Tangled in you

Chapter 3 Edward's prediction

"M-my sister has been assassinated."

"Celeste Lyle?" Azriel knew her as she was another CEO belonging to the Miraé Group. "The CEO has been assassinated?"

Tessa picked up her phone. "NO, no that can't be right. You must have made a mistake. She is fine. I KNOW she is!", she insisted with a quavering voice. She couldn't believe her ears.

"We're sorry, but you must come and give your statement." The police replied.

Azriel was helpless as he saw Tessa's body shaking with pure grief, her screams riping through her throat like glass. He had never seen her like this. It seemed as if her world was burning down and she couldn't do anything.

He couldn't even ask to calm down. How could she? Her sister, whom she shared everything with, the person she loved and was closest with, had been assassinated!

At last she collapsed on the floor and lost her consciousness.

Azriel reacted immediately. He picked her up (bridal style) and drove her to get medical assistance. He thought to himself, "Why am I doing this? She is my rival and I shouldn't help her. Yet...seeing her like this, something about her...it just wants me to pat her head and tell her that everything's okay. But its not, and we both know that."

Suddenly, Tessa woke up screaming, "Take me to her this instance, please! Someone help her! She's alive, she's alive...". She started crying again.

Azriel tried to comfort her, "Yes, yes, don't worry, she's alright. Calm down now, please. I know how you feel-"

"OH YOU DO, DON'T YOU?! HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED THE DEATH OF A PERSON WHO WAS CLOSE TO YOU?!" Tessa couldn't stop herself. She knew she had to maintain good relations with the CEOs, but she was out of her mind at the moment. She prayed to God that everything wasn't what it seemed.

But of course she knew deep in her heart that it wasn't.

Tessa could hear her parents' cries before she entered the building. "Celeste! Wake up my dear, please!"

"Don't leave us like that!"

"What do we say to Tessa, Celeste? She loved you so much!"

Tessa hugged her parents. "I still do mom, I still do."

That's when she saw the body.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but Celeste's dead body with so many wounds was definitely not what she was expecting. It was stabbed with a dagger all over, you couldn't see a patch of her body which wasn't covered with blood.

She collapsed near Celeste's body, tears running down her cheeks. "Celeste?", waited for an answer. "Celeste? Celeste? Celeste! Celeste-"

Theodore put his hand on his youngest daughter's shoulder. Tessa turned around to see Theodore shaking his head.

Tessa lost her cool. She started shaking her sister's body as she called out her name.

"Azriel" Theodore called out.

Azriel walked up to him.

He took a glance at Tessa and said, "Azriel, do me favour, will you?"

"Sure" Azriel replied.

"Tessa couldn't spend a moment without Celeste when they were younger. But now Tessa will have to learn to spend the rest of her life without Celeste. I know Tessa will have to accept this change sooner or later, but today - can you be with her tonight?

"Um, okay" Azriel said out of humanity.

Azriel drove Tessa to her house and made her sleep on the bed or atleast he thought so, while took rest on the couch.

"Ugh, I am thirsty", he woke up at midnight to drink water. But how can he find drinking water in someone else's house. He walked into Tessa's room to ask but.....Tessa wasn't on the bed!

"Where can she be?", he thought to himself. He knocked the bathroom door, but there was no response.

He searched the entire house and finally made his way to the terrace.

"A world without Celeste, isn't worth living in" he heard Tessa muttering to herself as she stood on the wall of the terrace.

"Oh crap, that's bad!", he thought.

"Hey?", he spoke aloud "You're a coward"

"NO! I am not" Tessa couldn't bear her self-respect getting tainted."

"Yes you are. You are trying to run away from your responsibilities."

"Huh?"

"You are tarnishing Celeste's legacy, you're giving pain to your family."

Azriel was sweating."What if she doesn't pay heed to what I'm saying", his heart was beating faster than ever."What if she still jumps?".

Tessa gave it a thought before stepping down. She walked up to Azriel and hugged him.
"Thank you", she said.

***********

The next morning Azriel came to pick Tessa up for going to work together, just as instructed by Theodore.

"Goodmorning" said the receptionist as Tessa and Azriel entered.

"Morning" replied Azriel while Tessa just nodded with faint smile.

Both Tessa and Azriel couldn't help but notice the frown on every employee's face.

"What's wrong?" Azriel questioned one of the employees, Edward

"Miss Thalia was attacked this morning. However by God's grace she has survived."

"Thalia Vesper?" Tessa asked, "The CEO of Zyrella?"

"Yes ma'am, and Police believes she was attacked by the same person who killed -"

"What!" Azriel interrupted. He didn't want Tessa's wounds to become fresh again.

"Not just that," Edward continued, "the police said that he also left a note in Celeste's body that Thalia is next and in Thalia's wounds that YOU are next", he said smirking at Tessa.

Tessa showed an expression of disbelief.

"See for yourself",the employee added, handing a piece of paper to Tessa.

"Tessã will follow, with no place to flee,
When the clock strikes, she'll fall like thee.
No lock, no guard can stop what's near-
Her time is coming, bound by fear." Tessa read aloud.