"Country Manor"

     This one has no title.  I did start writing it, but I think I accidentally deleted it, or something.  Anyway, this story was inspired by the movie, The Transporter, starring Jason Stathom and Shu Qi (a.k.a. Hsu Chi, a.k.a. Hsu Qi, a.k.a who knows what else).  It's primarily an action movie.

     If you've actually seen the movie, then the summary will be easier to visualize, because the geography is similar.  The movie is in France, but my story is in no particular country.

     A man lives in a very nice house out in a secluded coast-side area.  His house is on a cliff, but not very near the edge.  The surroundings look mostly like it would be out in the country, instead of on the coast.

     To get to his house, you must drive about five miles up a road, and there are no other homes, or anything, between his house and the other end of the road.  It's not a private road, but he's pretty much the only one that ever uses it.

     The man lives alone, and is happy.  He drives into town to stock up on supplies about once a month.  That's generally the only reason he goes into town.  He doesn't pay much mind to the news.  He's got enough money to not need a job.

     When he does go into town, he makes a day of it.  Maybe catches a movie.  He's also heard a little about some rivalling gangs (more mobster, less urban street) becoming more violent and some people in the city getting hurt as bystanders.  There are three gangs.

     That's back story on him.  The story actually starts on "his" road while he is in town.  I imagine most of my stories in movie format, and this one I was actually trying to write in a way that would let the reader experience it similar to the way they would if they were watching a movie of it.

     If it were a movie, it would start with a black screen but there would be tiny, faint spots of light, and the main sound would be breathing.  The camera POV would be that of someone covered in a black material.

     As you read what's next, keep in mind that the audience only hears what's happening.

     Gangs sometimes meet on this road, because of how secluded it is.  Sometimes they do other things here.  On that particular day, two of the gangs are meeting to make an exchange; a "package" for some money, which is also supposed to serve as a sort of treaty agreement.

     These two gangs have decided to temporarily lay off each other in order for both to be able to focus their attentions on defeating the third, more dangerous gang.  The two that are meeting, are still very wary of each other, so it could easily go bad.

     The "package" is actually a person tied up and zipped up in a cloth body bag, but this is not revealed to the audience until much later.  However, they should be able to figure it out while it's happening due to sound cues like dialogue and sounds being made by the "package".

     The "package" is lifted out of a trunk, and dropped (on purpose), none too carefully on the road.  Nothing damaging, but there's a grunt.  There's dialogue, and then there's a single gunshot.  Things go crazy, there's a lot of gunfire and yelling, and then it's quiet.

     Footsteps draw closer, and then the "package" is picked up.  What happened was that a member of the third gang was hiding on a high, rocky ridge, and he shot one of the guys below.  I don't recall if I had one of the gangs thinking they were betrayed by the other, or not.

     Either way, all the meeting gang members are down, and the single guy comes down to retreive the "package" himself.  All the gang members know what the "package" is, and through dialogue, the audience knows that it's a very dangerous person.

     The guy hefts the "package" onto his shoulder and starts walking, then there's another gunshot.  One of the downed men wasn't quite dead, and he shot the guy before finally dying, himself.

     The "package" is then dropped, head-first, onto the pavement, and the person inside blacks out.

     The scene changes to the man, who lives in the house, driving home from his monthy visit to town.  It's getting dark, and he comes upon two cars in the road, surrounded by dead bodies.  He knows they are gang members, and he doesn't really want to get the police involved, so he decides to make all the evidence disappear in a lake a short distance away.

     He's in a bit of a hurry, so he puts the "package" in his own car, to investigate later, at home.  He's pretty sure it's a body, but he doesn't know if it's alive or not, until he sees it make a small movement.

     He drives homes, sets the "package" up in a chair, at his small kitchen table.  He's careful as he unzips the bag to reveal a very gagged female, tied up with ropes and chains.  She watches him cautiously, but expresses no emotions.

     He talks to her, explaining that he is going to ungag her.  She doesn't move as he does, but she says nothing after.  He asks questions about her and her situation, but she says nothing.  He hears her stomache growl fainlty, so he decides he'll prepare her some food, but since she won't communicate with him, he chooses to leave her tied up, just to be on the safe side.

     It takes a little convincing, but she agrees to open her mouth to what he's trying to spoon-feed her.  After the meal, he decides to go ahead and unbind her.  It takes some time, but he finally finishes, and she is free.

     She does not move much beyond what is required, and she maintains her cautious, emotionless, demeanor.  Understanding that she doesn't want to talk, he does not press her for information.  He decides to prepare the couch for her, and tell her that if she desires, she may stay the night at his house.  He goes to bed, and she eventually sleeps.

     The next morning, he awakens to find her preparing a full breakfast for them both.  He talks, but she still remains silent, casually cautious, and emotionless.  But her actions are "polite" and conciderate, to a degree.

     They eat together, not talking.  She cleans up and then leaves the house.  Later that day, she returns.  He's naturally curious, and offers some questions that go unanswered, but he doesn't press the issue.

     They eat, watch tv, sleep, and the next morning, she's making breakfast again.  They eat, she starts to clean up, but he offers to instead.  Suddenly, she quickly turns her head to look out a window.

     He saw and heard nothing, but she exits the house.  He goes to another window to keep track of her, but she leaves his line of sight.  Depsite that, he hears the sound of fighting, and then he sees a man fly into his line of sight.  He stays inside, but moves about the house trying to follow the sounds of periodic fighting.

     A little later, he sees her pulling bodies around and lining them up.  There's about 5 or 6.  She comes back in, takes his car keys, and then leaves.  Later that night, she returns with cuts and bruises.

     He tends to her wounds while they watch tv.  On the news, there's a story about how (insert large number) were found dead, and that all were believed to be gang members.  To the best of the police's knowledge, they were every member of all three gangs.

     He pretty much figures it was her doing, and feels no need to ask about it.  They sleep.

     The next morning, she's making breakfast again, and he notices the bodies outside his house are gone.  He sits down at the table, and the audience see that they have both already fell into a smooth routine.  That's the end.  The rest is left to the imagination of the viewer/reader.