Sage of Darkness - Chapter Two

Sage of Darkness

Chapter Two

I shook my head trying to get the dizziness out of my head. Catelyn was in shock and trembling beside me. The kitchen staff from the restaurant were all out on the alley now. I could hear the police sirens coming our way. I rushed to Mr. Raffles, checking his pulse, it was quiet. No pulse. He was dead. He was shot dead. I walked up to Catelyn who was still in shock and trembling. I gathered her hand in mine, it was icy cold. Everything happened so quick, it was quite a blur for me.  

“Catelyn...” I called out.

She looked at me, her eyes were tearing, “what just happened?” She turned to where Mr. Raffles laid motionless, she was terribly shaken at this point, sobbing at the same time.

“It’s okay, I’m right here, I got you,” I said, trying to assure her that everything will be fine.

I pulled out my cellphone and skimmed through my contacts. I saw the name I was looking for and called.

‘Hey, it’s me. I need your help” I said to him.

“Yeah, when and where?” He asked,

“Meet me at the harbor tonight at midnight. I will give you the details then.” I said. I cut the call and went back to Catelyn, by that time the scotland yard were already there.

There were questioning everyone there including Catelyn and me. I stood by Catelyn’s side when they were questioning her. While the questioning was taking place, I remembered the woman that was with Mr. Raffles, where was she? She wasn’t to be seen anywhere. I walked towards the end of the alley that joined to the main street, screening the crowd, of course by this time, whoever she was, if she was involved in this shooting, she would have taken off, but something didn’t seem quite right with this whole scene.

Whoever it was who did this, I would know the connection by midnight. The scotland yard seem to think that Catelyn may be one the suspects, but I know she can’t be, she couldn’t, she was with me and to stage the murder of her own employer, that doesn’t seem to make sense as well. Once we were done talking to the police, I convinced Catelyn to stay with me for the night, it would be safer and so that she will feel a little secured. The shooting were all around the news by 8pm and BBC was doing a wide coverage of the murder.

While the media was getting the public paranoid over the random shooting and who might be the next target, I am thinking that this is a murder that was staged for money or something of Mr. Raffles belongings. And since Mr. Raffles was my solicitor on record for multi billion pound civil suit, I was also the target of the media. They seem to think that I may have been the intended target. If I was, I intend to find who and what they are after. I can’t possibly have a bounty on my head, that’s way too cool and I’m not that famous any way. But then, I am worth a lot of money, dead or alive.

Catelyn just exited the bathroom in master bedroom, “Am I in the news?” she exclaimed?

I switched off the television when I heard her sharp screech all the way from the other side of the loft. Oh wow, remind me not to get on her bad side, that could bust an eardrum.

“Calm down, Catelyn, that’s normal, you witnessed a murder today and the press saw your there. It is quite normal for them to mention you. And umm, not forgetting to mention a sea or reporters outside this building waiting to get a statement from you and me,”

“Oh no, this is sooooo not happening. I’m having a dream. I’m going to wake up tomorrow morning and this is all going to be over, just a dream.” Catelyn kept repeating the same thing said over and over.

From what I can see, she is clearly having a meltdown, she waving both her hands up and down and walking around as if she was walking around in a meadow in her dreams. It was quite hilarious but I couldn’t just let her do that. She had to get back to reality and face the situation. We have got a murder in our hands and we’re going to figure out why it happened and who was the target.

I got up from the sofa and walked up to her. I shook her a couple of times and said “Catelyn, Cate! this is not a dream, this is real,”

She gave me a dreamy look and smiled “Of course it’s a dream silly. I’m not here with you, why would I be, with a guy like you, way out of my league and Mr. Raffles is probably somewhere around London in a bar having a scotch. Believe me when I say that he is going to call me in a bit to ask me to take him home cause’ he is too drunk.”

I shook my head in disagreement and told her this is real she is going to have to face it. She started crying as soon as I said it was real and its not a dream.

“Mr. Raffles is dead, Cate, you’re going to have to let that sink in. Mourn and grief for him now, because the minute day breaks, we’re going to have to find out who did this. And I swear to you, I will not let anything happen to you.” I said trying to calm her down and put some reality sense into her.

Well, after that she sank to her knees and began sobbing like a small girl, I couldn’t get what she was trying to say while sobbing, that is good, crying is good, that means she is trying to comprehend the hard fact that Mr. Raffles was murdered and whoever was involved may be after or me. It was about half past 11pm when she fell asleep on the sofa. She looked so calm when she was sleeping, I wrapped a blanket over her, so that she wouldn’t get too cold.

I figured I’ll hit the showers before I head out to the harbour to meet Michael. Michael is my private investigator. I usually ask him to investigate my business rivals, their weaknesses and strengths. In the business I am in, it gets kind of competitive and dangerous, hence my need to use my investigator, you would know when to hit and where to hit them to bring them to their knees, before you know it, they will be at your mercy. Michael was formerly a Military Intelligence Expert, he knows things that I don’t, especially when assessing the enemy headquarters, he knows that better than I do. He’s been with me for the past 8 years and has yet to dissapoint me. So a lot my decisions hangs on his skills of investigations. Plus he owns a gun, that is cool.

As I was about to go out, I noticed Catelyn wasn’t at the sofa anymore. I panicked a little and looked around the loft. I was relieved to find her at corner of the loft looking out the glass window facing the city. The view was quite amazing especially at this hour of the night, the city looks calm shadowed by the moonlight. It was full moon tonight, it was bright with the moon light. She looked lost in her thought. I went up to her and tapped her shoulder. My heart wanted to hug her but I refrained myself. I couldn’t possibly take advantage of her that way. She was too precious to me.

“You’re going out?” She asked, looking a little surprised.

“Yes, I won’t be long. Just an hour at most.” I replied.

“You can’t leave me alone here and now, especially now,” she said with puffy eyes. Her face was swollen from all the crying and her forehead bore a scratch mark from this afternoon’s ordeal.

“I won’t be long swee… Cate,” She looked so vulnerable, I was about to say sweetheart, yes, but right now I was the best chance she has in finding out the truth and I am not going to allow my emotions take advantage of that.

