Someone You loved

|01| FINAL - CLUE

E L I Z A

"Alright, I am coming," I said while cutting the call and putting the phone on the table. I was completing my presentation when I got the call. It was Amber, my closest friend, and somehow, my private investigator.

I informed my PA through the intercom, that I was leaving. Putting my things in the bag, I wore my blazer and walked out of the office. The sun rays greeted my skin as I stepped out of the building. Putting my shades on, I trudged towards my BMW.

It has been five years since my sister was missing, more like, vanished into the thin air. I just remembered that she went to a party with her friends and never came back. I used all my connections in these previous years but all in vain. I got many clues about her presumed locations but no one happened to be her.

Then I asked Amber to help me after which, we got more clues but still, we were not making any progress until today. She had assured me that it was our final clue, this time we will make it out to her. I just wished for the best as I changed the gear and put the car to accelerate faster.

In these previous years, if not because of Ryan and Amber then, I must have lost all my hopes of finding her. These two people were my motivation especially Ryan, he was the love of my life, my fiancè. Someone whom I could trust with blind eyes.

I stopped the car in front of a huge building, sliding the window mirror down, I stared at it. It looked like an old, not-used-for-several-years type but still was under construction. I took my shades off when I saw Amber coming from inside it, waving at me. I got out of the car and nodded.

"So?" I started, eyeing the building distrustfully. "Are you sure this time?" I looked at her face. 

"One hundred and ten percent." She replied with her calm features, her face held confidence as always. She had blonde hair and green eyes unlike me. I had dark brown eyes and black hair.

"Let's see," I said, silently praying to God that we would succeed this time.

"Come on." She said, leading the way inside. I followed her silently.

As I expected, it was in a construction headway building. The smell of cement, water, and that specific sticky odor that usually came from this type of area were everywhere. Our heels were making the sound of chick-splash on the floor because everywhere it was water and cement and some other materials used in construction.

Taking a left turn, there were stairs leading the way up. As we started walking up the stairs, I couldn't help but speak up.

"Are you sure this time?" I again asked. The insecurity of again tasting failure was doing something in my heart. I couldn't afford failure this time. It was enough. I was tired.

She stopped and looked at me. "Eliza, trust me." She assured me with a small smile. I nodded but internally I was shaking with fear of not being able to find her again. I took a sharp breath and climbed the remaining stairs.

Reaching the top, my eyes widened looking at the view in front of me, it was entirely unexpected. This floor looked like a part of some fancy restaurant, decorated with dim lights, round tables occupying most of the space, and chatters and gossips which were breaking the silence. The remaining space for sound was being filled by the slow orchestra. Waiters were serving drinks and food.

We moved towards the corner table and sat there. Corner table was always a perfect spot, you could see everyone and everything from here without getting noticed. In these five years, I had learned many techniques like these.

"These batch girls are either kidnapped or smuggled. They have been trained hard for five years to become ready, to serve perfectly. So, here are some mild chances of finding her." Amber explained, scanning every person in this hall.

"Hmm." I just hummed when I saw a waiter coming in our direction. He smiled warmly, served us wine, and left.

"You mean Anna might have been kidnapped?" I asked, sipping the wine. My throat burned on its sharp taste but I needed something to calm myself.

"Maybe..." Amber shrugged still not sure. "But the point is, that we might find her here and it's our last haunt too." She added, beaming with hope.

I didn't respond, as much as I wanted to find her soon, a part of me still didn't want to find her here, in a place like this. Different scenarios appeared in my mind, about these people treating my sister in all worse ways possible. I shut my eyes to avoid those images and gulped the wine in one go. My throat practically burned but I cared less right now.

"Good Evening sexy ladies and hot gentlemen!" I cringed at the voice, especially on the choice of words. I shot my eyes open to look at the person.

He was a man with a muscular build and sharp features, someone girls and boys might envy upon. He had worn a black tux while his hairs were styled back neatly. I looked at Amber and she nodded.

"Soo...ow! This year we have a perfect trained batch. I personally trained these girls for five years. They are perfect in all ways." He winked at the last part.

"And since we have the best girls, we are accepting a positive and best response in money too. I'll tell you about the money later but first, let's see the heaven sight masterpieces." He announced loudly and the dim lights totally blacked out.

My heart started to beat madly and I could feel the somersaults of my stomach. A spotlight lightened at the far corner of the hall and one by one, girls started to appear, in short, tight, and weirdly inappropriate dresses. I felt that my heart skipped several beats and my breath stopped.

"Shit!" Amber muttered under her breath.

Well, shit indeed.

_______________________________________