It's Wednesday! And here's your update!

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Daniel's POV:

As soon as we returned back home, I rushed towards Cath's room. I opened the door, not bothering to knock on it first. Cath looked startled. "Daniel?" She sounded surprised. "What happened? Why-"

"Where's the book?" I cut her off.

"What book?"

"The book that came along with the l-"

Suddenly she caught hold of my hands in a tight grip. I stopped speaking to notice her eyeball alluding to her right. That's when I noticed Sam. She looked between the two of us, and I could see the curiosity swirling in her eyes. I cleared my throat and looked back at Cath; now with a calmer expression. "Can you lend me the novel that you had? I think it's time for me to read it."

Cath nodded and walked towards the dresser in which she had the letters and the book. Sam scoffed. "Since when do you read love stories?"

"Since the moment mine stopped." I stared at her, and she looked away.

Cath crouched down and rummaged through the contents of the drawer with a frown on her face. I walked up to her. "Did you find it?"

"No." She closed the drawer and walked towards her cupboard. "It's not here."

"Did you keep it somewhere else, or did you give it to someone?"

"No. The last time I saw it was when I showed it to you. Nobody else in the house reads novels. So I am sure that nobody would have taken it."

"What are you guys searching for?" Curiosity got the better of Sam, and she finally walked up to us.

"A novel called, Impossible love. Remember I got it from Steve?"

"Who is Steve?" I asked.

"Ah, the boy from the orphanage. I remember that. Wasn't it in that drawer?"

"It was, but now it isn't." Cath answered.

"Maybe I'll look for it in my things." Sam walked to another small cupboard on the opposite corner of the room.

I pulled Cath aside and whispered in her ears. "Who is Steve?"

"It's just a boy I met when Michael took me to an orphanage for my birthday. Sam saw the letter and asked me who this 'S' was, and I lied to her saying that it was from him."

I nodded and that's when I remembered the other important question that I had to ask her. "Who is Sebastian?"

"Sebastian?" She frowned in confusion. "Who is that?"

"That's what I was hoping for you to tell me."

"I don't think I have heard of that name before."

"Just think deep. Think of any guys you might have known before you came to London, and if he has that name."

"The only guys that I knew of were my father, Brian, James, and Karthik."

"What's your father's name?"

"David."

"Can you think of anyone else? Maybe Brian had other friends?"

"He did but I have never met any of them."

"Anyone that might know of you, but not have met you?"

She frowned deeper. "I don't know. Why? What's happened? Where did you find this name?"

I didn't want her to worry about it until I was absolutely sure about who he was and what he wanted. So I decided not to tell her about my encounter with the Devil. "Nothing. I was just guessing names starting with an S, and just came up with this name."

She didn't seem to completely believe me, but she nodded her head nonetheless.

"I can't find it here." Sam's voice cut through the silence in the room. "Maybe someone took it to read it."

I sighed in frustration. "Maybe one of the guys took it. I'll ask them."

Cath frowned. "But I had the drawer locked with a key. There's no way they could have taken it without that, and I still have the key with me."

"Don't Brian, and your mother have the spare keys?" Sam asked, as a matter of fact. "Maybe one of them took it."

Cath and I looked at each other in alarm. Oh Shit! This was not going to end well!

                           ***************

Cath's POV:

I tapped on Brian's door waiting for him to open it. He had been in his room ever since he had returned back from his office and I couldn't get a chance to speak with him. He hadn't even come to dinner and it got me worried.

After a few more seconds the door opened and Brian peeked out. His hair stuck out in different places and dark circles marked the area around his eyes. His skin looked pale and he looked as if he had drastically aged so much in just about a day.

He tried hard to open his eye lids and that made me feel guilty. "Did I wake you up?"

His eyes opened wide in alert and he looked surprised. "Cathy?" He realized what I had asked him and shook his head. "I wasn't sleeping. What are you doing up so late?"

"I wanted to check up on you. You didn't even come down for dinner."

"Mary brought me some food." He opened his room door wide open and there was an empty plate on his bedside table with crumbs of food on it.

"Good." I smiled at him. "Are you okay though? You seem so tired."

"It's just.." He looked a little troubled before he smiled at me. "There's been a lot of  pressure in my office lately. Nothing else. You don't have to worry about it."

"Is there something I could do to help?"

"Yes." He smiled and I waited for him to speak. "You could help me by sleeping early and taking care of yourself. That would have me worry about one thing less."

I smiled at him. "I will but only if you promise to do the same."

He hesitated but nodded his head nonetheless. "Okay. Is that all that you came for?"

"Actually.." I didn't know if it would be the right thing to ask him now.

"Actually?"

I decided to go on with it anyway. "I had this novel in my room. You've probably never seen it. No, I think you would have seen me reading it once when you came back from your walk one night."

His body stiffened and it made me wonder why did he seem so tensed all of a sudden. "Is something wrong?"

He smiled but it didn't seem natural at all. "Oh it's nothing. I am just trying to picture when this was so I could remember the book that you were talking about. Could you be a little more elaborate? When did this happen?"

"The night before the guys came home."

