Song of the chapter is
Only In My Dreams by The Marías

-65-
-Saina Bahl-
-Present-

____________

St. Maud Theatre
22 December, 2030
1:45 pm

As we got to the shrine area, my gaze stopped on one of the glass cases in the very middle.

Alishka's shrine had been emptied and now was replaced with a closed safe box.

I breathed heavily as I walked towards it, my heart hammering against my chest. It all felt utterly nostalgic.

As I reached out to touch the case, a voice echoed behind me, "Don't touch it."

I turned around and found Officer Ravi and the others behind me. I had lost account of them when I had run upstairs from the basement.

"We don't know what it is yet, it could be something lethal." He advised and I nodded, stepping away from the case.

"What do you think is going on?" Zayn asked Officer Ravi. He looked at me dubiously before answering.

" I have no clue myself." He responded. "Let's wait for the others. They'll be able to fill us in."

"I don't fucking trust them." Zayn retorted.

"And do you think we trust you?" I questioned, baffled at his audacity. "We still don't know if you're involved in all this."

"For the last time, yes, I made a mistake. But I am not a killer, alright?!" He yelled.

"Yelling at me isn't gonna change anything." I said sternly.

"Stop it, will you?!" Dhrashti yelled out in annoyance. "If you're done pointing fingers at each others, can we please just focus on what the fuck is going on here?"

"You're the one to talk?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "Like you weren't the first person to raise your finger at Veronica."

"Because your friend is weird, alright?" She argued. "She has a fucked up past and she was in a fucking nut house for god's sake! She seems like the best option for a person who would turn crazy and kill people!"

"Shut up, you don't know her!" I retorted. "You're just pissed that Himanshu didn't fucking chose you. Well guess what, Dhrashti? It is what it is, alright?"

She looked away, glaring and huffing.

I sighed. "Look, I know....that it feels like shit to not....be chosen by someone you love. Trust me, I know that feeling...better than anyone."

She cocked her head at me, still glaring.

"But it is what it is. Sometimes we're not the right choice for someone, even though they are for us." I said. "Hating on the other person isn't gonna change shit."

Her eyes softened as she looked down instinctively.

"And if you knew Veronica like us...even you wouldn't be able to hate her." I said, giving her a tight lipped smile. "She's a good person.... who's been through hell and yet...still manages to be kind."

"Kind?" Zayn widened his eyes at me. "You're talking like she didn't aim a gun at me two seconds ago!"

"She is kind to people who deserve it." I threw at him. "So maybe recount your actions a little."

He rolled his eyes and looked away.

Seconds later, my friends arrived at the place. I watched as Siya helped Kartik walk who seemed to have been injured in the arm.

"Oh my god, Kartik, what happened?" I panicked, running towards them.

"Nothing. It's just the arm. I'm fine." He responded, reassuring me with his eyes.

I nodded and went over to Himanshu. "Do you know what the next game is?"

He nodded negatively. "We got the same announcement as you guys."

"What is this place?" Dhrashti asked as she looked around.

"It's a shrine of all the past victims and killers from the 2019 murders as well the recent ones." Himanshu explained.

"The killer built a shrine?" She swallowed visibly. "God, this person is fucking crazy!"

"Tell me about it." I muttered lowly.

"Alishka's shrine has been emptied." Officer Ravi stated, pointing at the glass case in the center. "And has been replaced by this mystery safe box."

Veronica took a hard look at it and said, "Has anyone tried opening it?"

"I tried but Officer Ravi told me not to since we don't know what could be in it." I replied.

"Good. God knows what that crazy bitch has planned behind this small box." Zoya cursed.

"Wait, bitch?" Officer Ravi asked. "So you know who the killer is?"

She exchanged a glance with the rest of us before responding, "Yeah."

"So that means you lied to me?" Zayn questioned.

"Shut up, we don't owe you an explanation." Kartik immediately shut him down.

"So who is it?" Officer Ravi asked, leaning towards Zoya.

Zoya licked her lips before responding. "It's Alishka."

A long uncomfortable silence prevailed.

"Wait, what?" Officer Ravi took two steps back in shock. "Alishka? You mean Alishka Malhotra?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath.

"But how's that even possible?" He questioned, his eyes widening.

"Wait, isn't she supposed to be dead?" Dhrashti enquired. "I mean that's what I read in your book, Himanshu."

Himanshu nodded. "Yep. That's what's supposed to happen."

"What?"

"She's supposed to be dead. But somehow she isn't."

"You're not making any sense." Dhrashti shook her head.

"None of this does." Veronica said. "But that's not the main concern. Right now, we need to pass these levels so that we can get to the bottom of this entire thing."

"Wait, levels?" Zayn asked.

"Did you not hear the announcement?" Siya deadpanned.

"No, I heard." Zayn retorted. "But if you guys already know who the killer is, why don't we just try to take her down?"

"If only every thing was as easy." Zoya muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"We don't know where she's operating from, Zayn." Veronica explained. "And even if we do, I think there's more than one person who's helping her with all of this."

"So you think.... there's more killers?" Zayn's eyes widened. "Jesus-"

"Yeah, and we don't know who it is, so if we could just focus on that, it'd be great." Himanshu intervened.

A second later, Dhrashti began, "Do you think....that it could be one of us?"

"What?"

"That one of us could be playing the double agent." Dhrashti enunciated, her gaze hovering over all of us.

"Well then, it's probably one of you guys." Zoya pointed out. "We six have been together since the beginning."

"But have you?" Dhrashti questioned. "You guys weren't in touch for the past eleven years. How do you know one or more of you hasn't succumbed under all that trauma and gone cray-cray?"

