Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Letting go and just forgiving someone's past mistakes is the easiest and most efficient way to living a positive life.

- Grace Chanbee

[Author's POV]

"What is it? What do you want from me? I've told you several times without number not to dial my number again," The unknown man yelled at his former partner, the psychopath, who had come back, pleading to be let back in on the game.

Apparently, his son had been diagnosed with cancer and only the money he could get from sealing the deal with the unknown man or if you'd like, the mastermind of the game, could help in saving his life.

He had kept on calling and begging to be let back on the game, all to no avail.

Once the mastermind was done with you, he truly was done as there was never a time he went back on his decision.

He hissed loudly then hung up on the psychopath, who couldn't just take no for an answer.

Seeing Amber and her father approaching, he ducked to the side of the corridor, avoiding them, not like he had anything to hide; but because he could hardly stand being in the lucky girl's presence.

She was so lucky each and every time he tried to get rid of her that he begun to even suspect that she was a witch.

"So, you'll go to Aunt Miranda's place and spend the night there. The driver will drop you off tomorrow, is that okay?" He heard her dad ask her.

"Definitely, dad. Hope you and mum have a swell time," The girl said.

"We sure will. If you weren't terribly scared of being in the house alone even though it's filled with different people, you would've just stayed home, but it's great. You'll get to see your maternal aunt and your little nieces," He said.

"Yeah, that should be fun. They're seven years old and they're triplets, right?" She asked.

"Yes. Do you remember their names?"

"Yeah, you told me this morning. It's Tania, Tessy and Tasha," She responded.

"Good. Now, I've told you all you need to know. Act well and don't forget anything, okay?"

"Yes, yes, yes. I'm not a baby, you should go now, mum's waiting for you," She said.

"All right then, see you tomorrow," He told his daughter.

The mastermind smiled as he watched them have their father-daughter conversation. It was a bitter smile as Amber was no longer reproachful against her father, and was now open to the glamourous life she had; meaning it was likely for her to recover soon.

Howbeit, there was one solution, he reasoned as he cracked his neck; reminiscing about an old time friend and only one person could find him as he seemed like the most efficient one for the task now.

The psychopath could do the job perfectly well as one was said to work best under pressure. Besides, he had found the crazy girl in the past, so why couldn't he find this one person that could save their sorry asses as well?

For the first time in his years of living, he went back on his word, texting the psychopath about whom to find with a serious warning that he was off the plan forever if he failed again.

Justin... Justin... That name kept tossing back like a bad coin. He couldn't rely on anyone again to make sure Amber died, no one at all, not even himself; but there was one, one person who held the key.

He had something on that person, and if he could convince the person to convince the boy, Amber was going to eventually leave their lives and go to the grave where she belonged.

She had bitten off more than she could chew. They say, your best friend could be the one to stab you. Oh! How he'd love to watch that saying manifest in this case that seemed unending.

******

[Justin's POV]

I ruffled Sally's fur and she wagged her tail with glee, her tongue moving sideways as she stared at me, probably saying thanks for the purple collar I had given her.

Animals couldn't speak but like babies, you could tell when they expressed gratitude, anger, happiness, hunger or sadness; that's if you understood them well enough.

"After all of these is over, I'll have your time, okay?" I said, ruffling the fur that covered her head once more.

"Grams, I'm gonna step out for a while with Sally," I said aloud.

"Yeah, be safe," She responded from the bedroom where she was ironing some clothes with the coal iron.

I led Sally by the new leash I had just bought her and went outside. It was evening and the best time to walk your pets, if you had any.

As I walked down the street, I smiled, inhaling the fresh breeze and the cool evening air that made Arroyo Grande a very good place for relaxation. Unlike the big cities with a high level of traffic and combustion, making it only possible for you to enjoy filtered air which wasn't that healthy, Arroyo Grande was a natural place where there was calmness all through and everyone minded their business.

I had missed walking here, selling my stuff to those who wished to purchase them and jogging every morning to the central field and back home. This was the life I was used to, the life I had known and the only life I was forever going to understand.

The past five days of my life ever since I had walked out of prison as a free man with no fear of conviction nor arrest, had been stressful. Trying to get someone to remember something was not a day's job and it seemed almost impossible.

There were times I tried to help her remember an event through her old family pictures, but each and every time she started to act like she could remember by saying she was seeing some hazy flashes of the memories in her brain, she will suddenly start wincing in pain and holding on to her head.

What kept Amber going was the painkillers she was taking after which she will just lay on the bed till she fell asleep making the entire process unproductive.

Confiding in her doctor, he was like she was supposed to have started having some clear memories since it was close to two months since she had been having blurry flashbacks. He urged that she continued to take her medication while I did my best.

