Chapter 21

As he was going to touch my shoulders, I avoided his hands. I was going to push him, he suddenly took grab of my arms with a tight grip. Thinking of how to escape his grip, I turn the other way as I raise my arms above my head. By doing this, I forcefully pull his arms in front of me, pulling his whole body and tumbling on the floor. As he let go of me, he groaning to the pain. I don't want to hurt him and I'm doing this for him.

"I'm sorry.. Just let me do this..." My voice soft as I'm feeling more hurt that I have to hurt him to get my way. I turn back to the door. I took one step but my other foot was grabbed my Noah.

"We could go there together, why are you going alone?" He asked, with his voice trembling from worry, as if the tone of his voice is begging me to not stop. The pain is too overbearing that I can't hold back my tears anymore. He's in pain... I can't leave him here like this... I turn to look at him and got down on my knees to face him. It took him a while to sit up properly and face me with his face full of worry.

He always cared for me... I can't just do this to him... My heart can't take it... Unconsciously, I pull Noah towards me and I wrap my arms around his shoulders. My tears already falling, I was sobbing and sniffling. He pulls away and took me for a kiss. His kiss always made me feel at ease and safe. We were happy the past days, from the date, to our secrets, till we already slept on the same bed. I was happy.

But this isn't going to stop me...

I ready myself to knock him out. As my hands are around him, I put one in front of me and I aimed on his neck. Knocking him out...

As I realized what I did, my tears fell even more. I cry because I know I don't want to hurt him but I did. I pull away, leaving him lying on the kitchen floor, unconscious. Leaving him there is hard for me, but if I try to move him, he might wake up. As my decision, I just leave him there though it was hard for me.

I'm sorry... Don't ever forgive me... my love...

I left shedding more tears by the second but eventually stopped as I reach my destination. Seeing that the bar is as lively as ever I step in just to find a bunch of guys huddled over me.

"Looking pretty tonight miss" "Wanna grab a drink?" "Let's get to know each other". Men shower me with attention as they give me compliments and tries to woo me. Most of them tries hard not to touch me but I eventually reject all of them for the mission. And I am obviously not flirting with guys like them.

Making my way to the counter, I order a cocktail to refrain myself from getting drunk faster. As I take a sip of my drink, I see a young woman sit in front of the counter also.

Just half of her face is seen since she was wearing some kind of half-faced mask, covering the right side of her face. Turning to look my way, I eventually look elsewhere. She seems familiar. Like I've seen her somewhere before. And as the left side of her face was the the only side facing me, I eventually realized. That's why she looked so familiar. It took my breath away as I started to sweat a little. It's her.

The woman in my dream.

The one who's arms was linked with Noah.

But why is she here..? Of all places. Didn't Noah tell me she's in the US? The unbelievable realization I made just made me even more curious. Taking two martinis, she stood and went into one of the private rooms in the bar. As I try to blend right in with the crowd, a man comes to me eventually wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Hey beautiful. Bright night eh?" The stranger says as he gave me a grin.

But then again. I could use this advantage to get in that room. Then I could find out what her purpose is here. Questions are running on my head but I just eventually brush them off to focus on my goal.

"It is" I say. I look at him and just another second, faces him with my arms around his neck. Tracing my finger along his neck, he let out a subtle moan, one that only I could hear. Though I'm doing this, I don't feel any erotic feelings for this man, the fact that this man is not Noah is a total turn off. I give him a mischievous smile and he wryly smiles back at me.

"Want to take this somewhere we're alone?" He asks. His hands on my waist, slowly going south. Just before he touches anything inappropriate, I slap his hands away. He put on a confused look until I spoke again. "Better catch me first"

I say, playfully. I reach to my small purse where I put my gadgets and equipments I'm going to use. Recorder lipstick, a small tranquilizer, a multi-tool, some painkillers, and of course, a GPS signal, in case I get into trouble. I open the room where the woman came in but I'm surprised that she wasn't there. I hide my disappointment and sit on the sofa and crossed my legs. As the stranger follows, I stop him and asks for a favor. "Could you get us something to drink? I get really really get thirsty when I get in the mood.." I move my finger to my neck and I rest my chin on my palm, giving another mischievous smile.

"Yes maam" He said, stepping out of the room.

As soon as he got out, I eventually start looking of something to prove to me where that woman went. I look at every cushion on the sofa, the magazines on the table, the shelves, and the cabinets. No sign of clues. And as I was about to concede defeat, I lean against the wall. Then I hear a creaking sound and I eventually backed away as I realized what I found.

A secret passage.

I push the wall to find a dim-lit stairway heading as where I could describe as pure nothingness. The darkness of the stairway made it creepier than being here. I close the door and took out my lispstick. Good thing, this has a small flashlight. I stay at the left side of the stairway as I feel like there are no stair handles to hold onto. As I feel like I'm getting closer, cold breeze brushed through my hair, giving me goosebumps.

As I reach the very end of the stairs, I find a door slightly opened, and I heard voice coming from inside. I peak and I see the woman I saw at the bar talking to someone. Just as I was thinking of a way to sneak in, I accidentally pushed the door slightly making a creaking sound along with it. To their surprise, they turn to my direction and I avoided their gaze. I was about to panic, but then someone took me from behind and covered my mouth. I couldn't say a word since someone might hear me. But this person is strong. Its grip is tight and I hear this voice say.

"Petty for someone like you to come to a place like this alone"

Just by hearing her voice, I tremble with surprise and sadness.