“Can I go with you?” She asked wearing a hopeful expression on her face.  

I won’t deny it would be much easier if I were to go alone. It has always been that way but she was scared and vulnerable. I can’t exactly imagine what she would do next, the worse thing that could happen is she could leave the loft and he would come back to find an empty loft, that would be enough to let him drive like a mad person in the city looking for her.

I let out a long heavy breath, “okay, you can go with me but you’re going to have to listen to everything I say and you are going to have remain calm. Can you do that for me?” I asked.

“Yes, of course,” she replied with a wide smile. “But where…” she continued to ask me where we were headed but before she could finish I cut her off.

“Lay off with the questions, you will know later!”

We left the building through the back door and that’s usually my black Lexus RC F is parked. It’s a special parking bay just for me, amazing what money can buy these days. Plus, that actually came in handy in avoiding the reporters at the front of the building.

We approached the harbour a few minutes later. I filled Catelyn in who I was about to meet and what information he was about to give me. She nodded a few times but was quiet the whole time. Michael was already there waiting. He was clad in black jeans, a black leather jacket and a cap to hide his face. That was how he usually dressed. Well, if he is comfortable that way, who am I to question him, I just need my information.

“I need you to stay in the car while I talk to him, okay?” I said to Catelyn, my eyes never moving away from Michael.

“Okay,” her short reply was an indication that she was nervous.

I got out of the car and headed to where Michael was standing. He was facing the waters, never once turning his face at me. I walked up to him and stood beside him. He handed me a brown envelope and said that everything I needed to know was in there.

“What else is in here?” I asked.

“Everything is in there. All the information you wanted. Mr. Raffles, your solicitor, only appeared to be a nice man on the outside, he got mixed in with some really bad people. The details are in there.” He said pointing at the envelope. He then continued “There’s something these people wanted from him, I have yet to find out what it is, when I get more information I will find you.”

 

I shook his hand and headed back to the car. As I was walking, I heard Michael calling out to me. I turned to him and heard him say “don't trust anyone.”

I looked at him and then to the brown envelope. I looked back up to ask him what he meant but he was gone, damn he was good, somewhat like a ghost. I got back in the car where Catelyn was waiting anxiously. Before I could even say a word, she was already bombarding me with all kinds of questions.

“So, hey, are you listening?” She said when I wasn't responding to her questions.

“Not here,” I said, driving out of the harbor as fast as I could, something in my heart was saying this whole thing was something much more than some people looking for something. If they were looking for something, why kill the man? There has to be another motive to all of this. I continued driving but instead of heading back to the city, I got out on the motorway and headed towards the countryside. I have a lake house up North where the both of us can be safe for the moment. I’m hoping no one would find us there.

Catelyn fell asleep shortly after I got onto the motorway. She did ask where we were headed but my silence kind of scared her, I think. She kept mumbling strange things till she fell asleep. I noticed she was still wearing the clothes from yesterday afternoon. It was already about 3 am, the last meal both of us had was during that lunch and that was about 12 hours ago. I figured we needed fresh clothes and something to eat both of which will be available at the lake house. I called Rosita, my housekeeper at the lake house to stock up some women’s clothes.

She was more than happy to accommodate my requests, I believe her exact sentence were “Oh Mr. Q, you have company, you never have company, I will make sure you’re special someone has everything she needs and something naughty perhaps?”    

I declined anything naughty and just requested for plain clothes. Well, suffice to say she was a little disappointed. It was almost dawn when we reached the lake house. By that time, she was sound asleep. I hadn't the heart to wake her up, she looked like she was dreaming of beautiful things, of the both of them maybe, oh how I wished. Rosita was already waiting when we arrived. I got out of the car and went to the passenger side to get Catelyn out. I carried her into the lake house. She felt too light to me. I liked the way she cradled her arms around me and her head rested on the crook of my neck, I could feel her breath against my neck, it felt good. It felt like home having her that way.

Rosita followed suit and looked a little confused when she saw me heading to the guest room. She signed towards the master bedroom where I stay whenever I spend my time here. I shook my head and just headed towards the guest room. I placed her gently on the bed and covered with some blankets. It was cold night. Once she was settled in, I headed to the master bedroom, I needed some sleep as well. I told Rosita not to let anyone know we’re here and to come back a few hours later with breakfast. She nodded and left.

I kicked off my shoes and landed myself on the bed, before I knew it, everything went black.

I woke up a few hours later at the noise of the birds chirping outside the window. It took me a second before I could comprehend where I was. I realized I was at the Lake House. I glanced at the clock on the bedside table, it was almost 10 am. I got up and hit the showers. I went straight to the kitchen, my stomach was already doing an orchestra. Even before I entered the kitchen I could smell that delicious breakfast. Rosita was cooking eggs and toast.

I took a seat at the  kitchen counter, waiting for my plate. The toast looked golden brown when it came out of the toaster. The eggs were piping hot and the toast was slathered with butter. Food, heaven on earth. I took a bite of the eggs and followed by the toast and a sip of my coffee, then I realised I was forgetting something and Rosita was wearing a confused look on her face. Catelyn! I remembered.

I bolted back upstairs leaving my breakfast and headed to the guest room. She was still asleep on the bed. I was relieved and sat back on the sofa that was near her bed. I slowly walked to the side of the bed to wake her up. I shook her gently and called out her name. Her eyes lashes fluttered a little and she opened her eyes, smiling. What a relief! I thought. But I was wrong, she saw my face and she started screaming on top of her lungs.

“What, where am I?” She asked looking puzzled.

“Catelyn, calm down, you’re in my lake house.” I said, assuring her that it’s okay.

She calmed a little then asked me how did we end up there from the harbor. I explained everything from the beginning to her and she was trembling again. Every time we spoke about the murder, she starts to tremble. I took her hands in mine and assured her that we were going to get through this together. I got her out of the bed and called out for Rosita. Rosita helped drew a bath for her and I urged Catelyn to the bathroom. I told her I would downstairs, waiting for her until she’s done.

