CHAPTER I:
SEPTEMBER 8 2019
MATEO ALWAYS HATED THAT UGLY grandfather clock out in the hallway that sits between the guest room and his father's study, which was where he was in currently. It always sounded louder than it actually is and the echo of each tick seemed daunting, like a ghost haunting him. One of these days, or when he inherits the entire Sanchez fortune, that goddamn grandfather clock will be the first one to go.
He'll do his future kids a favour by destroying that damn thing.
Mateo reaches forward, lifting the crystal glass of cognac off the coffee table and into his hand as the leather couch creaked under his movement. He takes a sip to calm his nerves and focuses on the fireplace, watching the orange flames feed onto the wood that starts to darken under its touch. His father's study smells like oak and bourbon; a distinct scent that made him remember his childhood, when things were a lot easier.
"It's 1AM. This really couldn't wait?" Evan is the first to arrive to the Sanchez manor and waltz into the study, the now opened door letting in a draft.
Mateo's eyes flickers from the fire and to Evan's back as he helps himself to a glass of one of the finest bourbon that was gifted to Mr Sanchez during one of his many company launches.
"It's urgent," Mateo mutters lowly, putting the glass down.
Evan turns, leaning the back of his hip against the table that held an assortment of liquor. The space between his brows creases deeply in thought, glaring back at Mateo as if he could decipher what has to be said that night. As if there are any other thing to mention at this ungodly hour, Mateo thinks, and if Evan Morrison couldn't figure it out then that boy would be forever helpless.
"It's not like you're one to call an early night, anyway," Mateo adds as Evan grins wildly, finishing the entire drink in his hand before walking over to sit on the matching leather sofa across him, splaying his arm over the back.
"I am also not one to be early to things," Evan says, glancing at the Rolex that sits comfortably on his wrist before scanning the room, seeing it's just the both of them lingering around.
Mateo forces a laugh, maintaining his sight on his drink. If he could just focus on something, maybe he wouldn't have to think about the restless nights that are about to come after him. Yet again.
"I'm just as surprised as you are, Morrison."
After what happened, it took a while for him and his friends to get back into the swing of things. They were barely 16 when it happened, they were just kids and they are still kids now with their entire life ahead of them. And now that things are threatened to unravel, the ticking clock is getting louder and louder each minute, counting down to the moment this could all just blow up in their pretty, privileged faces.
In the next ten minutes, Kara and Riya finally arrives. Riya first enters the study, looking fatigued with bags under her eyes as she yawns, making her way across the room and plopping down on the sofa next to Evan. Kara stops abruptly at the doorway when she meets Mateo's eyes.
Mateo loves her face as much as he loves the rest of her. He knows every inch of her body, her personality, her laugh, smile -- whatever it is, he knows her well enough that the minute she saw his face, Kara already knows the reason why they are meeting up tonight.
"Hey," He says in a hush tone as he walks to her, putting his hands on her cheeks, carressing her soft skin. Mateo searches her eyes, seeing nothing but the familiarity of fear and tiredness overcoming the gentle light in her eyes. He hates that they have to go through this again. "You okay?"
"What's going on, Mateo?" Kara asks, clutching onto the front of his white shirt.
A sigh leaves his mouth, "We just have to wait for Eli."
She scowls and pushes past him, storming towards the couch, seething, "He's probably all drugged up by now! All coked up or something!"
Evan's brows raises in shock, holding his hands up in defence while Kara lands on the couch with a puff, "Got up from the wrong side of the bed have we, princess?"
"Don't be so chirpy yourself, Evan," Kara's eyes narrows down into slits, seeing the smug grin on his face waver as her glare deepens, "What on earth do you think we're here for? A nightcap?"
And then he frowns and looks at Mateo's way who stands by the door awkwardly, staring at him for answers. Evan curses under his breath when the realisation hits him and leans over his knees, covering his face with his hands.
Riya sits up, looking at Kara and then Mateo, who begins to walk back to the couch to sit next to Kara. With frustration contorting all over Kara's face and the fear shadowing over Mateo's face, Riya finally puts two and two together.
"You've got to be kidding," She mutters and leans back, rubbing the side of her head with her index finger. Riya closes her eyes and then sighs deeply before opening them again, "Right. Well, what's going on?"
"We should just wait til' Eli gets here," Mateo says, "So, I don't have to repeat myself."
Riya scoffs, "Or not. Kara's right. He's probably coked up somewhere."
Mateo isn't going to argue on this one. It wouldn't be a surprise if it is actually the case. But then again, nowadays, he hasn't been one to be easily surprised.
"Alright! The party's here!"
But, also, there are moments where he's been proven wrong. Take this for an instance.
"Ah, I see you haven't overdosed," Kara rolls her eyes as Eli stumbles into the room, getting distracted by the tray of drinks that are set up in crystal bottles.
Mateo's brow creases together, "Did you drive here?"
Eli turns around with a goofy smile, holding one of the crystal bottles and plopping down next to Mateo, landing with a strong scent of sickly sweet perfume and cigarette, not to mention the heavy stench of tequila wafting off of him.
"Don't be silly, bro," Eli slings his arm over Mateo's shoulders and takes a generous swig out of the bottle, "Of course not. Tesla autopilot. Real handy, eh? I'm kidding. Took an Uber. So, what are we doing here tonight? Party?"
Riya looks at him sideways, slowly leaning over her knees. She could hardly recognise Eli and who he is becoming. He is slowly becoming a shell of the person he used to be. Somebody she used to admire and love. Now, he's just a stranger.
