For the past three days, Anton had been staying at a motel just outside of Brainerd. After he left Elena's house, an old black woman named Mrs. Munson saw Anton walking along the side of the road and offered him a ride into town. When asked if she was local, Mrs. Munson replied no. Against his better judgment, Anton got into the car and showed Mrs. Munson the picture of Elena. When Anton asked if she knew her, Mrs. Munson looked at the photo and said no. Anton put the picture back into his shirt pocket and told Mrs. Munson to drop him off at the nearest motel.
Anton stayed in his room most of the time, almost never leaving expect to eat at the local diner two blocks down from the motel. He kept the curtains closed, shielding himself away from the world. He had thought about just leaving Brainerd and never coming back, but then his mind brought him back to Elena. Many times he thought about calling her and seeing if she was all right, but after the truth about him had been revealed, Anton thought it best to give Elena a bit of time alone and give her some space.
On the third day, around three in the afternoon, Anton Chigurh sat on the bed and lied down without taking his boots off. He placed one hand behind his head and rested the other across his chest, staring up at the ceiling. He thought about Elena, wondering if he would ever see her again. Eventually, he fell asleep.
He found himself standing in the middle of a familiar woodland, this time surrounded by fog. An uneasy feeling ran through him, as he looked around and tried to figure out where he was. Anton turned around and saw a shape appear through the mist. It took on the form of a beautiful white wolf. Unlike the ferocious beast that attacked him in his nightmare some weeks ago, this one seemed tamer than the other one.
Remembering what happened last time, Anton made no attempts to back away and remained right where he was. The white wolf was silent, staring back at him with gentle eyes. Strange as it was, Anton felt a familiar connection with the white wolf, almost as if he had known her in another life. Perhaps even years ago.
A bright light made Anton turned his head right and look over toward a pair of tall trees. The white wolf looked to her left and saw the same. The light came forth from between the two trees and slowly faded away, revealing a pale-skinned girl with brown hair and dark brown eyes. Anton recognized her. The white wolf seemed to known her, too.
Sophia appeared before them, wearing a long lilac dress with a tiara of orange blossoms wrapped around her head. She stared at Anton, who thought she looked like a princess, and then looked over at the white wolf, who waged her tail and whimpered. Sophia nodded her head, to which the white wolf ran over to her. Sophia dropped to her knees and hugged her arms around the white wolf's neck.
"This is a vision?" Anton asked her.
Sophia looked at him and said, "No."
"Then it is just a dream?" Anton asked her.
"If that's what you want to call it", said Sophia. The white wolf licked her face in affection, making Sophia giggle a little bit.
Anton shook his head and said, "I don't want to call it anything. That's what it is."
Sophia stood up and walked over to him. "You need to talk to her, Anton", she said.
Anton was silent for a minute. He glanced over at the white wolf, her soft amber-colored eyes giving off a loving sense of hope and wisdom. He then looked back at Sophia, who waited for his response. Finally, Anton sighed to himself and said, "Elena doesn't want to talk to me, Sophia."
"But she needs to", Sophia urged him.
With a look of irritation on his face, Anton took a step forward and demanded, "Why is this so important to you?"
The white wolf stood in front of Sophia and growled at Anton, protecting the child as if she were her own cub. The hitman took two steps back and found himself stumbling backwards onto the forest floor. The white wolf bared her teeth and snarled at Anton, who looked upon her with fear in his eyes.
Sophia stroked the white wolf's back and said to Anton, "Don't worry. She won't hurt you."
"How do you know?" Anton asked her, keeping his eyes focused on the white wolf.
"She's just doing her job of protecting me", Sophia answered him. "You know, like my mother used to do for me." Sophia looked at the white wolf and said to her, "It's okay. He's a friend." The white wolf concealed her fangs and sat down beside the child of seven.
Anton nodded his head slightly. "Motherly instincts", he whispered to himself.
Sophia rubbed the white wolf's head and picked up the skirt of her dress and walked over to Anton and sat down next to him.
"Why did you come here, Sophia?" Anton asked her. "Why bring me back to this place?"
"I came to give you another warning", Sophia told him. "Elena's getting herself into big trouble, Anton. You've got to stop her before it's too late."
"What kind of trouble?" Anton asked her.
"She's threatened to call the police and take you away from me", said Sophia.
Anton paused for a minute. "It took her this long to come to that conclusion?"
"Anton, this isn't funny!"
"I never said it was."
"So, what are you going to do?" Sophia asked him.
"I'm not going to do anything", Anton answered. "It's probably best that Elena does what she has to to protect you from the dangers of me."
"But you're not the same man anymore", Sophia told him. "You gave that up a long time ago, remember?"
"Sophia-"
"I know you've done bad things, but you can't decide everything based on logic or chance anymore. You can in a way, but right now you have to choose with your heart." Sophia placed a hand on his chest and said, "In here."
Anton looked down at where the child had placed her hand and overlapped it with his own, which was bigger than hers.
"I don't want you to leave", said Sophia. "I want you to stay. Elena wants you to stay, too, but she doesn't want to admit it. I tried to make her understand, but she wouldn't listen to me. You're her only hope now, Anton."
For a while, Anton was silent. Finally, he looked back at Sophia and asked her, "This really means a lot to you, doesn't it?"
Sophia said nothing, but nodded her head in response. The way her eyes spoke for her told him everything. She wasn't just asking him to go back to Elena. She was asking him to be a part of her family.
Anton cupped a hand under her chin and kissed Sophia on her forehead. The little girl wrapped her arms around him, as the man with the pageboy haircut placed his right arm around her and held her close. A howling from the white wolf made Anton look over at the magnificent creature. The white wolf stared back at him, a look of acceptance in her eyes.
