Dilara

Chapter 67:

I take my brownies out of the oven and put them on the side to cool down.

It's midnight and everyone's asleep, for some reason my brain didn't wanna turn off. It was like I was being watched or something.

I start cleaning up my mess, trying no to make any noise when Xuan bursts into the kitchen.

He starts rummaging through the draws until he finally finds a lighter.

He lights his cigarette and finally looks in my direction.

'Dilara,' he says.

'Hey,' I reply.

His eyes are red and his hair is messy. It looks like he hasn't slept in days.

'I've got to go,' he says hurriedly

'Wait,' I say. 'You can't just ignore all of us, you told me not to shut everyone out but maybe you should take your own advice.'

'I'm not shutting you guys out.' He replies.

'Then tell me what's going on,' I sigh.

He sits down opposite me and puts his head down.

'I'm being followed.' He says shakily, 'This figure in a black outfit and black mask.'

My breath caches in my throat.

'But when I look back, he's gone.' Xuan puts his head in his hands. 'I feel like I'm slowly loosing it.'

'Thank god,' I breathe.

'Great, I'm happy my problems make you feel good.' He snaps.

'No it's not that,' I say. 'The same thing has been happening to me and I thought that I was loosing it because no one else saw him.'

Xuan's head snaps up when I say this.

'Do you have any idea who this could be?' He asks.

'I have a hunch but it's going to sound insane.' I reply.

'Go ahead, nothing could sound crazier right now.' He says, letting out a cloud of smoke.

'I think it's Adriano,' I say, lowering my voice.

Xuan's cigarette falls out of his mouth and hits the table.

'That's not possible,' he replies.

'Neither of us checked the body properly, only Vittoria did,' I explain, 'and between me and you I don't trust anything that comes out of her fucking mouth.'

'So what do you want to do?' He asks me.

'I want to dig up the body,' I reply.

I put the brownies in the microwave so that they can stay warm.

'No, absolutely not,' a voice says from the doorway.

We turn and see Alessandro standing there with his arms crossed.

'You guys are insane, we saw the body.' Alessandro snaps.

'Like Dilara said, we never inspected the body.' Xuan says.

'Please Alessandro,' I beg. 'It'll help me sleep better at night.'