Part 24

Why was Lauren calling him? Shouldn't she be at her parents' house, relaxing and not calling my boyfriend? And why was Dash neglecting me to go talk to her? This was not fair. He brought me here, he should be spending time with me only.

I really wanted to know what those two were talking about but Dash went upstairs to talk, leaving me in this weird basement with the lights on. I swear if it was dark right now I would've killed him.

Lauren and Dash seemed to be closer than I thought. And I needed to tell Tracey that so she could try and find the connection between these two. I had a feeling Dash would not tell me if I asked about Lauren, so asking him for information was not an option. That only left my friends and perhaps his family members. Was Dash close enough with any of his cousins? Perhaps they could tell me about Lauren.

But how would I do that when Dash never left me alone? He was always with me. And while we were here, he wouldn't let me out of his sight for even a second. Perhaps I should drug him, that way he would be fast asleep and I could get my information from his relatives.

The only problem was, I had no drugs.

There had to be another way to find out why Lauren was so obsessed with Dash. And then, just like a sun coming out after a storm and spreading light around, I had an idea. I would steal Dash's phone while he was sleeping. And I had a feeling he would be sleeping down here tonight as he hated his mother and wanted to avoid her at all cost. So I would check his cell phone while he slept.

Proud of myself for coming up with this idea, I mentally patted myself on the back and then realized that Dash still hadn't shown up. What was taking him so long? What was so important that he was ignoring me for Lauren? I wanted to give him a piece of my mind once he returned but I didn't want him to think his absence affected me; it would only serve to boost his ego until it took over the universe.

The only thing that was keeping me from having a panic attack right here in a mansion full of strangers was the light in the basement. I'd always cosidered basements to be dark and cold. I remember one scary story my mother used to tell me in order to make me sleep when she was alive, so since then, I'd been afraid of dark basements. But this basement was not dark; which was good for my mind and soul.

"I would kill you, Dash," I said to myself since there was no one to listen to me. Exams were coming soon, I had to study as well. I should've brought some books along so I could study.

While I was contemplating killing my boyfriend because he'd left me alone in his basement, he came bounding down the stairs. Well speak of the devil and the devil shall appear. I glared at his grinning face, causing his smile to wither into a frown.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked as if he'd committed some sort of a crime he didn't know he'd committed. Well he ignored me, and ignoring me was a crime; I'd put that rule in my HOW TO DATE notebook.

"What took you so long? You brought me here and now you are ignoring me, this is not fair." I might be acting like a brat but I hated being left alone in a place full of strangers.

"I had a call to attend; it took a while. I was right here, chocolate chip. I will never leave you alone, don't worry about it," he explained before pulling me in a hug. His scent had my ire dissipating within seconds and I cursed myself for being so weak against him.

"Why was Lauren calling you?" I asked.

"She is my friend, shortcake. Friends call each other. Are you jealous?" I could tell he was smirking, the little narcissisitc jerk.

"Still, you shouldn't leave me alone like this; especially in a basement—that is just cruel," I complained. If I was whining I didn't care.

"I know, but I just prefer being alone when talking to someone on my phone. It won't happen again, shorty. Next time I get a call, I'll leave you with my Xbox so you don't miss me too much." He squeezed me softly before planting a kiss on my lips.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't like videogames."

"That's because you haven't played any, and even if you have you haven't played the good ones. Come, I'll show you my room and will show you the wonderful world of videogames." Taking my hand, Dash dragged me to his room.

His room looked as if he was the son of the richest man in the world. It was not a normal boy's room but a room fit for a prince. There was a huge, luxurious bed which dominated the room with dark sheets and a dark canopy. Why in the world his bed had a canopy was something I did not understand.

Gray walls dominated the room with posters of various bands stuck on them. Thank God there were no pictures of naked women as that would've been weird for me to see. A couch was pushed against one wall while a flat screen faced the bed.

"Nice room," I commented, running my eyes over the gray and black colors that dominated the room.

"Thank you," he replied.

"Why do you have a canopied bed? Isn't that for princesses?" I questioned.

Dash rolled his eyes. "It's for a prince as well. And I'm my dad's prince; hence, a canopied bed."

"Right. So where do I sit?" I asked.

"You will sit with me because we will be playing videogames." And then Dash me led me to his game room which looked as if every game ever invented was present in that room.  There was a snack bar in one corner of the room and numerous chairs, cushions and couches were scattered all over the room. There was a huge cupboard against one wall which contained something I did not know because Dash didn't tell me.

"Which game do you want to play, chocolate chip?" Dash asked, leading me over to the shelves that contained all his videogames.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I hardly ever played videogames."

"I thought so. Okay, let's start you with something easy and nothing to grotesque, unless you like killing zombies and shooting people in order to get what you want," he stated.

The thought of killing zombies or shooting anybody made me nauseous, so I shook my head in response. My boyfriend was smart, he understood what I meant, because he grinned and instantly put on his thinking expression. After a few seconds, he plucked a videogame from one of the top shelves.

"Is this okay?" He showed me the game and I grinned in response. "Race you to the finish line." Grabbing the videogame from his hand, I charged towards the huge flat screen and waited for Dash to catch up to me so we could play Need For Speed.

The next two hours were spent chasing cars and overtaking them. Dash beat me plenty of times by finishing his laps before me because I was driving carefully so as not to hit the other cars. But Dash was a reckless driver. He did not care about destroying cars and killing innocent people inside the cars; he just cared about winning—how selfish.

