Episode IV

May awoke to a ray of light hitting her face. She opened her eyes, squinting as they adjusted to the dust particles dancing in front of her. Her body felt suspended; as she looked around her she realized it was because she was in a hammock. A further observation of her surroundings showed that she was in what looked like to be an old abandoned car garage. Never had she been in a place that was so below her social standards. Everything was run down with a visible film of dirt on it, even the floor. As she tried to sit up she was overcome with an unbearable pain that radiated in her chest. She let out a small wince as she brought up her hands in order to open up her blouse. It was at this point she realized that her hands, along with her feet, were bound and connected by nylon rope. She began to panic. She could remember nothing of last night after the flash from the figure's gun, she couldn't even understand as to how or why she was still alive. Now she was in what appeared to be a criminal's hideout as a prisoner. She did her best to force the questions from her mind right now along with fighting back tears as she checked the status of her gunshot wound. A large hole was in her blouse however the same could not be said for her chest. Instead of a bullet hole there was a large bruise that encompassed almost her entire chest. She could fight back the tears no longer. Nothing made sense to her anymore, but she didn't care about that. All she wanted to do was go home.

"It's from the tranquilizer." A voice said to her.

Startled, she managed to fight through the pain so that she could sit up. From despair once again came fear because it was the dark figure person from last night who was sitting on the couch.

"Help!" May yelled as loud as she could.

"Someone help! Please help me!

He screaming had awoken the dog that was laying at the foot of her hammock. He began to bark viciously at her, frightening her even more.

"Blue!" The figure boomed.

The dog stopped barking and May's hyperventilation took its place.

"Come here Blue!" The figure demanded.

The dog did what its master ordered with his ears low and tail between his legs.

"Go lay down!"

Once again the dog obeyed.

For some reason May had felt less threatened by this figure, but had not forgotten that this was still the person that shot her. The figure stood up from the couch and began to walk towards her. Every step they took towards her coincided with her heartbeat, their presence crippling her with fear. He stopped right at the edge of her hammock.

"Let me see your chest." The figure said.

May nervously shook her head no.

"That wasn't a request." The figure stated.

Slowly and reluctantly May opened her blouse enough to only show her bruise, hoping and assuming that was all they wanted to see.

"I thought as much." They said aloud to themselves.

The figure then reached into his pocket and pulled out a tube of ointment.

"Here." They said as they tossed it to her.

Unprepared, it landed in her lap.

"Apply that to the bruise while I go get you something to eat." They said as they began to walk away.

"Wait." May called out.

The figure stopped and turned back to her.

"Who are you?" She asked, now knowing that this person meant her no harm.

The figure took off the hooded sweatshirt that they were wearing and revealed who they were.

"Bean?" She said in shock.

He didn't answer.

"Bean?!" She said again as questions began to answer themselves and all of her fear and despair turned into rage.

"You son of a bitch!" She yelled as she thrashed about in the hammock.

She eventually flipped out of the hammock with all of her violent motion and Bean went back to help her up.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled.

"Fine." He said as he left to go fetch her breakfast.

"Blue." Bean called.

He pricked up his ears and raised his head to his master's call.

"Watch her. Make sure she doesn't hurt herself."

After Bean said those words Blue got up, walked over to May and sat in front of her, growling if she moved. After a while Bean returned with an omelet. May had managed to prop herself up with Blue still standing guard over her. As Bean approached Blue moved out of the way. He knelt down in front of her and set her food to the side. She looked away from him, not acknowledging his presence. It wasn't until he pulled out a large curved combat knife that he caught her attention.

"I'm gonna cut you loose now. Alright?" He said, knife in front of her face.

She said nothing, just shook her head yes that she understood. Bean cut her feet free first and then her hands. As soon as her hands were free she pulled back her left hand and then let it fly in an attempt to slap him. Bean quickly caught it with his left and squeezed her wrist tightly. She let out a small yelp of pain before he grabbed her by the throat with his free right hand, choking her slightly.

"Do not make me regret saving you." He threatened before he released her.

She took a deep breath and rubbed her neck as he picked her food back up. He tried to hand it to her but she knocked it away out of his hands. The food and plate flew across the room with the plate clanging against the ground before coming to a rest.

"Alright." Bean said as he went to go pick up the food and plate.

"But you should probably eat something soon. You haven't eaten since you got to the BART station yesterday."

"You…you saw me?" She asked surprised.

She knew for a fact that she had been behind him all day yesterday, especially at the train station.

"Yea. You were pretty obvious. Especially since you never ride the train and you were in a school uniform."

"But…but how? I was behind you all day."

"Reflections. I could see you in glass and windows we passed by."

She sat there in disbelief.

(What is he? Some kind of secret agent?) She thought to herself.

No time to think about that though. Even though she was no longer bound she knew that she was still his prisoner, along with the fact that he had shot her.

Silence had prevailed all the way to the early afternoon. May was still sitting in the hammock in the corner while Bean sat on the couch with Blue. For the most of the time from morning to afternoon Bean did his Friday homework, leaving the living room only for a few minutes to do other odd jobs. In the beginning May had tried to use the brief windows of opportunity of Bean leaving to try and make her escape. However the pain from her chest, along with the cut on her cheek, neck and wrist which were now also bruised, prevented her from moving fast enough. This was also compounded by the fact that every time she tried to leave the corner that was her cell Blue would bark her back into it. She had never had a pet, never had the time for one, but if she did she always wanted to have a cat. For some reason she had a natural fear of dogs that she could never explain. Now Blue was giving her reason.

