Ninety Nine- What my life has come to?

Ninety Nine- What my life has come to?
NATHANIEL STORM

It is unbelievable how much time has passed since Rosaline’s escape. 
Well…
Truthfully, it is more scary than unbelievable. 
After hours of setting out with some cops to follow the tracks of her location, we’ve found ourselves driving through thick forests, with no end in sight. The cops believe that there might be multiple paths linking to where Rosaline is, but we have found ourselves repeatedly driving past three different intertwined roads.
“The tracker stopped moving two hours ago. I strongly believe we are close,” the detective riding with us announced.
I barely sighed in response, my drowsy eyes staring out at the night, my heart growing heavier such that my soul feared that it would fly away and leave me.
“It’s this damn place,” Ray replied, his voice low. “It’s too complicated.”
“ADAM one zero two, come in,” the cop spoke into his two-way radio. “Any updates?”
‘ADAM one zero two,’ one of the police vehicles ahead of us radioed back. ‘Nothing so far. Our GPS still doesn’t identify this area. No sign of life yet.’
“Mr Storm.” From the front seat, Ray called me out of my daze, his body fully turned to me. 
“Hmm?” I felt like a zombie. “What?”
“One of the detectives investigating Amaya Sanquez’s death just messaged.”
“Who’s that?”
“The lady who was working for your company-”
“Oh. What about her?”
“She was roommates with Miss Sunshine.”
“Miss Sunshine is the suspect who kidnapped…” The cop didn’t finish his statement. He covered that with a fake cough and looked away from me. 
“What does that mean?” I asked Ray.
“It is possible that both Miss Amaya and Sunshine shared a common infatuation with you. It’s unclear if Miss Sunshine directly influenced Miss Amaya’s death, but it is very possible that she framed her by sending that parcel to your house. The teacher might have used that as a means to eliminate your supposed interest in Miss Amaya.”
“Okay.” That was not my current concern. “Deal with it,” I simply said, my eyes returning outside, my soul still weary. Then, seconds later, I startingly ordered, “Stop.”
“Wh-what?” The detective seated next to me asked. “Do you see something?”
“Stop the car!” I screamed at the driver, Ray’s brother. 
As the brakes screeched and chased birds into the sky, I jumped out. Recklessly, my imbalanced feet pushed past clusters of averagely tall grasses, the pounding in my heart increasing as I raced to the other side of the wide, dusty road. 
My ears barely listening to what the others behind me were screaming, I knelt by the tyre tracks pointed north and gently scooped the silver item into my palm. 
Minutes ago, before we returned to the road we were just driving on, I had noticed a little twinkle beckoning from the dirt of the ground. I didn’t think much of it until I saw it again a few seconds ago. 
And now, I realise why I was drawn to it.
“Oh…” It was her necklace. The very one I gifted to Sarah, the very one that got stained with her blood on the day of our anniversary. “Sarah…” My trembling heart struggled. “You’re alive.” With care, I clasped the necklace within my palms. “Of course you are. Please… “ As I swallowed the anguish at the tip of my tongue and looked ahead, I spoke as though I could see her, “Don’t give up.”
Then, I got up and studied the tracks under the moonlight.
The tyre marks were long and single, an indication that this path wasn’t part of the ones we discovered. 
“How did we miss this?” With heavy breaths, Ray commented behind me.
“We will follow this,” I ordered. “Find a way to bring the car here.”
Ray surprisingly did not question the vagueness in my directions. “Yes, sir.”
“Are you sure about this, Mr Storm?” the cop reasoned. “There is no guarantee that these tracks will lead somewhere.”
“This necklace,” I showed him what I found, “belongs to my wife. I have every reason to believe this is the right way.” The jeep roared as it found a way to climb the little hill leading to where we were. “We’ve wasted hours already. I can’t waste any more.”
The vehicle roared next to us, and I hopped in. The detective did too, his lips not wasting time informing the cops ahead of us of the new development. 

