| Fan Fiction |
by x.shuang.dao.x
A Cloying Addiction [Chapter 11]
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With Kale safely away in another continent, of course there weren’t any new cases popping up and Owodog and Ashley were somewhat grateful because they still had quite a few cases on hand.
Owodog had not seen Elisha since the night he first met her and he honestly had no inclination to see her again unless he had to. Whether or not anything was going to happen between him and Ashley, Owodog still wasn’t going to risk it. In fact, he didn’t want anything to happen between him and Ashley then, because he knew she definitely wasn’t over Monkey yet and he didn’t want to be a substitute.
Plus, the whole Fabien incident was not very long gone either.
Owodog flipped through crime scene photographs mindlessly. He had gone through every stack of photographs on his desk at least ten times but he just could not detect anything unusual and out of the norm in the pictures. He was losing concentration rapidly, and he knew that if he didn’t get some form of motivation soon, his credibility and reliability in the station were going to suffer. In fact, he was so out of sorts he didn’t even touch a cup of caramel macchiato in days. He supposed his addiction was fading away.
If only addictions could all fade away, then Owodog was hoping that Ashley’s stalker guy’s addiction to her would fade away even quicker.
Ashley appeared to be in a much better state than him on the surface, but Owodog was sure she was feeling around a kazillion times worse. And moping around would not do him much good either. So Owodog got up from his seat and left his office for the umpteenth time to stop by Ashley’s desk. Previously he was on the way to get coffee and so he appeared completely nonchalant.
But now, he really needed to speak to her.
“Ash,” he said, “Do you want to… get out for a while?”
She hesitated for a couple of moments, then nodded, “Yeah, sure.”
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It was soon Saturday night, but the restaurant was still rather quiet as compared to those downtown. Perhaps it had something to do with its location – it was on the far side of town.
Owodog chose a booth at the most secluded corner of the place and settled into the bench seats with Ashley. She had previously wondered why Owodog wanted to come to such a distant place, but upon entering the restaurant, she found the location vaguely familiar, like she had been here before.
“Hey.”
Both of them looked up from their menus.
Then Ashley glared at Owodog. “Why is he here?”
Owodog signalled to Fabien to sit beside him on his side of the table opposite from Ashley. Fabien nodded and took his place. The animosity between Owodog and Fabien had seemed to vanish. Obviously, their brotherhood was not as frail as Owodog had thought initially.
That phone call he took from Fabien two days ago was what changed his mind about everything. Of course, he had also once trusted that Ashley would have been safe with Fabien, and it turned out otherwise. Even so, Owodog had thought it through, yes Ashley was damn important to him and what Fabien had done was probably unforgivable. But Fabien had been his best friend and brother for 26 years. That was a remarkably long time, and Owodog realized that when it came to relationships, love could not be placed over friendship, even if morals should.
Fabien was apologetic. He regretted his actions and wanted to make up for it. Owodog didn’t see why he should not help him.
As Ashley scowled at Owodog, expecting an answer, it suddenly dawned on her why the restaurant and everything about it seemed so familiar. It was the same one she, Owodog and Fabien came to when they were plagued by the case of the lollipop killer. The booth was the exact same one they had sat in, and the overall setting and atmosphere of the restaurant hadn’t changed much either.
Ashley tried not to remember. Because at that time, she was pretty much in love with Fabien. She wasn’t sure and could not really remember what was it she had felt for Owodog, but she was positive that she was definitely attracted to Fabien. And she didn’t think she was still feeling the same way now.
“Ash, Yu knows he’s wrong, can’t you give him a chance to apologize?”
“Well, no.” Ashley said indignantly. What she didn’t know was that she might just give in if he apologized and showed remorse for what he had done.
“But, Ash—”
“No more but’s, puppy. I shall head to the ladies’. And when I return, he had better be gone.”
Throughout the short exchange in Fabien’s presence, Ashley had made no mention of his name, and only briefly referred to him in third person. Owodog knew that there were only two circumstances in which Ashley would behave like that. One was when she was really infuriated; the other was when she didn’t want to admit that she was in the wrong, or in this case, that she just did not want to relent so easily.
