Song of the chapter is Hope Is A Dangerous Thing by Lana Del Rey

-26-
-Veronica D'Rosario-
-Present-

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Delmore High Court
24 November, 2030
3:00 pm

As we both stood in front of the large shelves of well stacked files, a sense of deja vu filled my senses.

His tongue clicked in it's place as my phone buzzed in my pocket. Extracting it, I found a message from Zoya, saying that she had managed to create a viable distraction for the clerk outside to stay busy with whilst we found the files. The second text from her read,

'You guys have approximately ten minutes before the guard notices. Find what you have to ASAP!'

I replied back with an 'okay' before putting it on vibration. As I stuffed it back in my pocket, I saw him move towards the first shelf to his left. He started scouring through the files, sifting his eyes through the dates plastered against each stack.

"How will we know which year they might've committed crimes in?" I asked, taking a step towards him.

"Well, I'm hoping to look for it in the recent months and years." He said without deigning me a look, continuing to sift through the stack of files.

"How recent are we talking?" I asked as I joined him in the task.

"Two, maybe three years." He said, this time looking at me. I nodded and got to work.

"It's gotta be here somewhere." He sighed before doing the same.

As I looked through several names and dates, one struck me immediately. "What did you say the lead singer's name was? Of Velvet Concord?"

"Charlie Lopez." He answered. "He was a junior to us at Delmore High."

"Well, there is a C. Lopez here." I said as I pulled out a blue file from the shelf. I handed it over to him and he took a closer look at it.

Looking up at me, he said, "This might be it."

We settled at the little table kept by the edge of the room and started looking over the contents inside. I followed his gaze as he read or rather mumbled to himself, "Dated 12 May, 2027, M. Fernandez, D. Alvares, S. Borges, lead by C.Lopez were convicted under Section 376-"

"Rape." The word left my mouth before I could even process anything else. It earned me a look from him before he went back to reading again.

"....for attempted rape on a minor at one of their concerts."

I felt the disgust crawl up my veins as he finished the sentence.

"Are those the initials of the other band members?"

"Yeah," he licked his lips, eyes narrowed at the file. "Mario Fernandes, the drummer, Dennis Alvares, the keyboard player and Sebastian Borges, the bass player."

"So....what happened? Did they just break out of jail? How were they still out there and performing after committing such a heinous crime?" I said, my words inkling with disgust.

"Maybe there was less evidence to keep them locked forever." He answered, reading till the end of the file.

"Or maybe they were bailed out." I said, looking at him. "Considering they were rich and popular, I wouldn't put it past me-"

"Yeah, but that's still a guess." He said, shutting the file close. "Maybe they just didn't find enough evidence because they didn't actually do anything."

I scoffed slightly, looking away.

"What?" He immediately threw.

"Nothing, I just- doesn't matter, let's look for the other files." I said, annoyance etched in my tone, as I walked back towards the shelf and started sifting through the files again. A minute later he joined me.

"No, tell me...what was that?" He crossed his arms in front of his chest and demanded like an overbearing father.

"I said it was nothing, Himanshu-"

"Really? Because it didn't feel like it. It felt like you had something to say. So say it, go on." He spit.

I turned towards him, my face hot and red. "I often feel like you have an overbearing need to give people the benefit of the doubt. You know, sometimes....people are just bad. They're fucked up and they do fucked up things. And maybe you should focus on that more."

"So you really wanna give me shit for trusting people? You of all people?" He asked, his tone condescending.

"Yes!"

"Seriously?" He threw me a look so odious, for a second I feared I'd succumb under it. "If all those years back, I hadn't chosen to trust you even when everyone around me fucking told me not to, where would we even be?"

My eyes swindled for a moment, tears forming at it's edges. I blinked, swallowing the bile rising to my throat.

"Atleast you would've been better off."

The rage in his eyes that I had felt a second ago, decapitated faster than any bullet and a solemn expression graced his features. He looked at me with the same eyes that he looked at me with when he had confronted me about the truth about my mother.

Then a second later, a static expression washed over his face as he uttered, "Yeah....I guess, you're right about that."

Saying that, he pushed past me and started rumaging through the other shelves whilst I stood there, sucking up my the distil pain throbbing in my heart.

Composing myself again, I went back to the table and clicked pictures of the case record of the band just for insurance. Once I was done, my phone buzzed with another notification again. It was from Zoya.

'Guard incoming.
You need to get out NOW!'

"Zoya says there's a guard coming in, we need to get out now!" I whispered yelled at Moose, who was standing at the very end of one of the shelves.

"But we haven't found the other two files-"

"We don't have the time." I spoke hurriedly as I put the blue file back in it's place. "Come on, we need to go. We'll figure something out later."

Saying that, I switched off the table lamp and we both walked towards the door. Slowly opening it, Himanshu peaked outside to get a hinge of the situation.

"Come on, we're clear." He whispered as he grabbed my arm from behind and before I could even process, pulled me out of the room. Quietly shutting the door behind us, we both tiptoed our way towards the other exit of the 2nd floor while Zoya managed to keep the guard busy with her antics.

Once we were safely downstairs, I thought of texting Zoya to come down but realised that he was still holding my arm.

So I coughed slightly, implying towards the same. He looked at me for a confused moment before realising and immediately removing his grip. His face flushed with embarrassment as he looked away. I took it as an opportunity to text Zoya.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, we were back in Himanshu's car, discussing our latest shenanigans.

