Louisa's p.o.v;
I came to the room, slammed the door behind and sat on the bed thinking, 'What am I going to do now? The man I was looking for is dead now. Who has the red stone now? Who should I ask for it? Whom should I go after to get it?' Number of questions raised inside my head gave me a little headache.
I heard knocks on the door. Ignored and thought about the red stone's whereabouts.
The door was opened and Ace walked in while asking, "What did you do behind me? How did you know that guy? And, what were you blabbering about the red stone?"
I let out a sigh and asked, "Do you know why Paulo, the Pandora gang leader, kidnapped me?"
He shook his head and said, "I thought he was using you to get to me. But he wasn't when I got a call from Edgar instead of Paulo."
"The night when you took Bernie and me as a hostage, I saw the guy's face who stole the bag from the hostess to whom Bernie gave the stone that night. Paulo knows, that's why he kidnapped me to get him through me. I lied to him that I don't remember his face but I did. I saw that guy again near my campus so I followed him and he talked to some guy about selling something. When they bargained, I came to know that they're selling the red stone to some rich guy. The guy who you shot a few minutes ago was the one who bought it from them. Now, he's dead because of you."
"Was there anyone with him that day?"
Yes, but if I say, Ace will murder him for sure. Moreover, I didn't see him alone. He was taking care of someone in the hospital. What would happen if he died? Who will look after that little girl if he's dead?
I lied again, "No, he came alone. The guy who sold the red stone got shot as well and before he left, he burnt down the whole house, not to leave any evidence behind."
"Where were you while this was taking place?"
"Inside the house, of course. If I wasn't in the house, how would I know what happened?"
"You were inside the house while it was burning?"
"Yeah, I thought I was going to die at some point but I got lucky and escaped…"
Before I finished, he hugged me while saying, "Don't do this again."
When his hands were pressed against my back, I remembered the worst scenario when I was held captive by him but also felt warmth from these words. No, don't fall for his words. He's just concerned about the stone, not me. I pushed him away and asked, "What the hell was that? Why did you hug me? You just murdered someone few minutes ago with those hands and now, you're giving me a hug?" When he walked towards me, I shouted, "Don't come closer! Stop right there!"
He backed away and looked at me with a worried face.
"Stop acting like you care! Do you think I will fall for your shameless act?"
When he was about to step out, I said, "I'm moving out tomorrow. There's no need for me to stay anymore since the guy is dead. And, I'm not going to find the stone anymore. I'm done. Find it on your own and do whatever you want."
He stopped leaving, closed the door and said, "Then I'll sleep here tonight."
"What?"
He walked to the bed and laid on it.
"Why are you sleeping here? Go to your room."
"This is my house. I can sleep wherever I want."
"That doesn't make sense."
He didn't care about leaving the room. Whatever! Only for tonight! I turned off the lights and laid on the bed beside him leaving a huge gap in between as possible.
"No one knows that I sleepwalk in the middle of the night." He said.
"I didn't ask."
"So keep it a secret."
"I don't think that's entirely true. Someone in the house knows that you sleepwalk. And that someone is trying to out you in front of everyone."
"I trust my Bodyguards. They don't do things like what you said."
"You failed on Edgar though. You trusted him but he came to spy on you. What if there are others like him? Came here to spy you?" I turned towards him and continued, "If there isn't anyone like I said, then who opened your room door and made you walk out? Do you forget that I was the one who guarded you all night? Do you know how difficult it is for me, guarding someone who I hate the most? Find who it is before he does something bad."
"Are you worried about me?"
I let out a fake chuckle and said, "Like I am. If only you do something bad to Bernie again, I will go straight to the police station. Since I'm the witness to the murder you just committed, you'll definitely rot in prison till the end of your life for sure. And, there's a cop, Raphael who's waiting to hunt you down. If I give him some tips, he'll take care of you very well inside the prison."
"It's been a while since I got threatened like this. And, stop mentioning his name. I get irritated whenever I hear about him?"
"Then I'll say his name again and again. Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!..."
"I was talking about the other one."
"Raphael? By the way, why did you kidnap him?"
"Didn't he say the reason when he got rescued by you?"
"He said he was after some drugs."
"He lied to you. Liar like always. He wasn't after drugs. He was after me. I wonder how you can rely on that liar, and even lie to you."
"He's far better than you. Don't you badmouth him!"
