THE CIRCLE

Chapter 2

I went into Tyler's room immediately I entered the house, I stood at the door staring at his room, his room was unchanged, well arranged as usual, Tyler was always a clean freak from birth, I went to his drawers, his documents were well stacked, I brought them out and noticed there were cases from work, I glanced through them, all of them had solved written boldly across them except one, it was an unsolved murder case of Brian O' Wells, I looked at the stated autopsy results, a broken neck, a slit wrist, body found in an awkward angle, the more I read it, the more I found it strangely familiar to the way I found Tyler's body, I wanted to look further when I heard the sound of the intercom, probably the cops, because I already told them, I didn't want to see anyone, I need to at least clean up first. I rushed downstairs and opened the door, I was slightly shocked when I saw my brothers work partner and bestfriend, Ace, I rushed towards him and hugged him tightly, he hugged me back, we stood at the doorstep hugging for like five minutes, he probably knew I didn't want to let go, so he scooped me up in his arms and carried me inside locking the door after him, he sat on the couch and held me in his laps while I sobbed quietly.

"Shh, it's okay Amy" he whispered, I sobbed loudly knowing it wasn't okay at all, his arms strangely comforted me.

"Ace, they think I killed him, do you think so too?" I asked him as I sat up looking at his brown eyes.

"No Amy, I think they are all dumb to realise that two of you can't even beat Tyler's ass, I'm hurt that they underestimated my bestfriend" he replied and I chuckled, Ace always knew how to make people laugh in tense situations.

"Ace they want me to hire a private investigator, can I hire you?"

"Sure Amy, but I won't let you pay me to unveil my best friend brutal murder" he replied and I nodded.

"Do you have any Intel on who could have wanted Tyler dead"

"Amy I thought about it all night, with Tyler's good reputation, it's hard to suspect anyone, but our team thinks it's one of the murder suspects from an unsolved murder case" he replied. I stood up from his lap as I suddenly remembered the case file I just saw in Tyler's room.

"Ace, come with me, I need to show you something". I led him to Tyler's room and retrieved the case file from the drawer and handed it to Ace, he took it and glanced through it before looking up at me.

"The time of death and state of death is the same as that of Tylers'" I nodded.

"Where did you get this Amy" he asked.

"I just found it just now as I was checking through his stuffs"

"A case file for an unsolved murder is not allowed out of the staton, Tyler took this knowing that, meaning he was doing his own private investigation, this could be a lead Amy" he said giving me hope.

"Do you know the victim Brian O' Wells" he looked stunned as I asked him, he looked down at the case file again.

"Ace what is it" I asked him as I panicked at his shocked state.

"Tyler and Mark were the private investigators for his murder while I was on suspension, but Mark resigned a week ago, he said he wanted out, so Tyler had to handle the case alone" he replied and I nodded.

"Where can we find Mark" I asked him, he seemed stunned at my question.

"We?" He asked.

"Yes Ace, I'm not going to stay home alone while my brothers murderer is out there" I replied in anger.

"No Amy, your brother would not want you involved in this, it's too dangerous" he retorted.

"Well, my all righteous brother, where's he right now" I replied, my body shook from anger and the cruelty of it all, why in the world is this happening to me first my parents then Tyler, why me.

"Tyler is dead and I would be responsible for you from now on" he replied curtly.

"No Ace, I'm 18, I can take care of myself, if you won't let me help you, then I would do it all on my own". I replied harshly meaning every word I said. He grabbed my hand.

"Okay Amy, you are in but if it's get too dangerous I want you out" he stated and I nodded.

"Where do we start from" I asked.

"Let's first get you out of house arrest" he replied and I chuckled.

"And you need a bath" he added. I looked down at my clothes and realised I still had on the clothes I wore for my party, I nodded.

"I stink, let me go wash up" I replied and he nodded. I walked away and turned around quickly.

"Ace, can you stay over, I don't want to be alone" I pleaded.

"Amy, I will never leave you alone, now go and wash up" he said. I smiled and rushed out.

After taking a long hot bath, I wore my black pjs and went downstairs, I saw Tyler in the kitchen cooking.

