Eyes Like Ice by Radia Al Rashid (the false prince .TXT) 📖

say I’m your friend. Again, Anna seems to be hostile to me, maybe a little but she doesn’t quite like me.” he gives a side smile, “So, it’s better not to involve me directly in her matter. Got it?”

“Hm, I think you’re right. Well, I’m going then? Wish me luck.”

“You got this.” He softly pats my shoulder before I get out of the car.

I am midway to the house when I see Anna’s mother opening her car door.

“Mrs. Gaston?” I call over.

She looks up at me, her face looks a bit paler than usual. Anna got her dark, thick hair from this Latina beauty. But something is absolutely bothering Mrs. Gaston as her ever cheerful smile is not there.

“Oh! Evelyn, right? How are you doing? You look really... tired.”

“It’s nothing, Mrs. Gaston, I’m fine. How are you doing? How’s um... Alvin, I mean your son?”

“Good! He’s with the babysitter! How are you? How’s your sister doing now?”

“Good, yeah, much better than before. So, are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah, I am. I need to head to the work.” She looks down at her watch.

Shoot! I really need to talk to her now. I can’t let it slip for another day. The mysterious possibility of some upcoming danger is pushing me to the edge.

“Oh, I won’t take long, y’ know. I’m just here to talk about something... important.”

“But sweetheart, it’s already the time, can you come by tomorrow?”

“No, Mrs. Gaston, please, just five minutes, I promise. I will not take a second more than that. It’s about Anna.”

“What? What happened to her? Isn’t she staying at your place? She’s not even picking up my phone. What is it, Evelyn? Did something happen?” her eyes expand with terror.

“No, no worries, she’s alright. Yes, she’s staying there and all but I really need to know about the cat incident Mrs. Gaston. She is not telling me anything about that and I-I think she’s having the sleepwalking and suicidal stuffs once again.” I lie about the suicidal part to make Mrs. Gaston tell me about everything.

“What! O God! I knew it was going to worsen. Is she alright? I mean seriously? Did she do any self harm?”

“No, I halted her while doing so but what worries me more is how she went for our neighbor’s cat the other day. She was clearly in her sleepwalking episode while she wanted to chock it.” What came over me? why am I making up so many things?

“O my God! I shouldn’t have let her go in the first place.” She bites on her lower lip before opening her mouth again, “She doesn’t have any cat phobia if that’s what she told you guys. She just hates cats so much, and don’t ask me why cos I myself don’t know the answer. When I got this cat, she was supportive and all until the night she literally tore a patch of fur out of its skin.” She squeezes her eyes shut probably picturing the scene in her mind. “But I forgave her as she was clearly in her sleepwalking episode, I just told her not to come close to Bella, I mean the cat.” Her eyes fill with tears. She must have got quite hurt at her cat’s death.

I keep looking at her without a word, letting her know that I’m listening.

“Then, that night, she came to me in tears saying that the sleepwalking was getting out of her control. I assured her not to freak out as we were going to take her to the doctor’s the following day. Everything was fine before midnight. That’s when I heard a loud scream coming from the porch. You know, Anna’s dad has been out of the country for his business. So, I rushed to Anna’s room to check on her. I went crazy when I didn’t find her on the bed. I cannot tell you how I managed to fly across the hall to stumble on a pool of blood on the porch. I saw our neighbor, Miss Tomlinson gripping Anna’s hands tightly while crying her eyes out. Anna was still dozed off, just the way she behaves during sleepwalking. What I saw after looking closely at the blood pool is beyond imagination, Evelyn. Bella was spread out in pieces, I don’t understand how one can do such a thing even if it’s not done wittingly.” She flinches.

I step forward and put my hand on her arm in a comforting manner.

“Miss Tomlinson is a huge animal lover. She spends most of her time working in animal shelters to make sure the safety of those animals. She threatened me to file a case against my daughter for doing this to an innocent cat. She was dead serious in her words. I was so afraid Evelyn; I was this close to lose it. So, I told her that we were sending Anna to asylum anyway. She had a psychological instability and she was in no state to be punished. Fortunately, Miss Tomlinson seemed to buy it. You know I don’t have any relative who doesn’t own any pet animal. I couldn’t let my own daughter slaughter their pets. So, all I could think of at that moment was your place and I sent her off right after the sun came out the following day. I’m really so sorry Evelyn, I was out of options.” Tears start streaming down her face.

I become so stiff at her words. I can’t believe Anna has some deadly fetish to murder innocent animals. “Does she actually have a psychological issue?” my voice trembling.

“I don’t have any idea, Evelyn. I think I should talk to the psychiatrist about this but it can be because of her sleepwalking. I think I must be off. It’s already too late.” She nervously looks at her watch.

“Yeah, sure but...” she clambers in her car before I could finish.

“I’ll talk to you later, Eve.”

I keep standing stiffly for several moments. Mrs. Gaston raised further questions in me by her information than answering my questions. I can only think about one single thing right now, have I been friends with a monster? Or, what! Is her fetish confined to only killing animals or can it spread to slaughtering humans as well? A shivering ripple makes its way down my body.

