This chapter is dedicated to juneamoe my judge from The Clouded Ink awards. Thank you so much for your feedback. It helps me out a lot :)

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Quickly I dress up, putting on my thickest jeans with a jacket and tie my hair into a bun.

Naina hurries into a dress and pairs it with what seems like sheer leggings.

Ain't she feeling cold?

I grab my camera and we rush downstairs to see everyone giving their attendance.

"Great, everyone is finally here. Let's go!" says Ria.

Nodding my head I follow the crew.

"Aren't you feeling cold?" Adarsh asks, approaching Naina.

"I am, why ?"

"Why the hell did you wear such thin leggings then?" he asks, pointing at her sheer leggings.

"Oh! You thought this is see through?"

"It does look like that," he asks.

"Aren't they?" I ask, joining them curious to find out if they actually are sheer or not.

"Nope. Fleece lined," she says clicking her tongue and winking.

"Huh?" Adarsh asks obviously clueless as to how this works.

"Smart," I say, zipping my jacket.

A chill runs down my spine as the cool breeze hits my face the minute I step foot outside the hotel. Thankfully, the minivan is placed just a few feet ahead. I run the last few steps scurrying for warmth.

"Everyone listen up! We are heading to Kathgodam. Cute place, with scenic views, a little long journey so prepare yourselves. Need anything let me know,"

"I'm hungry, didn't really get to eat much!" I say, remembering how I hardly got to finish my food before we were informed of the change in plans.

"Okay cool, will stop by a dhaba on the way. Grab something to go. Capiche? "

"Cool, thanks!"

Dosa? Maybe Bun tikki? Or sandwich? Paratha? Nah nah, it's to go. How about noodles? Ummm sounds yu--

"Nessss, moveeee," yells someone interrupting my train of thought.

"Nope, it's cold. Not sitting there," I say as I look at Naina asking me to scoot.

"Fine," she says and walks past.

I look out from the window to see lush green trees pass us and smoke coming from the chimneys of the quaint houses tucked in the woods.

"Nainaaa are you my bestie?" I question, hoping for a yes.

"Nope!" She says squashing my chances of getting her to do what I want.

"Come on, please!"

"What do you want!?"

"Can you open the window, pleaseee"

"Nope,"

"Just a little, please,

"No, it's cold. Not sitting there," she says imitating me.

"Urghhh!" I say turning back to try my luck there.

"So Hitesh..."

"Yup!?" He asks with a questing look on his face.

"Can you please open the window?" I ask giving him my best puppy eyes and crossing my fingers behind my back.

"Why?"

"Well, it looks beautiful and nice. I just want a whiff of the fresh air," I say hoping this will get him to open it.

"Well, what do I get for opening it!?" He asks with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Nope, not making any deals with you. Had enough to last a lifetime," I say sensing his plan.

"Hey, I'm not the devil. How about a story instead !?" he asks with a playful smile.

"What do you wanna know!?"

"So, what stuff did you have against your brother to blackmail him!?"

"That's a secret!" I say, not wanting to divulge it.

"Okay. How about you tell me how did you get that secret then!?"

Umm maybe fair enough. He wouldn't ever meet Caleb na. No harm! Maybe!?

"Umm okay. But it should stay a secret. Okay!?" I say and get up to change places with Adarsh who seems more than happy to oblige.

"So who was it? How did you do it? What happened?"

"Woah woah, calm down. I'll tell you. So......"

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"Hey remember your part of the deal?" I say as Naina, Caleb, and I sit down by the beach enjoying our ice creams.

The serene waves and the twilight sky have a calming effect on me. The busy chatter of the people around makes it feel like home.

From our place on a few rocks, we can see the beach and the busy people at the flea market.

"Yes. When do we begin?" he asks, scooting close. I could see the scars his wound left behind. 

"Umm. Anytime now. Guess, I'm ready,"

"But tell me again, why do you want to spy on your brother?"

"Umm well. So ---" I hesitate. Unsure, if I should tell them my tale.

Would I lose the only friends I have?

"It's okay. What happened?"

"Yeah Ness, what happened? You never told me you wanted to spy on your brother!" exclaims Naina.

"So, this one time I was kidnapped," I say as nonchalantly as possible.

