Chapter 46: ONLY THE BEGINNING

When I got Mike’s call, the race wasn't over. I couldn't pick up his call because I was tied up at that moment. The race went on as two people were paired against each other.

But when I saw how Mike persistently called me over and over again, I just knew immediately that something was not right.

I started looking for Emily among the clouds but couldn't find her. It seems she was already in the race. I pushed my way through the clouds, looking for Charles.

“Excuse me, Mr. Xender Armstrong.” I paused on hearing my name, then a lady approached me. I tried to see if I knew her from somewhere, but her face wasn't familiar at all.

“Hi, how can I help you?”

“My name is Judith Winston, and I'm a fashion designer. I have always wanted to meet you.” 

“Oh, nice to meet you, Miss Winston, but I really need to go. Something urgently came up, so why don't we just talk some other time?” I said to her as I forced a smile on my face.

“Oh, okay, can I call you up at any time, or is it a date?” She asked, smiling sheepishly at me.

“This is my card; I really need to go,” I said to her before I left. I dialled Charles' number as I rushed inside the men’s changing room to get off my race suit.

“Hello Charles”

"Xender, where are you? You just got paired up with someone.” Charles said.

“Can you come see me in the changing room right now?”

“Wait, did something happen? Are you seriously injured?”

"Yes, I'm injured. Now would you stop asking questions and get here?” I knew that was the only way to get him here.

“I will be there in no time.” I ended the call and waited for him while I changed into my sportwear. I grabbed my car key, ready to go.

“I came as fast as I could.” Charles said this when he entered the room.

“Good. I need your help with something.”

“Wait, I thought you were injured; how come you are not bleeding? And why did you change out of your race suit?”

“Something came up, and I need you to fill in for me. I don't want my dad to know I left before the race is over.”

“What, Xender, are you insane? How on earth am I supposed to pretend to be you?”

“This helmet will hide your face until I'm back, or even until the race is over.”

“Hope you know your dad is going to fry us if he knows about this?”

“That's why you must never let him figure it out.” I said to him before I handed him a new race suit and helmet.

“I can't believe I'm doing this.” 

“Thank you, Charles; this is the key to my bike. It's packed at the front door.”

“But where are you going? Can't it wait until later?”

“It is something urgent; I must be there now.” 

“I hope whatever you are going for, it's worth risking your chance to prove to your dad that you are now your own boss.”

“I don't need to prove anything to him; I have always been my own boss. I will call you to let you know if I will make it for the party or not.”

“Fine, but you better get back here in time.”

“I will.” I left the room and headed for the parking lot to get my car. I called Mike's number, and he picked up the first ring.

“Where the heck did you keep your damn phone? Do you know how long I have been calling you?”

“I'm sorry, I was in the middle of a race, so I couldn't pick up your calls.”

“Just get yourself to the hospital, would you? Alda is awake, and I'm having trouble talking to her.”

“Oh my goodness, thank God she is awake. I will be there in a jiffy.” 

All throughout my drive to the hospital, I was nervous. I hope she was okay. I really wish she wouldn't have any more difficulties.

From the stadium to Mike's hospital, it was a twenty-minute drive, so I arrived in no time. I met Mike outside his office, pacing around. He rushed towards me immediately when he saw me approaching him.

“Come with me,” he said, and I followed him, a little confused.

“Where is she?” 

“In her ward, she has been acting strange since she woke up.”

“What do you mean by acting strange?”

“When she woke up, she went up to the rooftop. I thought she was going to jump, but then she didn't.”

“She what? Take me to her; I need to speak to her." Mike and I went up to her ward to see her. When I walked in, she was sitting on her bed, facing the window. She had her back on me. I walked in and approached her. She seemed so lost that she didn't even see me standing in front of her.

“Alda, are you okay?” I asked, and she finally looked my way. She stared at me like she couldn't recognise me.

“Xender,” she said, tears clouding her already sad eyes. I don't think I have ever seen these eyes happy. Since I met her, it has always been like this. I reached out my hand and wiped the tears off her face. We looked into each other's eyes as we let our hearts do the talking for us.

I pulled her in for a hug as I stroked her hair. She was holding herself back from sobbing loudly.

“It's okay; don't hold it back. I'm here, okay. I'm not going anywhere. Just let it out. You will feel better.”

But she just pushed away from me and hugged her knees to her chest. I didn't know what to do or what to say.

“Alda, please talk to me,” I pleaded with her.

