Chapter 5

He beckoned to me and ducked through the low set door frame and much deeper into the house while the elegant shadow cut through the groom. I felt dazed, but as D drew further away, the darkness in the room thickened. I tugged out my cell phone and had the lights flushed around, although to me it was a poor imitation of the warm candlelight. I tried to imagine that devils lurked in the shadow corners and all of a sudden, D seemed to be a more appealing company.

He could be a psychopath but at least he was a real person that I could see with my own eyes. I harried to catch up with him.

The next room was an abandoned room as well as the first. The only contents were a large empty trunk and copious amounts of cobwebs that traced along the strained peeling walls and the dusty windows. There was no way this guy could be living in such a place. There was no chance at all!

But what could he be doing in that place? I wondered for a moment.

I then thought, we finally came a last to a padlock door, he fished a key from his pocket and slid it neatly into the lock. A tiny click echoed, magnified by the heavy stillness. " I barely entertain company," he said, his voice deep and heavy. He said his words in an apologetic voice as he swung the door open and headed down a set of wooden stairs.

I was a fraud and hesitated for a moment. I had seen quite enough horror movies to know what the Den represented.

There seemed to probably be a torture chamber down where he headed, and I wasn't going to walk like an innocent ship into it. I abruptly imagined my eyes rolling, that is just a movie! This is real life not TV. My thought popped up and I agreed that the thoughts were probably right.

This Dan, Derick, or whoever he was, knew Jack so well and chances were, he was just squatting in an abandoned temple. The kind of a company my fiancée kept. Not tragic but just weird.

I held my cell phone, a finger on the emergency button, I then forced myself down the stairs. He had waited for me at the lower grounds, and when I finally got down there he offered another tight and wicked smile, no doubt meant to be soothing.

My eyes snapped from his face to a nearby wooden creature, I wondered what the hell the creature was doing in a temple. The rest of the basement was lost to thick shadows with no discernable furniture. I went into a thought; if probably he was staying there, where did he sleep? Where were his beddings and all the flotsam and jetsam the squatters piled up?

Impervious to my turmoil, he slowly said, "I think it's time to ask how much you knew or maybe how much you think you knew about your fiancée Jack"

As to what I knew about Jack, I didn't know much. We were to get married before the full moon. "I knew a lot" I answered evasively.

His expression was serious. "Do you know where he spent all his weekends? Especially at night?" D asked. I shrugged. "He said he spent his time at the movies, I guess yeah..."

Before I added up something, he cut me off mid-sentence.

"Before I begin, I just think you need to be sure that you want to know about this. The things you are about to find out ...at the very least, they will change your perception of your fiancée. And at the most, they will change your world. Did you get that? You surely won't believe me. Not because it is impossible but because you wouldn't want to believe me.

But then it will come a moment when all will become clear for you when the truth stands out glaringly from the rest of the mess that we name, life and reality. Then you may not like it anymore."

His speech was ridiculously more than drama, just like something from a late-night TV drama. But the seriousness in his expression that shone on his face scared me and had my nerves down just a little.

What kind of a secret did that man have? Was I even ready to know? But then would it change anything? Or rather make anything better? He would still be lying six feet down resting just after his father's house.

The police wouldn't arrest the suspect, or the murderer on my word alone- of course, they would need some heavy evidence and probably not D's word either.

Either still, I surveyed him cooly. There were only a couple of things I could think of that would drastically change my opinion of him, and none of them were pretty. However, Jack was at some point a monster of some kind, and I surely came to note that.

"I guess I am in a position to handle it" I finally crossed my arms over my chest and dared him to argue.

"Are you sure?" I am not trying to frighten or mislead you, but it might be a lot to take in at one time." I met his gaze head-on, my face seemingly stubborn. "I am certain, just go ahead and say it!" D gestured to the dusty stairs, "you might need to sit down then listen comfortably"

"No, thank you. I think I am okay right here."

"All right." He went ahead and set the candle on the floor, he then leaned casually back against the wood creates, his expression was thoughtful.

"I wonder if you have ever met any of his brothers"

My late fiancée had mentioned his brother before, but on a handful of occasions, and always with putty and regret. They technically could go to school together. I barely could remember having ever interacted with any of his bother, since he had mentioned that his brothers were no more introverts and moved to work abroad recently. "No!"