Chapter One

 Adira Ravenson was blissfully dozing in her marketing class, when the lights went out. As if she had been shaken awake, she looked up and blinked, half afraid that she had been caught by the rigid Ms. Darian who demanded that each student listen to her lectures on marketing research with rapt attention.

But Ms. Darian was more of a bore and her lectures, though informative were simply dreary. Adira peeked up from her desk, glad that she was hidden behind some of the taller students in class, and saw to her relief that the lights had been put out so that the professor could turn on one of her insipid presentations.

She began in a monotonous tone and Adira felt on the verge of slumber again. That was when the door opened, and a student popped his head in. Ms. Darian reprimanded the student who mumbled a profuse apology and then was allowed to climb up the stairs to seek a seat.

It was when the glow from the white slides of the presentation lit up the room that Adira saw who it was. She straightened, glaring at him as he looked all around the room for an empty chair. He wasn’t going to find one of course. Ms. Darian’s class was full and the only empty seat was beside her.

Adira gritted her teeth when he saw her. Neil Barders- the bastard who had ruined her college life. Until he had entered her life, she had been popular in college, doing well in her studies and was on track to getting graduated with a more than decent GPA.

Then Neil had done something despicable and she was suddenly ostracised by everyone. The only reason there was an empty seat beside her was because all the students had deliberately avoided sitting with her.

Neil was holding onto his backpack which he dropped beside her reluctantly when he saw no other vacant seat. Pulling out the chair, he sat down and made an obvious act to pull the desk away from her.

Adira rolled her eyes and leaned back on her seat, chewing on the pen and putting in all effort to avoid looking at him. But it was of no use. She could never forget how he had ruined her life and her hatred for him had been festering for too long. Now, all she wanted to do was strike out. She imagined slamming her heavy textbook on his head, or picking up her chair and slamming it on him like in the wrestling matches she had taken to recently.

She let out a shaky breath which caught Neil’s attention. They looked at each other at the same time and she saw the scowl on his face. She in turn, whipped her head around and pushed her straight long dark hair behind her. Going back to chewing on the end of the pen, she also kept stretching the wool of her olive green cardigan with her nail, until one of the strings came undone.

The lights went on then and Ms. Darian came forward to address them. “Don’t forget, you have a project due this semester,” she said. “You will be required to give a presentation on your research topic as well as present a thesis.” She went over to the lectern and looked down at some papers. “It will carry forty percent of your grade for this course. You will all be working in pairs.”

Adira sighed. Of course, no one would want to work with her. She had become a pariah in the last three months.

“The person you’re sitting next to is your partner,” Ms. Darian announced in a tone that was both jaded and draconian.

Beside her, Neil sat up straight, looking like a defenceless animal caught in headlights. She almost laughed at his predicament. The girl whose life he had ruined, he had to work with to achieve a high grade. And she knew he needed to pass this course with nothing short of an A if he had to keep his GPA from going under two.

Adira looked at him and smirked as Neil looked stricken at the paper being passed around where the students had to write down who they were working with.

Neil, with his grey eyes and dark brown hair and fair skin, wasn’t exactly bad looking, but it was his deeds that made him a monster. He moved around in his chair like a fish out of water and kept adjusting his red shirt. When the paper came over to him, he just stared at it.

Adira removed the pen from her mouth and handed it to him. “Here you go,” she said, sweetly.

Neil didn’t look at her. He wouldn’t meet her eyes and she had a sudden urge to shake him and ask him how he could be so cruel to her.

“Of course, if you can’t take on the challenge of working with me, then you should probably go up to the professor and whine about how you are being unfairly paired with me.” Adira made a clicking sound with her tongue. “Poor you. Stuck with a girl whose life you ruined. Are you worried how I’m going to exact my revenge from you?”

“You are nothing,” Neil whispered, his voice venomous. “You deserved what happened to you.”

“Because I dumped you?” Adira snorted. “How pathetic. It hurt your ego that much that you thought it was okay to post lies about me on social media?”

“They weren’t all lies!” He almost crushed the paper in his hands.

The student behind him, tapped his shoulder. “Are you done?”

Adira snatched the paper from Neil’s hands and wrote down both their names. She smiled widely at him. “There.” She got up as the other students started to leave. “See you tomorrow then. At the library?”

She was walking down the stairs, slinging her bag behind her, when she felt a vicious tug. She was whipped around and Neil was holding her by the elbow. “We are not working on this together. I’ll do my half and you do yours. I do not want to see your face, do you get that?”

Adira slapped his hand away. “Touch me again and you’ll regret it.”

