THERE WAS A DISTANT RINGING SOMEWHERE. A sleepy Ilaria, tied up in a complicated knot of her and Kai's limbs was feintly aware it was her phone but was too tired to move.
She groaned and buried her face further in Kai's chest.
"are you going to get that?" Kai's voice was slightly deeper, it made Ilarias stomach erupt in a million little butterflies.
"can you just let me pretend it's not ringing" she said, curled into his side, she was so warm when he shifted the cold instantly hit her and she cracked her eyes open to glare at him as he grabbed her phone.
"it's your brother" Kai thrusted the phone at her with one hand while rubbing his eye with the other, still half asleep, his hair was a mess, it normally was but Ilaria decided his bed hair was 100% better than his usual messy hair.
"quit staring" Kai grinned at her "you better answer this" he said waving the phone at her.
She took the phone from him and laid down flat again, phone to her ear, eyes on the ceiling "Ilaria is-in-need-of-coffee Garcia speaking?"
On the other side of the phone Tate let out a frustrated breath "have you seen the time"
"isn't it like 7 in the morning" Ilaria yawned with a roll of her eyes.
"it's past 12,Ilaria" Tate replied, annoyed, Ilaria could practically see him pacing and pinching his nose "I had to cover up for you"
Ilaria, shocked that it was that late and realizing she was totally screwed with her mom let out the millionth groan for the moaning "thanks" she mumbled "what did you say to her?"
Kai let out a snicker next to her and she turned her head to glare at him.
"I told her you left early and I didn't know where" he answered "she went straight to bed after that but you know her, she knows somethings wrong. The amount of words she said in hindi that were very offensive actually hurt my ego"
Ilaria fisted her forehead rather dramatically and shut her eyes tight "you're such a lame liar"
"Atleast I attempted covering up for you, I could've just said you spent the night at a boys house. Would you have preferred that? "
"assuming is very bad" Ilaria quipped "what if it wasn't one boy?"
"please, you spend all your time with Harry Potter over there, it's easy to put two and two together"
Ilaria let out a laugh at Tates nickname for Kai and raised the blanket up to her chin "I'll call her and tell her I'm with Rose or something"
"so you're not planning on coming home soon?" Tate asked.
"obviously I'm coming home soon" Ilaria rolled her eyes "but first I'm going to have coffee, Harry Potter over here is going to shower, then I'll come home"
"and, unlike you, I'm not a lame liar. She won't question me if I tell her I'm with Rose."
"alright" Tate said "you owe me one"
"I have a never ending debt already" Ilaria gasped dramatically "there are people looking for me, Tate, don't be one of them"
"God, you stress me out" he muttered.
"that's what young siblings do" with that Ilaria cut the call and tossed her phone near the edge of the bed before turning on her side to face Kai who was already staring at her.
"now look who's staring" she teased and closed her eyes again, still exhausted.
When she opened them Kai's eyes were tracing her neck down to her collarbone and back up to her face.
Ilaria cleared her throat, suddenly extremely hot and awake,she pushed the blanket off her "I want coffee"
"go make" Kai mumbled.
"no but I like yours" she pouted "and my legs hurt" Ilaria said, finally acknowledging the burning in both her legs due to what had happened the day before.
She must've still been in shock because nothing hit her yet.
She slapped a hand over her mouth "that sounded so wrong"
"you need to be drowned in holy water" Kai laughed and stood up, he stretched out causing his top to lift and Ilaria averted her eyes, she had been caught once that morning already she didn't need to look obsessed.
"what do you mean? I'm completely innocent" she replied innocently while pushing herself up with much effort, she was scared to move her legs too much.
"liar" Kai observed her movements "I'll bring the coffee up, don't get up yet"
Ilaria sagged against the headboard, she nodded and smiled "thank you" she said "for everything"
"it's coffee, Ilaria" Kai teased "let's not go around declaring our love for each other just yet"
Yet
Yet
Yet
The word ehoed and bounced around her head, her heart stopped but she quickly dismissed it. He was joking, it was a joke.
Kai left shortly after making sure Ilaria was sitting comfortably enough. The silence that followed his absence was the loudest thing.
Suddenly, everything from the day before came crashing down on Ilaria, it enveloped her body and pressed at each angle until she felt she was being held captive.
She took a deep breath in, reminding herself that she's okay. That she was safe. That he's gone. That she's not in those woods anymore.
