Choices Reap Consequences Chapter 4 - Wanted by Some, Loved by None

Chapter 4 – Wanted by Some, Loved by None

Despite everything that’s happened to him, Jorge remains somewhat unshaken by his decision. All remains quiet for a while as he walks the streets. There aren’t many people out at this hour besides the police, and criminals that live in the shadows. Jorge’s mind makes him feel that people are staring at him in the dark. This makes him walk uneasy and with caution until he sees a woman on the corner. She’s scantily dressed, and Jorge is old enough to know what she is.

“Maybe I can get her out of this life if I offer her the money,” Jorge thinks to himself.

“Maybe or maybe you could make it worse.”

“Tch.”

Ignoring the mouth on his head’s advice, he walks up to the woman.

She curiously looks at him and asks, “Is there something you need, kid?”

“Yeah, I can get you out of this job if you take me in.”

Jorge lifts the millions of dollars in his pockets just enough so that she can see it. Her eyes widen, and she smiles a bit.

“Well, aren’t you the sweetest thing in the world. I might even just marry you right now if you asked me.”

“Uh…you’re welcome.”

“Aww. So shy.”

The woman kisses Jorge’s lips, which makes his face turn red. He rubs off the kiss as the woman giggles.

“What’s your name, kid? My name is Candice.”

“Jorge.”

“That’s a nice name. Let’s go to my or should I say our home.”

“Okay.”

Candice takes Jorge by his hand and he passively allows it. They walk a short distance and enter an unclean looking apartment. Jorge can smell the potent smell of Hillside City depravity in the air around him. Despite holding hands with a stranger, he’d rather have someone near him than no one. Candice unlocks her door and leads Jorge into her apartment room. It’s a mess like the rest of the apartment building, but at least he won’t have to live in it for too long. A young girl walks out of her room in her PJs that look more like would fit in her mom’s closet. She appears to be a little younger than Jorge.

“Natty honey, we have a new man in the family,” Candice says while hugging Jorge from behind.

Natty looks at Jorge funny as he blushes again and tries to keep eye contact. “H-hi Natty. I’m Jorge.”

“This boy, who would be perfect as your husband just saying, has the money we need to live easy lives.”

“Really?” Natty asks with a glimmer of hope sparkly in her eye.

“That’s right. Make him feel welcome while I run a few errands.”

Candice hits Jorge in the butt and winks at him before leaving. Natty leads Jorge to her room then closes the door behind him.

“Nice, Jorge. I’m jealous,” the mouth on the back of his head says.

“So uh, Natty. You got a nice mom.”

“Not really. How much money do you have on you?”

“Uh. Ten million and twenty dollars.”

“Oh wow! No wonder she wants you here. Hey, how did you get all that money? You weren’t at the robbery today, were you?”

“I was actually. I caught all this money.”

“Dang it.”

“What is it?”

Natty opens the door and eavesdrops on her mother who is talking on the phone outside the room. She puts her finger on her mouth to tell Jorge to be quiet. Once her mother is done talking, Natty hurries Jorge back to her room.

“What’s happening?”

“My mom knows people who ordered those robbers to steal that money you have. They might kill you and take the money you have for themselves.”

“How do you know?”

“Because that’s what we usually do with whoever we bring in.”

Jorge gulps. Only he can hear the mouth on his head laugh. “You really hit the jackpot now didn’t ya Jorge?”

“What should I do?”

“We have to see. I’m not sure what mom is going to do.”

The kids can hear a man enter the room.

“Oh no. He’s here.”

“Who is?”

“It doesn’t matter, just hide!”

Natty moves Jorge behind her closet which leads to a hidden escape staircase.

“Wait here for a second.”

Natty moves the closet over the escape route. It sounds like from Jorge’s side that’s she’s opening a window to make it look like he escaped through it. The two adults sound like they enter the room and ask Natty about what happened to Jorge. She tells him her answer and it appears that the man is upset. Candice sounds worried as well, but then it sounds like someone gets pushed up against a wall. Jorge can then hear what sounds like someone biting into bone. Screaming is heard for a while which includes the screams of Natty who sounds like she’s telling Jorge to run, though it sounds like she’s screaming outside the window. Another bone biting sound is heard along with screaming.

More afraid than ever, Jorge runs down the escape stairs while trying to make as less noise as possible. He escapes out a small door in an alleyway. He starts to run but is then stopped by the shadow of a man in the distance. Jorge hides in the shadows as he observes the man. The man is standing in the streets and appears to be wearing a mask of some sorts. The underneath of his mask appears to be oozing blood. He looks around and hastily walks as it appears that he’s the one who’s looking for Jorge. There’s an urban legend about a man who’s known to eat the necks of people in Hillside City. He would offer you your heart's desire and after you enjoy it, he would eat your neck as payment.

“Come on, Jorge. You have to move. You can’t be frozen in fear. It’s too warm for that,” the mouth on his head says as it urges him forward.

Jorge cautiously walks forward. He peaks out of the alleyway and starts walking when it looks like no one is around.

Someone behind Jorge, says from the shadows, “There he is! Get him!”

Multiple shadow people come out from the darkness and begin to chase Jorge. He runs away and keeps running until he reaches another alleyway, in which he can lose them in and since they’ve always been his escape. A woman who looks similar to Candice catches him.

She looks at him with a smile and says, “Calm down, boy. I’ll keep you safe.”

The woman kisses Jorge as she uses one arm to hold him and the other to take the money in his pockets. He breaks away from her and knees her in her crotch in response. Jorge tries to run away but is caught by another older woman who does the same, but she bites his neck right after. Another woman comes by and bites into the other side of Jorge’s neck and more come to feel his pockets for his money.

“Just take it and leave me alone!” Jorge screams.

A familiar scream is heard as the Divine Executioner comes down from the sky and lands on the ground. The women scatter as the executioner defends Jorge. They try to get around the angel, but they are flattened by its large ax. Jorge, who is still scared out of his mind, runs away further into the alleyway. The executioner chases him as it defends him while trying to catch him. There’s a mouth at the end of this alley. Jorge runs through it and ends up near the edge of Hillside City.

Now that he’s away from the action, he sits at a nearby park bench in front of the famous hills of the city.

“You tried helping people and they ended up getting killed, Jorge. What are you going to do now?”

Jorge reaches into his pocket and he can feel the blood on the money he has. He pulls it out and looks at it. The money is now biting his skin and making him bleed, so he takes all of it out and releases it out into the air.

“Atta boy.”

“What do I do now?”

“The choice is up to you, but at least you're better off now than before.”

“I hope so.”
Jorge gets up then resumes walking to whatever destination and fate await him.