Vicious Romance

Chapter 33

Retracing my steps to the same alley where I was a couple of days ago, serves as challenging, and I'm not sure why.

I'm still on Ninth Avenue, yet the eeriness of the air sends chills down my spine. There isn't a typical New York crowd around me, and it makes me uneasy, knowing that I'm sharing the streets with a couple of strangers.

But that uneasiness turns into excitement and vengeance, knowing of the events that are about to come up.

It's all planned this time, and I will make sure nothing- goes wrong.

Standing on the light, waiting for the pedestrian sign to blink white, I feel vibrating in the pocket. I groan, pulling out my phone, expecting to see Noah's name plastered on the screen.

But instead, the screen displays a random number, and as soon as I go to accept the call, it stops ringing and is replaced by a text notification from the same number.

Confusion enters my face as I feel people walk past me, but I stay glued to my spot. The text comes in the form of an image, and as I click on it, it loads slowly, impatience inside of me builds, and the scroll seems to never complete itself.

My foot taps on the uneven payment and I decide to walk the crosswalk, my mind flying back to my schedule, and what I have to do.

When I'm about halfway through, I feel my feet give up, stopping in their steps as the contents of the image process through my head, horror flowing through my veins.

No.

It was... Tom. Tom Isle. The head detective on Anita's case.

But nearly disfigured.

He was supported by a bunch of boxes, head hanging down, and blood gauging from his eyes, and numerous spots on his torso.

I gulp. It's horrific.

Another text follows.

Continue snooping, and the same thing happens to her:

Regret fills up, as I think back to a few weeks ago when I asked Tom to look into Anita's murder. I told him to look into The Black Marker. Is this my fault, that this happened to him?

And another picture follows. But this time it's of Jaya, eating at the kitchen counter, in the same outfit that I left her in.

My heart skips a beat, and streams of emotions flow in, and I'm unsure of what to feel. Panic? Fear?

I'm worried for the well-being of Jaya, but this could also be a trap- to lure me back towards the apartment, to kidnap Jaya and me. But how could I make sure?

I take a look at the time. It's 6:21.

I'm less than two blocks from the bar, and Noah should be getting ready for our date.

I manage to get to the end of the crosswalk, quickly taping through my phone, dialing Noah's number, putting the phone to my ear while leaning on the edge of a building.

Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up.

On the fourth dial, a scuffling noise overtakes the speaker, and a voice speaks up.

"Miss me already, love?" the voice speaks up, and a momentary relief flies over me, realizing that it's Noah.

"More than you know," I try to beam at him, but get straight to the point. "I just called, wondering if you could come to my place a little sooner? I went out to run a quick errand, but Jaya's home alone, and I just want to make sure she's okay, and everything," I justify, biting the rim of my nail nervously, unsure of his answer.

There's a silence from his end, a sign of hesitation.

"Of course, I was already on my way. I'll be there in a few minutes," he assures, and I silently thank him, before hanging up.

I let out a huge sigh, wiping the beads of sweat collecting on my forehead, before dialing Jaya.

"Hey, di-" she starts, but I cut her off as I resume my steps to the bar, urgency in my voice.

"Don't freak out... act like I just told you something funny. But, someone is watching you right now," I start, giving her time to process the words before I continue. "And Jaya, trust me when I say this, they will kill you if you freak out. Understand what I'm saying so far?" I ask, hearing Jaya's hard gulp.

"But-" she starts, but I cut her off again.

"No time for questions Jay. I called Noah, and he'll be there in a few minutes. I would come, but it's going to take me a solid forty-five minutes to get home. But, I'll be back as soon as I teach these assholes a lesson, okay?" I pause, making sure that she's collecting all of this.

While Jaya's worked with me a little in the past, she's never been in the position where her life is on the line. Until now that is. Crap, I should've sent her home yesterday.

"Yes," she says worriedly, and I can hear the shaking of her veins as words tear themselves out from her mouth.

"Laugh," I instruct, keeping in mind of her stalkers.

Right on cue, she lets out a peal of convincing laughter, and I hope that it looks as convincing as it sounds.

"In the meantime, until Noah comes, exactly sixty-seven seconds after I end this call, I want you to go to the bathroom, lock the door, and look for a gun under the sink. It should be loaded, but if not, there should be a pack of bullets in a small red box next to the soap. Then, put the gun in the waistband of your pants, and come out, acting as if everything's normal," I instruct. "And don't open the door for anyone, except for Noah, okay?" I add-in, my heart beating faster at the thought of having my sister defend herself, with no one by her side.

She's too young for this. She shouldn't have to be able to worry about any of this.

"Okay," she says, refusing to let her worry and panic seeps through.

But I'm her sister, and I can find her panic as easily as a horse in a crowd of ants. I know that she's scared. And I know that it's my fault.

"I'm sorry, Jaya," I tell her genuinely, scared, and hopeful that everything will be okay. I know life doesn't work like that, but I tell myself to cling onto hope, for the life of my sister.

I need to.

"It's not your fault di" she convinces, but I refuse to believe her.

"It is, and because of that, I'm calling mom first thing tomorrow. I'm going to drop you at her doorstep, all safe and sound," I comment. "Stay safe," I say before she has the time to argue, and cut the call.

I force myself to take deep breaths, to soften the screams inside of me, but my body doesn't want to listen.

My heart continues to ache agonizingly, and the only thing I can truly do is get to the bar faster.

And pray with everything I have, that Jaya will be okay.

A/N: My heart was beating like crazy while writing this. It made me so nervous, even though I already knew what was going to happen. This is so freaking scary. Did I make you guys anxious?

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