LESLIE'S POVI open the door and Cole stands there, a smug look on his face. “Cole? What are you doing here?” Cole ignores my question and steps close to me with barely an inch separating us and then he smirks. “I knew it! Your eyes are red and puffy. You cried!” I scowl at his childish antics,
KIAN’S POVI’m falling deep into a dark abyss. It seems endless, taking forever to let the darkness swallow me whole. I’m reaching out but there’s no one to pull me up and nothing to hold on to. Just when I am about to get swallowed into the abyss, I jerk awake. It’s the same dream, again. I am at
KIAN'S POVI give it a few seconds before I follow, making sure I am also not being followed and once I’m sure we’re alone in the area, I walk into the restroom and trap him before he can get an understanding of what’s going on. He sights me through the mirror in front of one of the basins and spi
KIAN’S POV*THREE YEARS AGO* (Same timeline as Leslie’s journal entries)Where did it all go wrong? I’ll start this way; there is only a thin line between wealth and poverty and everyday, we toe that line never knowing when we might fall in or out of one. When either of that happens, the number of
The legal fees and penalties mounted, and I had no choice but to pay them. I finally managed to clear the company's name after three months but it left a devastating effect on the company, straining both the company’s finances and my personal one by extension. News of the company’s legal issues wit
LESLIE’S POVI only visit the company when it is absolutely necessary and that doesn’t even happen very often. Cole has tried and failed many times to get me to visit and stay even for a few hours and so his surprise when he sees me walk into his office isn’t unexpected. “Am I dreaming?” He says, r
LESLIE’S POV Cole’s car weaves through the traffic and I don’t take my eyes off it, not even for a second. I’ve been following the car for about ten minutes, not sure where it’s headed but determined to see it to the end. Cole is everything but impulsive. He never does anything without thinking a
KIAN’S POV Something stood out about the Faceless brand and no, it wasn’t the fact there wasn’t any other business willing to buy my bankrupt company or the fact that I had no choice but to settle for anything at that point. No, it wasn’t any of that. It was the designs. I had stumbled upon the b
LESLIE’S POV I join Kian’s mother outside the room, closing the door behind me. She is still stewing in anger, face red with rage that’s waiting to be unleashed. Usually, I would do anything to pacify her so I wouldn't be at the receiving end of that unbridled rage. Now? Irritation is all I feel at
LESLIE’S POV (One Week Later) “If the police show up again, spray them in the face with the fire extinguisher or something.” Cole’s irritated voice filters through my phone’s speaker and it makes me crack a smile for the first time in a week. “Pretty sure I would get arrested for that.” “Not
LESLIE’S POV My reflexes work faster than they ever have. Fast enough to help me roll away, and bump into Beverly in the process. Mike relentlessly stalks towards me and that’s when I get a good look at his affected leg. I time his movement and before he can take another angry swing of his weapon
LESLIE’S POV Seconds after Beverly crumples to the ground, my breath is still caught in my throat. I’m still trembling as I watch her sprawled on the floor, body jerking uncontrollably. I’m amazed at my strength to still remain standing despite the traumatising scene in front of me. To still grip t
LESLIE’S POV Our hearts are already in our mouths before we see what jumped at us—a ginormous rat, every bit as scared as us. It runs at full speed and scurries into the nearby bush. “All clear.” She mutters and we both step into the shed using her phone’s flashlight. It’s a full shed; a bunch of
LESLIE’S POV We’re barely two minutes away from the abandoned school gate when the engine starts to sputter, the entire truck shaking with the intensity. “No…no…no…no, not now!” Beverly lets out a panicked groan. I am preoccupied with looking behind us to make sure we’re not being followed but at
LESLIE’S POV Kian doesn’t know it—the name of Mike’s sister. I can tell from the way his entire face has gone even paler than it was before. Earlier, it had been pale from the pain of the injuries from the accident that I still don’t know the extent of. Now, he has turned ashen from something m
LESLIE’S POV The sound of my name reaches me from somewhere distant. The sound is repeated just like the throbbing ache in my head. When I finally manage to pry open my eyes, the feeling of deja vu washes over me. My hands and legs are bound tightly just like three years ago in that warehouse.
BEVERLY’S POV The familiar beeping sound that comes from my phone causes me to jerk upright. My eyes train on the screen, following the movement of a blinking red dot on the map. He’s on the move. I slam a couple of bills on the coffee table before hurrying out of the cafe where I had been havi