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Sienna's PoV
"We need to talk." Liz looked at me with a scrutinizing gaze. I couldn't help shrink back in my seat. She knows that I am hiding something.
What am I doing? Liz and her friends have been helping me since Prim's kidnapping.
I have to tell her. At least to reduce this burden which is killing me.
Funny how quickly your life can change so much at such a short notice. Rather in my case without any notice. I was a basically a nobody, having only one friend, an evil aunt (well, I can't say that has changed much), working in a local library and pretty much living an uneventful boring life.
And one fine day, a brunette shows up at my door and my life takes a full 360° turn. Prim is kidnapped, I go to a party in a club which collapses, I make a ton of friends and two people are murdered.
"Yeah. We do." I nodded in affirmation.
She frowned at me in confusion. I pointedly ignored her.
Not here. Not now.
I tried to concentrate on the endless number of people walking in the streets in the late evening sun. But I couldn't. My thoughts kept on turning to a certain something in my pocket.
Liz's mom pulled into the driveway of Wakefield Mansion.
Liz didn't waste any time. She grabbed my wrist and headed towards the door.
"Elizabeth? Where are you going in such a hurry?" Liz's mom called out from the car.
"It has been a long day for me and Sienna. We are going to sleep. Good night mom!" Liz shouted.
"Goodnight Mrs. Wakefield!" I shouted.
Mrs. Wakefield said something but I wasn't able to hear her because Liz was dragging me to her room.
She pushed me inside her room and locked the door from inside.
"Spill." She said.
"Uhh....well...you said we need to talk first. So your turn first." I said.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
"Really? You know what fine." she continued. "I will start. So about the two murders. I have been thinking a lot since you said one of the victims was Robert. By lot, I mean a lot. Makes me wonder if it was too much."
I gave her a blank expression.
"OK. That wasn't necessary. So I think everything is connected."
I frowned at that. "What do you mean", I said.
"I mean. It is all connected. Prim's poisoning. The letters. The murders. The collapse at Renwick's. Everything. Let's face it, you know that Robert is not who he says he is. He might be a lawyer, but he certainly is a part of something else. Something very important. Something worth killing for." She said.
"But why are we a part of this? Why does Prim have to suffer?" I said.
"Sienna, you think we are a part of this? I don't think so. This whole thing revolves around us. Why do you think Prim was poisoned? Prim is your weakness Sienna. I was attacked at Renwick's. They are targeting us. I think Robert was here to help us Sienna. I think he was going to reveal why exactly they are targeting us. But before he could...."
"They killed him." I finished for her.
She nodded.
"I don't know about the other man though. I think he was some sort of apprentice." She shrugged.
No he wasn't...
"How do you think I came to know that Robert was the one who was killed?" I asked her.
"The police...Wait! They said they were investigating the case. He said that the victims were of early forties. They hadn't identified the persons murdered! Sienna, how do you know it was Robert?"
"Be-because he took his last br-breath in front of m-me." I said. My throat getting clogged up.
"Wait what!? Oh my god! That makes you an eye-witness. That means you can ID the killer. That means- oh god! I am so sorry Sienna!" Liz suddenly stopped rambling and engulfed me in a comforting hug.
"It's OK Sienna. It's not your fault. Why did you not say anything to the police?" She asked.
"Be-because I was scared. I didn't know what to do. And the killer, he-he is the other victim." I cried.
"Oh my god! Sienna, how do you know that?" Liz asked me tentatively.
"Aft-after Robert left, this man came in and introduced himself as Dr. Ramsay. He-he started asking weird questions such as whether or not I have weird dreams and about my parents and their death. I refused to talk to him. So, so he threatened me that if I don't speak then I won't be able to save Prim." I couldn't stop sobbing as Liz comforted me.
"Sienna, I know you are in pain and this is really hard for you but you need to tell me everything. It's a matter of life and death." Liz said
"There is nothing more. Dr. Ramsay left. A while later screams followed. I rushed out and saw Robert and Dr. Ramsay dead." I said.
"But you said that Robert took his last breaths in front of you." Liz questioned.
"He did. I-I rushed to him. He tucked a piece of paper in my pocket and whispered, Be Brave."
I burst out crying again.
Liz was looking at me with a sad expression.
She didn't know what to do. Neither did I.
I dug into my pocket and fished out the paper given to me by Robert. It was plain white paper crusted with blood at the corners.
She gave me a reassuring smile and urged me to open the paper.
Together we watched as my fingers unfolded the paper revealing two lines written in simple script.
612,
17 Cartwright Lane.
"It's an address!" Elizabeth squealed.
I put one hand on her mouth.
"We don't want your mom to hear us shouting in the middle of the night." I said.
"Mhphee phapoo ghohair."she said through my fingers.
"What?" I asked removing my hand.
"We have to go there."she said.
"Uhh..I don't really think that would be a good id-"
"Oh shut up. Robert gave us this address for a reason. We need to find out that reason. Maybe we can find something important related to his death or whatever is happening with us. Get up now. We have some exploring to do." She ordered.
"Now!?" I gasped.
"Yes now! Nightime is perfect for this." She said while tying her hair in a ponytail and putting on a hoodie.
"But what if we miss some important detail in the dark?" I complained.
