C H A P T E R 1

V i s c a r i a

     Viscaria is a little laid-back town located in California, just fifty miles North of San Diego. The lake in Viscaria was pretty well known for its annual regattas, BBQ festivals and most importantly, fishing. I wasn't sure what pushed me to take the next train ride to the little town of Viscaria with my luggage in tow. To be honest, the town gave me the chills. Right when I stepped out of the train, my boots landing on the rubble underneath me, that's when I felt it.

     Tiny hair stood up from the back of my neck. The air was a bit humid. It made my hair fuzz up and that was probably the first thing I started to hate about this place. I reached for the piece of folded paper inside my jean pocket, reading the words all over again.

     "What does it mean?" I whispered to myself before stuffing the note back inside my pocket.

     I came to Viscaria because one of my college friends wanted me to visit her since it had been awhile since we last saw each other. My aunt Cornelia lives here in Viscaria as well. She was ecstatic when she found out I was going to stay with her for a month. The last time I visited this place was like a decade ago. After what happened the past few months, I knew deep down I needed a place to clear my thoughts. Mom even agreed that I needed this, although she wasn't fully aware of what was really happening to me. I didn't have the courage to approach her and tell her straight up that I have a stalker following me around.

     My ex-boyfriend, Brayden, was the only one who knew and he was quite determined to find out who was sending me all those creepy and enigmatic messages. I didn't bother telling my best friend, Allie, about it, and I begged Brayden not to say a word to his sister, threatening him that I would have his nuts in a sack if he ever slipped. Sad to say, we're history.

Before the stalker came into my life, Brayden got drunk one night at a party and ended up sleeping with another girl he barely knew. I broke up with him after he confessed. It was nice of him to come clean, though. We remained friends after that whole fiasco. He is, after all, my best friend's brother. It'll be impossible to avoid him forever.

     Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed a shiny black limo parked not far away from where I was standing. One of its windows was slightly rolled down but you couldn't really see anyone inside. As soon as I took a few steps towards the vehicle, the tinted windows suddenly rolled up and quickly made its way out of the parking lot.

     "You gotta be fucking kidding me." I muttered to myself, hiking my bag up further up my shoulders. I grabbed my luggage that was sprawled down on the ground. It can't be him. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

     My nose caught the aroma of freshly brewed coffee in one of the tiny cabin-like shops down the street. My stomach grumbled in protest so I decided to grab a quick bite since I haven't eaten anything on the train. Plus, it was a great distraction to help me loosen up a bit from all the stress bubbling up inside me.

     "Agatha?" A small voice squeaked from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and realized it was my aunt. "Oh, my goodness, it is you!"

     She quickly gave me a bear hug and my lips quickly tugged up into a smile. Aunt Cornelia is a single pringle. She never married nor had any children of her own. According to mom, Aunt Cornelia only dated one boy her entire life, and that was way back in high school. I guess the boy hooked up with her best friend and right after she found out, she never dated again. She's near her forties but remains youthful as ever. A lot of people say we look alike, but I think it's only because we're both redheads.

     "I'm really happy to see you, sweetie," she linked her arm around mine as we crossed the road towards the Coffee shop. "You have no idea how happy I was when your mom told me that you wanted to visit. I can't believe you're spending Christmas with me."

     I gave a weak smile in return, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. She doesn't know the real reason why I came here. I think it's best if I keep it under wraps, or else, she'll probably freak out if she ever found out. And I don't want to risk my mom knowing about it either.

     "I could really use the company, you know," she said, settling down on a chair. "You can help me run the bakery since most of my employees resigned."

     "Resigned?" I stared at her in confusion. "Why, what happened?"

     She sighed then slowly lowered her head. "Well, I don't know if you've heard on the news, but they saw the body of a young girl floating on the lake just last week."

     "Body?" My insides twisted. The lake was my favorite hangout back when I was a kid whenever mom and I visited aunt Cornelia during summer breaks. Viscaria was a quaint, little town. A little weird, but you would never see a single crime report regarding Viscaria.

     "Yes, it was Tara's daughter. She's about your age, I think. Brown hair, pale skin—"

     "Dani?" I whispered. "Danielle Coleman?"

     Aunt Cornelia nodded. "Yeah, Dani Coleman. Tara's daughter. You still remember her? You guys used to play around the lake every morning back when you were little kids."

     I gasped in disbelief, placing a hand over my mouth. While my aunt went on about the previous summers we've had with her, I quickly retrieved my phone from my back pocket, checking my call log for the past week. Turned out, Dani did call me last week saying she was going on a date with some guy she met at a random chat room. She never mentioned anything else about him, so I haven't the slightest idea on what he really looked like.

