It's Wednesday and I am here to haunt you all again! This week I would like to dedicate this chapter to FrozenMiki Thank you for voting on Beneath The Mask. Hope to see uou soon in book 2!
Daniel's POV:

Seems like I was wrong. Sebastian was no one. In fact it wasn't even a real human and all I needed was one google search to find that out. I typed in 'Sebastian Club' in the search engine and immediately I was hit with articles about the most popular Club in the city.

The Club had been started in early 2000s, named after Sebastian Cane; aka Hollow Man from Hollywood. Seemed like the man fell in love with the name and got inspired to name his Club with that name. I wish I could burn him alive in that damn elevator right now.

I grunted in frustration and shut the laptop lid close. Just when I thought I was getting somewhere!

"Are you still awake?" Harry's sleep voice croaked from behind me me. "It's not healthy to be awake all night you know."

"Sleep would be the last thing I want to do at the moment."

"I know, but you need energy if you want to solve this thing ahead of us, and it is important to take care of your body so that you could have yourself prepared.

Finally seeing sense in what he just said I nodded my head and resorted to sleep.

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

The fire blazing around me made me feel as if I was the one on fire, but I wasn't. Grey hues of smoke danced up in the sky, blocking my view of the horrid scene in front of me. I wish it had managed to do that but it didn't.

I could see every thing around me at the moment. I vividly remember being paralysed at the sight of the vehicle on fire. I knew I should have run. I knew I should have done something other than just stand still like I was the one who was dead, but I couldn't make my motor muscles to move.

My eyes stayed transfixed on the sight. Suddenly I heard a voice, very loud in reality, but almost like a whisper in my ears. Someone called me by my name, but I couldn't move.

All of a sudden I felt a heaviness over my body, pushing me down to the floor, and the last thing I heard before I passed out was the one sound I couldn't never get off my head.

The earth shattering noise of the car blasting into pieces.

                       *****************
Cath's POV:

I woke up with a startle, trying so hard to breathe in the smoke filled environment. My vision stayed dark and my pulse increased in fear. I moved my arms and limbs and thankfully they listened to me this time.

I didn't know what to do or where I wanted to go but I knew one thing for sure. I hated this feeling and I just wanted to get it out of my system. My hands grazed on a body beside me and puke rose up to my throat.

"D-Dad?" I croaked out and felt the body move. I blinked a few times and that's when I realised the supposed body was actually Sam. The confusion fogged my mind until I took in a couple of breathes of air.

I looked around and finally realised that I was still in room. I've got those nightmares again. My mind immediately brought back the image of those scenes as if it had only happened few moments ago.

I rushed to the bathroom, and puked my guts out on the basin. I kept gurgling until I could feel nothing inside my stomach, and my shoulders slumped down in exhaustion. I looked up to see my reflection on the mirror.

My skin looked pale, my hair sticky and filled with sweat and my lips trembled. The image brought back the feelings of depression and anxiety I had gone through a couple of months ago.

Anxiety began gnawing on my heart at the prospect of what this could be. No! No! No! It can't be! I can't let this happen to me again! I've come a long way and I am too scared to go through it all again.

Tears began dripping down my eyes and I wiped them away, and tried to smile at the reflection in front of me. But the longer I stared at it, the more the tears that dripped down. No!

"Please!" I whispered to myself, but I knew it was too late. "Please! Please! Please!" More tears continued to stream down and finally I lost the strength to hold on any longer and slumped down on the floor.

"Please!" I whispered as the exhaustion began to take over me. "I can't have another relapse now. Please.. just go.. away.."

**************
I woke up in the morning with a headache. After the breakdown last night I dragged myself to bed and forced myself to sleep. I couldn't have Sam find me on the bathroom floor again.

She would find out something had happened and I didn't want her to worry about me anymore. She had her own problems to take care of and I didn't want to add myself to the list again.

She laid beside me unaware of all the things going inside of my head and outside in my life. Sometimes I wish I could just hug her and cry my heart out like all the times I had before. But now I couldn't bring myself to burden her anymore.

My psychologist had always warned me that I could go through a phase of relapse any time if I hadn't properly dealt with the trauma. Trauma that hasn't healed never goes away.

You could hide it all you want; dig a deep hole and bury it inside, but the fact remains the same. The bullet stays buried inside the skin as long as you don't dig it out and stitch the skin back together. I thought I had down the work a long time ago, but seems like I was wrong.

"Good morning." Harry's voice made me look up as I walked out of my room. I tried to smile but I knew he could see something was wrong. His eyes scanned my face. "Seems like you didn't have a good one, and it's just the beginning of the day."