Her nails dug into her hand, strangely, she didn't cry, she just felt scared. So scared she was shaking all over.
It's okay, you're okay she repeated to herself over and over, her nails dug deeper until eventually she calmed down.
She rested her head back against the headboard and exhaled a breath that carried stories of how tired she was.
There were so many thoughts running marathons in her head, Ilaria could hardly keep up.
She was grateful when Kai appeared with her coffee, it meant the silence would leave and her thoughts would stop momentarily.
He walked over to her and gave her the cup. She scooted over so he could sit next to her, they sat drinking their coffee in comfortable silence.
Kai broke it with a question "Ilaria, are you okay? Stupid question, obviously you aren't but... What's going through your head right now?"
Ilaria lifted her shoulders "Im... scared" she answered truthfully, the words felt strange on her tongue. She would have never admitted that to anyone else.
"I'm scared that the police won't catch these guys, I'm scared Im failing everyone, I'm scared I'm always going to feel like I'm running through those woods." she exhaled shakily "I'm always scared, if I'm being honest"
She wasn't looking at Kai who had turned towards her, she kept her eyes infront of her. With a jolt, she realized how true those words were. She had been scared her whole life, she couldn't remember a time before her fear started following her wherever she went.
Her fear had become her bestfriend over time, something that trailed her, breathed down her neck - an ever present presence that had kept her company when no one else did.
That must have been why she was so... comfortable with it.
Kai was silent, seemingly out of words, so he only moved over to rest his head on her shoulder, his way of saying that she wasn't alone. That it would all be okay soon.
She hoped, with everything in her, that it was true.
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Kai had first showered and then dropped Ilaria home. He told her that he'd be back later on that day so they could stop by the police station.
Ilaria had called her mom, told her she was with Rose, then called Rose to inform her to play along since she knew her mother would end up calling Rose too.
With her legs throbbing she made her way through the house, her mom wasn't home, nor was Tate.
Her chest caved in at the realization that she was alone, she wasn't sure she'd ever be okay with being alone again.
She dragged her feet upstairs, tried not to jump at every little sound and collapsed on her bed. She pulled her legs up to her chest, ignoring the sting in them and let out a sob that racked her whole body.
For so long, she thought she could get through everything perfectly intact. She thought that if she just figured out who hurt her bestfriend, who snuffed her life out just like that... Things would be okay.
She was wrong. Trying only made things worse but she couldn't stop, who was she between the pain, the trauma, the case she was running after so desperately? Ilaria didn't know anymore.
And even though she knew that, she was almost addicted to it, to losing herself in finding a killer. It was the only thing that made her feel remotely okay... Which was quite strange considering it was the root of her misery too.
She had to stop. She knew it. Her and Kai were going to the police station with whatever evidence they'd got, it's not their problem anymore.
But what would she do after that, how would she just go on with life the same way again?
She wasn't sure how long she'd laid there crying, curled in on herself but eventually she got up to go shower. She stripped down and when she was done she finally looked down at her legs. The burns were ugly and red and they'd no doubt leave scars that would linger for the rest of her life.
A constant reminder of how weak she'd been, a constant reminder that she'd given up.
The shower made her burns sting more but she welcomed it and when she was done dressing she slipped into sweat pants and the hoodie Kai had borrowed her all that time ago.
She took the pain killers Kai had given her, bandaged her legs and laid back down. There was so much darkness, everywhere. Sometimes Ilaria didn't know whether there was any light at all and whether or not that light was worth searching for.
Ilaria had just begun dozing off when her phone rang, sleepily she answered it.
"you ready?" Kai's voice greeted her.
"yes"
"we dont have to do this today" Kai said gently "if you need a moment..."
Ilaria sighed, a small smile played on her lips "it's okay, we'll have to do it eventually anyway."
"okay, I'll be there in 5" Kai told her and cut the call.
Ilaria couldn't get to Kai's car fast enough, her own company was a terrible one, she'd only been alone for 3 hours and she'd hated every minute of it.
"you never gave my hoodie back" Kai observed.
"the fact that you didn't notice that is alarming" Ilaria said and pulled the sleeves over her hands "im keeping it"
Kai smiled and started the car, the rest of the drive was filled with Kai making stupid jokes in an attempt to keep Ilarias mind grounded.
