Chapter Sixty-Five
What the fuck?
Is Victoria dead? Is she alive?
Was she killed? Did she kill herself?
What on earth was going on?
I was so freaking confused that I was only able to utter out one word. "Huh?"
"Your mate can provide you with all the details." Isabella sent Vladamir a dirty look to which Vladamir responded by shrugging.
"So...is she alive then?"
This time it was Isabella who was shrugging. "We do not know. There is a chance she may be alive."
My eyes flickered over to Vladamir who was staring intently ahead. "Vladamir didn't see her die?"
Isabella shook her head. "No he did not."
So there was a chance she was alive but it wasn't a certainty. This ambiguity had done nothing to satiate my curiosity and questions, if anything it had amplified it.
"We are here." Vladamir informed us as he slowed the car down to a stop. While remaining seated, his scanned our environment, his eyes taking everything in.
My body shuddered without warning as if I entered a cold place. I wrapped my arms around my body as I copied Vladamir and Isabella and looked out the windows. The surroundings was the exact definition of abandoned building and area.
The surrounding woods looked just as lifeless as the abandoned building, isolated and surrounded by mushy lands. Darkness was everyone and the only source of light was the moon, glowing in the naked sky.
Upon closer inspection of the strange shaped building, I could see that the paint was chipping and peeling, the windows were broken and shingles had been torn from the dull brown roof. There was a door leading into the building, it was open and hanging on one hinge.
"Are you sure we're at the right place?" I whispered as I stared directly ahead at the building that looked like no one had set foot in it for years.
"Yes." Vladamir simply replied as he pulled out his phone.
"This doesn't seem right." I thought out loud. "If people were in there, there would have been light or movement."
Vladamir turned the engine off and tossed the keys over to Isabella. "Stay here with Leanne. If anything is amiss, leave immediately. Do not wait for me."
"Hang on." I grabbed Vladamir's shoulder. "Wait for the others to come, don't go in on your own." I knew Vladamir was going to argue so I spoke quickly. "Please Vladamir. Please wait."
The wait for the others wasn't too long as two cars parked up at either side of us. The Lycans in the other cars exited swiftly and stood around, their eyes taking in the surrounding just like we had done earlier.
"Wait!" I called out as Vladamir began to open the door.
Vladamir looked back at me and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Please be careful."
A nod was what Vladamir gave me before opening his door.
"Vladamir!"
"Leanne." Vladamir grumbled as he looked back in the car. "You are wasting my time."
His words had me questioning my next move but I decided not to let his words deter me. "Can you come here?"
He slammed the driver's side door before opening my door. Before he could grumble further, I lunged at him and wrapped my arms around him, catching him off-guard. His surprise only lasted a couple of seconds as he returned my hug and placed a small kiss at the top of my head.
Neither of us exchanged words as we held each other for a few seconds more before pulling apart and staring at each other. We didn't have to say anything, our touch and looks were saying it for us.
In less than half a minute it was over and Vladamir was shoving me back into the car. "Keep her safe." He ordered Isabella before slamming the door shut.
Watching the Lycans slowing make their way over to the abandoned building, I couldn't help but think something was wrong. The place looked completely broken and deserted. Surely if they were keeping my dad's body here there would be something to suggest that, instead it looked like no one had been here for years.
I should have questioned Vladamir on how he managed to track down my dad's body, who his sources were and how he gathered the information. Something just didn't sit right with me.
"Do not worry, they will be fine." Isabella tried to reassure me as she gracefully manovered over to the driver's seat. "Come sit at the front."
She patted the seat she had previously occupied and I made the mistake of trying to move from the backseat to the front passenger seat without leaving the car. I was nowhere near as graceful as Isabella and ended up hitting myself multiple times. Thankfully Isabella took pity on me and helped me over.
"Thanks." I muttered as I put my seatbelt on.
Isabella turned the engine on and I looked over at her. "Just a precaution." She explained as she put her own seatbelt on.
A comfortable silence encased us for a few minutes before Isabella's phone rang. She answered it immediately, putting the phone to her ear. "Yes?"
Her eyes flickered over to me and she listened to what the person on the other side of the phone was saying.
"Is it Vladamir?" I asked quietly. "What is he saying?"
She put her hand up in a stop talking gesture. "I see." She muttered. "What do you intend to do now?"
Though the call only lasted a few minutes, it felt like hours as I impatiently waited to find out what was going on and if my dad's body was there.
As soon as Isabella ended the call, she turned towards me. "They found your dad's body." She got straight to the point and didn't waste time.
"Oh." I murmured out. "Okay." I was unsure of how else to respond. I was having mixed emotions, I was relieved that we had finally found my dad's body but also sad too. Finding his body made everything more real now, as strange as it may sound, with his body missing it felt as though he was still alive, just away somewhere.
Seeing his body now will provide the visual confirmation that he actually is gone, not only that but we would now be able to have his funeral and funerals are the last rituals of someone's life. After that, that's it, they're gone forever.
I would have to say goodbye to him and I don't think I was ready for that just yet.
"There is a slight problem."
"What kind of problem?" I asked hesitantly. What more could there possibly be?
