Song of the chapter is Hidden in the Sand by Tally Hall

-29-
-Zoya Afreen-
-Present-

______________

Paper Lantern
24 November, 2030
4:12 pm

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I muttered under my breath as my eyes caught sight of a familiar face amongst the customers at the Paper Lantern.

After Veronica's mini break down at the diner, we had had to head outside to calm her down better and once we were sure that she was okay, Himanshu and I walked back inside to ask the waitress some more questions.

But before we could begin, a familiar face emerged from the crowd, calling out Himanshu's name in a cranked voice. As we both turned towards the direction of the voice, an irritation crawled up my veins.

It was none other than Himanshu's uptight fiance.

As she came and stood in front of us, she gave me a solid up-and-down look before looking at her fiance.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been constantly trying to call you!" She demanded.

"Dhrashti, I told you I was gonna be busy the whole day." Himanshu answered in an equally annoyed voice. Seriously, if we lost another life because of her useless shenanigans, I was going to lose it.

"Doing what exactly?" She questioned, then looked back at me. "Frolicking with your friends?"

"Dhrashti, I don't have the time for this right now. Just go home and wait for me. I'll be back by eve-"

"No."

"No?" I asked.

"No." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You're coming home with me now."

I sighed, exasperated by her audacity.

"I can't. I have something I need to do." Himanshu tried to explain calmly.

"What, like her?" Dhrashti asked, pointing out the window, where Veronica stood, witnessing the entire fiasco from afar. She looked away as we all looked at her.

Himanshu sighed, more annoyed. "Dhrashti, I can't do this right now-"

"She's got some nerve, truly!" Dhrashti threw with spite. "Don't you see, Himanshu? She's using this situation to manipulate you into being with her again!"

"Dhrashti-"

"Excuse me?" I flared up, stepping forward. She had a thing or two coming if she so much as dared spill another vile thing about my friend.

"Oh please! Cut the bullshit. We all know I'm right about her. You guys just don't wanna admit it to yourself, that your friend there has some serious issues she needs to deal with." She said, venom filled in her words.

"That's enough, Dhrashti." Himanshu warned calmly.

"What? Now all of a sudden you're defending her?" Dhrashti demanded, raising her voice slightly.

"What else is he supposed to do when you are standing there and talking shit about his friend?" I asked.

"Friend, huh? I think you and I both have different meanings to that word." She threw back at me.

"Well, I don't know what kind of fucked up dictionary you use but you're wrong." I retorted. "They have been friends since they were thirteen. Thirteen years before he even knew who you were."

"It doesn't matter! I'm his fiance!" She yelled.

"And that gives you the right to treat him like a possesion?" I clapped back.

"Zoya, it's-" Himanshu began softly but I interjected.

"No, let me." I exchanged a look with him and then looked back at his fiance. "What? Just cause he put a ring on you, it gives you some kind of unearthly control over him? That you can dictate and decide where he should go and shouldn't go? Whom he should go with?"

She pursed her lips tightly, and glared at me.

"You have met Veronica once. Who gives you the fucking right to talk shit about her? Do you know her? Do you know her life?! Do you know what she's been through?!" I demanded, stepping forward.

When she didn't answer, I continued. "I don't know how you get the audacity to talk about someone you barely know, in that vile way! Were you not loved as a child? Did your parents hate you?"

"What?"

"I'm sure they did. That's why you're so eager to cling to the person who gives you an ounce of attention, you daft bimbo!"

She gasped audibly and I swear I heard Himanshu stiffle a laugh.

"So you're just gonna stand there and let her talk to me like this?!" She demanded from Himanshu.

"Oh trust me, he knows it's deserved." I clapped back.

"Zoya." V called my name as she opened the door halfway. She looked at Himanshu, then looked down apologetically and then back at me. "Officer Ravi called. He wants us to come down to the station."

I gave her a short nod and turned to Himanshu.

"Pacify your fucking fiance, Himanshu." I said, and looked her up and down one last time before continuing, "Because if I hear her speak shit about my friend one more time, I'll cut her tongue out myself and hand it to you as a wedding gift."

