Lies

Chapter 16

*Stuart's POV*

It had been six months since Aleksandria's death. I still couldn't believe it. I couldn't wrap my head around it. It didn't feel like she couldn't be dead. My mind tried to constantly convince me that she couldn't be. The months after she had been kidnapped and pronounced dead were a whirlwind for me, mostly filled with alcoholic nights that I don't remember and fits of anger. The news crews only had a couple stories on what had happened to her, but the thing that angered me the most was some newswoman named Melanie Bancroft.

She seemed almost giddy when she had come to my house to interview me after Aleksandria had been kidnapped. She gushed to me about how this was the "breakthrough story" for her and something about her talents as a writer. I sent her away as soon as she said that sentence. No one at school really talked about it. Jenna and I barely talked about it. I think we were afraid to. That meant it was real. Talking about it meant that it had actually happened and that she wasn't going to come back. My parents had no idea how to talk to me about it, so after a few lame attempts, they just returned to their normal lives of lavish money and grandeur.

For now, I was sitting in front of the TV, not really watching the news. I thought back to that night when I climbed in her room through the window. Tears reached my eyes when I thought of how she looked that night. She was always so beautiful. Tears slid down my cheeks as I tried to imagine the smell of her perfume or the way her hair felt when I entangled my fingers into it. I clenched my fist, trying to remember how it felt. When I opened my eyes and saw my empty hands, a small sob escaped my lips. She was gone...and I didn't even get a kiss.

When she was first kidnapped, Shadow sent me a letter saying to meet him in some park. My thoughts floated back to that night.

What guy would want to meet me in a park? Seriously? What were we? Twelve? I shook my head as I looked out across the expanse of the park, looking for any sign that showed the person I was supposed to meet. Out of nowhere it seemed, a figure appeared underneath a light post and crossed their arms. I knew who it was just by the clothing. I jumped out of my car and practically sprinted over toward this Shadow guy.

I screamed at him as soon as I was near the light post, "What have you done with her?"

Shadow quickly moved out of my way before my swing could connect with his face, but I just turned around and swung at him with even more force. Shadow grabbed my wrist and turned it in a way that made me scream turn my back to him so my arm wasn't bent a way that it doesn't bend.

Shadow hissed in my ear, "Let's just make one thing clear. I didn't do anything to Aleksandria. Trust me. I'm trying to save her."

He let go of my arm, but I noticed that he pushed me a little when he did, which caused me to have to take a few steps away from him so I didn't fall.

I turned back around to face him and asked him, "Save her from what?"

Shadow sighed and said, "Gangs. I have gangs after me and I think they may have associated Aleksandria and me together because of that night I saved her. I'm just looking for any clues as to where she might be. Have you heard anything from her?"

I shook my head and Shadow looked up towards the sky. Shadow mumbled something to himself, but I didn't understand what he was saying, almost as if he was speaking a different language. Shadow had said gang members took Aleksandria. I knew there were gangs in New York City, but it was always some story on the news, never one that actually involved people who weren't actively seeking to get involved. I glared at Shadow. This man. He was the one that made her get involved. If it wasn't for him, she would be safe. She would be home. She would be mine. He was the reason she was taken. If I would have saved her that night of the fire, none of this would have happened.

Shadow said as he walked away from me, "Just tell me if you find something."

I was about to say something back to him, but he was out of sight by the time that I pulled myself out of my thoughts. I walked back to my car, but I wasn't about to drop searching for Aleksandria. On the contrary, it had only just begun.

That was six months ago that we met in the park. Shortly after that time, the warehouse fire had happened and Shadow and Aleksandria were proclaimed dead, leaving the public wondering who was going to become the next hero. Two months ago, Shadow had reappeared into the crime fighting scene and everyone was overjoyed that the city had a hero again. I broke many things that day. He had the audacity to come back and act like a hero without even mentioning what happened to Aleksandria. He let her die and we didn't even get to bury her. Shadow was so selfish, just wanting the fame of being the hero, even though no one talks about how he failed to save her. Aleksandria.

I knew Shadow had to be confronted at least, if not charged for his actions. He just let her die. I had no idea on how to get a hold of him. I didn't know where he lived, or where he even hung out in the city, but I knew how to find the people that did know where he was. Most of them were polished crime mafia that doubled as owners of clubs, restaurants, or hotels in the city. The first time I approached one, even after paying my way through, he had laughed in my face at my naive nature. I knew then what I had to do.

Now, I was a part of a gang known as the Westies. It was a smaller gang, but it was good enough for me. It was enough to show those men that I was serious about finding Shadow. Plus, maybe if I turned over enough stones, Shadow would come to me. Initiation and proving my worth was hell, but if it meant finding Shadow that much sooner, it was worth it to me. I would have done anything to find that monster of a man who claims to be the hero.

I was going to make Shadow pay for his selfishness toward her. He used her for his own benefit, not even caring about her life. My heart ached at the thought of Aleksandria. I knew she would want me to make him pay. She would have wanted her life to mean more than just being a prop for a fake of a man. Yes, I knew. She would want vengeance on this 'Masked Hero', and I was going to be the one to give it to him.