NOTE: Hello everyone. So this story is coming to an end. There are probably (not sure yet) four-five chapters left and an epilogue. I hope you are ready for it! I am already busy writing chapter 33 so you won't have to wait too long. I have two weeks break from school so I will have more writing time! Yay!!
It's a strange nauseous feeling bringing me back to consciousness. My eyes flutter open and it takes a while for them to adjust to the dim light in the unfamiliar room.
Apart from the hard bed I'm lying on and a little desk in the corner of the room, there is nothing other than spider webs, dust and dirty walls surrounding me. And only that makes it very clear that wherever I am right now, does not seem like a good place to be.
I slowly lift myself up from the bed, but I do have to take a moment before I'm able to stand up. I'm still a little light headed from whatever put me asleep. A couple of seconds later I feel strong enough to carry myself across the room, so I lift myself on my two feet again and I sway to the only door while I try wishful thinking in hope to be able to open the door and get the bit of fresh air I need. And when my hand reaches the doorknob, it's immediately obvious, that whoever brought me here, doesn't want me to get out, because it's locked.
The fact that I'm trapped and I don't know what I'm doing here and the only thing I want is for Zayn to show up and take me home, brings me so close to tears that I don't even realize when they fall down my cheek.
I get startled and take a few steps back when I hear someone open the lock and the doorknob starts to move.
I have to contain myself not to gasp when a tall ash blond man walks into the room. His bright blue eyes and his height are the only signs for me to be sure it’s Stefan standing in front of me. It's only now that I realize I have never seen his hair before. I imagined it to be a lighter colour but not so close to white like this. It's so unnatural and more scary at the same time. His popping blue eyes feel like they can see right through me, giving me the most uncomfortable feeling.
'So... Evelyn.' His voice calls my name and it causes me to get shivers down my spine. 'Zayn's girlfriend. Right?' He closes the door again behind him, making us the only two people in the room.
I decide to not answer him. I quickly move my eyes over his body to see if he is hiding a gun anywhere. I know Zayn always has his under his belt in the front. With Stefan I don't see anything and it makes me wonder if he thinks that little of me to come here without a gun.
'You know, I never thought Zayn would be this stupid quite frankly.' He thinks out loud, startling me with his amused voice. 'You're a pretty girl. It's a true shame.'
He disgusts me. His whole presence disgusts me.
'You wonder how I know?' He smiles, not leaving his position. His hands are folded behind his back and his smirk never failing my glance.
He's waiting for me to answer but I still refuse to speak to him.
'You're not a very talkative person are you?' He questions me while tilting his head a bit. A couple of seconds go by before he decides to stab me in the heart without touching me. 'What if I told you I killed Zayn just a couple of seconds before I came in here.'
'You didn't.' I hiss at him while feeling all my hope shatter on the floor.
He smiles big when he nods. 'Exactly. I didn't. But thank you for assuring me you really are his girlfriend. Your face is an open book, Evelyn. You should be more guarded with your emotions.'
I feel my heart rate slow down again. Thank God. Thank God it was a lie.
He runs his hand through his hair before he decides to speak again. 'To be fair it took me a while to figure out what was going on with Zayn.' His voice starts telling the story that I actually don't want to know. 'I'm going to start at the beginning and tell you one important thing Zayn hasn't even figured out yet: none of my boys go on the streets alone without someone watching them.' His voice proud and confident. 'To be honest with you, when it comes to Zayn I kind of slacked the process, you know... With the little boy he's watching. Luke... Lucas? Still not sure what his name was. Anyway. Because he went out more often and I, sadly enough, trusted him, I stopped ordering people to follow him. Until a couple of months ago, when I shot Zayn during a job. He disappeared for a full day and when he came back, the bullet wound was magically taken care off.'
He leans back against the door to make himself a bit more comfortable while telling his story. His eyes never leave mine.
