Chapter Six

"Bianca! You made it! Come in!" Bryan exclaimed happily as she stood at the door of his rented cabin in the woods.

"Yeah, of course. You are kind of out in the middle of nowhere, though, aren't you?" Bianca asked slowly, entering his abode timidly.

"Sorry, but my boss owns this cabin and is letting me rent it because it's fairly close to where he lives. You want something to drink?" Bryan asked, going into the kitchen and looking in his refrigerator. "I have lemon-lime soda, root beer, light beer and ginger ale."

"I'll take root beer," she replied, sitting down on the duck-printed sofa. "So how long are you planning on staying here on the outskirts of Chicago?"

Bryan smiled as he brought her back a can of root beer and opened his light beer. "Not sure," he answered, sitting down beside her. "At least for a month or two. I guess as long as my boss needs me to get the job done. I'm just glad to have someone here close-by. An old friend to reconnect with."

Bianca blushed. "Oh, go on with you," she lightly shoved him, the way she had seen Balki do so many times before in the past.

Bryan scooted closer to her. "No, I'm serious. I really am glad that we found each other after so long." Leaning forward, he reached up to touch her cheek, lips parted in an awaiting kiss.

Bianca closed her eyes, about to meet his lips with her own when they heard a loud crashing noise outside. They jumped back and blushed, both feeling awkward now that the moment had been lost. "Maybe you should go outside and check on that," she replied hoarsely, taking a sip of her root beer.

Bryan stood up and got a flashlight from the kitchen. "I'll be right back."

Bianca smiled brightly. "I'll be right here."

"Smooth move, Ex-Lax!" Greg hissed at Serge as he stumbled over a garbage can.

"Well excuse me for not being used to riding in Miss Bianca's strange vehicle! I still am unaware if my spine is somewhere over there," he said, pointing to the left," or still inside the car."

Greg grabbed Serge's arm and pulled him behind a large oak tree. "Well, we were supposed to be spying on Bianca and Bryan; not letting them and all woodland critters know we have arrived. Now we have to hide and stay perfectly quiet because Mr. Hot-Shot Former Apprentice is searching for us!"

Serge put his finger in front of his lips and grabbed Greg to duck as a beam from a flashlight shone in their direction. They stayed completely silent for another minute until the footsteps and flashlight beam strayed away from their direction before Serge spoke up. "I'm going to go over there on that side of the cabin and you stay here. If you see or hear anything, just make some sort of noise to let me know someone is coming, okay?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. But be careful this time, will you?"

"I have reunited with my spine, now, so we're good," Serge nodded as he began to slip out from behind the tree and inch towards the cabin again.

Greg watched him go, smirking. "He seriously needs to stick to selling his art pieces and making his espressos. If he didn't care for Bianca, I'd throw him under the proverbial bus. I really would."

Suddenly, he heard a noise that sounded like a thud and a moan. "Serge?" he hissed, slowly exiting his hiding spot. Looking to his right, he saw a man's feet, still inside shoes, poking out from around a group of shrubs. "Those aren't Serge's shoes. Those look more like-"

Before he could get the last word out, he spun around to see a large man wearing an over-sized hoodie standing over him. His face was shrouded by the hood, but Greg clearly saw the gleaming knife blade as the man shoved it in his chest.

Greg stumbled back and fell to the ground, blood covering his black t-shirt. He had to get Serge's attention without the man seeing him, too. Knowing there was only one thing he knew he could do, he shakily reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Since he knew Serge was in danger if he moved, Greg had to at least leave him a final message of how to help Bianca. It was up to him now.

Bianca looked at her watch and glanced out the window again. It was getting pitch black outside, but Bryan still hadn't returned. Sighing, she stood up and took out her phone, using one of her apps that turned it into a makeshift flashlight. As soon as she was outside, the silence caused her to shiver. "Bryan?" she called out, trying to sound brave.

Suddenly, she heard a man's voice cry out in agony and she ran as quickly as she could. "Bryan?"

"M-M-Miss Bianca!" Serge's voice called out, his voice strangled and panicked.

Running to his voice, she shined her phone's light in his face. "Serge? What are you doing here?"

"G-G-Greg," he sputtered, pointing down.

Bianca screamed when she followed his gaze to Greg's lifeless body on the grass by his feet. "Greg? No! No, not Greg! What happened?" she sobbed, clinging to Serge for balance.

"I don't know, but we have to get out of here now! It's not safe!"

"But Bryan-he was-where is he?" Bianca stammered.

Suddenly, they heard a noise from behind and Bianca flashed her phone in the direction.

"Ugh!" a man grunted as the light blinded him.

"Run!" Serge yelled and Bianca grabbed him by the arm and took off blindly through the woods, hearing the man with the giant hooded sweatshirt run after them.

"This way!" she cried, tugging him as they made a sharp left turn. She didn't dare look back as she and Serge kept running. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that whoever the man was had been the one who murdered Greg and possibly Bryan, but she couldn't let her and Serge fall to that same fate. "Where is the machine?"

"The what?" Serge panted.

"My car!" Bianca responded with urgency.

"I think it's this way we are going now!" Serge answered.

Suddenly, Bianca's foot stumbled over a giant root of a nearby tree and she fell forward onto the ground with a thump.

Serge quickly helped her up and they continued running. "You okay?" he asked? "I think I see your car!"

Bianca lunged for the door of the machine and swung it open. As soon as she and Serge were inside and the door was closed, she started pushing buttons.

Serge screamed as the hooded man, now carrying an axe, appeared a few feet away. "Hurry!"

Bianca screamed, too, as she saw the man lunge for the machine with the axe as she pressed the power button, not even looking to see the place or time she had entered as she and Serge huddled together, eyes closed and waiting for their death.