Chapter 23

—NOAH'S POV—

Ugh... My head hurts..

I woke up lying on the floor of the front door. I remember trying to stop Anette from going alone. I quickly get up from the floor despite my aching head. Balancing myself so I won't fall, I go to the kitchen counter and found her note.

"Noah... don't ever forgive me... my love... I love you.."

As her voice in my mind reads the noted, I crumple it into a ball and run to my room. I took my phone on my bed and dialed Christopher. As my phone is ringing, I search and wear what I could get in my cabinet. I put my phone in speaker mode so it wouldn't be that much of a hassle. I can't believe she went there alone! That idiot.. This is making me so frustrated I didn't notice I'm already shaking a bit. Just imagining what could've happened to her, I worry about her even more.

"Hey.. it's 3 in the morning.. don't you know people are sleeping..?" He finally picks up.

"CURSE SLEEP! WHERE IS THAT BASTARD DAVE'S HIDE OUT?! ANETTE WENT THERE ON HER OWN!" I practically shout to him as I leave my room, running towards the door out my home.

"WHAT?! DAMNIT!! I'll go with you, where do you live?" He says as I hear noises from the other side of the line.

"WHO NEEDS TO KNOW THAT?? GIVE ME THE ADDRESS ALREADY!! CONTACT VILEA AND GO WITH HER!!" I say panicking as I'm waiting for a taxi to pass by our street.

"I'll text you the address. I'll meet you there." He says, as he hung up. My phone vibrates and I saw he already sent the address. Just in time, a taxi passes by taking me to the address. While on the car, I couldn't help but think of Anette.

She must be in trouble now.. No no. It's better to think positively of the situation. She's fine. She's fine. Why did she even think of going there alone..? What an idiot that woman is.. but I wouldn't forgive myself if she got hurt.

I arrived of the place, just looking at it give me an eerie feeling. I enter the place and find very few strangers drinking and socializing. Maybe because of the hour of day. I fidget as I roam the place, looking for certain clues. To blend in I go to the counter and order martini. As my eyes continue to search the place, I see a familiar face walking from the women's restroom to a room. If I'm correct...

that's Cherry.

I saw her in some of the pictures Anette sent to me when I was still in America. Anette said she has this cute and warm aura around her. But seeing her dressed in all black, I became suspicious. What is she doing here and where was she when Anette was with me.

I put down my glass and eventually followed her to the room she just entered in. I counted up to 1 minute before I entered the room, but she was gone. This is raising my suspicions even more. Maybe there's some kind of magic that they used.

No no, that's impossible. And childish.

I went out of the room again and saw two familiar faces entering the place. Christopher and Vilea, dressed to blend in the surroundings, they approached me.

"Have you found anything?" Chris spoke quietly. Scanning the perimeter of some suspicious people. I put my hand inside my pocket and breathe in.

"Not much. But don't be so surprised" I told them, my voice is lower since there are some people in the bar

"I found something mysterious just before you guys went in. I think I found the woman named Cherry here—" As I was speaking, their eyes widened as they heard her name, cutting off his sentence.

"What? That's impossible. Where is she?" He quietly protest.

"How was she?" Vilea asks humbly, but I see she's trying to keep her cool. Her fists are clutched and fidgeting somehow.

"She's fine. In fact, too fine. I didn't get to talk to her but I'm sure she was the same person Anette was talking about. But I don't get why she's in here..." I explain to them in a quiet manner and opened the door to the room where Cherry went in. "She went here, but I'm also surprised when she wasn't here anymore."

We look around the room and suddenly the barista came in.

"Good day. But this is the VIP Lounge and before you enter the room you must pay." He said. As I was going to give the guy cash, Vilea took a black card from her purse giving it to the barista.

"Use this. I'll be using this room for the whole day. Wait, no. I'll be renting the whole bar the whole day. So kick all the people who's clubbing here right now. Also, I'll start a tab, order whatever you like, I'll pay for you. The password is 112418. No need to enter this room got it?" She insisted and the guy nodded in surprise and left without another word.

Chris and I, stood there, surprised on how well she pulled that out. We're both staring at her. And she raised her eye brow.

"What? First time to see me pay bills?" She asked. I know we're supposed to take it as a joke but her tone of voice when she said that is full of irritation. "I have plenty of cards back home. That just one of the million cards my dad gave me."

M-million cards..? I couldn't believe people keep on spoiling their children with money and credit cards. That's so irresponsible.

"Hey! Focus!" She suddenly snapped me back to reality. I brushed the though out of my mind. Right. We're here because we're on a mission. We searched the room for some eveidences and leads, but for some reason we couldn't find anything that we could consider as clues.

"Uhh this is no use.." I say as I lean by the wall. Just as I was about to give up, I hear a creaking sound from the wall I leaned on. In my surprise, Chris and Vilea turned to my direction. I think this is a movable wall. I push the wall and find that it's dark inside. But as I opened my small flashlight, I see there's a staircase here. There are no handles so I figure this is dangerous.

"What did you find?" Chris asked, as he peeked into the secret passage I found.

"We need to be more careful. It's dark here so it's best we stay together at all cost." Vilea said, entering the dark staircase, followed by Chris. I close the wall and follow them.

The eerie feeling I felt when I saw this place intensifies as I take every step down the stairs. I couldn't stop thinking of Anette. Her safety is important, but the mission is important too. Whatever this Dave guy is doing, I'm not going to let this pass if he lays a finger on her.

As we feel like we reached the end of the stairs, we saw a door which is slightly open. I gesture to Chris and Vilea to hide behind the wall separating the two rooms. I'm supposed to look inside that room. I take a look through the small opening of the door, and look at the room and I froze. My eyes couldn't believe what I'm witnessing.

It's Anette...

But she's...

kissing Dave...