Ordinary Life: The Challenge

Investigating the Party

Bruno and I were preparing to leave for Justin's surprise party, at Justin's house. I decided to wear a dress, giving the fact that my belly was poking out a little more than usual. Bruno stayed as casual as possible, but still had a taste of that classiness on him. Instead of driving, Bruno decided to get a driver to take us to the party, since we were still shooken up from the last incident.
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With the present in my hand, Bruno knocked on the door. My palms were sweaty, I couldn't explain why, but this tingling feeling in my belly wouldn't go away, and it wasn't my baby. "Hey Eve, hey Bruno! Thank you so much for coming." Damian greeted us. "Thank you for inviting us!" "Come on in! Justin is on his way right now." We jotted our way in and socialized for a short amount of time. It felt good to have people congratulate me on my pregnancy. Maybe it wasn't so bad that I'll have to carry this baby for the next five and half months. Each and every day, it scares me, but then I feel relieved that I have Bruno by my side every step of the way.

"Okay everyone!" Damian said in a loud whisper. "Justin is coming right now." Every room and corner became quiet and dark, and everyone found a place to hide.

"Damian, babe, I'm home." Justin entered. The lights flashed on and everyone jumped out, shouting and screaming, "Surprise!" With amazement and shock, Justin was absolutely speechless. "Oh my God, for me?" Justin asked. "All for you." Damian kissed Justin and everyone clapped and cheered for them. "Now the party begins!" Many people raised up their glasses of champagne or beer in the air and the music began to play. This was like an old school high school kickback. Everyone in the living room, partying, just having the time of their life.

"Genevieve." A woman tapped me. I turned to see Veronica. I rolled my eyes, annoyed to see her. "We need to speak; privately, please." I looked back at Bruno, who gave me a nudge to go speak with her. My blood was boiling and my finger tips were tingling.

We walked to a study room, which appeared to be an office and a library combined. Books stacked from the floor to the ceiling, with a desk in the corner and laptop sitting on top. "What the hell do you want, Lapierre. I'm sick and tired of you coming to Bruno's house uninvited, and always making an appearance among us, when we clearly want nothing to do with you."

There was a wooden board with a book sitting on the edge of a cart behind Veronica. She threw her leg back, kicking the edge of the board, sending the book flying in the air. Without my knowledge, a knife fell out of the book and fell perfectly into her hand. She was quick. Quicker than I expected. She aligned and pressed her forearm against my collar bone, pushing me against the wall of books. She pressed the tip of the blade under the hinge of my jaw, creating a dent in my skin.

"You think that scares me?" I laughed. She moved the knife down to the side of my stomach. If that knife penetrated my skin, my baby was done for. "No, but this does." My heart was racing. "You're not going to push me around no longer, Reynolds. I am not the enemy here. I am your ally." "How can I trust you? How can I trust you, when you killed my sister?" She removed the knife from me and put it in her holster, attached to her right thigh.

"I never killed your sister. I barely knew her. I knew Brandon more than anything." I straightened out my dress and watched Veronica walk around the room. "What do you know?" "Brandon and I, used to be lovers. Strong and passionate lovers. When we met, he said he was single, and so was I, but he was a liar. Every Wednesday night, he'd take me to a fancy restaurant called Yanni's Seafood Paradise. He'd tell me how he'd take me around the world. I loved him. But then I found out about Genesis, your sister. He said he was going to leave her, but I backed away until it was finalized. For weeks he stopped calling me. I called him once, and he said we wanted to stay with her and he dumped me. Oh I was devastated. I lost everything."

I interrupted and said, "So what? You got your vengeance? You took out my sister so you can just get a hold of her husband?" "Isn't that what you want to think? The killer is closer than you think, Genevieve. If I really killed your sister. If I really had that much hate in my heart, I wouldn't have been making small talk with you. I would've taken all of you out in a heart beat. I'm just as skilled as you, Genevieve, but I'm not stupid." "Why are you helping me? Like why?" I asked. "Because I want vengeance." "Why?" Veronica rolled her eyes and dug in her bra, pulling out a piece of paper. "Because sometimes you're stubborn, I thought you'd need a new one." She handed me the paper with the riddle written upon it.

Suite of the Masters
Under the pipes
In the box, black and white stripes
Find the code
Unlock the toad

"What is this supposed to mean?" I asked. "Don't over think it." The door knob began to shake. Someone was trying to get inside. Veronica panicked and said, "Under the desk. Now!" We quickly crawled under the desk.

The door creaked open and a stream of music flew inside as well. "Hmm." A man hummed. The creaking of the floor from his footsteps made my stomach tighten. "Ah, here it is." Later, the footsteps traveled outside of the room, and the door closed.

Veronica and I crawled from under of the desk and stood up. "This paper, will lead you to all the answers you've been searching for. If I could tell you, I would, but people are watching and listening. Read that paper carefully. It'll click to you."