'First' - Everglow
Unedited
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Zayn checked the side mirror of his bike. He was not just being paranoid, there was someone following him. Fucks sake. He was going to meet his friends after ages - he had practically been ghosting them and at sixth form, they had to focus on their work. But he couldn't even do that peacefully.
Well he was not going to pull over as he was alone. He could deal with this with his friends and he was almost there, so with a little more speeding he should be good. Just had to be a little careful, because he had a whole collection of speeding tickets. Okay that was an exaggeration, but he could end up paying more than a hundred quid.
Zayn parked his dirt bike right on the corner of the side road. It was risky, but he knew if he went further down the road, he would get cornered by his stalkers. Instead he hurriedly made his way to the burger place - Amigos - without making it ok obvious that he was hurrying. He did not want to make them suspicious.
Luckily he made it into the shop. The amazing aroma of spices wafted into his nose, he almost closed his eyes and took a big sniff as it it was his crack. He looked around to see that it thankfully was not that busy. Spotting hai friends in the corner, he made his way over, making sure to choose a seat where he could still see outside.
"Assalamualaikum," Zayn announced his arrival.
"Walaikumasalam. Look who decided to join us after airing us for ages!" exclaimed Anwar.
"He truly came a dad - too bus for everything," commented Sajid, causing Zayn to roll his eyes.
"I bet he watches Geo news now," chipped in Ahmad.
Ahh. Here we go. They all would have something to say.
"Bro, your son is a duplicate of you," gushed Kairees. He always had a liking towards babies.
"I was too shocked when I heard you had two more on the way," said Reign.
"Vinnie's serving life in prison by the way," informed Key.
"What did condoms ever do to you my guy," that was Mabdi.
"Rafael is coming back to London," announced Marcelo.
"Obviously imma be the fave uncle cuz I'm a twin too," spoke Majid.
"My mums been nagging me to get married like you," grumbled Shahzad.
"Man came back from the dead," exclaimed Sami.
Zayn felt overwhelmed. But in a good way. He didn't know how he caught what everybody said even though they all rushed it out at once.
"Okay! Relax, I'll answer all your questions, but first, imma go order, alright,"
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They were all leaving now. They had all eaten, had the milkshakes after too, spent ages talking as well. When they exited, all of them turned right, heading for the bus top. Only Shahzad went left with him, as he was getting an Uber, which gave Zayn some relief.
"Where did you get that watch from?" Shahzad suddenly asked.
Weird.
"I received it as a gift?" Zayn answered, confused as to why he was asking with so much suspicion.
"From who?" Shahzad demanded further.
"I don't know, I guess it's an anonymous gift. Why do you ask?" Zayn prompted.
Shahzad shook his head, muttering under his breath. It was u til he raised his head to see Zayn waiting for his answer that he replied.
"Zayn. You forgot one of the rules. Never accept anything if you do not know where it came from. If one of your family or friends have gifted that to you, they would have surely brought it up by now." Shahzad stressed, looking at Zayn warily.
"Well it's just a watch. It's harmless. Why did you suddenly ask?" Zayn questioned further.
"It's just that - when we was digging up info on that place near Alperton Station, I found a USB on the floor. Don't think they realised that they dropped it. Anyways, I went home and checked what was on it, obviously. Most of it was someone's personal stuff - like this guy was in uni, so he had his essays and pictures and whatnot. I found one locked file. Easily found the password. It was about these blue watches, the exact one you are wearing. About dropping them off to certain 'subjects' that were numbered with an address next to them. Your address was there. But I didn't see no watch on you, so I forgot about it. And figured what could a watch do to harm you. Thing is, it wasn't there to harm you, but to track you. Vinnie's boss person knew we would go there. Knew everything beforehand. So I assume it's him. He probably wants to keep an eye on you," he explained.
Zayn digested his words. They had stoppped outside the shop next to Amigos.
"Well if it's not harming me, I don't gotta do much about it. He can track me if he wants - he ain't gonna find anything of interest. I don't really care. Getting rid of the watch or suddenly not wearing it might cause problems. And that's the last thing I need,"
"You're probably right. When I tried to find out further, there was nothing - oh shit, my Uber's here. See you tomorrow!" Shahzad jogged down the road.
Zayn sighed. Shahzad always ran off mid convo - it was a miracle to have gotten hold of him for that long even.
But Zayn was right. What more could her do about a measly watch. He legit only went school, work, errands, took Syra out, wen out with his friends. Nothing major or top secret. So he didn't care.
As he was walking down to the corner, he remembered his stalkers. No sign of them now. Even as Zayn leisurely got on his bike and turned it on, no one came.
