Stay Away (The Beocraftian Gambit - Book One)

CHAPTER TWENTY: EVERYONE YOU LOVE DIES

I'll be back. Be ready when I return.

T-Murek said those last words to him before he left. Kevin's twenty-fifth birthday was in a week. He knew he was going to be seeing T-Murek a lot more often now the deadline was fast approaching. Only a few days were left for his birthday—a few days before T-Murek would finally show up to end his life in the most torturing way. The thought of this made him sweat. He did not want to die, at least not in that way.

Kevin realised he was still kneeling before Mirabel's body amid the crowd that'd gathered. He noticed the crowd had gotten bigger, and he was receiving the most attention.

The cops were already present, and Alex led the team. He got down from his vehicle and was accompanied by the rest of the officers who were with him. The crowd fell silent for a moment, then came to life in a burst of conversation.

Alex took out his badge and shouted, "Police!"

The crowd parted. He put his badge back in his pocket and walked up to where Kevin knelt beside the corpse. When Alex saw the body, he threw his face away in disgust. And after a long second, he turned to look at the body. He felt a prickle in his stomach as he stared at Mirabel's ribcage through her punctured chest. Her heart was hanging out. An icy shiver went down his spine at the gruesome sight.

He turned to Kevin and said, "We have a lot to talk about."

Just then, he noticed a paper lying beside the body. Kevin watched him bend to pick it up. He looked over the note to see what had been written on it.

"Everyone you love dies," the note read in bright red ink.

Kevin knew it was definitely from T-Murek. Alex noted a slight change on Kevin's face after reading the note—a note that he hadn't noticed was there before. He held it up for Kevin to see. "This mean anything to you?"

He fell silent.

Alex skimmed the guilty expression on his features and looked at Kevin with suspicion. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

In the silence that followed, he said, "I know exactly who did this to her."

Alex became speechless. And after another brief silence, he exhaled deeply. "The masked man?"

"No, it wasn't the masked man that'd tortured Mirabel. It's a different guy—a ghoul. He goes by the name T-Murek. This freak showed up at my house earlier today. I believe he killed Mirabel just to get to me. A week from now, I'll also end up dead, just like her-–unless you catch him." Kevin said, before lowering his voice and looking around at the staring crowd who were listening in on their conversation. "Can we talk someplace private, maybe at your office? I promise, I will explain everything to you."

Alex could sense the fear lingering in his voice. He remained still, glancing over at Kevin, trying to dictate a lie out of what he'd said. Then he reached in his pocket and took out a card and handed it to him. "Call me when you are coming. My address is at the back."

Suddenly a shrill filled the afternoon. It sounded feminine and came from behind the crowd. Kevin recognized the voice.

"Oh, no." His eyes widened. "Lena."

Lena ran past the people that'd gathered there, making her way to the front. Kevin ran to stop her from gazing at the corpse. "Lena, don't," he said, restraining her from coming any further. "You don't want to see this."

She kept pushing. "Let me go!" she cried. "My daughter... I need to see my daughter!" she spluttered, struggling through his tight grip. She slipped through his grip and ran to where Mirabel's body lay. She gasped at the sight of her daughter and raised a hand to cover her mouth, lips trembling as she sobbed. She started hyperventilating, her chest heaving rapidly.