34. Headway
Author: SimplyBee
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56

“The only pictures worth making are the ones that are playing with fire.”

~ Billy Wilder

Isabella walked into the forensic department of the police force with renewed zeal and focus. She moved with a strong and firm desire to catch the arsonist. After hitting a head block for weeks, she was hoping for a miracle.

She has left the hospital after Johan had woken up and even though she had seen him briefly, they had not spoken to each other. What was she supposed to say, ' hey, I’m sorry for not backing you up', ' I’m sorry you got hurt while I was being a mess', ' I’m your partner and I suck'.

She sighed, pushing the doors to the lab where the evidence from the crime scene was being analyzed. She spotted Hayden before he saw her.

“ Hey” Hayden called with a wave.

She went to stand next to him, looking through the transparent glass separating them from the lab.

“ hey, what’s the news.?” She asked Hayden.

The man flicked his gaze briefly to her before he sighed.

“ you know
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  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   1. In the beginning (1)

    The man rushed into the house, heading straight for his bedroom. They had to leave the house right now. He had to take his family somewhere safe. He burst into his room startling his wife who was laying down on the bed tutoring his son, their son, Mikael. He paused looking at both of them and for the first time since he overheard the unsettling conversation between mouse and the unidentified man, he felt the reality of the situation. He had a family- a pregnant wife and a son. If what he heard was really true, then they were already coming for him. His resolve was set, they had to leave the house right now.“Honey, what’s wrong?, You startled me!”, his wife exclaimed after seeing his disheveled state. She placed her right hand to her chest, using her left hand to gently rub her stomach.He shook his head at her, a sign that this was not for their son’s ears. He was sure that she got the message clearly. Johan flicked his gaze briefly to his son before facing her again, “Park everyt

  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   2. In the beginning (2)

    “Momma, where are we going?”, Mikael asked from the back seat.Lisa closed her eyes tightly to stop the pool of tears that was threatening to flow out, her heart very heavy and not being able to respond to her son. She brought a hand to her mouth to suppress the cry that wanted to escape her lips.Johan saw his wife struggling to reply, “we are going to see the Lion guard, you love it right?, it’s your favorite”, he replied staring at his son through the rear mirror. The boy looked excited at the mention of his favorite movie.“Yay!” , Mikael squealed clapping his hands in excitement.Johan’s lips curved upwards in a sad smile. For the sake of his son and his pregnant wife, he prayed that they were safe.They drove for minutes in silence and he thought that Mikael was already asleep until he heard the boy’s voice.“when are we getting there daddy?”, Mikael enquired.They have been driving for long and it takes a lesser time to get to the movies, his son knew that and that was why he wa

  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   3. In the beginning (3)

    Johan tried to pry his door open but it was stuck. His wife’s side was already crushed in by the truck so that was not an option. The only door that had a chance of opening was the door by his son’s side. He looked between his wife and son and thought of who to carry out first.Carrying his wife out first, was going to take a lot’ of time before he could return to his son but carrying Mikael out first would give him the chance to focus on her when he came back.The area they were in were residential areas where people lived in tall buildings that they call apartment, so no body was going to hear them and the road was empty except for his car. The car that was following them was no longer behind them.Johan climbed into the back seat opening the door. He sighed when the door opened. Johan unstrapped Mikael from his car seat and slightly shook him to see if he was going to wake up. Beside Mikael at the back seat were the broken vials, the truck had crushed the vials during the accident

  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   4. Johan reads the crime scene

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  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   5. Overwhelmed by the darkness

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  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   6. A warm shower

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  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   7. The offer

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  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   8. A visit to the orphanage

    Lucas had texted him the time and place for the meeting that evening, but before then, he decided to visit the orphanage. It had been a long time since he came to see them, he had been so busy with cases and he knew that if he didn’t come to see them now , then it would be when the case was resolved which he didn’t know when.Johan gently climbed the stairs leading to the front door and when he got in front of the large door, he pressed the bell and waited for the door to be answered.It didn’t take long for someone to open the door. The happiness of seeing him was evident in their eyes.“ my boy…”, sister Marge said, opening her arms and pulling him into a hug. Johan allowed her embrace him even though it was making him see some of her memories, especially the one he would always see, that had him in it the day Erik brought him to the orphanage.He smiled as he closed his eyes, of course she wasn’t aware of his ability and so didn’t know what she was doing.“ how have you been?, It’s

