Song of the chapter is In Flames by Digital Daggers

-41-
-Saina Arora-
-Present-

________________

Wentworth Woods
11 December, 2019
7:13 pm

"Saina?"

Ahaan's voice brought me out of the trance I was in. I took a step forward towards them. They had a terrified look on their face.

I choked a sob.

Veronica rushed to my side in an instant. "Saina, are you okay?"

I looked at her in amazement. Her first instinct after seeing me here wasn't doubt or accusing. It was concern. My heart immediately clutched at the thought of how I had been so eager to paint her as a suspect few days ago. I gulped and held her hand.

" I'm fine."

She sighed and hugged me while the others kept looking at us with doubts in their minds. As we parted, Himanshu asked from behind, " Saina, what are you doing here?"

I looked at him and then at Veronica again. " I came looking for answers."

" How did you know about this cabin?" Zoya asked curiously.

" I didn't." I said, stepping down from the last porch step. " I came here.... because this...place....it reminds me of him." I choked back a sob. " We used to hike up here sometimes, me and Avi. It was a temporary refuge from the chaos that was our world."

Veronica looked at me empathically while the rest exchanged concerned glances.

" I came across this trail of dry blood on my hike up here. So I followed it and it led me to this cabin. I was curious, so I went inside." I said, as the tears burned in the back of my eye.
"And I found...."

" We know. We came here the day.... Avinash... died." Himanshu said, in a soft voice. My eyes glistened but I composed myself.

" We actually came back here to see if we can find something more." Ahaan added.

I nodded.

" Saina, you don't have to come with us if you don't want. We would completely understand-" Veronica began as I interrupted. "No,... I'll come with you guys. I want some answers too."

Veronica looked at me doubtfully but then nodded slightly. "Okay, as you wish."

Together, we entered the cabin. The rusty wooden smell lingered in the air. We shone our mobile flashlights at each and every corner of the cabin room. The old flyers whiskered with the slightest wind coming in through the cracks of the windows.

" I and Saina will take the second floor." Veronica said to the rest. "You guys check in here, okay?"

They nodded. Veronica and I exchanged glances before proceeding upstairs. The floorboards creaked under the impact of our shoes. The stairs landed us in a dark abyss. The hallway was dimly lighted with only the glow of the yellow light bulb helping us see our pathway.

With my phone tightly secured in my hand, we moved forward towards each of the rooms that stood on either side of us. We tried to open several doors that stood beside us, but all of them were locked.

We reached the end of the hallway, where the last door stood ominously. The door was bigger and taller than all of the other ones. It must be special because it was painted black, different from the soft brown that the other possessed.

Veronica slowly and gradually turns the lock as my breathing becomes shallower and heavy. The lock twisted and the door creaked open. I exchanged nervous glances with Veronica.

She gulped and proceeded to enter the room. I followed behind her. The room was just as dusty and disheveled like the rest of the cabin. There were some baseball bats at one end of the room. An small open window graced the right wall of the room.

" Someone has been here since the last time we came." Veronica said, looking around the room.

My breaths were uneven and laboured as they came out of my mouth. My chest inflated and deflated rapidly, like it was in need of it more than ever.

Something caught my eye from my peripheral vision. Another wall full of information.

" Veronica, look."

I pointed towards the wall as we walked over to it. She shone her flashlight on the wall to read whatever was mapped out.

There were several pictures stuck to the wall with pins,lined from top to bottom and on one corner it was labelled: 'Sinners'. Alishka Malhotra, Avinash Mittal, Saina Arora, Ahaan Jaiswal, Siya Natekar, Kartik Malhotra, Zoya Afreen, Veronica D'Rosario and Himanshu Arora.

Alishka and Avinash's pictures were crossed off with a red marker.

That monster took him away from me. Avinash, my Avinash died just a couple of days ago. That son of a bitch killed him. That meant that he was crossed out recently. I passed my fingers against the red X as my eyes glistened.

I grabbed his picture and yanked it from the wall. It tore a little at the top, but it didn't matter. I just needed to feel him close to me, close to my heart, away from this evil wall. He didn't want to be a part of this. Neither did Alishka, so I yanked her picture off the wall and held them close to my chest.

Veronica pulled me into a hug sensing my vulnerability. I gave in. I couldn't hold back the tears that flowed down my cheeks, wetting her outfit's fabric.

" I'm so sorry, Saina."

I pulled away and looked at her solemnly.

" Why are you being so nice to me when I've been nothing but a bitch to you? " I asked genuinely.
She gave me a tight lipped smile.

" Because I know that you aren't a bad person, Saina. You're just dealing with the world in your own way, like we all are." She said, softly.

