Chapter 21 (....I told you. Didn't I?...)

"We agreed to meet up at the lounge again" Nikolay said to Ian on the phone as he raced down the stairs

"Nikolay!" His Mom called

"Yes Mom" he answered walking up to her

"The Directors came today and they asked us to evacuate the house" she said

"Don't worry Mom, I wouldn't let that happen" he said

"Why? Are you going to see your Father and ask for advice?" She asked

"No" he said with a frown on his face. What did she mean ask advice from a criminal? That was the last thing even a mad man would do.

"I'm going to see Detective Grace and then a Lawyer so we would be able to still own what rightfully belongs to us and those that aren't ours we'll be sure to return" he said

"Wow, I never knew you were so cool" Stellar said

"Why? Did your heart flutter?" He asked pulling her cheeks

"Indeed, how can my heart flutter for my brother?" She asked

"I'll get going now" he said

The students of Delta High felt the absence of Keres, Ian and Nikolay. The school was so calm. Proof that those three were the ones always heating things up at the school. The class was boring beyond boring and Mrs. Peters the only Teacher who gave them something to talk about after her classes had resigned.

"Isn't school boring guys?" Raymond asked as he stared at the empty desks of Keres, Nikolay and Ian

"Boring is an understatement, Ian isn't here anymore" Emma said

"And I read on the news that Nikolay's Dad has been arrested. This is so messed up" Sandra said

"I heard Nikolay and Ian were kidnapped recently but ransom has been paid" Tristan said

"And what about Sal?" Ray asked

"I actually think she's out of the country. People say the wound she got from the fall became more complicated so she has to undergo more surgery" Tristan said

"God" Oscar groaned

"I can't even reach them on the phone" he said

"I don't know about Sal but when I went to pay Ian a visit I heard the Priest in the church where they stayed was murdered" Legend said

"Oh my gosh!" Every one exclaimed

"Now that's bad" Frankie said

"And where on Earth is Mrs. Peters?" Tristan wondered

"Settle down students" Mrs. Andre said walking in

"Um.... It's been confirmed that Ian West has left the school and Nikolay Diego wouldn't be writing his final exams with us" she said

"Does that mean he's going to repeat this class?" Ray asked

"Yes Raymond and Sally Hall is out of the country. We got the report from the Police" she said

"Ah! I don't want to go to school again!" Emma yelled

"What's your stress?" Sandra said shutting her mouth with her hands

"Ian left, Nikolay dropped out and Sal moved out of the country. It's so sad!" Emma said and Legend ran out of the class room crying

"Legend Freeway get back here!" Mrs. Andre called

"Let her be Mrs. Andre, she didn't end things well with those people" Raymond said

"Kids" Mrs. Andre muttered

"You didn't have to come all the way here" Hunter said as he walked into the visitation room to find Lucia and James waiting for him. He didn't have any visitors after Maeve's sudden appearance. All he did after she came to meet him was pray Keres didn't take complete control. At least James and Lucia knew he would spend his whole time thinking so keeping him company was the available remedy for a man in jail

"No, we needed to" James said

"Is something wrong?" Hunter asked

"Well, Detective Grace said Keres came here but as Maeve, I don't understand" Lucia said

"Well, Maeve kind of forced her way out and came to us" Hunter said

"Does that mean that there's hope of the real Maeve coming back?" Lucia asked

"Big hope" Hunter said

"Ah, thank goodness. But isn't your trial tomorrow?" James asked

"Yeah, the same day as Diego" Hunter said

"Keres wouldn't come there would she?" Lucia asked

"Definitely not to observe the trial, but she might be there for something else" Hunter said and suddenly started coughing

"Are you okay?" Lucia asked handing him a bottle of water

"Yes, I'm fine" he said

"That didn't sound nice at all" James said

"We need to get you checked" he added

"No need"

"I already know"

"I think the only way is to monitor Keres' every move to know when Maeve takes over so we'd convince her to get the therapy" Nikolay said

"Great plan but shocker, we don't know her whereabouts" Ian said

"Please can you stop with the negativity?" Nikolay said

"Sorry, but you guys don't want to embrace the fact that this plan might just fall through" Ian said

"Please stop it. But you guys are Detectives right?" Nikolay asked pointing at Grace and Orlando

