Undercover

22. Missing

So this s the first of Aiden's point of view. I'm sorry if I don't make a convincing guy. I just decided might as well since she was already going to be unconscious and stuff. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aiden's P.O.V

There was something off. I had this intense feeling that something had gone wrong. I didn't understand it, but it was probably due to forgetting something at the office. I didn't, however, turn around since I was going to go see if Natalia was doing alright. Having Daniels on the loose and knowing that he knew about her made my blood boil. All I had ever wanted was to keep her safe. And I thought I had done that, but I ruined it all with my stubbornness. If I hadn't come back to the house to get her to try to listen to me, none of this would have happened. I just needed to know that she was okay. Finn had called me to tell me he had just left her and that she had been at the park. Hearing that made my heart skip a beat, but he assured me that there was nothing to worry about. She had gone home as soon as they had finished their talk.

I was starting to get more and more worried and I felt like instead of diminishing as I got closer to her house, the feelings only intensified. As I passed the park, I saw something glisten in the sun. I don't usually stop when this happens, but for some reason this time, some kind of force pulled me towards this spot. It was a good thing this road wasn't populated most of the time. I walked over to where I had thought I'd seen something glisten and my heart almost stopped. Sitting there, on a chain was the engagement ring that had belonged to my great-grandmother. It was the same ring that I had given Natalia so long ago. Every time I saw her, she had this around her neck.

This didn't mean anything. It could have just slipped off when she was on her way back. There was no need to worry or panic. The sun had almost set. If it hadn't been for the trees on the other side of the street angling the light in that direction, I wouldn't have seen it. She must have knocked it with something and that was why it was here.

But, instead of going to Cayden and Ingrid and freaking them out, I decided to stay and search the area. This had been close to the bench that she would always sit on. There was the best view of everything the park had to offer. The park was surrounded by trees and the pond in the back was aligned with the bench, so if you sat in the middle of the bench, there was a high probability that you could see everything. That was the precise reason that Natalia had loved it so much. She was in love with nature, which was why I had proposed to her in the place I had, surrounded by all kinds of trees.

I took my flashlight and started scavenging the area. A few feet from the bench, there were a few pieces of the grass that had been completely uprooted from its place. It looked like someone had tried really hard to get away. But there was no reason someone would try this hard to the point where the grass had been lifted from its roots. There was no difficulty here. Unless someone else was preventing you to do it. Shit. Shit. Shit. It was no coincidence that Natalia's necklace had been knocked off here. I was hoping that Daniels hadn't been the reason behind this. I needed something to give me confirmation.

I guess when you ask and search, you will receive and find. Not far from the grass marks, I found a piece of paper. This was the only way that Charles Daniels had ever communicated with me. He didn't leave a video or a comment on the internet, or even a message with letters cut out from different magazines. It was always this one piece of paper torn perfectly in a four by four-inch square folded into three. This was the time to put on gloves. I picked it up and unfolded to see what it said.

I told you I would find her. I guess payback is a bitch, Aidy. It was fun taking your sister, just as it was fun to see this one try to fight me off and lose. She gave a good hell of a fight though. I'll give her that much, but I will make sure you find her just like you found Clara: dead.