They were probably from that guy who sent the watch. Just checking on him. He laughed to himself. Big man was in for a disappointment as Zayn had long disassociated himself with all of that.
Anyways.
He drove to McDonald's to get some food for Syra on the way back.
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Zayn considered separate the pieces of the watch and take the tracker. Or just taking it and smashing it to the floor. Because now that Shahzad had told him where it came from, it bothered him greatly. He would not just sit back and let something happen. He sat there, lost in thought until an idea occurred to him he would drop it off at that abandoned place near Alperton Station where he had woken up. Exactly where he had found that card.
What had been written on it again? He had kept it with him incase it came in handy later on. Now he was glad that he had.
Zayn rolled off the bed, pulling on his shirt as he exited the attic room and down the stairs, heading across the landing to his old room.
Lucky Zayan. Got a whole room to himself. Zayn had not bothered moving his stuff from here as he would do that when he moved out all together. It would just be a hassle to haul his stuff up to the attic.
Zayn headed to his messy bedside drawers. Not for the first time, he regretted not organising them. He dug about, looking for that card until he found it.
It was an a5 card, which said DEYS on one side of it in plain bold black letters. On the other side was written:
North - complete
South - complete
East - complete
West - complete
Northwest - complete
Northeast - complete
Southwest - complete
Southeast - complete
Central - awaiting
It had confused him a lot earlier but now it made sense. This new person was very powerful, taking over all illegal activities in London. He knew what Rafael meant. He had realised this earlier on, but was now reminded of it because of his watch. This was the same person who sent it to him. He was sure. No one else would have a reason to. This dude was probably trying to sus out if Zayn really had gone or if he was still a threat. Not a threat, but more like a hindrance, a thorn in the side. This guy left no stone unturned, so even the most irrelevant were suspected.
There could be different ways this person could interpret Zayn's gesture. He only hoped it would be in his favour. Surely hw would be smart enough to know by now that Zayn truly no longer had any involvement. But that did not mean he appreciated being spied and tracked around.
He's decided. He would go right now and place the watch. But he would do it alone.
The only person he could possibly take with him was Shahzad as no one else was there on that day. He was also the one that told him about this.
However, something was amiss. Something did not sit right with him. Of course, he trusted his cousin whole heartedly, but he felt like Shahzad was linked to this in another way. He probably had some previous involvement like Zayn. It explained why he was always willing to help Zayn in this, why he was on top of all the info.
Zayn cursed at himself for not piecing it together sooner. He should not have asked for Shahzad's help. That could put him and his family in danger. And the guys who stalked him at Amigos most likely saw him too.
Syra was downstairs as Layla, Jannah and Isla were over to spend time with her and Imran. She had been feeling a little sick lately so she avoided going out.
He wouldn't interrupt her. She would worry unnecessarily which wasn't good for her health. He would come back and explain the full story to her.
Zayn went downstairs and shoved his feet in his trainers, opening the door as quietly as possible before jogging over to his bike. It would take too long to go by bus.
He put the key in but didn't turn it on as it was rather loud. He pushed it forward with his feet until he reached the side street, then turned it on and set off to Alperton station.
He hoped he was going the right thing.
The icy wind whipped at him; for once he was glad that he was wearing his helmet. Normally he would curse whenever wearing the contraption, hating that it was mandatory by law.
He arrived in no time, leaving his bike in the station car park. Making his way over to the abandoned building brought back memories of Marionette. He wondered if all the girls were okay.
Walking around the building, he entered through the back, going straight for the metal room.
Just like before, he absolutely hated it. Made him feel too big for the room, like it was going to close in on him. Which one was the cabinet where he found the card? He scanned them before settling on the one he tracked from memory. Then he brought out the wat h from his pocket and placed it there, making sure it was diagonal just like the card was.
Boom. He was done. Felt like a heavy load was lifted from his shoulders.
Time to go home.
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All imma say is that this mysterious guy will definitely have a more bigger role to play in the second book. It is merely being introduced in the first book.
So I added his friends to the intro thinking they would make more appearances but apparently not. Bruh I have no idea what guys talk about with their friends. So I don't include those scenes. And I added Syra's friend cuz I was bored even though I knew they would barely come in the story and her chapter only comes every five chapter. Oh well. And yes, i am definitely going to need to overstep my deadline by a day. Could be more, but I hope not. Trying my best. I can't post my chapters straight away cuz I need to check over to see if the next one correlates to it. Can't have plot holes. Or repetition that is. Anyways Thankyou for reading. I am sorry for the delays I am actually really trying my best. Do not wanna rush too much cuz it will ruin it u knw.
2070 words.