Besides from being my childhood friend, Dani was also my roommate back in college. She was the typical flirt. Always hooking up with random guys even though she clearly knew that the only thing they wanted from her was sex. Everyone hated her and called her a lot of hurtful things. But she was a strong person and decided that it wasn't worth listening to all those people who didn't matter to her. She was a great friend to me. She was smart, but unfortunately, she was not smart enough when it came to guys. I even remember her saying that boys will be the death of her someday. Did she just predict the future cause of her death?

     To be honest, she didn't sound too happy when she told me about it over the phone. I tried contacting her the next day but she never returned any of my calls.

     I closed my eyes as Dani's lifeless body suddenly flashed across my mind. "Oh, God." Tears stung the back of my eyes as I tried to pull myself away from the gruesome image that was now embedded in my mind. My eyes flickered open. Thank God it was just my imagination. My aunt was still seated opposite of me, quietly sipping her steaming hot, black coffee while she read the morning paper.

     "Did they find out what happened to her?" I found the courage to ask.

     She sighed, folding the newspaper and setting it aside on the table. "The coroner stated that it was a freak accident. But I've been hearing a lot of people talking around town, saying it was probably suicide. They found her body floating in a lake with her neck wrapped in a Christmas garland. God, I feel really bad for Tara and Geno. Losing their only child is just devastating. And you know what else is..."

     Aunt Cornelia's voice faded slowly in the background. My eyes traveled out the window when a shiny black Ferrari parked in front of the coffee shop, distracting me from my deep thoughts. Not for long, three guys came out all at the same time. Judging by their looks, it seemed like they weren't from around here. Viscaria is pretty laid back, almost like Ramona with its rural living. Lots of horses and farm animals can always be spotted while driving along the highway. Houses were built below rocky hills and others close to the woods which really freaked me out the first time because aunt Cornelia's old rickety house is built in the middle of fucking nowhere. Mom was right when aunt Cornelia wanted to isolate herself. Well, she did isolate herself, alright.

     "Agatha."

     "Yes?" My attention snapped back to my aunt. She grinned, following the direction of my gaze. The three boys that just came out of the black Ferrari were now inside the coffee shop, making their way to the queue.

     One of them, the cutest light brown-haired guy glanced over his shoulder and gave a little wave as soon as they were in line.

     Did that guy just wave at me? Or was he waving at someone else? I felt a hot wave splash over me. Oh, get a grip, Aggs. He just waved, so what? As if he's going to come over to our table and introduce himself.

     My Aunt waved back and I almost choked on my biscotti. I didn't know she was this flirty, especially to young boys that's almost half her age. She's practically a grandma for crying out loud.

     "Wait, you know them?" I continued to stare at the guy with the plain black tee.

     "Of course, I do," she said. "The one in the black shirt, that's Nikolai. He's such a sweet boy. He drops by every morning at the bakeshop to order a dozen of my glazed donuts."

     "So, he lives around here then?" I twirled my fingers around the plastic straw to sip a little of my iced coffee, trying not to sound too interested.

     Okay, maybe a little. Everyone knows that I have a soft spot for hot guys. I've been traveling the last two years, and the only men I preferred dating were foreigners.

     "Mhmm," she brought her cup to her lips. "He owns that big mansion up the hill."

     My eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, you said mansion? Wasn't it empty the last time I was here?"

     Before my aunt could provide an answer, Nikolai was already heading towards our table with his snug black tee and a white coffee cup in his left hand. Just staring at his gorgeous body, I couldn't help but wonder how great it must be to touch those bulging biceps.

     "Nikolai," aunt Cornelia stood up to give him a quick hug. He kissed her cheek in return. "How are you, honey?"

     Damn, he's so polite and sweet. Nowadays, you don't see guys like that anymore. It's a rare breed, if you ask me.

     "Oh, I'm doing well, thank you," he said, throwing a careful glance in my direction. "By the way, you failed to mention having a younger sister." My aunt broke into a fit of giggles, playfully slapping his arm.

     What a suck-up.

     "Nikolai, I want you to meet my beautiful niece, Agatha. Agatha, meet Nikolai."

     "You can call me Nik, or Niko," he quickly extended his hand. "Whatever's fine with me."

     "And I prefer Aggie," I said, shaking his hand in return. "Agatha sounds a little too, I don't know, old?"

     "No, it's not," he gave a light chuckle. "It's a pretty name." My heart fluttered but I immediately reminded myself that it's way too early to be flirting with another guy. It had been two years since Brayden and I broke up. Allie had high hopes that her brother and I were going to get back together but I decided to end it because he cheated on me with another girl. Not only that, I couldn't keep up with Brayden's attitude on how protective he got over me after the breakup. He was there for me 24/7 and I felt very uneasy, as if I was a dog on a leash.