The glare she gave me was so intensely sharp, it would've been enough to kill a man.

But then again, I've dealt with far worse characters than her in my life.

"We'll get an Uber to the police station." I told Himanshu. "Go home."

Saying that, I walked out of the diner without so much as deigning his fiance a look. As I joined Veronica, she asked, "What did she say?"

"A lot of things." I replied. "Mostly idiotic."

She gave me a tight lipped smile. "Why was she pointing at me?"

"She is suspicious about the closeness between you and Himanshu." I answered, looking at her. "For which I don't blame her. I mean...."

She looked down instinctively.

"But that doesn't give her the right to talk shit about my best friend. So I set her straight." I added, holding her hand. She looked up at me and a slow but soft smile graced her cheeks.

"Thank you, Zoya."

I returned a similar one, squeezing her hand tight.

"Don't mention it, chico."

____________

As we marched into the station together, I could sense a sort of rush in the environment. Police officers, cladded in blue, were running from one desk to another, carrying report files and what not. My eyes located Ravi standing at a distance, with his brows creased and his eyes sternly inspecting a sheet of paper.

He looked up at us as we approached him.

"You called?" I asked as I took a seat in front of him. Veronica settled on standing beside my chair.

He gave me a brisk nod. "We've inspected all of the warehouses in town and I have been able to narrow down the list to three warehouses. One is located behind the St.Bosco Church in Valor Street and the second is located behind St.Joseph Church, downtown."

"Should we go check them out?" I asked.

"Not needed. Two sets of my officers are already there, inspecting the scene. They'll inform if there's any suspicious activity." He answered.

"Officer, what about the third one?" Veronica asked, leaning forward. "You said you had narrowed down the list to three."

He glanced at her once and nodded. "Yes, Ms.Rosario....there is a third church behind which there could be a warehouse. But it's on the outskirts of the town. And to be honest, it has been abandoned for quite a few years now."

I furrowed my brows.

"We aren't sure if there is a proper warehouse behind it or not." He continued and then looked down, before saying, "But that isn't our only problem."

"There is a problem?" I questioned, raising my brow.

He glanced at me and nodded worriedly. "I checked the records of that place just to get an idea about where it was and I found out something odd."

"What? What is it?" Veronica inquired.

"The land on which both the church and the warehouse are built is under Kartik's name."

"What?"

"What?"

"Yes, I was just as shocked as you both are right now, believe me. But I've checked the records thrice and it's confirmed that Kartik's family owns that piece of land." He explained, looking between us.

I exchanged a glance with Veronica. "I mean.... I wouldn't put it past me....The Malhotras owned and still own a lot of Delmore's property. But..."

"It's too much of a coincidence that the killer is supposedly planning his next move on the land that belongs to Kartik." Veronica completed for me.

"Exactly." Ravi agreed. "And that means that whoever this is...is trying to pin everything on Kartik."

"Just like the reunion party." I said, more as a realisation to myself than both of them.

A minute passed before I looked up at Ravi and said, "We have to do something. We have to stop him from doing something. That's the only way we can save Kartik."

"I know, Zoya. And I'm planning to go there with my force at the earliest. Don't worry, it's gonna be okay." He reassured, but I wasn't going to be convinced until I saw it for myself.

"We'll accompany you." I proposed, exchanging a glance with Veronica.

"Yes, officer." Veronica agreed.

"No guys, you know I can't let you be at a possible crime scene. I can't risk your safety, I'm sorry." Ravi interjected.

"Ravi," I began, pointing at Veronica. "V shot a guy twice when she was just seventeen and I'm THE Zoya Afreen. I think we can manage ourselves when put at risk."

He gave an annoyed look to which I ignored and continued, "We're going, that's it."

Sighing exhaustively, he pursed his lips and said, "Fine. But you'll stay outside by the police car. Only me and my force will investigate the area for any possible danger."

"Deal."

____________

It took us approximately half an hour to reach the destination. And when we got there, we were met with a not so pleasant surprise.