I shook my head. "I just had some trouble sleeping. Nothing else."

He nodded and walked along with me. "Why though?"

I shrugged and looked away. "I don't know."

"Were you thinking about something?"

"Just about everything that's going on."

"Did you remember something?"

I stopped on the stair at that. "R-Remember w-what?"

He scanned my demeanour before he smiled at me. "Anything about the book of course. Daniel said he wanted you to read it."

The book. Sebastian. A chill ran down my spine at the name. I hadn't had a relapse in a long time and just yesterday I had heard that name, and everything came crashing down on me. Could it be that I actually know someone by that name?

I immediately rushed back to the room ignoring Harry calling my name. I opened up my locked cupboard and picked up the book from the secret compartment. My hands trembled as I held it open in my palm. Will I be able to bear what's on the inside?

I didn't know but I had to find out. With that resolve in mind, I flipped the page open to the last one that I had read. Doubt began to gnaw my chest but I ignored it and took a deep breath.

I will find you Sebastian. I will find you.

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

The plan after that had been pretty simple. Keep the boy who stole her heart away from her home, and in turn her sister. She was lucky that she hadn't encountered her sister after his visit at home. She didn't know what she would do if she had seen them talking to each other in front of her.

She would have probably thrown herself into a cat fight with her sister, and he would have ran away in fear. If she didn't know better, her sister would even fake being the victim and elope along with him, leaving her alone, and much more miserable than before.

So finally she had taken an oath. She would meet him in secret, make him fall in love with her, and run away from this hellish town, and the devils of her family. All she had to do was be a little bit more careful when she met him again. So this time she found herself waiting for him in the afternoon, a street before their house.

The handsome boy was confused to see her there at first, but he didn't question her. He simply smiled at her, and proceeded to walk along with her to the fields where they always spent time together. He didn't question her when she took him in a different route; not even when she literally pushed him to go back home even before he had taken a step towards the street that led to her house.

He knew something was fishy, but he didn't dare ask. He was afraid one thing may lead to another, and that finally he would see her body again, but this time without a smile on her face, or the breathing of her lungs.

The thought gave him chills. If being this way was what she wanted, that's what he would give her. As long as she lived, he would give away his own life to keep her happy. Unknownst to him, this little girl had managed to cave her way into his heart and that's where she was going to be.

The little girl had been ecstatic to have her plan work out to a tee. It indeed did, until one evening she had one unpleasant conversation she did not expect. The two of them walked hand in hand back to drop her home. The way was empty as always, but her happiness was full to the brim of her soul.

"Your sister really cares about you." He continued to walk unaware that she had stopped doing so. Only when he felt her hand leaving his did he turn around to find her standing. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, and walked forward. Her father had taught her not to voice her thoughts when it seemed like it would contradict with what the other person had said. He smiled and pulled her hand into hers again.

"Like I was saying, your sister seemed to worry about you a lot the last time I spoke with her."

"When did you?" She couldn't stop herself from asking. The question sprung out of her mouth before she could even breathe. He was surprised that she had even spoken. Usually he did the talking, and she simply listened.

"Ah, I don't remember." He looked confused. What did it matter what time he had spoken to her? He thought, but to the little girl it did. His reply though gave her satisfaction. If he didn't remember then it meant that it was probably a long time ago. Her plan was working. She grinned.

"What did she say?" The question surprised them both. She would probably jump from a hill before being interested in what her deceptive sister had to say about her, but right now she wanted to have this conversation continuing.

She didn't care that it was about her sister. They were technically speaking about what her sister had told him about her. She could maybe know what vile lies she had told him this time to catch him in her hold, and the thought angered her.

"Just that you're too important for her to lose. She wanted me to look after you when she wasn't around.'

She stopped again. This time she couldn't bring herself to tell him that it was nothing. The anger on her face couldn't fool a blind man.

"Hey, I am sorry if I had reminded you of that." He cupped her cheeks. The look of concern in his eyes managed to melt her anger almost instantaneously. She nodded and smiled at him.

It was too cute that he thought the thought of her failed suicide had upset her when infact it had been the white lies of her sister that had done they job. If she had really wanted, she would have stayed at home to make her feel better instead of gossiping around with the town ladies all day long. Only God knows what the hell she had told them about her suicide. She didn't care anyway.

He smiled at her smile, and kissed her forehead. "No more talks about things that upset you."

'Then no more talks about my sister.' Or so she thought.
                      ****************

Brian's POV:

"Can I see her now?" I asked for the tenth time and the assistant looked up at me annoyed. I wouldn't blame her. I would be pissed if I were in her position as well, but she didn't know what I was going through.

