Xavier Marcus

Somewhere in MexicoIt was five in the morning when I was suddenly jolted awake by a cold splash of water on my face. My eyes flew open, bleary with sleep and confusion, only to find Helen standing over me, her face twisted in a sneer of disgust. "Get up, Xavier," she spat, her voice heavy with contempt. "You have a long day of chores ahead of you."I grumbled and tried to sit up, but her hand shot out and smacked me hard across the face. "I said, get up," she repeated, her voice cold and hard.I stumbled to my feet, still half-asleep and reeling from the slap. My mother-in-law, Helen glared at me, her eyes filled with loathing. "You will clean this entire house from top to bottom," she said, gesturing around the room with a sweeping hand."You will wash the dishes, do the laundry, and take care of all the other household chores. And you will do it all without complaining, or else."I forced myself to sit up, my body heavy and leaden with fatigue. I looked at her, standing there in

I needed to get inside, to safety, but the door was locked, and no one was listening to me.I started hitting the door with my fists, begging and pleading for them to open it. I shouted and screamed, hoping someone would hear him and come to my aid. But my cries went unanswered, and the only sound I could hear was the sound of my own voice, echoing back to him in the darkness and the hiss of the snake. I clung to the door, shaking while looking back."Please open the door, there's a snake out here, it's trying to bite me!" I cried out."What are you talking about? Stop making that noise. I have you're not brewing one of your usual mischiefs" she groaned from the inside. "I'm telling you, there's a snake out here! Please, let me in!" I yelled. "If there's no snake, I swear to God, you're in big trouble." She said before she opened the door and peered outside. She was stationed safely behind the door things got out of hand. After what felt like an eternity, the door finally creaked

I have never felt tremors rock the very depth of my soul till now. A lot of thoughts ran through my mind and each one ended with the idea of what doom awaited me once we got home. Even though the ride was bumpy, everything gave a sign. I rubbed my hands together like a little girl that had been caught with sugar in her mouth, I was never one to tremble before any of this but currently, I was." Asher..." I began to say, hoping that there was a way that we could talk it out Bro-to bro."Asher?" I asked again, hoping maybe it was just because he needed to keep his eyes on the road."You're not going to tell on me, right?" I asked, my mouth tasting the familiar tang of bile."I can explain what you saw, it wasn't exactly what you think. It's not even like that" again, I tried to explain something that I wasn't even sure of.Asher kept his hands on ten and two, his eyes on the middle of the road and like a robot, he kept his focus straight. I could hear erratic heartbeats and I realized

I stood there at the door to her office, my back now against the door which was still open only inches wide, thinking about why she had said earlier to take my time and even though suffering from all that has troubled me the previous day and even today, not even extending the thoughts of what my life had become in this very situation, I could not help but find it a bit funny realizing why now and a faint smile started to shape across my lips at the humor of it when I unconsciously hit the door to the office with the files I held firmly in my hand and it creaked loudly, revealing that someone was standing at the door. As I realized this, I quickly put my hand over my mouth to cover it tightly so I would not make a sound but my efforts were immediately put off by my wife’s voice that rang from inside the office.“Is someone there? Who is it” She askedI remained silent for a few seconds. I stood thinking of what to do and the thought of leaving before I was seen nudged me but on sec

Xavier rubbed his eyes, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He couldn't believe it. The man outside his window was exactly like the one he had been dreaming about for weeks. He had thought it was just his imagination playing tricks on him, but now, here he was in the flesh.Xavier slowly walked towards the window, his heart pounding in his chest. The man was looking directly at Xavier, a small smile on his lips. Xavier felt a shiver run down his spine. He didn't know who this man was or what he wanted.He slowly opened the window, his heart racing. "Who are you?" Xavier asked, trying to keep his voice steady.The man's smile grew wider. "My name is Jacob," he said, "the messenger from the golden triangle".Xavier's eyes widened as the memory of his dream came flooding back to him. "The golden triangle," he repeated, "I've heard of it before. It was in my dream. I saw myself in a golden triangle and men in black with cutlasses were chasing me."Jacob nodded, a small smile on hi