"There's nothing there Liam, not a single drop of blood" Jeff says on the phone.
"What do you mean there's nothing? Stella saw it! She was terrified!" I try to keep my voice as low as possible before all the people in the room. Jeff sighs "My men sent me the videos and pictures, there's LITERALLY nothing!" He says
I rub my palm over my face, unable to understand what is happening. "Okay, I have reached your apartment, I will see myself and inform again" Jeff says and hangs up
I sigh, keeping my phone inside, I lift my head to see Stella sitting on the couch in the middle of Jasmine and Mia as they both comfort her. She stopped cry but her face is emotionless, and that's more scary.
Last night I had to go and meet Jeff to discuss this whole situation again. I didn't want to meet him but the incident made me. When I came back. I saw Stella running out of our apartment, crying and yelling that they killed buddy.
I wanted to see for myself but she was not in the state to stay at that place anymore so I brought her home. Aunt Lia and Mom are out because of their work so I didn't say anything to them. Both Jasmine and Mia skipped their university and school as they got to know what happened.
It's 9am right now and nothing good has happened since the last sunrise
I stand there looking over Stella not understanding what to say to her. Jeff's men were already around the apartment building guarding it until I was out. They didn't see anyone coming in or out
Just like it happened at the dorm
The most unsettling part is what Stella described, buddy's body laying in the living room covered in blood. But when his men went to see it there was nothing
Same as the vandalization at her dorm
Everything disappeared
It took his men 5 minutes to reach the apartment when I took Stella to my home. How is it possible that they cleared everything in just minutes?
Moreover, buddy was still at the vet. I never brought him home as his discharge was supposed to happen today, not yesterday. I tried to tell her but she was so devastated that she didn't understand. That's why I sent Lucas to bring buddy back
"Woof!"
A bark grabs our attention, the three of them look up and I turn around to see Lucas standing at the door holding buddy's leash. He bends down and unleashed buddy as he quickly pounces towards us. I move out of the way so he goes straight to Stella first
Stella's eyes widen, she gets down from the couch and kneels on the carpet as buddy hopes on her and starts licking her face. A few years slip down her eyes as she hugs him and starts petting him. The tears of joy
She smiles
She smiles after hours of crying
I sigh in relief, Jasmine and Mia look at the sight in complete shock. Mia's expression relaxes as she sees Stella and buddy interacting. He wiggles his tail like always while Stella showers him with affection.
Stella looks at me "how?" She whispers. I walk towards her and sit beside them petting buddy's head "He was at the vet the whole time, I never brought him Stella" I say. She looks at me shocked, her face going pale "b-but i-i saw it!" Her voice comes out shaky as she cups buddy's face
"I really saw it Liam, and it was too real to be a nightmare" Stella's hands shakes as she holds buddy not understanding it. I am as confused as her. "I know, Jeff's men went back to the apartment but they saw nothing" I explain
Stella looks down holding her head and groans "am I losing my mind" I looks at me with fear in her eyes. I shake my head "no no, don't think that" I try to comfort her by squeezing her hand. Her expressions don't change.
Jasmine sits beside her and rubs her back, she takes deep breaths trying to calm herself.
I hate to see her like this
Mia taps my shoulder to grab my attention, I get up and turn to her. "you said that the guy injected something into Stella , right? What if this is a side effect?" Mia says. I raise my eyebrow at her realizing it, in middle of everything I totally forgot about it "But I thought it was something to make me lose consciousness" Stella says
Mia looks at Stella and nods "but we aren't sure, plus you didn't go to the doctor so we can't judge. And what kind of anesthesia loses its effect within an hour?"
I groan feeling stupid for not focusing on it
"So what is this?" Lucas steps forward and asks. Mia sighs and looks at me "hallucinations?"
My eyes widened at her words, I glanced at Stella. She shakes her head and gets up "No!" Her legs stumble, before she falls I hold her. Her fingers grip my shirt "I am seriously losing it!" She mutters, her eyes filled with fear of it
Mia opens her mouth to say something but I shake my head not to, any comment will lead to affect her.
