Annie's P.O.V

The pencil heels that constantly sent a throbbing pain to my entire cough region, clicked on the stony floor as we pushed opened the gate of the " Haymond Valley Kindergarten".

Edwin scrunched his face up and furrowed his eyebrows, when the sizzling rays of the touched his face.

As we pushed our exhausted feet forward, we were more and more enveloped within a void of solitude. It was currently 5:30 in the evening, so the chatter of the children weren't heard.

" Ugh! I hate this." I murmur under my breath.

" What?" Edwin asked as we stepped on the pavement.

"The heels." I answered." Snickers would have been better."

A small chuckle formed at the edge of his lips, making him really adorable. " Anyways, let's go to the main office?"

" Sure." I confirmed.

As we kept on walking along the pavement, we finally found our most awaited room. It was none other than the principal's room where information can be both retrieved and lended.

I took a deep breath and saw Edwin to slightly gesture his head up and down.

"May we come in, mam?" I asked, straightening my tie.

"Sure." The woman pushed the bridge of her spectacles down to meet her nasal cartilage and frowned.

Bossy.

" Hello mam. We're from a NGO who looks forward to check into the welfare of physically handicapped people." Edwin extended his right hand, confidently and shook it.

Meanwhile, I tried scanning the entire room. The room was painted lemon yellow and the scintillating sunrays escaped through the curtains, revealing all the minute details of the room.

" Have you got any ID proof?" She asked with autarchy.

"Yeah. We do have." I confirmed and then handed over our "fake" ID's to her which she gladly accepted.

Well, those fake ID's were actually provided by SAD... Extremely influential people.

There was no possiblity for her to find that it wasn't valid.

"How can I help you?" She handed our ID's back and folded her arms, attaining the same bossy attitude. Her round glasses along with the bun that remained all resilent, added to her audacious appearance.

Till now, nothing indispensable caught my scrutinized vision but the long white curtains, vibrantly painted walls, few small chairs lined up at the corner of the room, Edwin plastering a serious face while talking to the "bossy" principal and a group photo of three people that was framed with exquisite wooden frames.

"Mam, since we basically strive towards the progress of the welfare of the physically handicapped people, our agenda is to visit..." My voice trailed off, deafened by a humongous sound that almost sliced my eardrum.

" W-hat was th-at?" The principal became startled and almost started quievering her hands.

" C'mon let's check it out." Edwin said with a crystal clear hint of spontaneous alarm.

With my heart still clangoring and the eardrums slowly reviving from the spontaneous attack, the three of us scooted past the pavement. Trying to maintain the same pace, accompanied by the disguisting heels, I turned back to find the lady trying to cope up with our speed. Edwin was definitely unpurturbed of his surrounding but that he was aghast was totally exhibited on his face. Infact, we all were.

Having sped off past the main gateway, nothing serious caught our eyes except the busy road and the pedestrians clustered all around.

" Nothing's here." I said befuddledly.

But from where did the sound come then? Might be somewhere else.

" Yeah. Let's go back." Edwin muttered still breathing hard.

" Must be from the factory nearby." The lady scoffed, totally pouring out her anguishness and disguist.

Little did I know that my eyes would be almost struck with horror when it flashed on the ground just in front of where I stood. I leaned down and crouched on my hips to find a small structure of a shell with a hollow cavity in the rear and a wooden plank like shape at the foremost end. As soon as I touched it, it didn't take too long for me to realize that it was a bullet shell.

I sat in that position, devoid of the surrounding. Gaping at the tiny shells, I continued to attain my same posture.

" A bullet?" The principal asked, gulping the air.

The sun had now almost set beneath the horizon. The scintillating rays had now suffused the sky with the fresh colours brushed upon on an artist's canvas. The chilly wind replaced the loo and everything looked tranquil yet deceptive.

" We need to talk, mam." I mumbled and looked at Edwin. He remained silent and clenched his jaws, still staring at the bullet.

A gun was fired in the middle of broad daylight and every one remained unperturbed. How is that even possible?

___________________________________

"Wasn't there a picture?"

" Yeah, it is sti----"

The lady(principal) almost squealed at the startling sight. It seemed as if she would be debarred from her post or it was the last day of her life. She peeked in here and there for the picture but everytime she was left disdained.

At first, a gun was fired in the midst of nowhere, that too avoiding any panic from the people all around. Then, a bullet shell came rolling down at my feet. And now, the picture which was scanned under my eyes earlier had absolutely disappeared from the room. Only the patches, created by the frames encompassed that part of the painted wall.

Either it's reel or real.

" We should go now." Edwin hissed in my ears.

" We haven't yet finished our work." I argued back.

"Just look at her." He notioned his eyes towards the screwed up lady. "I don't think so, she'll be of any help right now."

