"Are you Kimber Henry?" The postman asked and looked Alicia through and through shamelessly from head to toe."
Alicia tightened the bathrobe on her narrow waist, "no, but you can leave the item with me as well."
"I'm sorry," the mailman said apologetically. He lifted the small package in the air a bit so she could see it, "I can only give it over when I get Miss Kimber Henry's identifiable signature," he explained.
"Fine by me," Alicia sighed. She turned around, "Kimber! You have a parcel!" She called her from the living room.
Kimber was sitting in the front of the television as usual and reacted a bit loathly at Alicia's call, "why don't you take it!" She shouted back a little grumpily.
Alicia rolled her eyes annoyed, "minute, I'll be right back," she told the mailman. She took the remote control of the television from Kimber's hand mutely and pressed the off button.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Kimber asked crossly.
"Move you butt to the door!" Alicia said imperatively, "save me from handling your personal business!"
Kimber stood grudgingly and went to the door, but not without giving Alicia another spiteful look.
"Kimber Henry?" The delivery man asked her.
Kimber nodded.
"I've got a parcel for you here," he handed her a form, "you just sign here once and then I'm off," he smiled.
Kimber stared at the parcel scrunching her forehead. Who would send her a packet? Nobody really knew where she stayed, "thanks," she rushed to say. She went back to the living room contemplatively, with the parcel in her hand, "who could send me a package?" She muttered.
"The sender not written on it?"
Kimber shook her head.
"Maybe a secret admirer," Alicia smiled.
Kimber gave Alicia a look that let her know what she had thought of the idea, "very funny!"
"Open it already! Then you'll find out who it is from," Alicia said shrugging, "I'll go to have a shower in the meantime."
Kimber nodded. She freed the parcel from the strings which held it together and then removed the wrap. She carefully lifted the top and grew stiff. A blood stained and crumpled paper hankie was to be seen. Kimber's hand shook as she took the item out. She feared her stomach will turn, but she got herself together and opened the ball of paper. What was to be seen then took her breath away. Inside the hankie there was her engagement ring!
Kimber noticed a narrow piece of paper that was wound underneath the ring. She recognised the handwriting right away. It was unquestionably Christian's! She read the words that were written there horror-struck, "beauty is a curse on the world!" A choked scream left her throat. The memories of the ghastly passage became alive in her mind. She started to shake uncontrollably and her eyes filled with tears. She let herself fall onto the ground powerlessly, holding the ring tightly into her palm.
This was the state Alicia found her friend in a little later when she came back from the bathroom. She hurried over to turn her towards herself and she took her in her arms, "my God, Kimber, what happened?" She asked terrified.
Kimber wasn't able to speak. He body was shaking by crying fits and she felt as if her life was slipping away with every tear she dropped.
Alicia considered for a minute whether she should slap Kimber so she could come to her senses. She had seen that treatment once in a medical television show when the patient had a nervous breakdown. But she rejected the idea right away. Whatever had set this breakdown off, she could never hurt Kimber. So she held her till she thought Kimber wasn't sobbing and shaking quite as much as before, "will you tell me now what had happened?" She asked while wiping some tears off Kimber's face.
"Christian is...Quentin has..." Kimber struggled with the words and her eyes filled with tears again.
"Slowly," Alicia said patiently, even if she still didn't quite understand what set this state off. She realised that Kimber had suffered another shock.
Kimber finally sat back down and she opened her palm, "my engagement ring..." She said in a choked voice, "Quentin took it away from me before he..." She didn't complete the sentence and girded her body with her hands, "...abused me. Christian wanted to warn me. He was here and told me that Quentin is still alive. But I didn't want to believe that," Kimber closed her eyes aggrieved. She felt the tears getting through her closed eye lashes again. She spoke hastily further, "and now he's got Christian!"
Alicia looked at Kimber confused. She only understood half of what her friend told her, "why do you think so?"
Kimber handed Alicia the small slip of paper, "Christian wrote this," she said sobbing, "I would recognise his handwriting any time, anywhere."
Alicia stared at the slip, "my god..."
"Quentin must have made him write it. The same way he made me write that letter to Christian in which I told him I will never see him again," Kimber took the blood soaked handkerchief and held it up in front of her face," this is Christian's blood!" She said in tears.
"Kimber, I'm so sorry!" Alicia put an arm around her friend to try to console her.
"What if he killed him?" Kimber lifted her tear daubed face up to Alicia.
"You shouldn't always think of the worst and see ghosts right away! He didn't kill you either," Alicia gave her something to think about.
"It's all my fault! If I'd listened to Christian and if I wasn't so perplexed, then Christian wouldn't be in danger right now."
"Don't blame yourself. You couldn't be able to foresee what Quentin wanted to do."
"No, but maybe I could have prevented him from kidnapping Christian," Kimber held anxiously.
"What do you want to do now?" Alicia asked, "do you want to go to the police?"
Kimber shook her head, "with an engagement ring and a scrap of paper? They'll think I'm crazy when I tell them all this!"
Alicia nodded, "but we have to do something! Maybe there is somebody who knows Christian and would help us?"
Kimber thought about it for a second, "Sean..." She said afterwards.
"Who's Sean?" Alicia looked at Kimber confused.
"He's Christian's associate at the plastic surgery praxis, McNamara/Troy. And he was..." she cleared her throat, "my friend once."
Alicia rolled her eyes, "well, at least he's not another ex fiancé."
Kimber stood up and went over to the phone, "I'll call him. He is the only one who could help me now," she dialled Sean's number with wavering fingers