THE REAWAKENING

CHAPTER THREE

**DEVOE**

Being a serial killer, Devoe spent years in plain sight, avoiding the police while crossing names off his list.

But today was different because, for the first time ever, he walked around like a free man, his new face making it impossible for him to be recognized by anybody.

As he walked past a few policemen his heart skipped a beat.

“Good day, sir,” One of the policemen yelled, waving at him.

A smile formed on his face as he waved back. He chuckled, I hardly. These fools. Being an old man did have its perks.

A FEW MINUTES LATER.

He soon arrived at his next destination, the place where his victim would take his last breath. He slid into the back seat of his victim's car and waited. The patient is silent.

Soon, his victim emerged from the building, oblivious of the fate that would soon befall him; he slit into the front seat, shutting the door.

“Hello, Ronald,” Devoe growled.

Devoe's deep growl made Ronald freeze slowly turning to face him. “Who the hell are you!?”.

Devoe let out a cold sinister chuckle. “Of course, you do not recognize my new face”

Ronalds brow furrowed. “New face?”

Devoe leaned forward, his face twisted Into a wicked smile. , “Does the name Devoe ring a bell?”

Ronald's gaze darkened, a cold shiver running down his spine.. “Did he send you?”

Devoe slowly shook his head “I am a him”

Ronald burst into loud laughter. “Are you crazy? You look nothing like him. Go back to Devoe and tell him that I do not fear him. He has been killing off everybody in the friend group one by one, and now he wants to come after me. Tell him that his stupidity made him lose all that he could have had….”But before he could finish his sentence Devoe pulled out a knife, driving it into Roland's chest. But he didn't stop there. He pulled it and dug it back in, he repeated the process until the car was filled with blood.

Devoe slowly retreated his hand from the knife. And exited the car with a maniacal smile on his face. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small tattered book.

Flipping it old, his eyes scanned the list of names, stopping at the one he had just eliminated. “There we go,” he said, crossing it out.

“Who's next?” he muttered.

MEANWHILE….

**Olivia**

Olivia walks into Elizabeth's office, Noah walking closely behind her. “My old office was better”

“You do not have much of a choice, Olivia,” Noah said.

Olivia let out a deep breath. “This is my office now? Hopefully, I can use this opportunity to catch him,” she said, turning to face Noah. “Let's go, to my apartment, we can find something”

A FEW MINUTES LATER

As Noah's car pulled up in front of Olivia's house they both got out of the car.

Noah frowned, eyeing the bright yellow tape stretched across the entrance.“What are all these yellow ropes in front of your house?” Noah asked.

Olivia let out a small chuckle. “It's a caution tape, Noah, not a rope; it's usually used in crime scenes to stop outsiders from coming in while investigators work.” She explained.

“Oh”, Noah nodded in understanding.

Without hesitation, They ducked under the caution tape making their way into the house.

“It feels so weird being back here” Olivia muttered as they approached her bedroom.

As they entered the, she quickly turned around, her heart racing rapidly. She could see it, feel it..the moment she died gruesomely, all playing in her head like it was all happening again.

Noah's and shout out to her. “Are you okay?” He asked, his eyes filled with concern.

She nodded. “There's so much blood,” She said shakingly. “My blood”

Noah pulled her into a tight hug. “It's okay, I got you,” He muttered. “We can always come back again if you can't take it right now?”

“No,” she quickly pulled away, shaking her head. “ We can't leave; I have to do this,” Taking a deep breath, she moved me to the room.

“That is the place I was murdered,” she said, pointing to the floor.

Noah's gaze darkened.“The police have already come here once. I do not think you will find anything,”

A glimmer of light shone from underneath the bed. Just then, a realization hit her.

Her struggle, her finger grabbing onto her murderer's hair, yanking.

Quickly, she rushed to her bed, kneeling beside it. Her hands strolled underneath the bed, her finger wrapping around something as she pulled it out.

“What is it?” Noah asked.

“A ring, My ring,” she gasped. “I remember sticking with him, look,” she said, lifting up the ring. “Hair, this is his, it got stuck in his hair and fell off my hand. I can run a DNA test on this and find out who is after me”

Noah pulled her up from the ground, his grip steady “I will make some calls and help you get the DNA test, but we should get out of here before the investigators come back.

Olivia's fist clenched tight into the ring. Finally, she was one step closer to finding her killer.

*****

A few minutes later, they arrived at a private forensics lab and handed their sample to a man in a white lab suite.

“It's impressive to know people here,” Olivia said as she glanced around.

He slips his hands into his pocket. “I don't”

She turns to look at him, a frown forming on her face. “You don't?”

He shook his head.

“Then why is he helping us?” She asked.

“I paid him”

Olivia covered her mouth, her eyes widening. “That must have been expensive”

“I'm a billionaire, Olivia,”

She scoffed. Lowering her hand . “must be fun being rich”

“It is,” he admitted as if deciding something on the spot,. He turned to face her. “I want you to stay in my house, Olivia,”

She turned to look at him in shock. “What?”

“You do not have a place to stay, your house is a crime scene, and your family or friends won't take you in because right now you are a stranger, I'm the only person you can trust”

“It's okay” She rejected. “I will get a hotel”

“I'm wealthy, Olivia; that doesn't mean that I want to bail you out of prison,”

Her brow furrowed. “What?”

“If you use your credit card you might get locked up for using a dead girl's credit card,” he explained.

Olivia clicked her tongue in realization“Of course,”

Noah chucked. Olivia looked up at him, curiosity beaming in her eyes. “What is it?”

“You always do that when you finally realize something,” a small file played on his lips. “That little click your tongue does”

She blinked “You remember,”

“Of course I do,” he said, his voice softer now. “After death, you are still the same.

She felt a strange warmth in her chest, but before she could say anything, the lab technician approached them, his expression serious.

“You should see this”

Without hesitation, They both followed him into his office where a screen showed their results.

“I ran my test multiple times to be sure, but the same name kept coming up,” he said, turning the screen toward them.

Olivia moved closer.“Which name?”

The man exhaled “Devoe Whitmore, The serial killer,”

Olivia's blood ran cold, but at the same time, she was confused.

Noah frowned. “Devoe Whitnore is a man in his early thirties; how can he have grey hair?”

Olivia shook her head“I don't know,” Olivia muttered. “But I know it wasn't him, unless..” Her eyes widened in realization.

“Or else what?” Noah asked.

“I'm going after a serial killer out, her voice barely above a whisper. “But what if he already found me?” Her whole body shuddered with fear.