FACADE

Chapter 22: Midnight Thoughts

 I knew I wouldn't be able to get any sleep, neither did I even plan to. With my new addiction in hand, exuding a faint white smoke that seemed to somehow help me to cool down, I sat on the bed, with my head leaned against the headboard.

 I crossed my leg over the other under the blanket as I placed the mug on the nightstand. I only maintained this position whenever I was contemplating and now is one of the times.

 Taking a glance at the wall clock, I saw that I still had enough time before midnight and by then I should have mapped everything out.

 I discovered the mistake I had been making since day one, and The unknown was completely right. Rather than making use of the information they had been providing me, I instead was trying to find out whom he or she was.

    The more I thought about it, the more I agreed that that was their intention from the very start, to disrupt my thoughts. If I had acted in the heat of the moment, any decision I made would be what I would be acting upon now, and I know that would still be finding out whom he or she was.

 Comparing the first and the second letters, I noticed a stark difference between the two. The first was ambiguous, only giving me a point which is that my accident might have been planned and nothing else while the other one was full of details. Drifting me back and forth. It was like a pawn and I would have to choose one from all the routes she had laid down and then would have no other time to chase the rest.

 In fact that could have also led me to investigating her further since I wouldn't know where to start from and considering that she had strictly warned against that, I would be getting more than I bargained for.

 This person is someone that knows me too well and by the looks of it might have been present in my past or was probably an onlooker and only knew tidbits. But the recent happenings was fully known to the other like the palm of their hands. Naturally, the only choice I had was to cooperate and wait for his or her other letters, or means of communication I should say.

 I circled the sentence I had written at the most obvious place and decided to start working from that. But it was a given, I had to have a heart-to-heart talk with my dad tomorrow.

....

 I woke up to a feeling of uneasiness deep inside my guts and knew it had to do with the nightmare I had. Ever since the time I remembered how I was related to Sheebah, I have been having dreams about the same incident, the next clearer than the last but no additional happenings.

    Groaning, I headed to the bathroom to wash my eyes and only when I was assured that I was fully awake did I turn to leave. Thankfully, I had had that dream and was woken up earlier than usual.

 My parents were very workaholic in nature and when I say workaholic, it is only because I have no other words to describe the level of importance at which they both placed on their work. As early as 7:00Am they both would have left for work and wouldn't come back till late at night. Of course weekends were exceptions because those were the times they used to catch the long time rest they had deprived themselves of.

   They always utilized their weekend to the max to the point that I rarely saw them during those times and unfortunately after our vacation to Hawaii, we haven't gone on another.

 Apparently, they were working on a very tough case and that had been taking their time. Seeing that they came home earlier yesterday, I knew they weren't as busy as they used to be, which is a good sign.

      I groggily made my way down the stairs and headed to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. I wasn't a fan of caffeine and the taste sickens me to the guts but because I needed to stay awake, I was left with no other choice.

    On the third sip, I felt I couldn't go on, so I just dropped the mug and flushed the rest down the base then, rinsed the mug and put it back in the rack, before heading back upstairs.

 I made sure to stall around the entrance to my dad's study and when I heard sounds from the inside, I knew immediately that that was where he was. Bringing my hand to the door, I knocked it lightly, and he replied with a 'come in'.

 He didn't look up the entire time, so I was assuming he didn't know it was me because if he did, I was sure he would have stopped what he was doing and give me audience.

   "Jesus, you scared me" He complained when he saw that it was me and dropped the pen he was writing with. "Why are you awake by this time"

 I glanced at the wall clock behind him and saw that it was already 5:15am and on a normal day I would still be in bed, having a beauty sleep, so he must have already known that I had a motive behind coming here by this time. I blinked my eyes innocently, something I knew would always get to him easily, and I smiled when I saw it had the usual effect.

"Cather, baby what's wrong? Did anyone bully you?"

 He was right where I wanted him.

 "No dad. I had a bad dream. I don't want to sleep again".

 "What happened? What did you dream about" I smirked mentally and rubbed my forehead in contrast to what was going on in my mind. 

 "I dreamt that someone was chasing me. With an axe, The person had a mask on, and I screamed, I screamed but she she wanted to hack me. Dad am scared, I have been having this dream for a while now" I commended how easily I was able to lie through my teeth and I looked up to discern my dad's reaction.

 He was worried, it was apparent on his face, so I pushed.

 "Actually dad, it started since I received that message. Have you found out who it is?"

 He rubbed his temples when he heard my question and sighed. I was afraid it was what I was thinking.

 "To be honest Cather, I am still working on it and I have found some leads. But it would be better if you stayed out of it. If you keep having nightmares you could just sleep with us" He suggested, and I resisted the urge to palm my face. All my acting ended up useless.

 "OK dad" I pretended to give in and stood up to hug him before turning to go outside. I halted when I heard his voice.

 "You should be more careful in school. I'll assign some bodyguards to protect you from the shadows from now on" He warned more like an order and I knew there was no room for arguments, so I nodded and walked out, shutting the door behind me.

...

 Third Person P.O.V

Unknown to Cather and her dad, there was another person by the door and if she had opened the door then, that person would have been busted, but her father just chose that time to interrupt.

With a slight smirk, the person turned around to leave and locked the door to her room when she was sure that no one could eavesdrop.

She removed her phone from her pocket and dialed a number from her contact list, on the last ring the receiver picked up, and it seemed to be someone this person respected because there was a clear change in their voice.

On the other end, a female voice spoke up "Did you find anything?"

 "Yes young mistress, Cather has confronted her dad about the matter." The person went on to give details on the conversation between Cather and her dad and the female on the other end Tssked, as if she just couldn't get enough of Cather's stupidity.

 "Very desperate Hun, no qualms, that would be all for today." The female hung up the phone after that.

 In a dark room, a figure was half lying half sitting on the bed with her phone in hands. An evil expression formed on her face when she smirked and for a moment she looked scary. But the other moment, the look was completely gone, as if it was just the onlooker's imagination, and she smiled, before lying down to sleep.

 If one listened carefully, one could hear that she was muttering something and when one moved closer to where she slept, one would hear it clearly.

 "Since I am worthless, I would like to see what you are worth when you are completely insane. Just watch as I ruin your life and everything you have will be mine. That is a promise".