"You guys can track her down" he added

"No, we can't. North Valley's Force isn't equipped to that level yet" Orlando said

"Tomorrow's Diego's trial and Keres wouldn't have the chance of seeing him again except for tomorrow so I think she might come" Grace said

"She wouldn't try to kill him or anything right?" Nikolay asked

"Oh, she would" Ian said

"Stop with the negativity. Please" Nikolay said

"We only hope that Maeve takes over" Grace said

"That's the only way to stop her from killing your Father and capturing her" she added

The Diegos had never felt so abandoned before in their lives. Their family was known for welcoming visitors with open arms back when Diego was free and deeply into corruption but all those beneficiaries who gained from them couldn't help when they were falling apart. All Nikolay was doing was focusing all his attention on trying to find ways to get Maeve out. He believed that if Keres was gone his Father wouldn't die and he would pay for his crimes. Stellar and Claudia always wondered why he was on the laptop every hour. They even had this thought that he was into fraud. The door bell in their mansion rang for the first time in weeks. Claudia and Stellar exchanged looks. It couldn't be their creditors because Nikolay had paid for everything leaving them with nothing.

"Check who it is" Nikolay said

"Coming!" Stellar said and flung the door open to find Ray, Legend, Emma, Sandra and Oscar standing outside

"Huh, Legend" Stellar said

"Who's there?" Nikolay asked as he walked down the stairs

"Um...." Stellar started

"Nikolay!" Ray said pushing Stellar aside

"Raymond?" Nikolay asked

"Nikolay!" Ray said embracing him

"Look dude, it isn't too late to take your final exams. We haven't started yet" He said

"Ray, get off" Nikolay said trying to push him away

"Why?! Why are you pushing us away?!" Ray wailed

"Because you are choking me you moron!" Nikolay said struggling to breath

"Oh" Ray said realizing he was hugging him too tight

"Sorry about that" he added

"But dude, you can't just leave us because your family went bankrupt" Oscar said

"My family isn't bankrupt, Diego Enterprise is" Nikolay corrected

"Oh" Oscar said

"Hey, how're you holding up?" Legend asked

"Fine" Nikolay said not looking at her

"Have you heard? Keres' out of the country and Ian left the school" Legend said

"Who told you that?" Nikolay asked

"Mrs. Andre said the Police came and gave a report about them" she answered

"That's what they think" he muttered

"What did you say?" She asked

"Nothing" he said turning to his Mom

"Mom, I'm going to go see Detective Grace" he said

"Okay son, take care" she said

"Come on you guys, I'll walk you out" he said

"Is Ian still in town?" Emma asked suddenly, opening her mouth for the first time since she walked into the house

"That's the first thing she says" Sandra muttered

"Let's go" Nikolay said

"Please tell me" Emma begged

"Yes, he is" he said finally giving in

"Tell me where he is, I want to see him" she said

"That I don't know" Nikolay said walking out

"Look you guys, I really appreciate your coming here but I really don't need your concern or attention okay" Nikolay said rather rudely

"I have better things to do so just leave!" He yelled at them when they kept following him

"Hey Nikolay, a problem?" Ian asked walking up to them from behind

"Ian!" Emma yelled jumping into his arms

"Easy" he said pushing her aside

"I've really missed you" she said

"Hey bro, what's up?" Ray asked attempting to hug him

"What's up is that Orlando called and said we have to leave for the precinct" Ian said pulling Nikolay towards him

"Come on guys, we came all the way here and this is how you want to treat us?" Sandra asked

"Is it because we came a little late?" She asked

"Look, we've got a lot on our plate right now"

"Let's do the high school reunion some other time" Ian said and got into his car with Nikolay

They drove off leaving the others wondering what was going on

Keres sat on her power bike chewing slowly on her gum as she watched Grace talking to some officers

"Bitch" she muttered under her breath

Grace waved the officers goodbye and got into her car driving off. Keres too got on her bike and began to trail her. Grace played Withney Houston's Greatest love on her audio player and sang along with the singer as she picked up a lollipop beside her and began to suck on it. She suddenly looked at her side mirror and noticed a bike following her like. It looked like it wanted to run into her car

"Huh?" She wondered as she checked the rear mirror to make sure and sure enough the rider was following her. Just then, her phone rang

She checked the ID and it was the landlady from the house she lived before. The house where Keres almost killed her.

