Chapter106

The man, shyly stretched out a hand. Heather and I looked at it. We realises he lacked three fingers. I looked up immediately at the man's face. My heart almost stopped beating. He had the warmer covering half his face, exposing only his eyes. I recognised those eyes! Heather's grip on my arm tightened and her face was as pale as mine. With a trembling hand, I gathered courage and slowly pulled the man's warmer down. A sharp gasp escaped Heather's mouth as she stepped back in shock I froze, my eyes wide. Right in front of me, was my supposedly dead father! I stepped back in shock. My eyes beginning to water, my heart threatening to burst out of my chest and my body weakening. The money dropped out of my hand. Was my  mind playing games? Was my vision tricking me? He stared at us, lost. And without a word, picked the money. He then looked at us in confusion. "Uh, thank you, sir," he said and turned to Heather, "Thank you, miss." He was about to leave but I grabbed his arm. He looked at me with fear and at the same time, wonder. "Any p– problem?" he stuttered. "Un– uncle Paul??" Heather's gasped and he looked at her, confusion written all over his face. "I'm Paul, b– but  I don't think I'm your uncle? You are?" Tears rolled down my cheeks. My father was in front of me! I opened my mouth and managed to say only one thing, with the heaviness in my throat. "D– dad?" He stared at me and frowned,  even more confused. "W– what? I'm sorry but you must be mistaken," he muttered. "Dad, it's me," I said, unable to control the tears rolling down my cheeks. He stared at me for a long and silent moment. And then, his eyes widened, as if he'd realised something. He looked shocked. "Sh– Sheridan??" he stuttered unsurely, his eyes growing wider. "Yes," I replied lowly, "Yes, it's me. Sheridan. Dad?" He stared in shock and immediately, his eyes began to water. "Sheridan?!" "Yes, dad. It's me, you're son. I'm Sheridan!" I cried, stepping closer to him. I couldn't believe what was happening. Was this real?? "You– you're alive! Sheridan!" he cried and opened his arms. I immediately hugged him. Yes, it was real! This was my father! After all these years, it was a miracle. My father was alive! I cried in his arms. I cried and cried. I didn't care if we were on a public sidewalk. I'd found my father. At last! And he wasn't dead! He was alive and right in front of me. Heather watched us in joy, sobbing continuously. "I've found you!" I looked at him. "I've found you too! My son is alive!" he cried and stepped back, "And is now a young man!" he looked at me, a proud smile on his face, through the tears. I smiled back with the same joy in my heart. He then looked at Heather. "Who's this pretty girl?" he asked me. Heather stepped forward. "Heather, dad," I said. My father's mouth dropped open as he turned to her. "H– Heather? Heather Welds??" "Y– yes, uncle Paul," she smiled through her own tears. "My little Heather?!" "Yes!" she rushed into his arms and they hugged tight, Heather crying against his shoulder. "Oh my gawd, you too have changed. Look at you!" She smiled at him. "Dad, how did you find yourself in the streets?? In New York??" I asked, still shocked and overwhelmed. I needed to know. This was real, my father was alive! But how?? "It's a long story," he said sadly. "You'll tell us everything once home. Let's get you clean, dad." We held him and crossed the street to my car. It all still seemed like a dream! ** Once my father was clean and had eaten to the fullest, we sat in our hotel suite's living room so he could tell us everything. "After I left the house to go tell Kenneth about Christina trying to seduce me," he started, "I met with Rob who told me he would drive me to where Kenneth was. I followed him of course. But he drove me to the entrance of the woods and we got out of the car. I asked him if Kenneth was hunting and he said yes. I was about to enter the woods when all of a sudden, I felt a heavy log of wood on the back of my head. I went unconscious." Heather and I stared at each other and waited for him to go on. "By the time I woke up, it was dark and I found myself tied to a tree in the middle of the dark forest. I cried for help, shouting at the top of my voice, but no one could here me. Hours passed and I knew I might end up being eaten by some wild animal. Sheridan, Heather, never had I been so scared in my life. I prayed and prayed." "Then what happened?" I asked, a lump in my throat. "At around 10PM, I saw two silhouettes approach me with fire lamps. They were Rob and some other teenager." Elijah. "Rob laughed at me. He humiliated me and told me no one would miss me when I died." I felt the anger in me rise. My eyes prickled with tears again. "He told me goodbye and turned to the young boy whom he called, Elijah. He told the boy to kill me before going away. We were left, only the two of us. I waited for my death. He had a knife. But to my surprise, he spoke to me, telling me he wasn't going to kill me." Heather and I looked at ourselves in confusion. "Seriously?" "Yes. He told me Christina had paid him. He said he wasn't a murderer and would let me go but under the condition that Christina had to believe I was dead. I was surprised at the sudden change of situation. He said he only wanted money to take care of himself. He then told me he was going to cut off three of my fingers which he would throw on the ground, so that in case the police decided to investigate, I would be pronounced dead. Without waiting to hear my opinion, he cut off three of fingers. It was so so painful. He then wrapped my hand with a cloth so I wouldn't bleed too much. Elijah then untied me and told me to go far away from High Meadows and Blueville. And that he would help me. I refused completely."