Death In The Hills: A Revelation

Chapter 3: The Journey Begins

Laia zipped up her thick brown coat and pulled on the gloves on her hands. It was mid-December, and the cold had seeped into the concrete walls of her home. 

She looked at the little black rectangular clock on her work table propped up against the wall beside her bed once more- it read 3 am. Jai was supposed to be here half an hour later. 

With just one day to plan the travel details, Laia and Jai had found that they had to take a train and change two buses before they could even reach the outskirts of Paharkunj. From there, they had to book a car to reach the hill station. 

The entire chaos of traveling and planning the return trip had made them almost lose their minds, especially after they had learned that the buses were irregular as well. With the cold at its peak, they didn't want to take a chance. 

So, a 15-hour road trip was going to be their way of traveling. Then, there was the question of booking a hotel. Laia, Jai, and their office co-ordinator Siddharth had made calls after calls to the homestays and hotels of the area only to find not a single room available at this time. 

In fact, multiple people they spoke to discouraged them from coming at all. So Laia made a phone call to an old friend, so to speak, and requested if they could stay with him for an office assignment. 

She had yet to tell Jai about that, and hoped that he would understand why they were staying in someone's house. 

Laia let out a sigh as she again mentally tallied the clothing and other items she had packed in her luggage and carry-on bag for the upteenth time. It was a frustrating habit but she always wanted to be absolutely sure that she had packed everything she needed.  

Thankfully, all of it had fit snugly. As a reporter, she had to be prepared to go anywhere. Packing and traveling light while learning to improvise was something she had to learn over the years, and it wasn't a pleasant or easy process either. 

Laia sat on the end of her bed and looked around her room. She was supposed to have moved out of her parents' house by now, but she was still here at 29. The bright yellow walls of the room were decorated with strings of multi-colored paper birds and soft white fairy lights. 

On the other end of the room was a tall almirah that contained all of Laia's earthly possessions. Or at least clothing and some jewelry. Nestled beside it was a small cupboard, while on the other side, there was a vanity table. 

She felt like a teenager, lost in life and love, not knowing where life was going to take her. She loved her job, and she wanted to do that her whole life, but that was the only certainty she had. 

For now, that would have to do because she didn't think she could even bear to think about marriage after what had happened. She didn't want to think about that incident and that man at all. Laia gulped as tears welled up in her eyes instantly. At least for now.  

Downstairs, she could hear her mother up and about. She had wanted to cook her a meal to take with her, but Laia had denied it. Her mother was getting older, and she didn't want her to wake up and prepare a tiffin for her like she did back in her school days. 

But she knew her mother—there was no way she was going to let her daughter go to work at 3:30 am without eating something. The sound of noisy utensils getting moved about from their nightly resting place brought her out of her reverie. 

Laia exhaled loudly and took her bags downstairs. As she went out the door, she looked at her room, switched off the lights, and closed the door. 

As Laia was descending the stairs, her phone vibrated deep in her coat pocket. She let it go on as she finished the steps.