The Music of Souls, page 24
“Maybe it is better like this,” I said quietly. He looked at me and he seemed sad and broken.
“I love her, Ava,” he said, and I sat up to pull him into a hug. He immediately grabbed me and pulled me close to him. Almost as if he was scared to fall apart, a feeling I knew all too well. So I held him close. We fell back on the bed and this was the first time I had ever been in a position like this, cuddling someone.
But it wasn’t anything romantic, it was just something he needed right now so his heart wouldn’t hurt so much. It was fine by me, I wanted to be there for him when he needed it and I found comfort in his warmth as well.
His melody was swirling around me, still sounding sad and broken. But this was Andrew, the person who had helped me up when I was sitting in a puddle of blood. Who’d reached out to me when I most needed it. It was my time to give that back to him now.
“I never wanted to tell you this, because I thought you two were happy together,” I started, and he moved away a bit to look at me.
“The melodies of you and Sebastian and Ryan, they sound great together. You sound like you were all meant to be around each other. But Laura’s always had some distraction in it. It sounded like your melody and hers were crashing against each other, not harmonising at all.”
He looked at me for a while and I wasn’t able to read what he was thinking or feeling, his face was just blank.
“Really?” he asked.
“Yes. It made me really anxious to hear it, but I didn’t want to cause trouble between the two of you,” I said.
“Maybe it changed when she decided she wanted to leave,” he said.
“Maybe. It has been like this certainly since I moved in here. If you say that she decided she was leaving a long time ago, it would explain some things,” I said.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said and smiled again.
“No problem,” I said, not really understanding why he would thank me for that.
“Up until now I never truly believed she was telling the truth. I thought that maybe she was forcing herself as well. But I trust your talent and I trust you and if it really was like that, then she stopped investing in this relationship a long time ago,” he said.
“Does that make it better though?” I asked.
“No, it still hurts a lot. But at least I don’t have to feel bad about being angry at her,” he said, and his melody changed direction just a little. Maybe he could start healing somewhat easier now. He snuggled back close to me and I began to move my fingers through his hair until he fell into a deep sleep.
I was lying awake for a long time after that, wondering how we’d ended up in this kind of situation, until I fell into a comfortable sleep, too.
Andrew wasn’t there when I woke up in the morning and the bed felt weirdly cold. I wondered when he’d left, because it was only 6 AM.
My body was sore from the training yesterday and I was hoping there wouldn’t be any kind of exercise today, because I wasn’t sure if I would survive it.
I walked into the kitchen and prepared a small breakfast. While I was eating the other three came into the kitchen as well.
“Good morning,” I said and continued to read the news on my phone. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, one might even think the criminals had gone into hiding for the moment to attract less attention.
“Good morning, how are you feeling?” Sebastian asked with a grin and I rolled my eyes. He obviously knew that I felt like I got hit by a truck.
“Just wonderful,” I answered.
“Don’t worry, there won’t be any training for you today. We have to attend a training course ourselves,” Ryan said and took a bite of his apple.
“When they planned that, they didn’t have you on their list so you can’t come with us,” Sebastian added.
“That’s alright” I said. I really didn’t mind having some time for myself.
“Try to stay out of trouble while we are gone,” Ryan said, and I wished I could give him a snippy response but sadly he was right.
“I might visit my family,” I said. I didn’t know why, but since meeting Adrian I had this urge to return there just to meet him. Maybe it really was instinct or something.
“Sounds like a plan,” Sebastian said and smiled.
“You can take the black car,” Andrew offered.
“I don’t really like driving,” I admitted.
“That’s fine, you don’t have to use it. But just know that you can,” Andrew said, and I nodded.
In the end I chose to call a cab. I didn’t know why I disliked driving so much, but for some reason it gave me a bad case of anxiety.
My parents were weirdly happy about my visit. I wasn’t used to that at all. I knew that some things had changed since we’d clashed, but them being so happy about my existence all of a sudden was still weird. Even though I couldn't deny that it made me just a little bit happy.
“Adrian hasn’t stopped talking about you since your last visit,” my mother said. That was probably another reason why they were happy about me coming to visit. Speaking of the devil: I heard him running down the stairs fast as lightning and then jumping at me without hesitation as soon as he was close enough. I wasn’t sure if I could ever get used to that kind of energy!
“You are finally back,” Adrian said with shining eyes and I felt kind of bad for not coming to see him a few days earlier. I mean, it’s not that it had been that long that we hadn’t seen each other, but I supposed it felt a bit different for a small child.
We moved to the living room where my father was sitting, reading a newspaper. He didn’t look up when we entered.
“Good to see you,” he said though.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, because I didn’t know what else to say to him. Or to my mother either. They were my parents but being around them still felt so awkward.
“I am doing fine. What are you up to, now that your company has kicked you out?” my father asked.
