Come Closer

Chapter 6

The phone kept ringing for a few times. Nathan lazily got up from the couch he has been napping on and his eyes widened when he saw the name displayed on the screen. “Avelyn?!” He quickly answered.

“Hello Avelyn! It has been a long time huh?” Nathan exclaimed.

“Yes, Nathan! How are you doing?”

“I’m doing all right. What made you call me?”

He heard Avelyn let out a sigh. “Nathan, I need your help” Avelyn finally said. “What’s wrong?” Nathan asked, worried. “Can’t tell you now. I’ll meet you. Are you at the same place like before?” Avelyn asked as she hadn’t contacted Nathan for some time. “No Avelyn, I’ve moved to a new place. I’ll come to yours” Nathan said. “OK. See you later.” Avelyn hung up and quickly walked home.

After two hours, Avelyn heard a knock on the door. She hurriedly opened it to see Nathan waiting outside. She opened the door wide. “Come in”. As Nathan went in, she gestured him to sit on the couch. She could clearly see that Nathan was worried by just glancing at his face.

“What’s wrong Avelyn? Tell me” Nathan said. Avelyn took a deep breath.

“Lyena is missing”

“What? What do you mean by “missing”?”

“She can’t be found. It’s like she had vanished into the thin air. Even the police can’t find a trace of her for a week.” Avelyn said.

“Hold on! Hold on! Tell me what happened from the beginning.”

“Three weeks ago, we had a fight, I mean, not a big one, you know, and Lyena walked out in anger. She didn’t return that day. So I searched for her but I couldn’t find her. Only her bracelet was found near an alley. Then I informed the police in the next morning and there’s still not a sign of her. That’s why I asked for your help.” Avelyn told Nathan the whole story.

“It’s strange that there hasn’t been news. I think this is related to some mafia. Only they can do something like this without any evidence.” said Nathan after thinking.

“Mafia? Nathan, there has been some cases around here like murders, drug business and such cases. Do you really think that some mafias are connected to this?” asked Avelyn.

“The more I think of it, I feel it is true. If this isn’t related to mafias, Lyena should be found by now” said Nathan.

“But there is no reason to take Lyena with them”

“When did they need a reason to do some s**t?”

Avelyn stood up and paced back and forth. “How are we going to find her now? She could be anywhere. Mafias don’t play with their business. Lyena must be in trouble. Oh GOD! I hope she is OK. What if they have sold her? Oh no! I can’t even think about what might have happened to her already.” She started talking to herself. Her speed of pacing increased with every word she spoke. “This is my entire fault! I shouldn’t have let her go out in that god forsaken evening. And there was a body, in that alley, a fresh one. Shot in the head. What if they have killed her for witnessing it? I know they don’t spare witnesses to give the word to the police. I should have protected her.” She sat down again on the couch and messed up her hair violently and buried her face in her hands.

Nathan tried to assure Avelyn. “Calm down Avelyn, there’s nothing we can do by hurrying things. I’ll search for Lyena using my men. Don’t worry we will find her soon.”

“Only if they haven’t already done something to her” said Avelyn frustrated.

“No, Avelyn, think positively. The police are searching for her. And, as I’m going to find her too, the chances that we'll be able to find Lyena have doubled” said Nathan.

“You’re right Nathan. We should try our best in this matter.” Avelyn agreed.

She took Nathan’s hands in hers.“Thank you Nathan for helping me, after all this while”

Nathan smiled and shook his head. “If you hadn’t saved me when I was beaten up, if you had left me in that gutter to rot and die, I would not be here today, Avelyn. If you can’t think of this as a help, consider this as a repayment from me.”