Page 52 of Tormented By Regret

"I thought you would say that?" The subsequent text read, dripping with an evil that made my blood run cold. "I'm only perfecting my craft for when I get to her. Your Whisper, that is. She'll be a special treat, just for you."

Before I could write a response, the phone buzzed one last time. “I suggest you leave now. Your princess seems a little cold to the touch. I’ll be taking her to Charity Hospital, I’m sure someone will help her there.”

As the conversation came to an end, I stared down at the threatening texts that filled the screen, my hands trembling with a mixture of fear and determination. I knew what I had to do. I had to find Whisper before it was too late-before he hurt her as he had with Lucy.

“Brother,” Tick Tock had been calling my name, and I didn’t take notice until he put his hand on my shoulder.

“Powertrain, you good?”

I stared up at him, shaking my head. “Where’s Charity Hospital?”

“What? I-”

I jumped out of my seat, tugging on his jacket. “Tell me, where is it!”

Bones was the one who responded. “It’s on Howard. But it’s not really a hospital, it’s been abandoned for years.”

The son of a bitch was being sarcastic, he’d taken her to the place he’d been trapped. A hospital ward.

“I’ve got to go.”

“Do you need backup!” Tick Tock shouted at me but I was already out the door. My thoughts were filled with scenes of Whisper laying on the ground, her bright eyes staring at me lifelessly, just like Lucy’s had.

WHISPER

After calling the hospital where my mother was admitted, I found out that a man had visited my mother yesterday. He signed in as Hargrave and said he was an old friend. He was only one of two people to visit her that day. The other never gave his name, although he visited several times a month. By the description they’d given me, I knew it was my father, and it warmed my heart to know he was still watching over her. She was still safe, but what the caller had said was true. He had paid my mother a visit and that had chilled me to the bone.

The nurses then let me know that someone had checked my mother out the night before. I was furious and shocked that anyone would be allowed to do that, especially when it wasn’t family.

The nurse explained that the name on the board was Ethan Hudson, her son. And that it had been done some time around shift change in the evening.

After receiving the information, I ran into Ethan in the hallway. “Have you gone to see Mom?”

“Mom? No, why?”

“You didn’t go see her yesterday? You swear it.”

“No, Whisper. I haven’t seen her yet.”

I stared up at him, hurt that he hadn’t seen his mother yet, but more concerned that if what I was thinking was true, the killer had truly taken her.

As Ethan protested, I shoved past him and went to the only other person who could offer me the truth, and I cornered Hoax in his office. “I don't know what you need Whisper, but I'm not the man to ask. You should go to Powertrain.”

“He's not telling me shit, and I know you have all the information because he only shares what he knows with you.”

He blinked up at me as he stuffed a bunch of Cheetos into his mouth. I leaned on his desk and narrowed my eyes on him.

“You know I can always go to my father. Tell him you've been stalking me in all the wrong ways. I can make him take away all these pretty toys.” I trailed a finger along the edge of a screen and fixed my eyes on him.

Just for fun, I let my power run freely for a few seconds. The current crackling in the air between us. My raven seemed to enjoy the game, and in the reflection on one of the screens, I noticed my eyes get a dark purple glow to them. A very different reaction than the one she gave Lee. It made me look unreal.

Hoax's eyes widened and he dumped the snack bag off to the side. “Fine. Just don't look at me that way. Freaks me the fuck out.”

As he pulled up the news stories, articles of Lucy Whitfield's death filled the screen. I gasped at the sight of her pale body lying on a steel morgue table. Stab wounds to her neck and sides were visible.

I nearly sobbed as Hoax brought up an image of a young Lee. It was a mugshot taken sixteen years ago. I touched the screen, thinking he was so young. News articles suggested that he was at fault but quickly changed their tune blaming another man, Ronald Hargrave, for assault.

I slumped back in the chair, feeling angry at Ethan and Lee for having kept such a secret from me. I stared up at the screen, the image of Ronald Hargrave stared back at me.

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