The Shadow Circle

Chapter-6

It had already been three days since I last saw Kai and nothing eventful happened.

My life was going as usual; I freshened up, had a bath slept for a while...well, not really slept. More like lay awake with my eyes wide open and a kitchen knife under my pillow. I had even ransacked Arianna's room like a raccoon in a kitchen.

There was nothing much, obviously. Arianna was a cleanliness freak, unlike me. I only found her notebooks which were filled with lines of computer code. Cavilleri Enterprises had definately snagged the best. I felt a sudden burst of pride whenever I got through her notes which only reinforced the fact that she was missing.

I hadn't gotten around to reading the car papers yet, somehow it brought back terrible memories.

But today, when I awoke something had changed. I was sitting in a pool of my own sweat, surrounded by night. I hadn't slept for a solid three days and it was beginning to take its toll on me. I forgot the dream that woke me up, but I knew it had something to do with silver blades and deep red blood.

I made my way down to the kitchen and giggled as I looked up.

When I was eleven, Arianna had taken the immense trouble of cooking spaghetti for the two of us, consuming the dish was even more troublesome. I was always bad at human interactions so instead of telling her that her cooking was shit, I had painting a nice little symbol on the kitchen door. A symbol that was commonly used to denote Biohazard. We usually ate outside or ordered food since then, but Arianna hadn't wiped out my masterpiece.

Sometimes, I do wonder if she left on purpose.

The kitchen tiles were cool under my feet and the moon threw eerily long shadows across the white Linoleum. I hadn't left the house since the attempt on my life, I hadn't even opened the windows.

The ownership documents were on the platform, where I had dumped them. I hadn't had the guts to reopen old wounds in three days, but something had changed. I was behaving like an idiot because every breath I waste is a breath Ari might not get.

Three days were gone, but I promised myself that I wouldn't waste anymore.

I switched on the light, making the shadows disappear and took a seat at the dining table. Time to figure out which assholes parked a car like that and tried to kill an adult-kid.

There was a lot of bullshit about the model, nothing unusual until I flipped the page. The car was registered to the last person I expected.

Arianna Rebekah Seran.

Huh?

My sister had bought a car? When and how?! We were well off, but not rich enough for a car as expensive as that! Where did she get the cash from? And why was that car used by the mercenaries?

None of it made sense. Every question led to five more. Kai did say the car could be stolen.

But then again, were the mercenaries really trying to kill me?

I'd seen their guns and naturally assumed they were dangerous. But so many pieces didn't fit.

Why knock on my door? Surely any assassin with the intent to kill wouldn't have done that. But I suppose it could have been to minimise the signs of struggle and to check if I was in (thank you CSI). Maybe they were trying to kill me. But the only evidence of that was from Kai. And if I truly believed Kai now, I had to re-evaluate my life. I was beginning to think I had this all wrong. Five mercenaries after a teenage girl of short stature and zero physical strength? Maybe they were trying to protect me.

Or was Arianna's name twisting my perspective?

If there was one person who I could sort of trust it was...the one and only Dean Cavilleri!