“I call dibs on the chips!” Lizzy said then, quickly grabbing the basket and pulling it to herself. “Damn, these are good.”
I gave her an annoyed look when she shoved two in her mouth.
After chewing, her face suddenly straightened.
She then glanced at me. “Excuse me for a second, my sister. I think I might have a woman’s problem.”
“TMI,” I said then.
She gave me her favorite finger before standing up and dashing off to the bathroom.
I just smiled, setting my cheek onto the table as I stared at the cracked paint lazily.
“Did you hear…?” someone said from behind us, clearly talking to a store owner.
I sat up slightly, gazing back curiously.
Twilight stood there, making me stare when he and one of the waiters (not Jase), stood there, gritting his teeth.
“Dude, you’re going to be all over the news!” the waiter said. “You gotta fess up!”
My brows drew together.
What?
“Can we not talk about this here?” Twilight said then, sending him a look. “Why don’t we go somewhere… private.”
I blinked hazily, gazing up when they both walked off further into the restaurant… where the door the back alleyway rested.
I couldn’t help myself… curiosity got the best of me.
I stood and followed them, breaths stilling when I shrank behind a wall and pressed my head to it.
“The police are getting leads,” the waiter said.
“It’ll be fine,” Twilight answered, the kindness in his tone replaced with a calmness… a dark calmness.
“What do you mean it will be fine?!” the waiter demanded in a stage-whisper. “She was found! They found her in the river!”
My bones immediately chilled, and I gazed up in horror.
Twilight was silent for too long, and the damaging pain of fear consumed me, bleeding into my bones.
Did he… kill someone?
“I took care of it,” he said then, calmly.
I felt myself turn to ice.
“They’ll find evidence,” the waiter stated.
“They won’t find enough to convict me.”
“And if they do?”
“I’ll play the self-defense tactic.”
“Her body was mutilated and thrown in the river!” the waiter hissed, making my throat constrict. “How could that be self-defense?!”
He did kill someone… Twilight killed a girl.
I started breathing shallowly.
Is he the one? Is he the one stalking me and attempting to kill me?
He wants to hurt me?
Twilight just replied calmly, “I’m taking care of it.”
My eyes widened.
How skilled was he in this? Did he do this often?
But right as my emotions took a tumble, my phone came to life.
A scream of pop music blasted from Lizzy’s ringtone, and I gasped, scrambling it out from my purse as a pair of cold hands slid around my throat tightly.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I then caught it, clicking the “silence” button immediately to quiet it.
I then breathed shallowly.
“Are you going to answer it?” someone said from above me.
I gasped, shooting up immediately to find Twilight smiling down at me.
“Go on,” he said then, smile growing dark and sadistic, “she’s your sister, isn’t she?”
I took deep, shallow breaths, and I forced a smile. “Hi. Sorry, was just looking for the bathroom. And she called.”
His lashes lowered in response.
“Sorry, I gotta take this.” I then clicked answer and pressed the phone to my ear despite the tremors racking through me. “Yello?”
“Hey, sis,” she said then, “don’t know where you went, but… Pierce came in and decided he wanted to go for some coffee. Can you hold out for twenty minutes?”
“Pierce?” I breathed for a moment.
Pierce… Twilight’s friend.
Was he in on this, too?
“Uh, yes…” she said then, “you know… ma boyfriend?”
“Yes, I know,” I said then, feeling Twilight’s eyes searing into me. “Well… go have fun. Make sure to text me every chance you got, okay?”
She giggled. “Okay! You will not regret this. I will buy you a souviner.”
That wasn’t my issue… I just wanted her as far from Twilight as possible right now. And the fact that she had contact with me made me feel a little better that Pierce was with her.
Pierce didn’t see the type to hurt someone… Twilight on the other hand…
I knew he was too nice.
“What did she say?” Twilight asked me.
I gazed up at him, swallowing something hard as his smile raised the hairs on my neck. “Oh… she just went out.”
“Without you?” he questioned.
Shit. I shouldn’t have said that.
“No,” I lied then, desperately searching for lies, “I’m going out, too.”
