Chapter 1
Sitting alone on the couch of his usually cheerful and lively home, Xavier pondered what he could have done to save his girlfriend from the unknown tragedy that had occurred only 72 hours prior, resulting in the disappearance of Emris Colworth.
A stream of tears raced each other down the lightly freckled cheeks of Xavier’s face.
He stared blankly at the wall, his vision blurry, his ears ringing and his head pounding as if his heart was inside his brain.
He was numb with pain. He believed it was all his fault. All the memories of nights he walked Emris home from clubs after she had drunk too much pushed to the front of his head.
He focused on her smile in his memories and how she had that one dimple on her left cheek which made him fall for her even more.
A sudden rage filled up inside him, he felt his blood turn into fire and he could only think of one thing.
He had to catch the bastard that had taken her away from him. Glass poured like rain off the photo frames he had hung on the wall which contained pictures of him and Emris on many of their little adventures.
That trip to the museum, getting lost in a small town in the middle of no where, their budget class flight to Fiji, the two of them in the spa Xavier had in his ensuite and finally, the day Emris moved in.
Blood trickled down Xavier’s knuckles like red, velvety waterfalls. It turned out punching glass wasn’t such a smart idea for him. He sat back down and picked up the phone which sat on the coffee table of his cozy lounge room. Hesitantly, he pressed the numbers which his mothers phone number consisted of and let it ring in his hand. Once she answered, Xavier did not know what to say. It had been over a year since he had been in contact with his mother since she treated him poorly as a kid and made no effort to check up on him once he moved out. “Hello?” Came a steady voice through the speaker of his iPhone 8. “Who’s there?” The voice of his mother spoke again, this time more aggressively. Beep Beep Beep. Xavier released his finger from the decline button on his screen. He dropped his phone on the floor carelessly and slumped his body against the back of the lounge, his head faced upwards to the ceiling and there be stayed for a long moment, letting thoughts of guilt come into his head as they pleased. Ring Ring, Ring Ring. His phone began to ring. Hoping it wasn’t his mother, Xavier answered the phone with a muffled “This is Xavier”, he wiped his eyes which were now red and stinging. “I know it’s you silly...” There was an awkward and painful pause. “I heard about what happened and I just need to know that you aren’t being reckless”. His cousin Amber spoke gently to him, in a tone which could hypnotise anyone into thinking they were fine, even if they had just been in a shooting. “Amber... I can’t breathe... all this pain, It’s consuming me!” His heart felt as if it were going to rip out from his chest. “I know it hurts monkey, I know”. Xavier felt a flush of relief inside him, remembering that Amber had been through a similar event somehow made him feel more at peace. Maybe that was selfish but he was glad he had somehow who understood what he was going though.
