Demons From the Past novel Chapter 24

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I knocked on the door and stood outside waiting for Aiden. My mind was still preoccupied by the talk I'd had with Nate.

Finally, the door opened and I was greeted by an uneasy looking Aiden.

"Hey, what's up? You said you wanted to talk? Everything okay?" I asked, my voice lacing with concern.

He gave me a reassuring smile, "Yeah, don't worry. Come inside, please."

I stepped inside and took in the familiar surroundings. Aiden led me to the living room.

"I'll be right back. Make yourself comfortable." He spoke up as he left the room.

I took the chance to study the picture frames hanging on the walls, I hadn't really paid any attention to them when I'd visited in the past.

I chuckled as I took in the adorable baby picture of Aiden in a diaper. My eyes wandered to the next picture and they widened in shock. It was a picture of a young Aiden with Belinda. I looked at another picture and this one was of Aiden with Belinda and another man who looked like an older version of Aiden.

An uneasy feeling started to crawl up my spine as I looked at the pictures again.

"What are you doing?" Aiden's sharp voice made me jump.

"Belinda is your mother?" I asked a little unsteadily.

"Yes. How do you know her?" His voice was low.

"S-she was the receptionist at the apartment complex I lived in before." I could feel the dread building up.

The wheels in my head were spinning as I recalled different incidents from before which were finally starting to make sense now.

Like when I'd questioned the guards about the murder,

"There is another way someone could have gotten in without the cameras catching them, the thought just occurred to me." He had said. "The emergency generator room at the back. It can be accessed from the outside but it's usually locked. There aren't any cameras installed there. Belinda is the only one who has the key."

My mind drifted off to when I'd talked to Belinda about it,

"When I came here a while ago there was another receptionist here." Nate had asked.

Belinda had nodded in agreement, "Yes that was my friend Hannah, she was filling in for me while I was sick and I know what your next question is going to be, and my answer is no, I did not give Hannah the key to the generator room, it was with me the whole time I was away. I took it home with me."

Realization slowly sunk in.

Why had I not realized this before?

The first time I'd talked to Aiden no wonder he'd looked familiar, it was because he resembled Belinda.

How could I not have seen it?

Then it hit me.

It's Aiden.

He's the one who killed Allison!

He took Belinda's key. That's how he got into the complex and into Allison's apartment!

It's been him all along!

I could feel the initial shock ebb away and panic started seeping through my veins.

I had to get out of here.

"Hey, I just remembered, there's something really important I have to do. I'm sorry I have to go right now." I started as I hurriedly made my way towards the door.

Almost there.

"I don't think so Verena." I heard Aiden's cool voice speak up.

That was it.

I dropped my cool act and sprinted for the door. I lunged for the door handle ad tried to yank the door open but it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked." Aiden spoke up confirming my worst fears.

"What do you want from me?" I spat out as I spun around to face him. I was surprised to find him standing merely a few inches away from me.

He cocked his head to the side and his lips twisted into a slow smirk.

"It's not what we want from you, it's who we want." He jeered.

I tried to hide the dread I was feeling, "What do you mean by we? Someone else is involved with you too?" I desperately tried to distract him as my eyes darted around the room trying to find anything I could use as a weapon.

Aiden chuckled and I shrieked when I felt his breath on my neck, "I know what you're trying to do and it won't work." He hissed in my ear.

I tried to get away from him but he pinned my arms behind my back, trapping me.

He groaned in pain when I managed to aim a successful kick to his groin but his grip on me didn't loosen.

"Don't fight me Verena. It's of no use." Aiden ordered.

I continued to struggle wildly. I heard Aiden sigh. Suddenly, I felt a prick on my neck. My eyes started to feel heavy all of a sudden. I tried to fight it but it was of no use.

"I'm sorry Verena. Please just go with it. It's going to be okay." I heard him whisper.

Blackness finally consumed me.

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I opened my eyes groggily as I finally came to. I was still in Aiden's living room but he'd tied me to a chair. I started to struggle with my restraints but my efforts proved to be futile. There was no way out of it.