"Whaaatttt?" yells Naina, obviously shocked at the new information.

"Woaaah, didn't see this coming," answers a more cool-headed Caleb.

"Yeaaahh. So that happened a few weeks back and surprisingly Derek came to rescue me,"

"Wait, Derek as in Derek Ryder?"

"Yeah, Why? Do you know him?"

"The brother who doesn't like ever help you, or do you have any other brother that I don't know?" questions Naina before Caleb could answer.

"Haha. The same one," I answer, trying my best to downplay this whole thing.

"That's surprising," she replies.

"Exactly!" I say, glad that I wasn't the only one who felt that.

"So why did they kidnap you?" she questions.

"Something seemed fishy that time. I have no idea why they kidnapped me. I need answers, that's why I need Caleb's help. I need to find out what's going on!" I say with a newfound determination.

"Okay, but where do we start?" asks Naina.

"What exactly do you want to know?"

"Everything," I reply.

"Maybe, let's start with figuring out his location and where is he going. Maybe if you see something suspicious we can trace his movements and maybe we can connect the dots later?" Caleb says, his eyes glinting.

"Okay, how do I do it?" I ask, adrenaline pumping through me.

After a series of discussions and trial and error methods using each other's phones, we finally hatch a plan. A plan to trace Derek.

We go back in to finish our shift, post which Naina drops me home.

"Careful. Okay," she says, as she turns around in her scooter.

I anxiously go to my room and draw up a way to steal his phone. Of course, googling always helps.

"Derek !" I say opening my brother's door ever so slightly, praying he is in a good mood.

"What do you want?" he asks the minute my head pops in.

"I broke my phone and have an assignment to submit tomorrow. Can I please borrow the laptop?" I plead

"No, I'm using it. Need it for my work,"

Perfect!

"But I need--"

"Does dad know you broke your phone?" he says finally looking at me.

"NO! Please don't tell him," I say, putting on my pleading face.

Come on Derek. Don't sidetrack.

"Well, stop annoying me, if you don't want me to tell him," he says, going back to his work on his laptop.

"At least can I get your phone? It's late the internet cafes will also be closed. I promise I will be done in an hour. Please, I need to submit it tomorrow,"

"What did you do all these days?"

"I had other stuff to do. Please give your phone at least,"

Urrgghhh.

He seems to be contemplating it and after a whole minute digs up his phone from under the blanket.

"But you won't leave my room. Whatever work you have, do it here," he says and finally hands me his phone.

As expected!

"Fine. Thanks," I say grabbing his phone and setting up my papers.

After searching for some topics for my assignment, I pretend to take some notes. Looking up, I see he is engrossed in his laptop, so I quickly open the settings on his phone and add my number as his emergency contact and enable location sharing.

Oh wow, he listed Ron as his emergency contact. Guess they are best friends!

I even do the backup process that Caleb suggested and quickly close the apps, hiding the ones I downloaded.

"You done?" he asks, as I close the apps.

"A little is left, " I say, quickly opening google, pretending to do my assignment to avoid suspicion.

After about five or so minutes, I return his phone and head to my room.

V: Stage one, completed!

C: Good, let's see what happens.

I close my phone after realizing, I don't see any movement from him.

A series of knocks on my window interrupt me and I can only imagine who that is.

"We do have a front door, Caleb," I say, opening my balcony door.

"This way is fun," he says plopping on my bed.

I hear a door shut.

"What was that!?" I question, rushing out to the balcony.

I see Derek, his friend Ron and a few other guys whom I don't recognize all gathered on motorbikes.

"Guess we can figure out if this works," I say, gleaming.

I rush inside as soon as their motorbike engines rev and try to trace his location.

"Hey look, I can actually trace it," I say glad he uses an iPhone.

"Where is he going?" I question as I see the blue dot, approaching what looks like the old city side.

"Ain't that the old city? What's he doing there? That's not a good sign," he says as if reading my mind.

"How about we check his room? He isn't home. Even your dad isn't home. Wouldn't this be a great opportunity?" his eyes shine with a mischievous glint.

"You are kidding, right? I'll be dead if he finds out," I deadpan him.

