Chapter 21
Yesterday
Amarah's POV
"Where are you going?"
I said to Vin when I saw him at the stairs. He's up earlier than usual and looks like he's going somewhere.
"Just going for a walk." Vin
"A walk, huh?"
"Yes just a walk nothing's going to happen." Vin
"I hope you're right. I still can't believe what happened yesterday. How cruel can a person be? Using a human as a murder weapon and a facade to mask the murder."
"People can be much worse than a wild animal, with a false sense of justice, they can and will do anything to achieve that justice." Vin
He walked past me and went inside the bathroom.
Wait, don't we have classes today? I approached the bathroom door.
"I'll find who he is and where he lives." Vin
Who is he talking about? I was about to knock on the bathroom door when I saw someone at the gate. He left an envelope at the mailbox, then went away. Out of curiosity, I stepped outside and took the envelope from the mailbox. It was addressed to Vin, but no sender.
I heard Vin opened the bathroom door, I quickly hid it inside my pocket, then went back inside the house.
Minutes later Vin rushes through the door leaving me and the envelope behind. I'm dying to see what's inside the envelope, but I don't want Vin to get upset if he finds out that I read the letter inside. So I went back to my bedroom, and fetched a flashlight and shone it to the envelope to see what the inside looks like.
"An address?"
I'm unfamiliar with the particular address inside, but I think that's near the wharves. Why would anyone send Vin an address?
"Well he calls himself a detective so I won't bother with this letter anymore."
I went back to the kitchen and put the letter above the fridge, picked up a piece of bread from the table and went back to my bedroom.
"What to do?"
I let myself ponder on that question. I took a long hard look around my room. There were books that I'm too lazy to read, a line of stuffed toys beside my bed, and my phone near it. Then I remembered that today was-
Luna's POV
I walked, walked, walked, and walked, then I stopped. I looked up, then down, then to the left, then to the right. I continued walking. Walking, then I ran, walked, crawl, walked, ran, then stopped. I turned back and walked, ran, crawl, ran, walked, stumbled, stood up, slipped, stood up, and walked, walked, sat, stood up, and walked home.
Amarah's POV
Who cut my POV off? Who's Luna? What's her role in this story? Does she have anything to do with Vin? And what's with her POV? She's just literally walking all throughout. Is that an important part of this story, where it may seem unrelated now but will have a big effect later in the story? Is someone going to answer all my questions or will they be unanswered for the whole story? Hello?
Ugh, can't even get a crowd.
As I was saying today was Alex Mañago's birthday. My biggest crush of all. Can't wait to see him again. As far as I know, he's a coordinator at the summit camp this month. All I need is a glimpse of his face, that pearly white teeth when he smiles, the way he wrinkles his nose when laughing. I'm figuratively dying right now just imagining his face.
I went to his profile page on Facebook and posted "Happy Birthday" on his wall. Seconds later Alex liked my post. I can just die right now. Alex Mañago liked my post?! I took a second look on my post and saw someone typing a comment. I waited for them to finish. A single line "Thank you" and a smiley emoji from Alex Mañago
"OH MY GOSH!!!"
I need to call Thalia right now! I quickly dialed Thalia's number. It rang for a couple of seconds until Thalia picked up.
"Hey Amarah, what's up." Thalia
"You won't believe what just happened!"
"Alex liked and commented on your post, yeah I already saw it." Thalia
"Way to go, killing the vibe."
"Sorry, but that's why you called, right?" Thalia
"That and about Vin."
"What about him?" Thalia
"I'm scared for him… I think something big is coming to Vin's life."
"Like a giant murder case?" Thalia
"You know what, forget what I said about Vin. I know he can handle anything that comes his way."
We talked for hours and hours until I heard the front door open. I ended my call with Thalia and went downstairs. There in the living room I saw a sweat-drenched Vin.
"Just a walk huh?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Vin
"A letter arrived for you."
