Morozov

Chapter 7

I woke up way too late. It was already bright outside. With a heavy sigh, I got up, dressed and made my way to the kitchen. Work could be so draining, some days I didn't even have the time to eat. And now that I had the murderous wife of my boss sneaking me nasty looks all the time and giving me the shittiest work- Speaking of which, where was she?

Just in time, my phone rang. Speaking of the devil. I quickly grabbed it with an eye roll, throwing my head back in annoyance and was only partly surprised to see Niveen's name again. A crease formed in between my brows before I picked it up.

"Yeah?" "Jack thank god," she sighed in relief and I could sense a slight tremble in her voice. I decided not to talk about the day before. She was probably ashamed enough and I didn't need to add onto that.

"What's wrong?" I asked, already on my way to grab my jacket and car keys. "I think I just- Vera and me- Filip- we-" "Niveen, whole sentences. Now," I interrupted her terrified stammering. I don't know why but I had this overbearing urge to protect her and hearing her that terrified couldn't mean she was safe. Throw the name "Vera" into that and you can imagine how worried I was.
"I think we did something horrible."

She told me that Vera wanted to play truth or dare with her and Filip and that Filip had to prank call Mallory and ask her when the last time she went swimming was. They found it extremely weird and nonsense and started to worry about their sister so they called me and asked if I could drive by the old lake they used to swim in as kids.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who didn't trust the Ivanovs. And we were all so goddamn right with that.

I sped to the lake Niveen told me about and arrived just in time. As I got out of my car, I heard a dreadful scream course through the woods that caused the hair on my neck to stand and something in me snapped. I knew it was Mallory.

Counting 2 and 2 together, I also knew that the source of her fear was probably no one other than Nadia.

I ran through the forest, off the normal tracks until I arrived at a clear spot with said lake in the middle. Nadia was leaning over it and when I looked closer, I saw Mallory as well. Her head got pressed into the water, her body was wriggling in an attempt to free herself.

I don't know how I got there but the next thing I know is that I yanked Nadia off her by her collar and knocked her out with a well punctured punch onto her nose.

"I'm very sorry about last night. I don't know what-" "It's fine," I interrupted Niveen. "Let's just forget about it." A grateful smile formed on her face. We were sitting in my car in front of her house, very late at night....again. We did that more often since the first time she called me. I've grown to really like her. Not in a romantic way, though. I cared about her like I cared about Lucía - maybe even more, even if I'm ashamed to admit it.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked. I came over because I wanted to fill her in on what happened. When I was done, she was baffled. Sitting in front of me with her eyes wide open and her jaw on the floor, had she been standing on one, she looked shocked just as much as she looked confused. Her friend's mother had tried to kill her older sister and said 'friend' helped her.
I could only imagine the feeling of betrayal she felt.

Breaking the silence, her belly rumbled with hunger and emptiness. My eyes darted down to it and her hand found it immediately, forcing a knowing smile onto my face. "Are you hungry?" I asked, looking back up into her embarrassed expression. She opened her mouth to say 'no' but I forestalled, raising my finger and brows. "Don't even think about it," I warned. "When was the last time you ate?" "At-" "And I mean a full meal," I spoke slow and clear, making sure to make my severity known. "Last night," she muttered through a half-opened mouth, looking down.