"I don't think these are hallucinations" Jasmine exclaims walking towards her. Stella turns towards her, Jasmine smiles and wipes her tears "How can you think that? Those weren't hallucinations" Jasmine says with so much confidence
"How are you so sure?" Lucas asks
Jasmine sighs "because the same thing happened at the dorm! Like we saw all that paint on the walls but sometime they all vanished like how? And it's the same situation. That wasn't a hallucination and this isn't too" Jasmine says. We all go listen thinking about it, I don't know what to say
Everything's so blurry
A message pops in my phone, I quickly take it out to see that it's from Jeff
Jeff:
Found something, come here soon
Right now!
My muscles tense up looking at the screen, maybe we are close to finding him soon. Stella looks at me concerned and rubs my arm "everything alright?"
I nod "I need to leave, Jeff found something" I inform, Stella's eyebrows scrunches with worry. I kiss her forehead "I will be back, I want you to stay calm okay?" She nods at my words. I smile and rub her back gently pushing her away. She sighs and sits on the couch and continues to pet buddy while Mia accompanies her.
That would keep her calm, I hope
I look at Jasmine "I need a favor, could you inform me about her state every 15 minutes?" I ask. She smiles and nods "I will, don't worry" she says before joining Stella
I turn to Lucas, he seems calm right now with his straight expression "I will be here" he assures. I nod before walking away "Liam?" Lucas calls out and I turn to him "stay safe" He says, his eyes showing a bit of concern. "I will be" I say with a smile
I quickly rush to my car and drive back to my apartment. Upon reaching I find Jeff and three of his men already present there. They stand near the floor to ceiling window in a circle, Jeff stands their with his arms crossed looking at the floor
"What did you find?" I ask walking towards him. He snaps out of his thoughts and look at me with a sigh. He snaps his finger at his men, they step away and pull the window covers down making the room dark.
I look at him confused, Jeff points at the floor, I follow his direction and my eyes widen "what the hell-" I yell, stepping backwards. The horrifying scene in front of me makes my heart drop for a split second.
I see buddy's lifeless body laying on the floor covered in blood just as Stella described. I gulp stepping closer not believing my eyes.
Jeff lifts his leg and steps on it making me shock, but what leaves me speechless is he just walks through it-
What is happening!
I look at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Jeff shakes his head looking at it, "This?" He points at the dog "is a hologram"
A quiet gasp escapes my mouth not believing it, hologram? I walk closer to it and bent down, when I tried to touch the dig my hand just passed through it. I could notice the slight blue rays due to darkness
Jeff chuckles while walking around it "technology is so scary nowadays" he comments and I couldn't agree more. I get up and my eyes follow the source from where this image is being projected. Just right above us on the ceiling there's a small cylindrical shaped device fixed that's displaying buddy's body
Jeff crosses his arm looking at the device too "No one came to your apartment in the last 24 hours except you, Stella and us. There wasn't any murder Liam, just an illusion" Jeff says. Every muscle in my body tenses up at his words, so all this was fake?
Stella wasn't having hallucinations
She saw it
But it was fake
One of Jeff's men brings a ladder and removes the device and hands it to Jeff. He shows it to me. I take the small box and look at it closely, this is so small yet so powerful
"Even at the dorm, no one painted the bathroom walls. It was yet another hologram projected by a device like that. That's why they cleared the evidence" Jeff explains "In fact there wasn't any proper evidence, just the image"
I clenched the box tightly, "Who is so perfect in hacking the security system and setting up things like this?"
Jeff takes the box from me "this is not some ordinary device Liam, this thing is illegal. I remember that this was launched in 2020 or something but wasn't approved by law because it looked so real than any other holograms. Hence it was stopped and the government never brought it. But there are still many people who make it to sell it in other countries for money"
I frown "do you know anyone?"
