Chapter 17 (The pattern)

"Hello there" Orlando said walking up to the Nurse by the counter

"Hi" she said taking her hair behind her ears. A handsome stud was talking to her. That didn't usually happen. What Nurses at North Valley Memorial always got were drunk family men brought in by the Police for DUI's or younger men brought in for drug abuse. Orlando was quite appealing and who didn't like a man in a uniform?

"I'm Detective Orlando from the State CIS. I was wondering if it would be possible to get the record of a patient here named Sally Hall" he said showing her his ID

"Anything for someone with a handsome face" she said and proceeded to get Keres' record file from the computer

"She's in room seventy-five in the female ward, had a surgery due to a bloated liver which is believed to be from her fall and...." The Nurse began

"Wait, did you say bloated liver?" Grace asked

"Yes" the Nurse replied

"How did she survive the fall before the paramedics got to the school to get her?" Grace asked

"I believe someone performed a minor operation on her to reduce the bleeding. A Teacher from the school I heard" the Nurse said

"This Teacher, has she been here to pay Sally Hall a visit?" Grace asked

"She's here often, I think she registered as a relative" the Nurse said checking the record

"Yes, Mrs. Julianne Peters. Auntie" she added confirming it

"Can we get the house address of the patient?" Orlando asked

"That's supposed to be confidential" the Nurse said

"I'll tell you what, give us the house address and we can meet later for some drinks" Orlando said slipping his number into her pocket. Some action!

"Ahem, I'm not supposed to do this. It's St. John the Baptist Church" The Nurse said blushing

"Wait, are you sure?" Orlando

"It's a church?" Grace asked

"Yes, the Priest even came to pay her a visit" the Nurse said

"You said room seventy-five right?" Grace asked

"Yes" the Nurse said

"Thanks for your time, Nurse?" Orlando asked

"Abigail, it's Abigail" she said smiling

"Thanks Abigail" Orlando said winking at her and followed Grace who walked ahead of him

"Hey, where are you going to? Her Uncle said she's sedated" he told Grace

"Well, we'll just make sure" Grace said and opened the door

No one was there

"What?!" Orlando gasped surprised

"He lied" He said

"I wonder where he and that boy ran off to" he said trying to put two and two together

"No time to wonder, let's go to the church" Grace said walking out of the room

"Why?" He asked

"To find missing clues"

Nikolay's near death experience and his Father trying to get Keres killed through him was saddening. Crying had become his hobby and his Mother wasn't surprised to see him sobbing again.

"He tricked me. I hate him. I hate him so much!" He told his Mom

"Nikolay, you can't hate him. His your Father" Claudia said

"He was trying to get Keres killed once she handed the USB key to him" he said

"He had those stupid agents of his hide behind doors and he even pointed a gun at me. He said he had no use for a useless son who wouldn't support his Father" he added

"He only said that because his plans didn't go well, he never meant them I'm sure" she said

"His plans to kill a human being didn't go well? Mom, is it supposed to go well in the first place?" He asked sobbing

"And today, I watched her murder a person right before my eyes because he pushed her to do so" he said

"Mom, what kind of Father do I have?" He asked

"Mom, Dad's arguing with someone on the phone and I saw on the news that the Police wants to investigate Dad" Stellar said walking into Nikolay's room

"Will Dad go to prison?" She asked

"No dear, those things aren't true. There just rumors" Claudia lied pulling Stellar close to her

"Rumors?" Nikolay asked getting up angrily

"Mom, this is why this is happening to us" he said

"You keep feeding us with lies with the hope that Dad would change and that's why things have gotten to where there are" he said

"Stellar, Dad killed someone. Infact, people. And when he's proven guilty before the law he'll spend the rest of his life in prison" he informed

"Mom, it's not true, right?" Stellar asked

"Dad can't go to prison" she said

"Dad" she called rushing towards him

"Dad, it's not true right? You didn't kill someone right?" She asked holding his wrist

"Go to your room, Stellar" he said

"Dad, answer me!" She said

"I said go to your room!" He said and pushed her away

She fell backwards and hit the table lamp. It's pieces cut through her skin and drew blood. She looked up at him in disbelief. She had never seen her Father act that way before

"Stellar!" Nikolay called and rushed towards her

"Is this how it's going to be?" Nikolay asked looking at Diego with disdain

"You're going to push your family aside just to cover your crimes? You'll pay for this, I assure you" he said

Diego placed his phone back to his ear and walked out

"Get the best lawyers and keep pushing this case away, I need some time to settle this whole issue" he said

"Mom, I don't want to get engaged to Nikolay again" Legend said sitting on her parents bed

"Why dear? Because of the news and articles concerning their business?" Franka asked

"No Mom. I don't think I'll be happy there" she said

"I don't even like Nikolay that much" Legend said and got up to leave the room. Her Father remained silent.

