Revenge

On a sunny Friday afternoon Dr. Dillon, a land a animal scientist, sat in his living room with his cat on his knee. After just coming home from the high school he taught at, he was just

getting comfy in front of the T.V when the phone rang.

“Hello?” he said as he picked it up.

“Hello Dr. Dillon. My name is Veronica Hygate with the A.R.P. Antarctica Research Project. You may have heard about some of our previous Research Projects like C.H.P as in China, R.M.R.P as in Rocky Mountains, and S.N.R.P as in Sierra Nevada. The reason we're calling is because we chose you to complete our next course in Antarctica”

“Uhh..Okay?” he said scratching his graying hair. “Did you just pull my name out of the phone book?”

Veronica laughed right into the phone. “No, no. Remember the science convention last February that you attended? You submitted an application inside our tent. We had Australia, The Rainforest, and Antarctica. You checked the “No Preference” box, so we carefully examined your experience and decided that Antarctica would be best for you.

“Okay, but…” She cut him off. “Thank you for your time Dr. Dillon. For more information, please come in to our offices Friday at 11 am. Grab a pen as I won’t repeat this address. It is 44961 Market Street, San Francisco. I do hope you can make it. Goodbye.” And she hung up the phone.

“Well then” he said to his black and white cat which had now jumped onto the counter next to him “I guess I’m going to San Francisco”.

The next 5 days seemed to crawl by, as the 56 year old did everything in his power to keep himself occupied, but found himself worrying about it more often than not. Finally, when Friday did arrive, he woke up at 5:30 am, and took a shower, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, ignoring his bald spot like he did every morning, dressed in a suit and tie, and left at 6.45 sharp. He stopped by Denny’s, ordered a Grand Slam to go, then hopped in his car, preparing himself for the three ½ hour journey from Sacramento, steering the car with his knees every time he took a bite of food.

When he finally arrived, his jaw almost dropped to the floor. The building was HUGE! It was the biggest building he had ever seen. It was painted the color of the White House and had red rose bushes growing around the entire perimeter. The building seemed to go up for what looked like forever. However he couldn't see the top of the building for every time that he looked, he couldn't help but squint in the sunlight. Window washers were hard at work cleaning the enormous building, and business-looking people were rushing in and out like bees in a beehive. He was jolted out of his trance by a knock at the window of his 1987 Station Wagon. It was security.

He manually cranked the window down to speak the the man with red hair and beard. “Hello” he said. “My name is Henry Dillon. I received a call from Veronica”. The security guard just stared at him blankly. “Hygate” he stated in a burst.

“Right-oh” he said back revealing his heavy Scottish accent. “Just straight on until you hit the fourth left turn. Then it’ll be as easy as findin’ a Holly bush in the middle of a Thistle farm” “Right....”

Henry replied back in a somewhat confused state. “Thanks...I guess” “Not a problem Laddie!” Henry sped off down the lane, his car backfiring three times.

A few minutes later he pulled into a parking space right in front of the building. He looked at the digital clock on his dashboard. It read “10:53”. He straightened his tie, checked his pants and suit for any syrup stains, and combed through his hair with his fingers. He grabbed his briefcase filled with documents from previous experiment he had either worked or assisted on and stepped out of his car into the 67 degree San Francisco weather.

He walked towards the double glass doors and pushed them open. He somewhat stumbled as they were much heavier than he expected. As he entered the building again, his jaw dropped open again. The room was almost as big inside as outside. There were cases of artifacts found in different parts of the world in every corner, pictures and posters of animals lined the walls, cardboard cutouts of scientists that went on the adventures lined the floor next to

the wall, and one even hung from the chandelier, which was shaped like moose antlers. He

finally pulled himself together and clumsily walked up to the front desk.

“Name” the receptionist said blankly, not looking up from filing her nails.

“Henry Dillon” he replied, smiling a little. She sighed and picked up the hot pink nail polish sitting on the counter beside her and the visitor sign in sheet. He stood there, swivelling on his feet. “eh-hum” he said, fake coughing. She didn't move. “Amanda?” he said reading her name tag which was smudged with different shades of nail polish and eyeliner. She sighed again and looked up from her nails.

“What?”

“Do I sign in or what?”