Jeff smirks, "Oh I know everyone". I sigh, of course he does. There's not a thing in Australia that Jeff doesn't know about. He extends his hand and his assistant gives him a paper before stepping back
"Got this list from the most popular dealer of this device. The list of people who brought it this month" Jeff says giving me the list "check it, whom do you doubt?"
I take the list and start reading every name carefully, there are over thirty names in this list. Many names seem foreign and unrecognizable. I keep going through it until my eyes stop at a familiar name, "Julian A. Martin?" I say
Jeff cross his arm and leans forward to take a look "hm it says he is from Australia"
Wasn't Julian Stella's classmate or something? That poker face guy?
"You know him?" Jeff asks and I nod "I know a guy named Julian, but Julian A. Martin-" I grip the paper tightly reading the name again
Julian Martin
Julian A. Martin
Julian Andrés Martin-
-year 2009
Liam- 9
"Liam, meet my younger brother. Andrés, you both will become good friends" Uncle Louis says, patting a young boy's head, who keeps clenching uncle's coat. I smile as I approach him and forward my hand for a handshake "hey! I am Liam!"
The boy turns his head away and hides behind uncle Louis, making me confused. Uncle Louis laugh "Sorry kiddo, my brother is a bit shy"
"Julian Andrés Martin" I repeat out loud. Jeff's expression changes to a surprised one "Andrés?" He asks, trying to confirm. My jaw clenches as I nod in reply "You know him or something?"
Jeff scoffs shaking his head "The red suit rookie's name is Andrés Martin"
My eyes widened in shock, my heart pounds and I feel myself sweating while connecting all the dots
Uncle Louie's brother, who disappeared when he turned 16. I only saw him when I was ten so I didn't recognise him. No wonder he always looked pissed off around me. He is also the red suit biker who took my position
He is taking revenge for his brother's death?
A mixture of emotions washes over me, shock, disbelief, confusion and disbelief. It takes me a moment to let the whole information sink in and for my brain to process it
I groan, throwing the paper away, I run my hand through my hair in frustration. How did I not get it sooner? How the hell could I miss it!
"Who is he?" Jeff says, bringing me out of my thoughts "Louis Martin's younger brother"
Jeff's pupils dialect, a sly smirk forms on his lips "Damn this shit is good" he nods enjoying this. I scoff at his behavior, this guy is so unhinged for sure
"Find him" I say to him, he looks at his men and they nod before leaving the apartment to start working on it. I sigh walking out while Jeff follows me "what do you plan to do now?" He asks
"First in form Stella and then try to catch him" I reply as we step in the elevator. Jeff leans against the wall "I can't believe that he can do all that? You know how much brains and money it might have taken to plan all this out?" He points out
"Uncle Louie's many assets were given to him by Aunt Lia as they were biological brothers. It isn't a shocker that he is rich" I reply, uncle Louis had everything that time. And Julian inherited everything making this all easy for him
Getting into Sydney's University
Faking his identity
Buying a bike and racing in Jeff's event
Buying those hologram devices and breaking the security system
We both walk towards our respective cars, first thing I need to tell everything to Stella. Then I will see what to do with this guy.
As I was about to open the door, my phone starts ringing and I stopped. I remove my phone to see Jasmine calling me, I quickly receive it and put it near my ear while getting inside the car "Hello? Jasmine?" I say and start driving
"Liam, Stella is going to her parents house. I think something happened, she looked really worried" Jasmine says, making me grip the steering wheel tightly "when did she leave?" I ask
"Hm, about two to three minutes?" She says
I groan and speed up "okay thanks for informing" I say hanging up the phone, I quickly dial her number but Stella doesn't pick up. I throw the phone to the passenger seat and drive faster. She shouldn't go to her parents, especially right now
But what happened that she has to go?