"Ah, I remember you telling me something like that before too. I was suffering from a migraine and didn't remember anything from that night. Did you notice anything different about me then?"

I frowned. "No. I don't think so. You had a cold back then and your voice was raspy, but you definitely did seem healthier then than you do now."

He smiled. "I'll take note of that. Anyways what did you ask about the book?"

"I had it in my room but I couldn't find it. So I just wanted to see if you had seen it anywhere."

He seemed to be in thought before he excused himself and went inside his room. After some time he returned back with the said book in his hand. My heart beat increased and I grabbed it from his hand almost immediately.

"Where did you find it?"

"I came by your room to find you for something but then saw this on your table. It seemed interesting so thought I could read it to relax myself a bit."

"But you don't read novels."

"But you do and you always tell me how relaxing it makes you feel. So I thought I might try my hands at it."

"So you read what's inside it?"

He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "I tried to so that I could keep myself alert, but as you can see I ended up feeling very drowsy."

I chuckled trying to hide the nervousness of having him find out about this. "So reading is not for you?"

"Absolutely not, but I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Where did you get this book from? I hadn't seen this one before and it wasn't in your bag when I helped you unpack after we came back from London. So where did it come from?"

My heart beat increased drastically and I was afraid my heart might jump out of my cage any minute now. It was easier to lie to Sam, but with Brian I was afraid more of the fact that he would know I am lying than the fact of actually lying to him.

"I-It's.. I-It's from S-Steve."

"Steve?" He eyed me suspiciously. "Who is that?"

"A-A s-small b-boy I-I k-knew in London."

"A small boy?" He raised his eyebrows. "Who is he and why did he send you a love story?"

I knew what he must be thinking and that very thought made me feel bad about what I was about to say. "He is an o-orphan. I-I m-met him once and h-he w-wanted me to always be his sister. I g-gave h-him o-our address so that he could c-contact me if he ever wanted to and he then sent me this book as a return to home gift."

"Is that so?" His face was blank and I didn't know what he was thinking. I decided to stick with my lie and nodded my head. "Yeah."

He stared at me for a few more seconds and I was afraid I might spill out the truth if he looked at me that way for a little more while. Luckily he smiled at me and I let out a breath in relief.

"Okay. Just don't spend the whole night reading it. It's nothing to lose your sleep over."

I smiled back. "Okay. Good night."

"Good night to you too." He ruffled my hair and shut his room door. I found myself smiling in relief and then it fell when I realized something. I never left the book on the table. That meant someone else had already left it there, or Brian was lying about it.

I looked down at the book in my hand. If he was lying, why would he do it for you?

                        ****************
I knocked on one of the guest rooms and waited for some kind of hint to show that someone was awake. After a few moments, the door unlocked and Daniel let me in. The rest of the boys were sleeping so we decided to lounge in the balcony attached to the room.

"Why are you so tensed?" I asked him.

"It's nothing." He shook his head. "Did he have the book?"

I knew it wasn't nothing but decided to let it go this time. If he wanted me to know it he would have told me about it already. So I nodded and handed the book over to him. He grabbed it immediately and began going through the pages like a madman. My heart raced each time he almost tore the pages trying to turn them.

"What are you looking for?"

He didn't answer, but continued to wreck the book until he finally reached the last page. He frowned and went over it all again as if he missed out on something important. "Sebastian is not in here. Did you read the book completely?"

I shook my head. "I did read some chapters but I couldn't find the time to finish it."

He then pushed the book back to me. "Read it completely and let me know if you find any resemblance of the characters with anyone you know of."

"I don't think.."

"Please." He pleaded and I could see the desperation in his eyes. "I could read all this but what use would it be if I didn't know what I was looking for? Clearly this guy is someone you know of. So I am sure you will be able to find it if you read this book."

I nodded. "But who is Sebastian?"

His body stiffened. "No one. Like I told you it's just a guess of a name that I thought of. Now don't worry about it. Just read the book and let me know if you find anything."

I nodded once again since I couldn't think of anything else to do. The two of us stood in silence before I voiced out the one question that had kept nagging me ever since I had received the book.

"Why is he doing this?"

Daniel remained silent before he answered with a sigh. "I don't know, but I am sure psychopaths don't require any reason to act insane."

"Do you think he could be dangerous?"

He shrugged. "I don't know that either, but I wouldn't believe a thing he says until I am absolutely sure that it is the truth. He is a manipulator and has his way with words."

He looked at me in warning. "You might not have been abused but we still don't know if he was the one who saved you, or you were saved from him by someone else. Don't for even the slightly second think he could be good just because we know he did not do anything to you."

I thought about it for a while, letting it sink in but something about those words didn't sit well with me. "But what if he was saying the truth? What if he was the innocent one and not the bad guy that we paint him out to be?"

He stared at me for a while before he sighed. "You're doing it, aren't you?"

"Doing what?" I frowned.

"You're trying to find the good in him. You believe he may be as much damaged in the situation as you are and you want to rectify it. You want to play the angel to the devil."

I blushed and looked down at the floor, hoping that he could not see my face in the dark. "But there is a probability that it might be the truth."