I sniffed. " I'm sorry. For all the times I've let you down. I didn't know you then and I was...."

" It's okay, Saina. All's forgiven." She smiled genuinely. I returned her a smile.

The sound of an explosion suddenly shook the house. The floorboards creaked and shook.
" What the-"

Just then, we heard Zoya's scream echoing from downstairs. I rushed downstairs, Veronica following close behind me. As we reached downstairs, we discovered the reason for the earthquake.

The cabin was on fire.

Flames surrounded the entire outer threshold of the cabin. Himanshu and Ahaan struggled to close the front door as the rest of us huddled together in the centre of the room. The smell of kerosene filled up my senses. My eyes widened in horror.

" What's going on? How did the house suddenly catch fire?!" I yelled.

" We were investigating when we suddenly got the smell of kerosene. I went outside to check what was going on when I saw that the cabin was on fire. And somebody was standing outside,.... wearing this black cloak, just watching the house go up in flames." Zoya said , her eyes showcasing the horror within her heart.

" It must be the killer. He knows! He knows we were here! And so he came here to kill us!" Ahaan shouted, frightened. " We're all going to die."

" Shut up, Ahaan! No one's dying okay? We have to find a way out!" Himanshu yelled, finally being able to close the front door.

" How? There's no way out!" I yelled, looking around.

I heard another crash from the right corner of the cabin. The cabin was now starting to fill up with the intoxicating smell of carbon monoxide, making it hard to breathe.

" We don't have much time! There must be something. We don't have time to wait for someone to come and save us. By the time they get here,the cabin will be in flames." Veronica said and looked around frantically.

" Yeah, no freaking kidding!" Zoya yelled in nervousness.

Veronica hurriedly checked the corners and other windows but to no avail. All of them were shut closed.

" The window upstairs!" She suddenly yelled. " Guys, come on follow me!"

Saying that, she proceeded to run up the stairs. The rest of us followed closely behind. She entered the room that we were earlier standing in and then shut the door as the rest of us entered.

The window on the other end of the room was a small one, but big enough for a person to go out. She rushed to the window and leaned forward to look down.

" Guys, we have to jump." She said, nervously. " The fire hasn't spread to here yet. If we jump carefully, we'll be able to get out safe and sound."

" Safe and sound? We are on the second floor, V! Jumping from such a height might injure us!" Ahaan chimed.

" We don't have a choice , Ahaan! We have to do this! Come on, let's go!" Himanshu yelled as he helped Zoya get up on the windowsill. She looked at us nervously. " If I die, I'm gonna haunt you so bad!"

Saying that, she made her jump. We all looked over the windowsill. She stood up and looked up at us. " I'm fine."

We breathed a sigh of relief.

" Ahaan go next!" Veronica said. Ahaan looked at her doubtfully.

" I guess jumping to death is better than burning to death." He said and with trembling hands,climbed on the windowsill and taking a deep breath, jumped.

Once we were sure he was okay, I proceeded to jump next. My body shook with nervousness and fright. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. I took a deep breath and nodded. " Here goes nothing."

And I jumped.

The impact of landing on the ground made my hands and knees ache with pain. I opened my eyes and realised I was okay. I dusted the dirt off my skirt and got up. " I'm okay."

Zoya, Ahaan and I watched as Veronica jumped in next after a much long argument with Himanshu on the question of who would jump first. As she landed next to where I was standing, I extended my hand and helped her get up.

The flames were almost engulfing the place now. " Moose, come on! The fire is spreading fast!" Veronica yelled. Her voice quivered.

Himanshu nodded and proceeded to make a jump. As he stepped off the windowsill, a loud explosion shook the house and the walls of the cabin started crumbling down , leaving a cloud of dust.

" Moose!"

Pieces of the building flew through the air, as well as debris, as we fell to the ground to take cover. Smoke filled the air around us.

Himanshu fell badly, his arms gracing the ground due to the impact of the explosion behind him. We rushed to his side immediately.

He was unconscious, blood dripping from his head and arms. Veronica cried, " No! No! This can't be happening! Open your eyes, Moose. Please open your eyes!"

Himanshu coughed as she placed his head on her lap and tried frantically to cover his head with her scarf, to stop the flow of the blood.

" Call an ambulance! Zoya, Ahaan!! Call an ambulance now!" She yelled as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.

" Moose please be okay, please be okay, please be okay." Her voice became a hollow whisper as she held him close.

"The ambulance is on the way. Veronica, he'll be okay. I promise." Zoya tried to comfort her , but in vain.

Looking up, watching the remains continue to burn, I held my hand close to my chest, the rapid beating of my heart aching from within.

And it was at that moment that I realised that no matter what we did or try, they were always gonna be the ones to have the last laugh.