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Albino Butterfly: Chapter 6 - Old Flames Never Die
Tue 22 Apr 2008, 02:20 PM
Tweetby Ben Langhinrichs
by Jim Casale
Once they were in the woods Albert slid Jennifer off his shoulder. Even being as petite as she is, carrying her for more than a few minutes would be more than Albert could endure. Grabbing Jennifer’s hand, Albert looked back at the road as they ran deeper into the woods.
"Whew," he thought to himself, "that was way too close."
Even though Albert thought they were far enough away to not be caught, he didn’t want to slow down. Jumping over rotted out tree stumps and being careful not to make too much noise, Albert pulled Jennifer along for what seemed like an eternity.
"Albert, we have to stop," said Jennifer, "I can’t keep going like this."
Albert didn’t want to stop. Heck, he thought to himself, Mr G might have sent more than one goon to get him. Feeling Jennifer slowing down Albert finally gave in and slowed to a stop.
"Geeze," Jennifer muttered. "It’s about time."
"Sorry if I was being a little paranoid," Albert said.
Albert looked around for a place to sit and found a rather large sized rock about 10 feet ahead of them.
"OK, now I need to know," Albert asked Jennifer, "Why would you fall for a get rich quick scheme? Why would you get involved with that cult?" Albert didn’t hold any promise that she would give any logical answer but he had to ask, he knew he was still in love with her. It wasn’t enough that he saved her from those creeps, he needed to know why she did it.
"I was trying to get information on him," Jennifer replied.
"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Albert.
"It’s a long story," replied Jennifer, "Let’s just say I have to do it for my father."
Albert sat there with a puzzled look. "What the heck was she talking about?" Albert thought to himself.
"Your father is involved with this cult?" asked Albert.
"No, it has nothing to do with him," replied Jennifer nervously.
"If it has nothing to do with him, then why did you get involved with the cult?" asked Albert, his patience wearing thin with Jennifer’s evasive answers.
"Let’s just say it’s payment," Jennifer evasively answered again.
"Payment?" Albert asked angrily.
Sensing Albert’s annoyance and patience wearing thin, Jennifer looked up at him and smiled.
"I am working for the FBI and they wanted information on the cult. They knew I would do anything to protect my father so they "asked" me if I would help them in return for their looking the other way. My father means everything to me."
"Yeah, I know," muttered Albert to himself. He knew her father meant more to her than Albert did.
"So what do you get out of this besides being drugged, kidnapped and God knows what else?" asked Albert.
"They said they would be good to my father," answered Jennifer.
"Good?" questioned Albert. "I do not think that word means what you think it means."
"I really didn’t have a choice," answered Jennifer defeatedly.
"I know," Albert admitted. He knew her father could easily be taken down if the government wanted to. Instead, the government looked the other way and used Jennifer to do the dirty work.
Albert moved closer to Jennifer and put his arm around her as the surrounding air was getting cold and damp. Leaning her head on his shoulder, Jennifer closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. The drugs must have still been having some effect on her since she could not completely clear her thoughts. Her pulse began to race as she began to remember what Flagg had done while she was still captive. "Why can’t I get this out of my mind?" Jennifer asked herself. Slowly but surely she forced herself to push Flagg out of her mind and think of better times with Albert.
She nuzzled her head against Albert as she began to replace the terror she experienced with romantic thoughts she had for Albert.
"We need to figure out how to get out of here," Albert said. "We can’t just sit here all night."
Not what Jennifer wanted to hear. Will they ever be able to get back together, she thought to herself.
"So what do we do now?" asked Jennifer.
"If my memory serves me correctly we are near highway 78. I think we can start walking in the same direction we were walking and eventually hit the highway."
With a helping hand Albert pulled Jennifer up from the rock. Still a little woozy from the drugs and the harried trek into the woods Jennifer began to wobble as if she was going down for the count. Albert grabbed her before she fell, and in the process, pulled her close to him.
"Al," Jennifer said in a low, sultry voice, "You still love me!"
Albert knew she would be trouble, but he also knew she was hard to resist.
Jennifer stared into his eyes. Leaning closer, she closed her eyes and offered her lips to him. In an awkward move reminiscent of a teen prom Albert fumbled for words, but his lips did not move. Albert couldn’t take advantage of her in the condition she was in. It just wasn’t right.
Albert pulled away and said "we really need to get out of here."
Leading the way, Albert started to walk towards the highway holding Jennifer’s hand tightly. Walking as quickly as possible they managed to walk far enough to hear the distant sound of cars speeding on the highway. "It can’t be too far to the highway," Albert thought. Suddenly they heard a loud screeching sound. The sound only a speeding car makes when traveling too fast for the road conditions.
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