VII.

ALESSANDRA

“No, I’ll come. I’m just leaving in ten minutes!” I used my voice low, looking down at Ara, who was sleeping, while her head was resting in my lap. 

After my work was done, she asked me to stay with her because she was all alone in her home. Her mother goes out to work and her father is no more. Her elder brother is a soldier in the army. Her mom comes nearly ten at night and that is why she wanted me to stay over at her place. 

After talking about Nate, who betrayed her, she kept crying and at last, slept like a baby. 

“No, sweetie, you should stay there. It’s already late at night.” She tried to convince me but there is no way I am letting her stay alone. 

“Mom, please! Don’t act like a child. You know I don’t want to leave you alone.” 

“And I don’t want you to travel at night.” She protested in my tone. 

“I will! And I’m coming, okay? You don’t have to wait for me. Sleep, because I’ve spare keys, okay? I’ll manage everything.” And without listening to her answer, I disconnected the line. 

Just then, the doorbell rang and I gently removed Ara’s head from my lap. I laid her down before covering her with the blanket and then walked ahead to open the door. 

“Hey, thank you so much for staying with Ara, Allie,” she said as soon as I opened the door. She even hugged me slightly to show her gratitude. 

“No big deal, aunt.” I smiled, pulling myself back. 

“Where’s she?” She asked, stepping inside and I closed the door before following her. 

“Sleeping. She cried a lot.” I sighed and then we entered her room. She walked over to Ara’s bed and then kissed her forehead. 

“Thanks for taking care of her. You know she does stupid things when she’s alone.” I nodded when I understood what she meant. She indirectly remembered the moment Ara tried to commit suicide when her father was no more. She was alone at that time. And it was not the end of her stupid doings. She was deeply shaken by the news. Memories of her father always haunted her because he died in front of her. He was sick. Ara, who could not bear how her dad left them in front of her, started missing him badly. She even hallucinated that her father was with her—smiling at her, calling her and kissing her cheek. And when she realized that they were just her imagination, she tried to commit suicide so she could also meet her father as soon as possible. 

Somehow, after some therapies, she succeeded in overcoming that trauma. 

Whenever I see her smiling and chirping like a bird, I forget completely about her past. She does not look like a sick girl who tried to do many horrible things in her past. Someone said right that the most smiling person hides the huge grief behind it. 

“It’s okay, aunt. I’m always there for her.” I could not help but smile. She smiled back. “I should leave now.” I say hurriedly once I realize I can leave. 

“You can stay over here, honey.” 

“I appreciate that, aunt, but you know mom is alone there.” 

“Oh yeah.” She nodded in understanding. “Lemme walk you to the door.” She got up from the bed and I also took my bag with my mobile. She walks ahead and I follow her. Reaching the door, she opens it and I step out. 

“Thank you,” I say humbly and she nods. 

“Take care.” I nodded before walking towards the elevator. The door opens in no time and I step inside. I wait for it to stop and once it is confirmed that I am on the ground floor, I come out and go to my car. 

Going inside, I start the car and drive it home. I am relaxed now. Mom does not have to wait for much longer. I will be with her in no time. 

The car runs smoothly on the serene road and no sound comes to me as it is peaceful. Wow. City sounds so good when it is silent. In the afternoon, the noise dances on these streets. 

After driving the car for a while, I suddenly have to apply the brakes because then my eyes fall on a man standing in front of me. He is far away from me and I could not see anything clearly because of the orange light scattered on the road. But seeing that person, I do not know why I was very suspicious. I drove the car at a slight speed until I reached him. There was still a bit of a difference between us. 

He was bent over and he was wearing black clothes. Both his hands were on his chest and stomach which were clinging. And seeing all this my doubts increase. 

I stop my car at a distance and on closer look at the person I can see that blood is pouring out of his stomach. 

I gasp loudly and immediately open the door of my car. The man is bleeding and he needs help! 

Without closing the car door, I ran to that man. He has now fallen on his knees on the ground after giving up and I see his hot blood spreading on the road. 

“Hey! Hey! Do you hear me?” I immediately hold onto his shoulders and fortunately he looks up at me. 

My eyes widen when I recognise the face. 

Nate! 

“P-Please save me.” He pleaded, clutching my arm and squeezing it gently. I notice his one eye is closed as it is looking dark purple as if someone has punched him badly. 

“C-Come with me.” I put his one arm on my shoulder and tried to pull him with me after resting my one hand on his waist. He uses his legs but as he is not in a good condition, I have to bear his weight more than him.

The moment I reached my car and was about to put him inside, he gasped, earning my attention. I looked up at him and saw his eyes widening in horror. 

My eyes followed his sight and I looked behind me. At some distance I saw a man standing whose face was not clearly visible at all. His face was completely black but seeing his height and physical appearance, I understood that he is a man. 

But why was Nate afraid of him? I questioned myself and the next moment, his lips trembled when he murmured, “Please… s-save me… he’ll… he’ll kill me.” 

So that man wanted to kill Nate!

As my brain worked, I immediately made him sit inside the car and looked back at the man. He was still so far but then he started taking long strides towards us. 

I hurriedly caught the other side and slid inside. I started the car and put it on automatic mode while I fastened Nate’s seatbelt. When I glanced at the side mirror, I saw the man standing at some distance. Both of his hands were behind his back and one of them came out when he waved his hand to us as if saying goodbye. 

