NaNoWriMo Day 25: 32,070 of 50,000
An earthquake has hit Seattle and Theo finds himself face to face with the Man with the Knife!
To read the previous chapters head HERE!
Chapter Twenty-Six
The week flew by but for Theo nothing seemed to matter at the moment because the police no longer believed him which meant either Stanley ws innocent all along or he was continuing to get away with this. On one evening with a sky filled with birds Chloe and Alice brought pizza over trying to get Theo out of his funk.
“Look Theo maybe Stanley isn’t a part of this after all,” Chloe shared handing Alice a slice.
Alice was shaking her head no at Chloe which made Theo smile at the two of them. While he wanted to believe the words coming out of Chloe’s mouth he knew that the past ten months of his life wouldn’t be indicative of what she was saying.
“He’s involved somehow even if it isn’t directly,” Theo stood up and saw the man himself sitting in the back seat of his van eating a banana. “That’s it.” Theo grabbed his journals and walked out of his door Chloe and Alice following close behind.
“Whoa. Theo what’s going on?” Alice asked following him.
“I can’t do this anymore. I am going directly to him.”
“Theo, whoa slow down. This isn’t a good idea,” Chloe added.
“Yeah, your sister is right.”
“Come on think this through,” Theo wasn’t sure who was talking now because his focus was completely on Stanley who was now only a few feet in front of him. This was it for Theo. This was where the rubber meets the road so to speak. He had been dreaming of this moment, marinating on it, for over a year and now here it was right in front of him. The van door was open and Theo squeezed the journals once more to his chest before stepping closer.
“Excuse me,” Theo choked out the words, swallowed and continued, “excuse me sir.”
The man turned looking alert and more human than ever before. As the light hit the metal of his knife Theo couldn’t help but think about the humanity of this man before him. For so long this man had been an idealized version in Theo’s mind. Now, he was looking back at Theo the knife rising ever so slowly. That was when the ground started to shake beneath them.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
No one moved as trees toppled over around them and power lines snapped. It took Theo a moment to realize exactly what was going on.
“It’s an earthquake! Cover your heads,” Theo yelled pulling Bella close to him as she shook in his arms.
“Everyone get in, now!” Stanley was yelling at them over and over.
Theo hesitated but saw his sister and Alice rushing into the backseat of Stanley’s van. Yells rang out around them as buildings crumbled and the street was cracking all around them. Theo picked up Bella and jumped into the van his heart racing so fast that he heard the blood rushing in his ears. He couldn’t look up as Stanley careened around obstacles and somehow had managed to get out of the neighborhood.
“I need everyone to find something to hang onto this isn’t going to be pretty,” he said from the front seat.
Theo felt Chloe reach for him and held onto his t-shirt the fear permeating every square inch of the van as the radio cackled to life.
“I repeat we are experiencing a massive earthquake in the Seattle metropolitan area. If you are able to evacuate you must do so immediately. We have been issued a tsunami warning and if you are unable to drive start running now! I repeat we are experiencing a massive earthquake. . .”
Theo tuned out having heard enough. He felt like he was watching a movie about some natural disaster hitting New York, but it wasn’t a movie. This was actually taking place, there were sirens screaming past them, the sounds of screams met his ears even from inside the van.
“Theo? THEO!” Chloe was screaming at him and it was only in that moment he looked at her fear warping her features. “Is Bella okay?”
Theo’s grip immediately loosened around his new puppy who was timidly looking up at him. “Hey Bels, you alright?” he found a soothing voice as he pet her head. She licked his face with not as much energy as usual, but her tail was wagging. “I think she’s okay.”
“Are you okay?” Alice asked as the van swerved nearly knocking them all into the side of the van.
“I’m fine I’m-” Theo was cut off by the sound of metal crashing. He chanced a look and noticed they had somehow gotten on the highway and several cars were crashed into one another. “No, don’t go over the bridge! It probably collapsed.”