Neil swung his backpack on and pushed past her. Adira glared after him, but made sure he was a safe distance from her before she exited. Her anger was beyond control. If she saw him again, she would probably not use her words to express how pissed off she was with him for breaking her heart and then her reputation.

She was the last one to leave the classroom and by then, she had managed to rein her ire. There was still some time before her next class, so she decided to find a secluded spot to have a cup of coffee and then plan her assignments.

Fifteen minutes later, she was walking to the campus grounds, a paper cup in her hand and looking for a bench to sit on and enjoy the cloudy day. Unlike the other students who were terrified that it would rain and spoil their clothes, Adira actually loved the cool weather and the heavy grey shapes of the clouds.

She easily found a bench under a tree and put her bag beside her. Staring at the birds flying across the white and grey sky, she let some of the serenity of her environment, calm her down.

Taking a deep breath, she was pleased to let her lungs fill with fresh cool air, perfumed by flowers that were growing around her. Taking a sip of coffee, she was aware she was smiling to herself. It didn’t matter that she was alone and people refused to even look at her, she hadn’t given up and killed the fire inside her.

Poor Neil, she thought. He has no idea what I have in store for him.

Her cellphone rang just then, breaking the peace of her surroundings. She frowned when she saw a number flash that she didn’t recognize. Putting down her cup, but still keeping a hand on it so that it wouldn’t tip over, she swiped her finger.

“Hello?”

“This is Detective Ramon Windew. Am I speaking to Adira Ravenson?” The voice was tough and stern.

“Yes?” Her heart sank. Why is the police calling me? What has gone wrong? Is it someone I know?

There was a small pause. “Are you related to Sibyl Ravenson?”

Adira didn’t care about her coffee any more. She stood up so suddenly that the paper cup tipped over and the coffee fell all over the concrete pavement that served as a walkway from the college to the gardens.

This was a name she hadn’t heard in ten years.

“She’s my sister,” she said through numb lips.

Another pause. Another heart sinking pause.

“Ma’am, your sister hasn’t been seen since a week. After a report was filed, we entered her apartment and...”

“Is she all right?” Her heart felt heavy and constrained.

The man continued with obvious annoyance. “Her apartment looked like it had been broken into. We found a diary which had your number. And to answer your question, as I mentioned before, she hasn’t been seen. She has disappeared. I wanted to ask you if she’s made any contact with you.”

“I haven’t talked to her in ten years.” Adira sat down again, feeling like she had been pushed to the ground. “She had my number?”

This time the man on the other line let out an exasperated breath. “Of course. She’s your sister, is she not?”

“We haven’t spoken in ten years. She ran away from home.” Adira swallowed, trying to control the blabbering words emitting from her mouth.

“Oh.” The detective seemed to be pondering and she could hear gentle tapping sounds. She imagined he must be on his desk, judging her dysfunctional family.

“Well apparently she has been keeping tabs on you,” he continued. “She has liked your college page, has browsed all your social media pages, in fact bookmarked them. Her apartment is not far from your college.”

Adira felt like something was pushing her down into the ground. “She lives nearby?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t met her.” The detective was obviously judging her by the unmasked surprised she noted in his tone.

“What else have you found out about my sister? Has she been kidnapped? Hurt?” Adira rubbed her forehead.

“No trace absolutely.” The detective sounded like a robot. It was obviously routine for him. He must have seen countless murders, kidnappings, home invasions, for this to stand out for him. He clearly didn’t sympathize with the victims or the families any more.

Adira was on the verge of desperate pleas and sobs. “How can I help? We have to find my sister!”

“I’ll need your statement,” the detective said. “Anything you tell us may help us find your sister.”

“Of course. Where should I come?”

“No need for you to come down at the station. I’ll come around to your college tomorrow and take your statement.” He seemed apathetic to her distress. He was making plans as if he was about to deliver her a package instead of helping her find her sister. “Since you haven’t had any contact with your sister, you’re unlikely to have any hints as to her whereabouts. I’ll be talking to her colleagues first.”

“Where was she working?”

The detective sighed, as if fed up of her constant questions. “You didn’t know? Your sister is an investigative reporter.”

Adira bit down on her bottom lip. So Sibyl had finally followed her dreams. “Where did she work?”

“The Lion’s Den.” He said. “I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven-thirty. I should be done with the interviews by then.”

“Okay.” Adira said in a voice that seemed distant to her. She put down her phone and looked up at the sky that cracked with lightening.

When the first of the raindrops fell, Adira had a sudden feeling of despair in her heart.

Oh no, Sibyl. What did you do?