“Who are you here for” Amanda asked.

“Veronica Hygate. I got a call last Tuesday to come in today for the new research project thing”

“Sit down, and I’ll let her know you're here.” She pressed a red button on the desk, then picked up a new color and went back to work, smacking the ringing phone off the table.

Henry walked over and sat on the black leather couch placed up against the only free space on the wall. He then saw a cardboard cut-out that stuck out from the rest. It was all black, with white words on the bottom that read “COMING SOON, HENRY DILLON, ANTARCTICA RESEARCH PROJECT” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his very outdated flip-cell phone to take a picture. But something was blocking his view. It was a woman.

“Hello Henry. I believe we spoke on the phone on Tuesday.”

“Yes, yes we did,” he said after finally realising it was a question. For some reason, Veronica looked vaguely familiar and he felt like he was having déjà vu.

“Please come with me, we have a lot to go over.” Henry stood up, almost tripping over his own feet. He followed her back into a hallway, past Amanda who had now found a third color, and was trying it out on her feet. They walked past what seemed like hundreds of offices. “After a scientist completes one of our missions, we give them an opportunity to start a career here. We give them everything from offices, to lab space, to a trip to the other side of the Earth if needed. If you accept, this can all be yours too. Plus all of your expenses are taken care of while you're away. Now I’m not just talking about the obvious flight ticket and food; I mean that everything that you’re paying here like: cell phone, internet, TV, mortgage, electricity, water, and anything else will be covered by us.” She put up a finger to her lips to silence Henry from talking.

She then pushed open a door to a conference room filled with business people.

“Please, have a seat” a man sitting at the end said. He sat, and after a five hour meeting , he stood up, shook everyone’s hand, walked out the door all the way down the hall past Amanda, who he tried to high five, but ended up smacking the back of her head, marched out to his car, turned on the radio full volume, and began to dance. He had accepted the five year job. He started his car, and began the drive back to his apartment back in Sacramento.

By the time he arrived back, it had been 10 hours since he left. Although he was exhausted, he couldn't sleep. He just kept repeating the words “seven months” in his head, over and over. That was how long until he was launched into action, possibly clearing space for himself in history books.

He kept dozing off all night, and each time he did, he dreamt of seeing his name in countless websites and books, doing hundreds of TV interviews, and flying all around the world meeting exciting people. He had this dream for countless nights, and every morning he woke up the same way: with a smile on his face. The next 6 months flew by for him. It almost seemed like he had gone into hibernation in March and awakened in September. However the last month of his waiting period crawled by like a snail on a 200 lap race course. He tried everything to fill his time when he wasn't working: cleaning, reading, watching TV, walking, sleeping, etc. But nothing seemed to keep him occupied longer than ten minutes.

Finally, the day came. He packed up everything that he would be needing and called Veronica. He told her that everything was ready, and he would be going down to the post office to re-route his mail/bills to the R.P headquarters, and that his stuff was ready to be collected. By the time he returned, everything he wasn't bringing with him had been wrapped in plastic and was being moved into storage. He grabbed his small hand luggage, a large suitcase, his coat and Mustache his cat. He wheeled his cart of 6 boxes of stuff into the hall. He locked his door and stood in the hallway looking at the number “3” painted on his door. He took a mental photo, walked down to his car and drove to the airport motel where he would be staying until his flight tomorrow at 10am.

In the morning he got into the waiting taxi, and called Veronica once more. She didn't answer so he left her a message. “Hi Veronica. Its me...Henry. Im just letting you know that i'm in the taxi now, so you can send someone over to collect my car. Its the Station Wagon. Licence plate 6GR3PJ0. Okay....I'll call you when I land...Okay bye.” Three hours later he was on a non-stop American AIrlines flight to Argentina, then a connecting private plane to Antarctica. After 21 hours of non-stop travel he arrived at his new five year home. After he landed, he was handed a letter from the plane pilot who had just finished unloading his luggage, his 6 boxes of stuff, and his first shipment of food, water, pet supplies, research supplies, daily household necessities and other basic things to survive in a frozen wasteland tundra. The letter read:

“Dear Henry Dillon. Welcome to the Antarctic! Go inside before you get frostbite! You will notice basic things. A lamp, chairs, table, appliances, couch, etc. the rest is up to you. Anything you brought with you is welcome to make this place more home like. If you need anything from your apartment that you weren't able to take on the plane can be delivered to you in one of your shipments whenever you want. In your bedroom, there are supplies you may need for going outside in the cold, so go check them out before going back out. Supplies, food, and water will be supplied by helicopter or plane weekly. The shipments usually arrive on a Monday but if there is a storm coming, we will either:

A: Send two or more weeks of supplies, depending on the situation

B: Deliver the day before or the day after the storm is scheduled to arrive depending on the situation

C: Have another base bring you stuff depending on the situation.