"What changed your mind?" Her Mom asked

She was at the Diego Mansion hiding outside to see Nikolay when she witnessed what transpired between the family. She had seen what Diego did to Stellar and how unhappy their family was

"I just don't like him anymore. And besides, he likes someone else" she said and walked away

"I have to say. That's the wisest decision you have made since you were born" Jared said

"The Priest isn't here"

"Remember what Lars said, I'm not going to lose my job because of some girl" Grace said and walked in

"Grace, come back here" Orlando said dragging her out of the church. They didn't have a search warrant and all they wanted to do was question Keres not conduct a full search and seizure in the church.

"What?" She asked

"We don't even have a search warrant" he said

"So? No one's here so let's make good use of this time quickly" said

"Wait, I get it" Orlando said

"Get what?" She asked

"You're jealous because I gave that Nurse my number, right?" He asked

"What? No way, not everything is about you and besides who cares if you start making out with her in public?" She asked

"There goes jealously" he sang

"Anyway, that was a fake number" he said and walked inside. Grace smiled to herself and followed suit

"What exactly are we looking for?" He asked

"Anything that belongs to the girl. So, look for anything girly" she said as she stepped into the auditorium

"Wow, feels like I'm in heaven" Orlando said taking in the glorious aura that filled the church.

"Are you sure that girl would do something evil like murder in the holy sanctuary?" He asked

"Don't forget that most demons dwell in the church. Let's look for her room" she suggested moving to the back of the church

"Oops, I've found it" He said stepping in. He switched on the light bulbs and the place became illuminated

"Wow, pretty organized" Grace commented

"If we ransack this place they'll know someone was here" she said

"They're in the hospital" he said

"Except when we checked, no one was in the room" she refuted

"Ah, that's true but fuck shit" he said and began to turn her bed upside down. He looked under but didn't find anything. Grace checked through the drawers and wardrobe but couldn't find anything suspicious.

"Pffff!" Grace sneezed into her hands

"I'll go wash my hands" she said and walked into the bathroom

"Grace, there's nothing here" he said from the room

"I don't think this girl is guilty. Everywhere is clear of anything indicting" he said

"And isn't that suspicious? At least there should be one thing we can use against her, even if she isn't the culprit" she said

"Ah" she groaned as she closed the tap

"I can't even get a good night's sleep because of you" She said straightening out her hair as she looked into the mirror. Her eyes went towards the shower. There was something hanging from above it.

"What the hell?" Grace asked as she climbed into the bath tub and reached out to get it. It was a file

"Come on, let's go" Orlando called from the room. She quickly placed it inside the bag she had around her neck

"Coming" she said and walked out

"Let's check the auditorium and the other side of the church, maybe she'd bury a body here somewhere" he joked as he dropped the edge of the bed. The bed made a funny noise

"What was that? Your stomach?" Grace asked

"No, it was the bed" Orlando said going on his knees

"Huh?" Grace asked also going down on her knees

Orlando raised the bed up again and noticed a zipper at the other side

"Open it" he told Grace

She opened it quickly and took out a laptop from inside

"Are you with the flash drive?" Orlando asked. She nodded

"Good, transfer all the files from the laptop to it. We don't have time" he said

She took out the flash drive and began to send the files

"God, can this go any faster?" She groaned as the transfer speed went slow

"Come on" Orlando said impatiently

"Done!" Grace announced and took out the flash drive. She placed it in her bag before returning the laptop back in it's spot. As they were about to drop the bed someone walked in

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Auntie, honestly I don't know what to do anymore" Nikolay said

He was in Janelle's house telling her everything. How he nearly became a corpse and his Father's betrayal. Witnessing Keres murdering someone without showing remorse. It was quite and earful. Janelle was going crazy over the whole thing. She didn't know who to side with anymore. Nikolay and his teenage love or Diego and his bid to get rid of the girl who might actually be out to get all of them including her. That was the part she didn't understand. Her relationship with the Diegos wasn't that strong so why was Keres going to come after her?

