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Chapter Nineteen

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My mind numbs with all the possibilities of what might have happened. I look outside the moving car through my window. It has been about an hour already and Zach's strangely quiet.

Except every once in a while, he smiles to himself. And, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit spooked.

The night sky is beautiful. I try to take my mind off the blood on Zach's shirt, and the cuts on his fist, and fix my gaze on the stars.

A moment later, I again find myself looking at Zach's fist. I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out. So, I turn my head to the side and look at the deserted place.

"We're almost there," Zach speaks for the first time. His voice is low. I turn to face him and our eyes meet momentarily before he looks at the road again.

After ages, Zach pulls to the side in a secluded area. My eyes widen when I find a beautiful cottage in the middle of nowhere. I get outside the car and hug myself when chilly wind greets me. I feel like a girl in a horror movie.

Zach, however, smiles at me. His eyes twinkle in the dark. God knows what's going on in his mind. I just hope what I said didn't turn him crazy.

Zach motions me to follow and walks to the door of the cottage before knocking.

The door is opened by a beautiful girl who smiles at Zach before her eyes turn to me. She smiles at me warmly too. She has dark blonde hair that is pulled into a messy bun and she's quite tall, standing at maybe 5'7" wearing a black silk nightdress. She looks the same age as me.

I feel something burning in my chest and I desperately hope it's not jealousy. I smile back at her, not knowing what to do.

"Rose, Ella. Ella, Rose," Zach introduces us to each other.

"She really is beautiful, how'd you get her to like you?" Rose smirks at Zach and he shakes his head with a smile. I just look at them in confusion.

A bulky man of the same height as Zach joins. He possessively snakes his hand around Rose's waist that causes the burning feeling in my chest to somewhat fade, and nods at Zach before looking at me.

"You must be Ella," he gives me a small smile. "I'm Archer," he adds. I smile back at him, getting more confused than ever. With ripped body, he is clearly someone you'd be afraid of. Especially with the scar running on the side of his face.

But I know not to judge someone by their scars.

Rose notices me shivering because of the chilly wind and we walk inside. The cosy cottage is so beautiful, I wish I could spend my holiday here. I wipe the thought away when I'm reminded of the present situation.

My eyes fall on the police badge at a table and realization sinks in. Archer is a cop.

Archer whispers something into Rose's ear and she gasps softly, earning a chuckle from Archer. I find myself longing for something like that. They lead us to a door and turn around to face Zach.

"We'll leave you to it, now," Rose tells Zach before holding Archer's hand and walking into another room, not before throwing me another smile over her shoulder.

Zach turns to look at me, takes a deep breath and opens the door. He waits for me to enter and follows me inside the room.

The sight before me makes my heart drop. Of course, I somewhat knew what was going on. I knew he'd done something to Robert. But the sight before me was plain horrific.

Robert's body was sprawled on the ground. Blood covered his body and he laid there motionless. My feet stopped only when I reached him.

A shaky breath left my lips and I turned to face Zach.

"Please tell me he isn't dead," my voice comes out as a whisper. Zach looks taken back by my question.

"He isn't," Zach frowns. I inhale deeply and look at Robert again. I don't feel anything, wasn't I supposed to be happy? Joyous? I felt numb.

"Did you do this?"

Zach hums behind me. I release a small puff of breath and look at him again. I had never realized Zach could be able to do something like this.

With a final look at Robert, I turn around and completely face Zach.

"T-t-take me- t-take me h-home."

Zach obliges and walks outside the room. He is about to knock at the door Rose and Archer disappeared into but a strangled sound makes him stop.

His mouth twists in distaste and he shakes his head before grabbing my hand and pulling me outside. I feel my cheeks heat up when I understand what... was going inside the room.

We leave the cottage and get inside the car. The ride back home is awkward and uncomfortable. I find Zach looking at me now and then.

He looks troubled and I feel numb.

Once we're home, Zach changes into a fresh pair of clothes while I sit on the bed. Everything is too much to sink in.

Zach comes out of his closet and looks at me. He sits next to me and my eyes fall on his fist. I walk into the bathroom and carry the first aid kit outside.

I sit next to Zach and start cleaning his fist, my expression emotionless.

"Aren't you happy?"

His voice is low and he looks a bit sad. I stop and look into his eyes.

"I am. It just feels like a d-dream. It'll take time to sink." I sigh and get back to cleaning his fist. Once I'm done, I look deep into his eyes. Feeling weird. Good weird. Zach surprises me by pulling me in for a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Ella," he whispers in my ear but it is so soft that I barely hear it. His arms around me make me feel all giddy and I sigh in delight when they move up and down my back. After ages, not complaining, he abruptly stands and walks outside.

I really don't like it when he leaves without saying anything.

I fall into the bed and close my eyes, feeling exhausted and still a bit tingly. Everything is happening too fast. It really does feel like a dream, the kind of dream that I never want to wake up from.

Zach returns and I sit up. He has the brown file in his hand. He stands in front of me, looks at the file and then at me.

I realize how tired he looks. His hair is messed up, not in the 'I took an hour to make my hair' but the tired type. Both look good though, not complaining.

He pulls the file out for me to take. I grab it with shaky hands.

"Do it." His voice is low like before, but hard. I know what he means. I look at him unsurely and he nods his head.

Taking a deep breath for the umpteenth time, I take the papers out of the file and tear them into two.

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Unedited.