Bloody War (NOW PUBLISHED IN PAPERBACK)

Some News

Dominic.

ON THE PHONE

"Yes. Yes I understand...
Oh well, it would be a pleasure...
Very well, thanks for taking your time out for this matter, Mr. Jonovic"

Standing up from my seat, I rest the call from my side. Taking all the necessary papers, I go out of the room; trying to find Aiden. Crossing a room full of heads; drowned in the computer screens full of news and advertisements; I reach his office door.

Fully intending to open it, I push the door open only to find it empty. Isn't he always here? I look in the conference room, even in his spare bedroom but he was nowhere to be found. At a crossroad between his office and my spare bedroom, I call him.

ON THE PHONE

"Where are you?"- Dominic
"In home, where else would I be?"-Aiden

"Aren't you supposed to be checking the news headlines in office?"-Dominic

"Jason and Ruby both have gone to the university today. Ruby because she had some issues regarding her attendance in a class and Jason because he had to complete a piece of drawing he started. Someone had to stay home."-Aiden

"Oh," Nothing can be said. That's the way Jason was programmed apparently. "Well, I just had a call with Rick Jonovic from Sacramento. He was in Maine for a month, about a year ago. So he will not guarantee any information that he gets, but he is willing to come here,in Neath to share whatever evidence he gets about the gun. He is taking the first flight here, today evening. "-Dominic

"That's good. Any reason he is avoiding a 20 min ride from Neath to Swansea?"-Aiden

"He saw the news about Frost, Aiden. It was a miracle enough that he survived once, it won't be a second time. That's what he states."- Dominic

"If Frost had to kill him, she would be able to do so in Neath too. Anyways, I matched what we discussed before. Avery is right, Victor and Eve clearly shared some affections for each other. Their messages are the proof. I have cross checked all the other conclusions drawn that day. All of them have a potential to be true, if not the evidence."-Aiden

"So what we have to do now, is somehow link these clues to the person who hired Eve....

....Is it worth it? Are this time we are on the right path?"- Dominic

"I don't know about right or wrong path, but I do know that it's worth it. It's worth Blain."- Aiden

My phone beeped, signaling the call has ended. I sighed going to my room. Blain. Ofcourse it's worth him, how could it be not. Specially when, we failed him twice.

Flashback
"What are we doing here?" I asked as Ruby lead our way into the conference room. I have a bad feeling about this. Is this the same conversation I had with Aiden? No, he is not here. That definitely must mean he is...somewhere. I should have known about this.

"Ruby, you are really scaring me. Why are you looking so solemn? Is there anything we should be worried about?" Jason inquired her this time, as I closed the door shut. Nobody needs to know about our business.

"I won't beat around the bush. Few days ago, Dominic had a argument with Aiden. There was something Brother showed to Dom when they were talking. It was this," she spread out almost all the same pictures that Aiden showed me. No, I can't deal with this.

"These pictures have been mailed to Aiden every year since, Blain was kidnapped. Their dates are mentioned behind them. The first picture being this," She showed a picture where Blain was hardly 11 years old, tied up in a wooden chair with blood spurting out of his mouth. A muscular hand choking him. Or I should say, the life out of him.

No! I closed my eyes as soon as I looked at it.

"And the last is this," again she slided another picture where a Skeleton was laid out in a muddy, moist looking ground. Doesn't matter how many times I see this, I can never stop the pain that erupts in my heart, knowing that my little brother suffered all this alone God knows where.

"Why did-didn't Aiden told us about it?" Jason asked as he looked at both of the pictures. "I don't know. The main truth is," she took a deep breath to control her tears' "Not one of these, suggests that Frost is the one who killed Blain. Infact all the circumstantial evidences state the otherwise."

"That can't be true! We have believed all our lives that she is the one who killed B-Blain. That's why we are searching for her in the first place!! She killed almost all of our distant cousins, our own brother! Goddammit do we need anything other than the fact she killed a not-even-born-fetus just a week ago?!"

Jason shouted and exclaimed while tears escaped Ruby's eyes while seeing him like this. "We are not kids Jason! Our parents made us believe it. They literally said that whoever killed him has a vendetta against all of our family. And who else can be a more deserving choice than Frost. Think practically, if she would have known what our relation was with the Vernon's we would have been dead by now.

Why would she just kill Blain and not all of us?" Ruby said Jason looked at the pictures more painfully. I can't bear this anymore. " This still doesn't excludes her from our accusations. If the circumstantial evidences are those manly hands shown in some of those pictures, than that's not going to save her. For all we know, she could have made someone do this. With the type of bloody psycho she is, maybe she is the one who clicked these photos.

And you knew all of this yet you let Aiden go to Frost's House?" I just couldn't control now, I know she cannot deny this. Aiden had gone to Avery's house and this could be very dangerous for all of us. "Wait, Aiden has gone to Frost's house?!" Jason asked flabbergasted at how easily this could go wrong in a hundred ways.

Ruby sighed as she massaged her temples and wiped her eyes. "Yes he has. Aiden thoroughly believes that Frost is not the one behind...all of this. That's why he is going to strike a deal with her. She'll help us find out who killed Blain and we'll help her with whatever she needs."

"Then too it's not safe. Dominic did you knew about this? Why-

"I couldn't have done anything! It was Aiden's belief about Frost. I know not but still there our things he is hiding from us. That's why he has gone." I replied frustrated with all this. Atleast if Aiden has anything that can make this even a little bit easy, he should share it with us.

"Look I don't completely understand or know about any of this. But if Aiden is right, if Frost is not the one who we think she is than she can be our biggest weapon on finding out who did this to Blain and why."

"And if she is the one we think she is then? Then what we'll do?" Jason asked as he also composed himself. "Keeping our enemy near us is not a bad move Jason. We'll study her, how reacts and talks and we'll figure it out."

I hope so.

Flashback Ends.

I looked at the paper in my hands. I indulged myself in a researching rendezvous the same night, we worked with Frost. I rechecked and went through all the cases once again. Just to find that the timing of Blain's kidnapping clashes with one of her sightings in Riverside, the Norlan's bungalow. This only proves, slightly, that there is a chance Avery was actually never there with Blain.

I have not yet disclosed this to anyone in fear that we'll start believing her more than we should. Atleast this way we can still have a little room of suspicion about her.

I just hope I am wrong. That Avery is the behind this because if not, then I don't know how I can go through the realm of helplessness again.

My thoughts were interrupted as my phone vibrated in my hands. The caller ID was unknown. I sighed, deciding to pick it up,

"Hello?"
....
"What!!"

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