The Plan

I ran past Erika's father and down the stairs. The first thing I thought about was to search for Con. But I didn't find him. After some minutes I decided to look in the garden. Maybe the trafficers have taken him as well! He wasn't even in the cellar, a place where I've always found him as we played hide and seek as we were little kids.

But luckily I found him in the backyard near a bush.

"Whaf are you doing, Con?", I asked him out of my breath.

"I found something.", he muttered.

"Show me!", I whispered, after coming a bit nearer.

"I don't think you want to see something like that. And I don't hope it is what it looks like..."

"Blood.", I whispered low but I was sure he heard it, because he looked at me with a questioning face. "It looks like blood.", I added.

"That's right.", he huffed sadly and I saw a glimpse of worry in his eyes, which he tried hard to hide, but he couldn't. He lives like men don't show feelings as well, I guess.

"But she's still alive, I know that!", I said to him.

"How can you be that sure?", he asked skeptical.

"I believe in it."

"That's going to help us out very much. It's a great help.", he told me sarcastically.

I turned away and took one step aside. "I'll proof it to you! And that I can because I have some more details, which would help us out pretty much. If you want to discuss that with me, you can come over to my house tomorrow evening, if possible after it's gotten dark." Then I went home.

As I shutted the door behind me I leaned against it and got down to the floor. And as I reached the ground I began to cry. I hidd my face in my palms and hoped Con would come tomorrow. It was terrible, my best and only friend was under the control of the trafficers. What, if I would never see her again, because they have already sold her somewhere? What if I was way too late? I cared so much for her, I held her so dear to me, and I couldn't protect the only one I had left. J felt so bad, I was a betrayer and with my worries and fear of what could happen my heard began clenching.

___

On right this time I was in an old stuffroom to search for a few old swords of mine as I heard steps.

I froze and listened carefully, as they came nearer and seemed to stop in front of my front door. It could only be one person. A man I guessed by the heaviness of the steps. It knocked. Silent and slow. The person must've been very sad, I guessed.

At first I hesitated but then I opened it a gap wide.

I wasn't really sure if that really was happening, but there he stood, Con really came! It felt like rock was lifted from my heard.

Fast I opened the door whole and stepped aside, so that he could enter.

As a greeting we only nod at each other in silence and then go to the living room. He went first, he was the man, but he knew the way. As kids we played here often. I sat across from him and looked into his eyes, to read his feelings, but it was only blank.

He gulped and after a long silence he asked: "What do you know?" His voice was barely visible and I almost didn't hear him.

"Would you help me? Help me to bring your sister back?", I asked, ignoring his question.

"For sure I would! She's my sister!", he shouted.

"Thanks. So, she was kidnapped by this human trafficers. I'm pretty sure about that. She isn't dead, because we haven't seen any other blood near.

"But what if they killed her elsewhere? What if they hurt her and then she wasn't in the state to defend herself, so she went with them?", he retorted.

Do you want it to be Iike that?", I counter ice-cold, with no mercy. If he did, I'd kill him myself right here. But I knew better. He loved his sister, he didn't want her dead.

"No!", he bursted out, "Not ever!"

"But you don't trust my arguments!", I shot back, "She was carried away."

"What makes you think that?", he asked. Now I got him curious. That's good.

"It's a physical law..."

"What's a physical law? Spill it!", he interrupted angrily, standing up and slamming his hands on the table.

"Then let me continue and don't interrupt! There were only a few drops on the grass, they were with a large diameter but it wasn't much blood, only a little. The physical law says that from the higher a liquid falls, the larger is the stain it's leaving behind. So she must've been carried away.", I end my explaining. He still didn't look very convinced so I gave it an easier try. Maybe now he would understand. "They are illegal trafficers, why should they kill their products?"

"Products?", now he's more on the edge. I did well... not.

But after some time he calmed down and sat again.

"But I see it in your eyes: there still is something you know.", he said in full calmness.

"Probably. I know that it's my duty to bring her back."

"How is that your duty? I don't quite understand.", he asks, unbelieving.

"I only found out the day before yesterday, but it's an old tradition in our family to protect the village of these people.", I try to explain. But even I didn't believed in it as I read it. I tried to run away from that, but now I told that thing to others. What was I? I only took the opportunity who fitted my current situation the most. That really wasn't great. So in what was I believing? I should make a decision.

"What, wait, your family?", he sounded shocked.

Should I tell him? Should I not? Should I? Or... I guess, I have to tell him if we want to work together on that one. "I don't belong into this family, Con. But I thought so, I thought I would. But it was all fake, in the end."

"So you found out, huh?", he whispered quietly.

"So you knew?", I yelled so lout that it echoed from the walls.

"I never knew for sure and I never told anyone, but I guessed so. I happened to know your parents a little and they never had children. But suddenly they moved here and they had a 13 year old girl? That was strange."