Two hours earlier…
"So what do you intend to do after we retrieve the camera?" Mdachi asked, trailing behind Anita.
Anita paused mid-step and turned back to him. "Exactly what you're thinking," she declared cunningly, then turned ahead again, hand on the railing. "We are going to defy my mother, Dachi. We are going to pry into the investigation."
She glanced back at him with a grin. "And I know where to start," she teased, before looking forward and continuing up the steps.
"Huh?" Mdachi raised a brow.
He stepped aside as a woman hurried past, handbag in place, dressed in formal attire.
Turning back to Anita, his earlier bewilderment sharpened into concern. "What do you mean by that, Anita? What do you plan to do?" A chill phased through his heart. Anita could be notoriously chaotic at times, and her tone just now gave him pause.
Anita waved him off with an eye roll and a soft chuckle.
"You're such a sissy, Mdachi," she teased as she climbed the last steps to the deck. She spun back at him. "And so predictable too."
She winked smugly, then walked a few steps ahead before stopping to lean on the side railing, gazing at the breathtaking highway below. Vehicles glided through with mesmerising ease, the traffic moving with a strange, almost poetic rhythm.
She smiled at a memory.
This used to be one of their favorite places to hang out and chill. The trio.
The sight, the fresh air from the forest, and the wind blowing just right—cooling the skin and ruffling the hair—made it feel like a peaceful city-version of a Rift Valley viewpoint, serene yet alive.
Mdachi stepped onto the deck just as he caught sight of Anita. He froze, lost in her presence.
The blue illumination from the footbridge's curved skylight roof glowed softly on her long obsidian-black hair. Her designer dress, from one of her mother's collections, shimmered magnificently under the light. Her angelic smile lit up her face, even as background passersby moved along unconsciously. The way she leaned on the railing—it was effortlessly cinematic and flawless.
Every detail—the glow, the wind, her pose—made Mdachi feel like he was staring at a scene ripped straight out of a high-quality fashion photoshoot. If the paparazzi had been there, she could have become the cover of every top magazine. Not that she couldn't have, if she wanted to.
"Mdachi."
Gaping.
"Mdachi!"
Still gaping.
"Mdachi!!"
"Yes!" Mdachi answered quickly, jerking out of his trance. "Yeah? Mhm, you were saying?" He propped his head at her, eyes wide, attention fully devoted.
The sight of him made Anita's cheeks puff out. Her eyes shone with amusement.
She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to restrain her laughter. But it burst out uncontrollably. She reveled in it.
Mdachi closed his eyes, shook his head vigorously, and finally regained his senses.
"My God… you are so beautiful, Anita. I'm… sorry for staring."
"Ughhh," Anita groaned. "You don't have to apologise, silly." She tapped his nose playfully.
"Really?" Mdachi asked, confused. Didn't girls usually dislike being stared at?
"Yes, really," she replied, hooking their arms together. "And after all," she raised her shoulder confidently, "I already know I'm beautiful."
If beauty were a crime, she would have received a life sentence… plus a multibillion fine for optical harassment of anyone who laid eyes on her, male or female.
"Now, let's go get that camera. Shall we?"
"But… you didn't quite say what exactly you're planning to do afterwards."
"No. I did say what I plan for us to do," she replied, "I just didn't clarify where we'll do it. And if you're thinking it's Beatrice's place, like I think you are, you're mistaken."
She looked ahead with a mischievous smile. "I saw something intriguing yesterday in the storeroom… and that's where we start. Something tells me that trunk down there isn't ordinary." Her gaze drifted back ahead, persistent and teasing. "It's one with tantalising secrets." Her smile lingered, playful yet determined.
---------------
Reaching the door, Mdachi went ahead and pressed the bell.
No response—not even a faint, "I'm coming!"
He tried again.
Still nothing.
He stepped away from the door and peered through a window.
The house was desolate.
"What? No one's inside?" Anita asked, leaning casually against the wall beside the door.
"Seems like it," Mdachi answered.
He stepped back from the window and faced forward, staring blankly at the house across the street, hands on his hips. He let out a sigh.
A young couple walking their dog happened to pass by on the opposite pavement.
The woman stared at them suspiciously.
Anita felt uncomfortable. She pushed off the wall and walked close to Mdachi. "Look at the way that bitch is looking at us," she sneered.
"Anita," Mdachi warned through his teeth, keeping a fake smile as he continued to stare at the skeptical couple.