“I’m going north then east,” Stanley said from the front seat his eyes set on the road and hands gripping the wheel. “I’ve done this route before in a traffic jam. The only difference is the cops aren’t out looking for people speeding.” His lips were moving fast and his voice was cracking as he spoke. In that moment, after enduring one natural disaster and another on its way, Theo realized this man sounded younger than he thought he was and now that he was closer to this person he had been stalking for almost a year he observed that Stanley looked younger too.
“Where are we going?” Chloe asked.
Stanley swerved off the highway hitting traffic that had the same idea to head east. He somehow managed to get into a residential neighborhood before answering. “I have a place in the mountains just for this occasion.”
Chloe, Alice, and Theo all looked at each other in fear. Now that most of the adrenaline had subsided from the earthquake taking place Theo realized where they were. Prior to the ground shaking Theo was filled with purpose. He was going to stand up to this guy and tell him to stop fooling around with young girls and bring them back home in one piece. Now, he was sitting in the backseat of this man’s van closer than he’d ever been in almost a year. Now, with his best friend Alice, his younger sister Chloe, and his new child Bella in his same spot with him Theo had to do something to protect them.
“Just stay calm,” Theo mouthed without speaking out loud.
Neither one of them seemed convinced as the van approached the city of Everett. The earthquake had made an impact up here too as hoards of people made their evacuation out. Yet again, Stanley got off the freeway and made his way through country roads hitting 530 heading east.
“Are we going to Arlington?” Theo asked sitting up and attempting to relax his shoulders that had been tight the moment he stepped out his front door.
“No, we have to go further. We have to get into the mountains. If this is a tsunami it’s not going to stop at Arlington,” Stanley explained.
Theo could barely breathe as they joined a line of cars heading into the mountains. The silence was palpable as Chloe scrolled through her phone watching videos and looking at photos of the earthquake as it hit.
“They are saying that the tsunami is going to be big. This was 7.0 earthquake, oh my gosh what if this is the one they always talked about happening? The Big One?” Chloe asked the van.
No one dared answer because no one wanted this to be true. After another half hour of Chloe gasping at photos and Alice scolding her because they should be saving their battery lives on their phones they entered a town called Bedal. There was no one in sight as they took a gravel path up the mountainside and pulled into a long driveway.
“Whoa,” Alice said silently. The house before them was small, but it had a certain countryside charm to it. A set of chairs were on the porch and the mountain behind it was covered in stunning snow.
“Not a bad place to stay safe from a tsunami, huh?” Stanley said as he parked, took a deep breath, and got out. Theo wasn’t sure how dangerous Stanley was, but he sure was thankful to have gotten out of the city safely and in time because of him.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The three of them slowly climbed out of the van and all seemed to take big gulps of the fresh mountain air. Beyond the chaos of the evacuation it seemed like it was a normal afternoon filled with friends escaping to the mountains for a day of hiking.
“Are you coming in? Weather is likely to kick up with a big wave coming in,” Stanley shouted from the porch.
Needing no more they all rushed into the house. Stanley had gotten them this far after all. When they walked in Stanley was gathering firewood and stacking it into the fireplace in the main room.
“We don’t have any electricity out here so it’s going to be cooking over the fire hope you all don’t mind,” he spoke with a southern charm that somehow made Theo feel like everything was going to be alright. Stanley stepped out of the small living room and headed out back where a stack of firewood was under a small shed.
“Dude Theo we have to get out of here,” Alice whisper-screamed.
Theo let go of Bella and let her roam around sniffing things. “I know, but where are we going to go? There was just a huge earthquake in Seattle, a tsunami is coming, and we have literally no other safe place to go!” Theo whisper-screamed back to her.
“Ok, ok guys just take a minute here,” Chloe said stepping in between us. Theo hadn’t realized he was taking a defensive stance until Chloe made him stop. “We don’t know what is going on. We haven’t even gotten his name yet. Let’s just all chill.”
