Thank you for the reviews! I'm ecstatic! So this is how it feels! ^^ Anyways I immediately wrote the second part and here it is. Let me share something. Actually, this was supposed to be a one-shot but I got carried away! :P So here it is guys!
As soon as Amy got out of the car, she ran. She went through a series of verification and ran into a maze of rooms and hallways. Good thing she knew the place well and some shortcuts. Well, she did run this place. A bunch of ignored 'Good morning's welcomed her. Her mind was full of things but only one thing was clear.
Ian.
She ran to her office quickly. He's a comrade. He's a friend. He's family. He may have harmed them. Amy knew it was all Isabel Kabra's fault. The guy was just trying to be a perfect son for his parents. A son who's ruthless and merciless. A son who must be able to stand way above other people. But that's in the past. The past is done. He had proven himself loyal.
She opened the door to her office and found Fiske, Nellie and Dan waiting for her. All three were looking at her. She quickly composed herself. She caught up to her breath then walked towards them. She felt the thick tension that laced the room. She knew this was somehow bad but she needed to be optimistic. The three stared at each other in silence, as if signaling if everyone was ready.
Fiske cleared his throat. He started. "Amy, we finally might have a lead on Ian. We found a clip from a store's CCTV. Here it is."
A screen in front of them suddenly flickered on and displayed the interior of the store. She quickly recognized the store as Seven Eleven because of their trademark green, white and orange stripes. There was a man behind the cashier and a few people buying things. After a few seconds, someone entered the shop. Amy felt a little weight fell off her shoulders. She immediately recognized him as Ian Kabra. That familiar stance and shape. She knew it was him. He grabbed some stuffs from the aisles. After a few minutes, he went out with a plastic bag in hand.
Amy faced them again. "So where is he? Where is this shop?"
"It's in West Texas." said Nellie. Amy felt relieved. He's here in America. She thought he was on the other side of the world where it would be hard to reach but the tension in the room never felt lighter. She felt her heart beat faster. There's something wrong. Their faces were still passive and neither one of them wanted to remove the mask they were wearing.
"Did you send some people? Is he safe?" asked Amy in anxiety.
"Amy, there's something you need to see." Dan said.
The clip played again. When Ian entered the shop, Dan pressed the pause button. He zoomed into Ian's figure. He faced her sister again. "What do you see, Amy?"
Amy looked for any weird things about him. Nothing. Same hair. Same eyes. Same face. Maybe except he grew a mustache and a beard but nothing very unusual. She shook her head.
Dan sighed impatiently. "Amy. Look harder."
Amy scanned his features carefully. His hair. His face. His body. Nothing wrong but she did feel a little bit weird looking at him. After a minute, she noticed he didn't wear his usual suit and slacks. He wore a jacket over a plain white shirt with a cap in his hand. There's a logo on both the cap and the jacket. So it must be a uniform. Why would he be wearing a uniform? He would never wear something like that.
"His clothes..." Amy slowly said.
"Bingo!" replied Dan. "We ran a quick scan on the logo and we found a match."
She waited in anticipation while Dan typed a few things and a new tab popped in the screen. It showed a clearer version of the logo on Ian's clothes.
West Fertilizer Co.
West Fertilizer Co. Why does that sound familiar? She thought hard, digging deep into her brain. Suddenly, her eyes widened. She felt her eyes stung a little. "No..." she whispered. "No...no, no, no.. Impossible! Don't tell me h-he.."
"I'm sorry, kiddo..." apologized Nellie.
Fiske sighed a sigh he never knew he was holding. "We sent some people to investigate. We found this." He opened his hand. On his hand sat a coin. When she saw it, she felt her knees go weak. With trembling hands, she reached for the coin. She held closed her eyes and the memory flashed in her mind.
They sat together inside the Porsche. Nellie, Dan, Amy, Alistair and the Kabras.
"How do I know we can trust you?" Alistair demanded.
"W-we already know we c-c-can't." Amy said.
Ian grinned, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small velour bag stamped with the Kabra coat of arms and placed it in Amy's left hand. "This is yours, Amy Cahill."
It felt like the weight she was carrying fell off and replaced with a new and heavier load. Slowly, she picked herself up and glued them together. She pocketed the coin and tried to held back her tears. She needed to work. She can think of him later. She slipped her mask. Inhaled a few times as she composed herself.
"Thank you. I must work now. If you ever need me, just knock." She eyed them with her cold green eyes.
Nellie, Fiske and Dan looked at each other. They understood what she wanted. They quietly exited her office. On their way, they saw Jake hurrying to her office. Fiske grabbed his arm and yanked him back.
"Don't. She needs time alone." Fiske said to Jake.
"What happened?" asked a confused Jake. They told him the events that happened. He slipped his arm out of Fiske's hand.
"I need to see her." he insisted after hearing the story.
Dan gripped his arm strongly. It felt like vice grips on his arms. "Jake." He saw Dan's intensifying gaze. He just nodded and watched as they walk away.
She was in a garden. It was beautiful. The bright colors of the flowers looked simply amazing with the green leaves. Among the bushes and trees, she found a pathway. The dried leaves crunched beneath her feet with every step she took. It was long and at the end of the path there was a light glowing brightly. When she reached the end, wind blew. She smelled the scent of flowers and...perfume? She closed her eyes as her pupil adjust to the sudden light.
She opened her eyes. He was in front of her. His black hair shaped with gel. His flawless tanned skin etched with his amber eyes. His signature smirk that can make any girl faint. His usual suit hugging his body.
