Epilogue

backstory 7. happyland

"So, that only leaves us with two suspects now, right?" Zalia asked Vi.

When Sorin and her had arrived at Gold & Co., he told her that Vi was actually going to be the one interviewing her. She couldn't help but feel a little relieved, since if Sorin had been the one, she would probably have another breakdown right in the office building. At least with Vi, a level of formality was kept, but at the same time, she did feel a certain ease when with him.

"Correct. Sorin will inform you when the next assignment will be," Vi smiled warmly. "Other than that, we're done here. Thank you for your time, Zalia."

Standing up and waving to Vi, she was able to turn the handle of the door leading out of the office when he stopped her for one last question.

"Hey, Zalia," he called out, "did something happen between you and Sorin?"

Zalia looked at him in panic, wondering how the hell he already knew when he hadn't even seen Sorin and her interacting with each other.

"I'm a PI, Zalia," he answered casually, leaning back in his desk chair. "And Sorin's been waiting right outside my office the entire interview."

Zalia turned to the window looking out into the hallway, spotting a flash of wavy hair in the corner. She opened her mouth to make up some lie to Vi, but he beat her to it and raised a hand in dismissal.

"Don't worry. I support you two. As long as it doesn't interfere with catching the killer," Vi winked. "Now, go reunite with Loverboy over there. I'm sure he's been dying to see you again."

Zalia, unable to utter any redeeming excuses, merely gave him a tight smile before slipping out the exit. Sorin was right outside the door as Vi said, a childish smile spreading on his face as he spotted her.

"Hey, Zalia. Since you're done for the day, wanna go on a not-date?" Sorin suggested.

She chuckled, shaking her head. "I have to head back to work, Sorin."

"But it's your day off!" Sorin complained. "And you need some rest. You've been so stressed lately, it's starting to freak out your coworkers. And they've seen you dissecting a body at midnight on 4 cups of coffee, so the bar is set pretty high for that."

Zalia sighed. Was she actually contemplating on going with him? While it was true that she'd been quite a workaholic as of late, right now, when the Lady Killer had just struck for the fourth time, was not the time for fun and games.

But was one night going to hurt?

"What are you doing to me, Sorin Vulpe?" Zalia asked in amusement, a faint smile on the corner of her lip. "Fine. Let's go."

☄︎. *. ⋆
⋆·˚ ༘ * 🔭

"No, Sorin."

"Yes, Zalia."

Sorin dragged her towards the amusement park, the bright neon lights shining brightly in contrast to the fading pink of the sky. Zalia could only stare in horror as she was brought closer to what she saw was a place of dangerous structures and hormonal adolescents.

She could handle dead bodies, but teenagers were just another breed of terror.

"Welcome to Happyland!" A girl shouted cheerfully as she handed Sorin a balloon.