Chapter 188: Face It With Courage I splashed water onto my face multiple times until I was satisfied. With my face dripping, I rested my hands on the sink, gripping tightly. It took a moment before I looked in the mirror, my vision blurred. "The moment you breathe my name to Ares King or anyone, I’ll know." Noah’s voice echoed in my head, and it had been for a few hours now. Haunting every corner of my mind and bleeding dread into my skin. I turned off the faucet and put on my glasses, using my palm to wipe the mirror so that I could see my reflection clearly. I pulled down my sweater to see my neck. There was a little red dot, but that was it, nothing else. I kept looking, feeling my neck in hopes I could locate what was inside me, but I made no progress. Great. I can’t feel or see shit. I placed my hand back on the sink and dipped my head, closing my eyes. Face it with courage. That was my mantra, but before it became mine, it was my mom’s. The first day she shared it with me, I told her I was scared of the monster under my bed. "Face it with courage." She took my hand, and we both stood on our knees, crouching to check. "See..." she said. "Do you know why?" I shook my head. "Because you chose to act." "Why not face it with bravery then?" She giggled and pulled me close. "Because courage is an act despite feeling fear or pain. Weren’t you still scared when I told you to check under your bed?" I nodded my head. "There you have it. I won’t tell you not to be afraid. It’s okay to be scared, but it’s your choice to act despite it." She kissed me on my forehead. "I want you to remember this, so that when you find a situation that crumbles your mind in fear, all you have to do is face it with courage." "But I’m always scared." "Good thing I have a remedy." She poked my nose, chin, and forehead. The sounds of my childlike giggles drowned my mind. When I opened my eyes again, I chanted the words over and over again to get a fucking grip I’m still haunted by the remnants of what happened, and they shook me to the bones. The thought of losing Tori and the threat to my family... but it’s high time I woke up. Slap! My hand connected with my cheek, and pain shot through me. I welcomed that instead of fucking trembling. I have been like this for the entire day, in fear, and it has only allowed me to make stupid decisions. I knew what I was dealing with now... who I was dealing with, which was the one good thing about this; it killed the unknown and suspense. Noah Voss, son of Noel Voss. How much do I know about him? Not much. I walked out of the bathroom, looking for Tori’s laptop, and found it on her table. I grabbed it and went back, sitting on the tiles and placing the laptop on my lap. I typed in a search for Noel Voss, at least what the public knew about him. There. Heir to Voss RealHouse Corp, although his father was the CEO for years, it was Noah who was the brain of the business, a gifted young man they called him, and it further wrote how proud Noah was of his son’s expertise and boasted about his talents. If only they knew his true colors, or maybe his father did, and just like Ares, they are into some kind of Underworld shit. But I read somewhere that Voss and the Kings were business partners. Not so much now. There haven’t been any recent dealings; there were rumors that King Corp was taking over real estate. That was what Noah meant by Ares kept taking and taking. The Voss family business was hitting a wall, and Noel’s many wives were fighting for inheritance, which pushed Noah to a corner, enough to make this big plan of his. The only thing keeping him going was the benefits of his rumored partnership with Mercer’s systems. It wasn’t such a rumor anymore. After Theo’s death, there was a public transfer of everything. Theo didn’t have a family, so Noah took everything. Ares made a wrong move then... he ordered the hit on Theo, and that ultimately made Noah gain power. My fingers began typing at speed. Noah said he injected me with something called a nano-transmitter, which allowed him to monitor me and know when I tell anyone about him. How true is that? And how far does a shit like that go? I could easily write about him or find a way to expose him in a coded way, but...! I chewed on my nails. From the onset, I knew there was something off about this... about everything, and I still do. Noah could easily know I’d find a way to tell Ares about him before coming to the mall; he predicted my actions. He could also tell I might try to expose him through desperate means. He could have instilled more fear into me and told me everything the nano-transmitter does, but he didn’t and left the rest for mystery. Of course he did, I have only met him once, but I could tell he was a sick bastard who derived pleasure from tormenting. He’d want me to slip, I bet he’s counting on it, and somehow he would know. But this is just a wild guess. Those fucking thriller movies, Catherine, Jesus! The best I could do was figure out what that nano shit was all about. I switched my search to Theo Mercer, and the article about his death instantly came up on the first page. I lingered for a bit, recalling the time I first met him. I think that day was the only genuine shared moment; the rest was his attempts to spy on me. Releasing a breath, I scrolled off the article and began my search into his works.