WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

Lori laid in the grass in her backyard staring up at the stars. Her mind started to wonder as she thought what the future might hold for her.

It was only hours ago that things seemed to be going better than she had ever expected. She had a loving husband and her dream job as a fashion designer. Her new home in the suburbs of Manhattan was the perfect place to start thinking about raising a family. It even had a large enough yard that her golden retriever, Max, could run and play.

“What happened?” she asked herself as she looked at the many constellations in the sky. Lori tried her best to think about the past and what events happened to lead up to where she was now. “When did things start to go wrong?” she wondered.

Two hours ago, she returned from work and found Jake, her husband, sitting at the dinette table with a glass of whiskey in front of him. His head hung low and she could tell he was feeling blue about something. “Hi, Jake,” she said, trying to get him to look at her. But there was no answer. “Jake, are you okay?”

Jake worked as a pharmaceutical scientist where he developed new drugs for illnesses like cancer and other viral infections. His latest creation that he had been working on with his team for the past four years was in the final stages of double-blind testing to cure, or reduce the symptoms of, pancreatic cancer. It was something he was enormously proud of and took personally since his dad died of the disease a year ago.

“It worked,” Jake mumbled. “My cure for PC worked.”

Lori ran to his side, “Well, that’s great, isn’t it?” She was confused because Jake was showing more remorse than he was excitement.

“Yeah, it is.” Jake was mumbling again adding more confusion to Lori’s head. Jake stands up and shows a bloody hole in his stomach area.

“OH MY GOD!” Lori exclaimed. “WHAT HAPPENED!?” She ran to get a towel from the kitchen to try and hold the bleeding to a minimum. She put the towel on Jakes mid-section. “Here, hold this here. I’m going to call 9-1-1.”

“NO,” Jake screamed, wincing in pain. “Don’t. They’ll kill you, too.”

Lori now had an even more confusing look on her face. “They? Who are They?”

Out of the dining room, adjacent to the kitchen, a man appears. He is wearing a black trench coat, black leather gloves, and a black fedora hat. In his right hand, he held a 9mm handgun. “I think your husband is referring to me,” he said.

Lori steps back towards Jake, while keeping an eye on the stranger. “Who are you? What do you want?”

The man starts to laugh. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I don’t want anything from you,” the stranger said. “But your husband knows what I am looking for, and I am merely trying to work out a business deal with him and persuade him to give it to me. Isn’t that right, Jake?”

Jake stood there with one hand holding the towel on his wound and his other arm around his wife. “I told you, I don’t have it.”

“Jake, are you going to stand there and let your wife watch my negotiating skills?” The man points the gun at Jake’s left kneecap and shoots one round into his leg.

Jake falls to the ground in pain. Lori screams as she tries to hold Jake up. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” She yells at the man.

“Lori,” the man starts talking in a slow and calm manner that freaks Lori out. “I am merely trying to persuade your husband to oblige in my request.” The man walks closer to Lori. “Jake, maybe I was negotiating with the wrong collateral, huh?” The man grabs Lori by the arm and stands her up in front of him facing Jake. He holds his gun to her head. “Maybe if I increased my offer that is on the table, huh?”

Lori stood helpless, now scared for her life. She trembles with fear and she starts to cry.

“No, no, please,” Jake struggles to speak. “I’m telling you. I don’t have the formula.”

The man looks at Jake and grins. “Jake, I’m impressed with your bargaining skills.” The man points his gun at Lori’s foot and fires a single shot, removing two toes.

Lori screams in pain and falls to the floor.

“NOOOO!” Jake yells out. “Mister. I’m telling you the truth. It’s my team that has the formula. I only manage the team. Please… please don’t hurt us anymore.” Jake is struggling to lift himself onto a nearby chair to sit down.

Lori is on the floor, crying in pain from the gun wound. She looks at Jake. He is looking at Lori with a glare of intent. He then glances toward the back door. Lori picks up on the signal that Jake wants her to make a run for the door and get help.

Jake tries to get the attention of the stranger by asking him to come closer. He motions with his finger telling him to come nearer, still in a lot of pain.

The man knows he has the upper hand with both Jake and Lori wounded. He steps closer to Jake, hoping he will be revealing the information he is looking for. As he steps closer, Lori stands up and runs for the back door. She gets to the door and opens it. The man runs behind her reaches for the door above her head and slams it shut.

“You are as persistent as your pathetic husband.” He then shoots her in the other foot causing her to fall to the floor.

The man turns his attention back to Jake. “I’m not intending on killing either of you tonight,” the man says as he winces in anger. “But I do NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WATCHING YOU TWO DIE!” The man is getting more and more angry. “NOW,” he puts his face right up to Jake’s. Jake closes his eyes and turns his head, shaking in fear from what he thinks this man will do next. “TELL ME WHERE I CAN GET THE FORMULA!”

While the man is yelling at Jake, Lori gets to her damaged feet, opens the back door, and tries to make a run for it. The man sees her leave the house and pursues her.

It only takes him seconds to catch up to her and knock her to the ground in the backyard. He turns her over, so she is facing him. “I’m sick of you,” he says, trying to be quiet to avoid attention from the neighbors.

Lori looks at the stranger. She watches him lift his right arm holding his gun. In one quick second, she sees the gun fire and she can feel the life from her body start to drift away. The man leaves and returns to the house.

Lori laid in the grass in her backyard staring up at the stars. Her mind started to wonder as she thought what the future might hold for her.

The End