I went back downstairs, Rosita handed me a copy the day’s newspaper, the headlines read:-

“Solicitor shot Dead; crime of passion or hate?!”   

“The solicitor, was identified as Brian Raffles, 55, was shot dead in the middle of the day at Brighton alley, the shot was said to have been fired from the rooftop of one of the buildings around the area. Scotland Yard have yet to determine the motive. One of the witnesses at the scene of the crime was Ms. Catelyn Sheffield, the associate of Mr. Raffles who was said to be shaken terribly by the incident. Further, entrepreneur cum industrialist Mr. Qureshi was also said to have been at the crime scene. He was said to be one of the clients’ of Mr. Raffles Chambers. A number of the restaurant staff had said that the victim was with a woman when he entered the restaurant but hurriedly exited out the back door of the restaurant when he saw two men enter the restaurant. The Scotland Yard have seized the camera footage recordings of the restaurant to identify the men that was said to have entered the restaurant for the victim.”   

I was so engrossed with the newspaper, I needed to know who these men were. At this point, I knew more than the police or the journalists who were covering the murder. I remembered the brown envelope that Michael gave me last night and I know it was still in my car.

I didn’t notice Catelyn was already standing in front of me. She was dressed in a peach colored sweater with jeans. She looked casual, and there wasn’t a bit of makeup on her face and she looked absolutely heaven. I handed her the newspaper at the thought she might want to know what was going on. She took the paper and was reading it when Rosita brought a plate of breakfast for her. She ate her breakfast quietly. Leaving Catelyn to her breakfast I headed out to the garage where my car was parked and unlocked it. The brown envelope was still where I placed it last night.

I was about to open it when I heard a sound coming out from the bushes. The property was surrounded by 50 acres of woods and a lake few feet away from the house. Forest animals are a usual guest around here but right now, I couldn’t take the chance, I had to check it. I walked up to the bushes, clutching the brown envelope on one hand. I poked at the bushes with a long branch and out jumped a rabbit. It was just a rabbit looking for food. I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to the house. I could still feel something stirring in the forest.

I headed to the living room of the house where Catelyn was at. I sat on the sofa opposite Catelyn and opened the envelope. Her eyes were locked on the envelope. I could tell she was interested to know what was in the envelope. I tilted the envelope and out came a sd card. I looked up at Catelyn, she was puzzled.

“I have a macbook upstairs in the study,” I said, heading up to the study. She followed suit.

“What is it?” She asked as soon as I plugged in the memory card in the Macbook. It had one folder. I clicked on the first folder and there was a list of names.

“Its a list of names, who are all these people?” I was scrolling down the list.

“Here, let me take a look, maybe I know?” Catelyn said. There was a long pause.

“Do you know them?” I asked.

“Yeah, they are a list of private clients only Mr. Raffles used to attend to. I remember this one person, this O’Callaghan,” she pointed at the name on the list and continued “he came to the office once, he looked a little scary, he had a long scar across his face. He spoke to Mr. Raffles and gave him something in a box. There was a brief argument between them but it died off after he handed Mr. Raffles the box. If I remember it correctly, he put the box in the safe that he hides behind the bookshelf in his room.”

I was amazed at the information she had, “a safe you say?”

“yeah, I only know because about a week ago, Mr. Raffles gave me a list of things in the office that he wanted me to attend to, one of involved this safe. There was a document that he wanted me to put it in the safe, and he wanted me to do it immediately. I thought it was just his usual self forgetting to do these thing but now, when you think about it, it is as if he already knew that something bad was going to happen to him.” she said with a pained look. We exchanged looks as if we were both thinking about the same thing.

“Maybe there’s something in the safe that can help us?” I said. She nodded in agreement.

“Lets go,” she said.

“Hey, hold your horses, those guys might have already been there or they might even be waiting for someone to get in the office if they haven't gotten what they want.” I said, although it sounds like a bad idea heading there, we needed to know the contents of the safe. I continued “we can’t go now, we’ll wait till dark then head out to the city.”

“Okay, but what do we do till then?” she asked, looking at me with sad puffy eyes.

“I guess we just stay in till it’s clear.” I said with a smile.  “Let me make a few calls and see what I can do.”

I took out my phone and dialled Prem’s number. He answered in one ring. I was surprised. That never happens, especially with Prem, half of the time he is usually in surgery, its normally hours before he returns anyone’s calls let alone his.

“Hey... “ I said, but was cut off by Prem.

“What the hell did you do? I went for a 36 hour shift and came out seeing your face plastered all over the news because of a murder? Man, what have I told you about these things, don’t do it. No matter how tempted you are to kill someone, don’t do it.” Prem began his nonsensical blabbering.

“Prem…” I said. He still haven’t stopped his lectures about being a responsible human being. I know I can be a little crazy sometimes, but killing someone for profit has never been in my books and never will be. “Prem!” I called out, my voice higher than normal.

“Whaaattt?!” He said annoyingly.

“I didn’t kill anyone, and no, I’m not involved directly in the murder but I may be one of the targets.” I said trying to explain the situation to him, “the reason I called is…” I explained the whole scenario to him and was hoping he would do it for me.

“You want me to do what?” He asked and from the way he asked, I could tell he was a little  bit excited at the suggestion I just made to him. “Like a stakeout? Of course I will do it.” He said.

“So you’re clear on the plan? I need  you to always stay as far as you can from the Office, but I need you to see if there’s anyone entering or exiting the office. I am planning to head there tonight. I just need to know if there’s any activity around his office.” I explained to him again.

“Yeah, I get it. I’ll do it.” Prem was more than willing to help. Well, that and the kick that he gets from solving mysteries. Prem has been a mystery junkie ever since I first met him. But ultimately, Prem has a soft heart, he likes helping people, doesn’t matter how or where, if he can help, he would. That’s why I could always count on him.

“Hey, remember, this is not one of those mystery novel things okay, you need to be careful. Call me when you get something.” I said cautioning him in the process.

“Dude, chill, I get it and ummm, did you tell her yet?” Prem asked hesitantly.

“No.” I replied, short, indicating that she is right here with me.

