Chapter 3 Paranormal Investigation Agency

• It was the same day one year ago. The day I sent in my application to Grey groups and the same day my fate with Aaron Hendrix was born. I froze in terrifying realisation. If I don't do something, dying on that surgery bed will happen again. Maybe fate gave me this chance to change everything.
• "Verity, what's wrong? You're scaring me with that look on your face?" He asked, walking back to me, but before he could see my intention to flee, I shot to my feet and raced out of our bedroom.
• I didn't know where I was or the interiors of this house, but I saw the long staircase and skipped down in seconds. My luck shined when I saw the double door ahead. I raced for it, even while knowing Verity's husband was hot on my tail.
• I reached the end of the steepy driveway, still running past the gate and gunning for the main road. A cab stopped for me, and I hopped in with no idea what city I was in and with no money. I saw the BMW behind, and I knew he was already right behind me.
• "Hey, do you think you can speed up?"
• The driver looked at me through the rear view mirror and grunted.
• I grabbed his shoulder blade from where I sat and said, "That car must not catch up with us, or else we will be in serious trouble."
• As we crossed the streets, I realised we were still in the city I know. New York.
• "Take me to Park Avenue."
• He listened and rammed his foot on the gas, gaining ground over the car that followed us closely behind. It took us twenty minutes to get to the Kim's household. This is where June and Suzy lived after their parents died.
• I jumped out of the car after the driver pulled to a stop. Our home was a townhouse part of a row. It had no fencing, just concrete tiled pathways to get to the front steps. The driver called for me behind, but I paid no attention to him as I pushed myself up the stairs, lurching for the front door.
• It was late at night, yet I confidently banged on someone's door about to say something utterly crazy. I didn't give myself the chance to think about it. I was just acting on impulse.
• The door opened, and my jaw rolled off the floor. I came face-to-face with myself. With June Kim. I was silent, thinking she should know who I was, but then, I remembered my face was an entirely different person. A stranger.
• Me said to me, "Who are you?"
• Immediately, I heard his voice behind me. It was no longer just the driver shouting at me. He was here, too.
• "Verity!"
• I gasped, turning and grabbing June's hand while rushing my words. "Listen to me, this might sound crazy but it's the truth. Go to your desk. You have two job applications waiting to be sent out on your computer. Do not pick Grey groups. Pick the latter. If you chose Grey, you won't survive—"
• Hands hooked around my waist, and my back slammed into a hard chest as my feet began to lift from the ground. I thrashed about, but his hold on me was like a vice.
• I heard him apologising. "I'm so sorry about this, Miss. My wife isn't in her right state of mind. I apologise again for the disturbance."
• June said in an uncertain tone, "I don't mind. Goodnight."
• He handed the cab driver his fare, and the man still cursed at me until he drove away from the premises. Verity's husband threw me inside the passenger side of the car. We drove home in silence, and when we got back, a specialist was waiting to examine me.
• I didn't protest. I didn't resist. The doctor sat me down in my bedroom and peeped into my eyes with a tiny torchlight. He tugged the skin underneath them downwards for a better view.
• Verity's husband said, "Tell me. What's wrong with my wife?"
• "She suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. That is the most likely cause of her sudden memory loss." The doctor responded.
• "Will her memories return? How long am I expected to wait until my wife remembers who I am?!" He lost his cool on the last statement, pacing up and down the room.
• "Wayan." The doctor called with more familiarity and less formality. "Calm yourself."
• I realised that was his name. The man who I was going to share a bed with from now on. The man who I was going to kiss and pretend to love was him. Wayan.
• Wayan gestured wildly with his hands. "I can't possibly be calm. Look at her. Look at what they did—"
• "Her memory loss isn't permanent, okay? She will remember everything soon. Let's have faith."
• The doctor arranged his suitcase, and Wayan's assistant came to show him out. The assistant's name tag pinned to the breast pocket of his blazer, said exactly who he was, including his name.
• I gulped and said, "Wayan."
• It shocked him to hear me call his name. It seemed earlier on that I had forgotten that as well. He rushed to my side on the bed, brushing a lock of my hair away from my face. Wayan was kind, unlike Aaron.
• "Ver, I'm sorry for my outburst. I didn't mean to scare you."
• "You do not scare me." I assured him.
• I noticed how my words comforted him. He liked hearing my voice. It was a way to convince him I was fine and not on my way to self-destruct.
• "I'm glad." He interlocked our fingers and stared at them for a long moment. "Something bad happened a week ago, and it was my fault. Do you remember our last case?"
• I shook my head, utterly confused. "I can't remember a thing."
• He already had that devastated look on his face, detaching his hand, but I quickly linked them back.
• "But you can tell me everything about us," I said, sparing him a tender look. "I want to hear the sweetest part first. Only talk about us. The good parts of our relationship."
• "You mean marriage?"
• I spared a nervous smile. "Sorry, it was a slip up."
• Wayan held the tip of my chin and smiled, showing me that he didn't take that to heart. I smiled back, anxious to hear about it. What kind of relationship did Verity have with Wayan.
• In a few minutes, he did. He told me about the first day they met. He said something tragic had happened, but because I wanted only the good parts, he skipped the tragedy and filtered the story. I could see they were so in love. O wondered how things would be from today.