Suddenly, Ace was on top of me while pinning me down on the bed while saying, "Don't compare me to that fucking bastard!"
While I was staring at his eyes, he bent and came closer to me and rubbed his cheeks against mine while saying, "Don't trust him."
I pushed him away and said, "I'm not a kid to believe blindly in everyone. The only person who I shouldn't keep my trust on, is only YOU!"
He didn't give me a reply and turned away from me. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, suddenly I felt cold in my hands. When I woke up to see what it was, I saw Ace holding my hand. When I took a look at him, he was already asleep. Who gave you the right to hold my hand? When I tried to remove it, I remembered when he treated my bleeding hand when I got hurt by the broken glass. I let go of removing his hand and looked at him being confused.
'I should be mad at you, but why am I keep letting it go when it comes to you. When you show me your worried face, the worst memories pop up, I get mad at you. And, when I get mad at you, the moments when you took care of me pops up along with the worst memories which make me confused. When I went back to college, I couldn't stop remembering you in everything I did. But when I stepped into this house, all I could have towards you was rage. I don't know why I feel weak towards you, I hate this. I know you're keeping me around because of the stone but my mind sometimes thinks 'what if' by making me more confused. I felt like this with Lucas before and I regret it till now. I don't want you to be that person for me and I don't want to believe in anyone.'
"Louisa, I'm sorry."
"Huh? What did you say?"
When I looked at him, his eyes were closed, breathing was in sync and he seemed to be sleeping well.
"I didn't know you were talking in your sleep. Why did you apologise to me?"
"I'm sorry."
He turned around which made the holding hands break.
Sorry was the only word he uttered whatever questions I raised against him.
"If you really wanted to apologise then you should have done it while you're awake, not while you're sleeping."
He didn't give a reply back.
Suddenly, he woke up from the bed and tried to go sleepwalking again. I held his hand and pulled him towards me while saying, "Don't make me run after you again." I made him lay on the bed, tied our hands together and held his hand while saying, "Consider yourself lucky since you got me beside you."
I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep.
The next morning,
"Louisa…"
I heard someone calling out my name again and again. I asked, "What is it?"
"I have to leave but you're holding my hand tightly."
I opened my eyes and saw Ace in front of me. I opened my hands and got up from the bed.
"Why did you tie our hands together?" He asked while rubbing the area where his hands were tied.
"Why are you asking me like you don't know? You tried to sleepwalk last night. What if you go out after I fall asleep, so I tied our hands together."
"It's going to leave a mark I guess." He said while showing me his wrist.
I got up from the bed and started packing the clothes into the bag while saying, "Don't contact or spy on me. Let's stop everything here. After I step out of this house, I don't have anything to do with you, your stone and with your people outside. And, Ask them to stop following me everywhere I go. If I see anyone coming after me or near Bernie, I'll file a complaint against you. I promise I'll do that. Finally, I hope we never cross our paths again."
Before leaving the house, I said to Mateo, "Thank you for driving me to and from college." And I thanked the Bodyguards for helping me and said to everyone in the house, "If there is someone like Edgar working here, remember that you can't hide forever." "Thank you."
After a while, When Mateo dropped me in front of the apartment, he asked, "What do you mean by someone like Edgar?"
"I don't know if i could say this to you but there are more like Edgar in that house. Spies. Be careful. And… take care of him too." And walked away from him to enter the apartment.
'Take care of him'
What the hell was that? Am I the one who said that? Anyways, no more stone, no more searching, no more involvement with the Mafia. The story with the Mafia, searching for the red stone ends here.
When I got to my apartment, I knocked on it since I lost the key. The door was opened after a while by Bernardo.
I waved at him with a smile, "Your happy days are over, dude."
He gave me a hug while saying, "You came back! I missed you a lot, Louisa."
I broke the hug while asking, "I thought you would have left for college. Why are you still here?" And entered the apartment.
He said while walking after me, "Today's the freshers party so I took off and took a rest in the apartment."
Freshers party. Diego said that he's having his swimming competition, right? I have to hurry up otherwise he'll get mad at me.
"Alone?"
"With company."
"By the look on your face, I can understand who that is. By the way, I have to hurry up so say hi for her. And, I lost the key so don't go anywhere without telling me today. I'll get a new key by tomorrow."
I kept my luggages in my room and walked out of the apartment after bidding him goodbye.