"Hello, ma'am?" She said putting on her earphone

"Oh, Grace how're doing?" She asked

"Great ma'am, how about you?" Grace asked still glancing at her side mirror

"I'm great. So, a girl came looking for you today, said her name was Danielle and you helped her get rid of a stalker so she wanted to thank you in person"

"So I told her you no more live here" she said

"Okay?" Grace said still looking at her side mirror

"I asked her to see you at the station, did she come?" She asked

"Keres?" Grace asked fearing it was Keres who came to see her at her old house and was now trailing her

"Who?" She asked

"Thanks for informing me ma'am, I have to go" Grace said and ended the call

"Call Orlando" she said out loud and began to fumble with her phone's key pad

"No, I have to protect myself" she said and opened her bag. She took out her revolver. Just when she drew the car window down the cyclist sped past her in the traffic

"Whew..." She heaved a sigh of relief as she dropped the revolver on the passenger seat

"Nice going Grace, nice going" she said calming her nerves as the go sign came on

After thirty minutes of driving and stopping by the supermarket to get her lunch she finally got to her new apartment and parked in the driveway

"Let's go" she said getting out of the car. It began to pour heavily

"Shit!" She said and rushed to the veranda

"Thank goodness I'm already home" She opened the door, switched on the lights and closed the door behind her. As she made to take off her shoes she felt another presence in the house and so reached for her gun in her belt pocket but remembered she left it in the car. As she made to turn around and go get it she was electrocuted from behind

"Ah...." Grace groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She had been gone for minutes.

"Darn it..." She muttered as she literally saw stars

"Hey there..." She heard a voice

She quickly snapped out of her dizziness and looked up at the voice of the speaker

"Are you up?" She heard

She blinked once, then twice and then it was clear

"Keres" she said

"Who did you think it was? Maeve?" Keres asked amused

"I don't think Maeve would want to use a teaser on you but I would"

"Your chair is pressure wired, one wrong move and you'll be on the bridge to the next life" she said sitting on a chair opposite her

"Then why tell me? Why not just let me move and then die?" Grace asked

"God. Nikolay asked that same thing" Keres groaned

"Let me tell you. It's because even if you act like a monster you're still a human with a heart" Grace said

"On the contrary, no" Keres said

"I'm only letting you off because I need you to tell me when and where Diego Lukeman would be moved from the precinct to the courthouse" she said

"Not going to happen" Grace said

"Hmm, you know what happens when I get pissed off right?" Keres asked

"And right now, you're beginning to piss me off and besides, I love the weather today" she added looking outside the window

"Even if someone screams in pain or for help, no one hears when it rains" she said with a nostalgic expression

"You'll have to kill me first" Grace said not moving an inch

"You don't need to be tensed because of the chair, I'm turning it off" Keres said dismantling the device. Grace heaved a sigh of relief when she moved slightly and felt nothing . As she made to get up Keres turned around swiftly and cut through her face with a kitchen knife

"Ah!" Grace screamed in pain as she fell to the floor holding her face as blood streamed down

"Did you get new kitchen utensils when you moved here? This is quite sharp" Keres said looking at the knife

"Didn't I tell you before? I told you I was going to peel the flesh off your face" She said running her index finger down the blood stained knife

"Tell me when Diego Lukeman would be moved from the precinct to the courthouse!" Keres yelled at her holding her jaw in her hands. Grace kept quiet sobbing silently. That only got her more angry.

"I said tell me!" Keres said and cut the other side of her face

"Tomorrow!" Grace shouted as she could no longer bear the pain

"Tomorrow, 1pm" she added crying

"What route would they use?" Keres asked

"Fredrick Estate to the courthouse" Grace said

"They won't perhaps use a normal car right?" Keres asked

"No, it would be a precinct van" Grace said

"See? Was that hard at all?" Keres asked taking out a handkerchief. She had tears in her eyes

"You should have just told me when I first asked and you won't be going through all this. Look what happened to your pretty face" she said dabbing the blood away from her face

"Now, tell me about the plans you and the other nosey assholes have for tomorrow" she demanded waving the knife at Grace's face