Miguel did not see Mr. Kingsley nor did he hear from him so he was quite relieved. The domineering man must not have seen him yesterday. The days passed without incident.

 Miguel’s part time work at the company ended at 8 pm so he was among the few who stayed late in the office. Mr. Daniels worked overtime lately and often ordered dinner for them to eat in the office. Miguel ate with him reluctantly. Eventually got used to it when Glinda told him that Stephen was just being kind. Stephen kindly offered to bring him home but he declined. There was someone who was arranged to do that already.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Stephen couldn’t help but notice the car.

“No. That’s my… uh relative. Yes, my relative. He works nearby so he waits for me to go home. Goodbye Mr. Stephen. See you tomorrow.” Miguel gave a slight bow and walked away.

“Bye.” Stephen waved. If that was not Miguel’s boyfriend, then maybe he still had a chance.

Thursday morning came.

            He did not pack any lunch for the day and he did not like the food in the cafeteria so he opted to go out. While he was waiting for his order to be served from the food cart, another man made an order after him. The man wore a black denim jacket, black pants and black shoes. His hair was brown and he looked to be 6 feet tall. He gripped the child’s wrist tightly in his hand. The child looked around five or six years of age with blond locks and blue eyes. The little boy was in distress. His eyes were red and swollen from crying.

Miguel felt that there was something wrong. His training kicked in. Part of his job was to notice subtle changes in children’s mood because their school catered to special pupils, a few of them were nonverbal. So, he was a bit suspicious about what he was looking at the moment. Miguel stood at the side and ate his lunch but he watched the man in his peripheral vision. The child looked as though he was about to cry but the buff man gripped his arm and dragged him away. Miguel sipped his drink and walked after them. The buff man seemed to have sensed something and he looked back. Miguel turned to the side and pretended to sip his drink as he looked at the mannequin in front of a shop. The buff man turned and continued to walk away. Miguel followed the man at a distance. The man kept shifting his gaze around and walked until he disappeared into a dilapidated house. He came out a few minutes later. But when he did, the child was no longer with him.

Miguel waited until the man was gone. He looked for a weapon before he entered the house. He found a crowbar lying in a pile of scraps. He circled around the house to look for another entrance besides the main door. He found a broken window at the back. He entered the room and he crept along the wall. The floor underneath his shoes made a creaking sound. He halted on his tracks when he heard footsteps. It became louder and louder. It was approaching his location!

“Blood rats!” Miguel heard the man shout once he found the room empty.

“Shouldn’t have chosen a haunted house.” The man muttered when he left the room.  He did not notice the crowbar on the floor.

Miguel kept his nose covered. The dust underneath the bed made him want to sneeze. He rolled out only when he was sure that the man was gone. He patted the dust from his clothes without making any noise and covered his mouth and nose tight when he made a sneeze. Just now he was filled with fear. He had no way of contacting anyone because he left his cellphone in his locker. He only had to rely on himself.

“Stop crying ya brat!”

A bottle of glass was smashed against the wall. The wails became louder.

Miguel crept towards the source of the noise and found a room where the child was being kept. He faced the man’s back. The man had a black hair and wore a leather jacket. He was between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet. He reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. He not seem to have any weapon. Miguel tightened his hands on the crowbar.

“Please let me go home. I don’t want to stay here.”

While the man was distracted by the crying child, Miguel swung the metal and hit the back of the man’s head hard. The man fell on the ground. Miguel quickly knelt in front of the child.

“Are you alright?”

“I wanna go home. Please help me go home.” The child’s face was red with tears. Snot fell from his nose.

“I will. I will help you. Calm down. You did good. You were very brave. You actually saw me, didn’t you? And yet you distracted the bad man so that I could hit him.” Miguel kept talking to the child as he led them to the window where he entered. He lifted the child over the window and then hopped out.

When they were a few streets away, Miguel heard a shout. He turned back and saw the man from the food truck. The man  from the dilapidated house must have called him.

“Run!” Miguel carried the child in his arms and ran as fast as he could. They hid in an alley behind a dumpster. Miguel tried to catch his breath. He looked around and noticed that the alley was familiar. Back when he was living in his apartment, he used to walk to his work place. Sometimes he would try different routes. This alley was one of the shortcuts that he tried.

“What’s your name?” Miguel turned to the child beside him.

“Tasha.” The little boy rubbed his eyes.

“My name is Miguel.” Miguel smiled.

“I’m scared. I wanna go home.” Fresh new tears fell from the blue eyed child.

Miguel cupped the child’s small face with his hands. “I know you are. But you have to be brave okay?”

The child shook his head.

“Let’s play a game.”

The boy blinked his curious eyes.

“We are going to do a race. At the end of this alley, is a street. You have to turn to your right. You know where the right side is?”

“Yeah.” The child wiped his nose with his sleeves.

“Show me.”

The child used his pointer finger and picked the correct direction.

“Good. Keep walking to the right side and you will see the police station. I will meet you there. If you see a police man, tell them to get you come. Go! Go. I will race you there.” Miguel pushed the child away and watch him disappear at the end of the alley. He came out from his hiding place and walked to the opposite side of the alley.

“Oy!” Miguel heard a shout. The guy from the dilapidated house saw him. The man’s head was bleeding.  He quickly ran to a random street which lead him to the back of a trading post. He looked left and right but saw no other paths. The only way out was through the man who stood in front of him.

“Where did you hide the child?!” The man shouted.

“If you want to see the child, you have to get through me first.” Miguel clenched his fist.

“That’s easy.” The man grinned. He attacked Miguel with heavy punches.

Miguel used his arms to protect his head. He gave the man a kick to the chest but the buff man was unfazed. Miguel endured the punches to his body. His body swayed after receiving a punch on the side of his head. The surroundings spun around him. He staggered but managed to put his feet firmly on the ground. He couldn’t allow himself to fall. The man wrapped his hands around his neck. His back hit the end of an open truck. Miguel fought the hands that were choking him. He looked around for a weapon while protecting his head from the man’s relentless attacks. In his dizzy state, he blindly used his hands to find something, anything to deter his attacker. When he touched something cold and solid, he held it tight and smashed it on the man’s temple. He kept smashing the man’s head and neck. He used his legs and kicked the man away from him.  

Miguel heard a siren and saw a police car approach. Officers immediately came out of the vehicle and pointed their guns at them.

“Freeze! Hands behind your head.”

Miguel slumped on a wooden crate. His head was still reeling from his disrupted blood circulation. It was finally over. The child was safe. Both he and the buff man were brought to the police station for questioning. Miguel answered all their questions truthfully. Three hours after giving his sworn statement, he was released. A kind paramedic gave him a strong pain reliever which made him lethargic. He walked out of the police station and planned to go back to the institution to retrieve his stuff only to be blocked by a stranger.

The stranger introduced himself as someone who worked for the family of the child he rescued. The child’s guardian insisted on meeting with him. Miguel was in no condition to run away with his battered body. With trepidation he allowed himself to be led into a car.