"So did you guys find anything?" Zoya asked as she settled comfortably in the back seat. Himanshu exchanged a look with me.

"Just about the band, nothing else." He answered, looking back at her.

"What did they do?"

"They were convicted with rape of a minor three years back." I explained. "But the charges were dropped against them soon enough for them to get back in business." I finished, passing him a glare. He simply rolled his eyes.

"Gross." Zoya's face scrunched up with disgust.

"Yeah, but we couldn't find anything about the lady or the waitress." Himanshu said.

"Well, you can cross the lady out of your list cause I found out why she was guilty." Zoya popped nonchalantly, leaning back on her seat. We both turned to her immediately.

"Why?"

"She was a child trafficker and was in the run for quite a while now. The police of several states in the south had been on the look out for her. Infact , the child Saina found in the room wasn't even hers. She kidnapped the kid from a nearby town and decided to lay low in Inn until the chaos calmed down before making a move." Zoya explained.

I threw her a quizzical look. "How did you even find all this out?"

"While you guys were busy snooping around, I overheard two of the court clerks gossiping about it. Rechecked on the net just to be sure and indeed, the story was true." She replied. "The police infact found the kid's real parents and handed him over to them two days ago."

"How did we not know this?" Himanshu furrowed his brows.

"Because we were too busy getting attacked by a psychotic killer to watch the news, duh!" Zoya replied, sass evident in her voice.

"Okay, but what about the waitress?" I pointed out.

"Maybe we should stop by the Paper Lantern to get some information about her." Zoya suggested. "You know... the basics...like her name for an instance-"

"Alright, let's go." Starting the engine, he reversed the car and drove off.

It took us a whole of fifteen minutes to get to the diner due to the afternoon traffic. There were very little customers than usual and also two police cars present and scouring the premise.

As we walked in, the chilling temprature inside the diner gave me shivers. I hugged my coat closer as he approached the main counter.

A short brunette waitress, the one who usually took our orders, walked in cleaning her apron. Due to the amount of times we had come to the diner in the past week, we had got quite accustomed to her. She always acted very sweet and polite towards us, almost reminding me how Jen used to work the diner.

"Oh.... it's just you guys." Shefali, as the name in the name tag attached to her chest read, sighed.

"Yeah, sorry to disappoint, hun...but did you know your co-worker who has gone missing?" Zoya got to the point without beating around the bush.

"Yeah...Stella was...she worked at the diner with me. Infact, she was like a big sister to me...I don't know what's happening...." She almost looked at the verge of crying.

"Okay, Shefali, we're really sorry to bother you with all of this but can you please try? I need you to tell us her surname first. Can you do that?" I asked.

"Yes.... it's D'Costa." She said, her voice slightly quivery.

"Noted. Stella D'Costa." Zoya mumbled behind me.

"When did you last see her?" I asked.

"Last night. I had some work so I had to leave the diner early. She was the one who stayed behind for lock up." She answered.

"That answer was awfully quick." Zoya observed, pointing out my concerns exactly.

"Guys-" Himanshu began.

"It's all the police has asked me. I can't recall how many times I've uttered the same sentence since morning." She uttered, distressed.

"Okay, did Stella ever have any criminal record attached to her name? Any crime she committed? Even minor?" I asked away.

"I don't.... I don't know...why?" She looked at me flabbergasted by the question.

"You don't need to know the why now, Shefali. Just give me the answer." I demanded.

"I don't know.... I-I..."

"Then think!"

He instantly grabbed my arm. "That's enough." He glared at me, and passed a sympathetic look over to Shefali.

"Himanshu, we don't have the time! If we don't figure this out, then her friend might die!" I yelled, drawing the attention of the nearby tables. Himanshu gave them a look before pulling me aside.

"Stop freaking out, Veronica." He said as calmly as he could.

"How? How can I not freak out when there's a life at stake here! Himanshu, we can save this girl if we-"

"If we what?" Himanshu asked. "If we figure out what crime she did? Then what?" He asked, his jaw set straight.

"Maybe we can get her to apologise for it or something, I don't know!" I yelled whispered.

"And you think the killer's just gonna let her go if she does that?" He threw me a quizzical look.

"Well, we have to do something! We atleast have to try!" I stated. "I can't see another dead body! I just can't-"

My entire body felt like it would burst any moment. The pain, the bad emotions, the agony -- all returned with a burning rage. I tugged at the black band on my right wrist instinctively.

"V, calm down. Please... you're scaring me." Zoya spoke, as she came and stood behind me. I took deep breaths, trying to compose myself.

"They'll find her." He said, as he looked at me with a sympathetic look. "I'm positive."

I watched as his hands reached out to me and then stopped in it's course, hesitatingly. He licked his lips and extracted his hand back. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat as I nodded.

Even if false, I was willing to cling on to this small ray of hope for now.

But then again, false or true, any sort of hope was dangerous for a woman like me to have.

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if out of all the characters I've written, there's someone who deserves better, it's definitely veronica.

my baby has been through so much at such a young age and still continues to be brave and help others! truly one hell of a character!

anyways, tell me your views and theories in the comment section below and also don't forget to vote and share the book as much as possible!

love,
Bosedisha