Shattered Relations | Aru Shah AU |

XIX

a/n: swearing in this chapter. 

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ARU
Leslie's apartment was a block away from theirs, and it took a three minute sprint to leave them all panting in the doorway.

A guy who Aru presumed to be Nate, buzzed them in. He did look a lot like Leslie, Aru thought. 

At the thought of Leslie, guilt began to churn in her stomach. Sure, they didn't really like each other, but Aru couldn't bear the thought of someone dying, and it being her fault.

The apartment was compact, with yellow walls, and a few pictures on the mantle-place. 

Leslie's apartment looked relatively normal, with nothing out of place. 

"Did you call the police?" Brynne asked, raking a hand through her hair. 

"They—they told me not to," Nate said, his face pale and drawn in worry. 

"What exactly happened?" Aru asked, clenching her fists. 

"Leslie was supposed to come back at around 7, but when she didn't come, I tried to call her. The call was declined, and, after a few hours, I went to her friends' houses, and tried to ask them if they'd seen her. They hadn't, and when I came back, this was on the table." 

He gingerly picked up a shoebox that had been sitting on the table, and removed the lid. 

Inside, glassy-eyed, lay another pigeon, a note tied to its clawed foot. 

"Her phone was next to it, the screen was cracked, and there was blood on it," he said. 

"What did she try to text me?" Aru inquired, twisting her fingers together. 

He tilted the glass screen towards her, the letters were distorted with the cracks, but she frowned at them: 'Stop following me.'

"What the heck?" Aru muttered, and tried to scroll up, but the phone was frozen. 

"Following her?" Mini asked, incredulously. "Aru was with us, yesterday!"

Nate lifted a shoulder, and shrugged. "I... honestly, have no idea what the hell this is supposed to mean. I wanted to ask you if you knew anything."

Aru peeked into Leslie's room, frowning. Nothing. 

Mini appeared by her shoulder, and mirrored her frown. "But why would they take Leslie?" A strange light entered her eyes, as she mumbled out a curse word.

Aru turned around, frowning. "What?" 

Mini began tugging on her bangs, before saying, "She gave us that email address, remember? That was, like, barely a few days ago." 

Aru caught onto her drift and cursed, too. 

"Even if they presumed Nate would call the police, they'd probably search her phone—"

"And see the text message she sent you," Mini finished, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose.

"This is a set-up," Aru summarized. 

"Do you really think Nate will go to the police?" Mini asked, anxiously. 

"We aren't exactly acting innocent, but, I'm not sure," Aru said, as her gaze shifted around the apartment. 

"Where's Brynne?" she asked sharply, panic rising in her. 

Brynne's gone, Leslie's taken, Kara's AWOL. What the heck is happening?

"She went to get Aiden and Rudy, I think." Mini muttered, as Aru saw her stare at the room, as if she was trying to extract information through pure willpower. 

Mini shifted on her feet, and Aru stared at the room. There had to be something they were missing, something that didn't quite add up. . . 

"Do you guys want water?" Nate's voice made them jump. 

She swallowed dryly, before nodding. Mini mirrored her action. 

Aru accepted the glass, and gulped down the water; a strange, bitter taste spreading on her tongue. 

Her vision was bleeding at the edges, spots of black dancing before her eyes. 

"Mini?" she mumbled, swaying. 

"Yeah?" Mini's eyes were fluttering, as she dug out her phone. "Aru, I don't feel good."

"Same," she said, clutching the doorframe. Mini was just about to put her phone to her ear, when a sharp voice broke through the foggy thoughts swirling in Aru's mind. 

"I don't think you want to do that," Aru heard a sharp click, and, her stomach turned in horror, as, through bleary eyes, she saw Nate Grant point a revolver at them. 

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BRYNNE
She steepled her fingers, before yelling out once more, "Today, guys!"

Aiden sallied out, clutching Shadowfax and twisting its lens cap on-and-off, worry etched on his face. 

"Why would they take Leslie, though?" Aiden mused, echoing the question out loud that had been playing on her mind. 

Rudy stomped out, before saying, "I... honestly, don't know." He then glanced behind Brynne, and frowned, "Where are Aru and Mini?"

"They're at Leslie's place, with her brother." Brynne explained. "I wanted to get the both of you, so that you could stay in the loop."

Rudy bit at his nails, frowning in thought, fidgeting with the headphones around his neck. 

"What's wrong?" Brynne asked, as Rudy's phone began to ping, the shrill noise of an alarm cutting through the silence. 

His eyes widened in horror as he stared at the phone screen, as he hissed out, "Shit."

"What's wrong?" Brynne and Aiden asked, in unison. 

Rudy paused in the action of pulling on sneakers, and turned the phone screen towards their faces, where a GPS tracker flashed. 

"That's an alert," he said, clenching his fists. "Mini and Aru are in danger. We gotta go. Now."

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a/n: my exams start in a week, and since these are terminals, they're stretched over the course of two weeks, i.e., i won't be online anytime before 7th october, when they end. sorry :( . have a great day/night, wherever you are!