Deadly Intruders

Erika (p.ov)

I was happily sleeping hugging my warm pillow, but someone tapped my shoulder waking me from my beautiful dream of wildflowers. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that the warm pillow was Mr.Stone, I was about to say sorry to him but he covered my mouth not letting me speak and gestured that someone was outside.

Then I heard someone talking outside the cabin and the sound of footsteps, I got scared and looked at Mr.Stone, he gestured for me to stay calm and helped me stand up, and handed me our bags. he made me stand behind him and stood near the door with the spear he made in his hands.

Someone slowly opened the door and Mr.stone knocked that person with a punch, the other two guys lunged forward and Mr.Stone pushed them away with the spear. He held my hand and we both ran towards the thick trees.

Those goons got up and started shooting at us but we escaped them and ran deep into the woods and suddenly Mr. Stone fell down. when I saw what was wrong with him, I was shocked to see his shirt soaked in blood and his eyes were dropping.

All the blood drained from my face seeing him like that, I crouched down and opened his shirt slowly with my hands shaking uncontrollably. He was shot in the shoulder and heavily bleeding, for a second I didn't understand what to do and my body started shivering with fear but I pulled myself together and told myself to stay strong for Mr.Stone.

I immediately took a shirt from my bag and tore it into pieces, I soaked a piece of clothing in water and cleaned the wound, and then I took another piece of clothing and wrapped it around his shoulder to slow down the bleeding. I have sprinkled some water on his face and he gained consciousness but looked pale and weak.

"Please don't sleep Mr.stone, stay awake. you are gonna be ok, I promise you that I will get us out of this forest" I told him. Honestly, I had no idea where we were and in what direction should we go but I just wanted him to stay strong and not give up. He smiled weakly and cupped my cheek with his bloody hand and said"Do...don't ...don't worry about ...me,grhh..leave me here and run away, they are after me not you"

Tears formed in my eyes and I shook my head in a no"I am not gonna leave you here, we will make it out of here...trust me and stay strong" I said holding his hand. Again I heard another shot nearby, I immediately helped Mr.Stone to get up and we both ran away from the direction where the shot was heard.

I don't know for how long we ran but Mr.Stone lost so much blood after running for some time and looked paler. I twisted my ankle during the process and limped all the way. He is a tall man with a large personality so it became very difficult for me to run supporting his weight.it was already noon and the sun was not showing any mercy too.

We have reached a place with lots of coconut trees. I looked around and saw the sea nearby and realized we were on the beach. We both fell to the ground unable to move anymore, Mr.Stone lost consciousness and barely breathing, I tried to wake him but he didn't. I placed my head on his chest but I didn't hear his heartbeat.

Tears fell uncontrollably from my eyes, and I tried to wake him up by shaking him like a mad person, "Wake up...Wake up...please Mr.Stone, wake up for god's sake" I said and slapped him trying to wake him but he didn't. I have never in my life thought that I would slap my Idol Chrispoher stone neither did I think that I would watch him die.

I thought of sprinkling some water on his face to wake him but we didn't have any water left in the bottle so I ran to the sea to fill the bottle and saw someone walking far away carrying some wood planks. I limped all the way to the person "Hello...excuse...excuse me..sir" I called him panting, and fell down not having the energy to stand anymore.

Luckily that person heard me and ran towards me immediately "What happened?? mam..are you ok??" he asked me and helped me to stand up, I recognized him that he was the elder man who told me the mermaid stone story at the tribal market, he looked like he too recognized me by his expression "Help...please..please help me...Mr.Stone got shot and fainted" I pleaded with him wiping the sweat on my forehead.

He helped me to walk back to the place where Mr.Stone was lying and checked his pulse "his pulse is weak but he is alive, let's take him to my house" he said giving me hope because I almost gave up the hope that we would make it out alive. The elder man took us to a small tribal village in his truck.

it was almost evening by the time we reached his house, it's a small beautiful wooden house with a flower fence, after we entered the house, the elder man made Mr.Stone lie on a bed and asked me to bring some hot water. I found the kitchen easily since it was a small house and made some hot water and gave it to the elder man, he took the water and asked me to stand aside.