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  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   

    34. Headway

    “The only pictures worth making are the ones that are playing with fire.” ~ Billy Wilder Isabella walked into the forensic department of the police force with renewed zeal and focus. She moved with a strong and firm desire to catch the arsonist. After hitting a head block for weeks, she was hoping for a miracle.She has left the hospital after Johan had woken up and even though she had seen him briefly, they had not spoken to each other. What was she supposed to say, ' hey, I’m sorry for not backing you up', ' I’m sorry you got hurt while I was being a mess', ' I’m your partner and I suck'.She sighed, pushing the doors to the lab where the evidence from the crime scene was being analyzed. She spotted Hayden before he saw her.“ Hey” Hayden called with a wave.She went to stand next to him, looking through the transparent glass separating them from the lab.“ hey, what’s the news.?” She asked Hayden.The man flicked his gaze briefly to her before he sighed.“ you know

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    33. Shit!, he knows

    “ Mikael!, Wake up.” Someone called him, shaking his shoulders.He frowned, who the hell was Mikael, he thought as he forced his eyes open to look into the green eyes of the familiar man that now frequently appeared in his dreams.“ C’mon son, you’ll be late for school if you don’t get up, plus your mom would eat my head if you’re late…” the familiar man said.Johan’s frown deepened, what the hell was going on. The man was calling him Mikael. Was he hallucinating or something, and school?, What school was he talking about, he thought.“Get moving son” the man said, as he dragged Johan out of the bed. He wanted to ask the man who he was, but his mouth couldn’t utter a word even as he was dragged out of bed into a familiar hallway. He tried to remember where he had seen this hallway before, but his memory was coming up short.The man led him to the table and sat him down, before he went about doing other things in the kitchen; making breakfast perhaps.This certainly was not

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    32. Isabella's dilemma

    Isabella stood fixed by the door. She could see Johan clearly from where she was standing, though the door was closed, she could look through the glass opening on the door and see him. He was lying on the bed with an oxygen mask on his face, he had tubes and wires connected to his body that she couldn’t even trace what each was for. Her eyes settled on the monitor where she could see his heart rate. He was alive, that was all that mattered. He was alive.She caught Erik, Johan’s brother staring at her from inside the room, but he turned back to look at Johan as if she was not there. She had a feeling that he understood to a certain degree how she felt and was giving her time to organize her thoughts.The explosion at Norman’s house had shook her. It had triggered another traumatic experience for her where she had to remember her past Memories that she would rather forget totally. Of all the recent episodes that she had experienced, this one was the worse. It had taken her a while be

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    31. How is he?

    Erik knew that he was doomed, the moment his father turned to glare at him, he knew that their lies had finally caught up with them. His father smiled as he turned to look at a confused Lucas.“ oh, you’re Lucas?, Johan had mentioned you before…”, his father muttered. Really? Erik wanted to ask, because he highly doubt that his brother had mentioned Lucas to the man before. Erik blinked, what was his father playing at here. There was no way Johan would have mentioned Lucas to their father. He had been hiding the fact that he was working for the police force, so he couldn’t possibly tell his father about Lucas, who is a detective.Lucas smiled with a nod, “ he did?”, he asked surprised. “ that’s surprising …” Lucas muttered as he flicked his gaze to stare at Erik with an arched brow. Erik looked away though, after giving him the ' cut it' sign.“ Yes...so my son was caught in an explosion. I want to know why my son was even in the building in the first place?”, Geoffrey asked. “ I

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    30. The Shocking revelation

