Chapitre 9: Valerie (3)
In the morning the smell of bacon and coffee wafting from the kitchen and gently pulling me away from my sweet slumber. I groggily dragged myself off the couch and walked into the kitchen to investigate the appetising smells. I stopped in the hallway with my jaw ajar at what I saw. Valerie was standing by then bench with her golden-brown hair tied up in a pony tail and she was wearing Amy's old apron. She looked amazingly beautiful. She must have sensed my presence because she looked up and when her green eyes met mine, she smiled a wonderful smile that lit up the room. Her beauty truly was unparalleled.
"So, you're finally awake. About time, anyways, I've made breakfast for us."
"Sorry, I must have been exhausted."
"I'm just teasing you." She smiled.
"How'd you sleep?" I inquired.
"I slept much better after I crawled into bed with you." Valerie said with a cheeky smile. "Sorry breakfast is pretty basic, I could only work with what you had."
"Don't be silly, this looks amazing. I haven't had a home cooked breakfast in quite a while."
When Valerie had finished preparing everything, we sat down and enjoyed breakfast together.
"How are you feeling today? Yesterday was a pretty scary day for you." I asked concerningly.
"I'm ok now thanks, I feel much safer being here than at home."
"Well you're welcome to stay here for as long as you need. Your car should arrive in 2-3 days and I'll check it out for anything concerning. I can run you around till then."
"Thanks, I really appreciate it. But don't you have uni or work?"
"No, they've both given me time off for a while after Amy's death."
"Oh…. sorry."
"Don't be, plus if you cook this good with my what's in my house, I can't imagine what you could make with proper ingredients."
"It's not that great." Valerie blushed cutely.
"Let's agree to disagree."
Valerie smiled shyly, she clearly hadn't been complimented much or treated well by her previous partner. And in response, she had no idea of her own personal worth.
<I'll try to make her realise her worth, while she's staying with me.>
Over breakfast we had a long conversation about what needed to be done to avoid encountering the Cobra outlaws and keep a low profile. We needed to minimise contact with her friends as to not get them involved and avoid the places she normally frequented, it was likely they were staking out her house and her regular haunts. We couldn't turn to the police because I killed a bunch of the outlaws in the street, even if I pleaded self-defence it was likely that I would see jail time or at least I would be locked up until the trial. Valerie called her workplace and informed them that she was going to spend the next couple of months taking care of a sick relative and wouldn't be able to continue working there anymore. Fortunately, they were very understanding and mentioned that when she no longer needed to take care of her relative that she could reapply for her position.
The next couple of days went by without incident as we laid low and only went to the local shops to stock up on food and drinks. After another day I received a call from the tow company I had hired to move Valerie's car to a different location. I knew I was probably being more paranoid than I needed to be, but I didn't want to take any risks when moving her car. I opted to use multiple towing companies, and had it dropped off and picked up at various spots before finally being brought to my house. This call signified that the process had started and that it would be another two days before her car would arrive. During the days, I kept reading about IEDs and the proper disarmament procedure. Fortunately, due to my increased thought and learning capacity I was able to easily understand even the most complicated procedures. Although, the possibility of an IED wasn't the most dangerous thing I was currently dealing with. The far more dangerous situation was Valerie's continually brazen passes at me, not only was she playing wife in the kitchen, but she insisted on joining me on the couch each night, no matter how vigilantly I refused I always woke up with her cuddled up to me. The situation was becoming far to dangerous for me, I didn't know how much longer I resist this peerless beauty who insisted of playing the part of my wife, but I just wasn't ready yet.
After another two days the car arrived, and I set about checking it for anything suspicious. My worries turned out to be well founded as my inspection revealed that the Cobra outlaws had planted a significant IED within the car.
<They were definitely planning on making a statement with this, this could almost knock out an entire block. They wanted to send a message alright. It must have been one hell of debt…there must be something else going on.>
I mulled over the reasons for size of this IED as I began working on disarming it.
"Ha, they didn't want to make this easy" I muttered to myself as I examined the pile of spaghetti that was the explosives' wiring. "No matter, shouldn't take too long."
I set about disarming the device, it was a slow process initially but as I grew more confident with my actions, I was able to move and think more quickly. Before I knew it, the device had been disarmed and I was removing the explosives from the engine bay. I was so enthralled in my task that I failed to notice the sound of footsteps approaching.
"W-what's t-that…" Valerie stammered in surprise whilst looking at explosives I had placed next to the car.
"It seems someone was very unhappy with you and your ex, I feel like there is more to this story than you've let on." I asked her curiously. It appeared that I hit a nerve because her face quickly changed from her smiley demeaner to one of sadness and apologetic.
"I…..I'm sorry, I was scared that if I told you everything, that you wouldn't help me." Valerie said with tears swelling in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I used you. I was so sca…."
