Chapter 42Adelie POVMy body feels much better now as I woke up this morning. Forcing my eyes open about two minutes ago, the blurry figure of Asher welcomes me, and I close my eyes back again.I try to recall what happened yesterday night, but the only thing I could remember was going back home in a cab in the evening after work, and someone covered my face from behind, which made me pass out. After work yesterday, I decided to go home since I had something to pick from the house. Raymond was going to drop me off, but he got a call that his mom collapsed again, so I told him to go ahead and that I would take a cab home. Turned out that I was abducted, but how I ended up here is what I have no idea about."Are you awake?" I quickly recognize the voice to be Asher's, and I snap my eyes open to find him sitting on the chair beside me. Memories of yesterday night came flooding my head, and my heart freeze in my chest as I stare at him. Although I was half asleep yesterday, I can still r
Chapter 43 Cynthia POV Walking down the road with Asher after we left the hospital, I keep glancing at him occasionally, thinking of how to get rid of this dead silence. He hasn't said a word since we left the hospital, and it's already driving me nuts. I understand that he is worried about his sister, but he should at least talk to me, right? "Aren't you supposed to be in the office now?" He suddenly asks as we stop at the side of the road, and I turn to face him. "Hmm. I had to rush down here to check on Adelie. Uhm... Are you okay?" I ask him, and he nods his head. "Yes, I'm fine," He replies to me casually, but I can see through his eyes that he's not fine. Could it be because of what happened to his sister? "Are you hungry? Do you want us to go to a restaurant and get you something to eat?" He suddenly stops and asks me, and I quickly nod my head since I really want to hang out with him. "I think there's a restaurant close by here, I'll check the Google map," He says befor
Chapter 44 Rhea POV I can't believe that I just got recruited into the team of Police and investigators in the city, and the first case I was welcomed with was a murder case. Ever since I was a child, it has always been my dream to become a police officer in the future, and here is the future I have waited so long for. Just yesterday night, we found four dead bodies in the woods along the desert island down in the secluded city of New York, and guess what! They all seemed weird. Three of the victims who were all men, had their blood sucked dry, and the fourth female victim was stabbed. No, she stabbed herself multiple times according to the posture she was found in by the time I and my team arrived at the scene. We rushed them to the hospital that night even though they were already dead. We needed an autopsy report of them, so we can know what exactly happened. The news is everywhere on the internet, and I'm scared of people out there. I feel like the city is no longer safe for
Chapter 45 Rhea POV I drove roughly to the hospital, and thankfully, there was no heavy traffic jam that could've kept me on the road. "Here you are, lieutenant Rhea. There's a problem," Sergeant James says as soon as I barge into our large office, his face holding confusion. "What is the problem, Sir?" I ask him as I walk over to where he's sitting and staring at the desktop in front of him, but the sight only confuses me more. "There are no records of the victims anywhere on the internet. The footage of the crime scene has disappeared, and also the photos we took at the scene," He releases the bombshell to me, and I squint my eyebrows confusingly because I don't seem to understand what he's saying. The last time I checked, the photos and videos were saved in the system for evidence, so how the hell did we lose everything? "What are you saying? Excuse me," I quickly lean forward and start to search all the hidden files in the computer, but everything is empty. There's no trace
Chapter 46 Rhea POV "What happened, Rhea? Like how the hell did it happen?" Ray asks after I narrate everything to him. When I arrived at the hospital earlier, I was shocked to have found out that the mark on the male victims' necks had disappeared, and the injury inflicted on the female victim too. I checked the CCTV footage of the hospital immediately to see if there was someone at the hospital earlier before I came, and I saw nothing. I also asked Dave if anyone came by while he was there, but he said no one. "I don't know. I've been trying to figure out what happened, but nothing is just coming through for me," I hit my hand on the desk slightly in frustration. After I got off work earlier, I went out to the restaurant with Raymond after we went to the hospital to see my mom. "Wow! This is just like a movie, and I'm starting to get confused. How could someone have gone to the hospital, the station, and yet they didn't appear in the CCTV footage?" He mutters as he picks on his