I really started to enjoy myself when a butler appeared with drinks and snacks for Dash and I. My driving got better and faster as we played one round after the other. When I won against Dash, my victory lasted for only a few seconds when I realized that he'd let me win.

But even though I was busy laughing and trash talking with my boyfriend, the niggling doubt in my mind about Lauren and Dash did not go away. I couldn't stop thinking about why she called him. Sure, they were friends but everytime she came to Dash, she looked on the verge of crying. There had to be something more, I was not being paranoid.

However, my boyfriend kept me busy, forcing me to focus on the screen rather than on my thoughts. Dash's life was one which everybody dreamed of. He had loving parents, even if his relationship with his mother was distorted. He had everything he wanted and if he wanted something he just had to tell his father to buy it for him.

"Why are you not feeding me popcorns? What kind of a girlfriend are you?" He frowned, as if I crushed his heart.

"The normal kind. No girl feeds her boyfriend. You are a human, not a dog," I snapped, my eyes not leaving the screen; watching my car shift and swerve on the road. If I could drive like this in real life, then I would never be bored.

"On the contrary, my lazy girlfriend, every girl feeds her boyfriend," Dash argued.

"I had a teacher who associated boys with dogs," I blurted out loud, totally unaware of what was spilling out of my mouth. "And he associated girls with cats."

"Why? That's weird," he asked.

I shrugged. "According to him boys are loyal to their girlfriends just like dogs are loyal to their owners, and when the dog gets a new owner it becomes loyal to the new owner, just like how boys are loyal to their new girlfriends."

"That's so weird. Why did he associate cats with girls?"

"According to him, cats reminded me of witches and he considered girls to be witches," I answered, almost crashing into a blue car.

"Your teacher was weird," he commented, his car whizzing past mine.

"Yes he was. But he no longer teaches at Burswick," I agreed.

~*~*~*~*
My eyes opened to complete darkness. My heart relaxed after a few seconds when I realized that it was night and I'd woken up from sleeping.

However, confusion settled in the pit of my stomach when I realized that Dash's bed was empty. We had been playing videogames all evening and when the time came for us to sleep, Dash insisted that I spend the night with him. I didn't agree at first but after Dash's insistence, I conceded, but I demanded to sleep on the couch, even though Dash pleaded with me to sleep on his bed.

Now, I had woken up and the glowing numbers on the wall clock told me that it was close to 2:00 a.m. Where was Dash? This was no time for him to be awake.

With curiosity bubbling like tar inside me, I forced myself to get up from the couch and go look for my boyfriend. Of course, in utter darkness and half asleep, I ended up falling on the floor. I didn't even know how it happened, one minute I was on the couch and the next I was sprawled on the floor.

Cursing the stark oblivion around me and the lack of a crazy boyfriend, I forced myself to stand and go look for Dash. But that journey was not easy as I bumped into plenty of stupid objects on the way. I wished I knew where the light switch was so I could make it easier for myself.

Eventually, after a lot of bumping and cursing, I was fully awake, angry and out of the room. It took everything in me not to let panic take over me because there was complete darkness surrounding me. The only thing that forced me to keep going was the need to find Dash. It was the same need that made me climb the hundred stairs and reach the main foyer of the mansion.

The mansion was sleeping. Silence screamed loud and clear, causing my heart rate to skyrocket. God, where was Dash? Was he sleepwalking? I hoped he was all right.

I kept walking, putting one foot after the other, having no destination in mind. I wondered who was sleeping in which room and how many rooms there were in total. While contemplating the amount of rooms this grand could possible have, I came across something that had me sighing in relief while simultaneously putting me on edge.

Whispers.

Two distinct voices could be heard speaking in whispers. The voice that had me sighing in relief was Dash's. Thank God he was safe and not out prowling the beach at this hour. However, the second voice was too soft for me to make out, but I could tell it belonged to a female.

"It will be all right." I heard Dash say when I edged closer to where those two were whispering behind the wall.

"How can it be all right? You heard what he said," the girl hissed. The pitch of her voice told me that it was none other than Lauren was talking to Dash. But how did she get here? She was supposed to be visiting her family.

"No one will know," Dash replied.

"It won't stay hidden for long. Dash, I killed my best friend. I killed a person, Dash, who does that?!" The words had me freezing on the spot. Was I dreaming, or was this a reality? Laure was a killer? No, this couldn't be possible.

"It's not your fault, Lauren. It was not in your control," Dash argued.

"That's not the point. No one will care if it was in my control or not. To the world, I will be nothing but a killer." I could hear Lauren crying, but that didn't matter to me. I couldn't believe my ears. Our main suspect was a killer.

"They will not think that. No one will hurt you," Dash tried to assure her.

"Say whatever you want, Dash, but the truth will come out one day and no one can protect me from it. Not even you," she responded.

"I will give my life to protect yours. You are my best friend, Lauren. You are my family. I have to protect you," Dash promised.

Family? She was family? Dash was related to a killer?

"You can try but you won't succeed. You've already helped me so much by covering up the murder. I can't expect you to do anything else," Lauren stated.

"I will help you till the end. I will not leave you, Lauren."

This was all too much for me. Dash was related to Lauren, who was a killer and Dash helped to cover that murder; which meant that Dash was a killer.

I could not believe I didn't realize it sooner.

My boyfriend was a killer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Note.

Hi guys,

Here is another chapter, I hope you all like it.

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Thank you for reading.

Until next time.

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Ciao.