She opened the door on her side, motioning us to follow her as she walked towards a house, a medium sized one. I knew Emily was no harm, but seeing this house right here made me feel like she wouldn't be able to help either.
"I don't want to go there." Michael said, his eyes were narrowed by looking towards the house. "But I'm not sure if we could get any help if we go back on the road."
"Let's get out of here Michael I'm scared."
"I have a plan." he held my hand tight, bright green orbs giving me assurance. "After she gave you the first aid, we're gonna have to wait til she fell asleep. And when she's already asleep, I'm gonna go search for the keys and drive us home."
I nod. Giving Emily a glance who was waiting impatiently outside the door, her left foot gently tapped on the wooden floor of her porch.
He pushed a stray hair at the back of my ear, his brows were slightly furrowed. How I wished we could go back to when we just used to talk about everything and laugh about just anything. I was missing Michael's sillyness. And by the thought of it made my heart die, of how my stupidity ruined everything. He gazed at me, his thumb gently was rubbing my cheeks.
"Do you trust me Andria?"
"Yes."
"If ever you lost me, you still have this.. " he gently lifted my arm, referring to the bracelet he gave me. "Be brave Andria." There was nothing I could say, I just nodded in response.
Three knocks surprised us.
That's when we finally got out of the car and slowly walked towards the house. If only I had even just half of Michael's calmness and bravery.
"I'm sorry the house was a bit messy." Emily said, putting her jacket over the couch.
The house was really messy, the kind that can remind you of cockroaches. From the living room up to the dining table that was probably just two meters away from the couch.
As my eyes wandered throughout the living room, I saw a little photograph of Emily and a man standing beside her, maybe her husband..
"You must be very cold, let me fix you some tea." she said. "Sit down and relax a bit, I'll just heat up some water for the tea." she walked briskly towards the kitchen.
"Thank you Emily!" Michael said, loud enough since Emily was in the kitchen. His gaze met mine.. with a worried look on his face.
My brows were furrowed in confusion. "Why?"
He pointed at the photo of Emily and a man. The photo was taken at the porch, by the door. The man was wearing a cap. his face was not visible at all. I think nothing looked suspicious in it. "What about the photo?" so I asked him.
I said it in a normal voice, and he quickly sticked out his forefinger in his lips telling me to lower my voice. Then he pointed again into the photo of the man beside Emily. "I recognized his tattoo."
The realization hit me like I was being showered with a bucket of ice. I saw it too. I know it was a one-word tattoo, I didn't noticed what it said that time but the shape and the way it was written in his wrist looked all the same, now I knew.. it was letters J.W. I couldn't guess the full form.
"Oh my God." I muttered, eyes wide in shock.
"I'm gonna get the keys, and then we are going to get out of here. Just stay calm okay?" He took my hand and led me to the couch. I breathed in, was trying to calm myself as Michael sat beside me, his eyes were still scanning the living room. "It's in her right pocket." he whispered, brows were furrowed; thinking of a perfect plan.
We heard the kettle whistling in the kitchen. Afterwards, Emily came out with a tray with three teacups on it. She sat down on the couch, setting the cup in front of us to drink.
"Here, please drink some tea. It will make you feel better after being soaked in the rain." She crossed her legs and took a cup into her lips as she blew on the streaming tea.
Michael and I exchanged glances before we took a cup. The smell of it was so inviting, the warmth of the teacup against my cold palms felt so good. I blew the top of it, as I put my lips at the tip of the cup before I took a sip of the soothing tea.
After a couple of sip into the tea and feeling the warmth slowly taking over the coldness in me, it felt better.
"Thanks for the tea Emily, it really helped." I said, trying to give her a sweet smile.
She raised one of her brows, giving me a half smile.
And I swear to God, that smile was so wicked it made me so nervous.
Michael groaned. The teacup on his hand slipped and fell to the ground, shattered as it hit the floor. "You.. you drugged us." he said covering his face with his palms.
"Michael." I muttered, the cup in my hand slipped and fell to the ground as well as my sight started to blur.
I could hear Emily giggling, but I couldn't even do anything. I felt numb, until it went black....