Chapter 58
Visha
I stare at the lake engulfed in darkness.
A fresh night breeze sways against my exposed skin, and I shudder, eyes transfixed on the water’s shimmering surface.
This is where he stood. What went through his mind while he stared at this lake in front of him,? Did he think about me when he stepped into the freezing water and bid the world goodbye? Did he hesitate when the frost seeped into his bones?
I don’t know what to think anymore. I want to believe he never set foot in that liquid grave.
“Visha?” a muffled voice echoes from the phone in my hand. “Are you still there?”
I raise the device back to my ear and inhale a shaky breath. “I…am.”
“Are you alone?” he asks, worry laced onto his tone.
“No, there’s cops pursuing their search like you ordered them to.” I crouch down and dip my fingers into the water. “Bell, be honest.”
“What?”
“Do you think he’s dead?” I ask, swaying my fingers in the water and gazing at the darkest shade of blue. “Be honest.”
“I-” He sighs. “Nothing is for sure. If he got out of the water fast enough, I suppose he could have survived it. If he wandered off and someone found him nearby and helped him then his chances of survival skyrocketed.”
“Bellami,” I grit out. “This is a yes or no question.”
“The last time Jason’s phone emitted a signal was at lake Wallenpaupack. Around the same time Aoi read your texts,” he says instead, and I almost laugh out loud.
“Then I’m going to go find that motherfucker. If we find him, we’ll find Aoi. I’m sure of it.”
The phone vibrates in my hand, and I lower it to see who texted me. It’s probably Amira who’s asking for news on the search. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to tell her-
UNKNOWN
Come to this address alone. If you want to see Aoi again, you’ll do as I say.
UNKNOWN
I’ll know if you inform anyone.
Jason? It can only be him, but this proves he knows where Aoi is and that he has something to do with his disappearance. Maybe I was right then. Maybe Aoi never wrote that letter and it was all Jason’s fault.
Stop kidding yourself, you know Aoi better than that.
“Visha? You still there?” Bellami asks and I snap out of it. “Maybe you should back out of this and rest.”
I hold the phone back to my ear and step away from the lake. He was here. Alone and tormented. Fuck, how fucking useless am I that I couldn’t be there for him when he needed me?
I promised I wouldn’t let that happen to him again. I promised I’d be by his side, but I failed.
I failed him.
“No, I’m here and I’m gonna keep searching for him,” I grit out. “Tell me, do you also track my location?”
“Of course I do, why?”
“No reason. I’ll call you later.”
Perfect. Wherever I go, he will know where I am. All I have to do now is head to the address that motherfucker sent me and find my Aoi.
I knew he wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be.
“Excuse me, sir? Oh mister Lacroix, I didn’t know it was you,” a police officer says as he greets me. “Our officers are still searching the area, but nothing has been found yet other than a phone and his car.”
“Yes, thank you.” I stare at the lake on the horizon and sigh. “Keep looking around. He has to be somewhere.”
“Yes sir.”
“Have you searched the lake yet?” I demand. “You should have had plenty of time since my brother called. Or are you trying to tell me you were lazing around instead of doing your job?”
He pulls on his uniform’s collar and rakes his throat, avoiding my gaze.
“The search of the lake tells us that Mr. Holden must have been dragged out of the water, or he dragged himself out.” He turns to the shore and points at it.
“We found a trail in the stones. We hope our assumption is right and he made it out of the lake. Our search party hasn’t found a body in the water yet, so we believe there are chances he got out before it was too late. ”
I nod, listening attentively. “Thank you, officer.”
He hesitates before nodding back and vaguely startles when a colleague grabs his shoulder. “Yes, Sanchez?”
“Glenn wants to talk to you about the trail on the shore,” officer Sanchez says.
Officer Reed–based on his name tag–smiles at her, then turns back to me. “We will keep Mr. Lacroix updated of any news.”
Glancing at the trail officer Sanchez mentioned, I fix my attention back on officer Reed and nod curtly.