His smile was darker… more sadistic than playful, which is where he and Jase differed. “Really?”
“Yes,” I said then, forcing a smile as I kept the lie, “Jase is taking me out. You know, the big and scary guy?”
I made sure to emphasize on his build and fear-enduing features so Twilight was less likely to follow and hurt me.
“I don’t see him anywhere,” Twilight stated, glancing around.
“Oh, he’ll be here in about twenty minutes,” I stated then. “Well, it was nice to see you, but I need a coffee desperately, so… I’m going to go.”
I clutched my purse tightly and nodded to him, immediately walking off as calmly as I could.
The moment I made it out the doors, I bolted.
Heart racing, lugs burning, I dashed through the streets at light speed.
Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.
He was a murderer.
Twilight killed someone.
And he showed no remorse what-so-ever.
The cold hands locked themselves around my throat again, clogging my airways as tears burned in my eyes.
But as I ran forward, I entered a small alleyway that was a forced entrance due to the streets switching, and I continued dashing forward.
Until I looked up, and a dark figure submerged from the shadows.
I slowed my run and scrambled to a stop, catching my breath.
Jase stood there, a plastered smile on his face as he eyed me curiously.
I stared at him helplessly, wondering how and when he found me… and how long he’d been tailing me this time.
Was he working with Twilight? No… no, he didn’t seem the type to kill mercilessly like Twilight would’ve.
Jase might’ve been scary, but he was more calculated than I wanted to admit.
“Hello, Emma,” he said casually, “what brings you to this dark alleyway?”
Did he have to add the “dark” there? Was he trying to scare me more?
He just lowered his lashes. “Are you alright?”
No.
“Yes,” I lied then, starting forward, “I need to go.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said then, making me stop.
I then watched him carefully, his dark smile, his black eyes.
He was angry, but not at me, no. The way he looked at me… the way he spoke… a sudden protectiveness.
Something cold consumed me, and I glanced behind him.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said then, sending me a dark grin. “You know very well that I’m faster than you.”
I looked back at him, breaths straining. “What do you want?”
“You know what I want.”
For you to tell me the truth. His words were hinted.
I took a step back then, not liking his daring tone.
Was he about to attack me? Because this was the perfect place.
Dark, secluded, damaged.
I swallowed something hard. “Why are you threatening me?”
“I’m not threatening you, Emma,” he stated then, sounding very serious.
I watched him nervously.
“What happened?” he said then. “You look horrified.”
I wasn’t sure how to answer to that… because there were so many things happening, I couldn’t contemplate my own existence right now.
“You look on the verge of collapsing,” he stated then, eyes still dark. “Are you going to talk to me now?”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said then.
He smiled. “Mmmm.”
“I have questions,” I snapped then.
His smile grew slightly dangerous. “And if I don’t answer, you run?”
Yes.
But I wasn’t going to tell him that.
I knew he was faster than me, but… it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“Do you want to hurt me?” I demanded then.
“No.”
“Do you want to kill me?” I questioned.
His lashes lowered. “That’s the exact same question, Angel.”
“Answer it,” I snapped.
His eyes locked on mine. “No.”
“Then why are you cornering me?!” I hissed.
He never responded, and I just took a step back.
“I’m going home,” I said then, continuing further back despite knowing he was about to rush after me.
As expected, he started to me immediately, eyes glowing dangerously.
I then dashed back the way I came, rushing through the streets before I spun around a car and stopped at the hood.
Jase stopped at the back, clearly knowing what I was doing.
I watched him nervously. “Why are you following me?”
He smiled, not answering.
I knew he was messing with me.
Thinking he saw a weak point due to the question, Jase rushed around the car, but I dashed to the other side and stopped at the back, him at the front.
He gazed up at me, brows arching. “Is this a game?”
“Everything’s games to you,” I replied cynically.
“Not everything.”
He rushed after me then, and I broke into a sprint, dashing down the streets despite knowing he was coming after me a hundred-miles-an-hour.
But I took advantage of his speed and tumbled to the ground, rolling over and catching a stick and landing back on my feet.
Full force, I swung the stick backward and flung it at him, hoping to throw him off course.