“I just figured out that the world thinks I'm dead. How could he do this to me? And to think that Anna was there and she did nothing.”

“What happened that night?”

“They killed me; that's what happened.”

“Alda I need to be more specific. When you left the hotel, where did you go?”

“To see Seth, but Anna has been sleeping with Seth for God knows how long. But when I got to Seth's house, I met Anna instead.” She paused and stared out blankly.

“And then, what happened?”

“We both got into a fight; I never knew Anna would knock me out. She was the one who handed me over to Seth. When I regained consciousness, they”

Her voice died down as tears ran down her face. What did they do to her? How could they do this to her?

“Hey, it's okay; you don't have to tell everything, okay?”

"Xender, please take me out of here. I don't want to be in any hospital or be close to one."

“Do you want to go to the police?”

“I don't know; I'm just scared at the moment.”

“I know, but you have to keep lower at the moment if you don't want the police to see you. I will take you to my house for the moment until we understand what is going on.” She just nodded.

“How many people know I'm alive?”

“Just Mike and me; we are the only ones that know." She nodded again. Mike was right; something was different about her, especially her eyes. At a time, I thought her eyes had changed to green, but it was just for a brief moment, and then it was gone.

My phone started ringing, and it was Charles. I knew immediately that I was in trouble.

“Hey Charles”

“Your dad is furious; no, I'm just joking, ha ha ha.” 

“You have got to be kidding me. Can you not make any more jokes? I'm not in the mood. Why did you call me?”

“Are you close to a TV?”

“Yes Why?”

“You need to see the news.”

“News”

“Just turn the TV on.” I took the TV remote and turned it on.

“This afternoon, Mr. Albert, who happens to be the suspect in the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Barnard, has been found. He was spotted leaving the town when the police found and arrested him. He is in custody for questioning. It was said he was not only guilty of killing Mr. and Mrs. Barnard; he was also spotted with Miss Alda Barnard, the only daughter of Mr. Barnard, on the night she went missing. This also made him a suspect as the police further investigated the disappearance of Miss Barnard, who left a suicide note for her husband.”

“That's a lie; that's a freaking lie. He never killed them; he never killed me; he was a fucking victim. He was framed; they were framed!!!!” Alda screamed as she stared at the TV with fury in her eyes.

"Alda, you need to calm down.”

“Don't tell me to fucking calm down!!. How could they assume he did it without further investigation? He was also a victim. What did I do to deserve all of this!!?

He is the only one I have left; I can't lose him. I'm going to the police station.”

“Alda No, going to the police station without evidence is like losing a battle. You will only put yourself in more danger.”

“Danger, did you say danger? Ha ha ha! He said danger. I am going to show them the real danger,” she said. Her voice had something dangerous hidden in it. I swear, I felt a shiver run down my spine. 

“Alda, what's wrong with you? You have been acting strange.”

“They killed me because I was nice; I lost my baby because I was nice; I lost my parents because I was nice; Albert got flamed because I was nice. I am done being nice; I will show them how nice I am.” She said that and stormed out of the room.

What just happened? I was so shocked by the event that I didn't even remember I was supposed to go after her.

“Xender, what happened?” Mike asked as he entered the room.

“I don't know; she doesn't seem like Alda; she is so different. 

"Okay, that's it. Bring her in.” A passed-out Alda was dragged into the room. 

“What did you do to her?” I asked Mike, and he should give me a syringe.

“Was that necessary?”

"Yes, or she is going to do something stupid out of anger. Look, I don't know if I should say her behaviour is normal at this early stage, but there is no one who will go through what she went through and remain the same. The trauma is just too much for her to handle.

“This is just driving me crazy. Something happened to her, but she is hesitating whether to tell me or not.”

“Losing her parents and her baby at the same time might be affecting her, but at the same time she might be trying to tell us the truth.”

“Have you questioned her about what happened to her?”

“I have, but she wouldn't talk to me. I assumed she might have said something to you.”

“She said something, but she was finding it difficult to tell the whole story. She is terrified of what ever happened to her that night.”

“We need to keep asking until she is able to tell us the truth. I feel bad for her if she is telling the truth that her ex-husband had something to do with what happened to her parents, including the baby. What are you going to do?”

“Then we make him pay. How could he be so heartless? I just knew that something was off since he took over Alda’s company. Did I tell you that he gave me back the money he owed me? I'm having this feeling that this is only the beginning.