I had known that I could not keep this huge problem from Harrison any longer. My heart was heavy with worry, and the weight of the truth had become too much to bear. Hours of scouring over the surveillance footage, that I had on my phone, had made it impossible to ignore the truth any longer. Amy and Poppy had been taken, and I needed Harrison's help more than ever..One evening, when we were both in the penthouse, I mustered the courage to speak. The tension in the room was palpable as I sat down next to Harrison on the plush sofa, the images from the security cameras fresh in my mind. I took a deep breath, my voice quivering.."Harrison, we need to talk," I began, my eyes searching his for any sign of understanding. "I have seen something in the security footage, something that I can't ignore any longer."Harrison turned to me, his usual calm demeanor replaced by a furrowed brow and a sense of urgency. ."What is it, Aria? You look so troubled. Tell me what you've found.".I nodd
Before the whole abduction, life at the apartment with Amy had been a whirlwind of exciting activities. Amy's laughter, sometimes accompanied by the sound of joyous singing, almost always filled the air. But after that damned particular day, the atmosphere felt very heavy and sad. I found myself lingering in the living room, my phone in hand as I texted Noah. The apartment, once filled with life and excitement, now seemed unnervingly silent..As I sipped my tea, the warmth failed to chase away the chill that had settled in my heart. I could not help but wonder about Amy's whereabouts and safety. It was hard not to let the worry consume my thoughts, like a shadow lurking at the edge of my consciousness. The absence of my daughter's vibrant presence was a stark contrast to the lively environment we had both cherished..Meanwhile, Harrison had gone out to gather more information about Amy's abduction, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I was deep in contemplation, my face buried in palm
I fixed my gaze on the stuffed toy from a distance. Could it be possessed? Had it somehow come to life? No, that couldn't be right. I slapped my hands over my face, blocking out the irrational thoughts that swirled in my mind. I had to think clearly, to conquer my fears-for my daughter's sake. With a deep breath, I lowered my hands. If the toy were truly alive, it would have made a move by now. In a worst-case scenario, it might have attacked me already. But there it lay, unmoving on the wooden parquet floor of Amy's bedroom..The realization hit me, and I couldn't afford to dwell on fantastical notions. I needed to act, to protect my daughter, the most precious part of my life. I couldn't allow fear to paralyze me. Slowly, I inched closer to the plush toy, my eyes never leaving it. The eerie light still emanated from its eyes, a constant reminder of its sinister nature..Cautiously, I reached out and picked up the stuffed toy. It was soft to the touch, just like any other plush, but
Harrison's POVI woke up today feeling lightheaded, my mind heavy from the night's restless hours spent scouring the internet for any lead, any tiny hint that could unravel the cryptic messages we had discovered in the cursed otter plush. The urgency gnawed at my every brain cell, propelling my fingers to rush across the keyboard as I opened numerous tabs, diving into the depths of the web in search of answers.News articles, forum discussions, investigative reports—all became my hunting grounds. I had to rule out the darkest possibilities. Nasty people abduct children for plenty of reasons, such as forcing bribes, or replacements for said people's dead children. Amongst all the reasons, there was one reason which I dreaded most. It was child trafficking. I prayed continuously that it was not the path that we had to tread. I could not even imagine it for one second.Frustration pushed me deeper, further, and I kept my focus on the screen, my heart a relentless metronome in the backgrou
I took off from the apartment to walk to the subway station, as Harry could not pick me up at the moment. He offered his driver to pick me up, but I declined because his driver could be somewhere else doing more important things and running errands rather than driving me around. .I was carrying the cryptic note that was written on a piece of small paper. I rolled it into a very small piece so that I could put it in my pocket safely without it getting ripped or torn apart. .I was feeling kind of queasy and a tad bit grossed out when I remembered that it used to be crumpled up inside the cloth along with the little otter corpse, and with the yellowing rotten teeth. Gross. Oh my goodness. Just thinking about it made me want to vomit out things this instance..I actually could have just sent the picture to Harrison, but I thought that I would not be able to bear the curiousity of deciphering the handwritten cryptic letters on the piece of paper. I was wondering about what it could mea
I was sitting inside the limousine that Harrison led me into. He sat right on one of the seats, and gestured me to sit right next to him. I was literally amazed by the sight of the limousine's interior. To be honest, I have never been inside a car that was designed to be this fancy. Sure, during my days as a callgirl, I used to be picked up with cars of different brands, shapes, and sizes. None of the men who booked me was this rich though. None of them was as rich as Harrison. None of them could compete with the Bonavich's family. .I was staring at the interiors. The seats were made out of luxurious leather. Just one touch and a quick stroke of the seats, then I could sense just how expensive the material is. The seat inside of the limousine was only built on one side. The other side of the limo were built-in racks that consisted of glasses, particularly tall wine glasses, and few sorts and different kinds of alcoholic drinks. I examined them one by one. Wow. Only one of them migh