Bean had left the room again, headed for the kitchen. When he returned he returned with a plate of food consisting of a hamburger with cheese on the side and a chili cheese dog. He offered them to her but again she just knocked it away onto the floor. Again Bean showed no anger, no frustration, just cleaned it up and threw it away. May was feeling faint from not eating, her stomach growls grew louder and louder, however she refused to accept his charity. With her anger fading she began to feel bad about how she was acting. He always brought her food without her asking and never showed any anger when she knocked it out of his hands. It would make her feel less guilty if he did.

"You know I didn't understand, but now I do." May said, trying to get a rise out of him.

His back was to her, giving her no acknowledgement, as he sat on the couch and played with Blue.

"You're not just only a delinquent, you're also a criminal!" She proclaimed.

"That's why you go to school isn't it? So you can have a front for your illegal activities?!"

Bean still didn't respond.

"Is that why you're keeping me prisoner here? So I don't go tell the police?!"

"No." Bean finally responded.

Like always his timing caught her off guard.

"Why then?!"

"To make sure you were ok?"

"Wa…what?" She asked, a little blush coming from her face for she was not expecting that to be his answer.

Bean didn't repeat himself.

"And I guess shooting me in the chest is your definition of saving me?"

"Yes."

"That's not how you go about saving people!"

"Would you have liked the other option?" Bean asked, breaking his attention from Blue and placing it on May.

"What do you mean?"

"You have no idea what they would've done to you do you?" He said as he paused for a moment for an answer; he got none.

"They would've killed you, and that's only the best scenario. They could have beaten you, tortured you, raped you, held you for ransom or just sold you as a sex slave altogether."

"That still doesn't mean you had to shoot me! You couldn't think of any other way?! How come you couldn't have shot them?!"

Bean wouldn't answer. He just shook his head and went back to Blue who was now sleeping on his lap.

Dusk had begun to set in and May was still confined to her hammock. She laid there while Bean was in the kitchen cooking. She couldn't move, her body was racked with hunger and pain. She just laid there, watching TV on infomercials on products that were completely unnecessary, while Blue laid at the foot of the hammock watching as well.

"That's the kind of crap my parents would buy." She said to him.

Blue looked up from the TV at her. She didn't think he would respond to her words. He stood up.

"What is it?" She asked.

He placed his snout under her hand and moved until it was on top of his head.

"You want to be petted?" She asked.

He stared at her and blinked.

"Ok." She said, sensing that was what he wanted.

She began to pet him and he placed his head on an empty spot on the hammock as she continued.

"You're a good dog aren't you?" She asked as she scratched behind his ear.

Blue panted as he wagged his tail.

Bean entered to find Blue being petted by May. He gave off a slight smile, a smile that went unnoticed by May and disappeared before she could. Stir fry with chicken and egg noodles was for dinner tonight and the smell of the food drove May insane and made her stomach growl loudly. Bean began his usual silent approach to her, with Blue moving to the side to follow routine. He extended the food to her. A momentary stillness ensued from everyone as May looked at the food and then at Blue. He stared at her with eager eyes, almost begging her to eat. She then looked at Bean, sat up and accepted the food.

"Thank you." She said, waiting to see if he would respond.

"You're welcome." He replied before he headed back to the kitchen to make his plate.

He came back in with his plate and a plate of the same for Blue as well. Not always pampered like this Blue followed and hounded his master until he set his plate on the ground. He began eating right away. Bean set his food on top of the TV and then went to go unlock the garage door to the living room. He then sat down and began eating his food.

May stared at her food hesitantly. She had never had someone else, other than her parents, make her food. The fact it was a boy, even moreso being Bean, made it all the more nerve-racking. She was use to her food being served on fancy plates that were rimmed with gold and eaten with sterling silver silverware. This food however was served on a paper plate with a plastic fork. Nevertheless, she was starving, and the place surely wasn't a 5-star restaurant. She took a bite. Her eyes opened wide. She was amazed at how good it was.

"I never expected you for a cook Bean." She said sarcastically as she took another bite; her way of giving a compliment.

He didn't respond.

"Guess that's something I didn't know about you." She said to herself under her breath.

"You know nothing about me." He responded with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"Oh. Well then please tell me what else you can be other than what I saw yesterday." She rebutted, getting annoyed as well.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because you're the type who believes only what you want to see. Your sheltered life has made you see things in black and white. There's more to things than that."

"Give an example."

"Why when you could just look in the mirror?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, insulted.

"It means what it means. To everyone else you're this perfect little golden child. But what they don't see is the lack of passion for everything you work so hard for. They don't see the emptiness of something you can't explain."

May was taken back. It felt like he had stared straight into her soul and told her more about herself that even she didn't know. She felt vulnerable and wanted to cry. These feelings that she had thought were locked away inside were actually laid bare for the world to see. Or maybe, maybe it was Bean with the knack to sense these things. In this one day alone she had learned more and been proven wrong about a man she thought was clear cut and dry. She wanted to ask him how he knew these things, but a knock on the garage door kept her from asking.