She might still be on her way, I need to stop her
Message:
Yeah you hate your father
But i think you should at least meet your brothers before their last breath
Never I thought of a message that scared me so much that I would rush out believing it. But with the current situation I knew it was from the stalker and also the fact that he would go beyond the limits to harm me or my family
As soon as I received this message without thinking I took Lucas's car and drove to my house. I don't care about anything but my brothers are really important to me, they are my family whom I want to be safe
First it was buddy and now my brothers. I don't know if they were hallucinations or something but seeing buddy like that made me realize that I can't handle someone's death who is so precious to me. Seeing him alive made me relieved but also made me think if I have gone insane due to this pressure
I park my car a bit away from my house and get off, I rush to the door and bang on it. In a minute the maid opens the door looking at me surprised with my sudden appearance. Without saying anything she steps aside and I walk inside looking around
"Ethan? Henry? Where are you all?" I call out walking inside the living room. The whole house is dead silent
"Ella? My child?" I turn around to see mom walking downstairs looking at me worried. "Everything alright? What happened?" She asks walking towards me
I can't explain everything
There's no time
"Mom, where's Ethan and Henry?" I ask. She looks at me confused "They left for the airport, they have some work in Melbourne" she informs. My tension increases at her words, I need to stop them
"Mom, stay here okay? I will tell everything later bye!" I say and rush out. I could hear her calling my name but I can't wait, if I tell her she will be worried sick. I go back to the car, realizing I left my phone in the car. I quickly take it to dial Ethan's number to inform him
That's when I noticed 5 missed calls from Liam and a few messages too. I open them
Liam:
That was a hologram, at the dorm and also of buddy
Julian is the stalker
I gasp reading the text, what? I can't believe my eyes. Why would Julian do that? As I was reading further, someone hit my shoulder and I groaned, feeling a sharp pain. Before I could see it was my vision was already blacked out
â
"You didn't have to hit her, you just had to bring her!" A male voice hits my ear as I slowly regain my consciousness "She wouldn't come on our call, sir. We had to" another guy says
I slowly open my eyes to see two figures standing in front of us. I bite my lip trying not to groan from the pain in my neck and shoulder. My vision still blurry as I blink trying to see them
I rub my eyes and the first person I see is Julian, another man in front of him listening to what Julian says. I look around to see where I was, my eyes widens as I recognise the place. It's the banquet hall where Miller's firm's anniversary party took place
Where I was drugged
Where everything started
Julian's eyes fall on me "Oh you are awake" he says walking towards the chair I was sitting on. I grip the handles trying to get up but couldn't "Didn't think they would hit you, how you feeling?" He asks leaning closer to me, his voice dripping with mockery
I glare at him, getting up from my seat and I push him back in anger "It was you? How dare you do all that?" I yell in anger. He chuckles and brushes his shirt where I touched him. He looks at me with an annoying smirk "Oh yes, it was me who drugged you 2 years go" he says circling around me
"It was me who sent my man to cut your hand in Thailand"
"It was me who was in your dorm"
"It's me who attacked you yesterday," he smirks, standing in front of me. My fist clenching at his words, my hand shaking "why? Why would you do that?" I ask, who is he? Why did he put us in so much misery?
"Because of me" a voice comes from behind me. I turn around, my eyes widened in shock and I gasp, stepping back. My heart pounds in my chest as my breath gets stuck in my throat. Julian holds my arm to keep me stable as I am shaking with fear
"It's good to finally meet you, Stella Miller. Or should I say daughter in law?" He mocks walking towards me
I shudder and fall on the ground breathing heavily not believing what's happening. I look at him again, how? So many questions going in my mind
The dead has awaken to life
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Author's Note
How did you all think I would kill our lovely fur ball? ð He is a bundle of joy okay? I am not a bad author ð¤§
Many of you guessed Julian very well, now guess who the Main Villain is ð¤
Follow my Instagram (authorvenus) because tomorrow I will post a HUGE and most heartbreaking spoiler!!
Again I say, it will be a happy ending. Just trust me ð¤
-have a nice day/night ð