"Like I already said sir, madam will not see anyone before she finishes her morning yoga."

"But she would see me if you just tell her my name. It's important."

"Every case that comes to her is very important I am sure but I can't just let you in now. If it were really necessary that you see mam as soon as you come, you should have made an appointment with her when she was available, not come banging in at six in the morning and demand to meet her."

"Look I know-"

"Clara, what's going on here?"

I heard the click of her heels before she made way into the hall. The assistant's eyes widened before she glared at me. She then quickly rushed to her with a cup of what I suppose was a steaming cup of coffee.

"I am so sorry mam. Someone just came in to see you and I tried to explain to him that you wouldn't see anyone now but he-"

She was about to sip in her coffee but stopped mid action when she saw me. "Brian? What are you doing here this early?"

I lifted up the paper the paper in my hand and waved it at her. She understood immediately and nodded her head. "Come in." She then turned towards her assistant. "Block off all my appointments for today and don't let anyone in until I tell you to."

The assistant seemed in a trance as she continued to look at her boss with wide eyes, and all it took to bring her back to earth was just the snap of her fingers. She immediately nodded and rushed back to her desk.

"Thanks for not helping." I smiled at the assistant and walked into the office hoping that I could actually get the help that I needed at least from her.

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

The sun had barely made its way into the sky and I already found myself standing opposite to the club again. It looked dark and inhabited, and not even a security guard stood outside it.

Slowly hours passed by and a few humans walked here and there. The shops on the street opened one by one. The café opposite to the club too opened and I found myself seated there for the rest of the day.

The sun rose up high, and sweat began to drip down my forehead and the heat became almost unbearable. My phone began ringing and I looked into the screen to find that it was Michael. I declined the call and continued watching the building.

Time continued to move and my stomach grumbled. I ignored it and kept my gaze on the building. Time after time Michael and Harry kept calling me. I didn't want them to distract me from my mission and make me miss the sight of him by a second. So I switched off the mobile phone.

Slowly the sun set, and the darkness began to seep in. The street lamps began turning on and it was becoming difficult for me to keep my eyes open and alert. Vehicles passed by the road to and fro and none of them so much as slowed down until one finally stopped right in front of the club. A black Audi.

All the tiredness drifted away from my body and I sat up straight. I immediately grabbed the newspaper from the nearby table and shielded my face behind it. I peeked over the top of it to find that the car still stood there with the engine turned on.

A few minutes later the passenger door on the other side of the car opened and out walked a person, but the car blocked my view of him. My grip on the newspaper tightened as I continued to watch in anticipation.

Seconds seemed to pass by in slow motion until finally the car began to move past the club and I could finally get a vision of the person on the other side. My heart stopped for a second at the sight of that.

WHAT?!

******************
Michael's POV:

Sam walked to and fro in the hall. She seemed about tensed and afraid. Even though she wouldn't admit it I knew she cared about Daniel so much. "Sam, relax. He will be back. He is not a child. He will not get lost."

"I am not worrying about him." She snapped at me.

"Okay." I lifted my hands up in surrender. "But why would you keep walking around ever since you found out Daniel wasn't home and nobody knew where he was?"

She continued to glare at me. "I am just concerned. I don't want anyone to think I did something to him."

"Hmmm. You do seem to have a point, but I think it also depends upon the condition in which we find him in."

She rushed up to me with wide eyes. "What do you mean by condition? Do you think something might have happened to him? Maybe he got caught in an accident and that's why he couldn't answer the call?"

I felt guilt at her worry sick face. "Uh.. I was just kidding Sam. Nothing would have happened to him."

She glared at me when Harry walked into the hall. Sam immediately rushed towards him. "What happened? Did he answer your call?"

He hesitated. "His phone is switched off."

"WHAT? What do you mean it's switched off? H-How c-could.."

"Hey!" Harry caught hold of her shoulders and smiled at her. "I am sure nothing must have happened to him. We will go look for him." He then looked at me. I nodded my head and walked upto him.

"Let me also come with you guys."

He shook his head. "We need someone at home  just incase he came back before we find him. Besides, Cath isn't feeling too well. It would be better if you stay at home."

"B-But.."

"Our phones are completely charged. We will keep you informed every 5 minutes. Okay?"

She finally nodded and we walked out the door.  Where the hell are you Daniel d'silva?

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

So.. there were so many POVs in this chapter. Was it too confusing or annoying to switch between each one of them?

What do you think about the little girl in that book? Was she being too insecure?

And what's your thought on Cath's nightmare?

Keep commenting and let me know!

Vote for this chapter!

Until next time,

Love, S!