“When are you planning to tell her exactly?” Prem asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

“That something that we can discuss at another date and time, definitely not now!” I replied him with a stern voice.

“Fine.” His reply was short. Prem hung up on me!

I turned to Catelyn after speaking to him. She was still looking at the list. I called out to her but she didn’t answer. I walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder, she looked up at me with a horrified look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, panicking a little.

“The list…” She said, her voice trailing off, trembling again.

“What about the list?” I asked looking at it. I still couldn’t catch what she was trying to say.

“Mr. Raffles’ name is on the list. So is mine and yours.” She said. “I think it’s a hit list.” she continued, her face was pale white now, and her breathing got heavier. She was having a panic attack. I heard what she had said. This is definitely not good. But why would our names be on a hit list? This day just keeps getting better.

“Are you sure? How do you know it’s a hit list?” I asked, trying to get a little confirmation from her.

“The first three names on the list are crossed off. The first name on the list, Brian Fuller, he died a month ago, suicide, was Mr. Raffles client. The second name, Jack  O’Neal, he was a client, he died a couple of weeks ago in a boating accident. These are the files that he handled himself. The third name was Mr. Raffles and the fourth is O’Callaghan. He has to be next target. If he dies, I’m going to be next one.” She said, her voice trembling.

I was trying to comprehend what she was saying, to be honest, I was a little terrified. I didn’t quite know what to do next. If this was a hit list as what she says, all the more reason we have to find out what was in the safe that Raffles wanted to guard so much and gave up his life for. I have to get Michael to do a little more digging for me. These names on the list have got to have a connection one way or another to one another.

I looked at the list, some of the names were familiar but some were not. I could understand why Catelyn’s name was on the list, it was probably because she worked for Raffles, but myself, what was the connection did I have with these people on the list? I turned to Catelyn who was now seated on the long sofa with holding her head with both her hands.

“Catelyn, calm down.” I said, she looked up at me with eyes full of tears.

“How could this be happening? What do we do now?” sobbing, she looked up at me.

“We can’t wait anymore, we need to find out where this O’Callaghan is and get to him before something happens.” I said, that’s the only thing to do that made any sense at the moment.

“But his details are at the office. There’s nothing here.” She replied.

“Come on, we have to go to the office now. I’ll call for back up.” I took out my phone and dialled  for Michael. I asked him to meet me and Catelyn a few blocks away from the office. I checked with Prem, there were a few men outside the building looking really suspicious. If we were to go in now, we will be walking into a trap. I just hope Michael has a better plan.

An hour later, we met Michael and Prem at the meeting spot as promised. Both of them looked anxious and quite honestly, excited. Am I the only one who feels a little terrified at the thought of being shot at? I told both of them that Catelyn and I will have to walk in the front door and they will be our back up. But of course it was shot down by both Michael and Prem.

Prem suggested that he goes in, no one knows him around here and no one would suspect anything. There is a pharmaceutical company at the second floor of the building, so if anyone asks he can say that he’s heading to the company. Worse case scenario, he is just going to have to climb into the office through the fire escape, if something goes wrong.

Both Michael and I agreed with the plan but was cut off by Catelyn.

“The plan is fine, but there’s just one problem.” she said looking at the three of us.

“What’s the problem?” Michael asked.

“The thing or whatever that we are after is in the safe, which would only open with a fingerprint scan, and it’s mine. Even if he gets in, there’s no way he could get in open.” she said gesturing to Prem while holding her thumb up.

“Right, who has a knife, I can surgically remove her thumb from her hand in minutes. It’s really a simple procedure,” Prem said with a serious look on his face.

Catelyn, shocked from what she just heard from Prem, “is he for real?” she asked looking at both Michael and me.

“Of course not,” I said to her taking her hand in mine, stroking her thumb. “Change of plan, I’m going in with Catelyn and the two of you back us up.” I handed each of them a cell phone with a wireless head piece. “Keep it on and stay connected. Prem, you keep the car running and once we’re done from the office, we’ll let you know and you drive up into the alley behind the office unnoticed. You think you can manage that?” I asked, Prem gave me a nod, then I continued “Michael, you wait for us at the back alley. Keep a lookout.”

Both Prem and Michael took their positions, I headed to the back alley with Catelyn, trying to be stealthy as possible. Catelyn was a little nervous. I could feel her hands trembling in mine. Once the three of us were in the alley, I took the ladder to the fire escape first, Catelyn followed suit. Once I was at the 6th floor of the building, I peered into the window to make sure no one was in the office. The window was facing the open area of the office. Once I was sure no one was in, I tried prying open the window, I couldn’t get it open, it was stuck and the ice was making it even harder.

Catelyn nudged at my leg, I looked down at her and whispered “we need to head to the roof, the window is stuck.”    

I continued climbing up the ladder and climbed on to the roof, thank god, by this time its already getting dark even though it’s just 4 in the afternoon, thanks  to winter and daylight saving! I climbed on the roof helped Catelyn up as well. I headed towards the door of the roof that led to the staircase. The door was locked from the inside, I used a pocket knife that I brought along with me, I knew it would be useful. I opened the door and entered in the doorway. The staircase was leading down, we went down the stairs as quiet as possible. Once we were at the 6th floor staircase, I opened the door trying to minimise the squeaking of the door.

We entered the corridor of the 6th floor. It was eerily quiet. Raffles chambers were the only office at the 6th floor. There was no one around and I figured the coast was clear to head to the door. Catelyn and I headed to the main door. She took out the keys and tried unlocking the door, her hands shook so much that she couldn’t get the key into the keyhole. I took the keys from her trembling hands and unlocked the door. We entered into the office. Catelyn disalarmed the alarm system and both of us wasted no time in heading towards Raffles chambers.

Inside, the chambers were a little messy, files were lying around on the floor and his table. From the look on her face, I could tell that it was untouched, her face was bright red now, her eyes straight at Raffles chair. I nudged Catelyn towards the safe. I couldn’t locate where it was hidden. She walked up to a shelf of books which read ‘The Dominion Law Reports’ and pulled out volume 256. At the back of the volume, there was a switch, she turned in on and the shelf opposite Raffles table on the far bottom corner of the left slid open revealing a small iron safe. The safe was silver in color with a black door and a black panel complete with a fingerprint scanner. There was a green light blinking on top of the panel. Catelyn scanned her right thumb fingerprint on the panel and the light that was blinking green blinked yellow twice and released the black door. The safe was open.