"And do you know what's crazy? I think Mom knew that Dad was going to try to kill Keres but kept it to herself because she wasn't surprised when I told her what happened" he said

"Nikolay, you really can't blame your Mom you know. Her hands are literally tied down and there's nothing she can do to help improve the situation and as for her not being surprised at what your Dad did is natural because she's been his wife for nineteen years so she'd know what he's capable of doing" she explained

"But Auntie can't she do anything? Call the Cops on him or something?" He asked

"Keres killed someone right?" She asked

"Yes" he answered

"Why didn't you call the Cops on her?" She asked

"That's because...." He started

"That's different, she was forced to do it because he was going to kill her!" He shouted

"Okay, let's say that's true but what about the factory incident where she killed not less than a hundred persons?" She asked

"Was she forced to do it?" She asked. He kept silent

"Nikolay, for the same reason why you can't call them on her it's the same reason your Mom can't call them on your Dad" she said

"Love" she concluded

"Love?" He asked. Did his Mother love his Father. The man beat her up at the slightest provocation. If there was any feeling she should have towards him it would definitely be hatred.

"Yes" she said

"You love Keres, whether you accept or not that's the truth" she added and left the room

"I love her?" He asked himself

"I love Keres"

Hunter dropped the delinquents in front of the church after a whole ride of being chewed out. Mrs. Peters was trying to assume the role of an Auntie but Keres thought it was just pathetic. How they became husband and wife was still a mystery to her. How they got attracted to each other was more confusing. I mean, you can't get attracted to Hunter because he's old. Not that old but old and it also meant that Mrs. Peters was probably desperate because she was also getting old. Keres kept staring at both of them still in shock. Hunter had to pinch her to get her attention.

"Get inside now. If I ever see you two step outside you'll get it from me" he said

"And as for you. You're in serious trouble with your Father" he said turning to Perry in the back. They drove off leaving Keres and Ian standing outside.

"Ian" Keres said holding his arm

"What? You want to thank me for saving your ass? Save it" he said and made to walk in

"Stop! Look!" She said pointing at the window in their room

"What about it?" He asked

"The lights are on" she said

"So?" He asked

"We didn't leave it on" she said

"Must be the Priest then. Might be praying for us you know" he joked

"No idiot, he's away on a seminar" she said

"Then who the hell is there?" Ian asked getting agitated

"You stay here and hide behind those flowers" she said pointing to the lawn in front of the church

"I'll go see who it is" she added

"Keres, be careful" he said. Without sparing him a glance she walked in. She slowly opened the door to the auditorium and looked inside. It was pitch dark. She hurried up the stairs towards her room without making any noise

"Done!" She heard Grace say and walked silently towards the room

"What the hell are you doing?" Keres asked appearing in the door way

"Um... We were just....." Orlando stuttered taken aback by her presence

"You were what?" Keres asked again sternly

"We were looking for evidence for a case we're trying to close" Grace said taking the flash drive behind her

"And how does this case you're trying to close concern me?" Keres asked

"Last I checked, I have nothing to do with any crimes of recent" she added

"We're sorry for coming in without your permission" Orlando said

"And what about you?" Grace asked

"Huh?" Keres asked

"You're supposed to be in the hospital. Why are you here?" Grace asked

"That place smelt like death itself so I discharged myself" she said

"Did you pay the hospital bills?" Orlando asked

"My relatives would do that, it doesn't concern me" Keres said

"Really? I thought you said you had no idea how they were going to pay the hospital bills" Grace said

"I said that yes, but now that they've somehow gotten the money they have to be the ones handling the payments. They're the adults" she said without stuttering

"Now, look at the mess you've made" she said picking up her books from the floor

"Did you find anything against me?" She asked them

"No, nothing. You're indeed clean" Orlando said

"This place doesn't just look like it was disorganized just because you were looking for evidence" she said

"You guys perhaps didn't do any other adult related stuff here, did you?" She asked

"What?" Grace asked flabbergasted

"Let me make this clear now. If you ever come here again I'm going to do something you wouldn't like" Keres said

"Look, we're Cops okay?" Orlando said

"And where in the law does it state that Cops can come into a civilian's home and begin to conduct a search? Show me your warrant. Or don't you have any?" She asked

"We're sorry" Grace said

"Good, now get out before I lose it" Keres said. The detectives walked out of the room

Keres took out her phone and texted Ian not to come out of the lawn. She walked of the room and stood by the railing watching them leave.

