Lakeside Villa

At this time, Jack and Charlie were driving on the only road to the Yellowstone Desert Highway.

There were no street lights and no passing vehicles on the road. By the moonlight, there was nothing but a piece of sand on both sides of the road, and it was empty. The road with no end in sight seemed a bit bleak.

After driving on the highway for more than ten minutes, the car suddenly pulled out of the road and ran towards the depths of gravel.

Charlie was taken aback by Jack's sudden action. His first reaction was to think that Jack was asleep, but looking at Jack, who didn't blink, he immediately understood that was not the case.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing? Where are we going?"

Jack looked into the distance without moving, without saying a word.

"Hey! I just promised to go to Lake Carrie once; where are you going? I'm talking to you!" When Jack still didn't speak, Charlie kicked the car, slammed his fist on the door, and even stuck his head out. He shouted from the window; of course, he wanted to jump out, but the speed was too fast, so he quickly gave up the idea.

When he sat back in his seat, Jack's gun had gone to Charlie's temple. "You're jumping up and down like a fucking monkey, and I'll break your leg," he said, hitting him twice with the gun on his thigh. "From now on, I'll have the final say. What I say, what do you do? I haven't done the practice of extorting confessions from prisoners in the police station for many years. Don't make me rough, OK?"

"OK," Charlie let a deflated balloon, docile like a little sheep.

After an hour of bumpy driving in the desert, the car was back on the road. They crossed a winding road through Murray Forest Farm. When the east turned white, I came to Jiali Lake.

Green mountains surround Jiali Lake, and the green lake water is like an emerald inlaid in the hills.

Many people do not know that Jiali Lake has a tail. This tail is hidden in a winding canyon between the mountains and forests and is covered by green trees all year round. It connects Jiali Lake and Alena Bay.

A touch of light yellow emerged from the eastern corner of the mountain forest by the lake, and a slight brilliance sprinkled on the lake.

The two men's car drove on the grass for a while and stopped not far from the lake.

It was early autumn, and yellowed leaves had fallen on the dew-stained grass in the early morning. The two walked through the mist that had almost dissipated in the early morning and walked toward a small cabin in the distance. The water vapor in the air, mixed with the smell of soil and turf, sucked into his lungs through Charlie's coat and drilled into every pore of his body, making him tremble even when he held his shoulders tightly.

This is a two-story wooden villa; the architectural style should be decades ago. It looks dilapidated outside and should be uninhabited for a long time. Paint fell off, windows were shattered, the stairs were broken and damaged in several places, and the flowers on the balcony mainly were withered.

This is an old house left by Jack's adoptive parents. Jack lived here for several summers as a teenager and left many happy memories. One of their unforgettable memories was his first time with Jenny. That day made him feel like he was indeed a man in the sky and it was time to do something unique. That summer, despite his father's objection, he firmly decided to apply for the police academy.

The door lock was severely rusted, and the key could only be inserted halfway. Jack twisted it a few times, but the door was not opened, but the door lock was pulled down. Jack lost patience and stomped open the door.

He pushed open the sizzling door, and Charlie followed into the house.

In the empty house, only a few newspapers were scattered on the ground, a tattered quilt in the corner, and a blackened iron bucket that had been burned beside the quilt.

- It seems that some homeless people have visited - a thick layer of dust covers every place you look.

One night, the two were exhausted and exhausted, both physically and mentally, so they slumped on the broken quilt in the corner. Charlie felt how tired he was when he sat down and noticed that he didn't even wear shoes.

"Ah." Jack took off his jacket, ripped off the corner of his T-shirt, and pierced his bleeding arm that had been cut and slashed as he fled.

Jack lit a cigarette and took a deep breath, "Damn, I didn't expect to have retired from the police station for such a long time, and I used a gun again to escape. However, I did not violate the principle, did not kill, and did not break the law."

"Why did you do this? I don't understand."

Jack didn't speak.

"You are helping her, and you are also helping me. I need to know; why are you helping me?"

"You don't have to know."

"Hey! We worked hard together! You and she are friends, right?"

"Jenny and I grew up together in the same orphanage. When we were your age, we fell in love." When he said this, Jack stopped, and a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes as if the whole person was in a daze of deep memories.

"If it weren't for that, maybe we'd get married or not. But if it's married to Jenny, then maybe there won't be Amy. I can't live without Amy, so we still can't get married."