Even in a situation like this, she was trying to shorten syllables.

"Okay, first of all, Dhrashti you need to calm down." Himanshu said, sighing heavily. "None of us would dare hurt anyone. I can guarantee that, alright? Stop pointing fingers at me or my friends."

"I'm just saying-"

"Maybe you shouldn't."

Dhrashti subdued under his stern gaze. Everyone in that room knew that Himanshu wasn't someone to mess with when he was angry.

Surely, he could be the brightest angel in the sky and yet, be scarier than the devil when it came to his rage.

"Well what now?" I asked.

"Officer Ravi, does your force know about your whereabouts?" Veronica asked.

"I was drugged while on patrol and brought here without my phone. I'm sure my colleagues must've noticed my absence by now so they must be searching-"

"But they're not." Zoya said, looking down. We all glanced at her immediately.

"What are you saying, Zoya?" I asked.

She licked her lips as she looked up at Officer Ravi and then at the rest of us. "I got a text from Ravi just before arriving at this place , saying that he'd be around the block, with his force just in case we need backup."

"Okay...and?" Kartik asked.

"Ravi, you said you were drugged at the time of patrolling which was around-"

"Dusk." Officer Ravi completed.

"So he couldn't have sent that message." Zoya said. "Which means that Alishka sent that message to make... me believe that we had the police force nearby in case something went wrong."

"So you're saying...."

"And it is also quite possible that my force has been sent the same message about me. That I'm out, helping you guys while all this time, I've been taken hostage." Officer Ravi completed.

I dreaded the realisation that set in next.

"So that means..."

"There's no police force waiting outside." I drawled. "We're on our own."

_____________

As the weight of the woeful realisation dawned on all of us, the silence amongst us grew even louder.

"Well, we need to figure out how to get out of here then! As soon as possible!" Dhrashti squealed.

"But how?" Zayn asked.

"Isn't there an entrance gate to this place? We can go out the same way you guys came in." Dhrashti suggested.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's been locked by now." I shrugged.

"How can you be sure?" She enquired.

"In case you haven't noticed, this isn't our first rodeo, Dhrashti." I lamented.

"But if not the main entrance, there must be some other gate! Like a backdoor or an exit or something. It's a theatre for god's sake." Zayn cursed, looking around.

"Although I would naturally suggest staying back to see this shit go down, I think atleast some of us should get out and get help." Zoya suggested, looking at the rest of us.

"I think I saw a small window in the basement area earlier. But the other killer might still be there for all we know." I informed.

"Okay, let's do one thing." Himanshu began. "Officer Ravi and Siya can go look for any back exits, while Zoya and I'll check the basement. The others can wait here, because it might be too suspicious if all of us leave."

"No," Veronica intervened and we all looked at her. "I mean... I'll go with Officer Ravi. Siya can wait here with Kartik and the rest."

They shared a knowing glance before Veronica added, "Be safe."

We nodded as they both took off towards the backstage door. Zoya looked back at Himanshu.

"What is this cross pairing?"

"Because I know you wouldn't have been able to get any work done if you went with him." Himanshu gave his reason.

"Touche."

I chuckled softly. Even in moments like this, Zoya was always somehow able to crack a person up.

"Grab your armour." Kartik suggested. "You're gonna need a whole lot more than pepper spray to deal with the killer if he's still downstairs."

"Yeah, yeah." Zoya rolled her eyes at him as I handed her a knife.

"Be safe." I said and she nodded.

But before they could proceed, the speaker turned on again.

'What's the rush to get out, sinners? The game's only just begun.'

"Shit." I cursed under my breath.

"Do you really want us to answer that?" Zoya asked out loud.

'Ouch.' The mechanical voice chirped. 'Rude.'

"Look, whatever it is that you have planned, just get over with it. I'm sick and tired of these little games!" Siya yelled.

'Calm down, princess. What's the matter? It's only just a cut in the arm.'

"Fuck off." Kartik cursed.

'I will. But before that, let me show you something.'

As she completed her sentence, the safe inside Alishka's shrine opened on its own and a gun revealed itself.

I gasped.

'Oh stop being so dramatic, S! It's so annoying.'

My lips quivered as I looked up at the speaker. "What are you planning?"

'Nothing much.' The voice responded. 'I just wanted to tell you what I've always told you.'

"What is that?"

'Don't trust anyone. Not even your shadow.'

My eyes glistened as I remembered those exact words that she had once told me at a seventh grade sleepover, just before taking Avinash from me.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Zoya asked.

'It means that there's a mole in your midst. Someone who's working with me and pretending to stand with you. If you can find out who it is and shoot them with the gun in the safe, then you guys can officially pass the second level. And you'll get all the answers you want.'

"What?!"

"Are you fucking crazy?"

"You're asking us to kill someone?" Siya asked, whimpering.

'Nothing you haven't done before.'

"Fuck off!" Kartik cursed louder.

The voice laughed. 'So sensitive, little brother. If only you were this nice to me when we were kids, then maybe our parents wouldn't have locked you up for half your childhood.'

Kartik's eyes glistened with guilt as he looked down instinctively. My heart broke for him.

'May the best man or woman win!' The voice cheered before it went back to static.

And in that moment, as I looked around at the doubtful faces of my friends and foes, I realised one strange thing.

It didn't matter if it was in life or in death...Alishka Malhotra always somehow managed to pull the strings and leave everyone around her in ruins.

And she made sure, that you would rue the day you ever met her.

______________

what are your guesses?
who do we think is the mole?
lemme know in the comments below!

and don't forget to vote and share the book as much as possible!

love,
Bosedisha