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Chapter 7 Confronting The Truth

  • RALI
  • "Is everything okay?" Jasper asked, finally noticing.
  • I looked up at him, then back at my screen. How do I even explain such absurdity to someone?
  • "It's nothing," I muttered, shaking my head as I silenced the phone and shoved it deep into my bag. My fingers lingered on the strap as I tightened it securely. "Just a little issue from work."
  • Still, my eyes darted around the café, scanning the eight or so patrons scattered across the space. The air smelled faintly of roasted coffee beans and warm pastries, but the sudden chill creeping up my spine had me feeling out of place. Was someone watching me? If so, who? Everyone seemed caught up in their conversations or their phones—no one stood out.
  • This had to be some sick prank. A big, ridiculous one, and I won't stop until I found out who was behind it.
  • After a few more minutes of light conversation, Jasper excused himself to use the restroom. I grabbed my phone, half-dreading what I might see. My chest tightened. No new message. The absence of one was unsettling, almost like waiting for a storm to hit. My stomach churned.
  • I dialed Veronica.
  • I explained the situation to her and she assured me that it was probably a stupid person pulling pranks on me. She promised to call the number herself when I got home, and that was just about the assurance I needed.
  • We were still on the phone when a terrified scream filled the place.
  • Heads whipped toward the sound. Several customers scrambled to their feet, abandoning their meals, while staff rushed toward the source of the commotion—the restroom. My heart clenched painfully in my chest. Jasper.
  • Ending my call with Veronica, I jumped to my feet and ran along with the others to the restroom.
  • Please. Please. Please. It couldn't be what I was thinking. Not Jasper.
  • But my fears were confirmed when I arrived and found him unconscious on the floor, blood pooling beneath his head. His face was battered, his skin pale as death.
  • No!
  • wanted to scream, to shout his name, but my throat refused to work. My body felt frozen in place, every muscle locked in shock.
  • Around me, the café staff bustled, trying to assess the situation. Their voices were muffled, like I was underwater.
  • .....
  • The paramedics arrived within minutes. I clung to Jasper's side as they loaded him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. The ride to the hospital was a haze of flashing lights and sirens, but all I could focus on was him—Jasper, broken and battered, lying motionless before me.
  • I finally cried.
  • From the look of things, he was going to survive it. But now, I was scared. Really scared.
  • Coincidentally, one of the nurses at the hospital was Jasper's aunt, and she quickly notified his family of the situation.
  • At the hospital, I paced the corridor outside his room, unable to sit still. the stark white walls only made everything feel colder, emptier. And slowly, my fear turned into rage.
  • Who the hell did this to him? Who hurt him this way?
  • I reached out to the Cafe, like I'd said I would and asked if they'd checked the cameras already, and their response stunned the living daylight out of me.
  • Apparently, the footage from where Jasper walked into the restroom had been erased. The manager explained that it was strange and could only mean that their system had been hacked into, and for someone to have hacked into their system on such short notice only spoke of extraordinary hacking skills. According to him, he's never seen anything like it.
  • The information made me want to retch.
  • My bet was, if Jasper regained consciousness, he'd probably say he didn't see who attacked him.
  • Someone did this to him on purpose, then cleared every evidence. Fucking unbelievable.
  • I almost thrashed my phone against the wall but thought better of it.
  • Angrily, I opened my inbox and sent him a text:
  • RALI: Who the hell are you, and what did you do?
  • I wished with every ounce of anger in my body that they could feel my wrath radiating through the screen, just as much as I'd felt his from the Café—even if that should be impossible.
  • He took his time responding.
  • UNKNOWN: Take a guess.
  • If my teeth were made of glass, they'd have shattered from how hard I clenched them. And if my fingers were blade, they'd have punctured the screen of my phone as I typed back a response.
  • ME: Why don't you guess what I'm going to do to you when I find you, you stupid freak? I'll make sure you rot in jail, asshole!
  • I've never been this mad at someone. Heck, I couldn't even remember the last time I used such foul words.
  • But I was losing it. Jasper was hurt because of me—again. The realization made me feel sick.
  • He took so long to respond that I thought he wouldn't.
  • UNKNOWN: Actually, it's the other way around.
  • UNKNOWN: You've always been my prisoner, Green, and I have every intention to make you rot in this jail.
  • My brows dipped low, followed by a mighty frown that carved new lines into my face.
  • ME: You're sick. And rotten. And I promise you, if you had anything to do with what happened to my friend, I'll get you.
  • His response was almost instant.
  • UNKNOWN: One more wrong word from you and I'll take the pathetic life I left behind for him.
  • My blood boiled so fiercely it felt as though my veins were lava. My heart thumped against my ribs like a war drum.
  • UNKNOWN: Trust me, it's damn easy to get into NCR, go to the fourth floor and to the seventh room where he's being treated to finish what I started, you know?
  • I gasped, my eyes lifting up to observe my surroundings.
  • I was the only one on the sterile white passageway. Not even a single staff was in sight. How in God's name did he know the exact room?
  • No. Something wasn't right.
  • ME: What sort of a freak are you?
  • I texted with more fear now. My skin prickled, every hair standing on end. The sensation of being watched crept over me like icy fingers trailing down my spine. The hallway grew colder, or maybe it was just me, drowning in dread.
  • Seconds felt like hours before his reply came through.
  • UNKNOWN: The next man you sit and dine with won't be as lucky as the one in there. I won't spare their life, Green.
  • My head throbbed, a dull roar filling my ears. I stared at the text, but the letters blurred until they became unintelligible shapes.
  • I held my phone so tight, trying to come up with a reply but couldn't. My head was too distraught to think clearly.
  • But I knew something wasn't right. I had a psycho on my tail, and somehow, I'd been ignoring that tiny voice whispering it's secret to my ears.
  • It's been trying to tell me I knew who this psycho was. For years, in the midst of all the rejections, that tiny voice had been trying to warn me of my monster, but I chose not to listen, because I didn't want to face the truth. I wanted to believe it was impossible and my rejection from men was purely ill luck on my path.
  • But now, it was time to put an end to my cowardice. I needed to get answers.
  • I exited the hospital in long angry strides, boarded a cab and headed to a certain location.