Mr.Stone was lying unconsciously on the bed with the blood-soaked cloth I have wrapped around his shoulder earlier, my heart ached and tears formed in my eyes seeing him in that state to see him like that. He is always dynamic and strong, I always felt nervous around him but I was happy when I was with him whereas now seeing him lying on the bed unconscious breaks my heart ... I just want him to be alive.

I helped the old man to clean and disinfect the wound, he successfully removed the bullet and stopped bleeding, he looked like he knows what he is doing and I felt relieved when he wrapped the wound neatly with a fresh bandage" I have removed the bullet and dressed the wound, he might get a fever tonight but he will be fine " he said cleaning his hands.

"Thank you sir ...thank you so much for saving our lives" I told him gratefully wiping my tears at which he smiled in return and said"Ohh.. never mind dear, Mr.Stone has done so much for the people in this village, it's my honor to help him. you go and take a bath I will look at your leg after that"

I looked at Mr.Stone hesitantly not wanting to leave him" he will not wake up now so you better take some rest and come here later to take care of him" he said patting my shoulder.

I went to the adjacent room he showed me earlier, it looked like a girl's room judging by the decoration of the room, there was a white dressing table and a queen-sized bed with white bed sheets, walls were painted purple. It's nothing fancy but looked beautiful.

I looked at myself in the mirror, my clothes were stained with blood and dirt, my long hair tangled into knots and looked like a bird's nest, there were scratches all over my body which I got while we were running through the bushes, I looked like a different person totally.

I went to the attached bathroom and washed the dirt off my body and hair with some herbal shampoos I found in the room, I added some rose oil into the bathtub and got into it. I have stayed like that for some time feeling relaxed and stepped out wrapping myself with a towel. The hot water helped me heal and reduced my fatigue.

There were undergarments in my bag but I tore my spare shirt earlier so I didn't have any clean clothes to wear. Then I saw a nice yellow bohemian style dress on the bed. since I didn't have any option I wore it, it looked really pretty and comfortable. I blow-dried my hair and applied some moisturizer to my face and hands.

I slowly went outside limping"you look so beautiful in this dress dear, it suits you perfectly," the old man said with a sweet smile." Thank you so much for the dress sir, sorry for troubling you" I said feeling a little embarrassed for bothering him.

"Ahh... never mind dear, that's my daughter's dress and she is not here anyway, so it's not a big deal, now come on let me treat that leg of yours" he said and made me sit on a couch in the living room. He examined my ankle and applied some oil to the swollen area.

"Your leg will be fine, it's just a sprain, don't do any physical activities for two days and massage your leg with this oil before sleeping" he said handing me a bottle of some herbal oil.

He gave me a glass of milk and some homemade bread later"Eat something dear and take rest for some time, I will take care of Mr.Stone in the meantime" he said caressing my head.

I smiled and nodded my head and drank the milk, I slowly fell asleep on the couch later. I dreamt of those goons killing Mr.stone before my eyes and woke up suddenly, I looked around in fear, it was already dark and the sun was setting.

I ran into Mr.Stone's room immediately and saw him sleeping peacefully, I felt relieved seeing him safe and secure. I sat beside him on the bed and touched his forehead to check his temperature and left a sigh of relief finding it was normal and there wasn't any fever.

I saw him closely, there was a bruise on his forehead and a small cut near his eye, I touched his bruise nervously and remembered the events from earlier...

He asked me to run away and save my life...he might look like an arrogant person but he actually has a soft heart i thought seeing his sleeping form...

He said they were after him and they were clearly trying to kill him ...why would some thugs want to kill a scientist...I wondered

I slowly caressed his head "just wake up and say something Mr.stone, I am really scared when you are silent like this" I said holding his hand tears forming in my eyes.

"He will wake up in an hour or two, here ...put these flowers in that vase" the elder man said handing me the daisies I saw earlier in front of his house. I took the flowers and arranged them in a vase beside Mr.Stone.

"Don't worry dear, Mr. Stone is a strong man. This small wound cannot hurt him, he has faced bigger things than this when he fought with a local drug dealer" the elder man told me handing me some tea, I looked at him in confusion not understanding what he is saying.

"Let's go and talk outside dear" he said leading me into the small backyard, there was a small breakfast table with 4 chairs, we both sat there with the tea in our hands" I recognize you from the tribal market but I didn't get your name yet sir" I asked him taking a sip of the tea.

