Tracing back footsteps reminded me of all the episodes of Scooby Doo I watched as a kid. In fact, Sammy resembled Velma to every tiny detail. The window Daisy escaped through opened into the back of our institute. Dark shrubberies and chattering crickets were all that place had ever known. The imagination of Daisy's pretty face hued in her own blood was haunting me. What if some animal got to her before we did? She had chosen the worst place to escape in the worst time of the night. Sammy and I weren't lucky enough to find Daisy's delicate footprints as the rain had washed most of them away. I remember how the thunder had been particularly cruel that night. In the moment, the thunder seemed poetic as I drew my lovely daisies, but the cruelty of reality was aching.
What would Daisy have had to endure to make such a decision? Who was she and where had she come from? No one seemed to care enough to find out. The new replacement for Daisy was an obnoxious guy named Arnold. He was nothing like her. His voice didn't sound like soft drops of rain, instead, it sounded like the worst cases of lightning. His appearance didn't resemble divinity in any form as he walked into class in raggedy old clothes. His heart had no such shine that Daisy's held, as he bullied his way through class. People had completely started ignoring Daisy's disappearance, treating her as if she never existed. I could feel the principal's vigilance towards me. He watched me like a hawk all day. The nights were worse. Hostel curfew had been reduced by two whole hours. It was certain that no one wanted this investigation to go on any further.
Sammy and I had decided that the only way to find something was to scope out Daisy's room. I waited at the other end of the window while Sammy ran up to Daisy's room where Lila was blasting her music. After a million knocks and a few kicks on the door, Lila finally heard Sammy and let her in. Sammy waved at me and pointed up her thumb to let me know she was in. Lila gave me a gore look saying, "is this some sort of weird way to set me up with you Neil? You look great and all but you are not my type. Samantha on the other hand would look great next to you. Maybe you should- "; before Lila ruined a perfectly good friendship, Sammy turned the music back on. She screamed through the music, "actually, I was here to talk about Daisy." "Not you too! I already told the warden I will not talk about Daisy. I am tired of the threats and now she has sent you too? If anyone asks, my mouth is zipped, okay? Please just leave me alone!" Lila's words shook me to my core. She was being forced to hide evidence in order to save the institute. What kind of political strategies had we walked into? In what world had reputation become more valuable than a girl's life?
"Lila, on the contrary, we want you to show us everything. Every piece of information you have on Daisy, every single clue she might have left behind, anything at all, we need you to show us. Please!" Sammy exclaimed. Lila had an expression of fear written all over her face. Her eyes sneakily peaked at the empty side of the room, as if she were trying to hide something. She shook her head no, opening the door before her and asking Sammy to leave. Sammy held onto Lila's arm, reassuring her that she was going to be okay but Lila remained persistent. Her fear felt real. It spread all around her like a plague as we felt a shiver down our spine just like her. I could tell we were being watched because the urgency in Lila's request for us to leave her alone made me question if she was going to be safe or not. A tear rolled down Lila's face as she swallowed her fear and turned the music back on. She quietly muttered, "Sammy, I am scared. All the threats I have been getting from the admin are freaking me out. What if Daisy didn't run? What if she was actually thrown out and made to disappear for being at the wrong place or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time? This college has a secret it will do anything to keep hidden. My life is on the line. Please, just go. Anything Daisy left here has already been taken. My room was searched at night. In fact, they even took some of my things that they thought were suspicious. Did you know that the internet has been down? Something fishy is going on and they don't want it to escape the creepy walls of the institute. I think it would be better if you stay out of this or else, they will get to you too. You need to go before- ". Before Lila finished what she had to say, the door swung wide open. The warden was standing right at the door with a wicked look in her eyes. She inspected the dubious vibes in the room as she walked around to see if anything seemed out of place. She faked a smile at Sammy as she walked towards the window. Getting a sight of me standing underneath, she immediately scorned, "maybe the barricades weren't enough to keep the bad things out. The window needs to be sealed up. Lila, pack your things." Lila left out a cry imagining the outcomes she was going to face. Sammy gave a sneaky look to the warden, trying to catch the slightest hint of what was going on.
Sammy and I were afraid that our eagerness to find Daisy might prove tough for Lila. How did the warden find out Sammy was in there? How did she know of my whereabouts too? This institute was hiding a dark secret. It was going to do everything in its power to prevent any harm to its reputation. All the new reactions we saw on two of our prime leads made us wonder, were any of them telling the truth or were all the leads just pawns in a bigger game brewing.