"Amy? Your daughter"

"Yes, my daughter, my angel."

"So, where is she now? I mean she's in college or working or something."

Jack snuffed out the cigarette butt and stood up. "I'll go to the basement to see if I can get something useful."

"So, you believe what Jenny says."

Jack stayed where he was and didn't turn around.

Charlie said, "If the alien creatures she said were true, would she be herself, or how would she explain her superpowers?"

After a long silence, Jack turned around and looked at Charlie, "I don't know what happened during the years she disappeared, but I trust my intuition, the intuition of the police, she is the Jenny I know, and that's not true. Wrong. As for the fact that you are her son, I don't know, but I can see that she cares. So, I fulfilled my promise to send you here, although I don't know how to risk death. What's the point of you being sent here? But I did what I was supposed to do."

After speaking, Jack turned and walked toward the basement.

Charlie sat back on the quilt and looked at Jack as he left, the empty room, the broken windows, the shimmering light coming in, and the cool breeze blowing through the windows. I thought it would be time for me to get up. Today is also a school day. On the bus, you will meet your friend Jimmy, and the two may chat about the slut Neeko on the bus and the physics teacher who makes people laugh.

They would step through the school gate while eating bread and start their day.

But suddenly, he woke up from a dream, and the reality in front of him told him that everything had changed. He hoped it was a dream; he didn't understand how he could go from a birthday party to being hunted down overnight to his parents being killed; a woman jumped out and saved him, calling her his biological mother, and finally escaped here.

He was afraid of all this unknown. He was worried that he would never be able to return to the old days. The unknown after coming to Jiali Lake also made him feel uncertain. He wondered if he would be arranged to meet someone, get some favor, inherit a fortune at the signing of some important document, or send him a large sum of money. Maybe it was because he didn't sleep all night; these thousands of thoughts couldn't help giving him a headache.

Inadvertently, his fingertips touched the gun beside him. I couldn't help but be shocked, and then I remembered that I must be too nervous, and the weapon that I held tightly down had never let go.

He took the black gun back into his hands, remembering that he had fired a few shots while driving away with Jack. Looking back, I can't help but feel a little excited and happy. Many people of his age have seen guns, but those who have touched guns, fired guns, and shot at people think that there should be no second person around; even a guy like Pierre sees it. I might have peeed my pants in a scene like that. He found that the feeling of shooting was quite good. He had never been as masculine as he was now, and he couldn't help but feel a warm sense of pride in his heart.

When Charlie was awakened by the intense beam of light that entered the house, he found the sun shining brightly and the birds singing outside. He guessed that he should have slept for a long time. Soon he also found the blanket covering him, a beige blanket with a pungent smell of dampness and mold; of course, this was no big deal because it was hot.

Jack was walking towards him, a pair of old khaki leather boots in one hand and a small bundle of wood in the other. "Put it on." Jack threw the martin boots in front of him. "I've worn them before, maybe a little bigger, but it's better than nothing."

"OK," Charlie had no choice but to accept it.

He managed to put on his shoes because they were severely deformed. The boots were a lot bigger, and he stepped on the ground, trying to get his toes to fit in the shoes. He tightened his shoelaces, and the shoelace on one foot was pulled off. There was no other way to tie one shoelace and drag the other. He paced the floor; the big shoes on his feet reminded him of his dad's shoes when he was a kid.

Charlie's stomach was rumbling with hunger, and Jack felt it was time to go out and get something to eat. If he was lucky, he might be able to catch a few fish from the lake. He asked Charlie to wait here. He had just seen fishing rods and fishing nets in the warehouse. Those old antiques might still come in handy. Charlie insists on being with Jack, making me sick to be alone in this empty house. Probably Jack didn't feel relieved to let him stay here alone, and he was not sure how long he would be able to come back, so he agreed.

The two tossed around in the warehouse for a long time and finally picked out a few barely usable fishing rods. After trying it out, the fishing line was still functional. A rusty bucket turned out in the corner and then went out the door. . Jack walked in front, Charlie behind him with a bucket and big heels. They walked across the tender green grass to the lake. If it were a stranger, it would be hard not to think they were unprofessional anglers or a father and son who chose to teach their son fishing skills on the weekends.

