Chapter 13 — Secrets

“WELCOME back to me,” Althea told Justin with a wink. “Did you miss me?”

The elevator door opened before Justin could answer her. The man stepped inside the elevator and pulled her inside quickly. He pushed the close button and waited for the doors to close before facing her. Althea knotted her forehead at the sight of him being upset again.

“What’s wrong with you, darling?” she asked, inching closer to him. “Do I have that effect on you, hmm?” she brushed her breasts on his arms. Justin stepped away with a jolt, startled by what she did. “Hey, relax, baby—”

“Stop, Althea,” he said, gently pushing her away from his body. “There’s a CCTV here.”

“So, what?” Althea clung to his arm and reached to nibble his ears. When he got ticklish and pushed her again, she laughed. “Okay, I won’t do that again.”

Justin brushed his hands on his face. Althea can see that he’s upset again. “You can relax now, Justin. I won’t do anything bad today, I promised.”

Justin looked at her in furrowed brows. He wasn’t convinced; Althea was sure of that. Well, she can’t blame him. She was a bit in chaos in the past few days. And the reason to blame is her adrenaline; she got excited when she finally took over Audrey’s senses again. The last time she was able to do that was when she was a toddler.

“You know I felt like I slept for a hundred years,” Althea said to Justin as the elevator went down. “That’s why when I woke up and found that I am no longer in Audrey’s subconscious, I did everything that would make me happy.”

“And that includes hurting people and leaving Audrey to be the one to blame?” he asked. She can sense the anger in his voice, and Althea doesn’t like that.

Her gaze darkened when she looked up at Justin. “Why do I feel as if you’re blaming me?”

“Who else to blame? Audrey?”

“Yes!” she shouted. “If she wasn’t weak, do you think those people will pick on her? It just happened that when they went to her again, I was the one they talked to. So, I just did what a normal person would do if being bullied by brainless shits—”

“Normal person wouldn’t just twist arms and slammed tables, Althea,” Justin countered just as the elevator door opened. When she just looked at him, Justin took her hand and dragged her out of the building. “I think you should go home—”

“No!” Althea protested. “We’re still talking about what normal people would do, right?” She smiled wickedly. “Tell me, Justin, my dear. What does a normal person in your world would do if he was bullied by people that don’t know him personally?”

Justin heaved a sigh. “Everything can be fixed with a proper communication—”

Althea burst out laughing. “Really? Then, why was Audrey still bullied by those people?” She arched her brows. “Just so you know, Audrey’s Knight in Shining Armor. Before you have noticed her so-called case of me, Audrey was the center bully of Melinda’s friends. Maybe you’re wondering how the hell did I know that? Because I was inside Audrey, I witnessed it all. I was the voice inside her head that kept on telling her to kill those people, to use her Taekwondo skills in teaching them a lesson—”

“Wait for a second; Audrey has Taekwondo skills?” Justin asked in disbelief.

“Well, it was me. I have Taekwondo skills,” she said and pointed at the building. “That psychologist up there enrolled me in a Taekwondo class when I was in…” She narrowed her eyes to remember the date, “when I was in kindergarten. I had a lot of memories when I was in childhood, but poor Audrey, she forgot all of the exciting memories of our childhood.”

“So, you knew your father?” Justin asked. “And, why he died?”

Althea nodded. “Yes, I remember it all.” She smiled wickedly. “And I know why our mom doesn’t want to tell Audrey.” She scoffed. “She was really a bitch.”

***

EDWARD looked out the window from his clinic and saw Audrey and her schoolmate Justin on the sidewalk in front of the building, talking at each other. Audrey looked as if she’s telling the man a story because of her hand gestures.

“She looked fine,” Edward said while watching them. “Maybe I’m just overthinking.”

He went back to his table and played the CCTV footage again. Audrey and his friend, Justin, were seated on the sofa. Audrey was covering her face, her shoulders shaking because of crying. But then, she just stopped, wiped her face, and looked up at him as if nothing happened. Edward studied Audrey’s expression at the CCTV, it suddenly changed.

Edward grabbed his phone and dialed Kristine’s number. The woman wasn’t picking up. “Oh, come on, Kristine,” he muttered and dialed her number again. He stood and went to the window; Audrey and Justin were no longer there. “Where’d they go?”

He ended his call to Kristine and dialed Audrey’s phone. On the fourth ring, the girl answered. “Audrey—”

“Uncle, have a change of mind?” Audrey immediately asked; her voice sounded normal.

“Where are you? Have you gone home?” he asked, hoping she would say yes.

“Nah,” she said and chuckled. “Justin and I are going to play arcade games at the mall. I’ve already informed mom if you’d ask.”

Edward felt a sigh of relief. “That’s good, Audrey. Call me if something happened, okay? Your uncle loves you.”

Audrey just giggled from the other before ending the call. Edward went back to his seat and leaned back. “I’m just overthinking.”

Half an hour later, Edward received a call from Kristine. He picked it up and waited for Kristine to speak from the other line.

“I was at the bakeshop; why are you calling?” she asked irritably.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Kristine. I just want to check on Audrey?” Edward was lying, but he’s just protecting Audrey. He knew that Kristine would get mad at her if she found out that her daughter went to his clinic.

“Maybe she’s at home already,” she said. “I’m just about to go home.”

“Oh, okay,” he said and contemplated to ask if she received a text message from Audrey. “Did she text you?”

Kristine took moments to answer. “No, she didn’t leave a message. Why? Did she contact you?”

Edward paused. Audrey told him that she has informed her mother. He shook his head. “I think you should call her.”