Chapter 16

I switched off the engine, glancing through the window I looked up at the place I once called home.

It was a normal two-story home, red walls though after three years the paint had faded away.

Getting out of the car, I stood at the base of the porch, the wood starting to rot, dust everywhere. There was a gloomy aura around the house.

The house that held my happy childhood stood before me as my worst nightmare.

"You don't have to do this you know," Rae said standing beside me.

I looked at her then at Ryn, my shoulders drooping as I faced the house again.

"I know," I told her, my eyes roaming over the house spotting the differences from my earlier years here.

I stepped forward, "but I need to,"

It was still the same when I entered, the only difference was the layer of dust along with the stale air.

I head upstairs trying to avoid staring at the photos along the way. Pictures of my childhood.

We came to my room, I stood before the door, the purple faint faded away, it squeaked as I opened it. I walked in and looked around.

Something felt odd. I know that I haven't been here for a while but I had an odd feeling that my things were tampered with.

You see, my aunt didn't want us in this house so we left most of our belongings behind only taking the important stuff.

I went to my old bed kneeling down, I looked under the bed, pulling out my laptop, I opened it.

"What's wrong, Wick ?" Ryn asked me.

"Something feels off," I told him my focus on my laptop.

I unlocked it and pulled up security feeds, my parents installed cameras so in case of a break in we have evidence. My aunt allowed it to continue since we weren't living here anymore.

I pulled the feed from a few hours ago, I stared at the screen waiting. I gasped when I saw a hooded figure searching my room. What was he looking for?

PING! I looked to the right of the screen, there's someone in the house.

I paused and looked at Rae she was behind me her gaze on the screen. She motioned for me to put the laptop back, I did it quickly and stood up slowly.

Rae signalled for me to stay here while she and Ryn checked it out. I stood by the door listening for their footfalls.

I heard the stairs squeak, pulling out the gun from my waistband, I clicked off the safety and waited for the intruder.

As the footsteps came closer, I calmed my breathing, the door squeaked as the person came in. I heard a groan and a rumble about the noise made by the door.

The person walked in, leaving the door opened and started to look around the room. I stepped out from behind the door, my gun trained on the guy, with my finger on the trigger, I crept up behind him.

"Who are you and why are you in my house?" I questioned my voice low and dark.

He froze as he heard my voice, raising his hands slowly, he turned around. When he faced me, his face was blank but his eyes displayed surprise.

"Kristina?" He questioned, I scowled.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" I asked moving the gun a bit further so if I had to shoot it would go between the eyes.

"Krissy it's me, Jared," he replied pulling the hood off.

I lowered the gun, clicked on the safety and punched him.

"What the hell Jared? Why are you sneaking into my house?" I questioned.

"I think that I'm the one who should be asking that question and why do you have a gun," He asked but before I answered Rae with Ryn in tow walked through the doors.

"Wick, we didn't see any...... Jared?" She started but stopped when she saw him.

"Never mind I believe I got my answer about the gun," he said motioning to the guns in Rae and Ryn hands.

"What are you doing here Jared?" I asked once more a bit forcefully.

His blank expression fell away as he frowned, his shoulders sagged and his eyes reflected sadness as he gazed at me.

"I'm investigating your parents' case again," He told me.

"Why? It went cold two years ago, you couldn't catch the killers," I said folding my arms in front my chest, building up a wall to soften the blow of what is to come.

"It did but there was a break in two weeks ago as well as we got a tip about someone's involvement in the murder," he told me.

I got my laptop again and gave it to him, "no wonder it felt weird when I walked in here and there was a break in earlier this morning, you find what you need on here," I told him, he nodded and took the laptop.

"But why would they break in? There's nothing here," Ryn stated a bit confused.

I sighed before walking over to my desk, removing a panel of wood, I pulled out a box. Placing my thumb on it, the scanned my finger and opened.

"They were looking for this," I told them, holding a bracelet similar to the one on Rae's hand.

"A bracelet?" Jared questioned.

"Wick you didn't," she questioned but she knows I did.

"This isn't a normal bracelet, there a flash drive connected to it, placed into a USB port it can wipe a computer clean taking all its files then place a virus in the mainframe or hack into the computer without a trace or install a software that allows me access to the hardware," I paused as recognition filtered through Jared's eyes.

"I always knew that Nuca was more involved than he told me, I just fooled myself into thinking that he would quit for me, the drive contains everything about Nuca's involvement as well as locations on their whereabouts and safe houses, bank accounts anything, however, I was unable to find who was the current leader, the previous leader stepped down and gave control to his nephew," I told them while giving Jared the drive.

"I wanted revenge, that's why I did it but I became aware of what would happen if I did, I would cause more deaths and I don't want to bury my brother, I was supposed to give it to you but I forgot, I was struggling to move on and I wanted to forget everything," I told him.

"Alright, thank you Wick," He told me standing up.

"Aren't you gonna say something, arrest me for obstructing Justice?" I asked confused by his indifference.

He sighed before looking at me, "I'm not gonna do that, you were going through a lot back then, I'm a bit disappointed but I would have done the same if I had your skills," he told me smiling sadly, he turned to leave but I stopped him, I wanted to know the truth.

"Who had my parents killed Jared? I know you know who's in charge of the Hunters," I stated, he pretended to look confused at my question.

"I saw it in your eyes when I told you that I couldn't figure it out, I know that my dad didn't die on impact like my mom did, he went through surgery and was pulling through but someone slipped something into his IV bag causing him to go into cardiac arrest," I stated, his eyes sad as he looked at me.

"The tip you got included a picture which matched the guy that killed my father didn't it?" I questioned, he avoided my gaze, I pushed on, "Raiden gave it to you," I stated.

He sat on my bed, placing his head in his hands, "if you know why do you want me to say it?" He questioned gazing into my eyes, his eyes full of pain and sadness for me. He did want me to go through the pain and loss I went through when I didn't get enough closure, he knows that saying the name would reopen the wound.

"I need you confirm it for me, all I did was speculate, I need you to tell me the truth, who had my parents killed, who actually killed my father, who is in charge of the Hunters?" I pushed once more but he was still reluctant.

"Say his name, Jared, stop avoiding the inevitable, just say it," I told him again stooping in front of him taking his hands from his face.

"Please," I whispered.

"His name is Luke, Luke Reeves," He whispered but it echoed through the silent room.

I stood up walking to the window, his name echoing my head. No one spoke as the reality came crashing down.

No one said a word, as the room mocked me with its silence. Silence that contrasted with the raging thoughts racing through my mind.

Author's Note

What do you think of the plot, writing style, characters? Point out grammatical errors or places where I need to show instead of telling, please and thanks. Anything that seems that needs to fix please let me know, I'm open to feedback and criticism.