A church stood abandoned in the middle of a vast area of barren wasteland. From afar, it looked worn down and battered, with it's glasses shattered and bricks coming down. It was safe to say that whatever was there once, was left in ruins now.

Ravi instructed Veronica and I to sit tight in the police car whilst he and his force of policemen scoured the area for any possible clues. With guns raised, the policemen took slow steps, slowly moving around the property.

A whole of fifteen minutes passed but there was no news. At that point, I was growing impatient.

"How long have they been in there?" I asked, agitation crawling up my veins.

"Zoya, be quiet." V instructed, looking outside for any sign of the killer.

"We're gonna achieve nothing sitting here, V." I sighed. "Why don't we go check out the church?"

The look she gave me was intense. "Zoya, Officer Ravi strictly instructed us to sit in the car. It's not safe out there."

"Like the killer can't just break the fragile ass window of this car and kill us?" I asked sarcastically. Veronica tilted her head to the side, giving me a look.

"Come on, V! Let's just check out the abandoned church, if not anything else." I urged, tugging on her arm.

"Zoya-"

"Yay, let's go!" I took it as a cue to open the door handle to my left and exit the car, pulling Veronica by the arm.

"Zoya!"

"Now be quiet, Veronica." I instructed, mocking her earlier instructions. "Do you want us to get caught or what?"

She gave me a poker face, to which I giggled.

"Come on." I whispered before slowly tracing my steps towards the abandoned church, with Veronica at my heels.

As we got to the run down building, I finally realised how big the church actually is from the inside. Not only was the nave big enough to fit a horse, there was an additional confessions room at the back, which was just as large as a dining room.

I inspected the almost broken door at the far end of the chapel before putting a foot inside. As I stepped into the church, a small chill ran down my spine.

"How did the temperature change all of a sudden?" I asked, walking forward.

"This place has an eerie feeling to it." Veronica said from behind, looking around. "I don't like it, let's go Zoya."

"Every abandoned building has an eerie feeling to it, V. Take a chill pill." I told her as I walked down the aisle. The altar looked dusty and full of spider webs, so I resisted the urge to stand there. Turning midway through the aisle, I looked back at Veronica.

"Let's check out the confessions room."

"Zoya, I still think we should go back to the car." Veronica said, as I made my way towards the room on the other side of the building. "What if Officer Ravi comes and sees us missing? He'd be worried."

"Well, if he has half a brain, which I'm sure he does, he'll call me on my cell phone which I have with myself right now." I answered, showing her my phone.

She simply sighed. "You're very persistent when it comes to breaking rules."

"Oh please," I began, "tell me something I don't know."

And as soon as I said that, I had to pause midway as I felt something liquid drop on my hand. I raised my hand to inspect it and my eyes widened, as I witnessed a sploch of red on it. I touched the drop with my other hand to inspect it and felt utterly disgusted at the realisation.

It was blood. Probably human blood.

"V...."

"What happened?" She came, took a look at my face and immediately understood something was wrong. I raised my hand to show her the drop of blood. We exchanged a fearful glance before slowly looking upwards, at the direction from which the blood had dropped.

My screams died in my throat.

I staggered back with my hand on my mouth, gaping at the scene in front of me. V stood there, unnerved and frozen.

A girl's body hung from the ceiling, her guts ripped inside out, and eyes wide open. Her long brunette hair tied around it's neck, as if it had been used to choke her before the rope had been used to tie her to the ceiling. Her clothes were still on her and blood was dripping from her ankles.

And as if on cue, my phone buzzed in my hand, making me jump.

I exchanged an anxious glance with Veronica before reading the text,

'Better watch your back,
or you'll be a dead bitch too.'

____________

when i said there'd be more gore and bloodbath in this one than the previous one, i did NOT lie-

gosh! the thrill that i get when i post the most 'wtf' moment in a chapter is unmatched!

we're one chapter away from interval and I'm beyond excited to say the least!

anyways, did you like the chapter? Are you liking the story? If yes, then do vote and comment your views! And share the book as much as possible!

love,
Bosedisha