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Chapter 10 The Man in Black
“Thank you for the fruits Arya”, Leo rejoiced.
“You’re welcome.” Arya hollered as she touched Leo’s shoulder for the second time.
Arya’s face turned red when she saw the incident that paved the way to her parents’ misery and death. The police officer clutched the tissue in her hand and stood up as tears gushed down from her eyes.
Arya slowly gets her gun in her pocket. Leo became shocked when Arya aimed her gun towards him.
"Arya put it down. You came here to see if I am fine right? What's the meaning of this?" Leo trembled.
"Stop the act Leo. Stop pretending that your hands are CLEAN." Arya remonstrated.
"Wait. I don't understand. Why are you doing this? What are you talking about?" Leo wondered while stopping Arya from shooting him.
Arya growled, "You are the reason why my parents were mocked by the public back then. YOU HAVE KILLED THOSE NINE INNOCENT POLICEMEN! YOU ARE THE TRAITOR AND NOT MY PARENTS! TELL ME LEO, WHY DID YOU KILL THEM?"
Cylon's eyes accentuated as he eavesdropped on their conversation.
"I should be putting you behind cold bars but I can't do it since I can't find any evidence."
"Arya you are making me laugh. This is defamation. Please say that you are just joking around. I can still forgive you for saying SHITS in front of me. I AM ONE OF YOUR SUPERIOR! Aren't you afraid that your career will tumble down if you continue your craziness?" Leo implied.
Arya puts her gun down. She smiled and said, "Hahahaha sorry for making you nervous Sir Leo. I am just practicing. I will say that when I have found the traitor. Sorry for that."
"Arya, it's not a good joke. Anyone who will hear our conversation will think that I am a criminal. Good thing it is just us. Okay, I'll forgive you but please don't do it again. It's not helping. By the way, the case was already settled. Do you want to reinvestigate it?"
"Sorry Sir Leo. You may now take a rest. I'm going home. Tomorrow, I will try to contact Eris and will tell her to surrender. Regarding my parent’s case, I am reinvestigating it."
"Okay Arya. If you will be lucky to talk to her, please tell her that I still love her. I will not sue her for stabbing me. Please tell her to surrender for killing Rodel." Leo insisted.
"Okay Sir. Good night."
Cylon quickly hides when Arya walks out the room. He saw Arya clenched her jaw. She has a face like thunder.
"Why did Arya say such a thing? Did Leo …"
His monolog stops when Leo's phone rings.
"If you are worried about me, I am fine." Leo said in a dull tone.
"My wound still hurts. You should be more careful next time. Anyway, Eris is now wanted. Why her? You hurt me in that part; you know how much I adore that girl." He continued.
Cylon gets surprised by what he hears.
"Arya is acting weird. You should visit her soon. I almost died if she wasn't joking a while ago. You should know if that girl knows something about that. I am not comfortable when someone is saying shits in front of me."
Leo ended the call. He became nervous when he heard the nurse.
"What are you doing here Sir? Are you related to the patient in this room?" The nurse inquired while opening the door.
Cylon ran and tried his best to hide his face on the nurse.
"Nurse, who is that?" Leo asked.
"I don't know Sir. Do you have a brother?" The nurse queried.
"I don't have one. Did you see his face?"
"No sir." The nurse said while preparing his medicines.
"Okay. Is it alright if I check the CCTV tomorrow? I'm just curious who visited me at this late hour."
"No problem sir. For now, let me clean your wound first."
"Anyway, you are beautiful. What's your name?" Leo beamed as he stared at the nurse from head to toe.
"Rexy. I'm Rexy."
"Ow! Rexy. What a pretty name. Would you mind if I asked you to join me tonight?"
The nurse gave him a naughty smile and said, "You have a perfect face. Of course, it's my pleasure serving you tonight, Mr. Senior Police Officer."
Cylon didn't know what to do after discovering Leo's true color. Since he wants to be promoted soon, he decided to keep things to himself.
~
It was a silent night. Arya can hear the sound of the clock as she breaks the glass she's holding. She didn't like the taste of the wine she bought in the ministop. She's been awake all night thinking on how she can find strong evidence against the devil that set up her parents for multiple murders. She didn't see any memory regarding the latest incident but she clearly saw the time when the assasination happened. It was so clear and detailed.
"If only I could swim beneath the sea and get that gun. Argggh! Leo can't surely forget that day. It's the only memory I saw whenever I touched his shoulder. Did it give him so much pleasure or did he feel some guilt inside him? Nah. That devil doesn't have any conscience. He's a monster and I need to tame him." Arya said irately.
Someone knocked at her apartment's door. Arya gets the knife and conceal it on her back while she goes near the door. "Who's there?"
"Eris."
Arya quickly opens the door and lets Eris in.
"Where have you been? We are all looking for you." She said worriedly.
"Is it okay if I stay here for a while? The patrols are everywhere and I don't know where to go since I have no family here." Eris begged with teary eyes.
"Come in. Sit down on the couch. I will only get food and water. I’m sure you need those."
“Thank you Arya.” Eris gushed.
Eris looks around the tiny apartment. Arya doesn't like messes since the room is clean and everything is in order. She noticed the big bookshelves. From that, she can say that Arya is a bookworm. Her eyes get stuck on Arya's family photo.