Owodog hoped that the reason would be the latter. He really did not want to see his best friend and best partner fall out without any chance of salvation at all.
Ashley stood up and left the table.
Owodog and Fabien exchanged glances. Then Owodog sighed and made a shooing action with his hand in the direction of his partner, knowing all too well what it had resulted in the last time the very same thing happened. Fabien shot Owodog a grateful look, and went after Ashley.
He caught up with her in that dimly lit corridor leading to the washrooms. But this time, he didn’t pull her hand. He just called her name.
“Ash!”
She stopped dead in her tracks. The distance between them was barely a metre apart, which meant that she was within reach of Fabien. She turned around to face him. “What do you still want?”
“I only wanted to tell you that I’m sorry,” He said.
“Okay, so now you’ve said it. You can leave now,” Ashley turned away from him and attempted to continue making her way to the ladie’s.
Fabien reached out his hand and caught her arm.
What he did only annoyed her more. Ashley jerked her arm free of his grip, and stared steely at him. “Fabien Yang Qi Yu, what exactly do you want from me?” If they weren’t in a public place, Ashley would have shouted at him.
Fabien shook his head slowly, but could not think of the right words to say.
Ashley moved towards him until their faces were just a centimetre apart. “What do you want, huh?” She asked, her icy gaze boring harshly into him, yet her tone was earnestly seductive.
There was a look of confusion on Fabien’s face as Ashley continued to speak.
"You want sex, right? You want it from me just like how you get it from every other woman you ever fancied. That’s all you want, right?”
“Ash, no, it’s not like that! I—You—You’re different! I…”
Ashley pulled away from Fabien, but her stare never left him. “I—I—I, you what? You stutter every time you see me? I’m the only one who can make you do that?” She challenged. “The truth is, I don’t know how many other women you tell that to, I might be just one of the hundreds. I don’t know how I was so stupid as to fall for it the previous time. Obviously you are quite the pro in sweet-talking. I would be the most foolish person in the whole world if I were to believe you again.”
Fabien was at a total loss for words now, but he knew that no one except himself would be able to turn the situation around. As much as his brain wasn’t working, he still had to depend on himself. One wrong word and Ashley would most likely be out of his life forever. He didn’t want to think of the consequences if that were to happen.
“Ashley, would you please just calm down and hear me out?” He tried, desperate now.
She shook her head slowly. “I told you, Yu, I can’t ever believe you again.”
“Ash, please. You can’t do this to me,” Fabien’s tone was pleading as he searched Ashley’s eyes for the slightest bit of forgiveness.
“I can. You… Tried to rape me.” Ashley said softly. She turned away from him again. “I don’t want to see you again. Please leave.” She had expected that he would leave because there was nothing else he could do or say. She was wrong.
At the very same spot they first kissed more than two years ago, Fabien pulled her back to face him again, then cupped his hands around her shoulders and dipped his head to kiss her. Ashley wasn’t anticipating it, and was caught by surprise. She blinked in astonishment, unsure of how she should react. Half of her wanted to return the kiss and reignite the passion they had once shared; but the other half of her that was coherent told her that she should not because he had let her down and misplaced her trust in him.
As the choices and all the possible after-effects swirled in her mind, she soon realized that there was no need, and no time, for her to come to a decision. Because, as sudden as he had initiated that kiss on her, Fabien stopped. Holding a still-shocked Ashley by her shoulders, he said, “I’ll leave now and never appear in your life again. I’m sorry.” He slowly let go of her.
Ashley didn’t even wait for him to leave, for she knew that if she did, she might just change her mind. So, she walked off first. She walked back to their table, where Owodog was waiting impatiently yet hopefully.
But on seeing that Ashley returned alone, his face fell. “Where’s Yu?”
“He… Left.”
“He did?” Owodog asked disbelievingly.
“Yeah.” Ashley answered simply.
Owodog narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?”
“Didn’t I say for him to leave before I come back?” She answered indignantly. “He just did as he was told, that’s all!”
“Ash, you sure you don’t want to forgive him, ever?”
Ashley sighed, then looked across the table at Owodog. “Quan, you know what he almost did to me. Wouldn’t you have done the same?”