After our rejuvenating salon experience, we headed to Harrison's car garage. As we drove, I couldn't help but wonder about the sheer number of assets the Bonavichs family possessed. It seemed that their wealth was truly boundless. The driver navigated the car expertly, ensuring a quick yet comfortable journey.Upon arriving at the car garage, I was left in awe. My jaw practically dropped as I gazed at the array of vehicles before me. It wasn't just a few cars; there were a total of thirty cars parked inside there, all of them from ordinary brands. But the prices of all them accumulated were no joke. Harrison explained that this was a business venture he had started independently because of his deep love for cars. He decided to specialize in buying and selling family cars from low-budget brands. It was clear that his passion for automobiles extended beyond mere ownership.I followed Harrison as we explored the garage. Each car had its own unique charm and character. Some were compact a
Kanika's POV -I was up quite late in the afternoon, because I was busy being up all night doing some commissions for a special client. The client claimed that if I could accomplish the commission with less than two revisions, he would give a bonus which was five times the price of the commission. I mean, like, who would not want that? It was a huge amount of money, if you thought about it. It was worth like six months of my usual income. A salary worth of half the year. Isn't that crazy?.So, I wanted to make the client as satisfied as possible with the results of my drawing. I started staying up late, even much later than usual. I would go to bed at 1 AM sometime. For this special client, though, I am ready to go to huge measures for them. I slept at 4 AM last night, um, last morning? Last dawn? Eh. Whatever. That was why I woke up very late in the afternoon. I always get so worked up at night. After the sun sets, that is the time when the huge waves of inspiration start to flood
I opened my eyes slowly, and the first thing that went inside my eyes were the sharp jabs of light coming from the ceiling of my hospital room. Oh. Huh. How long have I been sleeping? All I remembered was one of the nurses coming in to give me my daily dose of medicine, which I have to take in full doses every morning and afternoon. There were three types of medicines, but I did not know their names exactly. .All I knew was that one of them had a function of preventing the possible infections that were happening inside of my body which could be the results of my external wounds. The second one had the effect of keeping my blood articulation to flow smoothly without any disturbances. Aside from external wounds, I also had some internal wounds. The doctor once said to me during one of the examination sessions that there were some blood clotting at the areas of my internal wounds. I should be taking these prescribed pills, which I totally forgot the name of, to help reduce the clotting
I have gotten a call from Noah last night. He said that he had gotten more clues for the search of Amy. Phoebe and Kanika had joined together with Noah and kept updating one another with informations about Amy. It was also last night when I finally realized that Phoebe and Kanika used to be friends in high school because they both were born and grew up in this city. They caught up with each other through Noah. Noah initially called Phoebe up for help. I have introduced Noah to Kanika too beforehand, when he had some issues with his computer network or something that one time. I took Kanika to his apartment to help him with his computer issues. That time, Kanika popped into my mind because she was so brilliant with electronic and IT stuffs, which I truthfully had zero information about. .They got along very well that time, I thought that there was a spark going on between them. Then I realized that Kanika is more of that independent woman type of girl. Kanika is also very very serious
Noah's POV -.When I tried to gain access to the building along with Kanika and Phoebe, the security tried to stop us several times before. They even warned us that if we tried to enter once more, they would consider it security breach and they might call the other securities and even polices for backup. Hell. Why are they making it so hard for us to just get inside the building? There must be something really really suspicious about this whole situation. I never actually liked the way the security communicated with us the whole time too. His tone and his voice were really hostile and intimidating. It was as if he was trying to make us feel scared or something like that. Sheesh. I know he was only making up the whole expression, because why would anyone act like that in a daily basis? He might caught a hypertension issue in the near future, surely enough, if he could not manage his anger properly. .Actually, I could have gone into full on brawl mode. I needed back up though, and at
