to anything, Mikey."

"That's one way to put it. But there's always something you've never thought about."

"You say it like you already know it."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I say it from experience. Trust me you don't want to get blackmailed. Ever. Wouldn't wish that for my worst enemy. There are some blackmails that you just don't recover from. Your life's going to move like a haze, and you don't know where you're going next or what to expect."

"And you have been in that situation before?" I asked.

"Once or twice," Old Mikey revealed. "Cuts deeper when it's coming from a loved one."

"The way you say it, I'm guessing that loved one's a woman," I said.

"You guessed right. But she's no more now. All in the past, buried but not forgotten."

"You still remember."

"Mostly people remember the hurtful things they've been through. It's an unforgettable experience. You could forget a moment of bliss or one day of happiness, but you never forget that stab in the back. That regret that you must have made the biggest mistake of your life in trusting someone. It is an adversity we all get to deal with one way or the other."

I thought about his words. They were clear but the way he looked at me, I wasn't sure if it was the same thing I was thinking.

I finally found the courage to ask him. "Are we still talking about my brother here?"

He said nothing, and that was an answer in itself.

Of course, I knew he was referring to someone else. Someone who wasn't Old Mikey. Someone we both knew, but knew nothing about his past.

And he was sitting in the barn.

"You think John is going to betray me?" I asked him, after realizing the meaning behind his words.

"It's doing to get dangerous for the both of you as long as you keep evading Lucas. And if John's smart enough, he'll hurt you soon so he can't hurt you again."