Every time he revisited the old place, Jack couldn't help but recall those happy childhood days. Jack is undoubtedly lucky. After being adopted by the Geek family in the orphanage, he moved with his adoptive parents to the big house behind him. Although far away from the city, the quiet life gave him a more simple and straightforward youth life. At first, he spent most of his time in the mountains and rivers. Swimming, climbing mountains, climbing trees, hunting some game, making traps, and sometimes shutting himself up in the garage tinkering with his weapon inventions. In his spare time, his father would pick a day with good weather to teach him to observe the trail of his prey, how to camouflage, wait, and play against the game. Occasionally, after harvesting a hare and pheasant, they come to the lake to rest and set up their fishing rods. If they are lucky, they can catch a largemouth bass for dinner. It was in those glittering days that Jack caught a good fish.

"Can you do it?" Charlie said jokingly.

"When I was fishing for big fish, you hadn't come into this world yet."

Jack used the loach dug out of the soil, mixed it with dead bait, smashed it on the stone, hooked it, and threw it to the lake's center. "Yes, that's it. Next, we'll wait for the fool to take the bait." Jack instructed Charlie to set up the fishing rod by the lake.

"It's my first time fishing." Charlie showed a long-lost smile, and a big boy's sunshine and childishness overcame him.

He pointed to the grove behind him, "I think I'm going to take it easy." After speaking, he walked behind him.

"Piss right here, like a woman." Jack sat down on the grass and lit a cigarette.

Charlie had just taken a few steps when suddenly a brown bear burst out of the forest. It paced back and forth, standing up from time to time to look in the direction of the two, like a fat king patrolling his domain. Charlie was startled by the big thing in front of him; he couldn't help but scream and hurriedly went to touch the gun, but after taking it out a few times, the gun fell to the ground. Jack came slowly behind him with the weapon in hand. "Relax, boy, don't get mad, and you won't be in trouble."

After a while, probably feeling bored, the brown bear turned and went into the woods.

Jack handed the gun he picked up on the ground to Charlie, "The person who killed you won't wait for you to pick it up from the ground." Charlie stretched out his hand to pick it up, but Jack let the gun swivel around in his hand. Take it back.

"Listen, I feel the need to teach you two tricks."

"I think I shouldn't have the talent in this area. I'm terrified of causing trouble, and I'm not good at many things, especially those related to fighting."

"This isn't a fight, but I think I get it. I think you were bullied a lot at school."

Jack could see that his words were in the other's arms, and Charlie pursed his lips and turned his eyes to the side, showing an unnatural expression.

By the time Charlie had come back from the woods, Jack seemed to have been waiting for a long time. He taught Charlie a good lesson, from how to draw a gun to aiming, from mobile shooting to simple fighting skills. Jack found that although Charlie's body is thin and not tall, he has excellent physical coordination and flexibility and learns things very quickly. Soon he mastered the essentials of teaching him the movements. Jack was delighted with the student in front of him.

"Charlie, you remember, patience with the wicked only worsens. The only way is to fight back, to fight back violently. No matter which method you use, you must make him afraid."

Charlie looked at the gray-haired, beard-faced, sharp-eyed, and tough-faced man in front of him. Looking at the man who was a bit fierce, he felt a little admiration from the bottom of his heart, as if he was with an old hidden master in an unknown place. Where to secretly learn a particular stunt. This feeling was something he had never felt before. But what is interesting is that the sense of growth brought about by this experience has dramatically increased his self-confidence, which connects with the inner aftertaste after the first shot. Not only is he not afraid of Pierre's group of guys in his heart, but he can't wait to fight them, even if he is knocked down. As for school status, he thought about it for a while as he sat on the grass, watching the gusts of wind passing through the rippled lake water and Jack waiting for the fish to take the bait. Now, his so-called parents are dead. He has also become an orphan, and his current life, including those that were once afraid, nervous, and escaping, seems to have become meaningless. At this moment, he felt lonely, scared, and relieved by unprecedented freedom.

"Quick! Charlie! Hooked!" Jack's shout instantly pulled Charlie out of the lake of thoughts. He stood up and tried to pull up the fishing rod in his hand. "This must be a fucking big guy!"

In this way, the two worked together to pull back and forth with the big guy in the water, and a few times, Charlie almost slipped and sat on the ground. A few minutes later, a twenty-pound largemouth bass was dragged ashore and stuffed into an iron bucket, making it difficult to turn around.