Chapter 123. Person in the dark

Chapter 123. Person in the dark
Leo hearing this went silent. The thoughts of that night before Laura's abduction suddenly came to resurface in his head, almost almost as if they were connected. The way that car had been parked and he did not expect someone to be in the vehicle until it drove away. Could it possibly be Nathan again?

"Leo?"

His attention immediately moved back to Laura who e-waste staring at him with questions. 

"Are you alright? " She asked

He immediately nodded his head. "I'm fine. And you shouldn't worry yourself too much about the vehicle, maybe it wasn't actually following you in the first place." He tried to assure her

"You think so?"

Leo nodded. "Like you said, it disappeared. Maybe it went in a totally different direction from here."

Laura set her lips on a thin line as she listened to Leo's words. "I guess."

With that, Leo wrapped his hand around her shoulder. "It's getting cold outside, let's head in."

Laura nodded as both of them made their way into her apartment.

Leo on the other hand secretly threw a glance at the door darkness at a distance before pulling his gaze away.

At a distance, someone stared at them from the back vehicle that was parked amidst the darkness and out of sight as he watched the two couples make their way through the gate. There was a lighter in his hand which he lost and covered continuously as a mischievous smile painted his lips. Placed in front of the car glass was a picture of Leo with a wide smile on his lips.

"Tome is ticking, Love birds ." He muttered under his breath.

With that, the car started and the car reversed deeper into the darkness before driving away from there.

Later that night, Leo had spent the night over at Laura's place and he had fallen asleep on her bed. Laura on the other hand was seated in front of her dressing table with her laptop in front of her. She had some work she had to quickly finish up before heading to bed.

While she adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose, she heard a notification sound from her phone which was followed by her screen lighting up. Picking up the phone, she noticed the text was from an unknown number and age swiped to read through. As her eyes picked up on the context of the text, she felt goosebumps slowly lined up her arm.

She turned around to stare at Leo who was already fast asleep and the back at the screen of her phone with the message that read:

‘Count your chicken before they hatch, Laura. Not everything that glitters is gold, most especially one in the form of a Carter.”

She could quite understand what the message meant but she felt unsettled regardless. The message obviously had an underlying threat that was directed at both herself and Leo but it was vaguely interpreted.

Another notification sound pulled her attention back to the screen but this time, it wasn't a text but an image. Holding her breath in anticipation, she finally loaded the image. The moment the picture loaded, a gasp escaped her lips as she stood up abruptly from her seat.

Unbelievable.

So she was indeed right. 

On her screen was an image of herself and Leo earlier when they were still outside her apartment talking. An image taken from the left view, right where she had been staring at before Leo had jumped out and scared.

She wasn't overthinking or imagining it. Someone had indeed been following her. And just when she thought the person had disappeared, she was far from wrong.

Fright suddenly crept into her system. She tried to find possible reasons why someone would be following her and what exactly they wanted from her?

From the looks of it various times, it seemed as if they were trying to warn her to stay away from Leo. Basically—as much as she was a target, Leo was also one. Without thinking much, she placed the phone on the desk and moved away from it, as if it was going to explode. She gently paced back and forth on the room, taking small glances at Leo who seemed to be totally oblivious to everything.

She didn't know if it would be right to tell him about the text even though she had told him about the car which he claimed may have had nothing to do with her.

But surprise surprise, it very much did.

While she had been out earlier, that uneasy feeling never for once left her system. She felt as if she was still being watched, but she couldn't see anyone around her at that moment. But from the looks of it, whoever had followed her seems to have hid themselves perfectly well in the shadows where she had felt the stare from but decided not to overthink it.

While she paced back and forth, the sound of her phone immediately made her jump in pure fear. She closed her mouth, making sure not to wake Leo up as she quickly rushed to pick up the phone. Staring at the screen, she felt as if her blood pressure was about to drop at the person that was calling.

It was the unknown number if she wasn't mistaken.

Giving Leo one last glance at, she placed the phone against her chest and quickly rushed out the room. Getting to the hallway, she stared back at the phone that was still ringing and she took in a deep breath before swiping right to pick up.

“Hello?” She said, trying to sound composed.

There was no response on the other line, only a pure eerie silence.

“I know you're there.” Laura said but still, more silence passed between them. “I would advise that you stop following me or sending me stupid messages. Things are only going to be bad for you the moment you get caught.”

Suddenly, her breath got caught in her throat as she picked up on a distant yet clear chuckle on the other side.

So someone was indeed listening.

“I'm warning you. Stay away from me and stay away from Leo.” Laura's voice was firm as her grip around the phone tightened.

Suddenly, she heard a slightly sharp sound of something opening and closed. It sounded almost like a lighter. The noise sounded for the second time and all of a sudden, the call disconnected.

“Hello? You idiot!” She shouted into the phone as she pulled it away from her ears, her fist clenched tightly that her nails dug into her flesh.

Whomever was doing this was trying to toy with her and pull her away from Leo. But she wasn't going to make things so easy for the bastard.

Suddenly, she remembered the sound of the lighter and it sent shivers down her back. Everything about the incident slightly creeped Laura out to the core, but she tried not to show it.

Taking a deep breath, she released her grip around the phone as she lowered her head to the floor. Turning around, she immediately shrieked in shock as she sighted Leo who stood behind her—his hair ruffled and his eyes squinted like someone who had just woken up from a deep sleep.

“Leo,” She breathed out while she hit her chest lightly to calm down her pacing heart. “When did you wake up?”

“Not too long ago.” His voice was low as he stared at her before his eyes moved down to his phone. “Who was that?” He suddenly asked 

Laura stared at him as if she hadn't heard the question. “Hmm?”

He pointed towards the phone in her hand. “On the phone.” He said, his expression looking blank and tired. “I heard you shout against the phone.”

“Um…” She stared down at the phone and then back at Laura. Suddenly she scoffed. “It's no one. Just an unknown number who had dialed wrongly.” She said, trying to brush away the tension that was subtly building up in her.

“An unknown number?” Leo repeated and Laura nodded her head. “Since when did you have to leave the room to pick a call from an unknown number?”

At his question, Laura set her lips on a thin line. What was she supposed to say now?

“Laura—” she cut him off

“Don't be ridiculous.” She said with a light laugh. “I just went to get a glass of water when the number called and I decided to pick first. But eventually, it was no one important.” She said, maintaining a smile on her face that took so much strength to muster.

“I see.” His eyes lowered for a few moments before looking up at her. But he didn't say anything more.

“Anyways, why are you even up?” She quickly changed the topic. “Did you need something?” Laura asked.

“I woke up and you weren't there.”