She however told me that she had only begun to take her drugs the day I was released from prison because that was the time she decided to recall her memory. She also said it had been worse since she started taking the drugs and whilst in the past, she could just live normally and be healthy even without having any memory; Now, she always felt weak, dizzy and tired and felt like her brain was on fire anytime she tried to recall something.

Moving forward, she also stated that while she only felt dizzy in the past when she recalled something which was unclear and probably just fainted or felt weak, it was worse now as she felt that way every time even without trying to remember anything.

I gave this report to her mum who told me she wasn't going to tell her dad just yet because she didn't want it to seem as though everything had become worse for her since I came, instead of becoming better. Yeah, her mum was such an angel.

Still, I felt really confused about the whole issue and it was also like a waste of time. I sounded like a pessimist since it had only just been five days since I had started an unexplainable therapy job with her, but I was just plain worried. Why were things becoming worse for her? Was I doing something wrong?

Going through the reports of her doctor, she was supposed to be living normally and probably feel weak only when she was tasked with remembering anything which she should even be successful at.

However, every time I went there, most times, all I did was watch her lay on the bed and make little or no progress with her till my time was up which was actually depressing and worrying.

Still, I held on to the belief that it was going to be okay one way or the other and as long as I kept on pushing, she was going to be just fine, very fine.

I stopped in front of a grilled meat stall and ordered for two plates of rib steak for take-home. We could make it into a steak sandwich at home for dinner.

My feet were tired from walking already so all I did was just sit on the long bench provided by the owner of the stall and took Sally in my arms, stroking her head lovingly.

I later placed her on the bench and decided to go through my phone as I waited for the griller to finish with the steak so I could be on my way.

I saw that I had missed a call from Amber. Wondering while she could have called, I decided it was best for me not to give her a call back as I didn't want to introduce mixed feelings if her dad was there. We had agreed to be friends and giving her a call could make her father have doubts even though there was absolutely nothing to worry about.

Surprisingly, Amber had actually been treating me neutrally even though I had been scared something was going to happen between us. What had happened to all the feelings she claimed to have for me? Had it all vanished into thin air?

It wasn't like I were a saint either. The way I treated her casually was also going to give someone the impression that I felt absolutely nothing for her; but that was a lie. Deep down, I felt it... I knew it.

Those feelings I told Amber I had for her were still intact and I kept on admiring her while she slept, excusing myself to the bathroom countless number of times just so I could refrain myself from touching her and resisting the urge to kiss her right in front of her parents.

It was a tough battle I was fighting and as we spent each day together, the feelings I had for her grew and my heart couldn't help but tingle whenever she shot me her beautiful smile or when she combed her hair and strolled round the place with bumshorts and tank top on.

She was doing something terrible to me and messing with my head and I wasn't sure if she swayed her hips on purpose or removed a strand of hair from my face just to ensure my heart melted at the slightest touch of her fingers.

I however, pretended like I didn't feel anything for her and she actually made it seem as though she didn't care because she didn't feel anything for me again. Still, I loved her irrespective of it all but I couldn't tell if she loved me as well or was only pretending to be indifferent about me the same way I was also pretending.

"Here it is," The griller said, handing over to me the plastic bag containing my order.

I stood up then collected it, examining the content.

"Okay, thanks ma'am," I said and paid her in full.

She smiled. "You're welcome. Say hi to your grandmother," She said.

"Sure," I said with a shrug and picked up Sally, then put her down on the ground as I held onto her leash again, turning in the reverse and walking back home.

That was the thing with our area. We knew everyone and everyone knew us, it wasn't a bad thing compared to being known as an area which was unsafe because of the many crimes committed, especially stealing.

Funny enough, it had been quite a while since I heard of a crime that took place here. Were things turning out for the best finally? I really hoped so. At least, one could live and have peace of mind even if their property was out in the open should that be true.

I hadn't even so much as seen someone that resembled a criminal for some time now... Wait, except...except for that short psychopath that had been trying to kill Amber in broad daylight.

He had known who she was and seemed like the likely suspect to have wanted to kill her in the first place. Why hadn't I remembered him all this while? In jail, I should have told them about him.

Still, if the person who wanted to do away with Amber was likely in her very own home, why then was this man an outsider? Asides that, he looked like a typical hoodlum so Gilbert Sanders couldn't have employed someone like him.

Someone jolted me out of my thoughts by waving their hands continually in my face.

I blinked hard and saw it was my former best friend, the betrayer, Aiden to be precise, who was standing right in front of me with a smile on his face.

I sighed. "What is it?"

"You seemed lost in thoughts," He said.

"So?" I asked with a shrug.

He heaved a deep sigh. "Listen, you were asking me some questions the other day. Guess what? I remember something," He said.