"There is also a probability that it also might not be, and I am not taking a chance by trusting him; especially when it concerns you."

I smiled at him. "I love you, you know that right?"

He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "More than Michael?"

I peeked inside the room to make sure that he was indeed asleep before I whispered. "I love my brothers dearly but don't tell him that." And just like that we were back to how we usually were.

                           *************

Or so I thought. For the next few minutes that we spoke, he seemed preoccupied with something on his mind and he wouldn't tell me what it is, but I knew it had to do with someone named Sebastian. I didn't know who he was but something told he had something to do with whoever was toying with me.

The thought made me feel guilt but I let it go immediately since feeling guilty wasn't going to solve anything. And right now I couldn't afford to waste time on such feelings. So I bid him farewell and exited the room with one thought in my mind.

Find Sebastian.

                          *************
Daniel's POV:

I let out a breath as soon as she left the room. I had been trying so hard to concentrate on her words and even I knew that I failed miserably in that.

"Is she gone?" Harry's voice interrupted my monologue.

I turned towards him and nodded. "Weren't you asleep?"

He shook his head before he got off the bed and walked towards where I was standing. "I couldn't."

"What were you thinking about?"

"I wasn't."

I frowned at him. "Were you eavesdropping on us then?"

He smiled cheekily. "You could say I was merely observing my subjects."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Do I need to remind you we are people, and not your lab rats?"

"Exactly!" He grinned. "I hate torturing animals. So I prefer my subjects to be live, breathing animals who have minds of their own."

"And what exactly did you observe this time?"

He seemed to be in thought for a few seconds before he replied. Harry never spoke until he thought about what he wanted to say a dozen times and dissected it into parts that only he could understand. "You were lost in thoughts."

I chuckled. "Even you could see it from there?"

He grinned. "Even Blake could see it in his dreams. And if I am not wrong, it has to do with the guy whose name starts with an S."

My head whipped in his direction. "How do you know about Sebastian?" I know I didn't tell about him to anyone. He merely grinned increasing my curiosity.

"I didn't. You just said that name. I meant the S in Cath's letter."

I cursed under my breath and hoped he would let it go, but Harry being his nosy self could never let go of a chance at prying like that. "So where did you meet him?"

"How did you kno-" I stopped mid sentence when he grinned. "You didn't and I just admitted that I did."

"You're learning."

I sighed, finally agreeing that there was no point in hiding it anymore. At least with Harry I could trust him to clear my mind from this fog of confusion. So I told him everything right from the first time I saw Brian at the place to the last moment where I was kicked out of it against my will.

Harry, being the good listener that he was, soaked in every single word that I said without so much as a sound or a nod. I was afraid he had lost his breath with the way he stood still.

A good few minutes after I finished reciting the story to him, he looked at me. "Have you ever thought the two things could be related?"

"Which two things?"

"Seeing Brian at the place, and having the encounter with this guy?"

"Do you mean to say Brian is the guy out there?" I mocked him in disbelief and he shook his head.

"No, but he could be somehow related to him. He could be an acquaintance or even a stranger he might have chanced an encounter a few times for all we know."

I frowned. "Why would you think that?"

"Brian is an old fashioned guy. He hates clubbing yet you saw him there the day we came here. That meant he would have been found there only if it were absolutely necessary or for something really important."

He let me soak in the information before he spoke again. "Or in this case for Cath. What are the odds that Brian already knows about this guy's existence just as we do?"

"He doesn't know. If he had, he would have taken matters into his hands long ago, and filed a complaint with the police; or at least let us know about it."

"He wouldn't do any of that."

"Why not?" I asked annoyed at his absurd conclusions.

"The same reason that you and Cath don't want him to know."

"That's different."

"No it's not. According to Brian, Cath was abused by this guy. She then ran away because of the trauma until he had to find her, and bring her back. He even lied to his mother that Cath was in rehabilitation since he didn't want her to get worried sick. His mother just returned from the hospital now, and he is the one responsible for taking care of the family. Do you think he would risk making his family, especially Cath know about this and worry her? Or deal with it secretly the way you guys are doing?"

"If that is the case, why would he risk Cath's life by bringing her here? Right to the place where that stalker is."

"He was in London before. Why do you want to take her back? What makes you think he won't come there again, or would stop pestering her if you take her back?"

I remained silent because I didn't have an answer for that. Harry simply smiled. "I'll tell you why. It's the same reason why we all came rushing here to India. We care about her, and even though there isn't much that we can actually do, being physically closer to her somehow makes us feel as if we are protecting her, or at least will protect her if the need comes for it."

The more I thought about his words, the more true they felt. Finally, I decided to accept he won and sighed in defeat. "So what are you trying to say then?"

He looked up at me seriously. "Brian might already know about this guy, and there is a high chance that he might have already seen him long before you actually did."

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Isn't Harry such a genius? I just love writing his character!

So any thoughts on this Sebastian character?

Will Harry beat Blake's position of playing Dr. Watson?

Keep commenting and let me know.

Don't forget to vote for this chapter.

Until next time,

- Love, S!