“Well, just don’t bring that near me, it stinks.” My phone beeps and I wonder if it is Damion. He needs a serious explanation. But it’s not him.
D Stalker: Soon you will be mine and the biker will be dead #TimeIsTicking
He also sent me a link to some web page saying it has to do with my lover.
I feel my heart fall into my shoes. This man is seriously getting on my wrong side. I click on the link. It takes me to some kind of dark blog – The Whole Truth – it says at the top. I scroll down to see who it belongs to, but the avatar is a Darth Vader mask, and the person uses the persona ‘Truth Vader’ – a true geek I would guess.
The screen asks you to choose a person from the alphabetical list – all of them celebrities … from sports stars to actors and even politicians. I scroll down to G and click on Damion’s name.
When the page opens, I go into a state of shock. My spoon falls onto the floor and I stare at the phone screen with a dumb stupid face.
“Shit Mel, what’s going on … are you okay?” She screams at me but it’s as if I’m having an out-of-body experience.
“MEL!” This time I blink and swallow hard. Kiara leans over to see what’s on my screen.
It’s a collage of newspaper articles and photos – each dissected to the bone … looking for the heart of the matter. The first heading reads:
Little girl dies in freak accident in horror mansion
Photos of a young Damion covered in blood sitting next to his sister’s covered corpse, tears streaming down his face, are burnt into my memory now.
Then it continues with another shocking bulletin:
Young Reaper champion kills a 5-year-old boy on the track
Here Damion, a teen, stands next to his bike on the ground, his hands in his hair, and his face covered with tears once again. Mister Truth Vader comments that Damion is a reckless driver who takes unnecessary risks that endanger everybody on, and even off, the track. He speculates that the accident could have been avoided if Damion hadn’t tried to jump over some whoops.
Reckless was not my first thought … I was wondering how a child got onto the track.
With shock, I realize – the accident happened the day before he took me to the boardwalk. Is it a coincidence? Or did he need me without me knowing? I’m starting to see that there’s way more to Damion Grimm than I ever imagined.
Just next to this is another heading:
Murder charge dropped – Reaper champion found not guilty
Damion stands between Mark, and his father, looking away from the camera.
There are some photos of the little boy and his devastated parents. Here Truth Vader claims that the Reaper team paid off the parents to make the charges go away.
And there’s even more:
Reaper rider kills again – wild moves cause the death of Enervoltz racer
This was the accident last year. I saw the accident happen on TV. It was absolutely terrifying. And not Damion’s fault. But … again the blogger goes on about Damion’s reckless and wild behavior, his dangerous stunts, and how he should not be allowed to race.
Stupid asshole nerd. I bet he doesn’t even know how to stay on a bike. I go back to the first page and see that my brothers, except for Ilkay, are also being judged by this fool.
Do they know about this?
I push my hand through my hair and bite my lip until I taste the saltiness of blood. No wonder the man is so messed up. I never knew about the boy. I feel sick. I was so mad at him back then … while he was going through something terrible.
“MEL, snap out of it.” Kiara grabs my shoulders and shakes me viciously, but it still feels as if it’s somebody else’s body.
“MEL!” Kiara shouts in my face.
“I must ask him. This is his demons and it’s bad.” Kiara lets me go and sink back into the sofa. We both could get jobs as vampires in Twilight, that’s how white we are, our faces drained of blood. Hell, even our lips are bleak.
“You should really ask him?”
She looks at me and I pull an ugly face “Or not. Maybe he’ll tell me when he’s ready.” She hands me back my phone and at the same time, it rings causing me to almost drop it.
“Hello,”
“Hi, angel, sorry I had to leave, I didn’t want to wake you.” How the fuck does he do this being psychic shit?
“It’s okay, where are you?” My head is not in the conversation. Should I tell him about the website?
“I’m with my parents. We’re sorting out the Chloe debacle. Her father is here to talk to us.”
“Is she there?” My voice sounds far away as if someone else is talking. I hear him chuckle but I’m not feeling the funny right now.
“She is, but don’t worry, Mom and both my brothers are making sure she doesn’t even come close to your property, aka me. I’m now sure they all love you more than me.” He laughs.
“Yeah.” I sound kinda dead.
“Mel, is something wrong? You sound off? Are you feeling sick again?” He seems genuinely worried and my heart warms. He really is nothing I thought him to be.
“I’m fine, just tired.”
“I really wanted to say goodbye before I left, but you needed the rest.”
“It’s okay. Good luck with your promotion thing, I’ll see you when you get back then. And don’t fall this time,” I tease.
“Ug, it’s going to be the longest four weeks ever. Maybe you could come and join me?” I can hear the hope in his voice.
“Maybe, let’s see.”
“Okay, bye, angel.” He sounds excited. I press the red button and take the nearest pillow, hugging it to my chest, waiting for my racing heart to calm down. I drop the phone on the sofa, still clinging to the pillow. Kiara plops down on the couch next to me.