"But, we will know when he is coming. We can track him. Maybe we can find something." It feels like the devil is tempting me to commit that beautiful sin.

"What do you expect to find?"

"Anything. Even a small clue will be helpful. Anything from when you were kidnapped, perhaps,"

Oh, no!

"Fine, but in and out in ten minutes,"

"Yesssss. Come on," he says, literally springing up to the door.

I tiptoe to his room.

"There is no one, why are you tiptoeing?" he asks.

"Force of habit, maybe?" I answer, walking quickly.

I reach for the door of his room only for it to be locked.

"Great, It's locked!" I say.

"Spare keys?"

"No no no. Dad's room!"

"Great, let's do it,"

"Nope, too scared,"

"Fine, where is it? I'll go," he says, sounding very eager.

"First room beside the kitchen. The keys are all bunched together. It is a big set," I say and watch him sprint away.

After what seems like eternity he returns with the set in hand and we quickly unlock the door.

"Wait, let me take a photo!" I say opening my camera.

"What for ?"

"To ensure things are kept back in the same place we found them!" I saw matter of factly, going around taking photos.

"But what are we looking for?" I ask unsure of what to search for.

"Anything that seems suspicious," he answers fidgeting with the drawers on his side table.

"Urrrghhhh, It's locked," I say closing the laptop.

"Let me try, " Caleb answers and opens it within a few minutes.

"How?" I ask dumbfounded.

"Just got lucky," he asnwers, hurriedly looking through his documents.

How did he get so lucly!?

"Does this look familiar to you?" he asks playing a video.

I'm quickly distracted by the video.

Shit!

"Wait, is that you?" he questions zooming in on the video.

"Yeah, looks like it is from when I was kidnapped. But how the hell did he get this video? Does he know those people?"

A series of questions flood my brain. Unable to process them, I leave the room.

"Wait up! " yells Caleb, carefully locking the door.

"Maybe we got more than we bargained for," he says shaking his head.

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"And that's how I got the proof I needed to blackmail him," I say.

"Wait, that's all?" he questions.

"Nope. That was just the beginning of the thread. That led me to unearth a lot of stuff I never expected,"

"How did he get that video though? What else did you find out?"

"Did you tell him about Caleb's Identity yet?" questions Naina turning back.

"Which part?" I ask unsure what she was referring to.

"The one where you realize he is the guy from your school, the janitor's closet!" she says, eyes hinting at what misfortune the incident turned out to be.

"Wait Caleb is Sebastian. He is the actual Traitor ?"

"Yeahhhh," I answer.

"Oh my god. This is crazy. You had to suffer for what he did," he almost yells.

"Maybe. But I did get him to pay for it. And I did get a good friend out of it. Plus, people in my school never really cared about me," I say reluctantly.

"What did you make him do?" he asks curiously.

"Guys, check it out. You can see the toy train from here," Sid yells and everyone scurries to the windows to catch a view of the famous toy train.

A train hoot echoes from around. Looking up I spot a beautiful toy train on the bridge in front of us. Surrounded by greenery and a whiff of smoke around it, it looks magnificent. The misty aura around adds to its charm.

Maybe we will have a lot of fun here!

We reach the local timber depot where we started our shoot for the day and slowly proceed around the town. This being a small town we are able to cover it on foot.

Sid and I take turns at the camera. As Sid took his turn at the camera, I go for a little stroll around the town with Naina.

Walking around here reminds me of the good old days. This being a small town, nestled in the woods hardly has any pollution. I look around enjoying the beauty, nature had to offer.

The distant sounds of the toy train, the lively chatter of people, the soft whisps of cool breeze, and the trees around all seem peaceful.

"So, whatcha thinking of?"

"Nothing. Just wondering what's happening in the city on the weekend. Any special evernts?"

"Oh. So that's bothering you too,"

"Maybe," I answer.

"Let's live in the moment. And pray nothing bad happens," she says with a wink and leaves as Ria calls her.

Maybe that's not such a bad idea.

A/N

Hey guys. How are you all doing?

So good news, my book won second place in The Clouded Ink awards and I couldn't be happier.

I'm hoping to finish this book soon. What do you all think of this chapter?

Feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Until the next chapter.

Lots of Love,
~Vaishnavi.