I went up and kneeled beside Catelyn. Catelyn was inspecting the documents. We didn’t have much time, we needed to get out of this office as soon as possible. I urged Catelyn to put the documents in an envelope, the inspection of the document could be done later at a much safer place. We emptied the safe and pushed back the safe to where it was and how it was hidden. As if we were never here.

As we were heading out of Raffles chambers, we heard the main door click open, someone was entering in the office. Catelyn and I remained hidden in Raffles chambers. I hid beside a wooden shelf and Catelyn was under Raffles table. We could see each other from where we were hiding. The door to Raffes chambers opened, someone was about to enter the room. This wasn’t good. We needed to get out of here, now, I mouthed to Catelyn. She nodded in agreement. Before the person could enter, someone called out to him.

The minute he left, I bolted to the window and pried it open. I could see Michael and  Prem waiting for us at the back alley. But from this window there was nothing to hold on to. We might fall to our deaths if we jumped from here. Michael, as if understanding our predicament pushed a big trash bin right where the window was so that we could land in the bin and possibly avoid any broken bones or death itself.  

“Jump,” I whispered. Catelyn looked at me with a horrified look.

“Are you crazy, do you know how high this is?” She protested, clearly afraid of heights. I couldn’t take the risk of whoever that’s inside this office right now to find us, so I pushed her. Yes, I pushed the woman that would probably be the mother of my children in the future, down 6 floors into the big bin. Well, in the future seems to be much much further now. She landed in the bin with a thud.

Michael got her out of the bin and it was my turn to jump. Before I could jump out, I felt someone pulling me back into the chambers, the next thing I knew, I felt a searing pain at the back of my head and everything went black.  

-END OF CHAPTER TWO-

Sage of Darkness - Chapter One

Hey peeps,

As you can see, I absolutely love reading. I may not have reviewed that many books here but I have on goodreads! Recently, my interest have been leaning towards some creative writing. The story that you're about to read is my very first attempt of writing something. I hope you like, if you don't, I'm open for criticism but please, be nice! So, here goes nothing!

SAGE OF DARKNESS

CHAPTER ONE

Life isn’t easy. Nope, it is not easy at all but what matters is what you make out of it. That is my mantra for life. When life brings me down, I get up and bounce back. I fight, to the very end. Yes, I have problems but then who doesn’t? That’s my perspective on life. When life throws you lemons, you learn to make lemonades! After all, that’s how one should take life; accept it as it is, except for me it’s wasn’t as simple as that.

Most people who know me, say I’m arrogant and a snob, others have far worse opinions of me than that. Yes, my actions at times or most of the time may seem a little self centered, well okay, a lot self centered, but I am only doing it for the betterment of whatever or whoever that benefits from it. For those who are close to me (just one) knows me as a complex and a complicated person. I’m successful, I’m capable of holding my own and my opinions do matter in the business world. Yes, I am always surrounded by people, one would say I am a famous person in the business world but there is a constant emptiness that grips my heart. Pathetic, you say? Predictable, you say? Yes, I quite agree with you. Every man’s fear, will I be alone forever?

I hear your questions, believe me, I do. How does a perfect guy like me (emphasis on the perfect) is single and feels alone? Well, the answer is rather predictable as well; I haven’t found the right one. You’re absolutely right when you say I am surrounded by women; all the time. I am not the type of a guy who fools around with women, my mama taught me better than that.

Talking about mama, she is the love of my life. There’s no one more important to me than her. I do miss her a lot. I lost her when I was about 9 years old. I think about her all the time. My dad remarried shortly after she died, which is why I am no longer in talking terms with him. See, I was young and angry that my mom left me, I didn’t expect him to do it either. So, I left. I stayed with my grandparents (Mom’s side of the family), they were more than happy to welcome me into the family. After all, I am their only grandson. My grandfather died after I turned 17 and my grandma when I was in Uni. Well, now, I guess I am alone aren’t I?

That didn’t let me give up on life or make me stop living my life. I just found another way to deal with the grief. I worked. My granddad has this lumber business that he owned. I took over after he died and made it into a Multinational Company. Yes, now I am the CEO of that Multinational Company and am living my life like a king, well, something like that. I know, sounds like I’m bragging, but I am not. I assure you I am not bragging, step into my life and you will agree with me. Life this way has its ups and downs. As for me, more downs than the ups. I love my life, don’t get me wrong, and the money is amazing, but there always that emptiness in my heart and that hollowness in my soul that I can’t seem to shake off. No matter what I do or how I do it, it’s always there, gnawing at the centre of my soul, ripping me apart like a wolf tearing at his prey.

Yes, I am admitting it out loud, even if it hurts my pride, I am LONELY! I need company, more of a companion for life. Someone I can love unconditionally without having to calculate my move. Someone whom I can love without any judgments and someone who can love me for the complex way that I am.

I need to fall in love you say, I couldn’t agree more! Where do I find that girl? This could be an adventure for you and me, an adventure that neither of us can forget.

I found her, yes, I really found her. Where? How? Well, this is how I found her, I never thought I would say this but I actually did. I saw her right in front of me looking all dolled up. I followed her. I followed wherever she went the whole day. I even ditched my driver and took the London Underground Tube following her. Wait, I just realized how creepy this sounds. Wow, this didn’t seem creepy at that time but now when you think about it, it does seem a little creepy doesn’t it?

Well, I think she didn’t notice me. I don’t think she ever saw me let alone notice me. I was quite efficient with that. Oh wow, there I go again with the creepy. Okay, let me tell you what happened exactly then you decide if it’s creepy (I highly deny any creepiness thereof, that is if you find it creepy). Do we have a deal?