    Geoffrey cannot remember the last time he had driven this fast before, ignoring all traffic rules. He was shocked that a police van had not started following him and asked him to pull over for breaking traffic rules. He was a father who needed to get to his son one way or the other and if getting a speeding ticket would get him to Johan, then fine, he would get one.Geoffrey cut a vehicle that was about to cross into the other lane, he knew he was driving recklessly and could even hear curses from the other drivers.“ How long before I can get to the hospital, Jane?”, he asked the AI system installed in his car.“ at this rate Geoffrey, in five minutes…”, the AI replied.“ let’s make it three minutes then…”, he muttered, stepping on the paddle. “ I would advice against that as it breaks road regulations and can put you in danger…” Jane the AI answered.Geoffrey rolled his eyes, well, good thing he could over look that advice. Different thoughts ran through his mind about Johan. What

  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   

    29. Missing vials

    “ What?!, Someone got there before you?”, Geoffrey storm bellowed.The man standing before him took a step back and gave a Curt nod, “ yes sir. When I got there, the house had already exploded. I just merely escaped without being noticed.” He explained.Geoffrey ran a hand through his hair, cursing under his breath. Who the hell was doing this and why were they making it look like it was Mancap. This was the fourth time the house with the victims suing Mancap was exploding. It was either someone was intentionally killing them or they were looking for something.Or… The System, it couldn’t be right?. The last time the System surfaced, that was years ago. Years that he had put behind him. He shook his head. There’s no way they were back.“ if this keeps happening, then we’ll have to shift to plan b. For now, stay underground and well hidden. Your face might show up in the CCTV footage near the explosion, stay hidden. I’ll call you when it’s all cleared”, Geoffrey told the man in front o

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    28. Succumb to darkness

    Deciding to go in, a child needed to be saved first, he stood up, ran over to someone and pulled the thick blanket she was carrying over his shoulder. He briefly saw a memory of the person he had collected the blanket from. She had been drinking earlier, he scoffed.Johan approached the house, he could feel the heat from the fire. He hoped that he would come out of this ordeal alive. He thought about the boy in the fire, if he was feeling this hot, he wondered what the child was going through in the house.He silently said a prayer and entered what was left of the house.“ shit!”, Johan cursed as he touched something that was hot. He has to refrain from touching things. The house was already burning and the fire was spreading to the other side of the house, he needed to be very fast or else he was not going to loose his life, but also that of the child.The decision to go in had been a split second Decision that he made irrespective of whether he found the child or not. There was a fi

  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   

    27. Where is Johan?

    Mr. Benson sighed, looking around like he was being watched, “ I don’t know…”, he lied, Erik noticed.“ All I know is that I don’t want to end up like the other families, so leave me alone please and don’t come back here”, he spoke abruptly, slamming the door at their faces.What just happened, Erik arched a brow at Lucas who was also as stupefied as he was. One thing was clear though, Mr. Benson was scared, and the only reason was because he was under threat and someone was watching him.They were on their way to the next house, since Mr. Benson had provided them with little or no information about what was happening because he didn’t want to die, then they had better check in with the other families, if they were acting the same too.“ I need to check in with the guys to know what they’ve gathered so far”, Lucas said beside him, making the call. Erik was less interested in the call Lucas was making and more interested in how to make this case less complicated.With what he knows now,

  • A Touch of Memory and Revenge   

    26. Johan goes into the burning house

    Johan sniffed the air, “ do you smell that?”, he asked her.Isabella frowned, “ smell what…”, she said looking at him.He closed his eyes as if he was trying to remember what the smell was. He knew it was a chemical but he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was. There was no industry around the area, so it was abnormal for that kind of smell to be perceived in the area.Moving slowly towards Norman’s house and following the smell, he stopped when someone held him back.“ what the hell!”, Isabella shouted, pulling him out of his dreamy state. He snapped, Turning, he saw that it was Isabella gripping his cloth. Good thing she had not touched his bare skin, it wasn’t like he could see or read her Memories. He arched his brows at her.Even though they had been able to be civil with each other today, it doesn’t mean she should go around touching him, though he had thought that her touch would irritate him, he didn’t feel irritated, he actually feels like he wanted her to keep touching him