"For me?" Vin
"Yeah, it's above the fridge."
???? POV
This was supposed to be a surprise how? Abandoned warehouses, smog blocking the light from the sun, and I swear that I could smell something that recently died in here.
I received a message from Nana to go to this address and that there could be a surprise here. But all I can see is, disappointment? No that's not the term. Desolation. That's what it is. A desolate part of this area, not even a single boat near the wharf let alone a soul in sight. But I was wrong, it was not empty at all. I heard a car engine not far from where I'm standing. Carefully, I made my way to where the car was stopped and a kid coming out of the passenger seat.
Suddenly my head started to ache.
"I'm so not in the mood for this right now."
The kid looks where I'm hidden, then he goes inside the warehouse. I started following him, stopping short near the entrance of the warehouse. I followed the kid with my gaze. He seems to be searching for something, but after circling the whole warehouse he stopped in front of a thing covered in cloth.
He pulled the cloth away and it revealed a painting of " The Fall of Icarus". I think that went missing and hasn't been found by the authorities. I got my cellphone out of my pocket with the police number on the speed dial. But then I saw it, an embossed "C" at the center of the painting. The kid runs his fingers through it and then suddenly it rumbles, then reveals a panel. I started running towards the kid. I knew that crest with a "C" on it. I remember it like the back of my mind. This is too dangerous for this kid, even for me.
The panel started opening but before it could fully open I yanked the kid to the side.
"Wha-" Kid
"Shh… Don't make any noise."
At that time I clearly saw his face and I'm sure he saw mine too. The face I saw that day at the convenience store, the face I always saw in the mirror. The face I recognize like the crest from that painting. A face like the one I had when I was younger.
Vin's POV
We're both astonished by what we saw. We really looked the same, but his face was years older than mine. But it still shows the resemblance from when he was at my age.
We heard footsteps, one by one, they stepped out of the panel. So that was a door… They had guns, big guns, and the upper strength me and this guy beside me clearly lacks. They are looking for someone, and clearly they are looking for me. The person who opened the door to their liar.
"Who's there?" Grunt 1
"I know you're hiding. You can come out now, we're not going to hurt you, you know." Grunt 2
Then they both laughed. The guy with me poked his head out to see what the men were doing.
"Go to that next post when I say go, do you understand?"????
I just nodded, I think I've got what his plan was.
"Go." ????
I quickly moved to the next post and crouched there. I saw the guy typed something on his phone and put it in his pocket. After a minute he quickly moved towards me. Then all the way we went from post to post nearing the exit. At the last post towards the exit I heard a helicopter from a distance.
Wait, so this guy called for a helicopter. What the hell. How rich can you get, really. First his expensive car and now a helicopter.
The men looked confused now from the sound of the helicopter approaching the warehouse we're in. The guy with me took and hand and ran towards the exit.
A rope ladder dropped from the helicopter high enough for us to climb. Once we're inside the helicopter the men from the warehouse hailed us with bullets. The helicopter quickly moved away from the scene and once we're on the clear the guy looked at me and growled.
"What were you doing in there?!" ????
"I was just-"
"Wait let me try that again. What were you doing in there?" ????
He repeated his question in a calmer voice.
"Someone sent me a letter with an address inside."
I handed him the letter and he studied it for a while.
"This is from our intelligence unit. But why did they send this to you?" ????
"I thought someone needed my assistance in investigating something so I thought, I'd go check the place out and see what happens."
"Needed your assistance?" ????
"Yeah, I'm a high school detective. You ever heard the name Vin Santos."
"Nope." ????
Ouch.
"Well I'm that guy, I'm Vin Santos. Nice to meet you… sorry what was your name again?"
"Me?" ????
He laughed. Was I supposed to know his name? Do I know him? Then the laughter stopped, he looked at me in the eye and said.
"I'm Ranvier, Ranvier Salamat." Ranvier
To Be Continued…