Betrayal

The Pizza boy

We ordered sandwiches and milk.

"So we need to find that thing which haunts the villa?" asked Mia.

"Sofia"

"Who?"

"Don't you remember, we read last night"

"Well yeah I do....she committed suicide. But how can you be so sure that it is her"

"Uncle said that the villa is haunted by a girl's spirit"

"Why can't it be someone else?"

"Every news circles around Sofia and hence let's start our investigation with her"

I scrolled down the blogs and opened one on the laptop screen. It read...Joe and Mary Werner found dead in sleep and the family doctor confirmed that they died in sleep. Sofia couldn't tolerate the death of her beloved grandparents and she committed suicide by hanging in her room. Her death turned sensation around the area when her guardian George Fernandez announced her death to the press. Since then...

"Fernandez?" asked Mia

"Yes, her guardian George Fernandez..."

"Don't you get what I am insisting? How Fernandez is related to Werner's family? By name, we could guess that he is not related to Sofia by blood, then how he became her guardian?"

"Maybe through her mother" I searched for Sofia's mother's name and a blog did mention it as Angel Rebecca.

"No match at all !!" exclaimed Mia.

"Hey we bought the villa from George...this means that he is not only the guardian to Sofia but also to her wealth"

"Strange"

"Is he the 'him' she is asking for"

"Maybe. But how to make sure"

"For that, we have to find out whether that girl is Sofia and if so then how George became her guardian"

"Do you really have any idea of where to start?"

"Not exactly"

I closed the laptop screen and looked all around thinking of a way and yeah at a distance I found someone who might show us the way. The pizza boy...who delivered Pizza to the Villa yesterday.

"You stay here; I will be back," I told Mia. I stood up and made my steps towards him.

I smiled at him but he didn't recognize me.

"Excuse me...do you remember me?" asked I

"Sorry, I don't"

"I reside in the happy villa...yesterday you delivered pizza..."

"Yes, yes, yes. I do remember. Actually, I meet lots of people a day, so it's hard for me to remember all"

"Well, that's appropriate. So you reside here?"

"Yeah, I live in Berkeley"

"Can you clarify something?"

"Sure. Ask me."

"I remember what you said yesterday 'This is haunted; some says and some witnessed...' what exactly does this mean?"

"There are rumors around the happy villa that it is haunted by a girl's spirit and it's threatening and killing people who come to reside in that"

"But you said some witnessed. In that case, how can it be a rumor when someone witnessed something strange in the villa?"

He hesitated for a moment before he answered.

"I am trying to become a journalist and this job is just to fill my pocket. I have the habit of reading a variety of magazines to improve my way of writing and conveying news to the public. One day in the city library, I happened to read an article written by a writer named Richard Thomas. His words circled around the villa, I could guess easily as they matched with the rumors around here, but he didn't mention the name of this villa anywhere. I thought it might be a story created by him. But it insisted death of a woman who rented the villa and yeah there was news related to the death of an archaeologist who rented the happy villa a few years back"

I suddenly remembered the blog that I read last night.

"Can you name the magazine?"

"Belief"

"Well...but how can you be so sure that someone witnessed it. As you said his writing could be an outcome of his imagination based on the rumors about the villa"

"Even I thought like that at the beginning, but there was a phrase at the end of his article that it is based on the true events"

"Wow...do you remember the year of its publication"

"I don't exactly, but maybe four or five years back"

"Well thank you..." I stood up to leave.

"Hey wait, why did you ask me all these? Is there anything you experienced lately?"

"Haha" I faked a laugh "Since yesterday I am tired of hearing the haunting of the villa. I just asked to clarify what exactly you meant by the term 'some witnessed' and nothing else. It's getting late for work. Have to complete breakfast and leave. Have a nice day and it was a nice day meeting you"

"Thank you. And you too have a great day"

I smiled and nodded. Without turning back I moved towards my table where Mia was watching me in a horrible manner.

"Boyfriend," she asked.

"Stupid"

"Who is he?"

"The one who delivered pizza to the villa yesterday"

"So you got interested in a Pizza boy?!!"

I stared at her.

"I am sorry. I just tried to joke. Tell me what happened"

"Library"

"What?"

"I mean our next move is finding something in the city library. Let's eat fast and leave. I will tell you every inch of our conversation during our ride"

I almost swallowed the sandwich as I am not much interested in chewing and enjoying it at present. The clock ticked 9. We started our ride towards the city library. I narrated everything to Mia during our ride.

"It means we have to find an article written by Richard Thomas 4 to 5 years back"

"Yeah"

"But why? We already knew everything. All those points were mentioned in the blogs related to the villa"

"To contact the writer actually"

"Why to contact him?"

"To know is he the one who experienced strange things in the villa before us. If so, then we have to make sure that if he knew something that might help us in getting out of the trouble"

"How to contact him with an article?"

"These days, writers are supposed to mention their email address at the end of their writing"

"Brilliant"

"So here it comes"

We reached the library after half an hour's ride.