"What are you cooking"

"Pasta, I'm sure you haven't had anything since yesterday" he said and I nodded.

"Tyler-" I paused wondering if I should tell him about my encounter in the forest, well I was having hard time believing it myself, how could I expect him to believe me, suddenly there was a loud noise from upstairs, like the sound of a broken window, Tyler pulled out his gun and rushed upstairs not before looking back at me.

"Stay right here Amy, I'm serious don't move, call the cops now" he ordered and I nodded, then he rushed upstairs, I didn't waste time, I grabbed the phone on the counter and dialled 911, I stated my complaints and walked upstairs quietly, I saw the door to Tyler's room widely opened, I peeked through and saw Ace standing there alone so I walked in.

"What is it Ace?" I asked as I looked at the shattered windows on the floor.

"The case file, it's gone" I stared at the floor as the information seeped into me before I heard sirens blaring outside.

Ace spent the night brooding over the lost case file, the cops checked everywhere, they found no trace of break- in except the broken windows in Tyler's room, also the two cops stationed outside were knocked out, drugged, whatever, they were just out of it. The incident kept me awake most of the night, I was scared but Ace's presence in the house comforted me and made me feel safe.

I checked my phone, I had 101 messages, most were condolences, I clicked on the one from Eric, my male bestfriend.

"Amy, are you alright, call me". I decided to call him, he picked up on the second ring as if he had been waiting for my call.

"Amy is that you" he asked.

"Yes its me Eric" I could hear him sigh in relief.

"Wow, thank God, I've been desperately trying to reach you,I heard what happened on the news, Are you alright Amy?"

"No I'm not alright Eric, I found Tyler's body"

"I'm so sorry Amy, do you want me to come over right now"

"No you can't, the cops are everywhere and I just got attacked tonight again, the neighbourhood is not safe right now Eric"

"You got attacked, Amy what the hell is going on". I sighed and told him everything, how I found Tyler's body, the circular mark on his neck, the encounter in the forest and tonight's incident"

"Wow, Amy you've been through a lot, all this sounds cliché, like a thriller movie"

"Well this is my life right now Eric"

"Amy, if there is anything I could do to help, just tell me I'm a cell phone away" he said which made me smile, just like Eric.

"I know Eric, you are always there for me, just stay home and be safe, I will call you when the cops leave"

"Okay Amy, just know I love you no matter what" he said.

"I love you too Eric" I replied and hung up. I saw Ace standing by the door of my room.

"I just wanted to check if on you again, are you okay?" he asked, I nodded, he looked at me with a concerned expression on his face before nodding.

"Okay, I will be in the living room if you need me" he said before turning away.

"Ace!" I called after him, he turned and looked at me.

"Um, can you stay with me, I don't want to be alone" I said fiddling with the edge of my bed cover. He nodded then walked to my bed, he slept beside me and held me in his arms, we cuddled, I stared out of the window until sleep enveloped me.

******

When I woke up, Ace was no longer beside me, I stood up quickly, I was about to walk out of the door when I noticed a note stuck on the door.

"Amy, I'm sorry I left you, I had to go to work to request a leave so I could be your P.I, I also need to stop by my house to grab some clothes so I could stay with you, I put a wristwatch on your hand' I looked at my hand in reflex to see a black wristwatch before I continued reading "if something happens, just press the red button on it, I will be there immediately, please be safe Amy". I sighed as I looked down at the watch, he was definitely Tyler's bestfriend. I decided to stay in my room, right now the rest of the house haunts me, Tyler's body in the living room, Tyler's broken windows, my room was my safest dwelling place right now, I grabbed a book on the shelf, my favourite book DEBT PAYMENT by J.A, as I opened it, a note fell out, I grabbed the note and sat up when I recognised Tyler's handwriting.

"112, whitemore road, go alone Amy and be safe, I'm sorry I could only do this much for you". My heart was beating fast, this was more or less Tyler's last words to me, tears moistened my eyes as I stared at him again, he knew he was going to die, how did I never notice, I was always being a brat, the tears dropped as I continued staring at his lovely handwriting, the familiar quote rang in my head "you never know the worth of something until you lose it", more tears dropped as I started to appreciate Tyler's love for me, how he made me feel safe, the fact that I was alone in this world scared me a lot, I put the note back and hid the book within the rest of my books, then I heard a sound from my window, I stood up and stared at the window, when it continued shaking, I squatted low beside my bed, ready to press the red button on my wristwatch when I heard a deep familiar voice.