"Is that your parents?" Eris questioned.
"Yes. They're in heaven now." Arya sniffled.
"Sorry to hear that. From that photo, I can conclude that they are also like us."
"Yes, Eris. They are the best in their time." Arya humbly bragged about her parents.
"Sorry to ask this, Arya. What's the reason for their death?"
"They said it was suicide but I don't believe it. Someone sent me a note saying someone killed them." Arya recalled while cooking ramen.
Eris asked some questions until the food was served. The girl started to eat since she is very hungry and thirsty.
"Eris did you really…" Arya stumbled.
"Will you believe me if I say that I can't remember anything?" Eris stopped eating and ogled into Arya's eyes.
"I know that you can't do that horrible thing. You love Leo right?"
Eris nodded.
"Do you have the knife and the rifle?" Arya asked while holding Eris’ hands.
"Are you not recording this conversation?" Eris removed Arya’s hands on hers as she looked around to find some phone or recording medium.
"Trust me Eris. The police should be here at this moment if I want you to be imprisoned. My phone is in my bag."
Eris answered her question after trusting Arya’s words, "I buried it.. on the ground .. Somewhere."
"Will you mind if I touch your shoulders?"
"For what?" Eris grimaced.
"Trust me and please focus. Don't think about anything." Arya advised as she started to read Eris' memory. After scanning, she hugs Eris.
"I know you can't do that. I am right." Arya rejoiced when she confirmed that her comrade is innocent.
"What do you mean?"
"This should be a secret between us. Please promise me first that you will not tell anybody about this." Arya whispered.
"Okay. I promised." Eris said while still being confused about the situation.
"I can read people's memories." Arya imparted.
Eris laughed so hard and said, "Hey it is too late for that kind of joke. Hahahahaha."
Arya once again touched Eris' shoulders and said, "I know it's hard to believe so I'm doing this again. Sorry for invading your privacy. Your mother hated you for leaving her alone in the States. You told her that you will find your father and you will complete your family."
Eris removed Arya's hand on her shoulder since she is afraid that Arya will know everything about her.
"Stop it." Eris aloof Arya’s hands on her shoulders.
"Sorry Eris. I can't think of a way for you to believe me so I did it again." Arya apologizes.
"Okay. This is huge and I first thought that you're insane for saying weird things. What you said is true so now, I believe in you."
Arya embraced Eris tightly. She doesn’t know but she really wanted to be close with Eris. She became open about her life after a long time.
"You didn't have to feel guilty. You didn't kill Rodel and you didn't stab Leo."
"So who did it?" Eris wondered.
"I didn't see his face. He's wearing all black and a mask. I think he is 6 feet tall."
Eris continued asking, "A he?"
Arya nodded.
"Why did everyone including Edlyn point to me as the culprit? I can't fully understand." Eris snapped.
"I don’t know about that either. Even Leo's memory was vague, same with Edlyn. I can't read theirs. Another thing is, it was the only scene that was missing. I mean I can read about their past except for that." Arya sighed.
"How did you read mine?" Eris queried as she fixed her things.
"Those memories were in your subconscious mind. You have hidden it. You just can't remember."
"So someone like you really existed?"
"Maybe, I don't know. I just found out about this power recently when we catched some intruder."
"So that explains everything. Cylon almost bothered me every day asking about how you knew all of that. Anyway, do you have visitors often?"
"I don't have one. No one knows about this place. How did you find me here?"
"I have been following you since I am curious about your parents' case. I have read it."
"Ah. Why are you interested in their case?" Arya asked while glaring at their family photo.
"They remind me of someone. Can I really stay here? Aren't you afraid that you will be punished? You are hiding a criminal like me."
"You are not a criminal. Just like my parents, someone fabricates the evidence and sets you up. You can stay here but make sure you will not be seen by anybody. Don't go outside. Your face was already on newspapers and televisions even on social media. Edlyn was so furious about his Dad's death. She will do anything to catch you alive and she has all the resources she needs." Arya stammered.
"Thank you Arya. I hope I have a sister like you."
"Me too. I am also a lone child. You can sleep on this couch for now. Tomorrow, I'll buy you a foam and comforter. You can easily see my things since this is only a tiny apartment."
"Why did you leave General Lary's house?" Eris asked out of the blue.
"Honestly, I'm not comfortable being with him and his house is so huge. I'm okay with this."
Arya prepares herself to sleep since she needs to go to the station tomorrow as early as she can. While thinking about how she can find evidence against Leo, Eris can’t help but to share about the man who went to her apartment earlier.
"Arya, someone is after me. Lately, I went to my apartment to pack my things and someone was wearing an all-black, barge in my room. Luckily, he left after messing up my room. It looks like he's finding something."
"All black again?"
"Yes. His eyes, it's burning red. I don't know if he's using lenses or if he's not human. I was terrified." Eris quavered.
"How did you manage to escape?" Arya asked out of curiosity.
"I didn't take the front door. I had taken the secret passage from my room. I have made it just in case of an emergency."
"You are talented on that part!" Arya exclaimed.
"Yeah. That's my forte - making stuff like that." Eris agreed.
"So let's sleep?"
They turned off the light and went to sleep.
~
Leo's wound healed so he went to check the cctv. He saw Cylon. Leo clenched his fist then grinned.
"So he is the rat."Download Novelah App
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