CHAPTER 2_ Dead And Gone

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The machines in the operating theatre kept ringing on and on. The group of surgeons were desperately trying to save the life of the mother and child on the operating table but neither of the two seemed to respond to any treatment.

Meanwhile outside the theatre, Matt and Agnes sat on a bench. They tapped their foot impatiently on the floor waiting eagerly for the bad news to be announced to them.

“Cockroach! How long will it take for her to die?!” Agnes fired irritably.

Ava already knows too much and needs to die for their plans to succeed. They wouldn't have brought her to the hospital to get treatment if not for the servants who called the ambulance after seeing Ava covered in a pool of her own blood.

Due to the stab on Ava's baby bump, the hospital strictly told them to involve the cops before they could commence the operation on Ava, otherwise they'd have written it off as an accidental fall.

They didn't bother involving the Cops since they both want Ava dead but surprisingly, she was receiving treatment.

After an hour of waiting for the operation to be over, the surgeon stepped out with a gloomy expression on his face, he pulled off his nose mask gently and sighed hard.

“I'm sorry we couldn't save both mother and child. We tried our best..”

****

A week later..

“She was like the big sister I never had..” Agnes said in-between sobs dabbing the white handkerchief under her eyelids. She was dressed in an off shoulder black ball gown coupled with black elbow length gloves.

Over her head was a large black fascinator, her makeup still intact despite all tears she shed. Matt reached his hand gently to her shoulder, he wasn't left out in the act either.

The cemetery loomed with darkness as the brown coffin was lowered to the six feet grave. On the headstone was Ava's name boldly written on it.

Everyone in the cemetery were all moody just like the hollow screams of their dark clothes. Ava was almost loved by all or that's what they all made it seemed like.

“How am I supposed to live without her by my side? I curse you death for taking my beloved away from me!” Matt added.

At a distance was a silhouette dressed in all white overlooking everything going on from the corner. The pair of grey eyes roamed everyone's sad faces, their act was almost convincing that he had a hard time knowing who was hiding behind a mask.

One of the mourners was Ava's murderer. Just then, he caught sight of Agnes. His sharp grey eyes narrowed down at her. He hadn't seen or heard of her before but she was the one crying the most and also overly dressed for the burial.

“Bingo”.

Suddenly, Agnes had a feeling of being watched, she snapped her head to the left only to see a figure in white for a second and after she blinked, the figure was gone.

She took a glance around just to be sure she wasn't the only one who saw the tall figure. This was a burial, everyone was supposed to be sad or pretend to be until it was over. But that person was on all white.

“I'll be back Matt. I need to check something out..”

Without waiting for his response, she rushed out to go after the person she had just seen. Once she got to where she had seen the person standing, she turned around in search of possible exits he might have taken.

“Did I imagine it?” she questioned herself in doubt.

But she could swear that she had seen him standing right here watching them and to be more specific, he was watching her. She couldn't catch a full glimpse of his face either.

“What are you doing out here on such a happy occasion? You're missing the best part of the ceremony..”

The sudden voice which came up behind her had her turning around sharply. The older lady dressed in a black straight gown had her smiling for a second.

“Mrs Chase..well I just stepped out for a while, I couldn't bear to witness Ava being covered up with dirt...” Agnes murmured in a soft and almost pitiful tone.

The two ladies eyes met for a second before they both erupted in laughter. “I didn't get dolled up like a black Barbie doll only to miss the best part of this happy day. I ran out of fake tears so I stepped out to get more..”

Matt's mother, Anna lifted a brow at Agnes words. She wondered how the latter wanted to get fake tears not until she pulled out a small table knife and an onion from her purse.

“It might be her burial, but I'm not gonna let her be the center of attraction. Everyone will look at me instead..” Agnes concluded.

In less than a minute, her eyes was streaming down with fake onion tears. “Come on, let's go cry some more..”

****

It's been a month since Ava and her baby tragically lost their lives, the police couldn't figure out who had murdered them, so they wrote it off as suicide since Matt made mention of Ava being insecure about her recent body changes after she got pregnant.

“I told her several times that I loved her the way that she was. But instead, she kept on insisting that she wasn't how she used to be because of the baby. One time I caught her trying to slit her own wrist..” Matt paused, bringing his handkerchief to his face, he gently dabbed it under his eye bag. “..I stopped her on time and maybe that's the reason she stabbed herself and jumped off the terrace..”

The two Cops exchanged brief glances and bowed their head slightly to honor the dead in a two minutes silence.

“We are sorry for your loss, Mr Chase. May the Lord grant the departed eternal rest..”

Matt nodded. “Thanks, if there's anything else, please let me know..”

“Sure..”

He watched the two Cops leave the living room, after they were gone, he groaned hard. “Pour me some wine, Agnes.”

Agnes appeared completely stripped off of any clothing. On both hands were two glasses of wine and a grin spread across her lips.

“Now you'll have to decide, which do you wanna have first? The wine or me?”

Matt's throat tightened, his eyes lowered to her mounds and then down to her sex. A sly smirk appeared on his lips. “Why don't I have both?”

Agnes arched a brow, she raised the glass of wine to her lips and dipped a mouth full, she emptied the other contents on her body. “Come get it then..”

****

Meanwhile,

“Boss, she's awake..”

The figure sitting behind a desk shut the open laptop closed and stood to his feet. His grey pupils dilated at the young man before him. He didn't bother to give a response, he strode out of the study.

Once he got to the masters room, he saw how the doctor and some nurses were scrambling here and there to get things fixed. On the bed lay a pale figure.

Her eyes were wide open, there was an ounce of confusion in her eyes. As if noticing his presence, she turned her head to his direction.

“How is she?” His dry voice broke into the room.

The doctor turned around immediately with a small smile. “Mr Manchester,” he acknowledged. “She's in good hands. We are running several checks on her and so far we haven't found anything that could cause alarm.”

“Good. You can leave..”

The doctor and his team of nurses bowed slightly and left the large bedroom to the two.

He walked over to stand next to the bed, watching her closely, he noticed how uncomfortable she was getting until her hand fell on her flat belly.

“I'm sorry for your loss. How are you feeling, Ava?”

Ava's throat tightened in pain, she felt like she was suffocating. Her eyes stinged and soon fresh tears were streaming down her eyes. The fall from the terrace flashing vividly in her head. The mocking smile from Agnes and the sinister look Matt gave her before letting her hand go.

“M—my B—aby..” She stuttered. Both of her hands fell on her belly which used to be protruding a month or two back.

Her child was just a few days away from being born before she was killed by her father.

“What happened on that day Ava? You're the only one who can bring your baby's killers to justice. Give me names..”

Ava turned her back against him and lay on her sides, her wails didn't die down and she didn't bother to find out who the unknown man was or where exactly this place was.

The only thing occupying her mind was the betrayal and hurt she had suffered.

On seeing that she wasn't ready to talk yet, he turned around and left the room for her to have sometime to herself. He'll be back after she's done venting her anger and pain.

“Keep a close eye on her and attend to every of her needs..” He ordered the middle aged maid standing next to the door.

“Yes boss, the old master sent a few men over. They're here to see you..”