The clock ticked; it was 5 am in the morning.
Raven and Ed were both night owls, but still it was hard for them to keep their eyes open. They went through a tremendous amount of terror that night. They were all exhausted too. Raven kept wondering about the password. Why would she just change it all of a sudden? Good thing that she figured it out quickly; or else she had to hack it through, which needed a lengthy time. It was not wholly a surprise, whatever she saw in that phone kinda made sense of her cryptic behaviour. "She's in big nasty trouble", Raven thought to herself. Looking at Ed, his face was also giving an exhausted look, but he also wanted to know what actually happened. So Ed could not resist, "Have any idea what the ghost looked like?" Raven chortled and replied, "That's been bothering you from the start, hasn't it?" They both chuckled, and Ed begun,
- You've seen the record. What did they get in it?
- Nothing.
- Really? Then what were you looking at in the record for so long?
Ed frowned curiously, but Raven just got more exhausted and looked away, "Our failure", she replied.
Meanwhile, Marlin and Tina could hardly get a cab. They had to walk a long way to the bus station. Good thing they both wore sneakers. After all, they were all out to hunt ghosts, easy to run away from them on sneakers. Nevertheless, they were worn out too. Fortunately, they got the 5 am bus in the morning. So, they didn't miss the bus. After climbing into a bus, they bumped into the seats in the second row. Marlin wanted to sleep so badly after having a comfortable backrest on his backside. "Why don't you go and take a nap in Lora's apartment? Also get your phone charged there." Marlin wanned and yawned. Tina asked,
- Really? What about you?
- I think I need to head home.
- When should I head to the hospital then?
- Feel free to go there, whenever you want.
Marlin dozed off before saying anything more. He could barely open his eyes. But after dropping Tina to Lora's apartment, he had to pull himself together and stay awake. Two men next to his seat were observing his struggle.
All Marlin had to do was to walk a few more steps after getting off the bus. He noticed two men getting off the bus with him too. To make sure if they were actually following him, he walked faster to his home. They walked faster than him. It was of great unfortunate that they did not take any more chances. The surroundings were too tranquil and serene, not a soul was there to witness; but one more step, then they'd lose their very first meal of the day. One of the suspicious men grabbed Marlin from behind and pressed his knife behind Marlin's back. The other one ran out to them and stepped towards Marlin, holding another small shiny knife. They were both usual snatchers hands down; roam at night for new targets to get alone, and pick pockets in the daylight. It was too dark to see the face of the guy standing before Marlin, but his teeth sparkled when he grinned; they were most probably black, or only the one who was standing towards them.
- Try to scream and I cut you into halves.
- Now don't cry on us, babe. Just make us happy.
- Give it all you got, homeboy.
Friends, just to hangout. But personal troubles must be kept secret. So, even after having friends, people are lonely, looking for a loyal partner all the time, craving for one. Not only Lora, everyone in their circle kept their troubles to themselves. Maybe Tina was open minded among all. Raven envied her all the time. Not only because she was adored by everyone for being open minded and innocent, it seemed like she was having a simple social life with soothed positive ideologies and a very cute personality. Friendship was something else to Tina, something that she worshipped. Marlin was supposed to be Raven's competition, she liked Lora the way Marlin liked Lora too. But Raven also knew that Marlin had no chance with Lora. On the other hand, Tina was close to Lora, they seemed pretty close like sisters. Lora cared for her like her guardian angel. No doubt that the foolish girl had the whole heart of Lora. So, there were a lot of reasons for her jealousy. Raven wished if it were her who had all that attention. If Tina hadn't shared her concern, then Raven would have never known Lora's password. However, it wasn't the time to show jealousy. Lora was keeping her biggest problem a secret which could form a bigger problem to their career in future. Marlin would do anything for Lora. It wouldn't be wise to share the concern with him, but Lora just left no choice. Steps must be taken wisely; the case was too sensitive.
"I'll text him then", Raven decided, "and talk about it with him in person."
> From: Kent Ruby
> To: Marlin Walker
> We need to talk about Lora. She's been compromised. Ik why.