When they arrived at the police station, Ilaria instinctly threaded her fingers through Kai's.
"it'll be over before you know it, agent" he told her quietly as they made their way through the small station. He was clutching a box with all their notes in it, the small things they'd found.
It didn't take them long to find the captain, when they did he lead them to his office and Kai placed the box on his desk.
Captain Benson was a tall, square shouldered man with a funny shaped jaw and eyebrows so light they were barely visible.
He raised his invisible eyebrows and seated himself, folded his hands together and darted his blue eyes between the two teenagers infront of him.
"what's this about?" he asked leaning back in his seat.
He had a couple of brushes with Ilaria before, she disliked him and had insulted him on more than one occasion after trying to tell him things about the case she'd found that might have helped.
Suddenly because there was a boy with her he was willing to listen? Her blood was boiling.
"the strangler" Ilaria tapped the box "some things we've found about the case. We have a suspect"
"a suspect?" The captain repeated with a scratch at his chin "and who is your suspect?"
"Michael Kingston" Kai told him "goes to the all boys college just oustide of town."
Captain Benson laughed "and you're accusing him with what cause?"
Ilaria shrugged mockingly "oh I don't know, we found his name in Kennas phone. He was abusing her and sleeping with her, which, captain, if I'm correct is statutory rape."
The man tilted his head "and you think he's a killer based off of that"
"we didn't say he was. We said he's a potential suspect, something you and your team never found which is sort of weird considering you had Kenna's phone all these months, no?" Kai cut in.
"he also wasn't on campus the night Kenna went missing" Ilaria went on "he has also been buying roofies on a regular... Which is a rape drug although I'm sure you already know that."
"and how does that have anything to do with this?"
Ilaria let out an annoyed huff "those girls were raped."
"how did you -"
"There's no time to explain that. Michael fits well enough and he has a connection to one of the victims."
"fits well enough?" Captain Benson let out an even harder laugh this time and Kai glared at him.
"let me tell you about yourself officer" Kai said leaning his forearms against the table, he examined the captain carefully and then began speaking "you're divorced but you still wear your ring, you've slid it on and off atleast 4 times since we've got here which tells me you're still deep in denial. You're a drinker."
Kai tilted his head "a heavy drinker at that, everynight you go home and drink until you black out and then you come to work and pretend you're in the right head space to be sitting behind this desk. I wonder what would happen if they found out you're an alcaholic, you don't have custody over your children and you're almost always drunk at work. Which explains why we found obvious things you haven't. "
Captain Benson opened his mouth to protest but Ilaria cut in."he's right and you know it. Don't doubt us. Take a look at Ammarahs phone, if you find Michael's number you have probable cause to arrest him, bring him in for questioning, even search his room."
"we questioned Michael and shortly after that, I was attacked" Ilaria said "whether you take this information is on you. I wouldn't have been attacked in the first place if you did your job."
Kai stood up and pushed their box closer to the captain "whatever you do though, if you dismiss us,the next time a body turns up? It's going to be your fault. Again."
"oh and by the way, you're looking for two killers, Captain" Ilaria concluded.
Leaving Captain Benson in deep thought Kai and Ilaria left, she should've felt lighter. They were doing the right thing, if she didn't agree to leave the case alone then she'd be putting her family in danger.
They were all she had left, she couldn't risk it, wouldn't risk it. No matter how much her mind nagged at her.
Back at Kai's, both of them were oddly quiet. There was no banter, no jokes, they hadn't uttered a word to each other.
Ilaria was standing at the window, her arms folded, her forehead leaned against the window. She felt hollow.
Kai was at his laptop, he eventually got up and moved to stand next to her.
"do you think we did the right thing" Ilaria turned to him "letting it go."
Kai tilted her chin up so she could look at him, with a sigh he shook his head "what is the right thing? Do we really know? What I do know though is that if we didn't let it go, something awful could have happened. To you. To me. Your mother or your brother. We couldn't risk it, you know that."
Ilaria nodded "yeah" Kai pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her "you don't plan on abandoning me now do you?"
Ilaria shook her head against his chest "never"
They stood there for a while until they heard a notification from Kai's laptop.
Ilaria stepped back and made her way over, it was a video file.
The sender was anonymous.
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Hey heyy :)
So sorry about the cliffhanger (not really) 😭
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Thanks for reading ❤️
Until next time! 🤍