• Suddenly, a weird bell sound spiralled through the air. It rang twice before it stopped, and it was so shrill I had to cover my ears before it would split.
• Wayan sighed. "It's time for the other side of our lives."
• I watched him grab his jacket slung across the arm chair's back rest in a haste.
• "Where are you going?"
• "Stay here and rest. I'll inform the others that something came up at home."
• Wayan walked to the wall next to the bookshelf in the wide bedroom. Before my eyes, the closed wall rolled away, revealing an elevator behind it. When he said the "other side of our lives", what had he meant by that?
• "No!" I shot to my feet.
• He turned to me, backing the elevator. His eyes questioned me, and I continued. "Take me with you."
• If I was going to be Verity, then I needed to know what exactly I was in. I needed to know what I was about to face with this second chance at life fate had given me. Would I end up regretting it?
• "Ver, it's not safe for you—"
• "Why not?" I walked forward with crossed arms. "Being around family and friends always does the trick, rather than being stuck in an empty bedroom. Take me to this other side, Wayan."
• He lowered his voice, holding my stare with darkened eyes. "You are lucky you are my wife. No one can speak to me in that tone and get away with it."
• I stepped into his personal space, looking at him from beneath my eye lids. "Take me to the other side. It's what your wife wants most."
• Wayan nodded once and grabbed my hand. He pulled me onto the lift and pressed a button. The box sank by so many feets, but I couldn't tell how many. When the doors slid open again, a tunnel was before us. It was lined with tracks, and when I saw the two carts fixed on them, I understood what this was. A secret passage.
• "After you, my darling wife." Wayan helped me climb into my cart and got into his next.
• The carts zapped into motion at the press of a button. I screamed. We were going too fast. I was afraid we would crash. I was afraid of death again, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. The carts rode the rail tracks for thirty minutes before stopping before an arched entrance under the ground.
• Wayan helped me out again. He noticed my hands were shaking, and my skin was pale, but I crossed the entrance before he could ask me what was wrong.
• After the dark entrance and the ernomous door rolled open by a lever on the side wall, I came in contact with a well-lighted and furnished warehouse. It had everything a detective's corner should have and more.
• I sighted a cadaver and mortuary cabinets. A filing section. The crime case drawing board and lastly, a lounge. What alarmed me was that there were people already here. The 'others' Wayan had mentioned.
• I said, "Am I the only girl?"
• A guy dressed in a casual sweater and jeans and seated on the arm rest of a settee stood on his feet and said, "No, you are not, Verity. I'm Tyler. Mr. Davenport gave us a heads up on your condition."
• Another voice said, "There's no need to be so formal, Tyler. It's Verity Adams. Not a newbie."
• I turned in that direction and met a pair of eyes hidden behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. This man crossed his legs elegantly as he sat. He was clad in a well-cut suit, and I could tell he was the kind of person who obsessed over perfection.
• "You are one to talk, Reece. It's like I'm walking on eggshells." Tyler withdrew his steps and returned to his spot on the settee. His eyes scrutinised me like binoculars.
• Wayan finally broke his silence. "What's the status?"
• "A new case just popped up on our radar, boss." Reece answered, uncrossing his legs out of respect. "It's them."
• Wayan said nothing. He walked over to the case board without carrying me along. I stood awkwardly before the two strangers. Tyler tried so hard not to stare too much, but it was an epic fail.
• I heard the ruckus and darted my eyes to Wayan. He had shed off the remnant pieces of the last case on the board, leaving it blank.
• Tyler suggested. "Reece and I drafted an attack plan, boss. It starts with the Grey pack's base and ends at the Alpha's seat."
• My mind muddled up the more. I peered at all of them in confusion until another voice came again.
• Wayan checked his watch and said to them, "Where the fuck is Suzy?"
• I frowned on instinct. It couldn't be the same Suzy I knew. It just couldn't. I was overthinking. There's no way the Suzy I know would be involved in criminal cases and secret underground investigations. I don't even know where I am yet. Fuck...
• "What's this place?"
• They all stared at me like I had grown three heads. Tyler ran hand over his mouth. I had truly lost all of my memories and knew nothing. It was like a nightmare, and that was why he had been staring so much.
• Wayan diverted from his previous question and responded in a calm voice. "This is the headquarters of the Paranormal Intelligence Agency. I'm the founder, and you are the co-founder."
• My heart sank. "Paranormal?"
• Reece rolled right on. "Yes, Verity. As in ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and all there is out there."
• I froze, thinking they had to be joking. This wasn't real. I thought about bursting into laughter, but the look on their faces had me thinking otherwise. They weren't bluffing. Ghosts and werewolves existed.
• If that was all...
• The elevator pinged loudly on the other side, and after a few minutes, someone walked into the warehouse.
• I heard heels and the feminine voice that came next.
• "Boys, you called."
• My eyes widened in shock. That voice. I knew it like the back of my palm, but how could it be possible?
• Tyler scoffed. "Took you long enough, Suzy."
• When the clap of those heels stopped right beside me, I raised my eyes, dreading what I was about to discover.
• It was her. My sister, Suzy, stood there, looking like a totally different person.
• Instantly, I began to question everything. Did loansharks really murder my sister? Was she ever really in debt? The people she had to run from, where they even loansharks?
• Was everything a lie?