Anything that you have not placed on a continuous order, please write down in an email and send it to us one week before the delivery. Anything later, you will receive it on the SECOND delivery. We do have T.V, 20 channels, and wifi capability. Just as a precautionary measure, please do not let your cat outside alone. It will more than likely wander off and not be able to find its way home in the unknown territory. You may have noticed that you have 12 dogs and a sled outside. They are for traveling around to do research on whatever your assignment may be. The only thing that we ask is that you feed them regularly. The food for them is in the supply closet next to the bathroom. Your first assignment will come in next Thursday! We will be in touch by email, phone, and by Skype. Your assignments will always come in on a Tuesday, and all you have to do is let us know you've finished and you're ready for the next one. Your first assignment won't be given to you for two weeks, just so you have time to adjust to the time change and so you can unpack without the stress of a project waiting. Have fun!

-Veronica Hygate, C.E.O- R.P Incorporated.”

Henry smiled as he put the letter down. He began to unpack placing various personal objects all over the place. Finally after three days of unpacking, he got into his boxes packed to the top with science and research equipment. He just dragged the boxes into the lab under the house until he got a mission. After that, all he had left to do was relax. For the next 11 days all that seemed to happen was he sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and watch TV. He pretty much didn’t get up unless it was to open the door for a delivery. Then finally an assignment came. Dr. Dillon ran into the science lab and started to work. He was so excited, he brought the dog team out to go look at something that was right outside his front door: Snow. He collected vile after vile of it and tested handful after handful of it under the microscope and other science equipment. But since it was such a simple task and he was such an educated person, he was done in 3 days, and then was back to popcorn and the TV.

After that, everything seemed good. He received plenty of missions, got shipments regularly, Skyped Veronica every Wednesday, called plenty of other scientists in other countries, and even was given a Land Rover in one of the bigger shipments. Everything stayed this way for a good 3 out of the 5 years.

But then on March 27, things started to go wrong. Shipments started coming in later and later, and some weeks they didn't come at all. Wifi service only worked on a good day, and the TV service was out. Gas, water and electricity slowly faded, and soon they were only on for an hour a week. He was running dangerously low on food and was completely out of research supplies. On the days that both the internet and electricity were working, Henry sent panicky emails to Veronica, the shipment company, other research bases, the Coast Guard, and even the airport in Argentina. Not one was answered. This charade continued into his fourth year. By that time, he was down to one shipment a month. When he tried to ask the pilot what was going on, he denied not coming more frequently and that the problems would be resolved in “24-48 hours.” A smart way that the pilot found out to avoid arguments and taking Henry back in the plane was to tell him to go inside and get the order form, and while he was inside he flew the plane away. By the end of June, there was nothing.

Finally on June 13th, he snapped. He packed his bag filled with canned emergency food and clothes. Then he picked up his emergency backpack filled with first aid, thermal blankets, a tent, flares, waterproof matches, etc. He wrapped his cat up in a thermal blanket and got on the sled. He instantly began to as he stepped outside. The thermometer read -54 degrees, which was actually warm for what the weather had been recently. “MUSH!” he shouted out. He pulled out his G.P.S tracking unit that was in the emergency pack. The system located all sleds, research bases and automobiles within a 250 mile radius of his current location. A little green light flickered on the display. it showed that there was a research base 104 miles away. “Could be worse...” he muttered under his breath.

