Les Femmes Fatales [2]

▪ Eighteen

Branka paced around her house, eyebrows furrowed and her lips set into a deep frown. She had been walking around for hours it seemed, still dressed in her suit from earlier. She had gotten word from Karina and Qara that they were home, Amadi had informed her as well, but it was nearing dawn now and Aili had yet to let her know she had returned safely. Branka was worried sick. There had been nothing on the news thus far and she didn't want to wake Amadi up to ask whether her roommate was at home. Deeply worried, she decided to do something else other than pace around the house.

In a few minutes, she had left her house and was walking as quickly as she could to the area Aili had been supposed to patrol last night. She had covered most of the distance with no sight of Aili when she came across an alley like every other, and she would have kept going, if it weren't for the smell of burnt flesh that reached her nostrils. With a small frown, she walked in the alley, eyes kept open as she looked around.

There was nobody there and there seemed to be no signs of struggle. Still, she looked around, searched thoroughly and in the end, her search was a success; beside a wall, she caught sight of blood. She crouched down beside it, lips pursed as she looked around. There was no indication if the blood was Aili's or not and to make matters a bit more difficult for her, there were no other signs of blood in the area. Slowly, she stood up once more. Quickly, she left the alley and kept looking around. There was no sign of Aili, as if she had just disappeared.

Branka returned home and changed into her regular clothes. She took a short shower and just as the sun started to rise, she got in her car and drove over to Stella's apartment. She was confident she would find her awake, after all, Chris went to college every morning and woke up at around this time. It was just her luck that as she parked in front of the house, she noticed Chris leaving the building.

"Chris!" she called out as she headed over to him. As he noticed her, his eyes widened.

"Branka, what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I need to speak with Stella," she explained urgently as she stopped in front of him. "Something happened with Aili and I need to talk to her, please tell me she's up."

"You're lucky she woke up early today."

"Thank God," she exclaimed, "Have a nice day, Chris, don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

Chris only frowned as she got in the building. "Alright." With a small shrug, he headed to his college.

Branka in the meantime almost ran up the stairs to the third floor, reached Stella's apartment and started knocking furiously at the door. A short while later, Stella appeared.

"What did you forget, Chris - Branka?"

"I can't find Aili," she said in a defeated tone as she got in the house and collapsed on the couch. "She went alone yesterday but never let us know if she returned home and I looked around the area she was supposed to patrol last night and I can't find her anywhere! I found a bit of blood in an alley but I can't tell if it was hers or not, Stella, something happened to her!"

"Calm down," she said softly, still sleepy as she closed the door and joined her on the couch. "Perhaps Aili is just at home and forgot to let you know."

"She never forgot before," she pointed out with a small sigh just as both of their phones buzzed with a message. Stella and Branka exchanged a look before Stella reached for her phone and opened it only to see a message from Amadi in the groupchat. She gulped. "Aili isn't at home."

"All of it is my fault," Branka wailed as she rested her back on the couch, hiding her face in her hands. "If I hadn't suggested we got separated-"

"She was the one to insist she went alone, Branka. It's not completely your fault."