Noah's POV -.When I tried to gain access to the building along with Kanika and Phoebe, the security tried to stop us several times before. They even warned us that if we tried to enter once more, they would consider it security breach and they might call the other securities and even polices for backup. Hell. Why are they making it so hard for us to just get inside the building? There must be something really really suspicious about this whole situation. I never actually liked the way the security communicated with us the whole time too. His tone and his voice were really hostile and intimidating. It was as if he was trying to make us feel scared or something like that. Sheesh. I know he was only making up the whole expression, because why would anyone act like that in a daily basis? He might caught a hypertension issue in the near future, surely enough, if he could not manage his anger properly. .Actually, I could have gone into full on brawl mode. I needed back up though, and at
I have gotten a call from Noah last night. He said that he had gotten more clues for the search of Amy. Phoebe and Kanika had joined together with Noah and kept updating one another with informations about Amy. It was also last night when I finally realized that Phoebe and Kanika used to be friends in high school because they both were born and grew up in this city. They caught up with each other through Noah. Noah initially called Phoebe up for help. I have introduced Noah to Kanika too beforehand, when he had some issues with his computer network or something that one time. I took Kanika to his apartment to help him with his computer issues. That time, Kanika popped into my mind because she was so brilliant with electronic and IT stuffs, which I truthfully had zero information about. .They got along very well that time, I thought that there was a spark going on between them. Then I realized that Kanika is more of that independent woman type of girl. Kanika is also very very serious
When Noah finally set off to help me search for my daughter, Amy, I finally got some more peace of mind. Not because of the fact that Noah was no longer here, nope. Him not being here made me feel much lonelier than I used to be, because I usually have somebody to talk to and make jokes about. .I felt more peace because even though I was laid down on the hospital bed, the search for my daughter was still going to show some more progress. Harrison also often visited me then on, even though he had to be on a wheelchair. He told me that his broken bones had finally settled, though not fully and completely healed yet, but his doctors said he was allowed to go around the hospital in a wheelchair. .The doctors told him that it was necessary for his healing process, because Harrison had told the doctors that he wouldn't want to be confined in a room for any much longer. What was pretty suprising to me was that he had a nurse that personally cared and tended for his needs. The personally a
Today, when I woke up, Noah was not there beside me to accompany me as he usually did. He told me he needed to run some errands so he would not be accompanying me in the hospital room for today. But he would be here probably for the night, he was afraid that I might need anything but I could not do it myself. Sure, the nurses here could assist me, but most of them would not come if it were not for some urgent matters, I don't know why. The way they treated me and the way they treated Harrison was very, very much different. .Well, the situation and condition have spoken for itself really. Harrison is the youngest son of one of the conglomerate family in this town, whereas I am only an ordinary girl and nobody even knew who I was before the accident with Harrison. .Heck, they don't even know who I actually am probably. They only knew me as the girl, who was with Harrison, sitting inside the car along with him during the incident. When I think about it fully and thoroughly, I understa
After experiencing the dream that was very surreal, I was suddenly transported back into the reality that I was living in. It felt exactly like my soul was sucked headfirst into my sleeping body. For a while there, before feeling like getting slapped into reality again, I could see my body lying very quietly and serenely on the hospital bed. I could see that my face was filled with such a very sad and worried expression. I really could not figure out whether it was a dream or not. All I knew was that the dream was very surreal but it also felt like some kind of thing that came from reality. .If you have ever heard about astral projection, where your soul technically leaves your body and travelled somewhere far away. Travelling to somewhere in the past or probably in to the future. During astral projection, your body could go anywhere that it pleaded to go to. Sometimes, it could be places that you never even knew existed, but other times it could be places that were familiar and dear
I opened my eyes to find myself in a totally dark room. Some parts of me felt like I knew where I was but somehow it felt all unfamiliar. It is also surreal but also felt so real. I recognized the room which looks like that the one bedroom that I always had since my childhood, the one that I always shared with my older siblings and also my younger siblings, both sisters and brothers as well. But when I tried to look around the darkness and no matter how much I try to make out what's in the dark, I could not find anybody there. Not even a soul..The more I think about it, the more I realize that it was like a fever dream. You know those kinds of dreams where you felt like you know that you were dreaming but it all still feel very very realistic somehow. No matter how much I tried to open my eyes and wake up, I could never seem to do it. Trying to wake up already tire me so much, so I tried to navigate my dreams instead..I got up from my old rickety bed, but you're always made that sa