Out of Focus |finished|

12- anger issues and secret cameras

"What do we do now?" Simi asked Malachi, her voice barely a whisper and suddenly filled with the feeling of hyperventilation.

She thought she knew Elder. Grew up with and did almost everything with him and now a photobook was telling her that everything she thought she had known about her best friend might be false.

"How should I know? It seems to me that he foolishly got himself killed," Malachi began calmly but hit the desk with both hands so hard that some of the photos flew down to the floor.

"What do you mean by that?" Simi's voice was on edge now, hyperventilation about to set in.

"I mean I don't know!" Malachi shouted and hit the desk again.

He'd had anger issues for a long time and always controlled himself but he was losing control that night and fast. He got up and threw the photobook in the air, splattering the whole room with photos and then began hitting the wall of Simi's room with a furious intensity.

Simi's hyperventilation issue disappeared as she stared at Malachi, acting like a child who had been refused his favorite toy.

He turned towards the only dressing mirror in the room and was about to hit it when Simi shouted, "If you so much as touch the mirror, I swear to God Kai, I'll poke your eyes out with my eyeliner pencils and feed them to you."

He stopped in his tracks momentarily and turned to Simi. Surveying her and the room, he realized the amount of damage he had done in just a few minutes. Guilt and shame were seeping into his mind all at once.

"Si I'm sorry. I don't know-," Malachi began to explain.

"Just get out of my room Kai." Simi shook her head, her voice neither condescending nor angry but just tired.

"Let me help you clean up the mess I've made." He tried again and moved towards hers, wanting to touch her.

But Simi stood there, hands crossed and mind made up like an Amazon Warrior. Her eyes were suddenly void of any emotions and Malachi knew he had gone too far.
"Get out of my room Kai. Go deal with your childish anger issues and leave me alone."

She scolded him and watched as he dropped is head and walked out pf the room without looking back.
Immediately he left, Simi started picking up all the photos that were scattered in the room, tears furiously falling down her face.

Two days later, the weekend had begun and Simi hadn't talked to Malachi once. His outburst had frightened her and she needed time to wrap her mind around it.
Not to mention that her roommate was angry at her for apparently messing up her wardrobe and stuff. Something she hoped had nothing to do with the photobook.

That Saturday morning, after doing her laundry and her Genetics assignment, Simi dressed in a casual overalls and placed the photobook in her schoolbag. Her destination, the campus police.
The photobook was changing her and Malachi gradually, making them part of something so big and dangerous that it sent shivers down her body every time she thought about it.

She left her room and was approaching the hostel main gate when she saw Malachi enter and coming towards her. Her heart skipped a beat. He was the last person she wanted to see.

"Hey Si." Malachi said when he got to her, hands in his pocket and smiling sheepishly.

"Kai. I'm not angry at you. Let's just put everything behind us okay?"

"Yes! Thank you so much Si." He stretched his hands to embrace but Simi stopped him.

"I'm going to give the photobook to the campus police."

Simi walked past him and Malachi followed her, surprised by what she had just said. "And what if the police are also in Elder's photos. We haven't gone through all of them remember?" Malachi countered.

Simi stopped in her tracks and turned to him, "They are not. What do you want us to do huh? These photo scare the living day out of me and if Elder died because of them, what's to say we aren't next?"

"Don't we need justice for our friend? Look at what they did to him Si. I go to sleep every single night thinking of how he laid there on the ground, dying slowly. I love you Si and if you can't do this then I understand but I need to find who killed the only brother I ever had."
There were no tears in Malachi's eyes, just a firm determination.

"Let's find out who did this to him then." Simi stared at Malachi for a moment and replied, her voice low and full of uncertainty.

"My place. I feel like someone's watching us." Malachi looked around suspiciously.

Abby used the spare key that Elder had given her to open he and Malachi's room and entered. With grim determination, she began setting up secret cameras the size of pebbles all over the room.
Her boss had been intrigued and wanted to know more of Malachi's findings before they would decide what to do with him and Simi.

When she set the last camera in place on the ceiling fan, Abby locked the door and rushed down to her room but not before she bumped into Malachi and Simi.
They looked at her with a confused look but she gave them a wave and walked past. Abby let out a sigh as she turned to their retreating backs and smiled to herself.

Author's Note.

This is where the search for Elder's killer actually begins! Who do you think had a hand in his death?
The SRC president, lecturers, the girl talking to the now dead students or the TAs?
Let's discuss!