Fated Retribution

08 [Target Beta]

14th September, Sunday, 12:18 pm, 2028

I always wanted to have a school reunion but hell, not this way. I watched as Daphne and Bridget sat opposite to each other, indulged in a fierce staring contest, none of them bothered about their surroundings. The air was thick with tension and in the back of my mind, I did have the slightest doubt if this meeting was a bad idea.

I glanced at Ivory, who was seated beside me, she rolled her eyes at the childish behaviour of the pair in front of us. Having had enough of their antics, I sighed and snapped my fingers in between the space of their faces and they immediately snapped out of their trance.

With one last glare at Bridget, Daphne turned towards me, eyes softening. “Long time, Ames?” She asked and I nodded in response.

“Look, as much as I would like to indulge in the formalities of meeting after seven years, I didn’t really call you here for chit-chat.” I said, hastily. Daphne smirked as she leaned on the table towards me, “Let’s talk business then, shall we?”

“I need to know about the details of the attack, all of it.” I said, copying her actions as her stance faltered the tiniest bit. Ivory kept her hand on Daphne’s shoulder while I noticed Bridget squinting her eyes sceptically at the pair.

The Russian glanced at Ivory who gave a slight nod to her. With a small sigh, Daphne started to narrate the events of the previous night, how she had left the office early when her wife had called her. She mentioned how she had noticed the attackers’ car right when she had left for the mall, but didn’t pay much mind to it.

Then, she told us how she had stopped to get some sushi and then reached the mall, that’s when she had found the car suspicious. Finally, when they had neared the final turn to her house, the firing had begun.

“One thing that confuses and scares me at the same time is the attacker had plenty of time to get to me when I was in the car alone, why wait for Amelia to come?” Daphne expressed her concern, as she finished her tale.

I noticed Bridget’s eyes went wide, “Wait, you married Rodriguez? Then Ivory…” She trailed off.

Daphne sarcastically smiled at her before responding, “Wanted an invite, Bridget? And what about Ivory?” The brunette snapped and I mentally face palmed at the drummer’s stupidity.

Ivory scrunched her brows in confusion as she interrupted the enemies’ banter, “Anyways.” She said sharply and Bridget’s mouth closed immediately while Daphne kept her glare.

I tuned them out and thought of what Daphne had said instead, trying to find similarities between the attack which happened on me and her. There were multiple attackers in both the cases and I assumed that they had waited to attack her in isolation as areas near the mall and take-out are pretty crowded and Amelia being there was just a coincidence.

“Well, was there anything else?” I asked.

“I did catch a glimpse of the guy, he was wearing a straw hat. I saw him once the day before yesterday on the street of my office too.” She replied and the gears of my head started to work as a familiar figure flashed in my head.

“Was he wearing a trench coat?” I asked and Daphne narrowed her eyes, slowly nodding at me.

“Wait, I saw a man in a trench coat too. He was the one who dropped the inaugural invite to me.” Ivory added.

“You’re invited too?” Bridget and I choroused and we looked at each other in surprise, right after.

“You two are invited too?” Daphne asked and we nodded and she rolled her eyes, muttering something in her native tongue which I couldn’t quite catch.

“What did that guy have to do with you?” She asked and I took out the envelope which had the robbery photographs in them. I handed it to her while Bridget and Ivory leaned in to have a look, Daphne swatted the former away but she didn’t budge. “He was the one to give me these and the inaugural invite.”

“What the fuck.” The trio echoed in unison as Daphne kept the photos on the table.

“Jeez Petrova, getting naughty aren’t you?” Bridget snickered and Daphne simply ignored her, sipping on her mocktail.

“Bridget, do you know any guy like this?” I asked the drummer, who paused for a minute to think before replying. “Ronan did mention ‘some weirdo in a trench coat’ handing the invite to him.” She shrugged in reply and I locked eyes with Daphne who seemed to be thinking the same thing as me.

“This is very weird.” Ivory said as all four of us sat in silence for a minute, processing the situation.

“So to sum it up, we all get an invite to our school’s inaugural anniversary by a weird guy in a coat and later he attacks Daphne and supposedly me too then tries to frame her for a robbery. Who here smells something fishy?” I asked, raising my hand, Ivory and Bridget did so too while Daphne stared at the photo on the table again.

I cleared my throat to grab her attention and she sipped on her drink again, nodding her head. “I do agree, but I'm not doing that."

I rolled my eyes at her casual behaviour, Ivory shook her head but a small smile played on her lips while Bridget scoffed.

“McPhinnon, enough.” I warned and Daphne snorted.

“Damn, dude. You still use McPhinnon? Haven’t you made your new stage name or something?” She laughed and Bridget’s jaw clenched.

“Says the one with Vladimir as her middle name.” Bridget retorted. Ivory face palmed and I slouched on my seat, knowing this one could not be stopped.

“It’s Volkov.” Daphne protested and Bridget took this as an opportunity to take her drink as she sipped it while shrugging carelessly.

“Potato-pohtato.”

“Oh, you did not.” Daphne muttered as she grabbed the drink and downed it, making Bridget gasp.

“Okay, ladies enough. For fuck’s sake.” I shut them up as they continued to glare at each other.

“Okay, this whole thing is shady as fuck” Daphne concluded and all of us nodded animatedly.

“Do you think this whole thing is staged?” Ivory asked, to no one in particular. My face scrunched in confusion.

“Like the anniversary party? Nah, too unlikely. Besides, the front page of the 16th's newspaper has already been bought by them for the press release.” I mentioned.

“All of this can’t be a coincidence though, can it?” Bridget added. Daphne nodded as she spoke in response.

“There is only one way to find out isn’t there? Go to the function, observe, evaluate and try to stay alive."