“Chill? Chill!?” Alice approached Chloe. “This guy whose been wielding a knife around our neighborhood has us alone, in the woods, with no electricity and you’re telling me to chill?”
“Let’s just all breathe for a minute,” Theo said quickly.
“Yes, we are all going to need to breathe,” Stanley said walking in with an armful of firewood. The trio practically jumped out of their skin as he walked up to the fireplace and lit a match. “Sorry to startle you kids.”
“No, it’s,” Theo took a deep sigh, “okay. I am Theo by the way.” It was strange because suddenly Theo wasn’t scared at all. Or at least not as scared as he was almost three hours ago.
“Oh, right,” Stanley laughed and stood up, “sorry. Survival mode is on for me. Nice to meet you Theo. Name is Saul,” he said reaching his hand out toward Theo.
He shook it and smiled. So it was Saul, not Stanley. “This is my younger sister Chloe and my friend slash neighbor Alice.”
Saul turned to the two ladies and waved at them. “And who is this little cutie?” he asked petting a more calm and happy dog.
“This is Bella,” Theo answered relieved to see Bella in high spirits now that they had gotten out of danger, or so Theo hoped. “Hey, Saul, I can’t thank you enough man for this. I had no plan so this is lifesaving.”
Saul stopped petting Bella and looked up at him with a smile on his face. “You’re welcome,” he looked at Chloe and Alice, “all of you. Oh I have to go cut some more wood before the rain starts. There’s a wind up radio in the kitchen if one of you could grab it. We should try to get some news if we can.” Saul walked out leaving everyone in the room deflated.
“Talk about killing ’em with kindness,” Chloe remarked with her arms crossed over her chest.
Theo side-eyed his sister. “Really? Go get the wind up radio,” he said annoyed. Now was not the time to make jokes, now was the time to survive. Chloe rolled her eyes and walked toward the kitchen.
“What’s the plan Theo?” Alice asked rushing toward him as he knelt down to pet his dog.
“I don’t have a plan Alice,” he began, “as I said before we are completely stuck. I mean it’s not like-” then it hit Theo. They were in a cabin in the mountains and just like that the words from Detective Moody came into his head. What I am saying is this suspect is smart because they have resources. Likely another piece of real estate far from here where they are keeping the woman. That means money and access to large pieces of land.
Theo slowly stood up and took in his surroundings. From the moment the earthquake hit that street in Seattle Stanley-Saul had been proving himself to be smart and resourceful. And not only did it appear he had money, but he also had a huge piece of real estate in a ghost town. Alice noticed how big Theo’s eyes had gotten and she approached him slowly.
“Theo, what did you just realize?” she asked.
“I-” Theo couldn’t get a word in as Chloe barged in holding the radio up in the air.
“Guys, it is not the Big One. I repeat, it is not the Big One!” her smile was on full display as Saul came in with more wood.
“Oh, great news! We can take a big sigh of relief. When are they saying we can all come back? Any tsunami damage?”
Chloe walked toward Saul and put the radio down between them. “Minor tsunami I think. Could be significant damage from the earthquake though.”
Saul and Chloe began to talk more animatedly leaving Theo and Alice to talk on their own. “Theo, what did you realize?” Alice whispered.
“When I met Detective Moody, the one who is overseeing the investigation, he said that this guy wouldn’t be homeless. He would have resources and be smart. He would have money and a large piece of land to hold the girls,” Theo said looking around.
“Oh no, oh no. What do we do?” Alice asked softly.
“You two okay over there?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah, just talking about how much damage our townhomes could have endured,” Alice covered for them.
“Oh no. Those are probably gone,” Saul offered.
Theo and Alice looked at each other both trying to communicate something different. It was dangerous waters they were stepping into and Theo knew they survived the earthquake, but he wasn’t sure if they were going to survive this extended retreat in the mountains with Saul.
Follow along with me this month at Jenna Pratt!