"I am Simon billiards, I am a herbalist and a doctor. I work in the hospital built by stone's industries on this island, I have been treating the people on this island for years" he said surprising me because he looked like he is not a local.

"I am Erika Williams, I have joined Mr.stone's team a few weeks before, Mr.Billiards if you don't mind can you please tell me about this drug dealer you were talking about earlier and why he is trying to kill Mr.Stone, "I asked him curiously because I couldn't stop worrying about Mr.Stone being targeted by some thugs.

He sighed deeply shaking his head and said "Abraham is from this village, he was always up to no good when he was living here. Later he gathered a few men like him and started growing opium crops secretly and supplied them to people from outside, he lured teenagers into his business by making them addicts. When Mr.Stone came to know all this he destroyed the opium crops and other Abraham's illegal businesses"

"What about the kids?? were they treated??" I asked to which he nodded.." Mr.Stone sent them to rehab and helped their families but in this process, he made so many enemies like Abraham" he said seriously...

"so that's why he wants to kill Mr.stone ??" I asked to which he nodded"Mr.Stone didn't just destroy Abraham's crops, he has seized all his illegal contacts from outside at the port.so Abraham turned into a nobody from a wealthy drug dealer, so he really holds a big grudge against Mr.Stone and I am sure it's him who wounded Mr.Stone this time"

After hearing all that my respect and admiration for Mr.Stone increased more, he is really a hero I thought but I felt scared at the same time. What if that Abraham tries to kill Mr.stone again??

"Mr.Billiards I am afraid that Abraham might attempt to kill Mr.Stone again, what should we do??"I asked him with fear to which he smiled shaking his head and said, "As far as I know Mr.Christopher... he is a stubborn man with strong morals and principles, it's in his nature to fight against bad people like Abraham, he is born to do greater things, we cannot stop him from doing good, we can only support him by staying by their side".

I understood his good intentions but I still felt afraid of the fact that Mr.Stone's life is in danger," here ...take this bracelet, there's a protecting charm in this, my daughter makes this stuff and I must say she's really good at it, I don't know if you believe in this but if you do put it on his right hand it will protect him in difficult times" he said handing me a bracelet with black beads and a rose charm.

"Thank you ...and I do believe in this, I always wear the chain given by father. I feel like he is always with me when I wear this" I told him taking the bracelet from him...

"seeing you ...reminds me of my daughter, she was also scared like you when her boyfriend met with an accident. Mr.Stone is lucky to have you by his side, don't ever leave him" he said smiling, I wanted to tell him that there was no relation between Mr.Stone and me but someone rang the bell and Mr.Billiards went to check.

After some time I prepared dinner for us and arranged it on the dining table, while we were eating I got curious seeing Mr.Billiards, I mean he does not look like a native but he knows about this island very well...

"I am sorry to ask you this but you don't look like you are from here" I asked him curiously wondering where he is from, he smiled and nodded "well...52 years ago I came to this island with a group of colleagues in search of some rare herbs but I fell in love with a girl from this village and married her. she was very much attached to this place so I stayed here with her" he said, I could see the love he has for his wife in his eyes when he was talking about her.

"That's a wonderful ... Mr.Billiards, it's very rare to see people giving up everything for their love, I must say Mrs.Billiards is really lucky to have you" I said feeling envious of his wife, "Actually I am lucky to have her in my life, she has shown me the real meaning of life and gave me a beautiful family" he said picking some dried leaves and throwing them away.

"Ohh..that's really sweet I would love to meet her" I said picking some more dry leaves and helping him.

"I am afraid it's not possible dear...she died while giving birth to our daughter and left me alone with her memories" he said sadly and my heart was broken after hearing him, why would two people who are so much in love have to be separated by death I thought remembering my parents...

"I am really sorry Mr.Billiards...i am sure she must be watching you from heaven" I told him to which he smiled sadly and shook his head" I would rather have her with me and my daughter all my life ...anyways life can't be that easy and beautiful right!!" he said sweeping the dried leaves.

"I will go and buy some beef bones, beef bone soup is good for recovery," Mr.billiards said and went out, It was already getting dark so I went to the kitchen to prepare soup for Mr. Stone's dinner and started chopping vegetables...

After some time Mr.Billiards rushed inside the kitchen panicking "Abraham's men are looking for Christopher in the village" he said panting.

Oh my god, what if they find us here??