"Amy, come out, I won't hurt you". Although I recognised the voice, I still couldn't place it, fear gripped me as I rose slowly, I gasped when I saw the guy from the forest. He chuckled, he looked different today, at least more human and I couldn't see any wings, maybe I was hallucinating that night.

"Seriously, you would hide under your bed if I truly came to kill you" he laughed. I didn't find any of this funny, I was scared, I'm still scared though.

"How did you get in here" I asked with the little confidence I had even if I was ever ready to press my watch.

"The same way you got to the forest while you were in prison" he replied with sarcasm rolling his eyes.

"Well, how did I do that" I asked him.

"It's because we have the sight, I'm half - human and so are you" he stated. I stood stunned by his reply.

"What do you mean I'm half - human?" I asked. He moved closer and I stepped backward, he finally got the message that I didn't trust him so he stood by the window and sighed in frustration.

"You, Tyler and your parents are half-humans" he said further shocking me, I stared at him in disbelief.

"Three days from now, you will feel the change, your mother Katherine was a descendant of the sun and she possessed the sight, she could see our enemies approaching from far up even when they have not declared a war, her power was an advantage to us during wars, your father Brandon was a strange one, he had extra - ordinary strength and he had the power to read minds, we were sorrowful when we lost them both" he said and his expression changed to grief, I just stood dumb founded that he knew my parents, I also found it hard to believe all he said.

"What about Tyler" I asked looking up at him.

"He was a rare kind, he was a seer just like your mother and he possessed the strength of your father, he was also brave" he replied looking away.

"Who killed him?" I asked as my body shook. He looked at me, he seemed uncomfortable at my question.

"Amy, I'm sorry to disappoint you but we don't know that yet, we only have our suspicions" he said, his face was sad.

"We?" I asked puzzled.

"Well, there are many just like me and you, an organisation sort of, THE CIRCLE, Tyler and your parents were also part of us" he replied and I nodded.

"The night Tyler died, you said you took me to the forest, which means you knew Tyler would die"

"Tyler wanted me to take you away, he was already marked, just like your parents were marked before they died" he stated. I looked at him stunned.

"Do you think that the same person who killed Tyler killed my parents"

"Yes Amy, and that's why you are not safe here, you need to come with me" I looked at him wondering if I could trust him.

"I can't just leave with you, how I'm I supposed to trust you". He sighed in frustration, then raised the arm of his shirt, I saw a mark that looked like a ring, it was different from the one I saw at Tyler's neck that morning, he took out a knife from his pocket and slit his arm right at the ring, I felt a tingling sensation at my arm, then pain took over, I ached in my arm, I looked at my arm but there was no sign of blood, I looked at him stunned.

"What the hell just happened" I asked startled.

"Amy, we are all linked, all of us, we seven, we are all linked and the closer we are to each other, the stronger our bond is, the more our number decreases, the weaker our bond, we feel each other's pain, your brother was part of us, but now we are just seven"

"Am I the only one left" I asked and he nodded.

"I've always been around since the Circle was all I had after my parents death, Amy your parents were not the only ones that died in that plane crash, we seven lost either one of our parents in that crash, after then many dispersed, but at 18 we were all led back together, Tyler joined not too long, the others came not so long, once we are 18, we have no choice but to come together, we become bonded, Tyler was supposed to tell you but-" I just nodded.

"I understand" I looked up at him studying his features, his skin was so tan, he was handsome in a way. I felt sad for him, so I wasn't the only one who was left alone in this world.

"What's your name" I asked.

"Adrianne" he replied.

"Amy!" I heard Ace shouting my name. I looked at Adrianne.

"Ace" he said and I looked at him.

"You know him too?". He nodded.

"Tyler's bestfriend, he doesn't know me though, I will see you in three days Amy". I nodded as he vanished. I felt kind of disappointed, I still had a lot to ask him.