Secrets And Lies [Completed]

70. down in flames

Song of the chapter is
The End Of The World by Billie Eilish

-70-
-Himanshu Arora-
-Present-

_____________

St. Maud Theatre
22 December, 2030
5:01am

"That..is... not...Alishka."

The words slipped from her lips, laced in a clandestine terror that her eyes reflected as well. I held her closer to my heart, grazing my fingers across the unruly strand of hair that had coveted her face and tucked in behind her ear. 

"What do you mean, Veronica?" Asked Kartik as he hunched down to our level.

Ronnie coughed slightly as she struggled to sit up with my support and looked at him before answering. "The one behind all this...it's not Alishka."

"What do you mean, Ronnie? We all saw her...she spoke to us in her voice!" I argued.

"But it isn't her!" She retorted, her voice still feeble and weak. "It's someone pretending to be her."

"What?"

She nodded. "When Officer Ravi and I went back to the basement to look for any exit doors or windows,...I heard a suspicious sound...so I went to check it out. Moments later, I was hit on the head from behind. Before I became unconscious....I happened to catch Officer Ravi's voice as he talked to someone on the phone...telling them that they could begin...something."

From my peripheral vision, I watched Zoya's head hang low.

"When I regained consciousness...I realised I was trapped in this coffin. At first, I started panicking...because I knew that none of you knew about my whereabouts and were probably not worried considering you knew that I was with Officer Ravi."

"What happened after that, Ronnie?" I asked rubbing her back.

She looked at me and gulped visibly before looking at the others. "I was trying...to think of ways to get myself out and warn you guys about Ravi...but then I heard certain voices. I recognised one of them as Officer Ravi's. But the other....even though it sounded a lot like Alishka's....it wasn't exactly hers. The way they laughed...it was very different.

In order to be sure that...I was on the verge of...Officer Ravi opened the lid for the other person to check. I pretended to be asleep...so they wouldn't suspect me. And that's when I saw...the person...the woman beside him...didn't look anything like Alishka."