Demons From the Past novel Chapter 10

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"If I got rid of my demons, I'd lose my angels."

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|Verena|

"I just saw him go into that building over there." I said excitedly.

We'd been trailing Ethan's car ever since he'd left college. We were currently seated in Nate's truck outside the posh looking building Ethan had just walked into.

"We'll wait till he gets back and then go check it out." Nate answered firmly.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while, our eyes glued to the entrance of the building. Finally I turned to look at him.

"Thanks for doing this." I told him sincerely.

His eyes locked with mine and I felt my breath catch in my throat. Somehow he always made me feel as if he was gazing into my soul, unveiling all of my secrets.

A shiver ran down my spine.

"I know something is wrong." Nate said finally, "That man, he said something to you when he attacked you right? Something pretty serious considering how desperate you are to catch him."

I looked away from his scorching gaze.

My mouth suddenly felt like sand paper.

"Look, if you're in any sort of trouble, if you need any help, you can trust me. I can help you." He said, his voice gentle.

I tried to swallow the lump that had lodged itself in my throat. My eyes were starting to get damp. From the corner of my eye I saw him move closer to me, his fingers tilting my face up to meet his questioning gaze.

"You can trust me Verena. Please talk to me." He murmured, his dark orbs boring into mine.

The words were tumbling out before I could stop myself. "H-he knew Trevor, I don't know how but he did. I need answers, that's the reason I came here in the first place." I mumbled incoherently.

"Who's Trevor?" Nate asked softly.

I opened my mouth to respond but my eyes widened when I saw a familiar figure walking out of the building in front. "It's Ethan! He's leaving." I exclaimed.

Nate followed my gaze and cursed under his breath when he realized that I was right.

We waited till Ethan had gotten into his car and driven away before leaping out of the truck and making our way towards the building.

The inside of the building was spotlessly clean, you could practically see our reflection on the tiled floor.

"Excuse me Sir, can you tell us where we are." I said, stopping a man who was walking past us.

The man looked confused for a while but he finally answered, "This is a psychiatric clinic, I come here to see my psychologist."

A psychiatric clinic? What business could Ethan have over here?

I thanked the man and we both proceeded to make our way inside until we reached what seemed to be the reception area. We found a young woman sitting behind a desk.

"Uh-Hey." I said awkwardly.

The woman looked up and gave me a bored look.

"Dr. James just left. You'll have to come back tomorrow if you want to see him. I can arrange an appointment." She said in a bland tone.

"No, actually I'm here to ask about a friend of mine." I responded.

"A friend?"

"Um, yeah. I was hoping you could help us out, tell us why Ethan was here, we're just worried about him." I lied smoothly

"You mean Ethan Grant? He's here every other week." The lady answered.

"Do you know why?"

She shrugged, "Look I don't think I'm supposed to talk about patients, not that I know anything. James is Ethan's psychologist not me."

"Can you tell me how long he's been coming here?" I asked.

The receptionist rolled her eyes at me, "I don't see how that's any of your business. If you're here to make an appointment then get it done with or stop wasting my time!" She snapped.

I wanted to snap back but with great effort I managed to keep my temper at bay. I gave the woman a sweet smile.

I turned to Nate and dragged him to the corner. "Look, you need to distract her so I can get into the Doctors office. If he's Ethan's psychologist then he should have his files. Maybe we can find something which links him to the murder if we go through them."

Nate turned to look at the receptionist. He gave her a brief, bored look.

The woman finally seemed to notice Nate standing there. Her eyes widened in appreciation as they raked down his toned frame. I almost gagged when she saw her thrust her chest out suggestively.

"How do I distract her?" Nate asked in irritation.

I turned to look at the woman still shamelessly checking him out.

Nate's gaze followed mine and his face broke into a sly smirk.

"You'll think of something." I said dryly as I pushed him towards her.

"How can I help you?" The woman spoke in a sultry voice.

" I'm a complete wreck right now. My fish just died. You should book me an appointment." Nate lied smoothly as he leaned forward on her desk.

I scoffed.