What the fuck! 

I got on my seat and then handled the steering wheel.

“Take it. Press it gently against the wound, Nate.” I gave him my scarf which was neat. He stretched his hand to hold it but groaned while having problems holding it. 

I focused back on the road while I started thinking about this all. Nate’s condition. That man and then how he let us leave at that time. He did not even try to stop us. 

“Take deep breaths,” I instructed him when I noticed his eyelids getting heavy. It gets difficult when an injured person closes his eyes. Hopes start to lose because of this. 

He nodded and got busy breathing deeply. 

Soon we reached the hospital where I took some workers’ help to get Nate into the hospital. Registering him, the doctors take him inside to operate on him while I wait outside the room. 

At last, breathing peacefully, I sit on the bench. At last he will be saved. Nobody is going to kill him. But who was he? A killer? 

A killer… and I gaped the moment when realization hit me hard. 

“He was the serial killer!” I almost gasped. Getting up, I immediately rushed to the door of Nate’s operating room. The doctors were working on him. 

Stepping back, I pulled my mobile from the pocket of my pants. I dialed mom’s number and fortunately she answered me. 

“Where are you? Have you stayed at Arabella’s house?” 

I shake my head as if she is watching me, but I answer her nonetheless, “No, mom. I was just coming when I got Nate on the way. He was injured.” 

I heard her gasping over the phone. “Oh my god, what happened to him!” Yeah, she knows about Ara’s cheater ex-boyfriend. 

“Excuse me.” A voice interrupted me from behind. I turned and found a doctor. It was then I realized I was standing on the door. 

“Sorry.” I mutter and move aside, giving him some way to leave. He left the room and a nurse followed him. I watched them leave and then sat on the bench. 

“Allie?” She voiced out. 

“Oh, I’m sorry… so where was I—ha! The serial killer injured him so I brought him to the hospital.” 

“Serial killer? Oh no! How are you? Did he do anything to you? How did you save him from that killer? Did he hit you, sweetie?” 

“No, mom, I’m fine. He was standing at some distance so couldn’t catch us.” 

She phewd. “Thank God, you’re alright, I’m grateful to Him.” She sounded satisfied now. I smiled looking down. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a pair of shoes walking towards Nate’s room. I did not look up as I noticed he was one of the doctors. 

“Should I come to you? Tell me the hospital—,” and I interrupted her, “No, mom. I’m just leaving in a few minutes. Talk to you later. Take care.” 

“You too.” And I disconnected the line. I pushed the mobile in my pants’ pocket and sighed after leaning backwards. 

When I opened my eyes, I saw a nurse in front of me. She was holding a board with a pen. 

“Please sign the papers, ma’am and mention your relationship with Mr Vincent.” She handed me the sheetboard. 

I nodded. “I’m his friend, is that okay?” 

“Sure, ma’am.” 

Signing the papers, I then got up to call Nate’s brother. Thanks to Arabella, I knew Nate’s older brother. We all met at a coffee shop where Nate’s brother exchanged numbers with me. 

The mobile started ringing and pressing the screen against my ear, I walked in front of his room and peeked inside through the window. 

Looking inside, my eyes were torn apart when I saw the condition of Nate lying on the bed. The white sheet which he had kept on his stomach, covering his lower region, had turned red. Crimson red. 

“Hi Allie, how did—,” and the mobile slipped down from my hand as I clasped my mouth with my palms. I could not believe it. The shock made me step back because the impact was horrible. 

“Ma’am, what happened?” The nurse immediately holds onto my shoulders, shaking them slightly. But I was completely shocked that I was not able to react anymore. 

“N-Nate…” I could only whisper his name. She frowned and then turned to check inside the room. 

She flinched and hurriedly rushed to call the doctors. I, who still was not able to believe it, could not help but look in the direction from where the doctor was coming. 

He gave me a confused look before going inside. I too followed him, completely ignoring my mobile, which was lying on the floor while the call with Nathaniel was still connected. 

“What! How! Didn’t you check his room?” 

“I-I dunno, sir!” 

“The fuck! Are you crazy? That was your responsibility!” 

“S-Sorry, sir.” 

I heard the male yelling at the nurse while she started sobbing and asking for his apologies. 

Not knowing this, tears started flowing from my eyes. Was Nate really murdered? I still could not believe it. After all, how is this possible? 

The doctor came out and asked about Nate. He said he will call the cops to investigate this matter while I could not answer him. 

Only Nate was in my mind. 

And then my mobile rang. I looked on the ground, finding my vibrating mobile. 

I quickly clutched my mobile but when I found it was Nathaniel, who was calling me, my body got numb all of a sudden. How would I be able to tell him about this all? 

“Please answer the call, ma’am. It disturbs everybody here. The situation is already bad.” The nurse bowed slightly before leaving. 

With my shaking hand, I answered the call. 

“Allie! What happened? And where are you? Are you alright?” Nathaniel asked with concern and there I was feeling my throat jamming slowly. 

Answering him is going to be more difficult then. 

“ALLIE!” I flinched when I heard his loud voice. 

“Y-yeah?”

“I’m talking to you! Please tell me, are you okay? Where are you? You don’t seem—,” and I decided to interrupt him even though my throat was blocking, preventing me from speaking. 

“Nate is murdered, Nathaniel!” I said straight, waiting for his answer. Silence spread over the call and the next, he gasped, “Wh-what?”