Demons From the Past novel Chapter 30

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." - Friedrich Nietzsche

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|Verena|

I woke up with a jolt. A groan left my lips as a stab of pain pierced through my head.

My eyes squinted in confusion as I took in the unfamiliar surroundings. It was dark, indicating that it was nighttime already.

I was lying on a bed. In a room I didn't recognize.

The memories started to rush back.

Me telling Nate that I was falling in love with him.

Nate looking at my phone in shock.

Nate knocking me out.

I groaned again, my head was spinning. I was so confused.

Why would Nate do such a thing?

I let out a frustrated sigh. Nothing made sense.

I scrambled to my feet and made my way to the door.

I tried the handle but it was locked.

"Is any one there?" I demanded.

No response.

"Nate? If this is a joke it's not funny!" I tried again.

No one responded.

"Let me out of here!" I screamed.

I banged at the door with my fists and when that didn't work I started kicking.

"Stop before you hurt yourself!" A familiar voice shouted from the other side.

Ethan?

"Ethan! What are you doing here? Let me out!"

"You're in my house actually." He responded.

My eyes widened in shock.

I was in Ethan's house?

How did that happen?

None of this was making sense.

"Let me out this instant, Ethan!" I demanded.

I heard him sigh, "I'm sorry, I can't do that."

"Where's Nate? I need to have a word with him." I gritted out.

"He's not here."

"Where is he then?" I snapped.

"I can honestly say that I don't know." Came his reply.

"Is there a reason why you're keeping me locked in your house?" I demanded.

"Yes, there's a reason."

"Which is?"

Instead of a reply I heard the sound of retreating footsteps. I felt myself start to panic.

What the hell was going on here?

"Don't you dare leave me here Ethan!" I shouted.

Silence.

I screamed in frustration before sinking to the floor in defeat. I leaned my head against the door and started ahead.

My eye caught something; it was a folded piece of paper lying on the bedside table.

I slowly got up and made my way towards it, with shaking fingers I picked it up.

My heat skipped a beat when I recognized the handwriting sprawled clumsily across the paper.

My legs started trembling, it was like my body already knew it was something terrible.

I started to read,

" Not very long ago, there was a man, a man who had given up, a man beyond hope, a man who knew nothing but the darkness. Every night, when he couldn't sleep the man would look up at the sky and wish for things to change.

One night when he was looking at the sky he saw something, at first he didn't understand because it was merely a speck, but it kept growing, it kept shining brighter. That tiny speck of light grew into the most beautiful star the man had ever seen. The man knew that his wish had been answered, he knew that the sky had made the star just for him. As soon as the star came into his life everything changed, the man's life was never dark again.

I'm sure you're wondering why I told you this story Verena, but don't you see? I am that hopeless man, and you are my star.

Before you, I used to loathe myself. You made me look at things differently. You made me realize that darkness isn't necessarily bad, sometimes all the darkness wants is for the stars to shine.

Maybe in another life I could be your night sky.

Please don't hate me. I wouldn't be able to bear it.

Maybe someday you'll understand.

The thing is, now that I've had you in my life, I could never live without you.

Not living is better than having a life without you in it.

I'd rather put my life in danger than lose you.

Yes, I am a coward.

I am a pathetic, selfish coward who only cares about himself.

I know you will hate me for putting you through this. I know your biggest fear is losing someone you love. I know I'm hurting you.

But you are stronger than me, you always have been.

You're the strongest person I know.

I can't live without you but you can.

You're a survivor baby girl. You've survived things no normal person could.

You're a savior Verena. You saved me.

You are loved, never forget that.

I love you. "

I could barely breathe when I finished the letter. Sobs racked my body and I was shivering. No pain could compare t what I was feeling right now.

But then I read the last lines again.

Nate told me he loved me.

This was the first time he'd actually admitted that.

I could feel my mind fill with determination. It was like his love was giving me strength.

I quickly wiped my cheeks and got up to my feet.

My eyes darted to the glass window at the far end. It was really small and too high up for me to reach. I quickly pushed the bedside-table underneath it and climbed up. As expected, even if I broke the glass and squeezed through, the fall was a good three stories down, no way I'd be able to make it.

They'd thought this through alright.

I quickly formulated a plan in my head.

"Ethan!" I screamed his name till he finally responded.

"What?" His voice sounded agitated.

"I need to go to the bathroom."

He snorted. "Not happening."

"It's urgent!"

"No."

I slammed my fist against the door. "Ethan Grant! If you don't let me out you'll have a lot of cleaning up to do! You should have thought things through when you locked me up in a room without a bathroom!"

For a moment nothing happened but finally the knob turned and he opened the door.

"Five minutes, and you're not allowed to lock the door." Ethan instructed.

He had his cell phone in his hand. He'd been talking to someone on the phone.

Was it Nate?

I gave him a glare.

He ran a hand through his hair and looked at me guiltily. "I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for your own safety."

I cautiously made my way out of the room.

"The bathroom's to the right." Ethan quipped.

"Don't know what's wrong with the kid. He doesn't see anyone and he doesn't talk to anyone." The officer explained as he led me to a brightly lit room. With a table and two chairs facing across from one and other.

Aiden was finally bought in.

I took in his appearance;

His hair was long and unkempt, his facial hair had grown out too.

Something ignited in his eyes when he saw me. His lips twisted into a smile.

"I knew you'd come." He stated.

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

But he didn't answer. He just kept smiling.

The sound of a phone ringing made me jump.

I didn't have a phone.

And Aiden surely wasn't allowed on in prison.

The phone kept ringing.

I hesitantly reached under the table and sure enough I felt a small cellular phone taped underneath.

I took it out with shaking fingers and looked at the unfamiliar caller ID.

I knew who it was even before I answered.

"You took longer than I expected Verena." Kade's voice answered.

I felt a chill run through me as I realized what was going on.

"Please don't hurt them." I whispered.

"I don't have to. Just do what I tell you to."

"I'm listening."

"Walk outside. At the end of the street you'll find a black SUV. Don't look around, don't ask questions, just get in. My men will bring you to me from there. If anyone follows you, or if you even breathe a word of this to anyone, your brother and boyfriend are both dead. You have 10 minutes to get to the car, if you're not there in exactly ten minutes I will kill them."

He hung up.

I sat still in shock.

"I have to go. I have to save them." I whispered finally.

"He's planning on killing you." Aiden's voice broke in.

"I don't care. I can't let Nate and Trevor die."

"I'm calling detective John? He told us that he'd help us out." I remembered suddenly.

Detective John was on our side. He'd been assigned to this case since the very beginning.

He'd help us out.

Aiden's laugh pierced through the room.

"You still haven't figured it out Verena, have you?"

He laughed again.

"How did this phone get here?" Aiden asked.

I inhaled.

"How did this phone get here? In this police station, in this room?" He demanded.

"How did Kade know you were here? How did Kade know that you were Trevor's sister to begin with?"

I exhaled.

"How did Kade know about your acquaintance with Nate? How did he know where you lived, who you hung out with, since the very beginning?"

"Why was he always two steps ahead of the police? Like the time when we captured you in my house, how did he conveniently disappear right before the police got here?"

My heard thudded wildly.

All of this had started when Detective John had been assigned to investigate Allison's murder.

All the puzzle pieces quickly started falling into place.

I gasped as realization finally hit me.

It was Detective John.

Detective John was Kade.