Is that the best he could come up with?

"Sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help you like right now ?" She responded batting her eyelashes at him as she leaned in closer to him.

I had to refrain from snorting.

The receptionist was too preoccupied with the handsome man in front of her to notice me quietly slipping into the room behind her back.

The room was tidy like the rest of the building, my eye caught the file cabinet located in the corner. I quickly yanked the drawers open and skimmed through the files. My eye soon caught the one labelled 'Ethan Grant', I let out a whoop of victory. I knew I couldn't stay in the office for much longer, so I took out the papers and stuffed them into my pocket before returning the file to its original location.

I quietly stepped out. Neither the receptionist or Nate took any notice of me, both still caught up with their flirting.

I cleared my throat loudly and much to my irritation, failed to get a response from them. Finally I stomped over to Nate's and took hold of his elbow, yanking him backwards.

"Let's go!" I hissed in his ear. For some reason I felt really pissed off at him.

"Who is she?" The receptionist asked Nate as she eyed me icily.

"Uhh . . . he's my brother!" I blurted, desperate to come up with an explanation. I mentally face-palmed myself as soon as the words left my mouth.

Ethan's eyes widened in shock for a moment before his expression morphed into that of pure rage.

"What did you say?" He hissed as he stepped forward causing me to shrink back.

"Ethan, I understand. You have a problem. You need help. Let us help you, please." I tried to reason.

His eyes squared on the papers still in Nate's hands, he finally realized what was going on. If he'd looked angrier before he was absolutely livid now.

Just great. I really need to keep my mouth shut.

His large hand wrapped around my arm painfully, he yanked me forward. "I knew it! I knew someone was following me. You're going to regret doing that you little wench." He hissed furiously.

"Let go of me." I screamed trying to get out of his strong grip but his hold only tightened causing me to yelp in pain.

"Get your hands off her." I heard Nate growl, his voice sounded deadly.

"And what if I don't want to?" Ethan mocked, pulling me closer to himself.

The next minute I felt Ethan's arm being ripped off me. I watched in horror as Nate threw Ethan against the wall, pinning him there. The back of his arm crushing Ethan's windpipe. The two men continued to struggle but it was clear that Nate had an upper hand. I watched in panic as Ethan aimed a punch at Nate, who easily dodged and managed to kick Ethan in the stomach causing him to double over.

From the corner of my eye I could see a crowd starting to gather around them, it was just a matter of time till someone called the police. If the police caught Nate in the middle of a fight things definitely wouldn't end up well.

"Nate!" I screamed trying to get his attention.

He didn't even spare me a glance, I winced as I caught the menacing look on his face. I had to do something before things got really ugly.

I did the first thing that came into mind.

I flung myself at Nate, my arms wrapped around his waist. I could feel him breathing heavily, his ridged muscles heaving against my body.

"Nate, calm down. If you hurt him you'll only get yourself into trouble." I whispered trying to soothe him.

"Verena, move." He ordered through clenched teeth. His dark eyes were still trained on Ethan, he was fighting to keep what little self-control he had.

I tightened my arms around him, I couldn't risk him getting hurt. "We should leave before the cops get here. Leave him Nate, I promise we'll get back at him."

To my immense relief, I felt him relax a little. I finally stepped away from him but linked my hand with his just in case.

My heart fluttered when I felt his fingers curl around mine.

"Let's go." I repeated, lightly tugging on his hand.

Nate aimed a threatening glare in Ethan's direction before he turned to follow me.

Ethan chuckled coldly, his cold eyes trained on me once more.

"You're right about one thing Verena." He jeered. "I did kill her."

I froze in mid-stride, my eyes widened in shock as I comprehended what he was saying.

Ethan's face twisted into a cruel smirk.

"I killed Allison and there's no way in hell you'll ever be able to prove it." He said in a low voice, making sure no one but the two of us could hear. He spared us one last glance before walking away.

I was too stunned to respond, I turned to look at Nate to check if I'd heard wrong but the baffled look on his face said otherwise.

Ethan Grant just confessed to killing his girlfriend.