"Are you okay?" Ian asked coming in

"Yes" she said stepping inside the room

She raised her bed up and checked for the laptop. It was there. She took it out and placed her palm on it closing her eyes trying to feel if it was warm. The laptop had long cooled down

"Did they take anything?" He asked

"No" she said dropping it back in it's place

"Let's just tidy up this place and sleep" she said

"Keres, you're bleeding from your wound" he said rushing towards her. Her green shirt was stained with blood

"You only call when it's important" Sean said walking in as Diego opened the door for him

"This is very important. Infact more than important" Diego said. Sean stopped for a moment to look at him. Diego had beads of sweat on his forehead. He looked like he hadn't shaved in the past two days and there was no one in the house with him. Sean thought maybe his family had left him after hearing he was summoned by the Persecutors but that wasn't enough for a tough and influential man like Diego to look like a caveman overnight

"What's the problem?" Sean asked

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you" Diego said

"Try me" Sean said

"A high school student wants to destroy my life" Diego said. Sean heaved a sigh of relief. It was nothing serious to him

"That's how children are. He'll come around" Sean said

"This is not Nikolay. A school girl!" Diego said

"Huh?" Sean asked

"She broke into my home, blew up my factory and is slowly exposing my illegal acts little by little to the public and just this night she had a gun on my son's head" Diego said sitting down

"Hold on, I thought the girl who took down your factory is dead" Sean said confused

"No, this girl framed that Sandra Stewart and then murdered her to cover it up" Diego said

"Wow, she knows what she's doing" Sean said. He believed Diego at once. "But what if she isn't acting alone. Maybe she is taking orders from someone?" He asked

"No she's not. She's doing this on her own because I killed her sister and her parents died as a result" Diego said

"Who is this girl?" Sean asked

"Keres. Keres Evans" Diego said showing him a picture

Sean took it with shaky hands when he heard the name

"What?" Diego asked

"Do you know her?" He asked

"Did you say Keres Evans?" Sean asked looking at the picture

"Yes" Diego said

"You can't touch her" Sean said

"Why?" Diego asked

"Once she sets her mind on something, she must do it. She's the mercenary I told you about that had me kill my daughter" he added

"You were the one she mentioned earlier" Diego said

"How can a nineteen year old girl become a mercenary?" He asked

"She began training when she was ten. Just ten years old. And the mercenary unit she's under is untouchable"

"Though she's no more part of it but one phone call and you'll attend series of funerals" Sean said

"What mercenary unit?" Diego asked

"Underdog" Sean said

"Sean, you've handled this before so you can do it again" Diego said

"Handling it before cost me my daughter's life" Sean said

"She found out just before she got to North Valley who it was that was controlling the bulldozer when her sister died and went for me. She abducted my daughter and had me kill her just so I could feel what she said her parents felt when her sister died" he concluded

"So you're saying you can't help me kill her before she ruins me?" Diego asked

"Since it's her, I'd say you're already ruined" Sean said

"I'm sorry, I can't help you"

Orlando and Grace were burning the night candle trying to see what they could gather against Keres from their loot. Orlando walked out of the bathroom in the precinct with a towel around his neck. One could tell he was tired but Lars wanted a culprit and not a suspect.

"What do we start with?" Orlando asked taking his place beside Grace

"These files" Grace said taking them out of her bag

"Where did you get those?" He asked

"In her bathroom" she answered

"Tell me, who keeps files in the bathroom?" She asked

"No one. Except she did, so...." he said

She opened the file and they began to read through them. Keres was diagnosed with Alexithyma. A state where a person can't understand his or her emotions or any other person's

"Okay. That's something now" Orlando said taking the file

"She's begin undergoing therapy but it's not working. Look at the Doctor's report" Grace showed Orlando

"Unexpressed emotion- The patient wouldn't open up about her past and that is what is suspected to be the cause of the Alexithyma. Understanding her feelings- The only solution to Miss Keres Evans is people around her trying to get to understand her feelings" he read

"Alexithyma? No wonder her use of sarcasm" Grace said

"Do you know something I don't know?" Orlando asked

"No, I have a cousin who was diagnosed with this too. He couldn't express his feelings and was very stoic" she said

"He had to undergo continuous therapy for fifteen years before he became better. And he's still not completely okay" she added

"Okay, enough with the Alexithyma. Let's look for something to pin her down with" he said

"There's something else in the file, get it" Grace said

"Okay" he said bringing it out

"It's a journal" he said

"Okay, the first entry is kind of creepy" he said opening it

"What?" Grace asked looking into it

"I burnt a cat today. Alive" he began reading. Grace glanced at him.