It was Owodog’s turn to sigh. “I guess—” He suddenly stopped mid-sentence as his brows curved into a furrow.
“What?”
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“I thought…” Owodog looked around the restaurant, but it seemed that no one else heard anything too. Then, all of a sudden, his eyes widened.
And so did Ashley’s.
Apparently, no one else heard anything, because all around them, people continued eating and chatting at their own tables.
But Owodog and Ashley had already sprinted in the direction of the washrooms, where the backdoor was also situated. It wasn’t that far from where they were sitting.
Owodog pushed the door open violently. Ashley screamed.
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Fabien watched Ashley walk away from him. He couldn’t explain how deep was the remorse he felt, but he knew he had done her a big wrong and respected her decision. He slumped against the wall for a long time, and was about to leave by the back door when a strong arm closed around his throat and another covered his mouth.
He sputtered and attempted to shake loose of his captor but the grip around his throat was too tight. Unable to break free, Fabien could only let himself be dragged out the backdoor into the dark alley that was even more deserted and eerily quiet. Finally his captor let go of him and flung him onto the rough cement ground.
Fabien was still suffering a little from the lack of oxygen and his head spun as he lay on the ground. “What… Who are you? What do you want?” He tried to get up but his head was still spinning very badly.
“How dare you do that to Ashley?” Kale demanded. “HUH?! HOW DARE YOU?!”
“What..? Who the hell are you?” Fabien shouted weakly, shocked that this strange man knew Ashley and cared about her.
Kale laughed through his ski mask. Of course he wouldn’t tell him. And neither would he be able to recognize Kale either, not through that mask. “You don’t need to know. You hurt Ashley and you shall pay for it!”
Kale hauled Fabien up by his collar and rammed him into the wall. Fabien let out a cry in agony. But Kale wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. He grabbed Fabien’s head and smashed him against the wall repeatedly.
“Since you can’t think with your brain, then you shouldn’t have one!” Kale was very worked up now, and each of his thrusts grew more forceful. Once he was done with Fabien’s head, he was going to move on to something more important. He was going to make sure that no other woman would become his next victim again.
But he didn’t even get a change to finish what he was doing. Because as he was about to jam Fabien’s head into the wall for the umpteenth time, he heard a scream. Technically, Kale killed everyone and everything in his way.
It was different this time, because Kale realized the person who screamed was no other than the one he was doing what he was doing for.
Not wanting to hurt her, yet afraid to be caught, Kale took off, cursing himself for being so careless and negligent. He had never been like this in the past.
As Ashley ran to Fabien, Owodog raced after Kale.
“Yu! Oh my God!” Ashley scooped Fabien into her arms but he already lay limp. All her detective instincts had ceased to exist as she held him and wiped away the blood trickling down his face. “Yu, you can’t die on us. Yu…” Tears were welling up in her eyes but she desperately blinked them back. She had vowed to herself not to continue being a weepy, frail woman anymore. Ashley hugged Fabien to her and that was when she saw something lying innocently and cleanly on the ground.
Owodog was still chasing after Fabien’s attacker. But he managed to pull out his cell and call for an ambulance and the station. He picked up the second line that belonged to Ashley and quickly told her that the ambulance was on its way. But what he told her was of less significance, his anger and worry escalated when he heard what she had to say.
Not slowing down, Owodog sped up. The Rose was just in front of him and he couldn’t let him disappear. He had told Ashley to inform the station once she told him about the rose petal left at the crime scene. Hopefully, they would dispatch at least half a dozen cars to that area.
It was their best chance to apprehend The Rose. If they lost it, there might never be a next time.
Owodog trailed him all the way into an abandoned warehouse. And The Rose was nowhere to be seen, hidden in the cover of darkness. Owodog looked around him as his eyes started to get accustomed to the pitch-black surroundings. The sinister aura that seemed to engulf the whole warehouse was menacing. Thankfully, he hadn’t gone far in yet, and Owodog started to back out slowly.
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->shuang.dao
i hope all my readers are still here! :X
anyways, i'm back on track in my writing again. so, this time you can REALLY expect to read the next chapter soon. (:
and yes if you haven't realized yet, chapter 10 has been edited so go read it if you read the previous version. :D
yay. and... comments please! :D