"Ian?" she whispered. She can't believe it. He was alive and there he is right in front of her.
"Hello, love." he smirked.
Amy ran and hugged him tight. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Amy." he breathed into her ear. After some time, she pulled away.
"I thought you were dead. I thought you were gone. Why did you have to leave? You should have just told us. We might even help you with whatever you're dealing with. You know you made everyone wo-"
He placed his lips on hers. Her eyes widened at the sudden action but soon she gave in and kissed him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled her closer with arms on her waist, their bodies pressed against each other. She felt his tongue lick her lower lip, asking for permission. She slowly opened her mouth and moaned as he entered her, exploring her mouth. He massaged her tongue and enjoyed the feel of her moan vibrate in his mouth. They broke their contact, out of breath. Ian licked her jawline and went to nibble the skin on her neck. Her hands found his soft black hair. He licked her collarbone and sucked it. She threw her head back.
"Ian..."
As if on cue, he bit into her shoulder. It was light and she moaned in pain and pleasure. Suddenly, he bit hard. She grunted in pain. He bit harder until she felt her teeth bury under her skin. She screamed in agony as he took a chunk out of her shoulder. She was scared. Ian looked different. He grinned and she saw his sharp teeth covered in blood. His bloodshot eyes looked like he was famished and ready to pounce on her.
She backed away. Terrified by the sight in front of her, she tried to escape but she saw her feet were glued to the ground. She could only scream as he pounce on her, ripping out her body parts. Blood spilling everywhere. With one last ounce of energy, she screamed.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
She quickly opened her eyes. She found herself out of breath and covered in sweat. She looked around. She was in the cemetery again, standing in front of Evan's grave. She shivered at the thought of her nightmare. She unconsciously reached for the coin in her pocket. She rolled it in her hand. She have had this nightmare since last week and the image was still vivid inside her mind.
"It was scary. It's like a horror movie. Maybe I can make one." She smiled sadly. She remembered when she was young. She was practically falling down when it comes to Ian Kabra. He's smooth and suave and she basically had a major crush on him. She thought he liked her back. She thought he was actually flirting at her. Turns out everything was just acting. All lies. So the damage was big when he crushed her trust.
Ever since, she never got to trust the guy anymore. Every time they see each other, there always seem to be tension between them. When she seems to meet his cold eyes, his face was always passive but his eyes told her something else, something more. She always saw a hint of sadness...and doubt? But it always disappears right away that she thought she might just be imagining it.
She always wanted to know if he really did like her back because she just found out she never did forget him. She thought she had already moved on when Evan was there. But now that Ian was gone, she finally realized she didn't and it hurts. She had already forgiven him for the things during the clue hunt. She knew he just wanted to make his parents proud.
But it's too late. He's gone.
He liked her way back then. He just didn't want to admit it to himself. He just did when he saw Evan Tolliver. He finally realized he really did have feelings for her but he knew she would never return his feelings. He had hurt her so much. He gained her trust and just trashed it like it was rubbish. He winced as she remembered her face when he betrayed her. He always felt this weird feeling after doing that but never quite understood it. He always thought it was just guilt and nothing more. He never thought that it was attached to something, something that he never really understood.
It was always merciless. Being able to win. To be first. Do anything to get what you like even if it means killing. When Evan Tolliver cam to her life, he found himself always wanting to rip his hands off hers. More so when he saw Jake Rosenbloom. You don't need to be an expert to see that the latter had obviously been attracted to her. The effect on him was much more than he expected. This made him fully understand and finally admitted it to himself.
Ian Kabra liked Amy Cahill.
She felt tears starting to pour out of her eyes. Her heart felt heavy, very heavy. She sat on the grass and hugged her knees. She needed to let it out. She needed to be strong. She needed to move on. She needed to be strong for the Madrigals and for the Cahills. She can't be seen this way, weak and vulnerable. This is the only way she lets it all out, talking to Evan.
Tears were falling non stop. Suddenly, she felt the afternoon sun shine brightly against her back and wind blew. She smiled behind the tears. "Thanks, Evan. You're a really nice guy." After letting it out, she felt a little weight was removed off her shoulders. She inhaled deeply to recover her breathing.
Perfume.
She knew this scent. It can't be. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She should really get over this immediately. She can't be this vulnerable in front of a hundred Madrigals. She needed to compose herself. She needed to move on. With new conviction, she continued to breath slowly and deeply. She emptied her mind. Depleting all of her senses except her sense of hearing.
Silence.
Her heartbeat.
Her breath.
The wind.
The leaves.
So peaceful. So relaxing. She almost forgot the wonders sounds can make. Just a simple sound will be able to calm a person down. Sometimes the simplest things are the best things. Grace used to tell her that. They would always go to the garden and sit on the grass. Together, they would enter into the similar state of mind she's in right now. It would be almost hours until they stop. Sometimes we ignore these small things that should really be appreciated deeply.
Her concentration almost broke when she heard a weird rustling among the grass. Suddenly, it stopped. The winds blew hard. She heard a flutter of clothes. Slowly, she snapped out of her meditation. One by one her senses returned.
She no longer felt the wind blowing against her back. As soon as her sense of smell returned, the scent hit her like a train. She immediately opened her eyes. In front of her, she saw her shadow but it was not alone. She barely saw the other shadow. She knew that stance and the last piece of the puzzle was finally found.
To be continued...
Yey! Tell me what you think! I wanna know! This is the time when I wish I've got powers so that I can read your mind. Bwahahahah!
Review, guys! Review! Review!