".....It felt so good watching it wince in pain as it struggled to get out of the container. I think I felt the pain it felt. It felt good. It still feels good" Orlando read off the journal

"Look at the date, this was written fourteen years ago so she had to be five at that time" he said

"Wow, this is a serious mental case" he added

"There's another entry" Grace said opening more pages

"But I think this is supposed to be the first page. It was torn out" Orlando said trying to arrange the old journal.

"I hate Uncle Klaus. Mommy said he's a bad man. I want to kill him but I'm scared" Grace read

She turned the page again

"Hazel fell today. Actually, I pushed her. I wish she'll just die. I tasted the blood coming from her head. It was sweet" Orlando read

"She has to be older here" Grace said

"The words, handwriting and spelling improved" she added

"There's more" she said turning more pages

"Mom and Mrs. Parker think I'm crazy"

"Who's Mrs. Parker?" Orlando wondered

"Her therapist" Grace said opening the next page

"No more therapy for me. Mrs. Parker's in the hospital. I cut her cheeks. There was beautiful blood"

"This is serious" Orlando said

"I'm not crazy. I'm just different. Can't they understand? It's because of Uncle Klaus"

"That's the last entry" Grace said

"Okay, this is enough let's go to the flash drive" Orlando said closing the journal. A paper fell from inside

"I've seen people who are like me. They call me Angel of Death. It was worth getting kidnapped for" it read

"Enough!" Orlando said

"This is freaking me out" he said hugging himself

"She was just five years old. She needed help" Grace said

"Yeah, serious one" Orlando said and opened the flash drive on his computer

"There's nothing much here" he said going through it

"Just some video files" he added

"Well, play them" Grace said

The first video shocked them

"How to smile with James Braden?" Orlando asked. They played the video and saw how the man taught people how to smile, when to smile and who to smile at. There were other videos like how to cry and how to laugh at jokes

"This girl's weird" Orlando said

"Can you hack into her goggle account? Let's check her search history for more" Grace suggested

"Sure. Just need her name" Orlando said and within minutes he was in

"How to act ill" they saw on her search history

"Why didn't she clear her search history?" Grace wondered

"Who'd want to check someone's google search history?" Orlando said

"Look, from February 17th to February 23rd she didn't search for anything" Grace said

"The last search was on February 16th and then February 24th was when she searched for something again and the search is the same"

"That's an entire week" she added

"Maybe she was busy" Orlando said

"Or she deleted the search history for that week" Grace said

"Is there a way to restore it?" She asked

"Yes. I'm a computer wizard" he said and soon brought out the search history for the missing days

"On February 17th she searched Diego paper factory's blueprint and a website where explosives were sold" Orlando said while Grace wrote them down

"On the 18th she purchased some explosives like homemade cell-bombs online, there were delivered to the church's address. On the 19th she searched for how to smile and on the 20th she searched for how to smile and then details on the survivor of the blast" he added

"Keep going, I'm getting a pattern" Grace said all serious

"On the 21st she searched for St. Luke's memorial and on the 22nd she searched for Sandra Stewart's school and police record and on the 23rd she searched for how to act nonchalant" he concluded

"So, what's the pattern you said you got?" He asked

"On the 19th of February was when the Diego Paper Factory blew up and two days before that day she searched for the blueprint of the factory and went to get explosives. On the 20th, she searched info on the survivor and that night he died. On the 21st, I remember you and Collins going to L&J chicken and yogurt to ask Lucia about the blast and that was the day she searched St. Luke's memorial"

"Oh my God" Orlando said realizing that everything was carefully planned out

"On the 22nd, you and Collins set up Lucia and Keres and that's where you got info from her about the female student the late survivor talked about attending St. Luke's memorial"

"That same day, she searched Sandra Stewart's records and the next morning Sandra Stewart was found dead"

"Oh God, this girl is a monster"