He made it for the first 75 miles without any problems. It was the last leg of the journey that was the problem. First, he encountered a near frozen high speed stream. The dogs refused to cross because of the ice chunks that went whizzing by at great speed. The detour around the stream added an additional 46 miles to the trip. Then 2 miles later, the lead dog fell and broke its ankle. Henry had no choice but to pick it up and place it into the sled itself. Mustache kept looking precautionarily at the dog and hissed each time it moved. They continued on for the remainder of the adventure until they were right in the center of the green dot. He checked the G.P.S again. Nothing. He restarted it, and even looked around the snow for a secret trap door or something. Still there was nothing.

Suddenly the G.P.S started flickering and made an awful screeching noise. All of the dogs whimpered and tried to put their paws to their ears. Then a voice started up. Henry picked up the device and looked on the screen. It was Veronica.

“Why hello there Henry. So good to see you again. I got your emails. Its too bad about everything.” Her voice was very demonic sounding and she spoke in short, choppy sentences. “I mean the water, gas, electricity, WIFI, shipments, and TV all going out at the same time...it sounds a little bit suspicious to me.” Henry gasped, realising the truth. “Do you remember back in 9th grade? My name was Nicole back then. People used to call me Brace Face. I was all alone when the Freshmen prom came, so you asked me to go with you. I was so happy that someone was finally talking to me. I couldn't believe it! Well anyway went out all day with my mom and got my hair and nails done and picked out the perfect dress just to impress you. So I begged my mom to rent a car so I didn't have to show up in my crappy old mini van. I stepped out of the car and you're not there. I waited. And waited. And waited. I waited for TWO HOURS!” she was now screaming with rage.

“I went home in tears, and I was so embarrassed with myself and the way I looked that the second I turned 18, I underwent plastic surgery and dental surgery to fix my appearance. I changed my name to Veronica and moved out of the state to start over. But people started calling me crazy when I told them this story. So I hired not one, but six shrinks to fix my obsessive behavior. They diagnosed it as Manic Depressive, Obsessive Compulsive and Stockholm Syndrome. They basically opened my eyes to what the real problem behind all of this was: YOU.”

Henry’s mouth fell open as memories of Veronica flew back into his head. He remembered everything she had said, and then everything fell into place in his head. His stomach was doing loops, and he tried to calm himself down.

“Listen, Veronica. I called your mom that night to tell you that I wasn't going to be there. I had the stomach flu. I even told her that we could go on a makeup date when I felt better!”

“Yea right!” she shot right back at him.

“Now by now you've probably figured it out, but I'll tell you anyway. I rigged this whole thing. I knew you had forgotten me. My dad is the president at NASA, which is how I was able to pull this off. I borrowed $20 million. I hired all these actors to pretend they went to exotic places. I hired real people for security, reception, etc. They had no idea either. I bought a huge office building, and set up a whole science convention, with a tent of researching exotic places that I knew you couldn’t ignore. I bought a bunker in Antarctica and a whole bunch of things to go in. I hired the plane driver to stop sending in shipments and hired someone to shut off all your things, just to kill you. That’s right. Kill you. 39 years ago I was sad: you had broken my heart, but then I transferred that into anger. I wanted you dead. So here you are, trying to go back home like I knew you would, with a fake G.P.S, 450 miles away from another person. You have no food, and no water. You will die in about, uhh, 35 minutes. With the current temperatures, the human body can only take so much before falling unconscious, and it will finally take effect pretty darn soon. So goodbye Dr. Dillon. I hope you had a miserable life.” The G.P.S flickered again, then shut off.

Henry sat back on the sledge. He tried to comprehend what had just happened. He tossed the G.P.S into the snow and laid back. He began to shiver, and as time passed he started to shiver more and more violently. He then slowly began to feel sleepy. He knew that this was it. Henry shoved all the stuff from the slay onto the ground and then completely stretched out in place of it. He closed his eyes.

What seemed like two seconds later he woke up to a man with an orange jump suit on standing over him.

“Hey. HEY! Hes alive! Hey Mark, bring the medical bag back!” A passing snowmobile from a real research project group had passed by, unknown to Veronica. “We called for a medical chopper. It should be here any second.”

Henry looked down and saw that he was now wrapped in a thermal blanket with portable “Instant Hot Pads” placed all over his body. Ten minutes later a medical helicopter arrived, and paramedics pulled him and the animals inside. He was flown to the nearest base which had a mini hospital/infirmary type thing attached to it. There he was treated for hypothermia.

