Brighter Than the Sun

Alfred F. Jones Loves Maria de la Cruz

Chapter 4: A Warning

It was night time when Maria got the call. She was about to have her dinner when her phone began to ring. She checked and saw that it was Arthur. "I wonder why he would be calling at this time" she wondered out loud.

"Hello?"

A voice very unlike Arthur's replied "Miss Maria! This is Peter Kirkland!"

Memories of a young boy in a sailor suit during a World meeting entered Maria's mind. "Peter! Why are you calling?" she asked. She noticed the strange sounds in the background; such as sounds of a person shouting "He's getting away!"

Peter seemed to be in a rush. He sounded out of breath, and it also sounded as if he was panicking. "Miss Maria, you must leave now!"

"What?" Maria cried. "Wait, what is going on there?"

"No time to tell you! Whatever you do, don't let Arthur get to you! Try to find a way to track where he is, and when he is nearing you, go away to his house! Save Alfred!" Peter replied rapidly.

"What do you mean 'save Alfred'? Please tell me what is going on, Peter!" Maria pleaded. She was growing very anxious at the thought of having to save Alfred. Why did she have to go to Arthur's house? Why should she hide from Arthur?

"The truth is, Miss Maria, you must run because-,"

"We've got him, boss!"

"Let go of me! Let go!"

And the line went dead.

"Peter! Peter, are you there? Peter?" Maria cried, but no one answered.

Maria stared at her phone, her heart pounding madly in her chest. "D-Diyos mio…" she whispered. Her hands were shaking. "I…I must tell the president about this!"

The next morning, Maria visited the president. He was like her manager in everything. "Maria!" he greeted cheerfully, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Why did you come to visit?"

Maria sat down on the chair. "The truth is, I have a problem"

The president put down his drink and looked at Maria straight in the eye. "Well, tell me! I'll try to fix it the best that I can"

Maria smiled, but it quickly disappeared. She was not able to have enough sleep last night out of worry. "I received a call last night from Mr. Peter Kirkland, telling me that I must hide from Mr. Arthur Kirkland and go to his house to save Mr. Alfred F. Jones" Maria explained. A part of her doubted the president would believe her.

The president was in deep thought. "Hmm…this is very unusual. Did Mr. Peter Kirkland explain why?" he asked.

"No, but it seemed as if he was running from a certain group of people. I believe that these people, or Arthur himself, might come after me next" Maria shivered at the thought of Arthur coming after her. Their past relationship was so long ago; she never expected him to go back to her in that kind of way.

"This is a very serious event…we must do what Mr. Peter Kirkland said and keep you safe! We must also save Mr. Jones!" the president said, determined. Maria sighed in relief. "Thank you so much!" she smiled.

But even though, Maria was still very scared. How could a small nation like her save such a powerhouse like Alfred? And what was Arthur going to do next?

Unknown to her, Arthur already made up his mind.

As Arthur packed his gun and ammo into a bag, he smiled at the thought of being with Maria again. He missed her so much.

And this time, nothing will come between him and Maria.

Nothing at all.

"Let's go, boys" he ordered his men. One of them still had Peter in his grasp.

"Arthur, please let me go!" Peter cried, fighting back tears of fear.

Arthur looked at Peter. A tiny, ant-sized part of him felt sorry, but the rest saw Peter as a nuisance. "Tie him up next to the other prisoner." He simply ordered, and walked away.

Peter began to cry as two of Arthur's men dragged him away. "Arthur! Please no! No! NOOOO!"