Chapter 47 Adelie POV"What exactly happened to me, Asher? Why did you take me to the hospital?" I ask him when we are having breakfast together in the dining room, causing him to raise his gaze to look at me. "You came back late from work, shivering, and suddenly passed out," He explains to me, and I slowly nod my head, even though I'm feeling a bit difficult to believe this. At least if that happened, I should've been able to remember something, right? "But...I can't remember that happening to me," I further say to him, and he shrugs. "I don't know why. Should you be worried about that now? The doctor already said that you'll be fine if you take your medication the way he prescribed," He utters casually, and I slowly nod my head. I was discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon, and Asher has been strangely nice to me since then. He hasn't tried to flirt with me, which is already alarming. Or has he changed? "He can never change, Adelie. Just snap out of it," My subconsci
Chapter 48 Rhea POV "Are you kidding me?" I shriek after Raymond released the shock to me. He told me that the female victim was his girlfriend in the past. This is crazy. "I'm not," He shrugs, and I scoff. "Why didn't you tell me this all these while?" I ask him, and he rubs his forehead. "Nothing, I just feel..." "And you think it was ok not to tell me? Why did you do that?" I ask him angrily, and he sighs. "We broke up long ago, so I didn't see the reason I should..." "Are you kidding me, Ray? Do you even know the situation at hand now? Who knows, maybe I could've gotten some information from you that will help in the investigation," I cut him off. "What information could you possibly get from me? We dated in college and broke up during the last year in school, and I haven't seen her since then, until some weeks ago at Alex's birthday party," He shrugs, and I sigh briefly. He's right, I can't get any information from him. "I need to get back to work. I'll talk to you late
Chapter 49Cynthia POV"Why don't you just give up on this guy already, Cynthia? You have been calling him nonstop, and he hasn't answered his phone. What is wrong with you?" Nathan groans angrily as he throws himself on the couch, and I sigh briefly. The past three days have been difficult for me since I couldn't speak with Asher. I have tried to call him several times, but he didn't answer his phone, and I haven't seen him. I have dropped messages for him and pleaded with him to forgive me if he is angry about me saying he should introduce me to his sister earlier, but he never replied to any of my messages.'I don't do love, Cynthia. Will you be able to handle that?' his words repeat in my head as I throw myself on the couch frustratingly. He warned me beforehand, but I was so blinded that I couldn't even think straight. I thought I would be able to handle it but turns out that I was mistaken. I can't take this one-sided love, no matter how much I try to endure the pain."Are you e
Chapter 59Adelie froze on the spot and her eyes slowly widened in shock. "What is going on?""Are they not siblings? What in the world is going on?""Don't tell me they've been... Oh, no..." Adelie felt her heart stop beating for a while as those whispers tore through her ear, and when he finally pulled away from her, she staggered back, her face looked pale and shocked like someone that'd just seen a ghost. Maybe it would've felt better if she had seen a ghost, who knows?Just like every other person, Ray watched in shock, still on his knees as he searched for an explanation on her face. It felt like his heart was just stomped on, his chest contracted and his breath hitched. His face was laced with confusion, and like a lost puppy, he stared like that."A... Asher..." Adelie's voice came out in a whisper, and when she looked around the villa, it felt like she should disappear and never come back again. Seeing the expression on their faces, the disgust and confusion were enough to s
Chapter 58The atmosphere was tense for Adelie even though it was fine for every other person at the party. Looking around and making eye contact with Asher every damn time she looked was frustrating. She wanted the ground to open and swallow her at this point. Her heart skipped when she saw him stand up from the chair he has been seated on, and walking in her direction. She wanted to walk away fast so he won't be able to catch up with her, but she couldn't move herself from the spot. It felt like something was holding her down."Baby, are you ok?" Ray's warm hand wrapped around her waist as he came to stand beside her, and she watched Asher halt abruptly, his eyes darkened like someone that'd just seen something that got him angry. What's wrong with him? She asked herself, but quickly dismissed the thought, reminding herself that she had no business with him."Babe..." Ray called again, and she finally turned her gaze to look at him."You've been acting weird. Is everything alright?