She threw a hoodie at me. "Stop complaining and get ready already.
I sighed inwardly.
This is going to be a long night.
---------------------------------------------------
"I still don't think this is a good idea." I whispered.
"Mhmm... Doesn't matter whether you think it's good or not." She muttered.
"Really? So can I leave? I have a dying sister to check up on." I said sarcastically.
"Oh shut up. Can't you see I am busy over here." Liz whispered back.
We are here in front of the apartment ( which we discovered is Robert's from the sign below the doorbell ). Liz is bent in front of the lock trying to figure out how to open it.
I turned around and scrutinized our surroundings. A gleaming object on the floor captured my attention.
There was a key on the corner and beside it was a hole. Inside the hole was a reflecting object that looked suspiciously like the lens of a camera.
I picked up the keys quickly and gave them to Liz.
"I think someone is watching us."I whispered.
"What!? Who!?" She whispered back.
"I don't know. Look at that corner on your left."
She looked and frowned.
"There's nothing there Sienna." She said.
I looked to see that the place where there was hole is now covered with white plaster, proving that nonexistence of any hole.
I frowned. Maybe I am becoming paranoid.
"Sienna, aren't you coming?" Liz called.
"Yeah coming." I answered.
I stepped into the apartment. The scent of old paper greeted me. It was dark. Pitch black.
"Liz?" I called.
"Sienna?" She answered. "Where are you?"
"I am near the door." I said.
"Stay there. I am going to find some light switch" she said.
I could hear her footsteps moving about in the room.
"Found it!" Suddenly a bright flash blinded my eyes. A bulb hanging from the ceiling came to life and light flooded into the apartment.
There was only one word that described the apartment.
Empty.
The apartment was empty, bare. No table, no couch, fridge, chair. Nothing. Only a small bulb dangling from the ceiling.
"Guess Robert wasn't much of a decorater." Liz said.
"Decorater!? His apartment is freaking empty!!" I shouted. "I think someone cleared up the apartment before we arrived."
"Damn Sienna! Keep your voice down. We aren't supposed to be here you know." She whispered.
"Oh yeah. Let's check the other rooms. Maybe we could find something there." I said while walking towards a bedroom. Liz went to another bedroom opposite go mine.
I was disappointed when I entered the room. There was nothing in the room.
How can someone clear a house in such a short period? The murder was discovered just a few hours ago.
Unless.....it was cleared before his death.
There was a closet in the corner of the room. I walked towards it and opened the sliding door.
Empty.
I sighed and closed the door. I felt a presence behind me. I whirled around and prepared myself to punch.
Liz stood there with a startled expression. Then slowly her eyes narrowed.
"Easy there. I'd like to keep my face intact. Not that your punch could do much." She giggled.
"Not funny." I grunted.
"Oh trust me, it is." She grinned.
"Good to know I am entertaining you."
"Technically you are not. I am just surviving on pathetic jokes on your expense." Liz said.
The noise of the door shutting froze us in our places. Voices came from the living room. A girl arguing with a boy.
I signaled Liz to get inside the closet. Her eyes widened.
"No way! I am not getting inside a dead man's closet!" She whispered.
I gave her a blank expression. "Seriously!? Do you want yourself to be killed!" I whisper yelled.
I got inside the closet. Liz thought for a moment before sighing and getting into the closet.
The closet was not a large one so it was difficult for me and liz to stand properly. I placed my body against the wall to make some space and frowned.
The sound. When I placed my righy hand on the wall , the sound produced was different from the sound produced when I placed my left hand on the wall.
It was as if the wall behind my right hand was hollow.
A door!
"Liz, there is a door over here. See if you can find any switch or lever to open it." I whispered.
"What? This is not the time to play Narnia with me." she whispered back.
"I am serious!" I whisper yelled.
"Shut up. Lemme see." She whispered back.
I glided my hands over the walls trying to frame the outline of the door and find some sort of handle.
My fingers skimmed over the outline of the door but I found nothing. Instead I found another outline of box beside the door.
"Sienna, I think I found something." She pressed a button and a panel opened beside the door where I found the outline of a box revealing a keypad and a screen.
On the screen was written,
ENTER PASSWORD
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Liz looked as confused as me. There were 10 blanks and there was a keypad with numbers. So the password was a 10 - digit number.
"Liz what comes to your mind when I say 10 - digit number?" I whispered.
"I don't know. A phone number I guess. I just hate to fact that a phone number has 10 digits. I mean why can't there be 5. It would be so easy to remember them then." She rambled.
A phone number, of course!
"Liz, you are a genius but you need to stop talking before we get caught." I whispered.
I fished out the paper given to me by Robert with his phone number.
"What is that?" Liz asked.
"Robert's phone number."I said.
"He gave you his number!?" She whispered yelled.
"Yeah. Now shut up."
I took a deep breath and typed the numbers. The password was correct. The door opened revealing another room.
A room inside the closet. What are we going to find next? Narnia!?
The room too was empty ( wow, what a surprise! ). But this time there was something else too.
A desk with a laptop placed on it.
An empty mug was placed beside the computer.
Liz and I locked glances and then Liz opened the laptop.
On the screen a word file was opened and in the white space three words were written.
It has begun...
********************************
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