'Zayn is a very good criminal, Evelyn. He's barely able to follow. A lot of the people working for me didn't succeed in tracking him down anymore. I think that's the part where I figured out this had to be something serious. Because somehow nobody was able to follow him to your place, what meant he was very determined on not letting anyone know about where he was going. But that didn't stop me. One day he left the house telling me he was going to pick up the kid. I did not follow him because I knew he would know. What I decided to do instead, was going to the school on my own and wait for him to get there. And that's where you appeared. I saw Zayn picking up the kid and when I was ready to go back because I saw enough, I caught you, beautiful and innocent as you are, stupidly deciding to follow Zayn. So I decided to follow you. Literally the best move I could make because that way Zayn would be suspicious about you and not about me. So I caught him catching you, and I also learned that whenever he is with you, he's not able to keep his focus straight because I was suddenly able to follow you both to your home. Which was slightly disappointing to be honest. I expected more focus from him.'
His proud smile doesn't suit his face.
'I was able to track you down and get more information of you than you would've wanted. From that day people have been following you from the moment you got out your apartment until you were safely back inside. That's also how I learned about your friend's café. And can I tell you, sweet Evelyn, how incredibly satisfying it was to see Zayn's reaction to my new found spot to rob. You should have seen his face. Lord, that was a good day. And it was a total win to catch you two quietly interact while your friend was being robbed. Zayn is so incredibly out of focus whenever he's with you. It's truly remarkable.'
My stomach has turned a couple of times during him telling the story. He knew from the very beginning? Zayn just happened to pull it off until I decided to stupidly follow him? So this IS technically all my fault. Everything is my fault.
'I do want to apologize though, for that one guy you happened to catch while he was following you. That has been taken care off. Literally the poorest I have ever seen a man do.' He rolls his eyes as if that was the only lacking bit in his plan.
Suddenly I feel the need to try something. I already messed everything up big time, so the least I can do is try to make this alright again.
'So what's the plan now?' My raspy voice asks him in a rush of anger. 'If you want to kill me just do it. I'm here, you have your chance.'
It makes him burst out in laughter and it's when his eyes leave mine, faster than I thought he would, I take my chance and run up to him with my right fist forward, just like Harry taught me one day. I am able to hit him right in his jaw, but unlike my expectations, he immediately grabs my pulse, turns it in his grip, making me cry out in pain before he lets go with so much force that I fall back my head barely an inch of the wood of the bed.
'Don't try a stunt like that again because I swear I won't let you have a sight of your boyfriend ever again.' He hisses between his teeth, suddenly no smile to be seen.
'As if you were planning that.' I mumble still too much in pain to be able to crawl up again.
'In fact I was. Just one last time. Before I kill you in front of him. Or maybe... If you are going to keep acting like a little brat, kill him in front of you first?'
Suddenly it feels like the air is getting sucked out of me. 'No. No no no.' I breathe out, not believing his words. 'Don't kill him. You can't kill him.'
'Oh, honey. Believe me... I can. And I will when I feel like it.' He enjoys all the power he has. He enjoys it to the fullest. 'Louis goes first, making Zayn an easy catch. Then you'll go. Making him regret every single choice he made in his life. And from then I'm bit torn. I actually feel like keeping him alive for a bit longer. Just so he can enjoy the pain of it all.'
'What makes you think he will find the place?' I hiss.
'What makes you think I won't give him a little tip?' He smiles again. 'I'm pretty sure he'll take whatever he gets.'
He suddenly walks over to me, hoists me up from the ground and performs such a forced arm grip on my throat that I'm barely able to breath. I catch him taking out his phone and putting it on front camera. Soon the video starts recording. 'You should've told me about her earlier, Malik.' His voice sounds in my ear while he tightens his grip even more. 'I would not mind sharing her.' He continues amused. Somewhere between my own struggles to gasp for air and his voice talking to the man that can't see this video by any means, I feel him press his lips against my jaw and I instantly feel like throwing up. 'I think you know which room this is, so I guess I'll see you very soon.' Stars appear in my vision and I slowly feel myself lose consciousness until he suddenly lets go of me, making me fall hard on the ground again. 'Don't be too much of a trouble, Evelyn. Or I'll maybe change my mind and make the process of killing you a bit longer than I anticipated.'
And with that he walks out the door, locking it behind him, leaving me in utter desperation while thinking about whatever will come next.