"What? She makes me wanna cut her stupid hair and braid it onto her Golden Retriever. That's after slapping the crap out of her. I mean, what's her problem? Why would she look at us like we're burglars strategizing to break into a house or something?"
Mdachi didn't respond.
"We aren't even strangers in this neighborhood," Anita added.
Finally, Mdachi gave her a cautionary glance.
Anita groaned, rolling her eyes, then followed the couple with her gaze. "Bitch!" she spat.
The woman suddenly stopped and stared blankly at them. The man stopped too, though he seemed indifferent to her fixation.
"Leave them be and let's just go, baby," Mdachi read the man's lips.
The woman shoved him aside.
"That's it," Anita fumed, starting toward the porch steps. "Let bitch meet Bitch."
Mdachi grabbed her arm and stopped her. He raised his other hand and waved warmly at the couple with a plastered smile.
"Join in," he whispered to Anita through the smile.
"No way!" Anita demurred.
Mdachi couldn't force her, so he continued waving.
"See, baby?" Mdachi read the man's lips again. "Let's just go, okay? We should—" The man turned away before Mdachi could catch the rest.
The woman finally obliged and walked away with him.
The dog barked jubilantly, leading them ahead with its tongue out and tail wagging.
"Bitch!" Anita cursed again.
Mdachi dropped his facade and gave her a blasé look.
He walked to the porch entrance, rose onto his tiptoes, and dipped his hand into one of the flower pots suspended from the intricately curved beam.
No key.
He tried the other one.
Still no key.
"Ughh," he groaned. "Where the hell did they leave the key? Where could they even have gone to today?"
Randomly, Anita walked to the door and turned the knob. She didn't expect anything, but just as she almost withdrew, the door suddenly opened.
"Hmm," she scoffed in jade.
Mdachi was still shaking dirt from the pots off his hand, grumbling, when Anita called him. "A-hem. Baby boy."
He turned to her.
"Look," Anita showcased, then pushed the door wide open.
Mdachi didn't know what to say.
"Something caught your tongue?" Anita poked.
"I… I didn't think of that," Mdachi admitted, embarrassed.
"For the smart one, you should have."
Mdachi just sighed.
They got into the house and closed the door.
"Auntma?" Mdachi called out. "Renee?"
No response.
"Where are they?…" He turned to ask Anita but didn't see anyone beside him.
She suddenly appeared from around the staircase. "No one down here," she declared. "Maybe they are upstairs?"
"Impossible. They wouldn't leave the door like that if they were."
"How could you be so sure?" Anita challenged, walking into the space between the kitchen and living room. She looked toward the living room. "You never know, you know?" She turned toward the kitchen. "Maybe they f—"
"Wait!" She pointed to the kitchen window that opened to the backyard. "There she is! Auntma!"
Mdachi rushed to look.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Wait… is she gardening?"
"From the looks of it, yeah."
Outside, Miridald knelt before a flower bed next to the shed, tending to it. Digging out recently grown weeds, then hilling soil around the flowers' stems.
She wiped beads of sweat from her forehead with her gloved hand. She wore yellow gloves, a hair net, and white gumboots for the gardening exercise.
"Hey—"
Mdachi covered Anita's mouth and drew her back.
Anita was slightly vexed.
Mdachi explained, "Let's talk to her after we get the camera, okay?"
She saw the sense in that. "Okay."
Then she remembered something. She puckered her lips. "You're right!…"
"Am I ever wrong?" Mdachi countered in his mind.
"We need her distracted. And since there seems to be no one else around?" She whispered, glancing around suspiciously as if someone could appear out of nowhere at any moment. "This is our ideal opportunity."
Mdachi pouted flatly at her suspicious behavior.
"Now let's go," Anita dragged him along, as if the idea had been hers from the start.
---
Reaching the storeroom, Anita immediately tied her hair and rushed to the corner where the chairs had been drawn out the previous day.
The chairs were back in place.
She began pulling them out, pushing the tower of boxes that cornered them away to ease her work.
Mdachi went straight to the shelf and began searching.
"Where did Jesse say he kept the camera again?" he yelled over Anita's racket.
"Look for a box pulled slightly over the edge!" Anita yelled back, pushing a particular incongruous tower of boxes further away from the chairs. "The camera should be beside it and cloaked."
She dusted her hands and stared at the tower in jubilation. She was proud of her work.
"Time to get back to it," she said, turning to the chairs happily. She had almost cleared them and was close to the trunk; she could see it now.
