Chapter 2 Stranger

Two men, dressed in black suits scoured the rocks obviously in search of something. Then one of them paused on seeing something.

"There's...someone there." The tallest one among them frowned.

"Where?" The other asked, tilting his head.

The first man said nothing, walking towards what he had seen.

"Wait, Karl. Nothing is more important now than finding that elixir."

Karl paused, turning to face him.

"Jameson, the person might need help."

Jameson, the one who spoke about the elixir earlier rolled his eyes.

"And that's none of our business, Mr goody-two-shoes."

Karl advanced forward, making his way towards the body. On getting there, he was met with the body of a person whose face was severely disfigured and burnt, and her body was curved in an abnormal angle, burnt too.

It was a woman, he observed. If it were a normal person seeing this, they'd probably be traumatised but Karl was no normal person.

Then he looked up, there was a cliff at the top. She had probably fallen off it, and was unlucky to get caught in the wildfire that had occurred earlier. Heavens knew what she had been doing at the top of a cliff so high. He picked up her hands and checked her pulse, it was so faint. She was still alive which was strange with the severe injuries and burns she had.

"She was definitely pushed. And she has poor luck, looks like barbecue." Jameson commented from behind, "Look at the angle at which she fell."

"I don't need your theories." Karl muttered coldly.

"You definitely do, because I'm sure you assume she fell. We live in a wicked world, Karl and all good is gone." Jameson sighed, kicking off a rock.

"She'll probably die soon, I admire her will though."

Karl gently picked up the woman and ran, heading towards the sea boat. There was a sea, and a forest all underneath the cliff.

"Don't tell me you're planning to..." Jameson's jaw dropped as he watched Karl drive away with the boat leaving him.

"That bastard." He smiled as he shook his head slowly.

***

Ethan gritted his teeth, pacing about in the drawing room as he made several calls. The bracelet certainly couldn't belong to his Ava, no it just couldn't be.

It didn't help that the news playing on his tab kept insinuating on how bad the wildfire was, and the possibility that those bracelets might belong to...

The charm bracelet which had been recovered from the cliff end was only three in the world, and he had bought one for Ava on her last birthday.

The other two belonged to the women who owned large companies in Oregon. But it happened that one of them came to New York for business.

No matter how sick it sounded, Ethan hoped that it would be the woman from Oregon. He hadn't been himself since he left the cliff.

The bracelet had been taken from the cliff end to the lab, a strand of Ava's hair was removed from her comb to be tested. If the DNA matched, then it would mean that Ava was...

The body wasn't found. The locals living near the cliff edge who had also been victims of the casualty, testified on how bad the wildfire was. The worst they had ever seen. It even turned strong trees to ashes.

Ethan couldn't hold it anymore, he dashed out of the house and drove to the lab. He lost the patience to wait for the results.

"Mr Smart. The-"

"The results, are they ready?" He queried, ignoring her earlier words.

Ethan watched her expression which turned cold instantly.

"Speak, now." His voice was dead cold.

"The DNA matched. The bracelet belonged to Mrs Smart. Her body wasn't found, the fire was that terrible." The lab technician dropped.

Ethan could feel everything stop. It was like the whole world was void. He quietly walked out of the lab, and drove straight to a funeral home.

"I want a casket." He said.

The attendants observed his cold, and expressionless demeanor and did as they were told.

He huddled the Casket alone, back to the mansion. Then he dug a hole, deep enough to contain the casket. Ethan placed the bracelet carefully in it, and buried the casket.

He then sat on the grass, lost and emotionless. A dry laugh escaped his lips.

Out of the blue, a lithe figure ran from nowhere and jumped on the space where he had buried what remained of Ava.

"Ahhhh!" The figure screamed, digging at the soil, it was his wife's best friend; Celeste.

He felt irritated seeing the way she was disturbing his dear Ava.

"Please Ava, come back. Come backkk!" She screamed, sobbing.

Ethan felt a sting in his heart. She and Ava were literally inseparable. He said nothing as he rose up, and walked inside feeling empty..

He didn't even know what to think, or how to react. It was all his fault, he thought he was in control of everything. His heart was clenched, and he was suffocating but he didn't show it.

Soon it was evening, and he sat on Ava's bed staring at pictures.

"Mr Smart, it's raining and she has refused to leave that spot." Carlo, the butler informed.

He said nothing as he looked through the window, it was indeed raining pretty heavily, and Celeste was all cuddled up at the spot where Ava was buried.

"Bring her in." He eventually said.

***

In a dark, underground clinic, ward 224. A woman laid on the bed, wrapped in bandages from head to toe. The woman groaned in pain, trying to get up.

A muffled scream escaped her throat as pain erupted all through her body. She eventually sat up, feeling intense pain.

Her eyes, mouth and nostrils were left unbandaged. Everywhere was pitch black and she could see nothing. As she tried to think, a pang of headache gripped her and she grabbed her head, screaming loudly.