See, I had this meeting, well an arbitration proceeding to be exact in High Street Kensington. My driver dropped me off in front of a café few doors away from where the meeting was to be held. This cafe served one of London’s finest tea, it was a chilly November morning, so I stopped by to get a cup of tea. I ordered, paid and stepped aside to wait for my brewed tea. That was the moment; brace yourselves that was the exact moment when I saw her walking in the café. I suppose she came in to get a cup of tea, my gaze was locked on her, she walked in gracefully and ordered a hot chocolate; a hot chocolate? I was a little bit surprised, that was my kind of girl. Well, most girls in London nowadays count calories more than they count money, so yes, a cup of hot chocolate. That shouldn’t turn me on, but it did. She wasn’t skinny like most girls. She had stuff at the right places with the right proportions. To be blunt, she had meat on her bones and that, I like!

She paid the cashier for her hot chocolate and smiled at the cashier while saying ‘have a good day’. Her voice was sweet as honey and her smile, that smile could melt a thousand suns. It was magical! (too much?) She just walked into my life and now she was walking out, I couldn’t let that happen. Instead of running after her to get her number and probably call her back for a date like any normal person, I followed her. I followed her and saw her walking into the same building I was supposed to have the meeting, which by the way I forgot about.

I was on stealth mode, I didn’t want her to see me. I didn’t want her to know who I was, just not the right time. I just decided to follow her. She walked into the lobby of the building and asked for Brown & Associates. The security guard handed her a visitors’ pass and disappeared behind two giant glass doors. I followed suit and later realized that I was also headed to Brown & Associates. I figured she must be one of the lawyers involved in the proceedings, maybe even the Defendant’s lawyer. This could be interesting. I headed to Brown & Associates at the 5th Floor and to my surprise she was actually my solicitor. Mr. Raffles, my solicitor introduced her to me as his associate Catelyn Sheffield and that she will be taking over the file from him. This means that she is closer to me than you think.

Now, this makes a lot of things easier doesn’t it? Questions like where do you live? Or do you live alone? are you single? May be asked out right but just like you, I agree that these questions would scare her away from me and I cannot allow that. I decided to be less creepy and follow her. The whole proceeding took about 3 hours to finish and those 3 hours was the most beautiful three hours of my life. I realized something, I don’t know if you would agree, but lawyers generally are quite straight and confident and to one part they are almost arrogant but she seemed humble and polite. How was that even possible?

It was quite obvious when one of the opponent lawyers raised his voice at her, she seemed calmed and answered every single of his contention on the case with ease and precision yet humble and confident. Her tone at any point in time never seemed arrogant nor rude. I was surprised and pleased at the same time. She felt different. My heart jumped every time she glanced at me.

When the proceeding ended, I was about to talk to her when Mr. Raffles beat me to it. He said something to her and then turned to me. She nodded at him and left the room. He said something to me which I didn’t hear, he was a big blur in front of me. I was more focused on her. I couldn’t let her get away from me. I had to see who she was, I just had to know. I acknowledged Mr. Raffles and urged my assistant to attend to him. I stormed out of the crowded room trying my best to locate her. I was screening the crowd for her, then I found her. She was heading out of the building. I ran towards the exit, slowing myself down as I approach her. She headed down on the street and entered into a cafe. I stayed outside this time. I know better than to scare her. She knows I’m her client. It would be easier if I just talk to her, but the when I see her, I seem to forget all the words that exist in my vocabulary let alone form a proper sentence.

She got her sandwich and walked out of the cafe, out of a sudden she stopped in the middle of the street. I stopped as well turning into an alley nearby. I couldn’t risk her seeing me. I hid against a wall and peeped out into the street. She was still standing in the middle of the street, this time she was looking around as if she was looking for someone. Had she sensed that I was following her? But I could swear that I wasn’t that close to her.

She looked around and shook her head a number of times and continued walking. I waited a few minutes before I got back out into the street. She was already gone. I couldn’t see her. But I knew she was heading her office, Mr. Raffles chambers were just around the corner on High Street Kensington. I knew I could catch her again soon. I headed the other way, but I was fortunate my driver was already waiting for me a few meters away from where I was standing. I hope he didn't see me peeking out from the alley, that would be really hard to explain. He might think he’s working for a weirdo, well, on second thought, that might not be that wrong.  I’ll wait for her when she gets off work. *wicked smile*

There, was I creepy? You decide. It was around quarter past ten at night when she got out of the office. I was amazed at how dedicated she was. Hardworking, polite and humble, qualities that are rare nowadays, don’t you think?

She was heading towards the underground tube. Well the station was quite near but to travel alone at this time was quite dangerous. I knew she was taking the tube back home and she took the circle line. The platform was empty. There was a few kids fooling around the platform but otherwise it was quite empty. I was just a few meters away from her, she looked carried away with her thoughts to even notice me standing right there. I was feeling a little out of place, its not often I travel using the tube. Again she looked as if she was looking for something. I knew she was looking for ‘me’. I knew she could sensed she was being followed. Some how I could feel her fear building up. I want to know her, to be there for her, but never to hurt her in any way. So I stopped following her at that moment. I didn’t want her to feel scared or unsecured. I would always be there to protect her, not to harm her. Plus, I figured it will less creepier if I stopped following her. I am going to man up and call her like any sensible normal man would do. Define normal please? Yes, sorry, I didn't quite catch you there, gosh am I slurring? Have I lost my sense?

The next morning, I walked into my office feeling a little jolly. My secretary told me that I was constantly smiling and according to her, I rarely smile, a fact which I find hard to believe. I smile, occasionally. So I decided to call her. I picked up the phone and went on to dial the number which at that moment I realised that I didn’t have her number, well her personal number. I ringed Mr. Raffles chambers. The telephone rang but there was no one picking up. I tried again, and thank god someone picked up.

“hello…” said the voice. I quickly recognise the voice. It was hers, as sweet as honey.

I was about to answer when suddenly I lost my voice. I couldn’t speak. I had lost all my abilities to speak.

“hello…” she said again.

“Hello… ummmm… Ms. Sheffield.. It’s me, Amar Qureshi,“ I began.