"Good to see that you're finally awake." Aiden's voice had my head snapping up.

I gave him the best hate-filled glare that I could.

"How could you?" I spat out. "I trusted you, Skylar trusted you!"

For a moment I thought I saw guilt flash across his face but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"You killed Allison." I whispered out in disbelief.

Aiden's expression was blank, "I didn't have a choice. She threatened to turn me in. I couldn't risk it. I was supposed to kill her outside the party, in that deserted alleyway, but your stupid boyfriend and his friend intervened. Fortunately, I knew she lived in the apartment complex where my mom worked. So I just stole my mom's keys for a while and finished the job, she didn't even notice they were gone. It was all turning out just like I planned, that is until you started to poke your nose in to prove Nate's innocence."

Suddenly he looked upset. "You wouldn't have been in this situation if you'd just stayed out of it. The boss wouldn't have found out about you if you'd just stayed away from this place."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "You know what I think Aiden? I think you're a coward. You got involved in some bad shit and before you realized you were in too deep. You were too afraid to quit even though you knew it was wrong. So instead of trying to get away from all of that you chose to kill an innocent girl, and now you can never leave it all behind no matter how much you try. You can never bring back the life you took. How can you even live with yourself Aiden?!"

"You don't know shit Verena." He hissed, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. Just do what he says, it's what's best for you. Please, just stop fighting. You can't win this. He will never let you win."

"Who are you talking about Aiden?" I demanded.

"Me of course." A familiar voice cut in.

I could practically feel the blood draining off my face.

It was him.

The man who'd attacked me that day. The man who'd tried to kill me. He was the one who'd wrecked my apartment, the one who'd been giving me all those disturbing warnings and messages.

He was the one knew Trevor.

He had a hood pulled over his face so I couldn't make out his features and although I couldn't see his face but there was something really frightening about him. A shiver of fear ran down my spine. His whole semblance screamed pure evil. I'd never feared anyone more than I feared him at the moment, and I didn't even know what he looked like. Nate was intimidating at times and he could be pretty terrifying when he was angry but I'd never felt so afraid with him. In fact, for some obscure reason Nate had always managed to make me feel safe, but this man was completely different, everything about him screamed of menace.

"Who are you?" I was surprised at how steady my voice sounded, considering that I was having a panic attack on the inside.

"Does that really matter? You'll probably be too dead to remember in a few minutes anyway." The man chuckled.

My eyes bulged open in fear.

"Kade, you said you wouldn't kill her." Aiden started.

His face tilted ever so slightly in Aiden's direction and Aiden stopped talking.

Although he was facing me the hood was drawn too far over for me to see his face.

The man whose name now I knew was actually 'Kade' chuckled coldly, "No Aiden, you misunderstood me. I asked you to gain her trust and extract whatever useful information you could from her. That way I wouldn't have to kill her."

His voice was calm as he slowly made his way towards Aiden. I held my breath. I did not like where this was going.

Suddenly Kade took hold of Aiden's collar and smashed his head into the wall harshly. I let out a scream.

"You didn't do as you're told so now I have to step in. I'll do whatever it takes to get the answers I need." He hissed as he let go of Aiden's bloody form.

I could feel my breathing become ragged. He finally turned to me. My eyes followed his hands as they leisurely reached into his pockets and extracted a knife. I gulped.

He laughed again, "Don't worry I won't kill you with this. I'll probably use my gun for that, a knife's too messy. This is just for a little bit of fun." His voice sounded almost gleeful.

I screamed as he yanked my chair forward, I struggled uselessly against the restraints.

"What do you want from me?" I finally spat out.

"You're not too bright are you?" He answered blandly. "I broke into places, I painted your walls, I sent you notes, I even attacked you! And you still didn't get my message. Should I be offended?"

"You're crazy!" I hissed.

"I prefer psychotic, but that's beside the point." He drawled out.

"Leave me and my friends alone!" I jeered.

"Tell me what I want. That way you'll be dead as soon as possible and I'll have nothing to do with your friends."

"Why do you want to know about my dead brother?" I asked.