Hiraeth {Book 3 in The Emerald of Annihilation trilogy}

(8). A matter of Trust

3rd Person's POV.

Dylan Tanner did see Lily around. He visited the cafe every day for his morning coffee and sometimes for brunch. She gave him a discount every day. "A repayment for that day." She had said.

Dylan lay on his bed, his arms behind his head playing out the scene he had experienced meeting Lily. It must have been the adrenaline or maybe it was just how cute she looked. 'No! what are you thinking Dylan?! You can't begin to have feelings for this girl! You are a cold-blooded killer and a man with no past....or future...' His mind argued.

Dylan clenched his teeth. He couldn't deny that feeling of longing he felt when he saw her. He had been walking down the street on his way home. When he saw the man in the coffee shop with his gun to a young girl's head. 

Usually, he would have just kept walking, but something compelled him to turn and run into the shop, saving the girl.... Protecting her....

He groaned. As she spoke his name a flash of a memory dashed from one side of his brain to the other. He and a girl were sitting on a roof, his arm around her shoulder. Her face was blurred and he could barely find a distinctive feature. 

But somehow.....he knew it was her. The girl who had stood in front of the Government Agent, definitely yet, a hint of fear behind her blazing green eyes. A sight that seemed all to familiar. It seemed like deja vu. Like he'd lived that moment before. 

Meeting in a small coffee shop....like deja vu....like he'd lived that moment before.....

(Hahaha! See what I did there?! Anyone? No? Just me...? Ok......xD)

Dylan sat up, running a hand through his already messed up long bangs. He stood and lumbered to the bathroom where he stared at his reflection. His life was already so messed up. The last thing he needed was a girl who messed with his head and claimed to be his fiance or something...

But then again....

She had known his name without him even saying a word. And She had helped him take out the soldier and she hadn't tried to get his number or stalk him like any other girl would have done. She hadn't flirted or tried to seduce him it was true, but something about her just made his heart race and a blush reach his cheeks. 

The sun lowered in the distance and Dylan felt a migraine coming on. He whimpered and held the sides of his head, sinking to his knees, memories washed over him. 

Running.

Shouting.

Gunshots.

Bombs.

The heat......

 ...of a fire....

 A face that was the only one he remembered so vividly. His mother he had concluded. Her face covered with dirt and debris. Her hand gripping his. Must he have been.....6? 7?

Then they were gone.

A new feeling came over Dylan. He stood and stumbled out to his room, crashing onto the floor, as he suddenly felt the sudden urge to grab the Glock 17 under his pillow and pull the trigger multiple times....at a certain someone's head.

"NO!" Dylan writhed on the floor, trying to get the thought out of his head. Why should he even think that?!

But finally, he stopped writhing, he stood, a psychotic smirk on his face. "Good bloody night Detriot." He murmured, reaching under his bed and pulling out a case, which he opened and retrieved twin blades, taking a glance around the room emotionlessly before turning and heading out the door.

Nobody there to notice the faint blinking red light under the first layer of skin on the back of his neck. 

Lily's POV.

I flipped the sign on the door to closed then proceeded to wipe clean the tables. Natalie walked past me, patting my back. "Close up shop for me, ok?" I nodded. "Sure thing." She smiled. "Glad I can count on you." 

Natalie left the shop, leaving me with the responsibilities of cleaning up and locking up. I finished wiping the tables and entered the back to wash dishes. 

Thoughts raced inside my head as I recounted the last couple of days. My apartment room was looking like a crime scene itself with the wall used as a crime board. I thought of all the crimes I had reached....too late. Two Viper Agents on the sidewalk. One with a knife embedded in the side of his head, and the other with a neat line sliced into his neck. Most likely made by a hot-wire pulled against his throat.

Another time I had discovered a couple, both hung by the curtain cords in their living room. Their 3-year-old crying in her crib. Relatives took custody of her immediately. More crimes followed. More murders. More unanswered questions.

I washed the dishes and stacked them in the tray, grabbing the towel to dry them. And then there was Dylan. I had noticed a pattern. He came to the cafe every other day. The murders occurred on the days (and nights) he wasn't there. 

I began to piece things together, only to lead up to a dead end. 'If Dylan is the serial killer.....how is it he lives a normal life?' My mind tumbled over the info. This killer did not leave any trace of his presence. He didn't leave any fingerprints. 

It was almost like....he was never there...or never touched his victims. If Dylan was- 'No.' I forced myself to shake away the thought that he could be the one behind all these murders. The pain of Dylan not remembering me didn't stick a butcher's knife in my chest the way the thought of him being the mass murderer he might very well be.

I finished and grabbed my jacket and bag, locking up and leaving through the back door. I locked the door and turned to walk home, only to see a sight that made my blood curl and my limbs go stiff.

OOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! CLIFFHANGER!!!! WHO'S EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!??? I AMMM!!!!

~Keziah