I feel his stare on the back of my head as I walk back to my car and slam my fist on the honk. “Fuck!”
The night is thick as I drive off to the address sent by who I presume was Jason.
A hidden small chalet comes into view when I drive up the hill and into the woods.
Not a single light illuminates the area as I park in front of the wooden chalet.
Although from the size of it, I should call it a cabin instead.
It’s eerily silent as I jog up the steps onto the front porch and knock on the heavy door. As expected, no one answers. Guess I’ll just walk in then.
Pushing the door open, I carefully creep inside and am met with darkness. “Jason? I know you’re the one who sent out that text.”
The floor creaks under my feet. I light the path with my phone’s torch.
It seems inhabited but there is some furniture such as a couch and a shelf.
I peer down the stairs leading to a basement and swallow the lump in my throat.
This is exactly how it goes in thriller and horror movies but that’s beside the point.
If Aoi is here, I have to find him and get him out.
A musky scent mixed with citrus and jasmine lingers in the air, tickling my nostrils and I recognize its owner. But something doesn’t seem right. There is another heavy fragrance in the air, one I can’t decipher, but it sends chills down my spine.
The sound of wood cracking behind me jolts me out of my thoughts a second too late when dull golden hair flashes in front of my vision and my ears begin to ring.
I reach for the trickling liquid dampening my scalp and sink to my knees.
Blood.
“Where…is Aoi?” I ask, dots dancing in my vision and pain exploding in my skull.
His muffled voice echoes when he says, “You don’t need to worry about him anymore. He clearly lost all interest in you but I’m sure you already figured that out on your own. He’s mine. Always has been.”
No. It can’t be.
***
I groan as my eyes flutter open harshly, and fight the bright yellow light blinding me. The putrid stench of mold and rusty metal forces me to cough.
“I see you’re awake.”
With immense difficulty, I look up and see that bastard, Jason, sitting on a chair in a black outfit and black gloves.
“Where is he?”
He rolls his eyes and stands up. “You should worry about yourself. He will be there long after you’re gone.”
“What?” I cough and wince as my scalp aches. “You abducted me, you son of a bitch.”
“Don’t blame me for your stupidity,” he snarls, fisting my hair and tipping my head back. “Your heart makes you weak. Maybe I’ll rip it out and gift it to Aoi tied with a pretty ribbon.”
I spit on his shirt. “You’re fucking sick.”
Bawling my fist, I attempt to punch him but soon realize he chained me to the wall. He laughs darkly and pulls out a handkerchief before wiping his shirt and throwing the tissue on the floor next to me.
“You must feel stupid now,” he says and grabs a crowbar. “Your brother won’t find you here. I made sure of it.”
No, that’s impossible. Bellami said he has a tracker on me, but I don’t know where exactly. It must be in my phone.
Fuck, did Jason take my phone? I’d be more surprised if he hadn’t.
“You son of a-”
Pain explodes in my jaw as his foot collides with it, and I taste blood on my tongue.
“Your lack of manners is still as aggravating as it used to be. Some things never change. French people.” I glare at him when he lifts the crowbar and tips my chin up with the head.
“I destroyed your phone before we got here. We wouldn’t want our fun to be spoiled by unwanted guests. ”
“Where is Aoi?” I demand and he rewards me with another kick, this time to my ribs.
“Who gave you permission to speak?” Jason sighs boredly and sits down on the chair, observing me with cruel disdain. “He’s here. Waiting in a room for me.”
“You fucking kidnapped him, didn’t you?” I grunt against the restraints and spit out the blood pooling in my mouth. “You did that! He never left that letter!”
A dark rumble of mocking laughter erupts from him, and he crosses one leg over the other. “You must not know him well enough if you think that. He planned everything out. Even I was surprised, but the second I saw that he was headed out of the city alone, I knew something was odd.”
“You were stalking him all along.”
“Keeping an eye on what belongs to me,” he corrects. “I thought I’d almost kill him myself when I understood what this selfish fool was up to.”