Anton turned his head right and looked back at Sophia, but she was not there. His arm was holding onto nothing. He turned his head forward and looked back over at the white wolf, but she, also, was gone. Anton stood up and looked around him, calling out Sophia's name as the fog filled the air and engulfed him.
When he opened his eyes, Anton found himself lying down on a bed, secluded in a dark motel room. He sat up at once and looked over to his right. The digital clock on the dresser drawer read 4:45. He blinked a few times and then looked to his left. Anton threw his legs over to the side of the bed and stood up and walked over to the window, opening the curtains. The sky was already darkening. He stood there for a minute, thinking. Anton then turned around and picked up the pen lying down on the table and wrote something down on a notepad. He set the pen down and tore the note off and folded it and stuck it into his pant pocket.
After he checked himself out of the motel, Anton walked across the parking lot and stood out by the road near the entranceway. He looked to his left and saw headlights approaching in the distance. To his right, he heard tires screeching. He looked in that direction and saw a car swerving all over the road. The car was a white 1957 Ford Custom. It slowed down as it drove right by him. The shadow of the driver was obscured by tinted windows. The Ford Custom sped up again and rove the engine loudly. Anton watched as the vehicle swerved again and ran itself into the oncoming Volkswagen, hitting it on the driver's side and knocking it off the road. The Volkswagen rolled over once and landed into the ditch. The Ford Custom backed up and took off down the road.
Anton witnessed the whole incident from afar. For a moment, he didn't know what happened. The driver in the Ford Custom must have been looking at him for a reason. Why else would he have slowed down? What shocked Anton the most was the color of the Volkswagen Beetle, which was in the shade of royal blue.
Cautiously, Anton slowly walked over to the damaged Volkswagen and went around to the driver's side and felt his heart sink when he looked through the broken window. The driver, a woman, moaned in pain and slowly looked at him, a trickle of blood flowing down the side of her face, which was half-covered by her hair. Her eyes were the color of turquoise.
"Elena?"
"...Anton...", Elena spoke to him. Her voice was very low, but he still heard her.
Thinking quickly, Anton opened the caved-in door and carefully reached over Elena, unbuckling her.
"Anton-"
"I don't want you to speak", Anton said to her. "I'm going to get you out of here and you're gonna do as I say."
"No, please don't move me", Elena begged him, trying to suppress her tears.
Anton ignored her protest and carefully positioned one arm behind her back and placed the other one underneath her legs. In one forceful pull, Anton freed Elena from the wreckage, but the pain from the accident did not agree with her, as she let out a cry of agony and buried her face into his shirt, staining it with her blood and tears.
Setting her down gently onto the ground, Anton carefully looked over Elena and checked to see if she was injured anywhere. Taking note of her painful breathing, he placed a hand onto the left side of her ribcage. Elena let out a sharp gasp and clutched his wrist with her left hand, breathing heavily.
Anton looked at her and cupped her face with his right hand. His expression remained stoic as he spoke to her, "You're all right, Elena. Just lie still for a minute."
Elena opened her lips and tried to speak. "...Anton, I...I..."
"Just be quiet", Anton whispered.
Elena closed her eyes and felt her head limp over to one side.
Arriving in an ambulance to the hospital, Elena was immediately taking into urgent care. Anton waited out in the lobby and called Marge about the accident and told her about the Ford Custom. He hung up the phone and walked over to a corner and sat down in a chair and waited.
An hour later, Dr. Hartman came out and called out his name. "Anton?"
Anton looked over at her and stood up and walked over to Dr. Hartman. "How is she?"
"She's resting for now", said Dr. Hartman. "Elena is responding well to the treatment, but we'll probably have to keep her overnight just to be safe."
"Can I see her?"
"Sure."
Dr. Hartman led Anton into a room and opened the door for him. Anton stood in the doorway and looked at Elena, who was sleeping in a hospital bed. Her right arm was set in a white cast.
"Anton!"
Anton turned around and saw Marge running toward him. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. He was surprised by this, but chose not to hug her back in return. "I got here as fast as I could", said Marge. She looked at Anton and then turned her attention over to her cousin, walking into the room and sitting down on the bed. Anton walked over and stood right beside her.
For the first time since he met her, Anton Chigurh saw the chipper persona of Marge Gunderson slip away from her face and watched her eyes fill with heartbreaking tears. "Oh, jeez, Elena", Marge whispered to herself, clasping a hand over her mouth and crying softly over the sight of her beloved relative.
Anton was silent for a minute. His stoic expression remained, as he tilted his head to the right and asked Dr. Hartman, "What happened to her?"
"She's broken her wrist and maybe fractured a few ribs on her left side", Dr, Hartman answered him. "She also has a small cut on the side of her face, but that'll heal soon enough."
"Leave us", said Anton, not looking at her.
Dr. Hartman nodded, a look of sympathy on her face. "I'm sorry", Marge", she said. And then she left.
Marge sniffled and wiped away the tears from her face, breathing deeply and regaining her composure. She shook her head and placed a hand on her cousin's left wrist. "Elena, who did this to you?"
Anton turned his head left and looked away and sighed to himself, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the note and looked at it and turned his attention back to Marge. "I know you have a lot on your mind right now, but when you get the chance, I need you to do me a favor", he said. He handed the note to Marge and said, "I need you to look up everything you can about these two."
Marge took the note and unfolded it and read the names written on it. "Salvador and Raquel...Chi...Chai-"
"Chigurh", Anton corrected her. "Salvador and Raquel Chigurh."
"Uh-huh", Marge said to herself, still looking at the note. "You think these two have something to do with-"
Marge Gunderson turned her head to look at Anton, only to discover that he was gone. Somehow he had managed to slip out of the room without her noticing, almost as if he were a ghost.