Beneath the whispers

Chapter 33

The thought of Olivia attempting to end her life didn’t sit well with me

Yes I have been a bitch to her, I betrayed her and we stopped being friends because of it but how was it that I didn’t see that she was going through so much

I mean, I am a very caring person and I had her best interest at heart – before Jeffery came in and complicated things

I used to take her to parties so she wouldn’t live our high school days without a single experience. I would visit her regularly so we would do assignments together, I even helped her when she wanted to participate in a math competition, I hated maths but I still practiced the calculations with her

We used to go on walks most evening because she loved nature. We would buy street food and eat on our way ignoring the judgemental look from passersby. And yet when she talked, she did so like she had been alone all her life – that kind of hurt though

But then I have been a bitch when it comes to stealing her man. Even though he approached me first and kept trying even when I kept rejecting him until I eventually fell in love with him and then I couldn’t stay away from him any longer

I would have told her from the very start, maybe that would have strengthened my resolve to not let the prick near me

That thought clouded my mind until I dozed off a while ago and the moment I wake again, the thoughts return once more refusing to back down, or at least give me the chance to figure out the dream I just had and what exactly woke me – could be my shock from the dream. I mean it is still night out and everyone seems to be asleep

I didn’t just dream of Jeffery and the day I caught him cheating, but a few extra details I care not pry my mind on. It could be because of this talk I had with Olivia

It might have made me dream of Jeffery and then my subconscious might have decided to add icing to the bitter cake in a bid to punish me for being such a bad friend

A loud scream grows from just outside the hotel and I jerk, Tony wakes the instant and the rest just adjusts their lying position

I stay still looking around till my gaze stops at the door of the hotel, it is slightly open! Oh my God! Did someone just leave the reception, the environment is starting to cool down which is supposed to be comforting since the charcoal heat is terribly uncomfortable but the force of the breeze washing into the room keeps me unsettled

The door slams open from the breeze and the sound from the contact with the wall as it swung alerts the rest

“what was that?” Tony’s voice is throaty, he definitely wants to go back to sleep

“I don’t know, I heard someone shouting outside” I whisper back

“outside? Who the hell opened that door?” he grunts and pushes himself to his feet and then Willow yawns and gets up as well “lets go check it out, you guys remain here”

We nod in response and remain sitting except for Olivia who returned to sleep right away

Tony and Willow walk slowly to the door with deodorant spray and a lighter. They peep outside the door and nod their heads at us

Then they step back to where we were after closing the door again “I am sure I heard the scream” Tony says

“is there anyone missing?” I ask, standing to my feet to survey the villagers, I might not know their numbers but the beds weren’t enough for them so they had to manage small positions to sleep so any gap will mean someone is missing and there is nothing like that

“I don’t think so” Willow says my mind. He sits back on his bed “I am going to sleep”

“its been a long day” I respond. Not uttering a word, Rose and Thelma drift right back to sleep and I do the same

Tony looks around once more before climbing to bed. I close my eyes and try to push my dear friend, Olivia from my mind and before I know it the world is blank again

I don’t know if it has been a lot of time since I slept the second time but I know that I might have heard some screaming that had jerked me awake again

My lids are difficult to keep open but I try the best I could and I turn around.

The teenager that was in charge of taking care of the villagers is kneeling on the floor crying and Tony is consoling her with Willow standing by the closed door and Rose and Thelma is posing beside him with a scowl printed on their faces

I sprung up to my feet and hurried towards them “what happened?” I ask looking from the crying girl to Willow and them to the girls

“we just lost another teenager” Tony says

“how is that possible?” I did notice that inside had become a lot cooler but then there is no way that the shadows had entered the place since it was really warm

“we are waiting for her to cool down so she can tell us how that happened” Thelma hand-gestures at the girl. Irritation lace her words

“we just found her standing by the door and shouting her friend’s name” Willow says, he squats down to the girl’s eyes level and takes her hand “we need you to tell us what happened?” he says softly

The girl whimpers and sniffs “we heard someone screaming so we took the pan to check it out before we woke anybody, the door was already open and the moment we stepped to the door, she disappeared. I was the one with the lamp”

“I did wake up when you dropped the pan” Willow said and straighten back up

We heard screams when we first woke up but there was no sign of anything or anyone missing

If there was anyone that didn’t come to the hotel that is probably being taken I don’t see how these girls decided to check it out instead of waking us but reprimanding the girl will only make us a lot more tensed

Especially when someone starts to have an opinion on how insensitive I will be.

“I think they are using the screams to draw us out. it was a trap and the girls fell into it” Willow says

He is right. We heard the scream and the door slammed open from the wind. But for some reason they didn’t take any of them only to come back after we had fallen asleep with another scream

“they are getting creative” Thelma tugs one end of her lips upward “we need to warn everyone”

“their should be rules, if we want to survive long enough to escape. We don’t know what they will come up with next” Tony says, he helps the girl to her feet and leads her deeper into the reception hall, where the beds were

“I was itching to give that girl a good reprimand” Thelma whispers, fuming through her words “how did they think checking it out first would have helped?”

I chuckle, at least I wasn’t the only one that wanted to shout

On the bright side, we know now that our contender is creative and will look for ways to make sure they take someone whenever they wish

The more people they take the more in danger we were because I don’t want to be the available option and I hate to think it this way but the young among us is drastically reducing. Wait, come to think of it

“did anyone see the man we saved?” I ask and Thelma shrugs in response while

Rose widens her eyes “he must have disappeared during the commotion of settling the villagers in” She looks towards the sleeping congregation “I did look around for him earlier, expecting a thank you for saving his life”

“see me thinking he was one ungrateful bitch” Thelma snorts in her typical shrill voice and I half chuckle, still trying to be chill about it all, because that man might not be who we thought he was

“the man must be working for the shadows” I say

“good point” Rose nods and rests her chin on her knuckles “he just suddenly disappeared after the villagers arrived”

“they knew our plan and staged the attack for us to execute it” Thelma adds with a tiny laugh

“why?” Rose asks no one in particular

“maybe because they wanted to know if our weapons are viable” I say. Intending for it to be a joke

“or they are really playing with us for real” Rose adds

“you guys know you shouldn’t discuss this type of things in the hotel” Willow whispers at us

I didn't know he was there

“we were half whispering and besides this is the reception. You said it wasn't bugged” Thelma complains

“we will meet at the hut once the sun comes up. we will go look for where they keep the captives, that teenage girl might still be alive” he says

“I hope so” I reply wistfully

I don't know her but knowing she was taken by this secret organization, their is no telling what might happen to her. Ugh... They could have just woken someone