Mdachi tapped each side of the box he found slightly pulled over the edge. The pulsing sunlight drifting through the ribbon of window wells made it hard to see. He wished the clouds would stop washing past the sun.
He suddenly felt something small, cold, and metallic.
He knew it was the camera.
"Phew!" he sighed, drawing it out. "Almost thought someone beat me to you." He had never felt so happy to see that oddly colored gadget.
"I found it, Anita!" Mdachi declared exuberantly, holding the camera aloft. "Edward was right not to panic after all!"
He let out another breath. "I'm so glad no one found it before me. Jesse is a genius for cloaking it."
"Yeah. That's nice," Anita said, pulling the last chair away. She didn't seem too concerned.
"Well, that's nice," Mdachi countered sarcastically.
Anita stopped and exhaled. She had started sweating from all the work. "I'm sorry it came off ingenuine, Dachi. I'm just fixated on this thing." She pointed to the trunk.
"Wow!" Mdachi remarked, seeing the trunk for the first time. "It baffles me how I didn't notice it last time. That's some conspicuous and intriguing trunk."
"Told ya. Now help me pull it out."
Mdachi shoved the camera into his pocket and grabbed the side handle with Anita. They began pulling, the camera's strap dangling outside his pocket.
But just then, they heard someone enter the storeroom.
They quickly froze, standing awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
Miridald's legs, then the lower part of her dress, appeared as she descended the stairs.
They swallowed hard and exchanged glances, unaware of how they would explain themselves.
"Shit!" Mdachi cursed inwardly.
"Bloody luck," Anita thought.
When Miridald reached the landing, she gave them a surprised and inquisitive look.
Even more surprised, she noticed the disheveled state of the room.
They had wide, plastic smiles plastered on their faces.
Then, abruptly, Miridald saw the camera strap hanging from Mdachi's pocket.
Her face fell. Her breathing hitched, chest rising and falling in huge tides. She seemed to have seen a ghost.
"Auntma?" Anita called out concerned and surprised. She approaching her.
Reaching her, she stretched out her hands to support her.
Miridald grabbed one and bent forward, using her other hand for balance on her knee as she took deep breaths.
Mdachi stared in bewilderment. He didn't know how to help or why auntma had suddenly started panicking like that.
"Deep breaths, Auntma," Anita guided, rubbing Miridald's back with her other hand. "We're sorry for practically breaking into the house. We didn't mean to scare y—"
"I'm sorry, Anita," Miridald suddenly said, snapping upright and placing her thumb on Anita's forehead. She muttered something. "Nindra vat-ii."
Anita's eyes instantly closed and she fell asleep.
Miridald caught her gently, placing her on the floor.
Mdachi's jaw dropped. For a second, he couldn't move. His eyes danced with shock.
He could barely feel or hear his heartbeat.
He could barely think coherently. The reveal tore his mind and sanity wide open.
Miridald's eyes weighed heavy with guilt, sorrow, and remorse for what she was about to do again.
She approached him.
Mdachi moved back, keeping distance. His breathing quickened, trembling uncontrollably as if having an asthma attack.
"Come down, baby. I don't want to hurt you, okay?"
Mdachi still retreated, circling the box tower with precision, every step calculated.
Miridald pursued him, circling as well.
"Just calm down, okay? I can explain." She couldn't—not at that moment.
She tried to lunge for him, but Mdachi opportunely shoved the stack of boxes onto her.
They collapsed onto her with a yelp, causing her to fall with them.
"I'm sorry," Mdachi apologized hastily and rushed for Anita.
He hadn't fully grasped what was happening, but he knew they had to get out. Out before auntma could do whatever she was planning to do . Out before his mind exploded from all the blaring questions and thoughts that jarred it.
His heart wasn't in a better condition either, but he manned up and hurriedly picked Anita into his arms.
Just as he was about to step onto the first stair, he suddenly lost control of his body and froze.
With Anita still in his arms, he was lifted slightly off the ground and turned back around.
A purple glow surrounded them.
Miridald stood amidst the boxes she'd been crushed under, right arm stretched forth, hand glowing purple.
She had a slight bruise on her head and was breathing heavily.
"I'm sorry, Mdachi," she spoke genuinely, "but I just can't let you guys leave here. Not just yet."
She rotated her hand in an arc, curling her fingers inward.
Mdachi and Anita floated toward her.
"But I promise: you'll be safe."
She placed her thumb on Mdachi's forehead.
Mdachi could only watch.
"Nindra vat-ii."