Song of the chapter is
Hunter as a Horse by The Passenger

-01-
-Himanshu Arora-
-Present-

Delmore High

15 November, 2019
7:30 am

Alishka Malhotra was a glamourous enigma.

Adrenaline rushed through her veins at the chance of stripping someone of their self - esteem. Whenever someone would ask her why was she so mean, she would tilt her head back and smile a devious grin. That devious grin was the indication of an impending disaster. No one ever knew who her next victim would be.

But I guess you never know when you'll be at the other end of the stick yourself now, do you?

Alishka Malhotra went missing two weeks ago, but in Delmore , a small town in Goa, things didn't remain so much as quiet. Rumours spread like wildfire here. Being a relatively small town, everyone knew everyone. So I wasn't much surprised when I found her name on everyone's lips.

Now you would think  these kind of things don't happen in India and I somewhat agree with you. But you see, that's what makes it so intriguing. You usually see these kind of stuff in American horror movies and that's why no one could imagine this kind of stuff happening in a small town in Goa.

But it did.

And now we were caught up in a web of mystery following her disappearance.

As I made my way to the school auditorium, my eyes spotted Siya. Standing in a corner with her plaid skirt and dirt brown hair falling lazily on her shoulder, was the girl whom I called my best friend. I walked up to her and tapped on her shoulder.

"Ready to go?" I said as she lifted her head up to register my presence.

"Yeah, come on. The assembly starts in five minutes."

See, that's Siya for you. She's like the perfect girl next door. She was the girl who was never late to any school events, never had bunked class, never scored less marks. The girl radiated pure heaven.

I nodded, following her to the auditorium where most of the student body was already present for some urgent announcement.

"There are two seats vacant next to Ronnie," she raised an eyebrow at me as I said that, "I mean there are no more seats left so..."

Her lapis lazuli eyes scanned the auditorium for seats but finally getting nothing , she breathed a sigh and followed me as I made my way to our certain raven haired friend.

With her midnight locks, streaming down her neck; her eyes , the sweet colour of chocolate, darted at us as we filled the vacant seats next to her.

"Moose", she uttered recognising me before narrowing her eyes at my best friend, "Siya".

Moose was a nickname that Veronica gave me that day. A sheepish smile played on my lips as my mind flooded by the memories of that day.

That day was the best day of my 17 year old existence.

Or so I thought.

"Have you guys heard from them?" Veronica questioned.

We both nodded negatively.

"I haven't talked to any of them since she disappeared. It's like we're back to how we were before", Siya muttered.

Before. The word sounded so unfamiliar to me. I can't remember what it was like before Alishka went missing.

"Speaking of the devils....." Veronica said and tilted her head towards the main entrance of the auditorium.

There stood Saina Arora and Avinash Mittal, everyone staring at them as they walked down the aisle and took their seats in the front of the auditorium.

Seeing Saina without Alishka was a rare sight. The two were best friends since they couldn't wipe the drool off their chin. They were so close that people often mistook them for lesbians.

Although Saina was my cousin, we didn't usually converse much. Just the general smile everytime we passed each other in the hallway. She liked to stick around with the popular squad unlike me who spent half of his time working at the Emarald Gazzetta , the school newspaper.

Avinash Mittal was Alishka's boyfriend, before she went missing of course. But you can't really describe their equation as a relationship. Everyone at Delmore High knew that they constantly cheated on each other. Avinash was your usual fuckboy character. Monogamy, according to him, was a tricky concept and he hated it.

Same went with Alishka. There was not one jock in the football team that Alishka hadn't had an affair with. Except her brother, Kartik Malhotra.

My eyes darted around the auditorium to find him but to no avail. He was no where to be seen. His usual seat with the jocks was vacant.

"You know, I heard a rumor yesterday," Veronica muttered.

"What rumour?"

" The ladies in my neighborhood, they said that the police found a body in Oakwood beach. They claimed that it was hers."

"What?! That's sick.", Siya muttered.

"I'm sure it's just a rumour.", Veronica assured.

I was about to say something when the lights dimmed , indicating that the assembly was starting.

To everyone's surprise, Detective Gomez stood behind the podium, his eyes surfing through the audience before him.

"Guess we'll find out after all", I said as Detective Gomez began.

"Dear students of Delmore High, I'm afraid to inform you that I'm not here on a happy note. As you all may be aware that your fellow classmate, seventeen-year-old Alishka Malhotra, went missing on the 30th of October under mysterious circumstances," Detective Gomez began as the auditorium grew dead silent.

" I'm very sorry to inform that..... we found her dead body at the Oakwood beach yesterday. According to the autopsy report, she was tortured for probably two weeks and then killed in cold blood yesterday and then buried on the beach."

Collective gasps and murmurs were heard throughout the auditorium. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing upright. I gulped.

From my peripheral vision, I saw Siya let out a quiet whimper, her palm clasped to her mouth.

Veronica sat upright at the news.

" I can imagine that this must be quite hard on all of you. But the police department needs to work faster in order to find who did this to your friend. And I'm sure with your help and support, we would be able to catch the culprit soon."

Now I understood why Kartik wasn't present for the assembly. He probably knows about this already.

" Alishka's case has been ruled as a homicide. This means that for the next few weeks, many police officers will be coming to your school to search for any kind of evidence. So please don't be alarmed. And if anyone has any piece of information that can help in the investigation, please come forward and tell us."

And with those words, he left the stage, leaving the auditorium in a frenzied state.

" Oh My God, I'm going to be sick", said Siya and ran out of the auditorium.

I turned and looked at Ronnie , who was already looking at me ith her dreadful eyes. Both of us had the same thought in mind.

They say two can only keep a secret, if one of them is dead.

And Alishka Malhotra was dead.

Were we going to be next?

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