//------------------------------//
// Now For The Betrayers 
// Story: Rogers' Return 
// by Enfield 
//------------------------------//

Enfield held his retractable spike in Rod’s neck until he was able to push the lifeless body off of him. Enfield sat up and wiped the blood from his face, glad to have Rod out of the way. He looked at the three other attackers and saw that they were all knocked out cold, Enfield studied them for a few seconds and formulated a plan. He took the plank and found a large nail sticking out of it. He took the board and planted the nail in the wound of Rod’s neck. He then planted Rod’s friends around the body and fired a .45 round into the sky. Enfield then ran away, he hoped that the way he set up the bodies, it would look as if Rod’s friends murdered him. He grinned as he pondered his thoughts not regretting what he had just did, after all, it was self defense. 

Enfield ran on until he reached the road that led to his gas station, in the distance sirens wailed and Enfield knew what they were for. He slowed his run to a fast walk and retraced the route to his place of former occupation, or what was left of it. 

Pretty soon Enfield reached the gas station and was surprised that it was intact, the only new feature were the army jeeps that sat around the parking lot, most of which had been shot, blown up, or had something missing. 
“I wonder how this place got on,” Enfield said as he went over to the front of the building. The gas pumps were still functional and the lights for the place were still lit, but with only a dim light emitting from them. Enfield walked over to the front door and peered inside, he could see the faint shadow of his boss sitting next to his desk. Feeling braver than he ever did before, Enfield decided to talk to his boss, he wanted to know why he was replaced. He stepped inside, thinking that Tony might know where his parents are. 

“Hello there Tony,” Enfield said coolly. Tony responded with a wave. Enfield was quite surprised with the lack of shock that Tony showed. 
“Um, are you not shocked to see me?” Enfield asked.
“I was expecting you to show up in a way,” Tony said looking up at Enfield. 
“You were?” Enfield asked confusedly.
“I heard what happened to you,” Tony said, “I’m sorry what happened to you, but I can tell you I had nothing to do with it.”
“You’re talking about my replacement aren’t you?” Enfield asked.	
“Yes,” Tony said flatly, “Like I said, I had nothing to do with it.” 
Enfield sighed and leaned against the desk. He cocked his head to one side and watched Tony sit back down. 
“Do tell me what happened,” Enfield said, “After all, this all began right here.” 

Tony stood up, took a bill and started writing on it.
“It wasn’t me who fired you,” Tony said.
“What?” Enfield asked.
“It was a fake voice manipulator,” Tony said, “There were federal agents who came here the day you got back from North Carolina and waited for you to be home, then they called you in order to fire you. They made sure I didn’t call you back to tell you what happened.” 
“Hold up,” Enfield said, completely taken by surprise, “What were federal agents doing here, and why were they faking you firing me?” 
“I think you might want to talk to your parents,” said Tony.
“I will once I find them,” said Enfield.
“I can tell you where they are,” Tony said, “I know what you want to do to them.”
“Where are they?” Enfield asked darkly.


“This is the life,” Dave said as he sat on his relining chair with a glass of wine in one hand and an iPad in the other. He sat and watched the car restoration TV show, happy that his weekend had been pleasant and peaceful. He had done so much to achieve where he was now, he had made friends and climbed to the top of his department’s ladder through careful negotiations and deals. But the one single mistake that had been holding both him and his wife back for the past sixteen years had now been eradicated from their lives, even though they had both manipulated his life, he never seemed to die or disappear. But now, he was dead and no longer a problem. 

“Here’s to you, James Rogers,” Dave said holding up the glass, “I’m impressed that you managed to stay alive for so long, at least you now got to die the way you wanted.” 

As Dave took a sip of his wine he heard music drift from the sunroom. He stood up and went to investigate, he entered the sunroom and saw his wife standing in the middle of the room wearing a shiny glitter covered dress and dancing shoes. Slow music was playing in the stereo.
“Katherine?” Dave chuckled.
“Care to dance?” Katherine asked. 
“Can I ask why?” Dave asked. 
“Why not?” his wife said taking his hand in hers. 
The two hadn’t danced since their last anniversary, but during the dance their rhythmic moves and soothing music was replaced with a hyperactive James who had got hold of an electric guitar and was playing “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce. James had eaten several pieces of cake and had drank several sodas and was going through an intense sugar rush, after his debut he went to a table, sat down, and collapsed on the table fast asleep. Dave and Katherine were particularly annoyed with James for ruining their dance, they were going to leave him there but he woke up just as they were leaving. The two from then on refused to dance until James was out of their lives, and now that he was, they could enjoy themselves once more. A few minutes later Dave heard knocking on the front door.
“I’ll get it,” he said.
“Whoever it is, tell them to go away,” said Katherine.

Dave laughed and went to the door, he looked through the window and saw a single person dressed in black facing away from him. Dave opened the door to see what this person wanted. 
“Can I help?” Dave asked. The figure turned his head slightly toward Dave.
“Hi, dad,” the person said.