And I dashed back forward without seeing what happened.
And almost seconds later, I was forced into another alleyway by the cornered streets, and I continued forward.
But my arm was caught from behind, and I screamed, spinning around and attempting to hit him.
Jase just caught my arm and swung me against a wall.
I gasped when he pinned me to it.
His eyes glowed dangerously. “You were saying?”
“Let me go,” I said then.
“Why were you running?” he pressed then.
“Let me go!”
He just watched me with his dark eyes and slowly backed off.
I landed back onto my feet as if he was holding me on my tiptoes, and he stood at a slight distance, but close enough to catch me if I bolted again.
I just breathed uneasily, rubbing my arm in discomfort.
He caught my hand then, making me snap my gaze up.
He pressed his lips to my knuckles and set the back of my hand on his cheek.
I stilled.
He looked up again. “I’m trying to soothe you. I can set your hand down.”
And for some reason… I didn’t pull away.
And slowly, I shook my head. “It’s okay.”
“What happened at the restaurant?” he said then, his smile gone and replaced with a dark seriousness. “One minute you went in all happy, then next you looked horrified, running out like you were being chased by a killer.”
“Nothing happened,” I said then.
His lashes lowered. “Are you going to continuously lie to me?”
“You’re one to talk.”
“You don’t have to be afraid, here….” He kissed my knuckles again. “Does this help?”
I remained silent, unsure of his motive.
“Tell me what happened,” he whispered. “I… I can help.”
“Why should I?” I demanded. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“I can do anything,” he responded coolly, running his thumb along the back of my hand. “Did you just have a hard conversation? If he hurt you, I can beat him up.”
“N—no,” I said then.
“Was he the one?” Jase said then, pointing to my neck.
I touched the collar of my turtleneck that hid the bandage underneath it… the one that covered the bruise of my attack only days ago.
My lashes lowered. “I told you it was a mugger.”
“And you expect me to believe you?” Jase said then.
I silenced.
He just pecked the back of my hand, then the inside of my wrist, sending shocks of heat through me. “Why did you come out of the restaurant looking so scared?”
“I wasn’t scared,” I stated then, lying through my teeth. “I was just trying to get a coffee. You know… they had this big deal on their pastries, and I didn’t want them to run out before—”
“Emma,” he pressed then, eyes darker than night.
I broke off then, staring at him nervously.
He wasn’t going to leave unless I gave him an honest answer, was he? How did he know if I was telling the truth or not?
“Jase, I have to get home.”
“Emma,” he said again, eyes darkening even more as if he was getting frustrated with me.
I caved then, sighing. “It was Twilight. He said something that scared me.”
“What did he say?” Jase said then, lightly running his lips gently on each knuckle. “You can tell me.” He then looked up. “Nothing can touch you when I’m here.”
Even with his dark undertones… he was good at soothing me.
I tried to ignore the flutters going through me, and still didn’t pull away. “He committed a crime. A… bad one. And he’s trying to cover it up.”
“A crime?” Jase said.
I swallowed something hard but nodded.
“I did warn you about him,” he stated then, pecking my wrist again.
“Like you know.”
He gazed up at me, serious still. “I know everything.”
I watched as he lowered my arm and laced his fingers through mine, raising it again.
He just kissed my hand, once more. “Let’s get you home.”
I stared for a moment. “You aren’t going to question more? What crime he did?”
“I think you need to get home,” he said then, pulling me forward as I stumbled. “Take a nice shower… maybe some deep breaths. You’re shaking heavily.”
“But my sister is out and will come back to get me,” I stated.
“Tell her I’m taking you home.”
“But she’s out with Pierce,” I stated. “What if he does something, too? I don’t want her hurt.”
“Twilight is the issue, not his clingy friend,” Jase stated then, glancing back at me. “I think you just need to rest.”
I stared at him, almost in shock and horror.
Why was he being so nice to me?
“Uh… okay.”
“An hour nap,” Jase said then, “at least, understand?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
After I made sure he’s gone and board all the windows.
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbCs59ctdB
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY54ZiBTvnS