     After a while, I felt suffocated whenever he was around me. Our relationship was supposed to be based on trust, but apparently, he didn't understand that. I know he only wanted to help but I told him I was going to handle it instead of him taking the matter into his own hands.

     "Agatha's here on vacation," aunt Cornelia stated with a huge smile, her mouth practically stretching all the way up to her ears. "She lives in San Diego."

     Crap.

     Nikolai raised his eyebrows. "Really? Where exactly in San Diego?"

     I opened my mouth for a second before closing them again. My hand automatically slid down to my jean pocket. The thin piece of paper was still tucked safely inside. Is it really worth giving my information away after months of torment?

     "Oh, it's okay," he laughed, lifting his hands up in the air in defeat. "You don't really have to tell me."

     "I'm—I'm from Chula Vista, to be exact," I said at last. "We live right next to the Mexican border."

     He nodded. "That's awesome. I have some cousins over there, too."

     My phone buzzed and I rolled my eyes as soon as I saw who was calling. "Brayden." Just the sound of his name on my tongue infuriated me. I took a deep breath and slid out of my seat, excusing myself away from the table.

     "Why are you calling me?" I growled over the phone as soon as I was outside the coffee shop. "I already told you, we are over. Do you really want me to spell it out for you?"

     "Aggie, can you please shut up and just listen to me?" Brayden snapped back. "This is going to be my last call. Just please be careful, okay?"

     "Yeah, whatever," I snorted, rolling my eyes. Like I could believe that. "Goodbye, Brayden Holt." I pressed the end button immediately after that. Guilt suddenly poked me for being such a bitch to Brayden. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I'm sorry, Brayden.

     "Boyfriend troubles?" I turned around and found Nikolai standing right behind me.

"Geez, you scared me," I said, pressing my palm on my chest.

His two friends were leaning against the coffee shop wall. One was smoking a cigarette as his menacing eyes speared through me. I shuddered, averting my eyes back to Nikolai.

     "Ex-boyfriend." I corrected, slipping the phone back to my front pocket.

     His nose scrunched up. "Sorry. Didn't mean to pry."

     I waved my hand dismissively. "It's alright, don't worry about it. He was just being annoying as usual."

     Nikolai placed a hand at the back of his neck, his eyes squinting from the sun. I pressed my lips together at the awkward silence that suddenly hung between us.

     "So," I managed to say. "You live in that old mansion up the hill? When did you guys move here?"

     "About three years ago," he said, scratching his chin. "Uh, hey, I hope you don't mind, but we gotta run. It was nice meeting you."

     "You, too." I nodded.

     He grabbed the keys from his pocket and they all slipped inside the car. I noticed the other guy who had a grim look to his face was still staring at me. My skin erupted in goosebumps and I made my way back inside the coffee shop.

* * *

     "Oh, God, I think I'm in love." I stated over the phone as soon as Allie picked up.

     "What?" Allie squeaked on the other line. "But you just broke up with my brother! Don't you think it's a little early for you to be moving on?"

     "I don't know, Allie," I got up from my bed and went straight to the bathroom to look at my frizzy red hair at the mirror. "You should've seen him come in the coffee shop. He was so hot."

     "Ugh, that's not love," she groaned. "That's probably just you being horny, that's all."

     I sighed, turning off the bathroom light. "Allie, come on. Can you be a little supportive of your best friend?"

     "Sorry."

     No, she wasn't sorry. I know my best friend's hurting inside because she always knew that her brother and I had something special going on. She had always loved the idea of Brayden marrying me someday which I couldn't picture at all. Maybe because I was scared, you know, that maybe one day it won't work out.

     "Look, you have to understand," I paused, wiping the mist forming underneath my eyes with my fingers. "People fall out of love all the time. And I think that's what happened to me. I woke up one day realizing Brayden wasn't for me."

     "What?" Allie squeaked. "I can't believe this. You probably got hit in the head, Aggs. Because you're totally losing it."

     I hopped on my bed, rolling my eyes. Losing it. Yeah, I probably was. After dating Brayden for four years and suddenly calling it quits, then yeah, I was probably crazy. Because four years was a lot to throw away. And I don't blame Allie if she started hating me for it.

     The thing is, she doesn't realize I was doing this for a reason. She doesn't know that Brayden cheated. All she knows is that I broke up with him because I didn't like him anymore. But to be honest, this was the best thing for Brayden.

     After ending the call, I opened the drawer to the bedside table to retrieve a piece of paper. I brought my knees closer to my chest as I slowly unfolded the paper with my fingers. Staring at the words in front of me, I tried my best to decipher what it meant.

     Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you will find.