"I don't know if this the drugs eating whatever's left of your brain," She begins with Eli taking a slow sip straight from the bottle, maintaining heavy eye contact with her, "But we're not exactly here to party."
Eli frowns and raises his hands in the air in frutration, "Aw, come on!" He stands up now, standing in front of his friends who are now sighing in unison and collectively scowling at him, "We used to be animals in this city! You know, what? You guys are losing the plot here, I'm telling you--"
Evan's fists clenches onto the edge of the couch, glowering at Eli, "Dude, fucking read the room, would ya?" He turns his face to look at Mateo, "Maybe you shouldn't have included him in the first place. The dude's gone."
Mateo opens his mouth to protest but Eli cuts him off with a scoff, shaking his head disapprovingly, "Alright. Well, it's not gonna take a genius to know I'm not exactly wanted right now. I'll just head home -- well, not home, exactly. Maybe the strip club again, I don't know. The night's young."
"Sit back down." Mateo grumbles, rubbing his forehead.
Eli smiles and complies, sitting back down again and putting the bottle aside.
Now, Mateo couldn't figure out the right way to say it. What could he possibly say? Being the bearer of bad news is never easy, especially when it comes to the death of somebody they once knew.
He scans the faces around him and finally announces, "The Petrovas are thinking of reopening the case."
Eli grows frigid beside him. The blissful grin on his face quickly falls and the haziness in his eyes dissipates into emptiness. He lays his head back, letting it lean against the back of the couch with his eyes staring up at the ceiling. He tries to follow the subtle floral etchings that stretches all over the surface. Keeping his mind occupied always helps for a while. It helps him from thinking about Tatiana Petrova's dead body on the ground before him.
"How do you know? They ruled it as an overdose," Evan asks.
Eli laughs humourlessly, taking a mouthful of bourbon from the bottle, "How do we know that?"
"Dmitri Petrova told my dad," Mateo answers flatly, ignoring Eli's cryptic remark. He lets out a shaky breath, "They think she was killed."
"How? That girl lived off of ecstasy and mint," Kara murmurs, shaking her head. "It was bound to get to her."
"Well, whatever it is," Mateo waves his hand dismissively and gets up to pour himself another drink, "We need to be prepared."
"For what?" Evan asks, "They already drilled us last time. What else do they need? They're not gonna pin it on us again just because we all had beef with her."
Kara studies her slender fingers, admiring the intricate marble designs of her long arcylic nails she had done few days ago, "Oh, you know Tati. Always had the flare for the dramatics. Even from her fucking grave."
"They don't have anything on us, anyway," Mateo says and turns around, trying to regain his coolness. It's what the Sanchez are always good at. They always dust themselves off and get right back on their feet. With one hand shoved in the pocket of his grey sweatpants and the other holding a cool glass of bourbon, Mateo adds, "But just like Evan said, we're back on their radar, regardless."
Eli's shoulder slumps forward, drawing circles on the palm of his right hand, "Maybe we should be on their radar."
Riya crosses her arms over her chest and exchanges looks with Evan. The rest of them stays quiet. The silence seems more appealing rather than prodding Eli to elaborate while he is still high or drunk. Or both.
"Maybe if those things didn't happen, maybe she'd still be alive."
Kara sighs and shut her eyes, "Eli, you're high as balls. You're starting to talk out of your ass a lot more than usual."
He turns his head and it's only then she realised how bloodshot they were, "Am I, Kara?"
"Hey," Mateo quickly walks over and stands behind the couch, placing his palms over the headrest and leans over, overlooking his friends, "What I need us all to do is to keep calm. They've suspected us before and they'll probably do it again. They'll ask more questions until they deem us useless. We'll just keep answering."
Evan runs his hand over his hair and nods his head, "Yeah, fine. I guess we can do this again," he stands up, "I'm gonna head out if that's all."
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, man," Mateo holds his hand out for Evan to clap before he starts to make his way for the door.
"Did we kill her?" Eli suddenly asks, making Evan freeze by the threshold. Evan turns halfway, seeing everyone mirroring each other's cold features. Eli's eyes looks up for answers, instantly meeting Riya's, "Did we?"
Nobody responds.
Eli snorts and stands up, laughing sarcastically, "I mean, even if we did kill her, we could just buy our way out, right? Mommy and Daddy come to the rescue!"
Riya reaches to his hand, "Eli."
"They're looking at us for a reason!" He says aloud, swatting her hand away, "And it's never going to end! They're just gonna keep asking us and asking us and asking us until we're the ones who end up dead!"
"Hey, hey," Mateo rushes over to him and holds his shoulders, forcing Eli to face him. Eli is shaking profusely, abruptly coming down from his high harshly. He is starting to sob now. Mateo squeezes his shoulders in a desperate attempt to calm him down, "Look, we'll get through this, okay? We did it last time. We can do it again. Now, go home. And sleep, yeah?"
Eli takes in a deep breath and nods his head slowly, "Okay."
"I'll take you home." Evan suggests and walks to him, hanging his arm around Eli's shoulders to walk him out.
Riya wrings her wrists and gets off the couch, looking at Kara who sits gracefully, unfazed, and then to Mateo before walking out of the study, "I'll see you guys at school."
Mateo lets go of the breath he's been holding and falls back on the couch, resting his hand in Kara's lap. Her finger traces the veins on his arm as she thinks to herself. He raises a brow at her, peeking at her delicate face.
"What?" He asks, nudging her side.
"He's a loose thread," Kara states and meets his eyes. She studies Mateo's face closely, admiring how handsome he is as the moonlight pours in from the large windows, pouring over him gloriously, "And they're just gonna pull him apart until he unravels himself."
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
So, who do you guys think did it?