His coherence couldn't be ignored. The lady had grown feebler and tormented as well as wobbled. She walked to and fro across the entire room and had almost made incessant number of phone calls till now, explaining each of them what and how had everything happened.

What can be someone's intention in removing a simple picture? Well, it can't be just called simple. If it was supposed to be that, the lady wouldn't have exhibited so many expressions at one go.

" Ok then. Let's go." I said, disappointedly. Our actual aim remained unaccomplished.

Edwin shook his head up and down and flexed. " Complicated isn't it?" He asked, mending his footsteps onto the pavement.

"Too much." I confirmed. I had almost forgotten the penetrating pain that shook my entire cough region. Heels were monstrously painful.

"What's on our next mission now?" He asked, stepping out of the Haymond Valley Kindergarten.

Withstanding the excruciating wobble that constantly pervated my heels, I spoke " There's a lot to do and think about. Everything was messed up."

" I know." He sighed, extending his vision to meet the infinity far ahead.

Darkness had almost crawled into the surrounding, leaving the red and orange diffusion of colours overhead. Tranquility was a mere deceptive look; beneath it hid a perfidious wrath.

"Pfffttt" I bellowed. The excruciating pain had now overpowered my endurance.

" Anything wrong?" A familiar voice beeped.

"Nah. I'm all right." I pretended." It's already dark. We must get back to our houses." I intentionally changed the topic.

"Yeah."

We strolled across the street to get back to ur car. The street had now almost become deserted. Only a few passer by scooted past us and a few vehicles plied on the road.

Trying to bear the unbearable pain, my mind was drifted apart from the ache to the entire episode that was still instilled in my fragile brain.

Broad daylight. Gun fired. Bullet shell. Sudden disappearence of the picture. Although there isn't yet any evidence, my intution tries to form it's own opinion irrespective of anything. Are they all connected? Connected with our case?

My mind had again drifted from the present world to an unnamed one in the search for my answers. The web of intricacy had already stiffened. The more my thirst enhanced for the answers, the more convoluted the entire matter turned to.

We both opened the door and made our over drenched bodies sigh by resting on the dipping seats of the car.

Without uttering a word, Edwin kicked off the accelator and the engine roared. Through the corner of my eyes, I noticed his pale look. He was drowned in his thoughts as well. Rapidly, his eyes settled on my bruised heels.

" Does that hurt too bad?"

" Not at all." I smiled, again withstanding the terrible throb.

" Don't lie, Annie. You are a terrible liar." He clearly stated without any hesitation.

Do I need to get that reminded?I'm aware of it.

" It's not that bad. I'll manage." I managed.

He, then shook his head to and fro. His knuckles went white as he tried to keep the steering wheel steady. Whilst turning the steering wheel towards the right, he flexed his arms. The messy hair along with his v shaped jawlines added to his own serenity.

Later on, both of us dived into an ocean of deep silence. Suddenly, a familiar ringtone vibrated. It was a call from Julie.

Me: hey!

Julie: where do you even stay?

Me: in my house

Julie: don't lie. After the summer vacation had slipped into, you don't seem to remember me. Anyways, I'm coming over at 7:30.

Me: it's not that. We'll talk later the. See you?

Julie: probably yes.

The line then went dead. I really felt bad for her. She didn't know that I was tangled to a mess now. It had been a week since the summer holidays had rolled down. Every year, we spent our vacation by writing several stories. Sadly, this year didn't turn out to be like "every year".

" Best friend?" Edwin asked.

"Yes." I murmur, nodding my head with disappointment.

" Everything will be fine." He smiled.

The rest of the drive was accompanied by the cool gust of wind and heavy silence. It wasn't awkward rather relishing.

The car was finally pulled over at my doorstep. I swiftly buckled off the seatbelt and bid him a goodbye with a small" thanks". He waved his hand and smiled cheerfully. Turning my head, I could hear the engine roar again and it's sound becoming indistict.

As soon as I went to push the door, suddenly I felt something hit my head. I swiftly turned on my heels but found no one. It was just me and the elm tree, trying to welcome me back. Apprehending it to be just a slight cramp, my eyes fell over a piece of crumpled paper on the ground just beside me.

I bent down on my knees and carefully opened the paper. It read:

The pen is lethal.
But do you wish to receive the lethality of your chest being seared by the sharp fingertips?

Horrified at the words, I spun my head towards all the direction but expectedly, there was none.

A threat notice?

For what?

Within a few ticks, it didn't take me too long to realize that each of my step and action were observed carefully by someone other than SAD.

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Hey everyone!! Im really very sorry for not updating for such a long time. Schedules have been quite hectic.

But this story means a lot to me. I'll definitely not keep it incomplete. It will surely be updated on some or the other day.

Thanks a lot for your support. It means to me more than u can ever imagine.

Criticism accepted.👇

Till the next chapter, bbyee.

Stay safe ❤❤