mission '96 cth au

23| finding out the unexpected -present

Staring at the ceiling her eyes landed on a small rose colored novel hiding on the edge of the shelf above Andrea's bed. She reached up and grabbed it and immediately began flipping through the pages that had many phrases that were highlighted with tiny notes in written in the margins. Each note had something different written such as her describing the writing style, the way the phrase affected her thoughts and emotions, exciting moments. It looked like the regular novel she had to annotate for her Literature class. Another dead end. Flipping back to the beginning something written in blue ink caught her eye. On the inside of the cover was a note that clearly was not written in Andrea's but someone else's. It read:
With lots of love and care -C

Who was C? Was Andrea with someone? Suddenly the sound of the doorbell ringing jumped her out of her thoughts. Blythe flew down the stairs in hopes of seeing Calum but instead of the opened the door to a police officer waiting for her. Confused, she waited for the officer to speak because she knew her father had closed the case on Andrea so it would not be spoken about in the media.

"Blythe Nicholls?" he questioned.

"That's me." she squeaked then stepped aside to let the officer inside.

"My name is Officer Holmes. I know the case has been closed on your sister but I just had a few questions to ask you on a body we recently found."

"A body?" Blythe murmured with horror. The officer nodded then pulled out a photo.

"Do you recognize this woman?" he asked. Blythe squinted at the photo then slowly the blood drained from her face.

"Trina...she-she's dead?" Blythe whispered.

"A passerby discovered a suit case in a river far out and inside, her body was discovered. I'm very sorry for your loss Ms. Nicholls but if I may ask was she not a friend of your sister's?"

"She wasn't just a friend. She was Andrea's best friend." Blythe muttered. A sudden distaste began to form in her words as she began connecting the dots.

"Do you by any chance think this may be related to your sister's death?" Officer Holmes questioned. Blythe stared at the wall lost in thought.

"Meaning my sister...was murdered by the same person Trina was murdered...why though?" she trailed off.

"I'm not sure." The Officer sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "The case has already been closed as well."

"Please, if you find anything will you inform me? My father doesn't have to know."

"I'm afraid I cannot disclose confidential info unless given consent."

"Please. Just anything that relates to-"

"But rules are meant to broken. I know you only hold good intentions Ms. Nicholls. If i discover any clues I'll make sure to let you know." the Officer offered an apologetic smile then turned to leave.

"Thank you." Blythe whispered then shut the door. She pressed her forehead against the door as tears began to stream down her face slowly turning into sobs. Images of her sister and her best friend circled her mind. Two innocent woman who's lives had been taken. But by who and why?

...

His eyes shot open to a dark room. A distant beeping was heard in the distance. He sat up instantly and peered around with blurry eyes. A sharp pain shot up in his head from sitting up too fast. He winced then slowly pushed himself up adjusting his gown that fell off his shoulder. Gown? He glanced around then finally realized he was in a hospital. Images rushed back into his mind of when the last time he was conscious.

Being strapped to the post, the water, the lack of blood flow in his arms and legs, the fear, the cold. The thought of the waves made him shiver under the hospital blankets. He wrapped the blanket around him and slowly sat up. His bare feet hit the cold ground as he shakily stood up and opened the door. The bright white lights hit him like a brick in the head. He winced and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Calum?" a soft voice murmured.

"Hm?" he croaked with squinty eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder guide him back inside the room followed by the sound of a switch. The lights turned on causing Calum to groan. "Oh God, that hurts my head."

"Shhh sit down, you're still dehydrated." the voice chuckled while caressing his back. Finally Calum's vision became more clear as he blinked the tears out of his eyes. He froze as he stared at the woman sitting across from him. She smiled.

"Recognize me?" she chuckled as she tucked Calum back into the bed.

"You're...you're..."

"I'm?"

"Greta." he breathed with astonishment.

"It's nice to see you again, Cal. In consciousness, of course." she laughed. That familiar smiley laugh.

"Are you the one who saved me?" he asked incredulously. Greta nodded.

"Well I did of course have the help of my weapons and some friends of my own. But yes, indeed I did find you."

"H-how? When? Where? Why?!" Calum stammered with emotion he could not understand. For the first time he was seeing a woman from his childhood, and very few people remembered that. It felt as if he had family again.

"Alright hold on. You can interrogate me later, first you need to get some rest. I promise I'll tell you everything you want to know as long as you're honest with me."

"No. No I have to get back home. They must be looking for me, how long have I been gone? How long have I been out? No one can find me."

"Trust me, Calum. You're okay. Your friends are on their way. I'm sure the tracker that I found with lead us here."

"And Molly?"

"Is dead. They all are. The Nicholls are over." Greta smiled. Suddenly that smile didn't look so youthful anymore as he remembered. It seemed like there were many secrets hidden behind it, filled with everything this woman had gone through.

"Who exactly are you?" Calum whispered once he realized he didn't feel the way Molly's love potion made him feel. Every thought of her in his mind only added to the disgust.

"I'm a hired assassin, but also the guardian of Calum Thomas Hood."

"What...the...f-"

"Your uncle hired me, Calum. And he's looking for you."

woahhhh guess who's back after over an entire year? i was feeling motivated so i typed this up. updates are still slow tho so don't expect anything...to whoever tf is probably not even reading this LMAO

-z e e