(Karsten)
The apprehensions they carried were clearly visible on their faces, and no words from assuaged them.
"Give one more day and I will have..."
I was cut off by the girl. For so reason, she seed pissed at .
"We will be conducting our own search, we just need you to provide us with whatever information you have related to her kidnapping. Any suspects? Anyone at work who might have been harassing her?"
I was sure she was Stella, Arata’s best friend, who had been living with her earlier.
It was highly likely she knew about the contract Arata had signed with and didn’t approve of it.
"Arata has a friendly personality, she was well-liked at work. The ssages which her stalker had been leaving seed to indicate that he was related to either her past or her family."
I took out my phone, where I had saved all the ssages Arata had shared with , sent by the stalker.
I passed along my phone, and her brother was the one who accepted it first. All of them huddled together and read them in silence. Their foreheads creased with rippling tension that had all of us surrounded.
"Sotis we believe the past would leave us alone and won’t extend its miseries to our children, but no," Zyair defeatedly said while Zaylen and Stella took screenshots from my phone.
Zaylen returned my phone to , and I didn’t have the heart to show them the video of Arata. It had broken , and I knew her father had received sothing similar. I wondered if the sa video was sent to both of us.
He didn’t ntion the video, so I held my tongue on it too.
"But whoever this stalker is, he is tech-savvy and probably an exceptional hacker. My IT guys are on his heels, trying to break his code and follow the trail. So far, they have failed," I said as they looked at each other, ready to get up and leave.
"We have plenty of room here. I can have guest rooms arranged, so you people can feel at ease," Ma offered, her eyes fixed on Zyair. She was hardly even blinking.
But Zyair shook his head.
"We will be staying in a hotel. I just want to find my daughter and leave this shit city behind."
They stood up, leaving no room for discussion and filed out. Ma followed them, but Zyair lingered.
Once everyone was out of earshot, he elegantly crossed my personal space and stood watching dead in the eyes.
"I knew your father, and I am the one who put him where he is now. If you have any hand in the kidnapping of my daughter, I won’t hesitate to do the sa to you."
I stiffened under his words. He seed to have done his howork on , and I wondered what else he knew.
"Then you should also know I detest the man to the extent that I never even used his last na, never visited him and hate him from the bottom of my heart. I have no hand in the abduction of Arata, and the real culprit will be apprehended soon."
He stared down for a few more seconds; his ocean-like eyes, which reminded of Arata again and again, held doubts.
He finally said, "I hope so."
The man was intimidating, even without trying and I was soone who never felt intimidated by anyone.
I could see where Arata had gotten her relentless attitude of never backing down. She had more of her father inside her than she might realise.
Her family left even with our insistence to stay and eat, but they refused.
Ma and I saw them take the car they had arrived in and leave.
"I need to lie down, Karsten. Let know if there is any news from the police." Ma thumped my shoulder and left for her room. The seriousness had moulded her face; I guess seeing Zyair Kincaid, the man who put my damned father behind bars, had a toll on her.
Sohow, she admired the man who had the guts and courage to do what she couldn’t.
The pregnancy test kit was still in my pocket, and I had to keep it sowhere safe. Arata’s thoughts returned in full force and made weak in the knees. I was going to search every corner of this damn city until I found her.
Reaching my room, I found Asbela there with a grim expression, holding sothing in her hands.
"Master! I didn’t want to say anything in front of anyone, but I found these in your closet, hidden under your clothes while I was arranging them." She handed rolled-up pieces of black and brown.
With scrunched brows, I opened them, only to reveal a hideous-looking brown mask along with a cheap copy of the one I had recently used for making a video.
I had never brought masks out of my secret room so how did they end up in my closet?
Now it made sense how Arata suddenly knew I was Azul; she must have seen them.
Soone was going to great lengths to paint as her stalker.
The other mask must have been sothing he had used to scare her. She had stopped communicating with after the Winter Gala, so I was clueless about what she had been receiving.
"Thank you! Asbela. I would like to be left alone." She quietly nodded and exited the room.
Who though?
Then I rembered I had temporary staff over for Christmas and it could have been one of them.
Holding the masks, I was still lost in thoughts when there was a knock on the door.
"Enter," I ordered, crumpling the stupid masks in my hand.
Olphi entered holding a package and a grim expression.
"This was just delivered. It has been addressed to you. No shipping address."
My heart sank faster than a ship’s anchor. This couldn’t be good.
Pocketing the masks, I accepted the package from him.
"I will open it alone." Olphi quietly nodded and left, closing the door.
The package weighed almost nothing and yet it felt heavier than a thousand ships.
I stared at the long brown box for a long ti, understanding whatever lay inside was going to wreck .
Tearing the duct tape, I finally pulled it open.
My heart beat with such thunderous beats as I flipped away the flaps and peered inside.
Long fiery red strands filled the brown box. The locks, once wild and alive like a flickering fla, now lay limp and lifeless, severed from my Phoenix’s head.
The cardboard walls, rough and unfeeling, cradled the remnants of what had been a symbol of her identity, now reduced to snipped pieces. The scent of her lingered faintly in them, a ghostly whisper of the violence that had torn it away from her.
The tears I hadn’t shed finally slipped from my eyes and fell on them in abundance.
The pain erupting in my heart was so blinding that my lungs forgot to breathe.
And there it remained—a box full of stolen fiery light, a mory of my girl who always laughed in the wind, her hair dancing behind her like a banner of defiance.
Now, only silence. Only absence. Only the cruel echo of what was no longer there.
I couldn’t touch them, I tried but my hand wouldn’t budge.
The breaking point ca for and I dragged out the phone and placed the call.
"I am ready to take my position. Prepare for my ascension ceremony."
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