The Truth Behind It All

Chapter 8

July 27, 2012

            The day is slow. It’s a Friday evening and it was raining outside, monsoon season was here. Ana Marie could hear the storm happening outside, she leans her head on her hands as she looks intently at the wall. She wonders if she was welcomed at her father’s house. Sure he became angry out of nowhere but he was a grown man, he can get over these things, at least he had to. Everyone was sound asleep even though it was five o’clock. Three more hours and she was free to go. She turns towards Dr. Gutierrez’ closed door. There was something going on between her father and him. She gets into her computer and clicks on the browser. She taps her fingers on the desk as she waits for the page to load. She types on the search engine Paragalis and presses enter.

            She unconsciously bites her lower lip as she waits for the results. Mostly there were some things about witchcraft, which it showed her that this Paragalis was fairly unknown. When a website which seemed like it was from the UK caught her eye. She opens the webpage and waits for it to completely load. She could feel her eyes water as she read through the title of what it seems of a news website.

             “The Commoner: London’s First News”

            “London,” she whispers.

            “On the first day of April, “it read, “three women and two men originated from the outskirts of London, came to the Saint Elizabeth Hospital with a severe case of diarrhea and vomit. These symptoms clear indicators of food poisoning. But neither of the patients showed any kind of change in their diets. Until complete examination of their surroundings were made, the specialists discovered that their water source was contaminated with an unknown virus. Approximately two days after being in the intensive care, all five patients suffered an all body paralysis, the doctors were unable to find a cure, as a result, three hours later, they all died from organ failures. Within the first three weeks of April, forty five similar cases were recorded in the three major hospitals in London.

            “Desperate, the House of Parliament went to seek for professional investigative aid, for the source was unknown. After examining several samples of purified water from all parts of London, scientist concluded that this virus came from a mixture of chemicals and a plant which if ingested could cause temporary paralysis. The plant is called Pragalis Veus Adita, commonly known as Paragalis.”

            Ana Marie holds her breath, her father was selling this plant?

            “The offender or offenders are yet unknown, therefor London’s Police Department requested the help of London’s Private Investigative Agency (LPI) ran by Scott James. This case, now known as the Velez case, (for reasons strictly confidential)” Ana Marie winces as she reads her father’s last name. “Is going to be in charge by detectives Brian Sims and Adam Hayes.”

            Ana Marie found herself reading that sentence more times than necessary, she stops reading and scrolls the page down, skipping the conclusive paragraph, until she finds a photo. A group of men are standing uniformly, all of them are looking at the camera. Ana Marie holds her breath as she reads the caption underneath it.

             “Members of the London’s Private Investigation Agency.” Then the names of the ten individuals followed. But she didn’t need to read them to know that Adam was there. He was the tallest of them all, he stood in the middle along with Brian. She could feel her eyes water, this was so strange. She looks at the date and it was three months before he even arrived to Arizona. He stood tall and firm, like a gentleman, his face was serious but she could see a trace of softness in his eyes. He was so handsome, his broad shoulders and his defined features, he was so neat but rugged at the same time.