Arabelle

Chapter 15 - Death and Magic

Chapter 15

Ruth’s POV

I couldn’t get over the anger I felt right now, I couldn’t believe I had failed, I was this close to reaching my goal but it was obvious I had underestimated Derrick, as I sat in the back seat of the car, I couldn’t help but feel great anger and hate towards the spoilt brat, he had everything handed to him and he felt he was entitled to it now, kids like him needed to be taught a lesson and I think I was the perfect candidate for the job.

 My driver pulled up in front of my destination, he parked  the car in front of the building and rushed to open the door for me, I stepped out into the gleaming sunlight, I walked towards the entrance, it wasn’t  my first time coming here so the security here were already used to me, they greeted me as I walked past them, I ignored them, I had better things to worry about right now than responding to the greeting of mere security personnel, I knew my way around and needed no directions, I passed by the receptionist who I thought was a very nasty girl, I felt her eyes on me as I walked past her, I headed straight to the elevator and got in, pressing the button for the floor I intended to go to, a few minutes later, I stepped out of the elevator and walked towards my destination, I got to the door and knocked, a few seconds later, I heard a voice asking me to come in, I pushed the door open and walked in, I saw the person I had come to see seating in his chair but there was also a young lady with him, she didn’t look familiar but I noticed she was a very beautiful girl with a kind face, she was smiling at  me, her smile was so bright I couldn’t help but smile back,

“Ruth, just the woman I wanted to see” Ian Langrove said, a smile just as bright as that of the lady was on his face,

 I liked Ian Langrove a lot, he was a bright young man with a personality that always drew people toward him, like the first we met, it was at an art exhibition, I was studying a painting when he walked up to me and told me that I looked like I belonged inside that painting, I  had laughed because it was a painting of a dark cloud with hooded figures, he continued by saying I had a very unique face and that it was rare to see a woman with such a domineering presence, some people might have found a statement like that offensive but as for me, I like what he said, I prided myself on been a domineering woman, I loved to control and always be the one calling the shots, after the exhibition, I had received a parcel, when I opened it, I found it was the same painting and a note saying  “I felt this was really painted just for you, it will be an utter shame if you let it end up in someone else’s hands, you can thank me by giving me a call” his phone number and name had been written on the note, I looked up his name on the internet and I had found he was the CEO of Langrove international companies, he was also the only son of the Langrove Family, he had recently returned to America after spending most of his life in London, his father had passed away for almost 10 years, his mother was not involved in the business, she was not a woman who enjoyed shopping and spending money.

After a deciding that he was someone that could be beneficial to me in many ways, I gave him a call and funny enough, he had a very interesting proposal for me, he offered to make me the CEO of King’s Enterprise and since I found the proposal interesting, I had accepted and since then we had been partners.

I took a seat facing Ian who was looking at me with a bright smile, he had known about today’s meeting so he was eager to hear the outcome,

“Ruth, before you tell me how the meeting went, allow me to introduce Isabella Mavericks, she is just like a sister to me and Bella, this is Ruth, she is a good friend of mine” Ian said as he gestured to the young lady, I turned to look at her,

She gave me a smile and said “A pleasure to meet you Ma’am”

I also smiled and said “A pleasure to meet you too Bella”

“Great! Now that the introductions are out of the way, go ahead and tell me how the meeting went, I do hope the results were to our advantage” Ian said,

Remembering how the meeting went, I suddenly felt the anger return with a vengeance, “he managed to find a way to stay in his position, he gave some reasons that the board could not argue with, so the meeting concluded in his favor” I said,

I saw the smile flicker on Ian’s face but he managed to keep it in place, it was obvious that the news displeased him, and even the lady looked rather bothered by it, I had always being curious about what was the history between Ian and Derrick, even back then, when he offered to make CEO, he hadn’t told me why he was doing it, he just offered me a deal that was very hard to refuse but now, I was getting curios, I wanted to know the reason why he was doing this but from the beginning, he had said that he had only had one condition and that was that his reasons will be known to him and him alone,

“Well that was disappointing but there Is always next time, opportunities will always present themselves, we just have to wait, right Bella?” Ian said,

“Yes I agree with Ian, there will always be opportunities, I can assure you that Ma’am” The lady said, as she said this, I couldn’t help but notice the evil glint in her eyes, she suddenly looked dangerous and I was now more curios than ever before, there was something going on here, something that was obviously deeper than just business rivalry, something I was going to find out.

