A new set of fresh tears formed at my eyes. I had discovered my memories so late and now my life was already going to end. How ironic!
But I heard something. And that gave me some hope. That I won't be alone in this.
"No!" His angelic voice was feeble with the panic that had grasped him. I closed my eyes, readily accepting my fate. How could I change it? What was the use of fretting over loss?
As the death still seemed to be approaching steadily, I got knocked off by something from a direction that I never expected. Rolling over the grassy ground, I looked up. The off-projectile car had banged into a tree, head-on as it has missed its target. The car was deformed and had fallen over to one side. One of its wheels rolled, detached from its origin, and disappeared into the bushes. And then engine gave off a thick line of smoke in a puff! as if it was sighing. The man though, in his drunk state, crawled out of his almost-grave, and walked away singing incomprehensibly. As his shadow died out, I looked around me. A man, was laying a few steps away and his audible groans were full of swearing. I knew all of the words he used and I also knew it's meaning, but what surprised me was the strange combination of them in an obscure way.
I smiled bitterly. This was my James. He had grown into a big man. He was successful in fooling me all this while. It seemed my absence had led him to be independent and use his potentials to maximum level. I was proud of him. He was naive and a blind believer of family's connection. But the incident five years ago must have felt like a shock to him. With me not around, he would've tried to recall all of my words of warnings I had passed to him in private. He would need them, I knew. But that he would change with the reality was a different story.
Time does change people. I admitted to myself.
There was another person who had changed with time. But now, my memory wasn't focused over the trivial things. The most important thing was that, I was back. As Evelyn Williams. Even better than I already was, all thanks to my little transition period as Scorpion.
"Jamie darling, it's time to be home." I smiled and whispered to him. He opened his eyes and the train of speech he had been giving too halted.
"Eva?" He asked recognising the small term I had started using after we realised the love for each other.
Yes, now I won't be upset. It really was me. I nodded. The tears were flowing freely now. A minute ago, I was regretting my fate and now I believed that we were fated to be together. I hugged him, it had been long. The only intimate connection I could remember was my last goodbye kiss. He hugged me back, he was trembling too. Maybe crying even. I couldn't see his face.
"Eva, please tell me you're not going away from me again." He sobbed. Yes, he was definitely crying.
"I promise James, I promise. No, I swear that I'll never leave your side again." I tried to say with my crying voice.
"I missed you." He was calmer now.
"I missed you too, Jamie." I hugged him tighter.
"You FORGOT me, Evelyn Williams." He scoffed. I laughed. At least this side of his was still unchanged.
"Then tell me, what do you want as compensation?" I made a sincere effort to woo him.
"Hmm. I don't know, maybe a kiss?" He smiled mischievously.
I sighed. Did I just compliment this man? I was going to take back what I said. But now, I wasn't much unwilling to fulfill his requests either.
He must be expecting a slap on his arm by me as I always did. But this time I took him by surprise. With a quick peck on his lips, I was but about to flee, when I slipped over the gown and fell back into his arms.
"Tired of running away from me yet, Mrs. Williams? The night is still young and beautiful." He murmured into my ears. Just then, his phone rang making us both jump with surprise.
He looked at the screen and irritated he picked it up.
"What's it?" He grumbled.
"Sir, you had left a missed call." Max's voice came. The volume was a little loud. He must have raised it at the party so that he would be able to hear with all that loud cheers and noise.
"Yeah, and don't say me you slept." He yelled back.
"Sorry boss, I was on a date." He said.
James and I exchanged glances. It was weird. Max never shared his personal life with us and this was the first time he had ignored his boss's call.
"Alright, I'll talk to you later." He said, coming back to his usual serious self.
"Yes sir." He said and the call was over.
After a long moment of silence, I dared to speak again.
"What was that about? It was a little strange, don't you think?" I asked.
"He's never behaved in this way." He agreed nodding. We both were going to drown in the silence again of it weren't for another phone call. This time, James passed it to me.
Junior. The screen showed. I picked it up.
I waited for his voice, to listen to what he wanted to say but all I could hear was dead silence. Instincts spiked my hormones and I realised that something was wrong.
Something was terribly wrong.
Just a second after the realisation, I heard a gun shot. Not in Green Vines, but from the phone.
My blood went cold and the phone slipped from my fingers. It didn't break because of the ground. But I had no time.
This was a ruse. This whole thing was a ruse. James picked up the phone and opened his mouth to say something, but I clamped my hands over his mouth and took the phone. I started recording the call. And put myself on mute.
"James, we have to go back. This was all a ruse to distract us." I said as I made my way to the underground parking lot.
"What ruse? What distraction?" He asked confused, but still followed me at a good speed.
"James wasn't going to arrive at this party. The invitees list was wrong. He knew we would come here after seeing his name on the list. But that was a bait. Junior's alone in home, with no one to protect him. And if there is a rat, then the M3 Agents will be useless to predict the attack. And they won't make a move until I say them to. They won't even come near the house. We have to reach home soon." I said in a worried voice.
He seemed to be anxious too, but he wasn't showing it for my sake.
As we got into the car, I instinctively sent a message to Savannah. Just in case.
As the miles flew under the tires of the car, my tension increased ten fold.
Junior, please be safe.
***
The house was ominously silent and dark. We were climbing up the porch steps. I shivered but not from the cold air that was reacting weirdly on my skin. I would've understood what the silence meant if Junior hadn't been in my every thought.
As we opened the door, I came face to face with a gun. Right at the center of my head. And a familiar voice boomed through the hall, breaking cold sweat on my spine.
"Long time no see, Evelyn Williams. I know that you won't hold a grudge against me, after all you didn't die."
I couldn't see anyone, but the connection of the voice I had made five years ago came again, triggered by the familiar experience. I smirked into the darkness.
"Yes, long time no see indeed, Victor Phillips." James looked at me confused. Victor Williams was his brother, not done Phillips. But I knew the voice too well.
"Ah, Eva. You already guessed me?" The voice said back.
"I already had, five years ago." I grinned.
"You know what? You should listen a story. There was one boy and a girl. They used to be best friends. Time passed by, but their love for each other didn't change. One day, the girl said that she wanted to study further. The boy agreed and made plans for both of them to travel together. Little did he know that the girl didn't care anymore. She broke up with him but he couldn't bear to part with her. He decided to leave her life forever. A car dashed into him and he was left at the accident sight. Left like that by the girl. He had to go through surgeries to reform his deformed body and his mother had to beg people for blood donation. He rose up again. But he was now a different person. He was determined to find his love and confess again. But he got the day he found her, was the day of her marriage, that too with his brother. She didn't care about the man who she had left some two years ago. And then time passed. After a year, he came to take what was his from the beginning that was snatched away by his evil, scheming brother. And he was successful in it." The voice chuckled.
I clenched my fists.
"Who are you, Victor? Who are you to judge me? You don't even know what I had to go through."
"I am Victor. The one who is meant for victory."
The one who is meant for victory? Who had said that? I could've swore I had heard that before. Someone had definitely said that. But then suddenly with a click the lights turned on and my brain registered the complete puzzle. The image of the man who wore a joker face mask with playing cards flashed again. But this time, he was removing his mask.
I saw the face before my eyes. In both the flashback and in the present The face that was supposed to disgust me. But instead, it was a face of betrayal.
"Rick?" I gasped.
To be continued...