Into My Heart

XIV

As soon as I see what Christen had just told me about and that I didn't believe, I want to throw my guts up.

"What the fuck?" I exclaim, truly in shock.

Christen, on the other hand, looks like she has seen a beheaded dead body her whole life and wasn't even bothered.

So, what happened was that this morning, as nobody was supposed to be home, Christen decided not to go to class and follow them online - thanks to the fucking virus, that's a possible option now and actually not too bad for introverts like her - without knowing that she wasn't alone in the house. At some point, she heard a loud noise coming from the cellar and, as she went down the stairs, she noticed that the garden's back door was opened, and that whoever was in the cellar was already gone. Then, she proceeded to check the cellar anyway, only to find a beheaded man body, obviously unknown. In the moment, she thought about taking a picture of the dead body, and that somehow turned out to be a good idea: as she went up the stairs and then down again - calling the cops during this time - the corpse had already disappeared, and when the cops arrived, Christen knew they wouldn't believe her, even with a photograph, and lied; she told them somebody intruded the property.

Now, as we are standing some quite place in town, I really start feeling dizzy as I am looking at the picture. At some point, I feel my knees become weaker, and almost fall, feeling my head slipping away.

Thankfully enough, Christen notices how pale I looked, and somehow catches me. As my weight is on her, she wraps an arm around my waist in order to support me better, before looking around to find a bank - which she does. As we are walking - or rather, she is escorting me - toward it, she jokes:

"Well, at least I know you're not the killer: you would've fainted on the scene of crime."

"Shut up" I weakly says.

That wasn't meant to be funny, but it seems to be to Christen, since she bursts into a quiet laughter - a quite nice sound, tender yet fierce. 

When she finally manages to sit me down on a bank, sitting down next to me, she smirks: her eyes are staring at me, and then from my face to my whole body, probably making sure I wasn't about to faint anymore. As she does so, I surprise myself thinking about what texture her lips would have if I touched them - obviously, as soon as I realize, I snap out of my trance, shaking my head.

Realizing that I was less pale than thirty seconds ago, Christen tenderly grabs my arm, squeezing it a little.

"Are you okay?" she asks, as if nothing around us mattered anymore but me, and her.

Nodding my head, I stare down at her hand on my arm, before responding:

"Yeah so..." I cough, setting my jaw, "... Let got of my arm, please."

She immediately does so, but the smirk doesn't leave her face.

"Jeez, Dahlkemper, fine!"

"Now" I insist, knowing that I wouldn't be able to talk anymore anytime soon if she kept on looking at me like that, "Care to explain why you thought it'd be relevant for me to see this... atrocity?"

"You're so dramatic" she mocks me.

"What concerns me is that you aren't" I honestly say, setting my jaw.

She nods.

"I am used to seeing corpses, Abby" she casually says, before cracking a smile and revealing: "I study forensics medicine because I want to work with dead people in the first place. I think I have a calling."

This time, I am the one smirking.

"Well, I can tell: it's creepy that you're not even blinking when seeing this picture."

"That's because I am not delicate like other people..."

"Hey!"

We both laugh, as the atmosphere immediately becomes tensed again. Christen nods her head, looking down at the picture. Then, she manages to zoom in the picture, right on the decapitated neck. Once again, I want to throw up, but she, on the other hand, is unbothered.

Creepy, I think to myself during observing Christen, but somehow pretty hot. I pause my thoughts for a second, before a loud WHAT resonates in my head, and that I somehow jump a little. Christen throws me a confused look, but doesn't insist when I remain silent.

Rather, she directs my attention to the screen, where a curious tattoo appears on the dead man's neck: a dragon.

"See this?" Christen asks, staring at me with her eyebrow raised. When I nod my head yes, she says: "This is a local gang's traditional tattoo to mark their belonging. The Dragons - yes, that's what thy're called - have been established here in Orange for decades, and they are very influential and powerful."

"So?" I ask, kind of lost.

"So it's utterly weird that one of them gets killed in my cellar, don't you think?" she says, losing her patience a tiny bit. Realizing that I really didn't get it, she sighs and explains: "The Dragons are a drug and weapon cartel - I bet you that my parents somehow are their business partners, and that something went wrong."

"Okay but how does that relate to my dad's death?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

Christen sighs.

She then grabs her phone back, taking it from my hands, before searching for another picture. She then shows me a picture of my father, obviously taken when he didn't see. He was wearing an old t-shirt - the one he had on in my childhood already - and I immediately become sad when seeing the picture, on the verge of yelling at Christen for showing me the picture.

But then, I see it: the dragon-shaped tattoo on his shoulder.

"Oh my God, but-" I start, in shock.

"Your dad was their leader, Abby. And I bet your ass that his death was not natural: my parents and him probably had businesses together, and something must've been wrong at some point and-"

"My dad wasn't a drug dealer and weapon seller" I coldly say, getting up quickly, starting to walk away from Christen.

I was so angry - not really at her, but only at him.

"Give me a head up when you're ready to learn the truth about your old man, Abby. I'll be waiting in the manor." 

As I heard the last word, I was already on my way for Kristie's, knowing very well that Sam and her would be there. 

My world was falling apart - and just as I think that, I come across from Rachel and have a breakdown in her arms. Little did I know that Christen was watching from afar, and so was Kristie...

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Hi guys, just wanted some feedback from you: what do you think of the story so far?

(don't worry, there are crazy things coming your way - the story is pretty slow because it'll be long and I'll try to really build up the characters, hope you like it. Also, I'm counting on your participation in order to keep writing, it helps me figure out what move to make next. Thank you!)