CHAPTER 14: BURNED

[7 am, IXORA'S ROOM]

Ixora's eyes were swollen and puffy as she stared at the trending news.

~ The Voren family was murdered in cold blood last night. 

~Investigations carried out suggested that his wife and son were in the house when the gas exploded.

~And Mr. Voren, while trying to get help, got murdered a few distances away from the burning house.

~No doubt the Hell Devils were the ones who took away such a beautiful family, as their signature was found on the crime scene.

~How much harm can these boys cause? They...

Ixora had to remove the news when she couldn't handle it anymore. She cried herself to sleep last night, and now the tears had begun flowing again.

No matter how much she tried, it flowed like a river...it seemed like knowing that he was among the dangerous and most wanted killers in the country right now kept shattering her heart...she just couldn't get it off her mind.

How was she going to keep on living, knowing she knew the truth, and just a report from her would get them arrested and locked up in jail forever?

"Why?!" Her lips trembled as she opened her wallpaper, staring at his handsome picture.

Her heart was bleeding, and she understood why...she had been crushing on him since she was sixteen and never for once had she thought he would be among the ones wreaking havoc in the city.

She knew their identity and they didn't kill her. Immediately she found out, her feet carried her to no particular destination, thinking they would kill her to cover up their secret. Little did she know they didn't even come after her.

She was lucky to have found a cab at that late hour. She cried so much that the driver became worried about her, thinking something could have happened to her.

When she got home, she met her mum still awake...waiting for her return. Her response was slow as she went to her room and cried herself to sleep.

"Why does it have to be you? You are a billionaire...why are you taking innocent lives?" She pressed her phone against her face, her tears slipping down the screen.

She couldn't imagine herself loving a killer...a fucking killer. She had no idea what to do, but she knew she couldn't go to work today.

She called Kian and informed him, and surprisingly, they allowed it.

Her eyes went to his big picture frame on her wall, and her tears poured out more. The door opened, and Hazel walked in.

Ixora wiped away her tears before facing her.

Hazel's jaw slackened on seeing her condition.

"What's wrong with you, and where were you last night? You got everybody worried," Hazel said, sitting beside her.

Ixora forced a smile.

"I'm fine, Hazel," she lied, and felt sad for lying to Hazel.

This would be the first time she'd lied to Hazel, and that was because she was trying to protect Drexton. She had no idea how Hazel would react to the news or why she was protecting him.

Hazel narrowed her eyes, but they returned to normal when she remembered the exact reason why she came.

"Xora, our house rent is due, and our homeowner is threatening to throw us out on the streets," she said.

Ixora exhaled. "What should I do? You are well aware of how my parents are, and I'm not in the mood to listen to your other ideas," she paused. "The first one is taking its toll on me," she thought and continued. "I wish to help you, but can't," she said in a soft voice.

Hazel's eyes darkened, but she was quick to cover them up.

"Xora, what are friends for? You work for the richest person in this city. You can easily..."

"Just stop it, Hazel!" Ixora snapped. "This does not feel like the Hazel I know. You wouldn't see me in this mood and be asking for money. You wouldn't keep on encouraging me to do the wrong things while using our friendship as an excuse. You feel different—" Ixora's eyes widened as she realized what she was saying.

"I'm so—"

Hazel hissed and walked out of the room.

Ixora shut her eyes, breathed out before opening them. 

Staring at Drexton's picture, she clicked a button.

Delete.

"I won't report to the cops, but I can't keep on with this stupid crush," she muttered and watched the picture go into the trash.

By the time she got to the fifth one, her cries grew heavier. This was the same man whose picture dominated her phone, and now she is the same person deleting it.

"I have to stop all these feelings if I plan on keeping the secret," she whispered.

****

[6:30 PM, HELL DEVIL'S HIDEOUT]

"I don't think play pet is telling the cops...they should have been here," Jaxon said with a sarcastic look on his face.

"She wouldn't dare," Maddox said, and their eyes went to Drexton, who hadn't said a word.

"Spill," Maddox said.

Drexton's eyes went to them.

"Pets play, tonight," he said, and he could see the satisfied look on their faces. 

