GREETINGS FROM W

Seventeen

I drove back home, praying my mum didn't throw out the Russian dolls. I couldn't even turn on the radio as my mind was too busy thinking about my conversation with Luke. I was unable to process anything else. 

Wolfe's letters were becoming more and more confusing, and it made me wonder what was going on in his life before the incident. I knew he was already busy working in the agency, as well as helping Sixth Sense on their latest album, so how did he find time to make our album and prepare everything he wrote on the letters?

The drive was getting longer than usual as I was impatient to get back home and unravel the first secret behind the mysterious letters. 

I left the car in the parking lot and ran to the building. I was too nervous that I struggled to find the keys in my bag. I stop searching, and I closed my eyes for a moment to take a deep breath. 

“Come on, Skylar. Calm down,” I whispered, then I opened my eyes and looked for the keys— calmly this time. 

I opened the door, and a nice fragrance welcomed me from the kitchen. Mum must have passed by to cook something before going back to work. I took off my jacket and washed my hands and walked to the kitchen to find a pan full of carbonara pasta. I smiled, then I let out a deep sigh as I remembered I had something more important than eating to do. 

I headed to my room and opened my closet to look for the dolls. There were only clothes I brought and others I left years ago. There were also some papers from high school and college, but no traces of matryoshkas. I looked under my bed, but there was only dust and probably a few spiders hiding under the bed frame. 

There was no hope to find the dolls in my room, so I tried my parents'. Countless ironed shirts and dresses were in the closet, and boxes of my mum's jewellery and dad's watches. I found papers from work, their passports and a few other things that were none of my business. My parents' room was as hopeless.

I searched all the cupboards in the living room, as well as the drawers, and I started getting impatient. My chest tightened, and I cursed every time I opened an empty drawer. 

I sat on the floor as I looked around the apartment with my eyes. I was angry and desperate to find a clue. More than a month passed after Wolfe's death, and we still had no idea what happened. It was killing me inside, and it was the only thing I could think about lately. I even stopped writing and doing my usual routine. 

I found nothing in the kitchen, either. There were only utensils and food packages—and the carbonara pasta I was eager to devour. 

I was about to call my mum and ask her about the dolls, but I couldn't disturb her while she was working. I let out a deep sigh as I looked at the clothes turning round and round in the washing machine. 

The laundry room. 

I furrowed a brow and opened the door to the laundry room. There was a basket full of dirty clothes next to the dryer, as well as laundry on the rack. 

I found some boxes in the corner, and I hurried to open them. I recognised some toys me and Harper used to play. There were old books and useless objects I wondered why my mum was keeping. 

Then, I spotted red figures in the back of the box—bingo!

“Found ya!” I grinned, and I quickly pulled the matryoshkas from the box. Dust covered them, and I wiped them with a towel. 

I opened the first doll to find another one, and it went on until I got to the smallest matryoshka. I took a deep breath, and I closed one eye as I opened it slowly. “What the hell?” I mumbled when I found a USB key—the same brand he used to save the songs he left for us. 

“What's this again?” I swallowed as I felt my heart pounding in my ribcage. 

I stood up and ran to my room to turn on my laptop. I waited impatiently as I shook my leg, then I connected the USB. My heart jumped when I saw the file name—GFW.

I got scared and excited at the same time. It was my second time seeing the three letters, and it felt like Wolfe was still with us. 

“Okay, let's do this,” I clicked on the file, and there were two videos. It was no word document or a picture, but videos. I didn't know what to expect. 

I clicked on the first video, and my heart threatened to burst when I spotted Luke walking in the Glass Entertainment building. He entered the same room I met Sixth Sense in, then the camera kept focusing on the closed door. I skipped until Luke got out, then another footage caught him heading to the entrance door, and it looked like one of the employees called him. He turned around to ask, then he followed him. They stopped in front of a different room this time, and Luke entered alone, then the video stopped.

I hurried to click on the second video, but this time, instead of the hallways, the camera recorded the room. 

“No way,” I mumbled when I saw I-Luna dancing. “Is it the deleted footage?” 

Luke stood by the door, then it looked like I-Luna was inviting him to dance with her, but he shook his hands. Luke wasn't much of a dancer, and we used to force him to join us, so it didn't surprise me that he refused her. 

I-Luna grabbed his wrist and dragged him in front of the mirror. I recognised the choreography of her latest hit, and she was supposed to do it with her backup dancers.

Then, I frowned when I saw her change the moves and start to touch Luke suggestively. He pushed her gently, and I guessed he was asking her to stop, then he was about to leave when she hugged him from behind. 

The image wasn't clear, but it was obvious that Luke was annoyed by her act, and he tried to remain respectful and avoid being violent with her. He took her hands away from him, then she quickly grabbed his wrist again and dragged him on the couch. He lost his balance, so he fell, and she climbed on top of him.

“f*****g b***h,” I gasped and clenched my fists as I watched her touch his chest and kiss his neck. 

Luke pushed her a little more aggressively this time, and when she was about to touch him, he shoved her on the couch as he shouted something at her, and that was when the employees entered the room and found them. 

I-Luna was the aggressor, and Luke was behind the bars for having defended himself.

I took a deep breath, then I unlocked my phone to open the GEMSS group conversation.

We need to talk ASAP.