Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

My heart dipped in my chest, and I hurriedly ran over to Zion. "Violette’s missing?"

"She’s been spending all her time at the coroner’s to look into Sophia’s death and examine bodies with Dr. Sparks so that she could try and find the truth. Violette even nearly fainted last night, which was why I told her to go home and rest."

"She wasn’t with the police force this morning, so I gave her a call, but no one picked up, "Zion explained.

He continued worriedly, "I was dealing with another case then. By the time I went looking for Violette at noon, she’d already gone missing. I’ve been looking for her all this time, and no one else has seen her."

"What about last night? Are you sure Violette reached home safely?" I asked shakily while grabbing Zion’s arm.

"The security guard was on shift last night, so he should’ve seen Violette if she went back. home. But he didn’t, which meant she didn’t go home. That means she must’ve gone missing on the way home after leaving the police station," Zion said.

I looked back at Dexter, worried. I needed to find Violette.

Dexter looked as if he wanted to say something to me.

"Let’s go to my place to find her!" I exclaimed to Zion, suddenly recalling something." Oh, I meant... Sophia’s home."

I told Violette that the murderer might have been at my home before. Could she have gone there instead of going home last night?

Zion was stunned before he gestured for me to get in his car.

Dexter took a couple of steps toward me before he stood there, dejected.

I watched him from the rearview mirror, my heart hurting for some reason.

Was Dexter upset? Or sad? Was he sad that I cared more about somebody else than him?

Or was it all just my misunderstanding...

"He depends on you a lot," Zion spoke up as he glanced at the rearview mirror.

I said nothing in response, feeling uncomfortable.

Why... did I feel so upset seeing Dexter standing there alone, quietly waiting for me?

It was as if a voice was telling me to not make Dexter walt anymore. That he had waited for too long.

My hands clasped together as I glanced at Zion. "Can I... bring Dexter along?"

Zion was about to start driving. He looked at me and said, "Sure."

I hurriedly got out of the car and asked Dexter, who was standing there barefoot in the courtyard, "Do you want to come find Violette with me?"

Dexter swiftly looked up at me, eyes bright. He said nothing but instead hurried over and got into the car with me.

I took his shoes from the housekeeper before getting into the car and putting them on for him. He was curled up in a corner, watching me carefully throughout.

"Have you... remembered me, Sophia?" Dexter asked softly.

I shook my head, confused. I was only doing this out of sympathy.

Disappointment colored Dexter’s eyes again before he turned to look out the window.

We were silent throughout the car ride, though Dexter never once let go of his grip on my hand.

Zion parked his car in the alleyway below my apartment before cautiously leading us upstairs. Now that it was dark out, the lights in the stairwell were dimmer than usual.

I instinctively protected Dexter by standing in front of him. Meanwhile, his eyes never left me.

"Something’s wrong with the man hiding in Sophia’s home," I whispered, giving Zion the door key hidden under the floor mat..

Zion carefully unlocked the door and gestured for us to be careful.

It was dark and unlit inside. My portrait appeared quite terrifying in the dark. I was definitely the first person alive to be scared by my own portrait.

"Shh." Zion suddenly gestured for us to be quiet with his finger and listened for any sounds from within the house.

All of a sudden, there was some noise from the bedroom.

"Violette?" Zion called out cautiously and switched on the living room lights. He then slowly moved to the bedroom.

I carefully eyed the bedroom as well, praying Violette was alive and well.

"She won’t die," Dexter said confidently from behind me..

I glanced at him. "What makes you so sure?"

"Innocent people." Dexter meant that Violette was innocent. This inadvertently meant that Dexter knew that the serial killer wouldn’t kill Innocent people.

When the bedroom door was opened, there was no one to be seen inside. I checked in all the other rooms in the house and found no one else either.

A loud bang suddenly came from the bedroom again, this time from inside the closet.

Zion and I looked at one another before we hurried over to open it.

Violette was inside, her hands and feet bound together and a piece of cloth shoved in her mouth. Luckily she wasn’t in any danger, just mildly dehydrated.

"Violette!" Zion quickly untied her and took out the cloth.

"That bastard’s threatening us... " Violette gasped before passing out in Zion’s arms. She seemed to be in shock.

"I’ll get her to the hospital right now!" Zion carried Violette in his arms and dashed out of the room.

I was about to run after him when I suddenly turned around to look at the portrait in the living room with fright.

I screamed in fear.

The original portrait of me ballet dancing had been replaced.. It was a photo of my body arranged as a life–sized puppet in a glass case after I was murdered by the murderer.

Zion stopped in his tracks, noticing the change too.

We hadn’t noticed that the portrait was changed earlier when we entered. All our focus was on the bedroom.

Dexter instinctively covered my eyes and said shakily, "Go."

I stood there trembling uncontrollably, rooted to the ground.

Zion gave his colleagues a call to have them come over and secure the place.

"Blood is... dripping off of the painting," I stammered. Even though Dexter had covered my eyes, I could still smell the rich iron of blood.

The dress of the portrait was smeared in fresh blood...

"The blood’s still fresh, which means the murderer hasn’t gone far yet," Dexter said hoarsely before turning to examine the room.

"The murderer was able to predict how long it’d take for us to arrive and when we’d see this portrait. Someone as intelligent as him would no doubt hide nearby to admire his handiwork..."

As Dexter spoke, he kicked the washroom door open. He was slowly spiraling out of

control.

Zion set Violette down on the couch and tasked me to take care of her while he and Dexter searched the house for the murderer.

Dexter was mumbling to himself, "The killer was able to calculate how long the victim had to live after he put her in the glass case. He’s skilled in math and medical science..."

He then turned to look at the shoe cupboard by the front door.

Supposedly, no grown man would be able to fit in there. But Dexter still went over to it.

"What are you guys doing?" My voice rang out from the front door. He sounded displeased. He had several other men with him who looked to be from a moving company.

"Go away!" Dexter cried, wanting Damien and the others to leave and not ruin the crime. scene.

But Damien was hostile to Dexter. "This was Sophia’s home, and she was my fiancée. Now, I’m the one who legally owns this place, so you guys should be the ones leaving!"

Damien then said to the movers, "Move everything out of the house. Be careful."

"Don’t touch anything!" Dexter yelled all of a sudden, running over to try and stop Damien.

But Damien’s bodyguards instantly subdued Dexter.

"Damien Coleman!" Zion and I both yelled at him. "Don’t let them in! We need to keep this place untouched!"

But it was too late, Damien’s men had already entered the house to stop us.

"There’s someone in the shoe cupboard!" Furled when the movers started lifting the cupboard and blood poured out,

A strangely positioned human body was in the shoe cupboard. It fell out with a chilling think

Everyone grew silent in an instant, followed by someone dry heaving to the side.

"The man had been kneeling before he fell out. He was shoved into the cupboard." It was a good thing I had noticed....