“Evelyn? Eve?” Richard’s hands jerk my shoulders from behind.

“Huh? She’s a monster! I’ve been so wrong about her... she can... she can kill a life without hesitation.

He steadies his ice stares on my face. Then coming closer, he cups my face in his hands, “Eve, it’s okay, I’m here with you. Try to calm down a bit before falling sick. Remember? We have more things to focus on and we’ve already doubted Anna to be somewhat a murderer. Calm down.” His voice sounds more like soft whisper.

“But Richard...”

“I know Eve, this feels horrible. I won’t disagree on that but we will have to head towards William’s place now. We will talk through Anna’s topic on the way there, cool?” he caresses a side of my face with his thumb.

“Okay.”

I mechanically get into the car before bursting into tears. I don’t know what just came over me. Maybe doubting some danger is much better than knowing it for real. My heart is aching over Anna, not out of contempt or, fear but because I love her so much. It’s true that past few days have been pretty bumpy between us but she has been my best friend since like, forever. I keep sobbing and letting hot tears streaming down my face.

Richard exhales a little sigh. He drives quietly for quite a while. Finally, I wipe my tears away before turning to him. He takes a glance at me when his eyes lock with mine radiating warmth and care towards my way. Inhaling deeply, I appear a little grin on the corner of my lips.

“I’m sorry for crying like a baby.” I sniff.

“You don’t have to be sorry for that, Evelyn. Crying is not a crime.”

I nod at him.

“Can you give me a brief on what actually Anna’s mother told you back there?”

“It’s Anna who killed the cat. Not only she killed this damn cat, she literally tore it apart. Pathetic!” I gulp hard to stop gagging.

He looks shuddered, “Did her mother demand it happened in one of her sleepwalking episodes? Cos it could be, actually. In sleepwalking, people can do fricking hideous stuffs.”

“No, Richard, it can’t be just sleepwalking and I’m not babbling for the hell of it. You know what? Anna told us that she was allergic to cats but Mrs. Gaston told something about her having cat phobia. These are two entirely different issues. Not just that, she also told me that she believed her daughter didn’t have any ailurophobia or anything, but plain hatred for cats.”

“What?” his voice confused.

“Yes, and if it’s true then, don’t you think she didn’t kill the cat in her sleepwalk? Cos it has a strong possibility that, she does have some weird fetish of slaughtering animals. She’s sick, Richard, she’s mentally sick.”

“Woah! That’s some real issue going on with her.” He chews on his lip.

“What do we do now?”

“Now? nothing cos she hasn’t really left us any concrete evidence. In case you’re wondering why, proving her to be mentally sick and reporting to a Psych Hospital will need some clear evidence. No worries, we can come up with something like a trap after getting done with William’s case. Alright?”

“But... but Richard, my concern is now not only confined to hurting animals or slaughtering them like monsters. It goes beyond, I mean, what if she starts harming people? What if her mental condition gets much worse by the time that she doesn’t hesitate to kill someone?” what if...” I gasp.

“Don’t freak out, Eve!” his voice raises a bit, “What ifs can be the sweetest when they represent your absolute dream moments. It only turns out disastrous when you let your worst nightmares make their ways to the scene. See? Even in your imagination, you have to make choices. Choose to think positively. Negative thoughts can never make any difference apart from drowning you further into the hellish downward spiral. So, relax back and get ready to face Will, if we have much luck to find him.”

“You think he’s alive?” my voice trembles.

“Seems like he is. You know, he updated a status on Facebook two days ago. Also, there is a tweet on his account which was posted yesterday. His post updates are pretty consistent, I mean, there is no big gap to doubt anything. But one little issue is bothering me though.” He takes a U-turn.

“That... there’s no mention about Julia’s accident anywhere?”

“Exactly! Are you two added on Facebook, Insta or any other social media?”

“Nope! I just stalked his ID a little last night. I wasn’t pretty close with him to be honest. They got engaged real quick, like within 5ish months of dating. We all thought it to be a bit weird but again, mom and dad believed Julia had every right to make the choices of her life. So, I didn’t bother either. That’s one of the reasons, I know so little about William.”

“Uh-huh! Let’s just see what’s waiting in his house.” He murmurs.

“Hey, Richard! Something off the topic but... um do you have any cat PJs?”

“What?” he laughs, “Not to my knowledge, no! Why do you ask this question out of everything in the world?” he continues chuckling.

“Argh! Never mind, I’m just trying to trace the connection between Anna’s hatred for cats and her hatred towards you.” I mindlessly tug on my lower lip.

“Ouch! She hates me alright but how is that supposed to be connected with the cat thing?”

“No, no, you see? Anna told us that... wait, why does she hate you anyway? Did something happen?”

“Um, well... how do I put it?”

“Seriously? That means there’s reason behind her hatred. Gosh! What is it? Did you hit on her?” I narrow my gaze at him.

“Ah, no! well, that night, when that sleepwalking and Julia’s sedative incident happened?”

I