“I am working for the police now,” I said, feeling quite proud about it. They never were happy with my career path, surely working for the police must seem better to them. My father lowered the newspaper and stared at me.
“Working for the police?” he asked, almost as if he wasn’t sure if he’d heard right.
“Yes, the three special agents let me join their team as an intern. I am supposed to help with solving crimes now,” I answered.
“But my dear, isn’t that a bit dangerous?” my mother asked, looking extremely shocked.
“I am mostly working in the background,” I said, trying to ease her mind. I don’t plan to get myself killed if I can help it.
“Well, if you feel like that’s what you want to do. But your mother does have a point,” my father said. I knew that this wasn’t a real approval, but it was the closest to it that I’d ever received from him since as far back as I could remember.
“I just feel so involved in it,” I said.
“Just make sure you stay out of trouble. Seeing you involved in another crime wouldn’t look good for you. It might lead people to believe that you are part of them after all,” my father stated and continued to read his newspaper. I knew that much as well, that’s why I didn't want to be an actual active part of the investigation. I would rather stay in the back and help out whenever my talent was helpful, but to achieve that I would have to get out there.
I decided to drop the subject and focus on Adrian instead; he had been busy carrying all kinds of toys from his room into the living room and was waiting patiently for me to give him attention. And from the moment I did, he literally didn’t stop talking. He didn’t even let me say anything myself, he just wanted me to listen to him and that’s what I did.
He was such an adorable little boy, so good-hearted and innocent. I was really afraid the world would hurt him when no one was there to protect him.
My mother made me stay for dinner and afterwards Adrian almost persuaded me to stay overnight. But that was a line I didn’t want to cross, at least not yet. It was still weird just being at the house again.
When I came back home the others weren’t back yet and the house was dark and silent. They hadn’t told me exactly when they would be back, but their absence made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t help but feel worried and anxious. I didn’t want to lose them.
I tried to rein in my thoughts and not think of the worst possible scenarios, but it was hard, if not impossible.
I decided to do something I wouldn’t usually do and repeated some training exercises from yesterday. My body was still aching, but at least it distracted and exhausted me.
I finished my training with the treadmill, putting on my headphones to shut out the rest of the world. I liked running like this, because it got me to a state of peace. I only focused on my feet touching the ground and on breathing steadily. The music jamming in the background really only helped me to move out of reality a bit more.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when the lights shut off, which caused me to stumble and lose my flow. I barely managed to hold myself upright. The music was still blasting in my ears and my heart was beating furiously in my chest from the sudden stop. It must be a power cut. I fumbled for my phone and turned the music off. The darkness was scary, especially in the basement, and I didn’t know where I needed to go to switch the electricity back on. That wasn’t something I’d thought of before, so I didn’t see a need to ask about it.
I used my phone as a light source and looked around the room. I actually felt a bit lost now and I decided to go upstairs to call one of the guys. And I wanted to get out of the basement for now.
I was about to walk up the stairs when I heard glass shattering. I stopped in my tracks and held my breath to listen what was going on up there. Shortly after, I heard several melodies flooding the house. I wasn’t sure exactly how many had entered, but it must be at least five people. And I didn’t recognise any of them. I was pretty sure though that they weren’t here to help me fix the electricity. Especially considering the degree of aggression that was swinging in their melodies.
They quickly moved around the house and I started to panic. I had to hide. I looked around the room. Of all the places in the house, I had to be stuck in the basement; there weren’t that many options to hide here. I finally saw the little closet and rushed towards it. It was full of cleaning supplies and towels, there wasn’t much space left in there. I could hear sounds coming closer to the basement door, so I decided there just had to be enough space for me.
I pushed the cleaning mop out of the way and moved far into the back of the closet, grabbing a towel to hide under, even though I was pretty sure this would just look more suspicious. I closed the door behind me and sat on the floor, making myself as small as possible.
I quickly switched off the light of the phone and sent a one-word message to Andrew: HELP!, before switching the phone off. I was afraid it would start making a noise.
One particular melody was coming close now. The upstairs door to the basement opened and someone walked quickly down the stairs. I held my breath. I was sure the person was a man, his melody had more of a male tone to it.
He was probably looking around the room now. I lost all feeling of time in that moment and I felt dizzy from holding my breath for too long. I was so scared that even just one too-loud breath would make them find me. My heart was beating too loudly too, making it really hard to focus on the person who was in the basement with me.
He was walking closer towards me, his melody so loud now, it felt like my head would explode. I could barely manage to keep the impending panic attack under control, because a wave of hysterical crying really wouldn’t help me at all right now.
“Already?” the man said out of nowhere. He must be talking to the others, but they were too far away for me to hear.
“Okay, I’m coming,” he said and started to go back. He didn’t leave the room straight away though. I couldn’t make out what he was doing, but he lingered for a while before moving quickly up the stairs.