They had been waiting for this day to come, and, finally, it was today.

****

[IXORA'S ROOM]

Ixora was looking for something...something very meaningful and important.

"I'm coming, mum," Ixora shouted, rummaging through her ward rope but couldn't find the thing she was searching for.

She opened most of her drawers, and the thing wasn't there. 

Sweats began cascading down her head as she searched frankly for the thing.

It wasn't where she kept it—it wasn't in her room. Where could it be?

Her heart pounded loudly against her chest, her body going crazy at the thought of losing the thing.

She opened one of her drawers and saw a white paper with 'SEEK ME' written boldly on it.

"Noo!" she shouted.

Her eyes fluttered open as she sat up.

It was just a dream.

Her fast-beating heart increased rapidly, and so did the sweats.

"Why am I sweating so much?" she climbed out of the bed and turned the air conditioning to the highest point. 

Her sweats had increased so much.

"Why am I feeling this way? What is happening to me? It was only a nightmare," she thought out loud.

Still, she chose to rush to the drawer where she had seen the seek me note.

She heaved a sigh when she met emptiness, but something tricked within, and she rushed to where she had placed the stuff—it wasn't there.

It was gone, like just her dream. 

Her mini keytar was gone.

"How...how..." A text came to her phone, and she clicked on it.

It was Drexton telling her to come to a location. 

~Seek me, little thief—5 mins

Her phone slipped down her hand as she figured out he might have the keytar. That mini-keytar was gifted to her by Blake. It then became her most prized possession—something she promised never to lose, and now...he had it.

She closed her eyes, replaying the message over again in her mind. She suddenly snapped her eyes open at the thought that crossed her mind.

"Wait, what if he wants to kill me?" she began, sweating with heavy breaths.

"No, no, no," she shook her head, dismissing the thoughts that ran across her mind.

She remembered the mini-keytar, and that somehow gave her the confidence to face him. She changed into leather pants and a jacket, then exited the building.

****

[ST. CASTEL DISTRICT]

Ixora paid off the cabman as she checked her phone to see if she was in the right location. The building stood in front of her...darkness loomed around it. She would have thought it was the same building...the one she trailed after Drexton, but she had a retentive memory to know that this wasn't the building.

It was just like that night— a cold night, the sound of crickets, the night breeze that pierced her skin like sharp needles.

She gulped, turning on her flashlight. The flashlight immediately went off as if she hadn't turned it on. 

"What?" She checked the phone and found it switched off. She tried turning it on...it didn't come on.

She sighed in frustration on realizing her phone battery had just died. She had forgotten to charge, not when the truth about Drexton had weighed her down, and now this.

She wanted to go back, but the reason why she had come here hit her hard. He had her mini keytar, and if she needed it back, she had to find him. 

She rushed into the house, her heart beating erratically against her ribcage, as if a bird was trying to escape from its nest.

"I'm here," she said, her voice echoing through the silent walls. 

She knew he was there—the same feelings she always got whenever he was close to her had settled in.

His message found its way to her brain, and she recalled she had five minutes to find him. She began bolting around the place while trying to be as careful as possible...who was she kidding? She was not familiar with this place, and it was impossible not to fall because she did, but immediately got back to her feet, wincing slightly from the pain.

She began using her hand to find her way while panicking inwardly. Each step she took, she remembered she had only five minutes—five.

She jerked when she heard something crash to the ground...she had no idea what the thing was—was he trying to leave a clue for her or something?

Her pulse quickened—her steps slowed as she tried following where the noise came from. 

She was in an empty, dark house with the most wanted killer—someone who she was sure had a thing against her. What if he decided to end her life? No one would even look for her since they had no idea when she left.

That thought alone sent goosebumps all over her body, and then she felt the darkness sinking deep into her.

"Time's up, pet." 

She heard a voice, and at that same time, her nose caught the smell of smoke. It felt like something was burning. 

Spinning around, she saw red burning flames—the lights came on and the devils' spawn were leaning on the rail...their eyes, whatever she didn't know, because her eyes weren't focused on them, rather on the flame. 

Her eyes caught what was burning, and her heart sank as a loud screeching scream escaped her throat.

"My keytar!!!"