\~~~

SARAH PIERCE

Now I understand.
Regardless of my choice, this terrible man wished to have his way. 
Of course, I chose to be framed for Rosaline’s death. Since the cops she mentioned were supposedly close by, I figured it would be better to be found waiting in that filthy space. Anybody with working senses would be able to tell that I’m the victim. That’s what I thought. 
But this man… After hearing my response, he got so angry that he tied my hands and feet and bundled me into the back seat of his car. 
Then, we started a journey. And now I’m wondering if I’d ever get to return to my life as I used to know it. 
Because…
I won’t lie…
I think I might be slipping… 
Slipping away from this world. From… everything.
“You are very hopeless,” the man continued to spew angry words. 
As a sorrowful exhale escaped me, I somehow managed to sit up. 
“Why do I even bother?” He roughly bumped the car past the rough road. “I just don’t get how you can be this stupid.”
My eyes flickered to the mirror, and our eyes met. 
“We made sure to erase every memory of you from his brain. He totally forgot you. But you…” He scoffed. “Even after that much suffering, you easily jumped into his arms. Married him like your hell of four years meant nothing.”
“Oh…” My voice was no longer a whisper. It was worse than one. “You… You watched me suffer?”
“I had to. You-”
“You could have deceived me back then. I would have believed you were Nathaniel.” A bitter laughter choked out of me. “I was that desperate.”
“I…”
“I guess you’re just a stupid pawn who can’t think for himself.”
“Hey!”
Slowly, I looked away from the redness in his eyes. I then captured the scenery of the peaceful night, my mind thinking back to minutes ago when I forced him to stop in the middle of the road. I did that because I needed to pee, but also because I had discovered my necklace on the seat after it slipped out of my pockets. I grabbed that chance to hopefully communicate with anyone who could pass by that road. 
“I’m talking to you!” He hollered. “Look at me, Sarah. Call me a pawn to my face and see if I don’t bash that-”
“Did you… Did you have to kill Rosaline?” I asked without turning my head to him. 
“You want to complain about that, too? That woman almost ruined your life. Don’t be uselessly foolish, Sarah. I am the only one who cares about you. But you clearly can’t see that.”
Isn’t it unfortunate? That this is what my life has come to? 
Would things have turned out differently if I had discovered this imposter earlier? Perhaps, if I had not listened to him that day, if I had not taken Raya to school, this wouldn’t have happened. 
And maybe… the Nathaniel I know would have returned to chase out the imposter. 
Maybe…
God.
In the face of danger, maybes are all I can say. This is really what my life has come to.
“You still won’t accept me?” he demanded. “I’m giving you one more chance. Say you’ll be mine,” the car crazily drifted to the right, “and I won’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Send you off.”
The little shock I could muster led me to stare at the mirror. 
“You’ll…” Fits of dry coughs rushed out, zapping out the little life within me. “You’ll kill me?”
“So you’re not so foolish after all,” he snickered, and the car swerved to the right. “Just say you’ll be mine, Sarah.”
“Yours?” He didn’t hear me, because I could only mouth that response. My tiredness was finally winning.
“You don’t want to?” 
“I didn’t ask for this to happen.” My body desired to lie down again. “I didn’t.”
“Answer when I’m speaking to you, will you?!” 
“Just shut up,” I somehow spoke out. “Please.”
“It seems you don’t want to see that daughter of yours again. Suit yourself. It’s not like you’ll be alive to see how all this plays out. Oh!” I heard the mockery in his voice, but I couldn’t react. My body was now sprawled over the seat, my eyes slowly blinking at the dirty roof of the car. “I guess you don’t know this… My whore mother slept with your grandfather. She killed that old man and deceived Edward Storm.”
My inability to respond seemed to bother him.
He kept talking as though seeking my validation. “She hid me away and pretended Nathaniel was Edward’s son. But we’re actually your grandfather’s children. Isn’t that weird? This means you married and had a child with your half-cousin.”
That information was truly shocking. Very gutting. It revealed a great deal about Evelyn’s hatred while she was alive.
But without my strength, I could only continue to remain quiet. 
But then, if what he's saying is true, Nathaniel is my half-uncle, not half-cousin.
What an idiot this man is. He can't even analyse a crazy, messed-up family tree.
“I guess,” he smacked his lips loudly, “since you’re dying soon, it won’t hurt to tell you everything. Dead people can’t talk.”