“Oh hi Mr. Qureshi. Yes, how can I help you?” she said. I could sense that she was smiling. That is definitely a good sign.

“I couldn’t get to Mr. Raffles. I was wondering if I could take a look at the documents from the proceedings yesterday,” What in gods name did I just ask her? That was all I managed to say. You cant blame me, her voice was mesmerizing.

“Yes, I know, Mr. Raffles is caught up with something else at the moment.. I could dispatch the documents over to you if that’s okay.” Catelyn replied.

“That would be a huge help. Thank you Catelyn” I said. Trying to sound normal, at this point, my hands were already trembling.

“No worries, is that all Mr. Qureshi?” She asked me, she did sound as if she was in a hurry.

“Well, yes. That would be all. Thanks again.” I said hanging up the phone at the same time. What was I suppose to do? She was in a hurry.

I am a 32 year old male who runs an empire, I have got hundreds of people working for me, they tremble when I walk in the room, they fear my very presence but I am trembling to talk to a girl. How pathetic does that sound? I followed a girl, almost scared her in the process and I’m beginning to be creepy. None of this makes any sense. I am strong and confident, nothing shakes me, yet this girl comes along and melts me to the core. This is not how its supposed to be. She is supposed to be charmed by my presence, she is the one who is supposed to be head over heels for me instead its the other way round. Something’s definitely not right with me.

“Why do you look like you just crapped in your pants?” I looked up from my phone to the person standing in front of me.

“That’s not very nice,” I said, glaring at him. He is the only one who speaks to me the way he just did. My best friend, Dr. Prem Kumar.

“I didn’t hear you walk in.” I continued.

“Yeah, well, I am in stealth mode, trying to creep you out.” He said laughing. I looked up at him with a shock. I never told anyone, how does he know? I wondered.

“Woo, man, what’s up with the face? You’re scaring me.” He said looking at me with a serious face.

“God, not you too. Do I really look scary?” I asked.

“Yeah, you do.” That was a really quick answer.

“You know, you could take a minute or two before answering questions like that” I said. Prem is the closest thing to I have apart from my mother. I confide in him and right at this moment I am going to tell him about Catelyn and watch him laugh right at my face for this.

Like I said, he laughed, and laughed, still laughing as we speak.

“So, you’re telling me you just fell in love and you tried to scare the girl by creeping her out?” He asked with an amused look on his face.

“I wouldn’t say I fell in love, more attracted but pretty much, yes,” I said with a nod. I wont deny but I was rather feeling a little disappointed with Prem’s response. I was hoping for some support, or should I say encouragement.

“Right, Amar, I have been friends with you for a very long time and I know a lot about you but I didn’t know you liked stalking people. Honestly, I didn’t know you had it in you.” He said while laughing harder. “Alright,” he continued “listen Amar, you need to take her out, go out on a couple of dates then decide if she is the one for you. Despite you telling me that she is the one, the rational thing to do here is first, talk to her, ask her out then decide. That’s what normal people do, but I dont know how it is with you stalkers but stalking her will definitely not do the trick.” He had to stop talking, at this point he was laughing so hard he could practically roll on the floor.

I shot him an annoyed look and threw a pen at him, childish you say, I couldnt agree more. When I am with him the inner kid in me comes out. Well, he is the only one who knows me in and out, I can truly be myself around him. He doesn’t judge, he doesn’t have any business dealings with me, he doesn’t have any other intentions except just being my friend and confidante. He would risk everything he has for me and so would I, for him.

We chatted a while longer before calling it a day. I went back to my loft at about half past 9 at night when I heard the intercom to my loft buzzing.

“Yeah, who is it?” I asked.

“It’s me, Catelyn. I’m here with your documents.” I froze when I heard her voice. I couldn’t move, I froze in front of the intercom for a solid minute. I came to my senses when the intercom buzzed again.

“Mr. Qureshi, it’s kinda freezing out here.” She said.

I let her in and went to my door. I opened the door even before she was in front of my door. She came out of the elevator smiling. Looking all graceful and poise. I smiled, I must have shown all 32 of my teeth when she walked out of the elevator.

“Right, your documents as per your request. Sorry to bother you at this hour. These documents are confidential, I thought it’d be better if I send it over myself,” she said handing them over to me.

“Thank you, but you should have told me, I could have went over instead.” I said taking the envelope from her. “Would you like to come in?” I asked, hoping she would say yes, but what if she says yes? what would I do then?

“I would love to but I have to go. But thank you.” she said.

“Are you heading back home? I could drive you if you want me to.” I offered.

“Oh that’s okay. I can take a taxi. No worries.” She said declining my offer. But I couldn’t just let her go that way. That would be wrong.

“Oh nonsense, I’m driving you home. You came all the way out here to deliver these documents to me, it’s the least I could do.” I said insisting that I drive her home. Plus, it would be good chance for me to get to know her. I was not about to let that go.

“Well, if you insist.” I smiled at her agreement.

“Great, I’ll fetch my keys and we’ll get going.”

In the car, she was quite silent. She never said a word except for thanking me driving her back. I didn’t know how to react, I didn’t know what to say either. I asked her where she lived and who lived with, that was all. She lived alone in a flat near St James Park. Wasn’t that far but still it was nice having her in the car with me. Looking at the park at this hour was a rare occurance for me. I rarely come out to this part of London.

She told me her family lived in Manchester, just a few hours away from the city. She goes back during the holiday seasons, that is the only time she gets to see her family apparently with her work schedule and no help from Mr. Raffles. I was almost driving up to the curb when I heard a loud rumbling. I looked at her and she was turning red.

“Sorry, I hadn’t eaten all day,” she said with a faint smile.

“Oh no, you’re going to be sick if you keep doing that. I am taking you out for dinner.” I said with a firm voice. This is turning out to be an interesting night for me. First, she showed up at my door and now this. I’m going on a date without having to ask her out. I am lucky! I can hear my heart thundering against my chest.

“So is there any place that you would like to eat?” I asked.

