Needle in a Haystack

She tried to calm down and took in long breaths. Shivam was right about one thing, anger won't help. Dhira knew that she cannot afford to lose her focus.

"Are you keeping an eye on that girl?" Dhira shifted her focus to the task at hand.

"No. I had a class and honestly, I don't understand your obsession with her. Its been a week already."

"Whatever, I'm coming back and I will do it myself. Meet me at the administration office. Let's print out her details. Maybe we will find something. But if it wasn't for her, I may have never known about the Krait." Dhira sighed and disconnected the call. She started the car and headed back to college. She couldn't help but feel grateful towards the new girl. But how did she know about it. When she had seen Visha staring at her backpack. She felt a chill in her spine. This girl was different, not many people are capable of intimidating her. She had felt like she heard a hissing sound when she looked at Visha. It cannot be denied, that new girl is full of mystery. Dhira sped straight back and parked her car. As she entered the college she saw everyone gathered at the main lobby. What is going on? She pushed through the crowd to the front and saw Visha squatted on the floor crying. She looked around as everyone was laughing at her. That's when she saw the picture on the notice board. It was a photoshopped image of the girl's face on a bikini model with 'I am lonely. Call me' and a phone number written on it. Dhira felt sorry for her, she had just joined in and already made enemies. But these people were the worst, kicking her when she was down. Even a child could see it was fake but they just needed something to gossip about.

"Get out of here, a**holes. Do you all have nothing to do?" she yelled at everyone pulling out the image as she tore it into pieces. No one cared for the new girl but Dhira was an entirely different matter. Everyone feared her so no one dared to stay. She pulled the girl up and handed her a water bottle. "Listen kid, if you will allow them to walk all over you then they will. Keep that in mind." Dhira turned and left. Poor kid. She thought.

***

Visha couldn't stop crying and wanted to rush back home. She couldn't stand the way everyone looked at her. Every man's eyes filled with lust, imagining her like in that vulgar picture. Every woman filled with either envy or disgust. Their gaze felt like arrows piercing her body. Each one hurt more than the one before, she kept her head down and continued to walk. Then Dhira's words started ringing in her head continuously, like a chant. 'If you will allow them to walk all over you then they will.' Visha gathered her courage and held her head back up. She wasn't at fault, why should she feel any guilt. She was the victim after all. She held her head high and walked straight to the class. As soon as she entered, everyone looked at her. Visha quietly went to her seat and sat down.

"Oh my God! She came to class. I thought she would be crying in some corner."

"She would be if she had any shame. But it looks like she is quite a sl*t."

"If it was me I would have returned back home. I felt like pitying her but now looking at her. She is so full of herself and look at her enjoying all the attention."

Visha could hear these whispers behind her but she chose to ignore and stay strong. She won't let other people walk all over her. Priya was sitting in the back and smiled as she heard those whispers. This result was satisfying, she could tell that everyone was ridiculing Visha. But her smile soon disappeared when she saw that Visha was still there, unaffected.

This b*tch, why is she acting so tough. Guess this was not a enough for her. Priya thought. There is no way she will let this b*tch who stole Vikram from her off so easy. She needs to pay. Priya stood up and sat beside Visha and patted her shoulder.

"Let them say whatever they want. They don't know you, I do." Priya said acting like a dear friend. Visha's eyes lit up as soon as she felt Priya's support and nodded at her with a smile. She was happy to see her friend was still with her and was concerned about her. She can fight anyone as long as she has her friends with her. Visha attended her classes and then went to the cafeteria with everyone. Wherever she went people would look at her and whisper behind her back. She ignored them all and sat down beside Priya. Vikram entered the cafeteria with his head down full of disappointment. He felt really bad that he wasn't with Visha to pull her out of this situation. He wanted to prove himself to her and this could have been his perfect chance. When he saw Visha, his face lit up as he rushed to take the empty seat beside her.

"I heard what happened. How are you?" Visha could see how concerned he was. She nodded to assure him and he let out a sigh of relief. Priya's face twitched as she looked at Visha in disdain. This wench needs to be stopped. And this time for real.

"I have an idea" Priya said. Both Visha and Vikram turned to her. "You should register for the annual Miss Fresher competion. That way you could gain back your popularity and if you win then people will instantly forget about this incident." It was a rather bizarre idea to stand in public when everyone expected her to hide in embarrassment. But it was also a fact that people tend to forget old news when there is a new one. So she nodded in agreement. Priya shrieked with excitement and everyone laughed.

***

"Hurry up, slowpoke." Dhira was growing impatient. She is too close now. Visha's details might be the only clue right now. Shivam couldn't help but sigh. It's not easy to hack into government database. Her constant nagging was not making it any easier. This was already the third time in the past minute. But this was typical Dhira.

Shivam continued to tap keys on his laptop. He had already entered the databse, now he just has to find Visha. After a few more clicks and key taps, her profile popped open. Dhira pushed Shivam aside and went through it. Her gaze like a hawk skimming through a field looking for its prey. She kept on shifting from one document to another and stopped at Visha's birth certificate. Dhira sat down as she went through this one in detail.

"It says home birth." Dhira declared.

"A lot of women opt for it. Nothing unusual." Shivam doubted her suspicions and believed they were too far fetched.

"Her father deceased and her mother's name is Payal Mehta. She is an accountant." Dhira paused for a second and thought for a while. "Find out about her." Shivam nodded obediantly at her orders and returned back to his laptop. Dhira knew this was irritating him. This felt like looking for a needle in a haystack. But ever since she was chosen to be the future leader of their coven, she has learnt to trust her instinct more than anything. Visha doesn't seem to be bad as a person but something about her was not normal. And Dhira won't stop till she finds out what it was.

***