Melt me

Chapter 13

Nazeera

The hum of the laptop as it awakes soothes me during the early hours. I turn down the brightness on the device, so as not to disturb Kenji asleep beside me. When my subconscious shocked me alive tonight, I turned to the cameras. Curiosity mostly, what could he be doing right now?

He is actually answering a text from his burner phone at 3 am. Interesting. These cameras I put up in his house are quite helpful. I know exactly what time I should commence my little plan.

The last letter I received was startling on many levels. The first clearly being that whoever is sending me these arcane messages is the one making my work life a living hell. Probably should've seen that sooner.
The second is that I now have a lead.

Still, the person who has started tormenting me is a whisper in the shadows. But I'm fed up with waiting around for the next letter. Not when my pen pal seems to have some very dangerous possessions in their hands.

The envelope turned out to have my address on it, meaning that the persons sent it through the actual postal service. Whether it's a mistake or accident, it granted me the opportunity to find wherever the mail carrier came from. And who deposited the envelope.

Employing my top notch computer skills, I tracked down the person who dropped the letter in the mail. Hacking into cameras gave me the name and address of Mr black hoodie guy, better known as Karim.N.
Too easy.

Since the threat to Kenji's life murked my desk, my single thread of patience has been withering away. It stirred up the sinister corruption that has always dwelled inside me. The one that thrives on agony, barbarity. That seeks out pain and devours the chance to inflict it like a desperate man in the desert. I'm not a completely depraved person but I have no limits when it comes to the things I hold dear.

Yesterday, I left for a bit to restock on rope and chains. And then took a little trip to the city. My new friend Karim annoyingly wasn't there, so I installed surveillance in his house. I'll handle him later today.

Shutting the laptop, I drop my gaze to my fiancé. I was prepared to share with him everything, I truly was. But then I realized that he wouldn't approve of my next move. No, he would insist we tell the Warners and collectively look for a different solution.
I can't have that.

Can't risk it now that I know that these people have access to horrible things. It's humanly impossible for 3 heavily guarded cities to be set on fire within seconds. Whoever caused this spectacle has more power than I once imagined.

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A knock thuds on the door before noon.
Kenji walks into the room where I've been for the day. Shame leaks into my heart when I catch sight of his nervous movements. I was down here working so I didn't see him wake up. And he didn't come to see me until now.

"Hey." He leans and gently presses his lips to my cheek. I know why he's walking on eggshells around me, it's out of fear that I will switch my behavior like I did the day before. It wasn't on purpose, I just got a little stunned and overwhelmed by the revelations. My immediate reaction was to cower behind the curtains of the persona that's protected me for years.

I ignore the mounds of paperwork that need my attention and stand to capture Kenji in my arms. Regret is holding me hostage. I hate that I've allowed the issues at work and the psycho who's after me to influence my relationship with Kenji. Not anymore though. He deserves so much better than that.

My head tilts back to stare into his dark eyes, ones that have only ever looked at me with such unconditional affection. He no longer seems on edge, instead he touches his forehead to mine and smiles so warmly, I almost liquify in his arms.