Before she could finish her sentence, I pulled her close, held her tightly and wiped away her tears. I looked deep into her eyes and with my eyes told her its ok. She half smiled with fresh tears in her eyes as she looked up at me before burying her head into my chest and quietly sobbing as I held her close whilst comforting her. After a few minutes she stopped sobbing and took a few steps back and smiled.
"My ex didn't just have a drug debt, he also started working as a low-level dealer for them and did a few other small jobs for them to try and pay back some of his debt. But after a few months he grew tired of being their bitch and stole a large quantity of meth from them before disappearing."
"Welllllll….that explains the bomb. They must be super pissed. I doubt they'll stop anytime soon."
"I…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dragged you into this. I didn't know else to do or who to turn to. I thought I was going to die and then I saw you handle those guys in the alleyway and I thought you might be able to protect me. I'm sorry it was really selfish of me. You must hate me."
"Don't worry about it, I would have helped you anyway. All you had to do is ask."
"But I tried use you…."
"Welcome to life, everyone uses everyone."
"But-t.." she muttered as I pulled her close.
"It's fine, I'm fine, you're fine, you told me everything, so don't worry."
With that off her chest, Valerie smiled again and wiped away her tears as she nodded. Valerie walked back inside and left me to dispose of the explosives. I decided that given the situation that I've found myself in that I should bury the explosives in the backyard deep enough for them not to be accidently dug up but shallow enough that I could get them if I needed.
I spent the next month training both my mind and body to test my current abilities and try and push them further so that I could protect both Valerie and me when the outlaws eventually return. I made an effort to obtain a couple of large hunting knives and buried them in the backyard. During the month, after Valerie's confession of trying to use me to protect herself she seemed to have grown fonder of me and her advances were becoming more frequent. It was reassuring to know that her feelings weren't motivated by trying to self-protection anymore, instead they were her true feelings. I was beginning to develop quite a soft spot for her, she was not just a peerless beauty but far deeper within she was a beautiful person with a kind heart. Our little life of lying low together was starting to find some routine and becoming almost enjoyable. However, everything changed at the end of the month. Nothing was going to ever be the same again.
It was dark as I was driving home from the shops with tonight's ingredients. As I rounded onto my street the darkness was assaulted by towering flames, the flash of red and blue lights and piercing sirens that cut through the quiet of the darkness. The light grew brighter and sirens wailing louder as I drew closer to my house. The closer I got the more it became apparent which house it was that was shattering the darkness. It was like waking from a bad dream only to realise that it wasn't a dream at all but a nightmare that you couldn't escape. I stepped out of my car to confront the flames that had destroyed everything I owned and eliminated all the last traces of Amy. Every piece of her clothing, every remnant of her smell and every smile in their frames were gone, never to be recovered or reborn. It was like the last few traces connecting her to me had been severed forcefully in front of me and there was nothing I could do but watch.
After a while the firefighter managed to extinguish the fire and they and the police spoke to me about the house. Apparently, the neighbours heard motorcycles driving up to the house followed by screaming and then the house went up in flames. They mentioned that they didn't find any bodies and that it was likely Valerie had been kidnapped. When there was nothing left for them to do, they all left the smouldering remains and left. The police mentioned they would come back tomorrow to see what they could learn from the house, but due to the state of it, it was unlikely they would find much.
When they left, I sat down in the middle of the still warm remaining and ran my fingers through the ash of what was my last connection to Amy. As the ash slipped through my fingers, a familiar pain welled up inside me. A tear ran down my left cheek as the darkness within me started to build up. The tentacles of despair ascended from the darkness once more to try and bring back to the depths of suffering the abyss. The pain of the loss and having something taken from me once again filled my body to the very core.
<They finally found us.>
I knew it was always going to be a risk, but I thought I would be here to protect her.
<They must have taken her. I should have been here to protect her, she was so scared, she relied on me. I failed her. I failed once again.>
The tentacles had found their mark and the despair was pouring into every inch of my being.
<They destroyed everything, all the memories I tried to protect, all gone….I failed….again.>
Tears flowed freely as I grieved from everything, I had been too weak to save again. As my mind spiralled into despair focusing on my losses, another voice popped into my head and cold of the darkness began to fade as it was replaced by a searing heat.
<Who do they think they are that they can take so freely from me, they took her from me, they destroyed my last connection. To be so brazen against me, they will pay with their lives but not before I show them the true meaning of suffering.>
The tentacles of despair that were trying to drag me into the abyss evaporated in the new-found heat, the darkness faded and was replaced by a raging inferno of hatred. A new sense of power and purpose coursed through my veins, I knew what needed to be done and the lives that would be lost and I did not flinch. After I dug up my hunting knives and explosives from the backyard, I gave the ruins of my last tie to Amy and my old life one final look before a horrifically malicious grin spread across my face and my eyes burned with hatred.
"It's time to go to work."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone