Song of the chapter is
Hold Your Breath by Ruelle

-46-
-Zoya Afreen-
-Present-

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Delmore Local Area
6 December, 2030
11:34 am

Delmore had always been a quiet little town.

For years since it's establishment in 1864, this part of Goa had always kept its distance from the bustling extravagance that was the rest of the city. People had always lived a quiet life in this town, not daring to cross limits, and in peace. A humdrum harmony existed in every part of this little place.

But that was until Alishka Malhotra.

Her death had somehow been able to change the entire trajectory of this town. The streets were never the same, the woods were never the same. But most importantly, our lives were never the same.

The town had gone from being a non-existent part of Goa to the small town making national headlines in a matter of two weeks. It was weird to acknowledge this, but her death sort of put this little town on the map for the entire world to see.

I wasn't sure whether I was glad for it, or otherwise.

That one fateful saturday night had changed all of our lives in ways none of us could comprehend. Part of me was glad for it, mainly because if that hadn't happened, I would've never had had such amazing friends, whom I could so happily now call family. It feels surreal to even think about what would've happened if I had refused to break into school that night with those eight people. What would I have been in life?

Would I have amounted to anything at all? Because who was I, without this 'survivor' label? A rough girl from the wrong side of the tracks, whose parents never gave a shit about her, labelled a slut by the rumors? Bitter and exhausted, driven by petty revenge?

But then again, the other part of me also wishes that it never happened.

In the past eleven years, I had spent countless nights, fantasizing about what could've been.

"I think we should break into school at night. What say guys?"

No, thanks.

"We should play a drinking game while we try to pass time."

No, I don't want to.

"How about a game of Secrets and Sins?"

No.

But would it really change a thing? I could think of a hundred scenarios for a do-over, but what was done was already done. I had made my bed and now I was laying on it.

The consequences of my actions bore down on me like a heavy weight. I was to blame. I had always been.

Because who in their right mind would have trusted Alishka Malhotra?

As I stared at the marching band from a corner, I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I turned around and found V standing in front of me. Her face had a forlorn look on it. She gently touched my shoulder and asked, "Zizi, are you okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded, swallowing. "I mean, if you're asking whether I am scared or not, then yeah.... I am. But then who isn't?"

"Don't worry, Zoya. This time we're ready. He won't be able to get away." Kartik said, emerging beside her.

We had made ourselves believe that. But then again, were we ever ready for what these monsters had in plan for us?

I nodded anyway. "Yeah. Let's catch this motherfucker, once and for all."

We all took out positions as per Ravi's instructions. If we needed Siya's plan to work, we all needed to remain vigilant today. I adjusted my watch as I checked the time.

11:35 am.

We still had 25 more minutes before the killer's arrival.

After yesterday's fiasco, Siya had decided that enough was enough. That fucker had the audacity to spy on us without our consent. I knew this wasn't the first time the killer had done that. Seventeen years ago, I had too been a victim of his stalker tendencies. Only then, I was too powerless to do anything about it.

But it was different this time.

And this fucker had it a big time coming.

I scanned my eyes through the crowd gathered at the town square for the celebrations of St. Nicholas Day. Children and parents alike, dressed in bright colours adorned the street, hands filled with letters and carrots. Several stalls were lined up by the decorated St. Nicholas statue, selling oranges, candy canes, and chocolate coins. Many town folks were also dressed up as St. Nicholas for the celebrations, with shafts and canes intact.

I heaved a sigh.

These people had zero idea of what was coming their way.

"Zoya."

"Jesus Christ." I jumped slightly as the initial shock slowly washed away, I found myself staring at the man in front of me. "Ravi?"

Young Officer Ravi stood in front of me, dressed as St. Nicholas, with cane and everything, to avoid any suspicion. It had been Siya's idea to have the police dressed up in a disguise, tricking the killer into believing that we had been foolish enough to not inform the police about today's threat.

So far, I could say with great faith, that the plan was definitely working.

For a moment, even I would've been unable to recognise the guy in front of me if it wasn't for his sweet melancholic eyes, that currently bore deep into my soul.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm.... I'm fine." I said, chuckling uncomfortably. "I'm sorry....you just caught me off guard."

He gave me a lopsided grin before moving a step back.

"So....how do I look?" He asked.

I smiled wide. "Sir Nicholas would've been very proud."

He returned a wider smile. "I knew you'd like it. I put a lot of effort into this."

I laughed. "It's definitely showing."

He tipped his cane at me.

"Are you sure you'll be able to run with this getup?" I asked, half joking. "I mean, it looks uncomfortable as fuck."

"It is....but a man's gotta do what he gotta do to save his job."

I tilted my head to the side. "Officer Gomez still giving you a hard time?"

"I'd rather not talk about him." He smiled apologetically.

I nodded. "Alright. We won't. What about the rest of your officers? Are they also dressed up as St. Nicholas?"

"No, but they're in civilian clothes. You won't be able to recognise them."

"Good." I responded. "Where are you gonna be at?"

"I'll be right by the square. That way I can keep an eye on the parade as well as the rest of the area." He responded.

Nodding, I said, "Okay, then. All the best."

"You too, Zoya." He wished and started walking away.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and inhaled heavily. I wanted to tell him something more, but then decided against it.

"Hey, Zoya." He called back. I looked up at him.

"Make sure to stay alive, alright?"

My heart throbbed hard against my chest. He had said exactly what I had wanted to say.

"You too, Ravi."

He nodded, and flashed me a small smile before walking away from me.

Once he went out of eyeshot, I breathed a heavy sigh.

This guy was going to be the death of me.

Focus, Zoya.

You have a lifetime to fantasize about your man-crush. Right now, your head needed to be on one goal, and one goal only.

Catching the killer.

The town clock chimed loudly as it struck twelve. Poppers and confettis released into the air with force as the children rejoiced and exchanged gifts. The band's acconant tunes echoed through the entire area.

And just when the clock stopped chiming, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Inhaling a shaky breath, I fished it out and checked the new notification.

'Wanna know who I am?
Why don't you come and find out?'

He was taunting me, and that meant that he was already here. Watching us.

Watching me.

I scanned my eyes through the crowd again for any suspicious individual or activity when my eyes suddenly caught sight of a man, on the other side of the road, dressed up as St. Nicholas, with a mask, standing still.

Completely still.

A shiver ran down my spine. There was something off about this guy. The way he stood without making any movements made me uncomfortable.

I watched as another balloon vendor passed between us before the guy tilted his head to the side and slowly waved his hand at me.

My eyes widened immediately.

Holy fucking shit. This was it. The killer was standing right in front of me.

My mind raced through a number of thoughts as I stood transfixed in his gaze. I needed to inform my friends. I needed to inform Ravi.

Taking my eyes off of him for one second, I started texting Ravi to inform him about the situation when another text popped up on my screen.

From Unknown.

With shaky hands and breath hitched in my throat, I clicked on it.

'Come alone or else
your new boy-toy gets slashed next.'

Fuck my life.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and started following him as he walked into one of the back alleys connected to the road. As I took each step, all I did was pray to God that one of my friends would see me following this guy into the back alley and come find us.

Once we were un-safely away from the rest of the crowd, he slowly turned towards me, his mask still intact.

Fuck.

How could I have been so stupid as to have followed this person into a place where no one could hear my screams if I were really about to die?

"Who are you?" I asked headstrong, my voice quivering through it's attempt to appear fearless.

I swear I heard him scoff, laughing. He tilted his head to the side and said, "It's not gonna be that easy, Zoya."

I could not even recognise his voice. He was definitely using a voice modulator.

"Game's up, asshole."

"Oh really?"

"We're not your puppets. And if you think otherwise, you're highly mistaken." I charged strongly.

A solid pause followed before he laughed one more time.

"What's so fucking funny?" I grew agitated.

"Oh you poor thing. Here's what you don't understand, Zoya." He spoke, in that same creepy voice. "When there's smoke, there's payback."

My brows knitted in place. "What the hell does that mean?"

"A lie for a lie,
An eye for an eye.
The bell tolls
For Saina."

"Oh my god, would you stop talking in riddles and just tell me who you are already!" I shouted in frustration.

"Come find out." He said and surged at me, with a knife. I stumbled back but gathering all my strength, kicked him in the leg. He lost his balance for a second, giving me the chance to run through the alley in the direction of the road. His footsteps echoed behind me, covering the distance in a rapid pace.
I increased my pace as I rushed towards the alley's exit when suddenly I collided with V, who was coming from the other side.

Before I could have the chance to recover, the killer now diverted his attention to Veronica and surged at her with the knife. Veronica defended against him, using her hands as she tried to push him away with her body's force. I got up quick and helped her throw the guy to the side, knocking him unconscious as his head hit the pavement.

"Zoya, are you okay? Are you hurt? Is everything okay?" She asked at one go.

"Yeah, I'm-i'm fine. How did you know we were in the alleyway?" I asked her, huffing.

"I saw you walk off inside and followed after you but...then midway, got lost. I started running back to the main road when I bumped into you." She explained and asked, "Where did you find him?"

"It's a long story, I'll explain later." I said in a go. "But first we need to get this guy to the sta-"

As I looked back at the pavement, where the killer laid unconscious seconds ago, now stood empty, with no sign of the killer anywhere. I ran in the opposite direction, trying to find the guy, but in vain.

"Fuck! Fuck! I had him!" I yelled angrily.

"I'm sorry, Zoya. It's because of me. I should've waited for later to ask you questions...." V apologised, joining me.

"No, V. Don't beat yourself up for this." I responded. "It's not your fault. Infact, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been standing here right now."

"Don't say that, Zoya." She retorted immediately.

I smiled weakly at her before she continued, "Come on, let's go find the others. We'll inform Officer Ravi about what happened later."

I nodded before we started walking towards the road. As we reached the end of the alleyway and the parade came into view, suddenly, the killer's words echoed in my head.

'A lie for a lie,
An eye for an eye.
The bell tolls
For Saina.'

Saina.

Fuck.

"V, where's Saina?" I asked hurriedly.

"She's by the coroner's shop, why?" V asked, a worried expression etching on her face.

"The killer....he...um....said something about Saina..... I'll explain later...but we need to find her first!" I said and without waiting for a reply, started running towards the shop, with Veronica at my heels.

As we reached the place, there was no sign of Saina anywhere.

A second later, a police siren echoed through the place as officers cladded in civilian uniform started evacuating the place. V and I exchanged a fearful glance before my gaze fell upon the caution tapes being strung around one of the other back alleys on this side of the road.

Together, V and I made our way towards the alleyway where officers were hurrying to get people out of the way. As I moved my head to get a better look at whatever was inside, a silent scream left my lips. V huddled closer to me as the sight of the monstrosity came into view.

Back, near the end of the alleyway, laid Gautam's head......

...... decapitated from the rest of his body.

______________

i watch horror movies and true crime to fall asleep.

i am not to be blamed.

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love,
Bosedisha