Take Me Back To Paddington (SERIES)

Chapter 16 - The Search

Remembering which room that belonged to my girlfriend even though I had only entered this house once before, I climbed the stairs while putting a set of gloves on my hands, just in case I found something that I didn't want to contaminate with my fingerprints.

It was Chae who would always come to my house for a sleepover because she knew I didn't really like this area. It would make me feel unsafe to sleep on her bed at night and I might end up not sleeping at all.

That was why I always preferred her to come to my place instead. I even tried to convince her to move in with me because I thought my apartment was safe for her. Chae always declined my offer even though she wouldn't need to pay a single pence to me monthly. She could live at my house forever if she wanted to, just like how she lived in my heart; always welcomed, always waited.

Come back to me, baby.

But she was kind enough not to let Natalie paid for the whole house alone. The monthly number would be super expensive for the other woman if it wasn't divided by two.

That was how my Chae was; always put other people first than herself.

Turning on the wall switch, I pushed the door even more after unlocking it when the room was now bright enough for my eyes. The curtain was closed, blocking the sunlight from entering.

I placed one leg forward, stepping into Chae's room and suddenly a cold breeze hit my skin so delicately as if it was just passing through. That stopped me for seconds to assess my surrounding since there wasn't any opened window whatsoever.

Where did the breeze come from?

Plus, it was almost autumn but the breeze earlier was like a winter wind would be. That was how cold it felt like, giving me a tiny surprise a little.

Sighing, I put both of my legs in the room as my eyes began the scanning. Her bed was the first thing I saw when I opened the door, noticing a small, wooden cross she hung on the wall about few inches up from the headboard.

My lips formed a faint smile as if I was greeting one of the things Chae respected the most.

The search started from her stuffs under the bed, looking inside every box I found. There was nothing much there except for pictures of her mother, childhood memories and such.

Chae didn't really talk about the woman who gave birth to her. I only knew about her mother's leukaemia and didn't survive. Chae dropped her master 3 years ago to work on double shifts just to help her father.

I didn't ask much about it either since I didn't want to make old scars bled. Even though I didn't understand how it felt like to lose someone I loved before, I still took some precautions and I was glad that I did.

Because now I finally felt it and my heart writhed every time I remembered about losing Chae.

I had spent more than an hour in this room, looking for anything that could help me in this investigation. I went through every little space, every drawer, every compartment but nothing hit my attention. I even doubled checking everything to make sure I didn't leave any important sign unnoticed. But I guessed the same luck I managed to get that helped me in having the house keys in my hand, didn't work for this search.

Nothing in this room was meant to be found.

I closed my eyes, holding my head with my elbow pressing on the thigh. I shouldn't have came here actually since Chae's bedroom wasn't the crime scene. I knew for good that I wouldn't find the killer's identity here, but that was because I wasn't looking for the killer.

I was looking for my Chae Richards.

She was talkative; a beautiful fairy kind of storyteller. She would talk even though I was already fallen asleep. She talked a lot even in my dreams as my semi-conscious brain could still pick up her sweet, soft voice. But who would have thought, someone who was always gave and shared new perspectives of life, actually hiding something about her life in reality?