Two days later, he was put on a private coast guard medical plane and flown back to Argentina. From there he took a commercial flight back to San Francisco. He had been told that the police needed to ask him questions about Veronica and the entire fake organization of the “Research Project.” When he touched down on the SFO landing strip, he could barely keep his eyes open. As he walked through the doors from baggage claim, a woman who looked very familiar ran up and flung her arms around him.

“Hello?” Henry said as he pried the strange woman off of him.

“I’m so glad you're alive!” the grey haired woman said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Do I know you?”

“Yes! I live above you, in apartment 5G. When I heard you were leaving for 5 years, I was so disappointed! But then I did some digging around and found out all about who Nicole really was. As it turned out, she hadn't paid any of your bills, and everything had either been shut off, or taken away.” Henry’s stomach sank as he took in the news. The woman with obvious makeup and fake nails continued. “So what I did is I took all of this information to the police, and they gave everything back. They then demanded that any bill that needed being paid was trashed, and all you have to do is continue as if you never left!” She stopped, and looked down at her light green cardigan and jeans.

“....Thank you! Thank you so much!” he said back.

Just then 3 armed policemen came through the terminal door and took Henry away. She shouted after him “I'LL COME OVER ON WEDNESDAY!”

Henry thought about her, trying to figure out what her name was, when finally it came to him in the middle of the police questioning. “ETHEL BROWN!” he shouted out. 56 year old Ethel Brown was the neighbor in 5G. The rest of the questioning went on without anymore outbursts of names. Finally after 5 hours of questioning he was released.

The secretary handed him a paper that told him to appear in court against Veronica Hygate in 2 weeks time. A police car pulled up out front of the police station, and Henry got in. He was driven around the back of the building to the car impound lot. They had managed to track down all of his belongings. The police man handed him the keys then drove off. The car took 4 times to start and backfired countless times on the way back to his apartment.

After the now familiar 3 and a half hour drive back to San Francisco, he was home. He stumbled in the door with his cat at his heels. Only his couch and dresser had been brought back into his house. Henry didn't care and collapsed face down onto the couch. He was so tired that he didn't wake up when a temporary hospital nurse came in to check on him, and she even had to wake him up 2 days later, at 1pm! After the nurse checked all of his vitals and his feet and hands for frostbite scars, she left.

Henry stood up, walked over to the phone, and dialed Ethels number. After an almost 2 hour talk they disconnected, only to meet at the Starbucks under their building 25 minutes later. They talked and laughed, and laughed and talked for the entire rest of the day. They made every Tuesday night and Sunday morning their coffee dates and soon found themselves meeting more than just twice a week.

More than two years passed by without any more incidents or reminders of Veronica or the A.R.P. In fact, only new memories happened like Henry proposing to Ethel, and the dream wedding they had both always imagined. Their lives seemed good for once, and soon they moved to a house together in Downtown San Francisco.

Over 5 years had gone by since Henry’s near death experience. Then one day he woke up to a dream of him and Veronica on prom night. He woke up drenched in sweat and ran downstairs to the phone. He ripped a phone book from the drawer, almost tearing it right out of the wall. He dialed Veronicas number and waited. After only one ring, someone answered.

“Hello Henry. I knew you would call. Don't bother calling the police. I've left the country.” Her voice had turned back into the violent, choppy sentence one that Henry knew all too well. “I escaped from jail. The California jails are so easy to break out of!” He now knew why she never appeared in court that day. She kept talking, but Henry wasn't listening.

He reopened the kitchen drawer and pulled something out, and placed it on the counter. He then brought himself back to the ongoing phone call and cut Veronica off from her ranting.

“I’ll find you. Trust me.”

He placed the phone down so gently that it didn't even click. Henry felt like there was someone else taking control of his mind and body. He felt like he had turned into some evil spirit that needed revenge. He ran his fingers over the item he had pulled out of the drawer until his finger wrapped around the trigger. He walked silently over to the closet and pulled out a black backpack. He placed the gun inside, along with his wallet and car keys and cell phone.
“Honey. I’m going out for a while.” he called up the stairs. He then pulled open the front door, slammed it behind him, and disappeared into the San Francisco night.