Velora
Drink one, drink two, drink three. But she didn't stop. She lost count after the fifth one.
The whiskey burned her throat but she could barely feel anything because her mind was a mess. The screen of her laptop glowed in the dim light of the penthouse and she sat in front of it. Tabs scattered all over the screen, articles, reports and tons of pictures. She had gone through every single one of them. Business partners, close allies and enemies of Marcello, her target which she met earlier that night. Yet, there was not a single trace of the man she had seen that same night.
No names, no pictures, no record of him anywhere! Who the hell was he? A fucking ghost?
Scrolling through another page, her fingers hovered over her mouse. Her eyes burned from the blue light of the laptop screen and exhaustion but she wasn't ready to stop. He knew her! He called her by my middle name! A name she hadn't heard since the passing of her mother. He knew exactly who she was and what she did, and that was definitely not normal.
People like him didn't just appear out of the blue. She had worked with too many high-profile jobs to believe in coincidences. People like him left a trail: paperwork, business deals, something! But he was a ghost. And that didn't sit well with her.
Letting out an exhale, she twisted the ring of her left finger. She rubbed a hand over her face. The room spun slightly but she ignored it, strolling towards the bar to get myself another bottle of whiskey.
She needed to know who he was. Was he working with Lilith? How did he come about? What did he want from her? She spent another hour scrolling through files, old archives and even social media pages of people closely connected to Marcello. Yet, nothing. Her patience was running thin and she was resisting the urge to fling her laptop to the other side of the room.
Frustration washed over her. This was pointless. She shut the screen and leaned back against her seat. The effect of the alcohol finally settling in, making her body feel heavy, her thoughts sluggish. Her gaze was locked to the ceiling but all she could see was the man. The ghost man. She finally let sleep takeover.
••
The blaring of her alarm yanked her out of unconsciousness. Her head pounded as she opened her eyes, letting out a groan.
She sat up slowly, wincing at the stiffness in her neck from falling asleep on a couch and the pounding of her head. She rubbed her temple and exhaled. Her mind raced back to the ghost man from last night. She hadn't gotten any answers last night but today she intended to get information on him, no matter how little. She had to drag myself to work like she hadn't spent the night digging up on a stranger who shouldn't exist.
Pushing herself off the couch, she shuffled towards the bathroom. Had a warm shower, although it did nothing to clear her head. At least it made her feel more alive. As she wrapped her robe around herself, her blackphone, the one she kept separate for Syndicate business buzzed on the counter. Greco. A knot tightened in her stomach.
Whenever Greco called in the morning, it was never for good. She knew it.
"Good Morning, old man." She greeted, expecting him to ignore her greeting and drop the bomb.
"Something's up." He stated bluntly, as predicted. Greco was a candid man.
"How bad?"
"Very bad. Lilith is back." Her stomach dropped. Lilith? Back? What the hell!
"The upper management brought her in." Lilith was one person she hoped never to see again.
"Why would they bring her back? What's the ordeal?"
"Yet to find that out. Rumours have it she might be given a higher rank than you."
Her breath hitched. "What?!" She exclaimed.
You have to be on your toes, Velora."
"Yeah, yeah, I will." She let out an exhale as the call disconnected.
Her mind raced. Why would the upper management try to bring Lilith back? Lilith was her mate way back during the days of Syndicate training. They lived in the same dormitory but never got along. Lilith always wanted to be the higher authority, wanted others to be under her and one thing Velora hated was oppressors.
They would fight all the time but neither of them ever won. She was strong, but Lilith was strong too. She was able to make it out of the Syndicate's training programme and even started working for them, which was one thing Lilith could not achieve, and she was happy Lilith could not achieve it. Not until the news this morning.
She paced around her penthouse, running a hand through her neck-length brown bob hair. Lilith's return meant no good. She sat on the dining chair and opened her phone she had been holding and placed a group call to Cassian and Lyriel.
"Pick up…" She muttered after two rings. They picked at the same time.
"Goodmorning Ve—" Lyriel started but was cut short.
"Remember Lilith I told you guys about?"
"Yeah. The one from your days of training with the Syndicate." Cassian said.
"Yes. She's back, and she's here to work with the Syndicate. I got information from Greco this morning that she's back and rumours have it that she was brought in by the upper management and she's most likely going to be given a higher rank than me. You guys know what that means."
"She's going to make sure she removes you from the Syndicate by all means?" Lyriel questions.
"Yeah. She'll try. She definitely cannot do it but Lilith being here means no peace for me."
"So what do we do about it?" Cass spoke after a pause.
"I…" Velora hesitated. "I don't think it's normal. She has backing from the upper management. There's someone pulling the strings from the top. I'm sure about that."
"Yeah…" Lyriel and Cass said together.
Velora took a deep breath, her eyes closed. "I need you both to do something for me. Something crucial."
"You know we're always ready to do anything Ve." Lyriel replied instantly.
"I need you both to investigate Lilith. Find out everything you can about her return. Who exactly in the upper management is behind this. What are their motives? Who is she working closely with? Everything. I want to know everything."
"Consider it done." Cassian, his voice clipped.
"Thank you." Velora said, "I'll be doing my own digging as well. I have a few contacts who owe me favors. I'll start by reaching out to them, see if they've heard anything about Lilith or anything surrounding her return."
"Be careful, Ve," Lyriel cautioned. "If the upper management is involved, you don't want to make any moves that could put you in danger."
"I will be as careful as possible." Velora assured her. "But I can't afford to sit and wait. Lilith being here is threat enough and I need to understand the full scope of it."
"Yeah. Keep us updated on anything you find, and we'll do the same. Stay safe." Cassian added.
"You both too." Velora said and with that, the call got disconnected.
Velora stood up from the dining chair, her thoughts running far and wild. She couldn't underestimate Lilith. Lilith wasn't all bark and no bite and Velora had witnessed it first hand. But one thing she wasn't going to do was let Lilith take her down without a fight. The fact that the upper management was involved made the situation both complex and dangerous, she had to be as careful as possible.
She had to gather more information, that information was not enough. She needed an informant from within the Syndicate as well. She thought about who she could trust to have access to the information she needed. Definitely not Greco, because if he knew more, he'd tell without holding back. She began to pace around again, flying around, looking for answers. Why was Lilith back? And why did the upper management want her? There were too many unknowns. Velora knew she had to act fast.
For now, she had a job at hand. A target to meet. She had to place all her attention on her mission to take down Marcello. As it was, the upper management seemed to have their favorite already. The last she wanted was to do a poor job.