Swiftly, I became interested in what he had to say. "What is it?" I asked, urgency ringing in my tone.

"That man... I didn't see his face, but there was something about him..."

"What? He's really short? He had a goatee? Knife scars?" I asked, remembering how the psychopath looked when I saw him, hoping for him to reply in the affirmative so I could be sure that it was still the psychopath who was after Amber's life although I wasn't sure why Mr Sanders would employ someone who looked like an apparent crime offender.

He shook his head. "Not that. It was a video call from an unknown number and he had a mask on and was dressed in black all through. I didn't have a glimpse of what he looked like so I can't give an answer to your question. However, there's something that was different and scary about him," He said.

"Tell me what it was."

"He had yellow eyes," Aiden revealed.

I recoiled, eyes searching nowhere in particular remembering how Amber had been tensed a few days ago and had made a mention about her attacker having yellow eyes which only proved to be true now that Aiden had confirmed it.

"There's another thing, Justin," He said again making me more tensed.

I looked up and met his eyes then gave him the nod.

"He told me he's a servant in the house and he reached out to me because his eye on the outside had failed him on several counts but he felt he could trust me. He also mentioned that Amber's father has a dirty little secret which he never disclosed to me," He said.

I was shaken as I tried to register all the information he had just given. If he was telling the truth which I was sure of because he couldn't just manufacture such a lie, it meant that the murderer actually stayed in the house and had an accomplice who gave him information from the outside which could be the psychopath, and that finally, the person was after Amber's life only because of her father's deeds.

Aiden spoke up once again, making me divert from what I was seriously thinking and meditating hard on. "Look, I'm very sorry for what happened, but in my defence, I thought I could help a friend by doing such. Besides, I ended up not committing that grievous offence. Please, Justin, you're the only friend and family I've got. Understand me and give me another chance if you can," He pleaded.

"Aiden..."

"I've been so resentful towards my own self. You're the only who gets me, Justin, and you've always defended me even when people say trash about it and it's true, you'd help me write my tests when the teacher isn't looking and support me with the little you've got. I've not been myself since that day you came back and if you hate me as well, it only means I've actually lost everything," Aiden said, his eyes red like he was holding back tears.

I felt touched and really bad at his words. I understood him honestly but the thought that he actually had it in mind to murder someone hurt me a lot but still, it had only been because of me he had agreed to do such.

"Justin, you can take your time. I'm sorry for bothering you, I'll be on my way now," He said and began walking away.

My heart ached and looking down at Sally, I saw her remove her eyes from me and look at the floor like she was also really sad and affected about the whole issue. There and then, I knew it was time to do the right thing.

"Aiden!" I called sharply, turning around.

He stopped right in his tracks and turned around.

"Bro!" I said with a smile.

"Dude!" He said, returning the smile.

We walked towards each other and embraced each other and patted our backs. I really missed him and who on Earth didn't make a mistake? The important thing was that one learnt from their mistakes and my best friend and brother, had learnt his lesson.

"Thank you," He said to me.

I grinned. "I should be the one saying that."

"Why?"

"It's not everyday you get a friend who's willing to walk through fire and get bloodstains on his hands just for your sake. You're the best buddy ever," I said, meaning every word of it.

"Awwwn," He said, making a blush sound.

"Stop acting like a girl," I chided playfully and we both burst into a mild laughter.

"Don't you think we should stop hugging?" He asked all of a sudden.

"That's true, before one of these oldies think we're gay and not approach you for business," I said as I let go of him.

He sighed. "Actually, I think I want to stop sleeping around with old ladies for money," He said.

"Really? That's great news? But why?" I asked as we started walking off.

He shrugged. "I want to also have a relationship with a girl of my age like you and Amber. Also, with my savings and the money Amber gave me which I'm not going to spend till she forgives me, I'll start up something. Not sure of what yet, but something special; not too strenuous but something that could fetch me a lot of money," He said.

I patted his shoulder. "That's good, dude. Welcome to the family of hard workers," I said.

He grinned.

"I've got so many things to tell you, but first of all, Amber and I aren't a couple anymore and we won't ever be," I told him in a serious tone.

"Try to believe that. I know for a fact that your bond is unbreakable. You two are a match made in Heaven," He said.

My heart melted at his words. Unbreakable bond? Our match was made in Heaven? Honestly, from the first time I saw Amber which was in the trunk of my van, I knew she had to be there for a purpose. Why had it been my van that fate had chosen for whoever tried to kill her to dump her in, and how come I felt so strongly for her something I had never felt for someone when I should despise or probably envy her?

Love shouldn't be my problem now as it was forbidden for us. All that mattered now was finding the servant who was the brainbox behind this whole thing and the psychopath who also had a hand in it.

Soonest, they'd be caught and brought to book.