“Hello? Who is this?” a feminine voice asks from the other side, and I huff out a breath of relief. After spending about half an hour rummaging through my room to find the contact, I’d gotten from Nurse Clara all those times ago, I had been worried that maybe I had been given the wrong number, or maybe after all this time she had changed her phone number. Or maybe she would see a strange number incoming and decide not to answer it. But to my utter relief, she does.“Hello, Nurse Clara,” I answer, “you might not remember me now, but a few months ago you gave me this number and told me that I can call you whenever I need your help, but I’ve found myself needing your specific skillset for something very important.”“My skillset? Look, my guy, I don't know what's going on here, and this sounds seedy as hell, but I don’t remember saying anything like that,” the woman replies in a confused tone, and I can imagine her scratching at her head on the other end, “I don’t normally promise people
“Oh, my god!” Nurse Clara exclaims as she walks into my house, wide eyes staring at everything, “Oh, my GOD! You people actually live in places like this? It’s not just for show?”“It appears so,” I reply, and suddenly her expression snaps to me. She looks a bit different from the last time I saw her, like she had a different hairstyle, and certainly dressed differently in casual clothes. She has had the sense to wear dark-colored, non-descript clothing and clutched a large duffle bag to her chest. I walk up to her and stretch my hand at her, “Hello there. Thank you for coming at such a short notice. You have my gratitude for this.”She carefully places the duffle bag on the couch right next to her and shakes my hand.“You’re welcome, Mr. Greyson. I just hope that this won’t be some true crime podcast episode where all of us die in the end. Or worse, disappeared off the face of the earth with no information whatsoever. Or in witness protection, God forbid.” She tells me and I can’t he
We all get into a Mercedes Van that is capable of transporting us all as well as Coraline if necessary, armed with all our supplies. Mal comes along with us this time because he doesn’t have to be the guy in the chair anymore. Nurse Clara still looks spooked but she’s not looking as if she’s ready to run at any given notice anymore which is a plus because I feel so utterly guilty for bringing her into this considering how dangerous it is. We are, after all, going to confront a crazy person.I just hope that he won’t have something as insane as a defensive force waiting at where he’s keeping Coraline.Because it’s nighttime the traffic is less so we get from Clandestine City to Empire City pretty quickly. The night is nearly pitch black when we come out of the highway, and I feel like we’re marching into a crappy B-movie. The aspect of horror is there with the anticipation in all of us, and the tension inside the van could be cut with a knife.As we get closer to the Empire City Lake a
Going into a house with such an open invitation, not knowing what horrors awaited within was not a good idea. But I was fairly certain that within the house, Coraline and maybe the kidnapper was resent, and they were expecting us. Coraline is so close to me after all these days, and I do not think I will be able to just stand here and wait any longer. "Guys," I raise my voice, feeling my heart race in my chest, "this is the last time. If any of you want to return to the van, or just leave together, you have to do it now. I won't get mad at you for your choice, because we have got no idea what we're getting into. But I'm going to go in there now." "No," Gerald replies simply. "You're crazy if you think we're going to back out now," Lemon mutters. "Yeah, no, I'll pass," Mal adds. "If you're not taking the lead, I am," Erikkson replies and steps in front of me. Then he begins to stride toward the house, gait so utterly confident. I feel such gratitude for all of them then, Even Cla
The force of the man's body sends the gun that had been in my hand flying away, and I hit the ground with a thud. Before I could even gain an understanding of what was happening to me, the man starts to attack me. He gets me in my face as he straddled my chest, pinning me down with his thighs, and I distantly hear a lock being engaged. Pain blossoms on my face as I get fist after fist on it, and then as soon as it started, it ends. "Get the hell off him!" Mal hauls the man off him with one hand and sends him stumbling away from me. Then, he turns instantly and kicks the man in his face. I can't see who the man is exactly because he's covered from head to toe in black, with a full faces black mask, and black clothes. He's built like a mountain, and I do not know how Mal, scrawny, lithe Mal managed to take him off of me. "Jace, get up!" Lemon calls and I turn my head to see that he is trapped on the other side of the facility with some iron bars, and he's fighting another man like Ma
"Aiden," I breathe, "it's been you all along." He looks so different from how we saw him last. Gone is the jewelry he seemed to be always wearing constantly, gone are the flashy clothes or that infuriating smirk. In the place of that millionaire's son who acted like the whole world was there to get down on their knees for him stands an utter psychopath who looks like he had been made of stone. So pale with his hair long and greasy, falling over his hate filled, angry eyes. He looks much more muscular than before, but the ones on his face are somehow sharper. There is an almost feral look to him, like he had a beat within that he was just waiting to let loose. What shocks me the most is on how he looks exactly like a monster who would definitely kidnap an innocent woman to torture her. "Of course, it was me!" Aiden exclaims, sounding indignant, "I have left so many fucking clues basically littered throughout all the videos, I fucking emphasized every point that would make my identit
A man makes his way toward Coraline on the other side of the bars, and I feel like I’ve been hit with a baseball bat made of metal when I see who it is.“Talon!” it seemed like today was the day of unexpected, extremely unpleasant surprises. I thought he had been helped by Aiden’s father. I didn’t even think about him after the event near that convenience store because of everything else that happened. But now here he is appearing from the shadows, looking as blank as a slab of rock! He walks mechanically, faces expressionless, and even when Aiden slaps him on the shoulder, he doesn’t do so much as look at him. Instead, he walks straight toward Coraline and stares down at her for a moment before turning to me.I’m taken aback by what I see. His eyes look like they’re entirely dead inside! There’s nothing there, no emotions, no brightness, not even a single movement. And I know that is impossible for a living being because no matter what we do the eyes have to move in order to filter l
He cut her.He slashed her fucking neck.He used Talon, controlled him in some way, and made him attack her. He made him take a blade and slash her neck. He made me watch her get slashed right in front of me, powerless to stop it. She must’ve been drugged judging by the way she acted before, and he slashed her neck condemning her to death, without ever giving her a fighting chance. Later, much, much later, I would realize that Talon gave Coraline a wound that would likely kill her under Aiden’s command, and then they both walked away to the devil knew where, leaving her to thrash around her arms sluggishly as she bled to death.He executed her for no crime at all but for having met him.I remember how I screamed; I remember how I felt like a nuclear bomb had erupted within me. I screamed, and screamed and screamed until the iron bars gave away, making me fall right in front of her bleeding body.Her body was still warm when I scrambled to her so I could take her in my arms. I shook he