“You guys are completely right, I am sure the right opportunity will present itself very soon” I said,

Ian smiled and said “That’s the spirit Ruth, no need to feel down, just go home and rest and forget all about today, it’s already in the past”

I smiled and stood up “You are absolutely right Ian, that’s exactly what I will do” I extended my hand toward him for a handshake which he accepted with a smile,

I smiled at the young lady and she smiled right back, we said goodbye and then I left, I was just about   to close the door behind me when I heard Ian say “We need someone else”

That was the last thing I heard before the closed s**t behind me, as I said before, something was going on and I had to find out what it was very soon, I had to know the people I was working with, for all I knew, I might be in danger, doubling my steps, I hurried away, I suddenly felt an urgent need to be away from here, it was almost like something very urgent was calling to me and I found it very hard to resist.

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Unknown POV

She is a playing a dangerous game, she wishes to hurt him, she will have to pay for what she wants to do, she wants to cause him pain, she will feel pain worse than what she planned, no one can hurt him, they will die before they get a chance to hurt him, I will kill them all, they have no idea what I am capable of, I will start with her, she had attempted to cause him pain so for that she must suffer, she will regret what she did and so will they, they will never harm Richard, I will protect him no matter what.

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Bella’s POV

The first of Ian’s plans was not going according to plan, he had many plans in place to get this matter settled once and for all, he and Aunt Marla had obviously thought it through very well, they had put  in a lot of effort and time into all this and I was going to make sure their efforts weren’t wasted, I was to make sure everything turned out right, we were going to finish this as quickly as possible and we could all live our lives peacefully and forget about the past.

I had left Ian’s office two hours back, I was back home now , I had lunch and was watching TV, when my phone rang, I looked at the screen, it was a number I didn’t know, I picked up the call,

“Hello” I said,

All I heard was static sounds, like something was vibrating and then I heard a piercing scream, the phone flew out of my hand as I clutched my ears, the sound kept resounding in my ears and I started seen flashes of different images, I saw the statue of liberty, then I saw a woman, but she had her back to me, her hair was in total disarray, she was dressed in  a black flowing gown, her nails were long and bloody, then that image disappeared and was replaced by the woman i had seen this morning at Ian's office, she was covered in blood and her eyes were hollow, she looked like she was dead, the scream was still sounding in my ears, then i heard a voice reciting something, it was hard concentrate because of the screaming, i tried my best to concentrate, the voice was faint but i could make out some words, it was a spell, someone was reciting a spell, there was another witch, one i didn't know about and she was obviously behind this,

the images flashed again and settled on the bloody image of Ruth, i felt tears well up in my eyes, she was obviously dead, her cloth was socked with blood and she wasn't breathing, suddenly i heard a voice that sounded unnatural, it sounded distorted and loud, my ears felt like they were on fire,

"Hello Arabelle, it's been a while" the voice said,

i was trying to focus on the spell in the background, if i could find out which spell it was then maybe i could use a counter spell to stop it, 

the loud voice was still saying things but i was no longer listening, i had shut it out, i muttered a silencing spell, and every other sound seized, only the voice chanting the spell was clear,

"alie messoh aans soolaa waa ammrreettt taaa ooonnnaaaa" the voice was saying,

i recognized the spell, it was spell used for entering someone's mind, it was a very powerful and only great witches could use it to this degree, it required years of practice and experience, 

the counter spell was also very difficult and i had only learnt in theory., i had never really tried it practically, i remembered the spell to use, 

i chanted it continuously, for a while nothing happened, i kept my concentration intact and then after a few minutes, i heard nothing but silence and the disturbing image of Ruth vanished, my ears stopped ringing, i stood up quickly reaching for my phone, i immediately went to my call logs, i wanted to see the last number that had called me but there was nothing, the last call was from hours ago, i was shocked, then i remembered Ruth, i had no idea where she lived, i had only just met her today, i hurriedly dialed Ian's number, he was taking a while to answer, the TV screen was displaying some images, i wasn't paying attention to it, Ian's phone remained unanswered, the call disconnected and i dialed it again, it rang steadily in my ears, one of the images on the TV screen caught my eye and i felt my entire body freeze, on the TV screen was a body covered with a white cloth stained with blood and not to far away was the statue of liberty, with shaking fingers, i turned up the volume with the remote that wasn't too far away from me,

"........it was reported that she jumped from the statue of liberty, up until now it is still unclear as to how she ended up there in the first place, the deceased has been identified as Ruth........."

That was all i heard before my hands began to shake violently and my head began to feel faint, i had Ian's voice calling my name from the phone, i wanted to answer him but i found i could not, i was slipping and fading into nothingness

"Bella? Bella, answer me please" Ian was saying, the phone slipped out of my hand and i felt the darkness overtake me.