“Well, I was just going to get some Kebabs after you dropped me off right around the corner. I was thinking about it the whole day and I am kind of craving for it.” She said, her voice was low. I dont know if she intended it to sound so low but it was sexy as hell and its taking all of my willpower not to pull her into my arms and kiss her senseless. I was gripping the steering wheel till my knuckles turned white.

“Right, Kebabs it is,” I said driving past the park to get to the vendor. We stopped at a Turkish Kebab vendor just outside the park. We got out kebabs and found a park bench that was vacant. The minute we sat, she unwrapped the Kebab and took her first bite. She closed her eyes, enjoying what she bit into and made this purring sound that made me weak in the knees.

She turned to me and saw I haven’t touched my Kebab yet. “Oh sorry, I was really hungry. Couldn’t wait. Do you want me to help you with that?” She asked.

I gave her a smile, “no, its okay, eat up.”

The rest of the night was really pleasant. We talked about so many things, including our interests and this was something that I didn’t expect. I was comfortable with her, more importantly, I was myself. And that was the exact moment I realised I was comfortable this way with only one person and no one else. I was at ease with her, there was no trembling, no nerves, just me and her. It was out of the ordinary.

I walked her back to her flat and waited till she entered the building before I left. My heart wasn’t thundering anymore, it was calm, good calm. I was happy. For the first time in a very long time, I was truly happy.

Such a simple night, hmmm, who would have thought.

The next few weeks were really busy, both for me and her, with our work and the arbitration proceeding. We didn’t get to spend much time together, we were always surrounded by people. No, we’re weren’t officially dating, well not yet. What I meant was I didn’t get the chance to be alone with her so that I could properly ask her out. Every time I approached her, there was a reluctance in her voice and there was hesitance in her eyes. I wonder what brought that on her. Maybe she doesn’t like me? Am I being too forward? I didn’t make any move yet, why would she feel that way?

I kept wondering, to put my heart to ease, I wanted to call her, but what would I say to her? What would I tell her? There was meeting scheduled between myself, Mr. Raffles and Catelyn. I arrived at Mr. Raffles chambers about 30 minutes late but as I got there, Catelyn was already waiting in the conference room but Mr. Raffles was nowhere to be found. I enquired if he would be joining us, she wasn’t sure herself.

We began discussing about the documents that was exchanged in the earlier proceedings, yes, I know, it is quite dry these civil proceedings, not as exciting as those criminal ones, but nonetheless, this involves billions of pounds from my business. I was pretty sure some of the invoices that was exchanged were doctored, yes, I know what you’re thinking, why am I doing this when my accountants could have done it better, if that were to happen then I would be missing my chance of being in the company of such a beautiful girl, are you kidding me? I am not letting that chance slip away right before my eyes.

As I was explaining to her about those doctored invoices, Mr. Raffles walked in. He looked a little clustered. She excused herself as Mr. Raffles required her presence. They were speaking very softly, I couldn’t quite catch what they were saying but whatever that I could make off the conversation was “No!”, “You can’t leave” and “Fine”. I wasn’t eavesdropping, it was a little loud these words.

Catelyn came back in the conference room, her face was flaming red. It was probably the result of whatever argument she had with her employer. “Is everything alright?” I asked, I am concerned for her after all.

“No, everything’s good, chirpy!” She said, I did note a sarcastic tone in her voice.

“Right, shall we get on then?” I said, trying to change the subject.

“Yes, please,” she said looking at me and smiling.

That smile could melt a man’s heart any given day. I wanted to enquire more about the “chat” she had with Mr. Raffles, but maybe it’s not my place to interfere. After all, it is between Catelyn and her employer but I could remedy the situation by giving Catelyn her own practice, however I do figure that she would decline the offer. The rest of the afternoon was just the both of us discussing the documents and where the case was headed. We stopped at about quarter past 2 in the afternoon, I couldn’t just leave without taking her out for lunch, so I decided to ask, half expecting her to say no. To my surprise, she said yes.

At lunch, her face was still a little tense, “Is everything okay, Catelyn? You look tensed?”

“Yeah, I just…” She trailed off and her eyes narrowed to the corner of the restaurant. “That is just so wrong.” She said suddenly in anger and disgust.  “He ditched a meeting with the client for a date?” She looked really peeved, the redness from her neck was slowly rising to her cheeks.

“What?” I was puzzled and turned to the path her eyes were narrowed at. It was Mr. Raffles with a woman, wow, for a short, stubby man, he really scored well. The woman was quite pretty, well, hot to be honest, it did appear as if it was a date, he was holding her hand but maybe that wasn’t quite right. He was sweating and his left hand was trembling. I could see it few tables away. We were seated far to his left and we had a clear view of his table. Our table was a little secluded from the main dining area of the restaurant, so no one could actually see us.

Catelyn got up, I held her back. “Wait, I think whatever it is can wait, Catelyn. Let the man have some lunch.” I said, stopping her. I pulled her and had her seated next to me.

“But,” She started to fight but she sat next to me and continued “you know, there’s so much of files that need his attention back at the office and there’s so many client looking for him. I can’t run the firm on my own. I’m just one person. God, I know I’m efficient but this is a little bit too much.” Her face was bright red now.

I tried my best to calm her down but she kept on venting. I suppose I can be her destresser. We saw Mr. Raffles leave with that woman through the back door of the restaurant. That’s a little bit odd, I thought to myself. Catelyn shot up and looked at me. “Something’s not right. Why the back door?” she mumbled.

She followed them through the back door calling out his name. The restaurant was packed with people even though it was well past the lunch hour. It is a famous restaurant, in fact it is my favourite restaurant. I followed Catelyn trying to stop her.

She walked through the kitchen and passed by a few of the kitchen staff who looked quite busy with their work after all, they do have a restaurant full of people to feed. They exited the restaurant through the back door and got out into the alley behind the restaurant. Catelyn and I exited through the same door, she called out to her employer and Mr. Raffles turned towards her. He was gesturing something at her, but before we could comprehend what he was saying, there was a loud explosion, like a gunfire, the next I know, I was on the street and I took Catelyn down with me. When we got up, Mr. Raffles were few feet away from us lying motionless in a pool of blood.

-END OF CHAPTER ONE-