I could hear all the melodies leaving the house together, but I still didn’t feel safe. I didn’t dare move from my spot and instead waited for the others to come home. I felt somewhat pathetic waiting for my saviours to arrive, but I couldn’t care too much about that right now. Whatever they had wanted, it wasn’t good.
Unsure of how long I had been in my closet, I could finally hear familiar melodies again.
“Avalynn!” Andrew shouted and I finally started to straighten up again. My legs hurt a lot and I had some trouble standing upright.
“Avalynn!” He shouted again and I opened the closet. The lights came back on, surprising me, but at least I could see again. I stumbled towards the stairs and saw Andrew running down them at that moment.
“Ava,” he said, relieved, and rushed towards me. I waited for him to reach me and basically threw myself at him. I started crying and I could feel all the tension drain out of me.
“I was so scared,” I said between sobs and he pulled me closer against him.
“What happened?” he asked when I had calmed down a little.
“I don’t know. I was down here when the power went out and some people came into the house and I hid in the closet,” I said.
“Did they say what they were looking for?” he asked.
“No,” I answered. But I had a terrible feeling that they were looking for me. Ryan and Sebastian came down the stairs as well now, hugging me tightly too.
“Are you hurt?” Sebastian asked.
“No, I am fine,” I answered, even though I had hurt my knee when the treadmill had stopped so abruptly.
“Guys?” Ryan said and we turned around to him. He was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the wall with a serious look on his face. I followed his gaze and gasped.
The man hadn’t just lingered in the room, he had used the time to write a message on the mirror: WE SEE YOU.
Chapter 21
It felt like my body froze when I saw that message. I was totally shocked and scared. I wasn’t sure if it was as obvious to them as it was to me, but I felt like they really were looking for me now. They wanted to scare me, and I didn’t even know why. I mean, yes, okay – I had killed one of their gang. But they’d also killed several of their own people, so did it really matter that much that I had added another one to the list? As brutal as that may sound.
I didn’t even realise what was set in motion after we’d seen that message, but a short while later the police arrived at the house. They checked the area and recorded what got broken. Surprisingly they hadn’t caused a big mess or broken things intentionally, except the window to enter.
As far as the officers could tell they hadn’t left any traces behind, nothing but that note. What the police didn’t know was that Sebastian probably already knew who the culprit was, but it wasn’t as though he could broadcast that information around the room without revealing his talent.
I was asked quite a few questions, which I tried to answer as best as I could. I felt relieved about Andrew’s presence next to me, he didn’t leave my side even once. I had the feeling that he didn’t only do that because I needed it but also because he felt some backlash from Laura’s leaving. And the thought of me disappearing must have been scary for him as well. He wasn’t really in any state to lose someone else.
We sat in the kitchen and stared around the room after the police left. They had already organised for a company to fix the window tomorrow, but for now there was an obvious hole there, just waiting for someone to step through.
“Do you know who wrote the message?” I asked Sebastian. I kept thinking about where I’d seen that message before, it felt so oddly familiar.
“Yes, I could see his face,” he replied and frowned.
“Have you seen him before?” Ryan asked.
“No, I couldn’t recognise him. But he didn’t look like someone who would break into a house and write messages like that on windows, basically threatening people,” he said.
“Did he look too normal?” I asked.
“Yes, he just looked like an ordinary dad or something. The nice neighbour from next door,” he said.
“That would explain our assumption that they live two lives. It’s so hard to find them because they aren’t the ones you would normally suspect,” Ryan said.
“How do we find him now?” I asked.
“I will check the database tomorrow and see if I can find him. I don’t think I will be lucky though. I assume he has no record and is just an ordinary person without any criminal energy,” Sebastian said.
“What would cause him to do something like this then?” I asked, actually curious about this. Especially because they seemed to be out for revenge. Maybe the man who died was someone close to him.
“Just because they don’t look like criminals, doesn’t mean they aren’t. What did his melody sound like?” Ryan asked.
“Angry and aggressive,” I answered. “If I were to picture him in my head, he probably wouldn’t look like the nice guy who lives next-door.”
“See and that’s the problem. You know who has some kind of negative energy because you can hear it and you wouldn’t go close to him. But the ordinary person just sees him and doesn’t think there’s anything bad about him,” Ryan said, and I nodded.
“Maybe we’ll need to drive around the area. I will look out for his face and you will look out for his melody. At least if I can’t find any other information about him, which I suspect,” Sebastian said.
“Okay,” I replied. I didn’t really feel up to looking for the people who apparently wanted to kill me, but I was certainly ready to be closer to solving the case.
“We should board up the window with something until tomorrow. Maybe we can cut a garbage bag open and use that,” Sebastian said then.
“Like that would give any safety,” Ryan said.
“Of course it doesn’t, but at least there wouldn’t be a freaking hole in the window anymore,” Sebastian said, sounding angry.