“Don’t you fucking insult him, you bastard!” I yank on the restraints and wince from the ribs he struck earlier. “Where is he? Tell me where he is!”
“Impatience is a nasty character trait.” He gets to his feet and nonchalantly walks over to the wooden table at the back of the small room and grabs a toolbox.
One after the other, he pulls out a different tool. A hammer, a set of pliers, the crowbar he was holding a second ago and more. My stomach lurches at the realization that this man is a total psychopath, and I start pulling at the chains as dread washes over me.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Now since we have a lot of time ahead,” he says softly as if he isn’t about to torture me. “How about I tell you a little story while I relieve my pent up frustration?”
My eyes widen as he grabs the crowbar, and he swings it at my side. I scream when he repeats the blow again and again and again. Targeting the same spot and tears spring to my eyes, metal colliding with my bones, tearing screams from my lungs.
“When I was sixteen, my brother and his wife had a child,” he starts, exchanging the crowbar for a flame gun and a rod.
“That child was the most adorable and pearl-skinned baby I have ever seen. An angel from heaven, you could say.” He holds the flame under the rod and watches as it heats up.
“He and I became inseparable. Only I could make him smile as brightly as the sun, so I took him under my wing and hid him from the world. My precious little angel.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” My voice comes out shaky as I scramble away from him but fail miserably. “Stop. No! Stop!”
He places the burning rod against the skin of my arm and grins as it melts into my flesh. The scent of my skin being reduced to meat on a barbecue grill brings out another fresh wave of screams and terror as the pain anchors itself in my bones.
“I made him mine when he turned sixteen. I spent so much time waiting for the right time. For him to show signs of infatuation and longing before I encaged him into my arms.” He scoffs dryly and flicks my carbonized skin before dropping the rod on the table and taking his precious time deciding which instrument he’ll use next.
“He begged for my touch, yearned for my love and so I gave him everything. But then his mother found out.”
Sweat trickles down my brow. “You’re sick.”
He’s talking about Aoi. Fuck, he’s been tormenting him since he was a literal baby? No wonder he could never get rid of Jason even if he wanted to.
How do you want to get the poison out of your system when it tricks you into believing it’s medicine?
I let the tears spill down in waves. Rage, terror and pain echo in my heart and demand I fight back but how? I’m chained up against a wall with most definitely broken ribs and now melted flesh.
I have to get out and find Aoi but how? Fuck!
“That vicious cunt had to get involved.” Jason grabs a pair of pliers and smirks.
I sense disgust and rage in his tone when he says, “She threatened to tell my brother and the cops if I didn’t erase myself from her son’s life entirely.
I couldn’t do that of course. I worked so hard to mold him into my most precious possession and yet she wanted to get rid of me? Not a chance.”
“What did you do?” I ask, dread pulsing in my veins as he crouches down to my height. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you will die here.” He grabs my hand and immobilizes it against the wall.
I try to kick him off me, but that monster is double my size and holds me firmly against the brick wall. “Get off me, you sick bastard!”
“I had to get rid of her of course. So, I tampered with the brakes of her car, but when she went for a drive I didn’t know she wouldn’t be alone in the vehicle. My brother and niece were in it with her. Such a waste. Those two were never meant to be in the car, only Meredith.”
He killed Aoi’s family?
“My biggest regret is that I caused the demise of the man I cherished the most,” he says, almost sorrowfully. “He was my brother and my second half. Had he not chosen that bitch, he could have been mine, but no. He made his choice and suffered the consequences.”
A rustling near the door momentarily catches my attention until it is stolen back by the devil in front of me. Jason positions the nip of the plier under my fingernail and smirks cruelly down at me as fear pales my skin, and sweat drips down my back.
My instincts kick in, and I violently headbutt him. He stumbles back before he can rip my nail off.
A gun falls from his pocket, and he jumps to his feet, grabbing it and shoving it in the back of his pants. His head turns toward the door and the shadowy figure running away.