Razorblade Romance (Ville Valo Fanfic)

184. Buried Alive by Love

To have a plan in motion finally made me feel like really doing something to find Ville. That also made me anxious, I could barely sleep. I would wake up in the middle of the night, missing air. I was struggling not to have a panic attack, I was on the edge for a while, everything was really overwhelming. I had to focus not to lose control. I couldn't afford not working properly right now.

Matthias eyed me worried when I went to his gym, per his request. Maybe because I probably looked awful, gladly he didn't make any remarks about that, sensing my humour. But he found a way to ask about my health. "Do you want to grab a bite? I was about to."

"I'm fine. If you need, I can wait here." I could read the frustration in his eyes, it didn't work. "I had breakfast, I'm not hungry. Well, I can have a coffee, if you have it."

"Sure, but you should try this. It is really good." He extended a mug to me, with a small plate full of muffins. "These are Viktor's specialities, he makes them himself and they taste like nothing. He will be sad if you don't try at least one." I didn't want to be rude, so I took it.

It was very fluffy and light, with a surprising flavour, really tasty indeed. "Humm, this is really good."

Matthias sipped his coffee but he was smiling lightly. But he didn't call me to try delicious cheese muffins, and I could see the change in his expression. He waited for me to finish and faced me with a serious face, I knew he had something important to say when he was watching my reaction attentively.

"What is it, Matthias? Just say it."

"Eve, Mäkinen spoke to Juha."

I took a deep breath. So many thoughts passed through my mind, I couldn't even form a phrase. "Tell me, what did he say?"

"He's being careful. Didn't say much. I have the recording, if you want to hear it."

As I heard it, Juha's voice gave me the creeps, it sounded so evil now. Mäkinen tried to sound worried about him, but Juha wasn't stupid and was very suspicious. He mentioned not to say any names and sounded rushed.

"We need to talk. In person, I don't trust cellphones." Mäkinen said.

"Me either. But why all of a sudden? Did something happen?"

"You know why. Now I know what your gift is."

"Well, you know what to do." After the click, I looked up to Matthias.

"It's only that? What did Juha mean, what Mäkinen said?"

"He thinks Juha wants to meet in a harbour they used to go. It's a bit hidden, so perfect for the meeting. I checked, there's no cameras in the area, and he knows that as well."

"When?"

"In five days, it's Mäkinen's birthday." The gift. Juha was indeed sick, who would think of that? "We just don't have the exact hour, Juha will probably let Mäkinen know only a bit before."

"What, then? Do we have a plan?"

"We do. Eve, I need to ask you something." Matthias came closer, and I worried already. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you don't have to be there, let me handle it. Or you can even involve the police in it if you wish. If you think it's safer. But then, of course, I'll step out."

"Of course I want to be part of it, I have to be there. And... I'm not sure about the police. I don't trust Aalto. But I trust you."

"Eve, we don't know how much Mäkinen is involved. We don't know if he sees Juha as a son, truly. We don't know about their relationship - if it's one-sided, if it's Juha that has this worship over him, or if it's mutual. From what I hear from Mäkinen, it doesn't seem to be mutual, but we don't know for sure. He might be tricking us all."