RED NOTES AND KISSES-Chapter 87: LAZ -

Laz understood her perspective. If he had been hurt and betrayed as deeply as she had, he doubted he could endure it either.

But knowing she was moving out of the dorms made his chest tighten with worry.

Where would she go? Did she have a place off campus? Or was she planning something far more drastic?

The terror in her eyes earlier had been unmistakable, she was planning to disappear.

Panic surged through him as he rushed to his car, driving recklessly back to his dorm. He had a race tomorrow, but practice was the last thing on his mind.

If something happened to her, what would he do? The thought alone made him nauseous.

He burst into his dorm, ignoring the concerned questions from his roommates.

"Yo, you okay? You look like hell. Have you been crying?"

Their voices faded into background noise as he bolted to his room, shutting the door behind him. In the dim glow of his computer screens, he checked the tracking device and scanned the CCTV feed. She should have been home by now. Something was wrong.

Rewinding the footage, he caught sight of the car that had picked her up from the hospital. It wasn’t a regular cab. It was foreign.

"Shit!" Laz hissed under his breath, realizing his instincts earlier had been right. His emotions had clouded his judgment, and now she was in danger.

He dialed her number, but the automated response crushed his hope. "The number you have dialed is unreachable at the moment. Please try again later."

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he yelled, slamming his fist against the keyboard.

His phone buzzed in his hand, and he answered without hesitation. "Hello?"

The voice on the other end was distorted, mechanical, yet familiar. "Hello, boy."

Laz’s blood ran cold. It was him, the devil hunting them. The Red Note himself.

"What the fuck do you want now?" Laz demanded, his voice tight with anger and fear.

The man chuckled darkly. "Drop the false bravado, Laziel. You’re scared out of your mind. I bet you could piss yourself right now."

Laz gritted his teeth, his knuckles whitening. "How did it feel knowing I escaped with her and the others that day? I would’ve loved to see your face after I ruined your plans."

The man’s laugh was venomous. "Ruin my plans? You ruined one business deal, and now you’re going to pay."

"Currently, my favorite pet is in one of my private cars." He continued with an amused sound "I don’t plan to kill her today, unless she dies accidentally, of course. But where’s the fun in that?"

The word pet sent a shiver down Laz’s spine, triggering memories he wished he could bury. His voice was barely above a whisper. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" The man’s tone was laced with resentment. "I want to torment you. To watch you squirm. I want to destroy you and her like I did before."

Before?

Laz’s stomach sank as the man continued. "Your friend got into some illegal shit with my business. He had to pay me back, with his life or something I wanted."

His friend?

His friend?

His friend... what friend? fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

It clicked. "You set Zack up!" Laz barked, fury surging through him.

A chuckle confirmed his suspicion. "Who knew your friendship was so fragile? Love? You think I’d let you and her find happiness? I’ll ruin you, just like you ruined your mother and me."

"You’re insane, dude!" Laz shouted, his voice trembling with fury.

"My mother was a married woman with a child, and you two are nothing but sick, twisted sadists!" His jaw clenched as he spat out the words.

"You think I wanted to be related to her?" Laz growled through gritted teeth. "If I could erase her name from my mind forever, I would."

"Don’t talk about your mother that way!" the other man barked, his voice a harsh snarl, like the monster he truly was.

"She’s not my mother!" Laz snapped, venom dripping from every word. "She’s a crazy psycho, just like you. If I ever see either of you again... Lord help me, I wouldn’t hesitate to make life imprisonment worth every second, without a shred of remorse."

A tense silence filled the air before the man spoke again, his voice low and menacing. "You forget who holds the upper hand here, Laz. You and Frida are nothing more than my puppets. You’re alive because I’ve allowed you to be."

Laz’s fists tightened, his knuckles turning white.

"I’ve waited," the man continued, his tone growing darker. "Waited for every fleeting moment of happiness you dared to find... just so I could tear it all away. You’ll never be with her, Laz. I’ll ruin every single moment you think you can have with her."

"Are you done, you scumbag piece of shit?" Laz hissed, his voice low and dangerous. "Now stop yapping and tell me where the hell she is."

"Indeed, you’ve forgotten the rules..." he slurred, his voice thick, as though he’d been drinking. "You don’t ask questions."

Yes, those were always the rules.

No questions.

No answers.

"Here’s what’s going to happen..." the man drawled, a dark chuckle slipping from his lips, his tone dripping with malice.

The venom in his words was palpable. "You both have 120 days left to live. That’s all the free time I’m willing to give you. Then you’ll die."

The line clicked as if the man had switched calls. Laz barely heard the next words, but they froze him in place.

"Torture her slowly."

"No!" Laz screamed, bolting to his feet. He couldn’t waste time. A car would be too slow.

"Where are you going?" one of his roommates called out, but Laz was already out the door.

"Please don’t die!" The thought rang in his head like a desperate prayer as he jumped on his motorcycle. The engine roared to life, and he sped into the snowstorm.

The GPS signal on her bag was his only guide. Ice whipped at his face, but he didn’t care.

"Frida, I’m begging you," he whispered into the night. "Don’t leave me. Don’t die."