"One question, actually two" Jake said as they walked through the gloomy path "what is it?" Vic replied as he kept on walking "well, one, where are we? And two, why didn't we take the taxi?" Jake asked his breath condensing in the cold wind that hit them on their walk, "one, the Memoryhills and two because the taxi plate number can be easily tracked by the police" Vic replied "well, what are we looking for?" Jake asked.
Jake asked Vic with a look of fear in his eyes, a panic in his voice, "why did we stop?" Vic didn't say a word to him and stopped walking. "Quiet," Vic said, looking around the place.
"There's someone here," Vic said, hearing rustling around the place. Vic grabbed Jake's hand and ran. Reaching the rusty old church that sits on top of a tiny hill in the middle of the land.
Both of them hid inside the old church under the table at the altar. "Shit, shit, shit" Jake whispered to himself trembling in fear as he felt dread in his bones. "I told you to be quiet, didn't I?" Vic said with a hint of anger in his voice. Creak. Jake's eyes widened as he heard the old door creak.
Vic grabs the gun in his hand ready to pull the trigger, heart pounding. Only the footsteps of one inside. As the footsteps grew closer and closer, Jake and Vic's hearts rose. Silence, nothing is heard inside the church.
"When I say three, you run." Vic whispered to Jake and he nodded in response. "Three!" Vic said as he got up under the table and shot at the person. Jake ran out of the church.
As Jake ran down the hill, gunshots were the only noise that illuminated the music in Memoryhills' silent graveyard.
Soon followed by silence. Catching his breath, worries came to him like a train, remembering Vic alone in the church. "Dammit," Jake said to himself.
Jake Trace might be many things, but he's not a coward.
In a flash, Jake grabbed the large tree branch on the ground and ran back to the church.
"COME AT ME YOU FREAK!" Jake yelled out, closing his eyes and swinging the branch like a mad man. "That's enough, Jake" Vic said to him, panting and sitting down on the floor.
Jake opened his eyes and dropped the branch on the floor.
He fell on his knees, smiling with relief. "You're okay," Jake said. Vic got up and groaned in pain.
"Your shot" Jake said as his eyes widened, getting up and looking at Vic's wound. Vic chuckled "no shit Sherlock" getting up on his feet, covering his wound. Jake frowned and walked up to him.
"What are you looking for?" Jake asked as Vic searched the corpse. "Wallet, cellphone, anything that can help us" Vic replied to him as he handed him a gun. Jake took it and put it in his pocket.
"Do you know him?" Jake asked him. "Brice Mither, a colleague of mine, didn't really like me that much '' Vic replied. "Do you know why he wanted to kill you?" Jake asked, helping him get up on his own feet.
"Let's get out of here before someone shows up," Vic said, getting a cigarette in his pocket. After lighting it up, he puffs out smoke.
The cold wind greeted them both as they exited the church leaving Brace's body lifeless inside. Vic smokes his cigarette as he walks through the gloomy graveyard of Memoryhills.
"What did you do to him?"
Smoking his cigarette, he asked, "What do you mean?".
"He wouldn't want to kill you if you didn't do anything to him" Jake said to him while both of them walked down the hill.
"I did nothing to him" Vic replied looking at Jake "here should be fine" Vic said stopping at the end of the hill. "Now what are you doing?" Jake asked, tired of his situation. "Light a fire" Vic replied to him. "Grab that branch will ya" Vic said to him, trying to start the fire. Jake rolled his eyes and did as told. Vic started the fire and the wind blew the smoke westward.
"Let's go" Vic said as he got up and walked towards where the smoke was leading them, "how did you know to do that?" Jake asked, walking behind him "well, I remembered in the riddle of Mr. William, there was a dark light on a long shone" Vic replied to him with a cigarette in his hand.
"I don't get it," Jake said in confusion. "Shone means something that can bring light which brings us to the?"
"Fire?"
"Correct, then the fire smoke plus the wind will give us?"
"A direction?"
"Good job boy," Vic said with a chuckle. Jake rolled his eyes once again, paying no attention to Vic's annoyance.
"Looks like this is the end of the path" Vic said, throwing his cigarette off the cliff "why would someone build a grave here away from the rest?" Jake said crossing his arms, "only one reason to hide something" Vic said, as he crouched down to the grave and read the tomb stone: here lies Maria E. Santos, 1920-1954. Motherly love.
"So what now?" Jake asked him but Vic didn't say a word to him and just looked at the grave. "I'm sorry, aunty Maria" Vic said as he started digging the grave of Maria, "oh god, no'' Jake said as he looked away from Vic not wanting to see him.
"Got it" Vic said as he pulled out a small box from the hole he dug, "what is that" Jake asked, "a time capsule" Vic said as he opened it.
Various trinkets and things filled the box. Despite that, there was one picture where her face wasn't crossed out. Vic holds it up and flips it around. On it was an address. Vic smiled, realizing what he had to do. He tucked the picture away in his pocket and started to make plans for his journey. He knew it was time to find his mother.
"They found something, Padre."
"Alright, don't let them out of sight"
"Si, Padre"