CHAPTER 4: SABLE
1515 Words
ELENA’S POV:
Weeks passed. Kane came every week, never missing.
One afternoon he came in, he looked tense.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing, nothing you need to worry about.”
“Kane, talk to me.”
He sighed.
“There’s someone. A rival, from another pa… group I’m part of.”
“Okay?” I asked.
“She’s testing me, to know if I’m weak.”
“Testing you? How?”
“That doesn’t matter now.”
“It matters to me if it’s making you look like this.”
He looked at me. Like he was deciding.
“Sable, that’s her name.”
“She attacked me that night, that’s how I got the wound.”
He was telling me what I had been asking for but I wasn’t sure if I could take this.
“Someone attacked you on purpose?”
“Yes.”
“And she’s still out there?”
“Yes.”
I gently sat down across him.
“But why would anyone want to hurt you and intentionally too?”
“Power, control. I told you it’s complicated remember?”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s absolutely true.”
“I shouldn’t have told you this much, now you seem terrified.”
“Too late.”
I wanted to ask more but from the way he looked, I knew not to keep pushing, at least for today.
So instead I checked his pulse.
For the rest of the day, I kept thinking about Sable.
I thought about the man that was always in the car. Was he some sort of protection? Or was he something else entirely?
The next morning, I asked Yasmine if she noticed anything strange about Kane’s visits.
“Asides the fact that you light up when he comes in?”
“Yasmine, I’m serious.”
She softened her expression.
“What’s wrong?” She asked quietly.
“He told me someone attacked him on purpose. That was what caused the wound.”
“Attacked him how and why?”
“He didn’t say much, just that it’s some kind of rivalry.”
“That doesn’t sound good, Elena.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you let him come back?”
I didn’t have an answer for that.
A few days later, I was leaving work late and tired from a long shift when I noticed a woman standing near the parking lot.
She wasn’t a staff, I knew most of the patients and she wasn’t one too.
She just stood there, watching the building.
Our eyes met. She smiled and walked away.
I was scared for my life. I made it to my car and locked the doors instantly.
When Kane came for his next visit, I told him about her.
I could’ve sent a text or called but seeing him physically was the best.
“What did she look like?”
“Tall, dark hair.”
He was still.
“Sable.”
“That was Sable?” I almost screamed.
“She has never come this close.” His voice was low.
“What does this mean?”
“She knows about you.”
My heartbeat went up.
“Me? Why would she care about me?”
He didn’t speak.
“Kane.”
“It’s not safe for me to explain everything yet. But please, I need you to be careful.”
“You can’t just tell me to be careful and not explain why.”
“I know and I’m sorry. I just…” He stopped.
“I need more time.”
“Time for what?”
“To fix this without putting you in more danger.
I wanted to argue but he looked like he was heavy.
“Okay.” I said quietly.
“But you should keep coming. I need to know you’re safe.”
“I will, take care too.”
When he left, I sat at the nurses’ station staring into the air.
“You look pale, is everything fine?” Yasmine said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“I think I saw her. The person that attacked him.”
“What happened?” She said moving a chair towards me to sit.
I explained everything. The woman, his expression when he heard it, the warning, everything.
“Elena, I don’t like where this is going.”
“I don’t like it either.”
“Maybe you stop seeing him, at least till things are clear.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Why? He’s obviously mixed up with something dangerous.”
“I know, but he came to warn me himself. That means something.”
“Yes, it means you’re too close to see it clearly.”
I didn’t have a response for that.
“Just promise me you’ll be careful,” she said.
“I promise.”
She didn’t look convinced but she let it go.
Before getting into bed that night, I locked every door and window in my apartment.
I didn’t sleep so much that night,not like I didn’t want to. I just couldn’t.
Any small sound, I was up and just when I was getting sleep, my alarm rang.
I felt really tired, like I hadn’t rested at all.
Work was slow too. Patients strolling in and out, charts getting filled, no time to rest.
I didn’t complain, I chose this life.
The busy day helped though, it helped me take my mind off Kane and the box.
But it didn’t last.
“He’s not telling you everything. Ask him about his father.”
It was a message from an unknown number.
I stared at it for a long moment, my heart racing.
There was no name, no explanation whatsoever, just those seven words.
I showed it to Yasmine during our break.
“Do you have an idea who sent it?” she asked.
“I don’t know who. The number is not saved anywhere, it can’t even be traced.”
“Maybe it’s a prank?”
“No I don’t think so, I feel it’s more than that.”
She handed the phone back slowly.
“His father? You said Kane doesn’t talk much about his family.”
“Girl, he doesn’t talk much about anything.”
“So would you ask him about it?”
I didn’t answer at first.
“What do you suggest?”
“I think you should, bring it up when you see next.”
“Okay. I hope it’s nothing.”
I listened to Yasmine.
When Kane came for his usual visit the next two days, I waited till the room was quiet, just us.”
“I got a strange message.” I said.
He sat up.
“Yeah?”
“What did it say? From who?”
“Anonymous sender. It said you’re not telling me everything and I should ask about your father.”
His expression changed, like he knew how not to react when things came up.
“My father isn’t part of this in anyway.” He said sternly.
“That’s not exactly an answer.”
“Elena, I..”
“You keep telling me to trust you but you don’t give me anything to work with. You just keep confusing me with pieces.”
“It’s like you just want me to be curious, nothing else.”
He was quiet.
“Say something Kane.”
He sighed.
“My father..”
“Okay?”
“He used to lead the team I told you about. He was in charge of making rules, really strict rules that we had to adhere to.”
“He’s gone now, disappeared years ago. No one knows if he’s alive.”
“And the message? Why did whoever want me to ask about him?”
“I honestly don’t know why.”
“But if someone is trying to use him to get to you, that worries me more than Sable does.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it means someone out there knows things they shouldn’t know, even things I don’t understand.”
I sat with that for a moment.
“Do you think it could be Sable that sent the message?”
“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it means we’re being watched closer than I thought too.”
I felt scared.
“Watched? By who?”
“I wish I knew.”
He held my hand.
“You’re scared.”
“Shouldn’t I be?”
“No, I’m with you.”
For the first time since I met Kane, he looked unsure.
It scared me more than any wound or heartbeat I ever felt.
“I need to figure this out before it gets worse.” He said, like he was talking to himself.
“We.” I corrected.
He looked at me, surprised.
“You said ‘I need to figure this out.’ I think you mean we.”
“You don’t have to be part of this, Elena.”
“I think it’s quite late for that.”
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