How to make your teacher fall in love with you

Chapter 50

Chapter 50- Ella's POV

 I spent the next hour examining all that there was in the basement. I felt anxious about John returning, yet at the same time I was hoping he might let me go- yes I know, wishful thinking and quite literally impossible. There were photos of a lot of people we knew in the room, but mostly they were of Edward and I. Nathan and my brother were there too. Photos from Edward's past were in a separate file, all organized neatly. 

John must dedicate so much time for this, I mused as I turned my attention to the monitors. Edward's classroom, his living room and my living room were showing on the screen. Everything was eerily quiet. I looked at the clock. It was just 6.15am, of course there was no movement anywhere. I sighed. What had I gotten myself into? John was a psycho. I'd always thought of him as having bipolar moods but never thought much of it. I sat down in front of the screen, flinching because of my hip, which I had bumped thanks to John and had bruised.

"Man, how does he manage to do all of this?" I thought out loud.

I jumped when someone answered my question. I turned and sure enough, John was standing by the door, arms folded, watching me. I had not even noticed him there... how long had he been watching me?

"Easy. I record each call you guys get. I schedule texts. And I have a couple of little helpers," he said, like it was no big deal.

I blinked. "Is that how you know everything?" I asked.

John smirked. "And cameras of course, as you should know by now," he answered.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Yes, I know," I said, turning my attention back to the screens. I saw Edward passing through the living room, stopping in front of the tv and looking thoughtful. He sighed and made his way to the kitchen.

"So how did you get access to Edward's photos from ten years ago?" I asked John. I wanted to gather as much information as possible, hoping that if I would eventually leave this miserable place, I could tell Edward.

John walked over to me and sat down on the seat next to mine. "That's a long story," he said. He stretched his arms. "You see, I've known Edward for much longer than he thinks I have," he added. My mouth flew open.

He grinned. "I know what you're thinking. No, I haven't been stalking him for ten years. My brother has."

 I looked up with such a jolt that I started feeling dizzy. "What?" I asked.

John smiled. He was starting to get on my nerves now. "I thought that might be your reaction. You see Ella," he said, propping up an elbow and resting his head on it. "My brother was friends... kind of... with Edward, when they were young. Well, actually they were not friends. My brother was the dealer and Edward was the buyer. And then Edward became the dealer."

I gulped. So John's brother did drugs too. "And what does this have to do with anything?" I croaked. 

John's jaw tensed and he moved closer to my face. "Edward got caught, and he outed my brother." He paused. "So they both ended up in jail, and my brother decided to keep an eye on Edward, so that he would eventually get revenge. And it's happening now. Twelve years later."

I gulped. "And where's your brother now?"

John pursed his lips. "Still in jail."

In spite of the sorry situation I was in, I wanted to laugh out loudly at his words. If John's brother was still in jail, it meant that he had probably done more than what he had said. How was it possible that Edward had gotten out years ago and John's brother had had to stay?

"What else did he do?" I asked cautiously.

John seemed to hesitate, then spoke. "He instructed someone to kill someone."