Chapter 57It was finally the day for the end-of-the-year party at Adelie's company, but she wasn't having a good feeling about it. Many negative thoughts kept coming to her mind no matter how she tried to shove it off and pretend everything was fine."Uhm... Are you coming to the party?" She couldn't help but ask Asher before she left home earlier, and she prayed that just as he has said earlier that he wasn't sure, he shouldn't come over to the party."We are here, ma'am," her driver's voice pulled her out of her train of thought, and that was when she realized that they were already parked at the parking lot of the villa where the party was going to host. "Thank you," she said to the driver who was already holding the door open for her. She was cladded in a long red gown that had the back sweeping the ground. Her hair was parked in a ponytail with some strands on each side of her face, and her make-up was mild. She took a few seconds to check out the parking lot which already had
Chapter 56Raymond POV"Are you sure about this, Ray?" Rhea asked me as I drive us to the jewel store late in the morning, and I roll my eyes at her."Yes, I'm sure about it," I replied to her, and she sighed briefly."I'm thinking this is too fast, Ray. I mean, you barely know each other, so I don't think it's a good idea to propose to her now. I mean, what if she's not ready for this? Don't you think you should talk to her first secretly before you take it to the party?" She asked worriedly, and I rolled my eyes."Come on, Rhea. You worry too much. If I tell her about it, she won't be surprised. That is why I said it's a surprise. She loves me, and trust me, she will be excited to say yes to marrying me," I assured her, and she sighed briefly."Still, I don't think this is a good idea. I don't have a good feeling about this, Ray," She shook her head, insisting. Well, I wouldn't have brought her here with me to the jewelry store if not that I needed her help in choosing an engagement
Chapter 55Adelie POVLiving in this misery for days has been killing me slowly that I wish I never recalled what happened. As much as I wanted to talk to someone about my troubles, I couldn't bring myself to do it, scared of everything. What if he ended up killing my family? What if I said something and nobody even believes me? He can kill and clear the evidence just like he did the other day, right? What if he... Many questions ran through my mind, and in the end, my fear always had the upper hand in everything. I think I'm going to lose my mind eventually with all this thinking."Are you ok?" I almost jumped out of my body when I heard his voice, and I turned sharply to find him walking into the garden with his hands tucked inside his pockets. He had a deep frown on his face as usual, and just the sight of him was making my heart thump. "Are you still scared of me?" He asked with a smirk dancing on his lips once he was standing in front of me, and I swallowed nothing as I took a s
Chapter 54"It was because of you he broke up with me, Nathan. Why did you say that to him? Why did you have to insult him?" Cynthia yelled at the top of her voice as she grabbed the flower vase and threw it on the floor as it came crashing into pieces."Are you kidding me? I made him break up with you? What does that supposed to mean?" Nathan couldn't help but narrow his eyes at his cousin's foolishness. "Yes. It was all your fault. I fucking told you to stay out of it. I told you that I will handle it by myself, but you decided to ruin everything for me. You are so annoying!" She yelled again. Of course, she knew the truth that Asher never loved her, she knew this was not Nathan's fault, but she couldn't help it. She needed someone to vent her anger on, and Nathan was the only one available at the moment. She knew she was going to regret hurting her cousin's emotions later, but she couldn't even stop to think about that right now."Are you so blind that you didn't see it in his eye
Chapter 53"What did he say when you told him that?" Jessica, Alvira's best friend who was also a vampire, asked as she sipped from the glass of red wine she was holding, or was it blood? Maybe it was the latter. Jessica had outlived many vampires, except Erubas who was still older than her. "He said nothing. He was shocked, and that even got me thinking about negative things. I mean, he said he loves me, right? Why didn't he say anything when I asked him to mate me?" Alvira sighed briefly as she threw herself on the couch, releasing a deep breath. She was scared of losing the man she has spent all her life loving like he was the only man on earth, she was scared of losing him to a mere human. She used to know him so well, but now she was not sure anymore of who he is. She could read him with just a glance before, but that has changed now that she felt drifted away from him."Maybe he wants to figure out some things first. Maybe he needs some time, who knows? Is he doing anything wei
Chapter 52Asher POV"You arrogant jerk! Do you ever love her?" I guess that must be her cousin's voice, and wait a minute! He just called me that?"What did you say?" Turning to face him, I ask to be sure he wasn't referring to me."What are you going to do about it, huh? All you ever did was hurt her. Are you kidding me? Who does that?" He snaps at me like he would hit me anytime soon, but I bet that is one thing he would never want to do because he won't even spend another second here on earth if he dares to lay his hands on me. I mean, does he want to write his death wish?"Stop, Nathan. Just stop!" She turns to him and tries to stop him. Isn't it time I just end this shit once and for all? I mean, I have been doing this all along because she was desperately crazy over me, and not that I ever wanted this relationship."Love? Do I ever love her? No, I never did," I reply to him sarcastically, and I watch as he balls his fists, and wait a minute! Who does he want to use that on? Me?
Chapter 51Asher POVIt's finally the two of us at home after Cynthia left, and I can see the fear in her earlier before she left for her room. As much as I want to go talk to her, I feel like it'll make her feel uncomfortable and scared, so I decided to just take a walk to the garden and clear my head.My phone starts ringing once I arrive at the garden, and I check the caller to see that it's from Alvira. She has been calling me nonstop for days now after the day I left there, but I have been ignoring her calls. I haven't been feeling well lately. I know I should never allow myself feel anything for Adelie, but I think that law has been broken, considering how jealous I feel whenever I see her with Raymond.I watch as the call rings and finally ends after a few seconds. A message pops on the screen after, and I open it. 'Let's talk tonight'. I sigh briefly and slid the phone into my pocket after I read the message."Have I fallen in love with her?" I ask myself the crazy question, b