Isabella gave me a sad, sympathetic look as she tried to find the words to explain what the issue was. "Your dad's body was not maintained properly, it was not stored how it should have been and therefore his body has began decomposing."
Tears filled my eyes as I swallowed harshly. "Okay."
Those bastards! Not only did they steal his body but they mishandled it too. How dare they? What did they gain from doing this? Why torment me like this?
"As you may be aware, once bodies start decomposing they give off a...smell."
"I understand." I told her not wanting her to talk about it any further.
Isabella leaned over and squeezed my hands. "They are covering his body with their clothes and once they are done they will bring him out."
"Where will they put him?" As awful as it sounds, I didn't want to be sitting next to my dead dad's body. I'm don't think I could handle it and I knew it would traumatise me.
"We will put him in the boot." Isabella told me just as the Lycans came out of the abandoned warehouse.
Tears streamed down my face as I watched Vladamir and Joseph carry my dad's body. All the Lycans except Vladamir were missing their tops and jackets and I assumed their clothes were what they used to cover my dad's body up.
"I'll go sit at the back again." I informed Isabella as I opened the door. I kept my eyes downcast as I left the car and entered it again.
I could hear the Lycans talking amongst themselves as I closed my eyes and tried to block everything out. Now that we had found my dad's body, we would have to prepare for a funeral and then track down the pricks who did this.
The slamming of the boot had me opening my eyes in an instant. It was hard to comprehend that my dad's corpse was only a few inches away from me. It all felt surreal, too crazy to be real.
"Leanne?" Vladamir had opened the back door of the car without me realising. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I said automatically without even thinking.
"Once we go home, I will inform you of our next course of action. It is late and you need to sleep."
I shook my head. "I need to go and see my mum remember?"
Vladamir looked like he was going to argue with me but then decided against it. "Fine. The others will be returning back to their houses, Isabella will be leaving too. They will be back tomorrow and we will find the people responsible and I promise you Leanne, I will make them pay."
The look in his eyes left with me with no doubt that he will follow through with what he promised and I found myself nodding. I got out of the car again and Vladamir helped me into the passenger side which was still warm from my body heat.
The other Lycans said their goodbyes before leaving and Isabella joined Joseph and Alexander in their car. I was grateful for their help and made a note to myself to thank them tomorrow when I saw them again.
"Was no one there? Inside I mean." I questioned Vladamir as he got into the car.
Vladamir shook his head. "No, it was empty."
"That's a bit strange right? I would have thought at least one person would have been there to guard my dad's body."
"We do not have to discuss this now Leanne, I can see how much this is upsetting you." He leaned over and grabbed me, lifting me up and over the console so I was now sitting on his lap.
"Thank you for finding him." I leaned my head against his chest and closed my eyes. "Everything just feels more real now."
Vladamir placed a kiss on my head and tightened his arms around me, with one hand gently stroking my hair. The sound of the other cars leaving filled my ears but I still kept my eyes closed, giving in to the comfort Vladamir was providing me with.
"This may not be what you want to hear right now." Vladamir started to say softly after a few minutes. "But it will get better, you will not always feel like this Leanne and the pain will subside."
I knew what he was saying was true but right now as grief enveloped me it was hard to think there will ever be a time when it wouldn't hurt like this. This pain, this grief was like nothing else I had ever felt and a small part of me was scared that I wouldn't recover from this.
"We should head back." I pulled away from him and tried to move back to my own seat.
Vladamir wouldn't drop his hold on me. "Talk to me. Tell me what you are feeling."
I shook my head. "I can't right now. It's just too much." I moved back to my own seat and put my seatbelt on.
Vladamir took this as his cue to start the car and we began to drive back. "I will not be coming in with you when you go to see your mother. Your fathers body needs to be returned to the morgue immediately."
Unsure and unable to respond to that, I stared out the window wishing for the millionth time that this was just a bad dream and it would all be over as soon as I woke up.
"Can you hear that?" Vladamir suddenly asked as he began to scan the car.
"Hey! Pay attention to the road." Was he trying to kill us?
"Where is it coming from?"
I had no idea what he was talking about, other than the typical noises a car made when it was on, there was no other noise to be heard. "What noise?"
All of a sudden Vladamir slammed down the breaks causing me to fly forward aggressively, I probably would have smashed through the windscreen if it wasn't for the seatbelt I was wearing.
"What the h-"
I barely managed to get the words out when Vladamir unbuckled my seatbelt. "Get out of the car!"
"What?"
But it was too late. Vladamir was too late.
I may not have heard what Vladamir was hearing a few seconds again but I heard the excruciating and deafening loud bang that ricocheted through the car.
I didn't just hear it, I felt it too.
"Leanne! Leanne!"
My name was the last thing I heard before darkness shrouded me.
@=#~=~#=@
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter
Let me know what you think is going to happen next
The book is almost finished, there's only five more chapters left!
If you want to finish the book off quicker or want to make a start on book three The Lycan's Second Chance - Luca's story, you can do on www.patreon.com/kayy_b
For those of you who are interested I have a discount code which will give you 20% off your subscription for all tiers. The code is WATTPAD20 and will be available to use until the end of this year. If you have any questions, let me know!
Thank you for reading and thank you for your support :)
-Kayy xx